Legendary Assassin Review – Not Legendary but a Decent Chinese Action Film

Our credit card has been hacked (sigh, what’s new) and bad guys are running amok with it in Texas, eating at McDonald’s, shopping at WalMart and filling up their cars. 🙁

Booh, they steal our credit card and eat at McDonald’s!

Man, what’s wrong with these modern-day criminals. These motha*ckas got no class.

Schade, none at all.

But since Indians are good at making lemonade even out of a lemon, we took the new replacement credit card to RedBox today and got ourselves another free movie (via the coupon codes).

Shows you can’t keep a desi down for long. 😉

Since we’re in a foreign mood these days, we picked the Cantonese movie Legendary Assassin.

Released in December 2008, Legendary Assassin can hardly qualify for a spot in the canon of legendary films.

But definitely a watchable movie with solid stunts and good acting by the lead character Wu Jing (also the co-director) and decent performances by Celina Jade as well as the lesser players like the fatso criminal, the comic policeman, the police chief et al.

Cinema, as you schmucks may or may not know, is mostly about photography (lighting), acting, a gripping story and if it’s an action film, we definitely need a good dose of adrenalin pumping stunts.

Legendary Assassin scores more than a passing grade on all of these points.

An action film set in an island off Hong Kong, the movie centers around a nomadic loner and martial arts expert Bo, played with great verve and skill by Chinese actor Wu Jing.

Bo is on the island on some important business. No, we aint gonna tell you more.

When an Category-5 Hurricane cancels all the ferries, Bo is stuck on the Island and as he’s walking around looking for accommodation bumps into a pretty local policewoman Holly (Celina Jade) in the oddest manner possible.

There are two intersecting stories here – the first about the brutal murder of notorious gangster Chairman Ma, the bizarre theft of his head and search for his head; and the second revolving around Bo, Holly and the activities in the small police station.

The lighting and the stunts involved in the murder of the gangster Ma pleased us no end.

Wu Jing is a good actor, playing the role of a fighter with a quiet stoicism with impressive effect. Sad, how few young Indian actors, with rare exception like Ranbhir Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor, can spell the word acting.

Celina Jade, who looks like a younger, shorter version of Sandra Bullock, is endearing but truth be said not that convincing as a cop.

The fight scenes, the first involving Chairman Ma’s murder, the second in the restaurant and the others were executed well.

And the love angle was handled with nice subtlety!

Sadly, the last 20-minutes was a letdown with the one-man demolition army Bo beating to pulp 100 members of Madame Ma’s criminal empire.

Overall, Legendary Assassin is not a bad movie. If you live in the U.S., your neighborhood RedBox kiosk will likely stock this film.

Now if you jokers will excuse us, our tall glass of Gin beckons.

12 Responses to "Legendary Assassin Review – Not Legendary but a Decent Chinese Action Film"

  1. racer44   February 3, 2011 at 2:55 am

    1.Finally saw Siruthai. Karthi is excellent as always, slipping into both his characters beautifully and delivering an inch-perfect performance.
    Unfortunately, can’t say the same about the film. Bottomline, a ridiculously stupid story(geez, most telugu directors’ creative instincts are staggeringly rotten) made somewhat watchable by Karthi’s terrific acting, Santhanam’s comedy and Tamanna’s hips(won’t say anymore on this 😉 )

    Siruthai, BTW, has been declared a hit. In fact, most surprisingly, all 3 pongal releases have been reasonably successful, Kaavalan the most.

    2.When will you check out the online rental I told you? 🙁 And when will you see Pudhupettai, Angadi Theru et al?
    Instead of seeing some chinese film that no one cares about, you could try watching these. At the very least, they will generate many hits and draw more people to your site. Who wants a chinese/french/polish movie review from a website named “SearchINDIA.com”?

    3. Ever tried out video games(PC, PS3 or XBox)? I strongly recommend them. They make for fantastic, interactive and intelligent entertainment and even lend themselves to reviews like the ones you do for restaurants.
    Of course, primary requirements include either a gaming console like PS3 or Xbox or a well-configured PC. But it’s a good investment nevertheless.

    P.S.Vijay is acting in Aamir Khan’s role in the 3 idiots remake to be directed by Shankar. All izz well. 😉

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. We don’t see much buzz around any of the Pongal releases – Siruthai, Kaavalan and Aadukalam. It’s easy to declare any shit in India as a hit. After all, as they say, Talk is Cheap.

    2. You write: Who wants a chinese/french/polish movie review from a website named “SearchINDIA.com”?

    Educating the unwashed masses brings forth no reward or worse, no gratitude. 🙁

    Will check out your recommendations one of these days. Hopefully, soon.

    3. A few years back we considered getting all three consoles, did an informal poll with a few desis here (U.S.), who didn’t seem too enthused with it. So gave up the idea.

    4. 3 Idiots was a piece of shit with nothing to recommend it. To quote Stalin (he spoke about Russians), Who can understand our people?

    • racer44   February 3, 2011 at 2:03 pm

      “We don’t see much buzz around any of the Pongal releases – Siruthai, Kaavalan and Aadukalam.”

      Being in America, of course you don’t. That doesn’t mean a thing. The news I am getting here is, for the most part, from regular movie-goers who may not be able to quote facts and figures but can spot a house-full crowd when they see one. And when the crowds throng movie-halls on a sustained basis, word of mouth always gets around. And word-of-mouth has been good for all three pongal releases.

      And, an important point that you can’t ignore is that, in the absence of any official box-office figures, “talk” as you call it, does matter. And by “talk”, I mean feedback from a plethora of unrelated individuals.

      “A few years back we considered getting all three consoles, did an informal poll with a few desis here (U.S.), who didn’t seem too enthused with it. So gave up the idea.”

      Getting all 3 would be a waste of money, even from a review point of view, since gaming reviews are more time-consuming than movie or restaurant and reviewing games in multiple consoles for comparison would be an arduous task indeed. I would plump for the PS3, since it GENERALLY outperforms Xbox for most games that matter. A high-end PC is an equally attractive option. Go for Dell Alienware or Asus model(don’t remember the exact names)
      It’s not too late, you know. I would strongly recommend them.
      After playing GTA 4, FIFA 11 and Fallout 3 and perhaps Medal of Honour/Gears of War, you will thank me profusely, mark my words.

      P.S. Strange… Pirated Game CDs (who’ll pay 100$ for a Rs.100 game 😉 ) is a rocking market out here. And gaming parlours (LAN networks for playing games) keep sprouting up in every nook and corner. And you say desis in U.S. aren’t enthused? They must either be really busy with their jobs or soft in the head.

      “Will check out your recommendations one of these days. Hopefully, soon.”

      SI old man, for once, can you please commit yourself to a reasonable FIXED deadline? Reason is, after your DevD review (that came a year too “soon”) and your 7G rainbow colony review (that, you said, will also come “soon”), I know “soon” will hardly be soon enough. Come on, be sporting. Commit to a timeline FOR ONCE and stick to it. It’s not as if you are walking the plank and you look down and find Gosh!! It is the cooum!!

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      OK, we won’t keep you hanging over those Tamil movie reviews.

      Let’s be a bit more precise and say in the coming months.

      • முனிAndy   February 3, 2011 at 3:58 pm

        @racer: Isnt’ the Wii popular in India. I don’t know how the gaming parlors work.. Will they let you save your progress? Considering..
        http://www.videogamer.com/news/gta_4_will_take_roughly_100_hours_to_finish.html
        It’d be prudent to plunk money into a gaming system rather than pointlessly wasting in gaming parlors.

        SI may have polled people like Wine Kadai Chutiya Patel.. or their poll may have been from pre-Wii days. Nowadays (almost) every desi family has a Wii system, because the games are kid-friendly and the gaming system is just 120 bucks.

        SI is mostly right about the desi-reluctance to play video games.

        Family-desis can’t afford to spend 100 hours each on GTA 4, Call of Duty, Halo etc. We don’t have servant maids, groceryboy, milkman, chauffeur etc. 🙁 Bachelor Desis probably are into gaming systems.. because they are very affordable now.. So are big screen TVs.

        If you do buy a gaming system, don’t forget to buy the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Band or en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero. I don’t know about the XBOX, but PS3 can be used as a wonderful media player.. it plays 1/2-dakked tamil/hindi movies, netflix, hulu plus, vudu etc.

        • racer44   February 4, 2011 at 1:48 am

          “Isnt’ the Wii popular in India.”
          To tell the truth, I seriously doubt ANY gaming console is popular in India, reasons being that,

          1)most desis being street-smart, find it far easier to upgrade their Rs15,000 assembled computer with hi-end graphic card from the ubiquitous shady dealers in town. You save money, and it works out to be just as effective. These days, the million-odd companies that specialise in “assembled” computers themselves offer high-end configuration PCs at good prices.

          2)Big-screen TVs+gaming console in India sets you back by Rs 65,000 at the very least. Nobody has(or is willing to spend) that much money on what’s only a gaming system.

          Not to mention the fact that most Indian parents would disapprove of dedicated gaming consoles but would tolerate/encourage their kids doing work at the PC.(if they only knew… 😉 )

          “It’d be prudent to plunk money into a gaming system rather than pointlessly wasting in gaming parlors.”

          This is, again, a typical desi trait. We would allow our money to drip away slowly but when faced with that one big expense, shudder and step back. But gaming parlours do offer one or two advantages.
          1)There is already a LAN network set up with good graphic cards(only a select few offer PS3/Xbox), so you can play with friends even if they don’t have a PC themselves.
          2)The rates are pretty low if you are on a long-term plan. Even otherwise, they are affordable for most students looking to enjoy an hour or two of gaming.

          @SI
          “Let’s be a bit more precise and say in the coming months.”
          I asked you to give a reasonable, fixed timeline and you give me this shit. It will take you hardly 3 days to register with this online portal, order 2-3 movies at one go and get them delivered at your doorstep. Oh well, on your head be it. I can’t wake a man pretending to be asleep.

          SearchIndia.com Responds:

          We told ya we’re in a ‘foreign‘ mood lately.

          Tamil is not foreign to us, though movies in that language seem foreign to all notions of entertainment. 😉

          • racer44   February 4, 2011 at 1:36 pm

            “movies in that language seem foreign to all notions of entertainment.”

            There is a growing bunch of talented young tamil film-makers out to prove you wrong but hey, if reviewers like yourself keep DELIBERATELY ignoring their work, how are they ever going to become the dominant force that you unctuously claim as lacking in Indian cinema?
            Not that I regard a few reviews(especially from you) as going to herald the winds of change in the industry, but every piece of encouragement is a step in the right direction and brings some badly needed publicity to these young talents.

            Here are some of them.
            1)Selvaraghavan(We both know he has enormous potential, yet you somehow contrive to find no time to write a 100-odd words review of his 2nd movie; I am not even going into your strange reluctance to watch his third)
            2)Mysshkin(Anjaadhey fame. His Yudhham Sei released today. See if you can catch it. It is receiving excellent reviews)
            3)Sasikumar(His debut Subramaniyapuram was widely acknowledged among the cognoscenti as a landmark film in Tamil Cinema. “Officially” signaled the arrival of the CineMadurai style as a genre in itself.

            Subramaniapuram also created ripples when acclaimed Hindi director Anurag Kashyap(remember DevD?) said that he was so impressed by the film that his next venture would be inspired by it.

            http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/news-interviews/Anurags-next-inspired-by-Subramaniapuram/articleshow/6960354.cms

            Easan, as the few who went to watch it( in the five day window it got before being taken out to be replaced by Manmadhan Ambu in all theatres), will tell you, was another fine film from his stable.

            4)Vasanthabalan(whose Angadi Theru you are determined to miss)
            5)Pandiraj(Pasanga, Vamsam both exploring themes novel to tamil cinema)
            6)Vetrimaaran(Pollaadhavan, Aaddukalam)
            7)RadhaMohan(of Mozhi, Azhagiya theeyae fame, his next film, Payanam, releases next week, I think. try to catch it. It’s about a fictional plane hijack at the Tirupati airport.
            8)Suseendhran(Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu, Naan Mahaan Alla)
            9)Ameer(Raam and Paruthiveeran, Karthi’s debut film that was appreciated by one and all and won Priyamani a national award for best actress(And no, these are not your popularity contest awards like Filmfare awards)

            This without counting directors like Vijay(of Madrasappattinam fame) and Vikram Kumar(Yaavarum nalam) and Arivazhagan(Eeram) who are just now starting to make breakthroughs.

            But then, if you WANT to ignore such talented directors who are doing great work and RELISH scoring your brownie points bashing Tamil Cinema, it is solely up to you.

            SearchIndia.com Responds:

            You write: There is a growing bunch of talented young tamil film-makers out to prove you wrong but hey, if reviewers like yourself keep DELIBERATELY ignoring their work, how are they ever going to become the dominant force that you unctuously claim as lacking in Indian cinema?
            Not that I regard a few reviews (especially from you) as going to herald the winds of change in the industry, but every piece of encouragement is a step in the right direction and brings some badly needed publicity to these young talents.

            We don’t consider it our job to encourage or discourage movie-makers, actors, commenters, strippers, restaurateurs and the flotsam and jetsam of the world.

            This is a Darwinian world.

            If these filmwallas can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps, they should roll over and die!

          • racer44   February 5, 2011 at 12:42 am

            “If these filmwallas can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps, they should roll over and die!”

            Incredibly stupid and frivolous argument.
            For an intelligent filmmaker to enjoy wide success, there must exist an audience intelligent enough to appreciate his movie which may not pander to the audiences’ baser tastes and instincts.
            IN THE DEARTH OF such an audience, the tasks of a true reviewer includes generating talk/interest/buzz about such movies as the reviewer sees as worthy of accolades.

            For instance, long before you reviewed Biutiful, I knew it was a great film. It featured in many a film festival (including one in Chennai), Bardem won the Palme dór at Cannes, and EVEN OTHERWISE, being an Oscar nominee, it is sure to seen by millions across the world.
            In other words, exactly the kind of film that does not need your seal of approval, since there is a large, well-established and ever-increasing audience for the film.

            Regional film-makers in India, on the other hand, get little exposure even for great films, and compounding that problem is the lack of an audience mature enough or intelligent enough to appreciate their off-beat offerings.
            Forced to survive in an industry where recognition is non-existent and audiences for their films are low, they too join the band-wagon of “commercial” films or simply wither away into oblivion.
            Later on, the same smart-asses who could not review such talents pour scorn on a movie industry that they feel only produces the likes of Perarasu, Hari et al.

            Oh well, paraphrasing one of your own remarks
            “Since the chasm between us on this issue is too wide to be bridged, no useful purpose would be served in discussing the subject further.”

            SearchIndia.com Responds:

            SI Wrote: “If these filmwallas can’t pull themselves up by their bootstraps, they should roll over and die!”

            You write: Incredibly stupid and frivolous argument.

            Your naivete about business is as wide as the Pacific.

            SI or for that matter any other blog, newspaper or business are not charity outfits. They are all businesses whose raison d’etre is to earn a return on investment not to generate talk/interest/buzz about a movie, restaurant or new iPhone.

            If film-makers want to spread the word about their films, they must advertise their wares. Why the f*ck should any other newspaper/blog encourage them with freebies? That would be an incredibly stupid way to run a business.

            At the end of the day, film-making is a business. Indian film producers should budget for publicity and yet deliberately refuse to do so. You cannot hand over all the moolah to the greedy SOBs involved and then wail that since there’s no money left for advertising people should encourage us to promote good cinema. That’s cockamamie nonsense.

            Bottom line, people should stop begging for encouragement and run film-making as a proper business. Most Indian film-makers budget little for marketing and advertising. That should change.

            You are willfully ignoring or far too ignorant to realize the free ride the film industry is already getting via enormous free publicity in the various mass media.

          • racer44   February 5, 2011 at 12:29 pm

            “They are all businesses whose raison d’etre is to earn a return on investment not to generate talk/interest/buzz about a movie, restaurant or new iPhone.”

            Surely generating attention about little-known good regional films can co-exist with your “profit-making” when posts about little-known exotic cock-tails can. That’s a poor excuse.

            “Indian film producers should budget for publicity and yet deliberately refuse to do so.”

            Very true, but why should that stop you from covering the films as part of your regular routine, especially when you are getting excellent feedback about them?

            “the film industry is already getting via enormous free publicity in the various mass media ”
            Yes, but most of it is just the hype and hoopla around the release date (and even that only for movies produced by big banners).

            To be frank, serious movie-goers take such hype with a grain of salt.
            What I was talking about was the kind of dedicated reviewing (without missing any major film) that is a well-established tradition in hollywood and has taken root firmly in bollywood (Anupama Chopra, Rajeev Masand, Taran Adarsh, Baradwaj Rangan et al.) also but yet to take off in Tamil Cinema. I believe this is a necessary part of developing a good movie-watching culture that will give rise to an informed audience swayed more by considerations of content rather than heros, heroines etc.
            And no, I don’t see how this problem of full-time reviewing can be taken care of by movie producers.

            But seeing that you are not (and don’t intend to become) a dedicated reviewing site for any movie industry(holly/bolly/kolly), I guess you aren’t the person for that role.

            Do have the last word, like you love to 😉 but pray don’t extend the debate, as little else is left to be explored on this issue and further posts would only be back-and-forth reactions that probably won’t cover new ground.

            SearchIndia.com Responds:

            (For some weird reason, this comment went into spam bin. We don’t usually look into the spam folder and hence the delay in processing it.)

            1. You write: What I was talking about was the kind of dedicated reviewing (without missing any major film) that is a well-established tradition in hollywood and has taken root firmly in bollywood(Anupama Chopra, Rajeev Masand, Taran Adarsh, Baradwaj Rangan et al.) also but yet to take off in Tamil Cinema.

            In our not-so-humble view, they’re all making a big mistake by reviewing every movie (if they even do it) and paying so much attention to the stars, producers, their antics et al.

            The free ride the movie industry and stars gets through pukkat publicity must stop.

            If they can’t thrive without the oxygen of publicity, they should be prepared to pay for it or just roll over and die.

            Some readers may feel that Anupama Chopra and Taran Adarsh are too close to the film industry. 🙁

            2. SI caters not merely to Tamils but to a diverse babble of Indians here whose interests are varied.

            Hence, we cover Hindi, Tamil, English and foreign movies, restaurant reviews, book reviews et al keeping in mind the rainbow of our readers.

            Truth be said, Tamils (or Lungis as one reader angrily described them once) account for a minority of readers here and we devote disproportionate time and attention to it.

      • 1012900   February 4, 2011 at 10:01 am

        I find your review tempting. Going to check if my nimble fingers can be of any use.
        Btw, downloaded City of God recently. Watched about 45 mins of it. Going to watch it fully today. Got to say that the movie is good so far. Definitely closer to reality than Slumdog.

        Since your in a ‘foreign’ mood , why don’t you try Infernal Affairs?

        @Racer
        Yes man, gaming is real fun. All the recent games were awesome especially GTA4, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter Cell conviction. Sadly, my graphics card got damaged and I’m left with only the internet and the in built mini games like Minesweeper 🙁

        As you so rightly point out, piracy is booming. We get even high end graphics card and processors here for a much cheaper rate. No one wants to go in for the original.

        SearchIndia.com Responds:

        1. You write: Btw, downloaded City of God recently. Watched about 45 mins of it. Going to watch it fully today. Got to say that the movie is good so far. Definitely closer to reality than Slumdog.

        Here’s what the wise soul of SearchIndia.com wrote two years back in their review of Cidade de Deus aka City of God:

        Whether it’s the violence, the setting, the gangwars or the story-line itself, Cidade de Deus is a far more realistic and plausible account of life in a slum.

  2. sganeshkumar1989   February 3, 2011 at 9:41 pm

    Well, if you’re still in a ‘Foreign mood’, I’ll recommend a non-pareil Japanese classic ‘Ran’;which is adapted from King Lear.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Yes, on our list. Will definitely watch & review.

  3. rama dasa   February 3, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    this is a video depicting faith healer benny hinn who also visited india and “brought back the dead”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lvU-DislkI&feature=fvw

    i just couldnt stop laughing at 1:42 at this retard!!!!!!!!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Anyone who believes in religion and pays heed to the Swamis, Mullahs and Televangelist Preachers is a returd.

  4. rama dasa   February 4, 2011 at 10:48 pm

    another good article from our friend’s at faithfreedom.org,this one really is interesting(at least i thought it was)

    ‘http://www.faithfreedom.org/articles/persecution-by-islam/demistifying-the-sufis/

    http://folks.co.in/2009/12/demystifying-the-sufis/

    the second one(its the same article but with clearer texts) may be easier to read for those who have bad eyes

    p.s these same sufi’s are the ones who worship other sufi’s graves aka “Dargha’s”(this is called “Shirk” in Islam) and according to sheik Naik and other wahhabi’s,THEY(sufi) are also kaffir’s!!! so you have a kafir visiting a dead kafir’s tomb!!!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    One of the essays in William Dalrymple’s fine book Nine Lives focuses on a woman at the Sufi Dargah of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in the Sind region of Pakistan. Your local county library should have it. Definitely worth reading it.

    The book has a strong ‘spiritual’ core.

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