Monday, October 20, 2008 . 11:35 AM

That was the movie Sharon, Aaron and I caught on Friday, after Sharon rushed back from a day trip to Malaysia with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Or my new nick for him is Bak Kwa Face...

Anyway, since everyone knows I'm pretty much a sucker for Wu Chun-related things, it goes without saying that Butterfly Lovers is a definite must-watch. Thank God that angmoh-pai Aaron loves pretty boys as much as I do and Sharon doesn't mind goodlooking actors who can't act. Or perhaps, they both love me too much to deny me the pleasure of watching Wu Chun's debut movie.

And that was how we ended up sitting through 103 minutes of Jingle Ma's adaptation of the Chinese version of Romeo & Juliet (the only diff being our main characters turned into butterflies after their death, unlike R&J). They even included the pill that induced a death-like sleep, like they had in R&J! Seriously, Mr Ma, didn't they teach you about plagerism back in film school?

But it's not the first time (nor last) a HK film gets 'inspiration' from other sources, so I really should not be surprised.

So, how did the movie far?

Well... let's go from left to right, shall we?



First, we have Hu Ge as the antagonist, Ma... Something. Can't remember. He appears for less than 1/3 of the movie, so how was I to remember? So anyway, at first he was really sweet, smiling in a dorky way at our main actress, Zhu, and defending her when she got into trouble. But it all goes to hell soon when he descends into the Hell of Gross Over-Acting. It sounds like I don't like Hu Ge, but that's not true! He's a goodlooking chap and I adore goodlookers. But he really performed horrendously here with the OTT rage scene and the borderline psychotic act. Maybe he just can't do evil, cos I've seen all the period dramas he's been in and I adore him in all of them. Maybe he should just stick to doing nice guys.

Second, Charlene Choi as Zhu Yan Zhi. What can I say? Her cross-dressing is cute... but she looks totally wrong in female gear. Her chemistry with Chun is... I don't know if it's a good time if everyone laughs uncontrollably during romantic scenes between the leads. Whenever the leads exchange adoring looks, everyone just falls over in fits of laughter. What's so funny? Maybe cos the cloying sweetness is just so fake? I'm not sure, but there were lots of unintentionally funny scenes and if I were Mr Jingle Ma, I probably would want to pretend this wasn't my movie.

Last, Wu Chun as Liang Zhong Shan. What can I say? God is kinda fair, I guess. His accented Mandarin doesn't really work for a period drama. In fact, it's like a rojak of accents. Hu Ge speaks with a Mainland Chinese lilt, Charlene is dubbed in a breathy, annoying, accentless voice, Harlem Yu, one of the side characters, speaks with a Taiwanese twang. And of course, our Wu Chun butchered the language completely. I don't know, a period role is wrong on so many levels. It plays to all his flaws:
1. weak command of mandarin
2. wearing dress-like clothes when he already looks so feminine

Maybe he thinks it's manly cos it allows him to carry a sword and do elaborate fighting scenes that requires him to jump from roof to river, but the fight sequences are so dizzying... all we saw was a blur.

Anyway, I thought if I were him, I would choose playing a mute assassin. See, there would be fight scenes, he wouldn't be required to talk or have much expressions. Just look tortured, if he doesn't know how, Keanu Reeves would be a great reference. Check out The Matrix Trilogy and Constantine. Oh, most importantly, he'll get to wear black trenchcoats and ubercool shades!

And carry a gun. Or two. And be in a Chow Yun Fatt/John Woo-inspired gun sequences with lots of doves are required. Woot~

For love interest and added angst, consult K-dramas where he falls in love with his target's daughter (gasps). He kills her father and then gets injured and she, not knowing he killed her father, saves him and falls desperately in love with him. Afterwards, when the truth comes to light, the girl's brother can attempt to kill him and she dies defending him. Our hero is heartbroken, but leaves the brother unharmed because she begs him to with her dying breath. He carries her body and walks off into the setting sun...

Woah~ fantastic idea right!! Someone write a screenplay already!