DRAGON TIGER GATE

DRAGON TIGER GATE

Dragon Tiger Gate is sheer Hong Kong
fantasy martial arts indulgence. Not
every movie in this genre makes the
grade though. Feng Yun (Stormriders)
was probably the pioneer with its
fusion of fantasy martial arts moves
and special effects, but while it
proved successful at the box office,
purist condemned (don’t they
always)the storyline for bastardizing
and summarizing its rich pulp history
beyond recognition. It’s tough to
extract the essence into a 90 minute
movie, and others like Zhong Hua Ying
Xiong (A Man Called Hero) failed
miserably, even with its effects which
turned out laughable.

The effects in Dragon Tiger Gate has
shown a lot of improvement where Hong
Kong movies are concerned, with
digitized landscapes blending
perfectly in scenes. The fights were
effectively enhanced with plenty of
CG, as well as good old reliable
wirework. But nothing beats having
well choreographed fist fights (by
Donnie Yen) or just unadulterated
martial arts showcase of skills such
as the use of the nunchakus. Jazzed up
with a Japanese influenced soundtrack,
the action bits are the highlight of
the movie.

Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse play
brothers Dragon and Tiger (in Chinese
mythology, this combination is very
fierce, OK?) and together with their
friend Black Dragon (Shawn Yue), they
make good commercial role models for
hair gel. OK, so I can’t help it but
to poke some fun at their long hair in
the movie, providing ample opportunity
for the use of what I call the hair-
dryer effect – Strike a killer pose,
cue strong wind to blow their hair
from their face.

Tiger belongs to an aged old martial
arts school known as Dragon Tiger
Gate, while Dragon, separated from
Tiger when young, gets involved with
triads work, against his principles.
Black Dragon on the other hand, is a
braggart who became humbled when he
visits Dragon Tiger Gate to learn new
skills. Together, they go up against a
Japanese secret society headed by a
formidable