THE FOUR

Directed by Gordon Chan and Janet Chun

Starring Deng Chao
               Liu Yifei
               Collin Chou
               Ronald Cheng
               Anthony Wong

The Four is a highly entertaining Chinese Martial Arts Super Hero Film. If the subtitle translation is correct, there are even references to ‘super powers’ and ‘heroes’ in the film.

Lead by Master Zhuge Zhenswo, The Divine Constabulary of Emotionless, Life Stealer, Iron Hands and the newly recruited Cold Blood investigate an influx of counterfeit coins into the economy. Their investigation leads them to but heads with Department Six, and into conflict with a powerful villain using magic to raise an army of the dead.

Visually the film is stunning, and the effects for each character’s powers are superb.
One of the true highlights of the film is the acting. I didn’t witness what I would call a bad performance by any of the main leads. Which is extremely good in this case, as the acting at times made up for some weak characterization on certain characters.
While entertaining, The Four does have some flaws, mostly with the script. The plot is good and the story solid. The problems come into play with the characterization and the breakneck pacing.

Life Snatcher, Master Zhuge and the villain, are the most fleshed out and well-rounded characters. Others lean more toward stock characters then actually characters. But as mentioned above, the good performances by the actors, save the characters.

The Pacing is the biggest flaw in the film, it causes certain parts of the film to feel a little choppy and some of the underlying relationships to feel rushed. This is a script issues, as it wasn’t quiet developed out enough.

Despite these flaws, I enjoyed The Four, and will be on the lookout for Part II and III, in what I have learned is a trilogy.

FINAL VIEW: The Four benefits from excellent filmmaking that helps to make the differences and almost overcome shortcomings in the script. It would rate higher if the script was a little stronger.

RATING: 6