The Grandmaster

The last time the great Wong Kar-wai released a feature-length film was back in 2007 - only his second film in seven years - and I wish he hadn't bothered. 'My Blueberry Nights' just annoyed me from start to finish. While, as with any Wong film, it looked good, his brush with Hollywood dragged, with bland music and even more bland characters, making his usual themes and styles seem pretentious. After watching it, I came away almost liking Jude Law for bringing the only it of charisma to the film, but also wondering if all of his films had been like this, I just didn't notice because of the language barrier.

After many rumoured English-language films, his next feature-length work is a return to Hong Kong (eventually), a reunion with his foremost leading man, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and a return to his brief flirts with kung-fu.

'The Grandmaster' is the often told story of Ip Man, the legendary kung-fu master of wing chun and mentor of Bruce Lee. Wong focuses on the war years of his life and his relationship with Gong Er, played by Zhang Ziyi. The film, therefore, is a blend of Wong's love and whimsy mixed with kung-fu fighting.

Now, he's done this before with 'Ashes of Time', a film that's not his best, but stands up well alongside his others. 'The Grandmaster', however maybe struggles to keep up the pace. Like 'My Blueberry Nights', 'The Grandmaster' is exquisite to look at, with shots as good as any post-Nujabes Japanese hip hop video you'll find on YouTube. But for the, this maybe where the problems lie. Beautiful shots do not necessarily a great kung-fu film make, often finding that the over-angular nature of the camerawork detracts from viewing the fight scenes. I don't necessarily think of 'Ashes of Time' as a kung-fu film, just a good film, but with 'The Grandmaster' focusing so much on kung-fu, it maybe suggests that Wong isn't a master of the kung-fu genre.

With the cast including many big names, including Wong regulars, the acting is strong and characters are a definite step up from 'My Blueberry Nights'. As indeed is the script, with many of the life questions and lessons reminiscent of his films of the Nineties. But there are just certain moments that hurt the film. The train station battle between Gong Er and Ma San is, at times, a little over-the-top and slightly comical, out of sync with the rest of the film. Indeed it's probably the kung-fu fighting that lets the film down here. The philosophy behind the martial arts is present, but while this is a good-looking action film, it's not always an exhilarating one.

'The Grandmaster' is somewhat of a return to form for Wong Kar-wai, though it's probably no coincidence that his last three films since 2000's 'In the Mood for Love' have probably been his worst. Maybe it's his departure from working with cinematographer Christopher Doyle, but perhaps it's his attempts at the new: a sequel, an English-language film and now a kung-fu film, suggesting Wong is not a jack-of-all-trades, but a grandmaster of one.