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fiachairecht) wrote2019-11-08 04:21 pm
fiachairecht) wrote2019-11-08 04:21 pm
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Movie Rec: Jiàn Yǔ | Reign of Assassins
I watched Jiàn Yǔ | Reign of Assassins a bit ago so I could write an exchange fic for echoslam, and after flailing about it in a media Wednesday post, it occurs to me that I should make said flailing public, so I can convince more of you to watch it!
The plot: The mummified remains of an ancient monk have magical powers, and the Dark Stone assassin gang wants both the remains and the power. Three of the best assassins from the gang head off to kill the Prime Minister who currently has said remains (and questionably said powers) and his son. It goes about as well as you expect, which is to say that after the bloodshed is finished, Xi Yu steals the corpse from her friends and leaves them, and every other assassin in China, to chase her. This is fun for about three minutes, and then she meets another (somewhat more alive, at least for the moment) monk, who shows her both life outside the assassin's art and some flaws in her swordsmanship. She enjoys the first and denies the second - except, remember how every assassin in China is chasing her? Yeah, that's still happening. Normal life whomst, the newly renamed Zeng Jing does not actually ask herself, because she's got a normal life now! She's enjoying this all-fancy-cloth-to-sell-and-no-swords-to-use life. UNTIL. She's found by some of the assassins who were hunting her, specifically her two former ... friends might be stretching it, but they don't want her SUPER dead and they were there the Night Things Went Wrong, and they've brought a Murderous Young Woman with them. Murderous Young Woman wants to, well, do some murders, specifically the murders of anyone who gets in the way of her [a] becoming the new leader of the Dark Stone and [b] Processing Her Feelings about Xi Yu leaving the Dark Stone (does she want to sleep with Xi Yu? does she want to wear her skin and become the new Xi Yu? does she just want to kill everyone who made Xi Yu think that a normal life might be fun? yes.) Feelings, corpse heists, and swordfights all ensue.
The tropey keyword things: Do you want INCREDIBLY over the top kung fu, including flaming swords? Do you want MULTILAYERED IDENTITY PORN? Do you want MANY ASSASSINS ALL FIGHTING OVER THE SAME MAGIC CORPSE? Do you want FAILED MENTORSHIP and OBSESSION and lady assassins a little too into other lady assassins they are meant to kill, and a surprisingly genuinely frank look what it costs to rebuild your life over and over again on top of the blood you are responsible for shedding? Reign of Assassins is a gorgeous wuxia film with all of those things, plus Michelle Yeoh with a sword! There is bonkers femslash potential and fun canon het! And did I mention the FLAMING SWORDS, wielded by a frankly under-loved secondary character who Didn't Really Sign Up For This But Guesses He's Here? He is assassin besties with Michelle Yeoh's character and one other dude who I also enjoyed. And there are WHOLE OTHER ASSASSIN GANGS that we only see bits of but that I want more of!
The summary: Compelling characters and great action choreo and women being given space to grab everything they want, without shying away from looking at what it cost.
echoslam, and after flailing about it in a media Wednesday post, it occurs to me that I should make said flailing public, so I can convince more of you to watch it! The plot: The mummified remains of an ancient monk have magical powers, and the Dark Stone assassin gang wants both the remains and the power. Three of the best assassins from the gang head off to kill the Prime Minister who currently has said remains (and questionably said powers) and his son. It goes about as well as you expect, which is to say that after the bloodshed is finished, Xi Yu steals the corpse from her friends and leaves them, and every other assassin in China, to chase her. This is fun for about three minutes, and then she meets another (somewhat more alive, at least for the moment) monk, who shows her both life outside the assassin's art and some flaws in her swordsmanship. She enjoys the first and denies the second - except, remember how every assassin in China is chasing her? Yeah, that's still happening. Normal life whomst, the newly renamed Zeng Jing does not actually ask herself, because she's got a normal life now! She's enjoying this all-fancy-cloth-to-sell-and-no-swords-to-use life. UNTIL. She's found by some of the assassins who were hunting her, specifically her two former ... friends might be stretching it, but they don't want her SUPER dead and they were there the Night Things Went Wrong, and they've brought a Murderous Young Woman with them. Murderous Young Woman wants to, well, do some murders, specifically the murders of anyone who gets in the way of her [a] becoming the new leader of the Dark Stone and [b] Processing Her Feelings about Xi Yu leaving the Dark Stone (does she want to sleep with Xi Yu? does she want to wear her skin and become the new Xi Yu? does she just want to kill everyone who made Xi Yu think that a normal life might be fun? yes.) Feelings, corpse heists, and swordfights all ensue.
The tropey keyword things: Do you want INCREDIBLY over the top kung fu, including flaming swords? Do you want MULTILAYERED IDENTITY PORN? Do you want MANY ASSASSINS ALL FIGHTING OVER THE SAME MAGIC CORPSE? Do you want FAILED MENTORSHIP and OBSESSION and lady assassins a little too into other lady assassins they are meant to kill, and a surprisingly genuinely frank look what it costs to rebuild your life over and over again on top of the blood you are responsible for shedding? Reign of Assassins is a gorgeous wuxia film with all of those things, plus Michelle Yeoh with a sword! There is bonkers femslash potential and fun canon het! And did I mention the FLAMING SWORDS, wielded by a frankly under-loved secondary character who Didn't Really Sign Up For This But Guesses He's Here? He is assassin besties with Michelle Yeoh's character and one other dude who I also enjoyed. And there are WHOLE OTHER ASSASSIN GANGS that we only see bits of but that I want more of!
The summary: Compelling characters and great action choreo and women being given space to grab everything they want, without shying away from looking at what it cost.