The White Dragon

If you liked 'Cat and Mouse', this is a movie you're going to like. It is a great romantic comedy, where you inevitably fall in love with the characters. I enjoyed how they stepped it up a little with a touch of a different culture in it, but glad they didn't over do it. Cecilia Cheung is a funny woman with a lot of talent. I will watch movies that she's in, just because she's in them. She just seems so comfortable in the roles she plays, and humor seems to come easy to her. Her co-partner, who plays Chicken feathers, really brought his character out. I would like to watch more of his movies, because he played his role very well in this movie. He made quirky movements like a chicken, and a funky chicken at that, and was still quite charming and lovable. I don't know if people watch this because they are looking for action, but it is more of a romantic comedy with the bonus of action. The fighting style reminded me of the video game 'Mortal Combat', which I thought was pretty cool and can appreciate. I advise anyone watching this as a foreign film, to watch it with subtitles. Nothing beats hearing the tone of the real voices, and reading the subtitles is not difficult, but sometimes listening to voice-overs are. May I repeat...subtitles, subtitles, subtitles. I fear that some people did choose to have it sounded in English, which might have taken away from an otherwise good experience. This movie, and 'Cat and Mouse', are on my favorites list for romantic comedies.

This is NOT a wuxia film -- don't watch this for the swordfights or chereography, and you will find the movie entertaining. Running at mere 90smins, The White Dragon can be a filler for your indoor time during the quarantine period.

The movie begins with the heroine's voiceover on her teenage hopes and dreams, and how her life turned out to be the complete opposite. The movie itself shows the audience how she came to stumble into a path she wouldnt dream of taking, but bravely walk the path anyway.

Love this movie to bits.

When I saw Cecilia Cheung for the first time in The Legend of Zu (2001), I was immediately struck (if not smitten) by her beauty, and I hurriedly started looking for her in other movies. After a bunch of modern-day dramas (slightly boring, truth be told), she's finally back in a fantasy martial arts epic, looking better than ever.

I was immensely thrilled to find White Dragon, and I was elated as I saw the first twenty minutes of it. There is so much cool action, so many great laughs; so much delightful entertainment.

The rest of the movie is not bad, but it slows down a great deal to focus on building up the love story. It has many of the same plot elements that other Asian movies of this type has; someone is blind (yet a superb kung fu master), the girl is betrothed to another but can't help falling in love with the hero (yes, just like in House of Flying Daggers), and the love story completely takes over the movie after about a half-hour opening of great action and comedy (the great 2002 comedy Chinese Odyssey had the exact same structure). This is a little disappointing; one would really have liked the action and comedy to be sustained throughout the movie.

However, it's still an uproariously entertaining, beautiful and funny movie, and the actors all do an amazing job.

8 out of 10.

If you have ever watched a 90s Hong Kong action/comedy...say city hunter with jackie chan (ie: Jackie chan as Chun Li from street fighter) then you know just how unserious these movies can be. This is an example of it (this genre happens to be one of my favorites). This movie has managed to incorporate jokes from the new millenia into the a feudal china setting. If you aren't entertained by a teenage girl smashing a sitar on a pillar in rock star form and then crowd surfing, then this movie might not be for you. If you are however just looking to be entertained and don't really care if the movie is real quality or not then this will do. The story isn't really innovative, the jokes are pretty cheesy, the lines are pretty cheesy too, but you know if people didn't make these types of movies then there wouldn't be a cliché or a norm. So take it for what it is, a silly movie designed to entertain you with out a lot of drama or required brain power. It's a movie, it's job was to entertain, it did for the most part. I could probably do without the last couple of minutes of the movie.

6/10, it is average for the most part, Cecilia Chung looks pretty cute in this movie. The blind guy...just looks goofy or like hes having seizures. You might say I have no taste, I say don't be so picky, you might starve to death.

Saw this on a double bill with "Springtime in a Small Town".

What an odd pairing!

"Springtime" was a deliberately paced, beautiful period piece and "The White Dragon" was an in-your-face laugh riot.

Another movie patron warned me that I would be wasting my time, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying it.

Never laughed so hard at an Asian film!

A lot of sight gags but Francis Ng's over the top performance won me over. Cecilia Cheung does a credible job as his foil.

Certainly not "high art", but if you desire a little levity and silliness, you won't be disappointed.

The late afternoon-evening that I spent watching these two films is one of my favorite solo adult experiences, so they'll always hold a place in my heart.