La furia de la montaña

Yizhou (Yilong Zhu) and his girlfriend Xiaojin (Junyan Jiao) are building contractors and working on a mountain tunnel. Yizhou's Dad, Yungbing (Zhizhong Huang) - a retired rescue worker - comes to visit. Shortly after Xiaojin fetches Yungbing from the bus station, the shifting of a tectonic plate causes a giant sinkhole in town - swallowing the bus he had just been on.

The quake was caused by work on the tunnel - now already 10 years in the making - and the surrounding mountains are now in danger of collapsing. The disaster scenes are incredibly well done, and the chaos and mayhem are reminiscent of 70's disaster movies. The film is in the vein of the recent Mandarin disaster movies 'Skyfire' and 'The Bravest'.

'Cloudy Mountain' is fast-paced and exciting, with suspense around every corner. Apart from the disaster element, the film is also a survival story. I enjoyed the characters. With no annoying or arrogant characters you generally find in these genre movies, I rooted for everyone. (I must confess, almost until the finale I wasn't sure whether Ding (Shu Chen) was a protagonist or antagonist).

I love disasters movies and 'Cloudy Mountain' is a great addition to the genre. The third act did loose some momentum, but it was nevertheless still thrilling, with a satisfying ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was expecting a lot of action and there was; from the very beginning to the very end it never stopped. The special effects were incredible and made you feel as if you were in the middle of the action yourself. I didn't expect to be so moved, though. All characters are very touching. Especialy Zhu Yilong, whose acting was amazing, as usual. Jiao Jun Yan was very touching as well. Zhu Yilong had a wonderful chemistry with her and Huang Zhi Zhong who played his father. The relationship between the two was beautiful. Chen Shu's character was both strong and very humane and made me root for her. I love those stories where ordinary people do extraordinary things, in particular when they risk their lives to save others.

What I really liked about this movie is that compared to most it's relatively low stakes. It's not humanity vs the end of the world, it's about saving one town. It was nice to see that the only 'villain' of the story is nature. There's no evil capitalist putting money ahead of people's lives. Instead everyone comes together to do what they can to help regardless of the financial impact. It's refreshing to see when the news seems to be full of people being selfish at the moment.

The acting was fantastic, especially Zhu Yilong, Huang Zhizhong and Chen Shu.

This movie isn't going to be a life-altering experience but for the genre I found it very enjoyable.

Don't believe a lot of the reviews of MANY Chinese movies on here which are over inflated as great. I loved Infernal Affairs and some other Chinese films but see all too often Chinese reviewers boasting about every film released from China. I can only recommend this if you have nothing else to watch and want to see a disaster movie like was, but if you want to see a good disaster movie I recommend The Tower and The Tunnel from Korea or The Quake and Wave from Norway. The Korean series Bargain is also good but it's more than just about the disaster which these other films have in common. I gave this three stars for FX that are hit or miss at times and the way it was shot. I didn't care for any of the characters cause we had little or no background on them unlike these other films. Some things were over the top as some have said, but to be fair, what disaster film isn't. Very formulaic and cliche ridden.

The movie starts off with natural disasters that put lives of 160,000 people in danger. The thrills kick in within the first few minutes, and keep the audience at the edges of their seats throughout. It is fast paced with great acting, amazing special effects and a touching story line.

The acting is brilliant. The characters are convincing and the cast have developed the story to the fullest. Yilong Zhu, the leading man, plays Hong, an engineer who stands up for his home and country, risking his own life. Mr. Zhu immerses himself into the character, with powerful and touching delivery. He takes on a journey when an ordinary man becomes a hero, faced with life and death, conflicts of sacrificing loved ones or his mission, at the same time overcoming his own weakness. Beside character development, there are loads of jaw dropping action scenes (just to name one, rock climbing at pro level) that you don't want to miss any ... I assure you Mr. Yilong Zhu's acting is the one of finest.

The visual is spectacular. The movie is filmed at famous scenic areas in Guizhou, with beautiful caves, mountains, canyons, streams... Meanwhile earthquake, landslides, mudslides, along side with breath taking landscape and impressive sound effects, will keep your eyes open the whole time.

The story is moving. A father and his son, a leader and her people, a teacher/guardian and her students, and of course a man and the woman he loves. There are places where viewers break into tears, yet plenty of funny moments. Humanity shines amid this natural disaster, which will make you cry and smile at the same time.

All in all, Feng Bao (aka Cloudy Mountain) is entertaining, intense and thrilling. This is a must see and thumbs up!

10/10.