Hidden Man

The personal style is strong, the performance is disastrous and the pacing is chaotic, but it's still kind of funny to watch

I am not familiar with Jaing Wen's work and went in with no expectations. A Taiwanese friend passed me her ticket telling me that it's Chinese with Japanese historical and cultural references, and while that is not untrue, it's not what I would describe it. An indulgent description would call it a parody or self-parody, but I don't have the background and familiarity with his work to justify it.

I felt the first jolt to run out about 10 minutes in, and it's been a struggle to watch until the end. The story is convoluted and hard to follow, dialogue is fast and furious, and while I get it that the director may be going for parody, the net effect is cringe.

The hero is nonetheless played by an actor who is supposedly some kind of sex symbol, and he appears bare chested, which may be redemptive for some audiences; it might also spark a parkour renaissance in China (or at least boost the sales of Assassin's Creed).

I can't resist the ROC and the old Peking flavor in this film. Liao Fan's performance shows the real calibre of his acting skills.

Director and writer spend a lot of effort to this movie. U have to understand China history to understand easter egg in this movie. It's make no sense in many way but very strange that u start to accept by its unique way with beautiful sound track of telling stories to u. U have to watch a few times to discover the hidden message in this movie and u can go to school become history teacher.

This movie tells two stories: the revenge of a boy, and the revenge of a man. In my point of view, that man who got all his teeth extracted is the true hero of this movie.