Invincible Dragon - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Invincible Dragon



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As a huge fan of MMA and a huge fan of Hong Kong action movies, I was a bit more than eager to see Invincible Dragon when I saw that Anderson Silva was going to be involved. The man is the greatest heavyweight MMA fighter to grace the octagon, and while adding in “foreign” actors to Chinese films doesn’t always work out (think Zhang’s last outing with Dave Bautista), the promise of the high octane fights form the trailer had me a little excited. However, modern Chinese martial arts movies are a bit hit or miss *ahem, Enter the Fat Dragon, and I was a bit nervous. But while Enter the Fat Dragon was a parody that was geared towards laughter, Invincible Dragon doesn’t seem to know WHAT it’s aiming for. The film ping pongs around tonally, giving us a melodramatic drama one minute, super hero comic book stuff the next, a Chinese soap opera vibe that would give The Young and the Restless a run for it’s money, and flat out comedy. Each genre moving around at break neck speed, and never once being gracious enough to warn the viewers what tone it was going for form scene to scene.

Kow Loon (Max Zhang) is a trigger happy Hong Kong cop who ends up putting his police officer fiancee in harms way trying to catch a serial killer. Being that the serial killer was targeting female officers, Loon uses another officer as bait, only to turn his back on his fiancee, giving the murderer time enough to kidnap her. A year later, Kow Loon has moved to Macau, where he spends most of his days doggedly looking for his fiancee in hopes that she’s still alive. Unfortunately he hasn’t gotten anywhere until another murder in Macau crops up that is the EXACT same MO as the Hong Kong murders.

Digging deeper and deeper into the case, Kow Loon starts hunting a madman who will stop at nothing to right a wrong that he feels Kow Loon created years ago. The only thing is, Kow Loon is out of shape and out of touch with reality. The officer suffered a form of post traumatic stress and has OCD taking over his life. An affliction that distracts him from finding out who the real killer is, but puts him touch with a beautiful lady doctor named Dr. Wong (Annie Liu) who may hold the key to stabilizing him and bringing him back on track.

If that description seems kind of weird, it’s because it is. The entire film is a bizarre, almost surreal, experience that makes me wonder what sort of drugs director Fruit Chan (yes, that’s his name) was taking during the writing and direction of the flick. The film seems to hold no cohesive tone, wildly veering from one tone to the other without warning. A sub par action movie at first, Invincible Dragon ping pongs between soap opera and comedic dark comedy the entire 99 minute run time. I was actually shocked at the ineptness of the dialog as it comes across like watching an episode of 1980s Young and the Restless more than a capable Hong Kong action movie. Silva isn’t exactly an actor, but we’re not here for his acting, but rather his fight scenes. Unfortunately some herky-jerky editing makes even the fights feel odd and off putting. There’s a nifty acrobatic fight on a runaway train that is pretty cool, but other than that, this film just fails to deliver on just about every front.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Usually on foreign films I get nothing about what cameras were used and what resolution the master is, but luckily we have some online information for once! It seems that Invincible Dragon is shot with Arri Alexa cameras and finished at 2K for the home video release, ending up with an excellent looking 2.39:1 framed Blu-ray. The colors lean towards that ash gray that is so popular in Asian cinema, coupled with a little bit of olive green and yellow hues thrown in. Colors can be flat and desaturated in some scenes, while others (like the gym where Silva’s character trains) shows off some bright and warm looking primary shades. Fine details are superb, with the image showing every crease in Zhang’s aging face, and plenty of detail on background objects. I DID notice that the CGI was rather dodgy during the fight scenes (and of course the dragon), but overall a very pleasing looking transfer.









Audio:

Now the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track (no English Dub) is a true stunner, with a kinetic sounding mix that doesn’t let go of the listener till the credits roll. The film has ample time to make for a wildly immersive mix, with Kow Loon starting the film off with a John Woo style gun fight, and his constant battles against Silva’s character make for lots of 3D immersive sounds. Surrounds are active constantly during the fights, as well as just translating all of the city sounds as Loon wanders around Macau. The heavy Chinese rock music is full and rich, lifting up the sound stage and adding quite a bit of bass into the mix. Dialog is above reproach, with everything crystal clear. Sometimes a bit TOO clear for my taste, as Silav’s nasally voice can be kind of grating to hear.







Extras:

• U.S. Trailer
• International Trailer
• Well Go USA Previews

Final Score: ​

I really don’t know what to make of Invincible Dragon. It’s a movie that just can’t seem to find it’s own niche, and I’m not sure it even knows what niche it’s trying to film. The whole “dragon” sub plot comes across as laughably bad, and the romance sub plot between Kow Loon and Dr. Wong was awkwardly forced. In fact, the whole thing just feels forced because very little is explained even though the entire film has a forced narrator from one of his other cop buddies that fills in all the details. It’s kind of like watching a paint by the numbers story on film, with just as much smoothness and nuance. The Blu-ray itself is more than capable with good video and audio, but the movie itself just can’t seem to get that 2nd or 3rd cylinder running, instead just limping along on a trail of disconnected ideas and slapped together scenarios. Skip it is my personal recommendation.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jin Zhang (Max Zhang), Anderson Silva, Kevin Cheng, Annie Liu, JuJu Chan
Directed by: Fruit Chan
Written by: Fruit Chan, Kee-To Lam
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Cantonese: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Cantonese DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Mandarin (Simplified)
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 99 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 6th, 2020

Recommendation: Skip It