Sakra - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Sakra



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Donnie Yen is akin to Tom Cruise in many ways. While Tom Cruise is one of the last remaining Hollywood super stars (the movie world no longer spins around stars, but franchises), Donnie Yen is one of the last few remaining martial arts superstars from the Hong Kong heyday. Jackie Chan is mostly retired, Jet Li had to step away due to health issues, Sammo Hung has problems physically with his roles, and Donnie is pretty much the last of the greats still making large name films in the world of Chinese martial arts. That being said, he’s had his share of stinkers over the year, and the last 5-8 years has been rather hit or miss. But I was more than intrigued when I saw that he was starring in a massive budget Wuxia film once more (where the 59 year old plays a 30 year old hero) and the trailer had me very interested in in. Will it be great? Or will it be just another mainland Chinese flick (which are a HUGE step down from the independent Hong Kong films of the 80s, 90s and early 2000s)?

As a little background, the novel that this film was based on was penned by Jin Yong in serialized form from 1963 to 1966. Yong is often cited as one of Hong Kong’s greatest and most prolific writers, and the story has become something of a legend in the Hong Kong writing world. Now, that being said, I’ve never read Yong’s work, and am simply taking this film based upon my initial virgin impressions on it, and can’t really say how faithful it is to the source. Unfortunately Yen gives a very solid performance, only for a messy and middlingly written script hampering a lot of his efforts.

The Liang and Song empires are warring against each other, and Qiao Feng (the leader of the “Beggar’s Gang”) is incidentally involved in that war. Orphaned as a child and enlisted into the Khitan rebels, Qiao rises to the rank of leader, only for his entire world to come crashing down when he’s accused of murdering his best friend. With everyone taking the wife of his dead best friend’s side, Qiao is forced to give up his role as “king of the beggars” and clear his name. Only thing is, it starts to get way worse before it gets better. The rumor of his “murders” has already spread like wildfire, so when he comes across the corpse of his parents he is assumed to be the murderer. Adding insult to injury he goes to visit his old Shaolin master only for he ALSO to end up dead (and of course Qiao blamed for the murder). Now, the only person who sees him as a hero is a young thief, and a mysterious ally who very well can help him unravel this entire mystery.

Sakra is a weird amalgamation of Wuxia, fantasy, and an old fashioned mystery (though not as gumshoe as something like the Detective Dee series), and has a lot going for it. The flick is probably one of the biggest productions of the last 10 years, with gorgeous Wuxia style wire work and period piece sets, and some amazing fight scenes. Yen at 59 years old (though he’s hilariously playing someone half his age) has not lost a single beat. He’s fast, athletic and still can pull off the stunts and fight scenes without missing a beat. It’s really the script that has some problems. The film stumbles around a good bit, inserting hokey 1980s dialog imitations, and some stupid plot points that are only there to make Qiao’s journey harder.

However, this isn’t the end of the world, but just rather hampering this from being something legendary. The action is stunning, the plot (hokey as it may be) is methodical and carefully crafted to show the more investigative elements in the latter half. As such, it’s one of those films that I have a hard time putting a solid rating on it, simply because I can see both the bad and the good in it. As such, it hovers in that middle ground rating where I enjoyed what I watched, but also had some severe frustrations with how the story played out and the quality of the writing.




Rating:

Rated R for violent Content




Video:

Like usual, there’s not a whole ton of information about the master used for this flick (I always guess 2K on these releases, but wouldn’t shock me if this was a 4K captured master considering that this was shot using RED cameras). Either way, things look FANTASTIC on Blu-ray. Tons of colors are present, with a rich earthy tone to it that is typical of Wuxia films. I actually didn’t notice the typical heavy banding from Well Go USA releases, and instead only noticed it in a few instances. There’s some minor black crush, but other than that this is a stunning looking release with great details and a lusciously vivid visual color grading. Excellent watch by all accounts.









Audio:

Sakra comes to Blu-ray with a rather impressive list of audio options, including Mandarin and English DTS-HD MA tracks, as well as an original Cantonese Atmos track (which is by far the best dub). Said Atmos track is very vigorous and expansive, with a lot of dimensionality. Action sends the surrounds into high gear, especially in the gigantic battle royale fight against Qiao in the temple. Bass is deep and rich, with heavy hits and some really impressive extension on more than a few shots (I’m guessing mid teens easy). Dialog is crisp and clean up in the front of the room, and outside of a few scenes where I felt voices could get lost, this is a great mix.












Extras:

• Making of
• Theatrical Trailer
• Well Go USA Previews

Final Score: ​

As stated, Sakra is interesting. On one hand it is a huge spectacle of a film with Donnie Yen having almost as fun as he was in Dragon Tiger Gate (another film where he played someone half his real age with a wig on), but on the other hand I can understand why I was frustrated with the scripting. The Blu-ray from Well Go USA is stunning though, with amazing video and audio (a REALLY nice Cantonese Dolby Atmos track), but the typical lackluster extras that we’ve come to expect. Personally, I’d give it a watch if you’re a Martial arts and/or Wuxia fan.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Donnie Yen, Yuqi Chen, Cya Liu, Yase Liu
Directed by: Ka-Wai Kam, Donnie Yen
Written by: He Ben, Louis Cha, Chen Li
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Cantonese: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), Mandarin, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Mandarin, English DD 2.0
Subtitles: English Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional)
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: R
Runtime: 130 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 13th, 2023

Recommendation: Decent Watch