Starring: Wu Chun, Han Geng, Barbie Hsu Hsi-yuan Director: Gao Xiaosong Category: IIA (Cantonese and Putonghua)
Blending martial arts action with a revenge plot and a femme fatale story, My Kingdom is a mildly entertaining movie that is let down by poor direction and mediocre acting.
Set in the 1920s, the movie stars heartthrobs Han Geng and Wu Chun as Erkui and Yilong, two disciples of opera maestro Master Yu (Yuen Biao) who is forced into retirement after losing to Master Yue (Yu Rongguang), an opera warrior from Shanghai, in a duel.
Years later, the two men exact revenge for their master and by doing so become the bosses of Shanghai's largest opera troupe, from which the leading actress Mulan (Barbie Hsu) is secretly plotting to win back the title of Da Wu Sheng ('the greatest stage fighter') for Yue, her toppled master and secret lover.
The plot has almost everything, from opera performances, kung fu fights, sex scandals, assassinations to romance. Yet director Gao Xiaosong fails to fuse these plot elements into a coherent whole and the film eventually loses focus and momentum. Wu (above right with Han) and Han's acting is also a major letdown. The duo's efforts are laudable, but their performances are more about posing than acting. Their facial expressions and body language scream for attention, but their dialogue feels forced.
Hsu's flat delivery of her lines suggest that she only knows her character skin deep. It is a slight disappointment because given her performance in Reign of Assassins, Hsu's Barbie-like looks and non-expressive acting could combine to make her a perfect femme fatale. This time her character is simply too sentimental to be an attraction.