[新聞] Here come the kickers

看板DanielWu (吳彥祖)作者chrys (落空的心不須念舊)時間19年前 (2005/05/06 13:48)推噓0(0推 0噓 0→)

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Here come the kickers There's a changing of the guard among Hong Kong's hottest action stars BY ETHAN SACKS Stephen Chow took a leap of faith in making 'Kung Fu Hustle.' Like many kids growing up in Hong Kong in the 1970s, future actor/director Step hen Chow dreamed of being the next Bruce Lee. Now, all these years later, Chow is living out his fantasy. "Kung Fu Hustle," written, directed and starring Chow - who is equal parts come dian and action hero - opens here on Friday. Set in pre-revolutionary China, it 's the story of a bumbling thief who matures into a kung fu master. Occasional Looney Tunes-inspired CG sequences aside, the movie is a throwback to the class ic movies of Chow's childhood. "What I'm trying to send to the audience is the spirit of martial arts," Chow t old the Daily News last week. "It's a very traditional way of Hong Kong kung fu movies, and I just want to bring it back." Chow's movie, which has wire-work choreography by Wo Ping Yuen ("The Matrix," " Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), has already shattered Hong Kong box-office re cords. Last week, the film won the city's equivalent of the Best Picture Oscar. Chow's fulfillment of his dream may have come at the best possible time for Hon g Kong cinema. The industry has reeled in recent years from the defection of ta lent like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chow Yun Fat to Hollywood, as well as from ra mpant DVD piracy and the devastating economic effects of the 2003 SARS epidemic . Worse still, local audiences now seem to favor schmaltzy romantic comedies. An action movie revival is in full swing, however. Even Chan, burned in recent years by successive Hollywood clunkers, is back making movies in the city where he started. Here are some of the actors who stayed on to prove action cinema is alive and k icking in Hong Kong. STEPHEN CHOW He's the first to admit that he's more adept at "Mo Lei Tau" (his "nonsense" co medy style) than kung fu. Nevertheless, he trained for a year to pull off his f ight sequences in "Kung Fu Hustle," which succeeded his previous movie, "Shaoli n Soccer," as the No. 1 hit in Hong Kong cinema history. "I don't think I'm an action star. At least I'm not as good as Bruce Lee," Chow says. But then Lee didn't earn a black belt in comic timing. THE TWINS Gillian Chung (far left) and Charlene Choi — Hong Kong's answer to the Japanes e pop duo Puffy — have become the largest phenomenon in both the local music a nd movie industries. Watching the perky singers' wire work in their 2003 breakt hrough film, "The Twins Effect," required a heavy suspension of disbelief, but they're a superhot casting choice now. "The Twins Effect" producer Bey Logan says Choi, 22, "is the more accomplished actress" of the pair, while Chung, 24, "is poised to be the next queen of actio n." It's a title she may earn with a martial-arts heavy role in the upcoming "H ouse of Fury." ANDY LAU Whereas it takes Stephen Chow about three years to make a movie, pop music icon Andy Lau, 43, has churned out action movies at a steady clip of four or five a year since he broke into the business in the mid '80s. American audiences may recognize him from the Chinese epic "House of Flying Dag gers" and the recent thriller "Infernal Affairs" (pictured, l., with Tony Leung , r.). That exposure makes the hard-working Lau "the most respectable actor in Hong Ko ng," says Linda Lai, professor of film history at the City University of Hong K ong. TONY LEUNG CHIU-WAI Tony Leung's quiet performance in Wong Kar-Wai's "In the Mood for Love" — whic h won him the best actor award at Cannes in 2000 — revealed his depth as a rom antic leading man. He is more familiar, though, as the dynamic action star of John Woo's "Hard-Boi led" and Zhang Yimou's "Hero" — and he looks cool wielding a gun or a sword. H aving won a Hong Kong Film Award for his performance in Wong's "2046" (opening here in August), Leung will next be seen in the action comedy "Seoul Raiders." NICHOLAS TSE The most popular new action star, Nicholas Tse, 24, the son of a veteran Hong K ong actor, is best known for making pop hits. A sign of his growing clout was his casting as Jackie Chan's co-star in last ye ar's "New Police Story," the latest installment in Chan's popular franchise. "After 1997, there was a dearth of stars to take over for the actors who left," says David Leong, news editor for the Web site kfccinema.com. "What Hong Kong does is go through their hopper of pop stars and try to make them movie stars, and Nicholas Tse rode that crest." DANIEL WU American-born Daniel Wu, 30, demonstrated his dramatic range in last year's "On e Nite in Mongkok." More important, he can fight, having studied martial arts s ince he was a child in San Francisco. First discovered by Jackie Chan — who ca st him as the villain in "New Police Story" — Wu is being tipped as the next b ig Hong Kong action superstar. SIMON YAM A veteran of 25 years — and 120 films — in the movie business, 50-year-old Si mon Yam has gone from gun-wielding lead or villain to gun-toting character acto r. Bey Logan, who is producing Yam's next action film, "Dragon Squad," calls him t he Michael Caine of Hong Kong. "On his day, he's as good as anybody out there, but he appears in a lot of crap in the meantime," Logan says. SHU QI Since the legendary Michelle Yeoh rarely makes action films now, the best femal e roles are divvied up among actresses willing to show off their legs. Taiwanes e ex-nude model Shu Qi, who turns 29 this month, may be the best of the bunch, though her career peaked three years ago with the Luc Besson-produced B-movie " The Transporter." Originally published on April 3, 2005 -- 聽風的歌... 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