WireFu... Why?

[Kyp]

So I watched Hero for the first and last time last night... Could have been a pretty good movie, but I can not stand some what was done. I hate wirefu movies, such as this, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. So because somebody studies martial arts or swordsmanship in China, they can suddenly walk on water or on tree branches half an inch thick? Why do these filmmakers feel the need to make martial arts look like some kind of mystical force that grants them abilities that are impossible? It's martial arts... leave it at that. To me, it completely takes away from the movie when they do some of the things shown. Leave it realistic, and the movie can be much better, or at least try and give a reasonable explanation why they can do what they do. It makes sense in The Matrix, but not in these movies.

Hero really could have been such a great movie... but instead, I watched it and thought "That was a steaming pile of *****." Minor spoilers - Take out the wirefu, the blocking the arrows, and the 2 people taking out 3000 guards crap, and it could have been so much better. There are other smaller things as well, but those are the bigger ones that come to mind. I don't understand why these filmmakers do this, why do they add all that stuff in there that is not needed in the slightest bit, why do they want everyone to think that Chinese martial arts gives mystical powers that makes them look like Power Rangers? Please, just make it believable, and these movies could be so much better, at least in my eyes.

[FilmJerk]

I hate wirefu. Just makes the martial arts look fake

[Hypestyle]

Originally posted by Kyp
So I watched Hero for the first and last time last night... Could have been a pretty good movie, but I can not stand some what was done. I hate wirefu movies, such as this, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. So because somebody studies martial arts or swordsmanship in China, they can suddenly walk on water or on tree branches half an inch thick? Why do these filmmakers feel the need to make martial arts look like some kind of mystical force that grants them abilities that are impossible? It's martial arts... leave it at that. To me, it completely takes away from the movie when they do some of the things shown. Leave it realistic, and the movie can be much better, or at least try and give a reasonable explanation why they can do what they do. It makes sense in The Matrix, but not in these movies.

Hero really could have been such a great movie... but instead, I watched it and thought "That was a steaming pile of *****." Minor spoilers - Take out the wirefu, the blocking the arrows, and the 2 people taking out 3000 guards crap, and it could have been so much better. There are other smaller things as well, but those are the bigger ones that come to mind. I don't understand why these filmmakers do this, why do they add all that stuff in there that is not needed in the slightest bit, why do they want everyone to think that Chinese martial arts gives mystical powers that makes them look like Power Rangers? Please, just make it believable, and these movies could be so much better, at least in my eyes.

different strokes for different folks is all.. the hyper-reality of wire techniques have been around for decades now-- at one point almost exclusively the realm of hong kong cinema, but it took until the 90's to really catch on here.. i'm in favor of it.. it's changed the dynamics of movie fighting, especially for fantasy/sci-fi films.. and for 'regular' action films, something had to be done to turn things up a notch.. we're 50 years removed from the cowboy stand-punch-fall heyday...

[clrb15]

Kyp, Crouching Tiger and Hero are movies that takes place in Western Asia, where many many years ago people told stories of people who can fly and walk on walls. Therefore, don't you think that it's ok for these films to be using WireFu since western asian films have been using this technique for years? It's not until The Matrix introduced this to American Films that it became the trend in most Sci/Fi/Action Movies.

I'm sensing that you're frustrated at the films that should be using this WireFu technique, other than those who are not supposed to be using it (such as Charlie's Angels or the upcoming House of the Dead?)

As for me I'm into WireFu, ONLY if it's used wisely. Some of the movies these days only use it for show, other than Crouching Tiger or Hero where WireFu is a given since those are already set in those mythical emperial times, where people studies meditation and deep spirituality. The only movie so far that can be explained why they used WireFu is The Matrix films. That's all.........

[Seraph333]

i love wire fu