Iceman (2014)

People are voting emotionally.

Great Film overall

Good movie but grossly overrated

Fantastic!

I have been a Donnie Yen fan every since I saw him in the first Ip Man film. Now every time I see a Donnie Yen film shown locally (which is not often), I try to catch it. Last year, he shifted his fighting style from elegant Wing Chun to gritty MMA in the film called "Special ID". This year, Yen turns to fantasy fighting in "Iceman".Mainly "Iceman" was about a group of four friends who are high officials in the Imperial Guards during the Ming Dynasty. Three of them frame He Ying with conspiring with Japanese pirates, leading to his execution. As he tries to escape, he gets caught in an avalanche, gets cryogenically preserved, only to wake up in present day Hong Kong. Two of his traitor "friends" also wake up with him to continue their 400 year old fight.He Wing is a kind and helpful guy, especially to the girl who took him in, May. He even helps May with her invalid mother currently in a nursing home. He Wing is also on some sort of quest, searching for the key to the so-called Golden Wheel of Time, an ancient time machine of sorts. Furthermore there is a group of corrupt cops who are after the three frozen Ming guys to sell to a North Korean buyer. All these plot lines could not really be settled in one film, as the ending obviously pointed towards a sequel. Acting is cheesy. The comedy is lowbrow, slapstick with jokes about various body functions. The best parts of the film are still the fight scenes, even if the style was old-fashioned with a lot of obvious wire work. The climactic fight scene is the awesome three-way in the middle of a suspension bridge, with chains vs. sword vs. battle axe. Exciting stuff, though it went a bit overboard with its length.

What an age we live in. Full of amazing visionary directors, CGI that is affordable yet can still be highly effective and story telling that has evolved and can be done in so many methods. Iceman does not come from this age. It is terrible and it doesn't even seem to care. It shamelessly seduces you with big budget box art before unzipping its pants and spraying you right in the face with force of a firehose. You are taken on an odd adventure involving 4 ancient warriors who were frozen in time and emerge from the frosty slumber only to find out that it is 2014 and they still have unfinished business. Donnie Yen plays our hero Ho Ying, who is being hunted down by his three childhood friends. Ying must also find the key to an ancient Indian time machine. What is this key? Its the penis of a god. Yep.The movie (with English subtitles, as i saw it) doesn't make sense. It has odd pacing and jokes that were funny in the 70's. It also tries to force "chemistry" between the two main characters but that and all the acting comes off as stiff and cold. The CGI is sub-par for it's budget and story is badly written with dumb plot elements.However, it was funny. That being said: 1 star. terrible.

The Hong Kong Captain America puts on a good show, but leaves us either on the hook for a sequel, or scratching our heads wondering if Graham Chapman wasn't on the scripting staff.Lots of things to like about this movie, including; Donnie Yen, humor, good action, and some excellent cinematography. While the ending is somewhat unsatisfactory if this turns out to be a one-off movie,the producers are obviously trying for a Bourne Identity sort of franchise here, and I hope they succeed in making it.Lots of good work on display here. If the sequel gets made and meets the same standard, it would easily bump this rating up a point or two, and more importantly, revive interest in and sales of the original product. It has all the makings of a classic, except a complete storyline.

Honestly, I was tricked by the previous review hence i thought the movie was really bad and I went into the theater with zero expectations. But the results... were simply. Amazing. Another classic Chinese martial arts movie which will continue to be remembered for generations to come.This movie is not your typical Donnie Yen ass-kicking movie, this is a movie with a lot of feelings, touching yet Comedic. The whole cinema was laughing every few minutes and the actions were impeccable. The last fight scene is easily one of the best action scenes in the past 3 - 4 years of Movies.Donnie Yen has to pretend to be a Ming Dynasty warrior trying to fit into our 21st century, but obviously he is way too powerful physically and has to learn the ropes of adapting, and this has led to many funny moments throughout the movie. The ending in particular was very exciting, and then..boom, something unexpected happens, a plot twist and it becomes really touching where I can see people in the audience tearing.Definitely a must watch!Note: There is a part 2 coming out in October!