In the eye of the Storm
The Pang brothers’ highly-anticipated martial arts extravaganza blows into cinemas here today
by Chan Soo Wah
THE current stormy weather seems to herald the impending storm that is about to hit the big screen here nationwide.
(from left) Oxide, Kwok, Cheng and Danny at the press conference.
The Storm Warriors a.k.a. Fung Wan II, starring Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng, back in their roles as Cloud and Wind respectively, opens in cinemas today.
This highly-anticipated sequel to 1998’s The Storm Riders is helmed by Hongkong’s Pang brothers, screenwriters and directors Danny and Oxide, of The Eye fame.
While it may be a sequel, the only connection between both storylines are the two main characters from Ma Wing-shing’s popular comic Fung Wan.
This time around, expect more amazing CGI effects from the Fat Face Production whose works include the award-winning Recycle and The Warlords.
"The CGI effects are better than what we both imagined three or four years ago when we started this project," said Danny during a promotional trip to Kuala Lumpur last week with his brother and their leading actors.
The Storm Warriors took almost four years to make with the CGI effects alone taking 22 months to complete although shooting was wrapped up in four months in the five studios the Pangs had rented in Thailand.
The film’s budget came up to HK$1 billion (RM43.8 million), making it one of the most expensive productions in Asia.
For the two leading men, reprising their roles in the film also meant getting back into shape. After all, it has been almost 11 years since they first appeared as Wind and Cloud.
"First of all, we needed to get back into the shape we were back in 1998," said Kwok. "I thought since I have been working out, it would be less difficult for me.
"However, during the fitting sessions, the directors told me my biceps were not big enough! So I needed two weeks to beef them up and I had to carry a dumbbell with me all the time so that I could do lifts in-between filming."
It was even more difficult for Cheng as he had gained quite a bit of weight for his role in the film, Rule #1.
"Executive producer Daniel Lam gave me six months to get fit again or else I would be the ‘Fat Wind’ in the film. I trained for half a year but when I returned, they told me to tone down a little because I’d bulked up too much for the role," Cheng lamented, prompting laughter from the press.
Shooting was also not without its share of accidents and injuries. Kwok actually was struck by a nail during the tail end of the filming.
He said: "It was the scene where Cloud gets blown off by Wind, so they placed a small explosive about 12 inches from my body."
When it exploded, Kwok felt a sharp pain on his right arm. He was rushed to hospital where they found a tiny nail that was threw up by the explosive and hit his arm.
"The impact was so great that I felt like I was shot," Kwok recalled.
Cheng, too, had his share of injuries although he said they were mostly minor ones. But the most excruciating was when he aggravated his back injury sustained from his wire-hanging days.
"I actually had thoughts of pulling out from the day’s filming but coincidentally the press were around that day, so I had to continue with the shoot although it was really painful."
When asked which was the most difficult scene to shoot and the most fun, all four named the ending.
"We spent one week shooting the ending and it was really difficult," said Oxide. "The money spent on the ending alone is equivalent to the amount usually spent to make a full-length movie!"
Many will be struck by The Storm Warriors’ similarities to Hollywood movies such as 300, Sin City and even the Harry Potter series. The Pangs said they don’t deny the resemblance.
Said Danny: "Truth be told, we had no choice but to use the most advance software to make the CGI effects and it is also the software that other films like 300 used. That is why you can see the resemblance there.
"We wanted to blend local subculture, CGI and visual language into a brand new world of wuxia (martial arts), and to advance Hongkong’s movie production to the next generation."
The brothers believe that Asian movie productions can definitely make their own CGI movies without any help from the West. They just need time, money and complete dedication.
Asked if there is another instalment in the works, Danny replied: "If there is, I can assure you that you will not have to wait 11 years for The Storm Warriors 3."
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Originally Posted by GeneChing
