Donnie Yen serves up ferocious fighting and not much else in this tepid remake
of Bruce Lee's Big Boss. Third in the Donnie Yen canon is the most coherent,
but most mundane. A reworking of Bruce Lee's Big Boss, it's easily the most
accessible Yen film, proving that the man can tell a story. Sadly, there isn't
much of a story to tell. There is no suspense or true feeling for this film or
its characters. Donnie Yen is a ferocious fighter, but a rather bland leading
man. Athena Chu is sweet and cute (probably the best actor out of the cast),
but seemingly fourteen years-old at times. The fights are well-choreographed,
but everything between them is next to unbearable. As a result, Shanghai
Affairs is pretty disappointing and even the good action can not redeem it.
65%
=
17.5