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‘100 Yards’ Review: The Action’s Hot but the Drama’s Lukewarm in This Martial Arts Spectacle Set in 1920s Tianjin
Xu Haofeng and Xu Jenfeng’s martial arts feature sports flashy fights and fabulous costumes, but doesn’t have a particularly interesting place to go.
Now willing to violate strict codes forbidding any fighting more than 100 yards beyond academy gates, both men also begin to seek advantage by forging hitherto forbidden alliances with foreign fighters and scuzzy street gangs, such as a slingshot-wielding outfit run by a leader dressed up like a cowboy. There’s plenty of eye-catching action as An, Quan and their colorful collection of new recruits take the fight onto a recreation of Tianjin’s streets and alleys that screams “gloriously fake studio backlot.” But it’s hard to invest emotionally in the protracted series of “final” showdowns that largely consume the last 45 minutes. Though it stumbles with storytelling after the half-way mark, “100 Yards” is never less than visually and technically outstanding, with Shao Dan’s beautifully crisp and clean cinematography, Xie Yong’s stunning production design and Liang Tingting’s (“A Writer’s Odyssey”) Fashion Week-worthy costumes leading the way.
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