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Cast: Donnie Yen, Eva Huang, Wang Baoqiang, Simon Yam, Mark Wu, Gregory Wong
A Ming Dynasty palace guard - wrongly accused of a murder - is being hunted by his three sworn brothers and all four get accidentally buried and kept frozen in time during a battle. 400 years later, they are defrosted and continue the battle while adjusting to modern day life. A Ming Dynasty palace guard - wrongly accused of a murder - is hunted by three sworn brothers bent on revenge. All four are accidentally buried, frozen in time at the height of battle. 400 years later, they are defrosted and resume their mortal struggle…while also adjusting to modern-day life.
"Iceman" is a remake to the 1989 Asian film, "Iceman Cometh" which stared Biao Yuen. Like the original film "Iceman" is a fantasy/Sci-fi with plenty of action, romance and some laughs along the way as well.
I am not a fan of remakes but I did like the idea of this remake for two reasons, One being they could of made the film much larger production wise with bigger stunts and better special effects which the did. Secondly the remake's lead is Donnie Yen. I realize he has not been in any really good flicks in the last several years but he is always good regardless of the film he is in.
I am not going to go into major plot details because all you really need to know is written above plus the film offers a few surprises along the way so I do not want to ruin them for those waiting to see the film. This was a film I was eager to see since I really enjoyed the original and like many others out there I really enjoy watching Yen in action. For me the film was a mix of good and not so good, first off I thought the humor had a place in the film considering the plot but I thought it was a bit too corny at times. I also felt the plot as a bit of a mess at times as well but by the time the credits began to roll all that did not same to matter anymore because there was enough good things to make up for the flaws like excellent fight scenes, especially the one at the end and the effects were terrific as well.
I was hoping for a better film, I really felt it had the potential to be a real classic but it fell short but in the end I did enjoy the film a lot more than I thought I would early on. If you like Asian cinema and love wire work like I do then I recommend checking this one out. The ending is left open for a sequel which is something I would like to see. "Iceman" is available on DVD and Blu-ray with Special Features that include:
Original Language: Cantonese
Dubbed Language: English, French, Spanish
Subtitle: English, French, Spanish
Extra: Making Of, Trailer
You can order the DVD HERE and the Blu-ray HERE.
Released by Well Go USA
*** 1/4 Out Of *****