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Reviewed by: j.crawford
Date: 11/24/2006
Summary: enjoyable popcorn movie
Wonder Seven is, for me, an extremely entertaining movie. Having stated that, one of the most remarkable things about the film is that, in two weeks playing at the local cinemas, it only managed to take in about HK$118,000 at the box office. By early 1994, Hong Kong people had tired of wuxia films in general.
Thank goodness we live in this digital age. If we didn't, Wonder Seven would be buried deep in the darkest part of the Vault of Cinema Obscura. After his run with the Chinese Ghost Story films and the 2 Swordsman sequels, Tony Ching Siu-Tung joins forces with Hung Yan-Yan who was red hot after his success with the Once Upon a Time in China series. The result is a truly enjoyable popcorn movie as the director applies all the tricks they learned to a lightweight scenario set in the present.
Reviewer Score: 8
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Reviewed by: mrblue
Date: 09/27/2005
A group of Chinese secret agents known as "Wonder Seven" are assigned to protect a keycard that unlocks a wealth of diamonds from a group of Japanese Yakuza. They fail and are forced to become outlaws themselves as they try to save one of their own. Eventually, they join forces with one of the Yakuza to save both the card and their reputations.
Wonder Seven has some problems going for it, most notably the size of the cast. Not only do we have the Wonder Seven and the Yakuza, but also Seven's "coach" (Tsui) and his men and a few other characters to deal with. A large cast in and of itself isn't necessarily a problem, but action movies and ensemble casts normally don't mix. The film-makers here tried too hard to give all the characters depth, and while it is a noble effort, it comes at the expense of moving the story along. The film really grinds down during the expository scenes (we are "treated" to not one, but two musical montages/flashbacks during the movie) and the characters which should be the focal points of the movie (such as Yeoh's) seem almost like supporting characters instead of lead ones.
As could be expected from Ching Siu-Tung, the action scenes in Wonder Seven are well-done. But they are a bit unbelievable -- even in the wacky world of HK action films. One scene has an explosion sending an elevator shooting up a shaft, through the roof and into a helicopter. Some of the battles occur on motorcycles and the team has a somewhat silly way of calling out their moves on the bikes, much like people did in old-school kung fu movies. Thankfully, most of the kung fu and gun fighting is a little less exaggerated. I enjoy wire-fu, but with so many talented martial artists (several of the cast members were national champions in various forms of kung fu) in the film, it would seem a shame to overuse wires.
Michelle Yeoh -- as could be expected -- shines in these fights and throughout her (too few) appearances in the film; with glamorous clothes and omnipresent sunglasses, she manages to give this film a bit of much-needed class. If you're a fan of hers, then give Wonder Seven a try. Though it really isn't "her" film, she does provide the glue which manages to hold this somewhat haphazard movie together.
[review from www.hkfilm.net]
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Reviewed by: jfierro
Date: 12/21/1999
This film is not good. Li Ning leads a group of seven former orphans, who are now motorcycle-riding heroes working for the Chinese government. They are assigned to go to Hong Kong and retrieve two bankcards from American Agents gone bad. These bankcards are for a Swiss bank account containing tens of millions of dollars. Li Ning flirts with Michelle Yeoh, then realizes she's one of the bad guys, then flirts with her anyway. Lots of silly action and bad acting follow. The plot is incomprehensible, the fights are not that great, and there is very little reason to root for "The Wonder Seven". They're more annoying than wonderful. I expect a lot more from Ching Siu-Tung.
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Reviewed by: leh
Date: 12/09/1999
It's like "Swordsman" transplanted into a milieu that suddenly looks new and exciting: Sky scrapers, motor bikes, and men in suits with big guns! The plot is hard to comprehend, but in a _good_ way: the brain has to work over- time to get everything, which I find quite stimulating - just the thing I liked about Hong Kong movies when I first started watching them. I would really like to see a bunch of movies with great stunts, good story lines and interesting characters in a modern-day setting. After seeing Brigitte Lin wave her arms and send a hundred guys hurling through the air for the n:th time, it's actually great to see a well-choreographed gun fight again.
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Reviewed by: hokazak
Date: 12/09/1999
Decent action movie about a motorcycle-riding gang.
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Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999
In a time when American action movies bore even the 13 year olds to tears, this is a welcome change. A quintissential HK actioner, with engaging characters, a solid storyline and action choreography that would give any American stunt coordinator a coronary. The subtitles on the copy I saw were a comedic endeavor in and of themselves. Nevertheless, watch this and cherish the fact that somewhere on this planet, films like this can actually get made.
(9/10)
[Reviewed by Dan Liatowitsch]
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