★ 7 / 10
“Ken” (Michael Kiu Wai Miu) has been the
CinemaSerf
“Ken” (Michael Kiu Wai Miu) has been the victim of an injustice that saw him spend twenty years in jail. Now free, he has decided to avenge himself on those…
“Ken” (Michael Kiu Wai Miu) has been the victim of an injustice that saw him spend twenty years in jail. Now free, he has decided to avenge himself on those who stitched him up and so together with his daughter “Galie” (Baihe Re) and a couple of less than scrupulous cohorts he invades a top secret scientific facility and uses their time machine - which he helped develop - to return to the Qin dynasty and seize the Emperor himself. Why? Well they also have some useful technology that can scan then imitate facial features, so he reckons he can adopt the identity of the Qin and then change history. What he hasn’t factored in, though, is that the Emperor (Raymond Lam) is no pushover, nor is his mentor of twenty years “Hong” (Louis Koo) whom we discover quite quickly has a secret of his own involving this very same machine. Now back almost two and an half thousand years, and armed with state of the art technology what chance the local population can survive the onslaught of motor bikes, hover boards and of course guns - lots and lots of guns. I did quite enjoy this as it mixes the new with the ancient in quite an engaging fashion. There’s plenty of action, Koo proves to be quite an engaging battle hero, as does his son “Bowie” (Kevin Kam-Yin Chu) - yes, named after the British musician, and the gadgets are cleverly employed so as not to overwhelm the traditional elements of a Chinese society from 200-odd BC. There’s some humour from the dialogue, it rattles along entertainingly in a sort of “Dr. Who” meets the “A-Team” fashion and I suspect a sequel (or prequel) might be on the cards?
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★ 7 / 10
ack to The Past is Genre Bending Fun
tkdlifemagazine
Back to the Past is an engaging historically based, science-fiction, martial arts film coming out of China. It is a follow up the a two decade old, popular…
Back to the Past is an engaging historically based, science-fiction, martial arts film coming out of China. It is a follow up the a two decade old, popular Chinese television show, A Step into the Past. This show, featuring the same principle cast was based upon a Wong Lee novel called, The Chronicles of Searching Qin.While I never read the novel, or saw the original series I do not feel those facts hindered my understanding, or enjoyment of this larger than life film. The story is laid out coherently, and the flashbacks help support those who never saw thew original, but also act as a nostalgic reminder to those that were fans.The story picks up our cast and characters years after being stranded in the past, in the Qin Dynasty of China (around 230BC). Louis Koo picks up where the show left off. He is living a life of peace and tranquility, in hiding, and trapped in the past after traveling back in time. As the result of a time traveling mission to unseat he Emperor and take his place, Koo's tranquil life is upended as he must make unlikely alliances to stop the altering of history.Koo is a terrific, modern action star and very good actor. While I understand he had no formal martial arts training he does a great job in his films working with fight choreographers to create believable action and fights. The legendary, Sammy Hung, is the fight choreographer on this film and it works well.There is a large cast in this film, and they all do a good job. The fact that it is a period piece helps to manage expectations about some of the martial arts action, but there is some great use of the underlying time travel themes to work in guns and gadgets that are well utilized.The film, like many Chinese films, has a strong message. This film warns about the dangers of trying to change history. The premise being that we, as mortals, may be just playing out the parts that have been written for us. Whether you accept that or not, it still is a good movie.I recommend Back to the Past. See this in theaters, but see it again when it gets released on demand and digitally.
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★ 7 / 10
Fun continuation of TVB (tv) series from Hong Kong
justinemj
The movie continues from 20yrs+ after the tv series from TVB ended with returning main casts like Louis Koo, Jessica Hsuen, Raymond Lam (emperor), Sonija Kwok…
The movie continues from 20yrs+ after the tv series from TVB ended with returning main casts like Louis Koo, Jessica Hsuen, Raymond Lam (emperor), Sonija Kwok and some new characters.There are some technologies that are more advanced than what we have currently, so these are part of the "fantasy/sci-fi" story.The rapport and chemistry between Louis & Jessica are more apparent in their interviews than in the movie.For people who had watched the original tv series, they would experience nostalgia as there are some TV and behind the scenes from the past.Some comedy, action (fighting scenes were so so only and explosion scene felt like CGI) and family/loyalty scenes. Raymond improved his wooden acting and he's quite convincing as the Emperor. The ladies were not given enough weight as the movie focuses more on the 2 main male leads.There's alternative ending and surprise from another character so maybe we'll see another movie in the future?
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40%
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AUDIENCE
· 100 ratings
6.0/10
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720p please.