On That Night... While We Dream

Gong Shou Dao - Official Film

Gong Shou Dao - Official Film

It is a trailer of all martial arts legends who are defeated by only man. (In fact it is impossible !) It should have been better to make a full length movie with logical story line. 4 stars from me only and of course for my 4 all time favourite martial art stars Tony Jaa, Jing Wu, Donnie Yen and Jet Li.

"Gong shou dao" or "Guardians of Martial Arts" is a new Chinese Mandarin-language movie from this year (2017) that is not even a month old. It runs for 23 minutes only and was written and directed by prolific actor Zhang Wen. The main character is played by Jack Ma, but the fact that he is called Master Ma says a lot about the film already. It is definitely on the pretentious side and not just a bit. Those who don't know: Ma is a super rich investor from China and no surprise that with all his money he got several big names to show up in here, such as Jet Li, Manny Pacquiao and some others that may sound more familiar to people with a bigger interest in martial arts (films) than myself. Some more successful athletes in here except Manny it seems. No surprise Ma managed to get them in as he could virtually pay every price they'd ask for. Anyway, we have Ma here in the center of the story showing us his skills and beating up the bad guys most of the time. I read that Ma really has an affiliation with martial arts, so it is even more disappointing how weak this one turned out and it will encourage the critics saying that the world of film (at least as an actor) is nothing for the financial genius. They may be right. This one here gets a thumbs-down from me and I suggest you skip it.

This movie just like playing clash of clan game, the more u pay the power u are. Jack Ma want to fulfilled his dreams by paying the kungfu superstar to act in his movie which is meaningless. Every punch he threw can't kill an ant , and can feel everyone try to hold back afraid of hurting him. The slowmo fighting scene show every weakness in it, Jackma acting so stiff that I can't even look for 3v second.I know Jackma is super rich but please use the money for meaningful purpose like Elon musk.

Jack Ma has become one of the most wealthiest man in the world, thanks to his venture creating Alibaba. He often said that he regrets becoming so wealthy because now he's constantly getting hassled by sharks and what not... Well, he decided to fulfil one of this dream, probably one shared by many martial art fans: filming a short movie about him exchanging blows with many high profile martial artists, directed by the top 3 fight choreographers and finishing it with a duet with one of the most talented female singer in the world. And he shared it for free on Youku. My opinion on this? Well, this is really just something Jack Ma wanted to do for fun, nothing serious. It's only interesting if you know Chinese media quite well and can recognise all those famous people from Asia and their trademark moves. It's just a shame that Jack Ma didn't use this budget and expand it to create a real feature film starring all those big names and him remaining as a producer. Well, at least the film series SPL (Kill Zone in the US, the third instalment being titled Paradox) partly fulfilled this dream.

ON THAT NIGHT... WHILE WE DREAM is presented as a martial arts showcase from China, starring the billionaire businessman Jack Ma as a Tai Chi expert who challenges and battles a number of martial arts masters in a bid for supremacy. It comes across as a vanity project, if I'm honest, and there's nothing likable about the smug Ma at all. However, this 20 minute effort is still worth a look for the fans. The fight themselves have good choreography, which you'd expect when Yuen Woo-ping and Sammo Hung are doing them. Secondly, a series of genuine greats including Tony Jaa, Wu Jing, Donnie Yen, and an ailing Jet Li all show up, and I'm happy to see them on screen whatever they're appearing in.

If you have so much money, this is what you do, make yourself look good, inflate your ego, make everybody a yes man. Jack Ma came a long way, he said that many years ago he couldn't get any job because he was very poor and very ugly. Now that he made it. It's time to show it to the world. Everybody is arrogant is some way. Some people is just wiser, cunning and subtle in expressing it. But make no mistake about it, this movie is all about his Jack Ma's ego.

So many big names, but in the end it's just a martial arts fan business magnet's wet dream. No wonder the martial arts former & new gen stars gathered here for hefty paycheck. Story is written by a 7years old in a school project & he got an C+. Fight sequences are choppy & heavily edited to hide the flaws of Mr. Ma. Neither an action nor a comedy, this is a close to a hot mess. Only redeeming thing is the legends. It's fun to see so many great actors & fighters came together to work in one movie. I wish, Mr. Ma would spend some of the budget to hire a writer. Maybe then this garbage wouldn't look like a Self obsessed & deluded rich martial arts fan's dump. Specially when he goes to a brothel or something & all the girls saying to each other how handsome he is! That part is cringe worthy. Maybe I'd make a movie with all these stars if I had the money, but my movie would have a story or massage & definitely wouldn't be so shamelessly self promoting. Mr. Ma, you have to start paying the people to write good reviews for your movie. (knock me with your offer to change mine ;) haha)

Seriously... what is the point of this so called movie?