Movie reel

Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg

Hong Kong director Jeffery Lau, the producer of Stephen Chow's Kungfu Hustle and co-founder of Jet Tone productions with Wong Kar-wai, brings to the big screen his Chinese version of Michael Bay's blockbuster Transformer movies, Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg.

The film, which opened in cinemas this week, is set in the year 2046, when robots are invented for the purpose of serving mankind. De Ming (Alex Fong) is the first generation of the AI android created to protect the police force.

Under the supervision of Xu Dachun (Hu Jun), De begins job-training in a remote village, where his true identity is kept secret.

An assignment to capture runaway robot K-88 (Jack Wu) soon leads De and Xu into heavy battle. After K-88 explains why he no longer wants to be a robot, De is torn about his own robotic nature.

The situation is further complicated by Su Mei (Betty Su), De's female colleague who is falling for him, unaware De is also a robot.

A departure from Lau's previous works, the sci-fi romance created over the past decade featuring Chinese robots is meant to offer a new spin on classic Hollywood heroes like Spiderman and Superman. The combination of Westernized robots and Chinese kungfu fighting elements also add compelling visual effects.

Other films now showing at cinemas include:

Empire of Silver

The drama centering on a rich banker family during Imperial times is the first feature film by Taiwan-born director and writer Christina Yao. Based on the three-volume romance by Cheng Yi, the highs and lows of the Kang family reflect the profound social changes of the era. Starring popular Hong Kong singer and actor Aaron Kwok and Chinese actor Zhang Tielin and actress Hao Lei.

Sophie's Revenge

A light-hearted romantic comedy by director Jin Yimeng, Zhang Ziyi's debut movie as a both producer and actor tells the story of comic book artist Su Fei, who schemes to get her fiance back after losing him to an actress. With a $7.3 million budget, it also stars Fan Bingbing, Ruby Lin and Yao Chen.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, whose previous collaboration was the worldwide blockbuster Transformers, join forces with Spyglass Entertainment for another extraordinary action-adventure movie. From the sweltering hot Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite G.I. Joe team uses the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment to fight corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organization to prevent the rebel forces from plunging the world into chaos.

(China Daily 08/22/2009 page14)