2019 / 119m - China
Drama, Action
3.5*/5.0*
The Opera House poster

Watches

April 04, 2021

3.5*/5.0*

Director Jacob Cheung too made the jump to China, like so many of his Hong Kong compatriots. He comes with a rather classic drama that digs into the history of China's traveling stage troupes, a topic China likes to revisit once in a while. Not my favorite material, but Cheung's attempt isn't all that bad.

We follow a son whose father wants him to follow in his footsteps, promoting the Eight Trigram Palm martial arts. The boy obliges, but when he comes into contact with Peking opera he wants to pursue his dream. His father isn't too happy with his choices, but the boy can't help but follow his dream.

Cheung has an eye for beauty, which is a big asset for a film like this. Add some very nice martial arts scenes and you have a good, solid basis for the drama to thrive on, even when it's all quite predictable. The soundtrack isn't too overbearing and performances are decent, it's no true masterpiece though as there's not enough to set it apart from similar films.