Shadow is a cross between the genre-bending rags-to-riches/action film Dheepan (2015) and Nolan’s twisty adaptation of The Prestige. The premise is that a sword master of a certain kingdom is ailing and has enlisted the help of a hapless double to fight in a monomachia (one-on-one fight to the death with an enemy army) type match for control of an important city. The sword master must train his double in the art of a “feminine” form of fighting modeled after the way that women walk with umbrellas (??).
The first half is a bit of a snooze: not so much court intrigue as it is repetitive conversations among the various permutations of the young king, his sister, the otherwise unnamed “Madam,” Jing and Zi Yu (both played by the same actor!). The only action to speak of in that first half is a shockingly weird–to the point of being comic–fight between Jing and Zi Yu in a secret underground grotto where one man uses a long heavy bamboo stick to beat the shit out of the other who only wields an umbrella (depicted above). I strongly think that if I had seen the trailer for this film, I would’ve been gravely disappointed, because my expectations would be set so high, so I’m going to advise against looking at any promo materials ahead of seeing this movie.
If you can make it past the first half though, there’s a moment once Jing finally enters Jing City territory when Friend and I both straightened up and he said, “You have my attention.” In some of the other posters for this film, it’s already given away, so I’m not saying too much if I talk about the fact that the umbrella that Jing has been training with was just a practice weapon for the actual one he uses to fight the Yang: an umbrella made entirely of blades. Basically every scene from here on out is incredibly gory and action-packed, as if to make up for the naptime exposition of the first forty minutes all at once. There’s a moment when the heroes of our story actually slide down a hill of wet cobblestones in their blade umbrellas, using a second additional blade umbrella as cover as they fire on the enemy guards with hand-held crossbows that you can find online with the search “Slay-Ride,” and if nothing else comes from this review, I hope that’s it.
I can see how Zhang Yimou’s film was able to garner so much critical praise–it’s an example of a movie that is good because it’s different from the rest of what’s out there, even if it’s making new mistakes of its own. Come in thirty minutes late, you’ll be fine for this one.
