Sakra is a hot mess that tries to cram too much story into one movie but it’s a lot of fun and Donnie Yen gets to look cool from start to finish since he also directed it.
Sakra is the latest wuxia movie not only starring but also directed by Donnie Yen, his first directorial project since the 1998 Hong Kong hitman thriller Ballistic Kiss. It’s a curious hot mess that’s both highly ambitious and not ambitious enough, but still loads of fun to watch. “Sakra” is a Buddhist term from Sanskrit that means “powerful,” which is an apt title for the movie and its hero.
Sakra is the latest adaptation of Jin Yong, aka Louis Cha’s epic wuxia novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. This popular series has been adapted numerous times into movies and television. The film attempts to squeeze over 1,500 pages worth of story into a single feature in just over two hours, making it a mess. The plot moves at breakneck speed, barely pausing to register an emotional beat when a character is killed or a new twist is trotted out. It’s a throwback to Hong Kong movies of the 1980s and 1990s with their breathless pace as if they don’t want audiences to get bored. That means there’s not a single dull moment in the whole movie. Donnie Yen’s virtuous hero goes from the happy-go-lucky leader of the Beggar’s Sect, rescuing people in trouble and making friends, to getting framed for the murder of his adopted parents, his former master at the temple and going on the run with an ailing spy he promises to heal that he falls in love with to uncovering the origins of his birth and a plot to overthrow the Song Dynasty. There’s a reason the television series versions of this book could comfortably last over forty episodes without breaking a sweat. There are easily five seasons’ worth of story in the book. The emotional beats land just long enough for you to notice they’re there before rushing off to the next plot beat, which is actually normal for Hong Kong action movies but also makes this movie a hot mess, but a fun hot mess.
Sakra is All About Donnie Yen Looking Cool
Donnie Yen said he wanted to direct because he felt there were new ways to tell a story and new ways to portray wuxia action. The latter is the reason you want to see this movie. There’s no denying that Yen has an impeccable eye for where to place the camera, how long to hold a shot during a fight scene, and when to cut from a wide shot showing fighters in action to close-ups to highlight the impact of their blows and kicks. He’s nothing if not a stylish director, and working with a team co-headed by Kenji Tanigachi, one of the best sword and martial arts directions in the world now, they create ambitious setpieces and images that you haven’t seen before with a combination of real fights, wire work, and CGI. Don’t worry; that horse he kicked across the screen is CGI. Hopefully, of course, Donnie Yen looks cool in this movie. It’s his movie; he gets to look cool in it as much as he wants. What’s the point of directing if he doesn’t do that?
Sakra is flawed for trying to cram way too much story into a single movie, but it’s a lot of fun to watch. It’s a throwback to classic Hong Kong wuxia movies with slicker and faster action, and that’s really what you’re here for.
Sakra is now out on VOD and Blu-Ray.
Sakra
Review by Adi Tantimedh
7/10
A flawed Wuxia mini-epic that tries to cram over 1,500 pages of a famous book into a two-hour movie but it’s never dull, is endlessly entertaining and Donnie Yen, as director, makes himself look cool from start to finish, which is not a bad thing at all.
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