Woah i didn't know it would be a trilogy...
I absolutely HATE chinese Wuxia ("kung-fu" epics) with exaggerated freakishness, and I'm pretty sure I would scoff at any western attempt at it in film, but I have to say, HS doesn't look utterly crappy. The problem w/ Wuxia movies is that it's ALWAYS style over substance. Movie goers are so seduced by the exotic cinematography and terrible "dance" kung fu choreography (the one Wuxia movie w/ decent choreography throughout is crouching tiger), they just itch to look for meaning where meaning doesn't exist. Hero introduced a philosophical debate, but went as deep as a 6th grader might. Melodrama then completely eats the debate that wasn't all that interesting in the first place. I don't even know what the point of house of the flying daggers was.
Anyway, as far as i've seen of Heavenly Sword, it doesn't try to be TOO asian. The fighting is also not the crappy "elegant dance" that is wuxia action scenes. It looks pretty brutal, and nariko sounds pretty aggressive when she fights. I can see Heavenly Sword becomming a staple and reference point for future action games that are similar. As an IP, it sure beats the stuffing out of Ninja Gaiden.
Anyway, what i'm trying to say is that Heavenly Sword has taken something from the mainstream, and just sprinkled it on top of a core that is just an action game. I can't see this formula being shaken up too much in the future.
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