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Painted Skin

(PG)

Release Date: 26th September 2008 (Showtimes)
Language: Mandarin
Running Time: 103 mins
Genre: Action / Fantasy
Director: Gordon Chan
Cast: Betty Sun, Vicki Zhao Wei, Donnie Yen Ji Dan, Zhou Xun, Zhao Wei. (Full Cast)
Local Distributor: Golden Village Pictures

User Rating: (82)

Overview
Cast
Reviews (15)

Terror strikes a town when people start turning up dead with their heart ripped out clean. Suspicion centres around a mysterious woman named Xiao Wei (Zhou Xun) who was taken in by army general Wong (Chen Kun). Soon, his wife Pei Rong (Vicki Zhao Wei) and his one-time close ally Pang Long (Donnie Yen) realise that she is indeed an evil jinn-like demon who has fallen in love with the general. Seeking to expose the demonic seductress, they realise that it can all only end in conquering love and hate through wisdom and sacrifice.

Latest Review

THIS is HK's Bid for the Oscars? Fuggedaboudit

Reviewer: minxiu | Mar 30,2009 3 people found this review helpful

What I loved most: Zhou Xun & Zhao Wei

What I really hated: Donnie Yen's painful attempts at humor

Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei elevate their roles above and beyond what's on the page, providing a compelling emotional hook. Too bad that only comes to the fore in the third act, far too late to rescue the mediocre fare that's around it.

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Actors

Betty Sun
Vicki Zhao Wei
Donnie Yen Ji Dan
Zhou Xun
Zhao Wei
Qi Yuwu
Chen Kun
Donnie Yen

Director

Gordon Chan

User Reviews | Cinema Review

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1 - 4 of 15

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Boring Movie Of the year

Reviewer: barnabaskoh | Mar 30,2009 1 people found this review helpful

What I loved most: Cannot think of any..

What I really hated: Boring story line..boring action..slow..

It was one of those most boring shows that i have ever watch..i was expecting some good liao zai storyline but ended up that the story line was boring and slow...my friends even fell asleep while watching..the action part was also a failure..in short very disappointed with the movie

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Overall: 1 star rating

THIS is HK's Bid for the Oscars? Fuggedaboudit

Reviewer: minxiu | Mar 30,2009 3 people found this review helpful

What I loved most: Zhou Xun & Zhao Wei

What I really hated: Donnie Yen's painful attempts at humor

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Overall: 2 star rating

great movie

Reviewer: siangal07 | Oct 23,2008 1 people found this review helpful

What I loved most: really touching

What I really hated: none

I really like the movie, it's really touching. Zhou xun is really really pretty, and had captured a lot of men's heart. lol. First time I saw Zhao wei in a different type of role, very ppor thing and all. I really liked it!

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Overall: 5 star rating

Horror turn Romance Movie

Reviewer: benson.leehk | Oct 20,2008 4 people found this review helpful

What I loved most: Nice love story

What I really hated: A mixture of here & there..

Got free tickets from My Paper for preview screening. Did not know much about this movie, poster said it was adpated from "Liao Zhai" series, so was expecting something creepy and horrifying.. For people who prefers horror movies, you are discouraged from watching this. The story was ok, not boring and tensing at many parts. With the usual Donnie Yen fighting scenes; however, this is the first time i am seeing him in a movie with comedy substance (maybe i watched far too little movies of him). He can be quite funny when you see his stern face suddenly become a smiley vegabond. The components of this movie I would say its 60% Romance, 20% Action, 10% Comedy, 10% Horror. Decide for yourself whether to watch it or not ba..

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Overall: 4 star rating

1 - 4 of 15

1 2 3 4 | Next

"Painted Skin" is a rare and successful Hong Kong attempt at marrying genres while making the most out of star appeal without forcing the story.

That's the easiest part to mess up, really - the story. So it comes as a pleasant surprise that this horror-thriller-mystery-action (what a mouthful of a movie!) turned out quite decent, never mind the fact that it is a remake of a 1966 Fong Pao movie of the same name, which is itself based on a memorable piece of Chinese literature. They kept Donnie Yen's shirt on for once (hooray!) and limited him to a few brief banters and fighting scenes, while letting pale beauties Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei do most of the drama bits.

Three cheers for director Gordon Chan, then!

However the Cantonese used in this movie is not the suitably impressive type, and if you are going for a better feel of the theme and texture, you might want to watch the Mandarin version instead. Synchronising dialogue may be easy but capturing a flavour of speech is difficult. Donnie Yen doesn't help one bit.

Back to the story - it's a simple period movie about this demonic jinn woman who falls in love with a human being. Our man is an army general who is torn between his wife and the beautiful demon but being the macho virtuous type, he chooses his wife anyway. Donnie Yen and a ghostbuster sidekick enter the fray to expose the demon but find it harder than they thought. The demon has an aide, a frog-like beast (clearly inspired by Nightcrawler of X-Men fame) who is in love with her too.

The best thing about the whole movie is the interplay between the wife and the demon - they are very intriguing and had a lot of old charm.

If you forgive the odd flying scenes and a couple of other substandard CGI assists, the technical credits for "Painted Skin" are rather impressive, especially the make-up and costumes. They might not be historically accurate but they sure are nice to look at! When the credits roll, you might think it took too long but still it's the refreshing content that makes it stand out among the other Hong Kong films this year. It can be sexy and scary at the same time. Hell it's rather romantic even.

Most of all, it gives a complete new meaning to the phrase "I'd give my heart to you". Watch it to find out!If you screwed up your face when you saw Donnie Yen on the poster, then you might find this review rather agreeable - "Painted Skin" is a rare and successful Hong Kong attempt at marrying genres while making the most out of star appeal without forcing the story.

That's the easiest part to mess up, really - the story. So it comes as a pleasant surprise that this horror-thriller-mystery-action (what a mouthful of a movie!) turned out quite decent, never mind the fact that it is a remake of a 1966 Fong Pao movie of the same name, which is itself based on a memorable piece of Chinese literature. They kept Donnie Yen's shirt on for once (hooray!) and limited him to a few brief banters and fighting scenes, while letting pale beauties Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei do most of the drama bits.

Three cheers for director Gordon Chan, then!

Back to the story - it's a simple period movie about this demonic jinn woman who falls in love with a human being. Our man is an army general who is torn between his wife and the beautiful demon but being the macho virtuous type, he chooses his wife anyway. Donnie Yen and a ghostbuster sidekick enter the fray to expose the demon but find it harder than they thought. The demon has an aide, a frog-like beast (clearly inspired by Nightcrawler of X-Men fame) who is in love with her too.

The best thing about the whole movie is the interplay between the wife and the demon - they are very intriguing and had a lot of old charm. Watching it in Mandarin is a plus point too since it adds to that charm. However, watching it in any language would not help the mediocre performance of Chen Kun, who can't fool anyone about being a private let alone an army general. His acting is rubbish and his screen persona is weak.

If you forgive the odd flying scenes and a couple of other substandard CGI assists, the technical credits for "Painted Skin" are rather impressive, especially the make-up and costumes. They might not be historically accurate but they sure are nice to look at! When the credits roll, you might think it took too long but still it's the refreshing content that makes it stand out among the other Hong Kong films this year. It can be sexy and scary at the same time. Hell it's rather romantic even.

Most of all, it gives a complete new meaning to the phrase "I'd give my heart to you". Watch it to find out!

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Painted Skin

Latest Review

THIS is HK's Bid for the Oscars? Fuggedaboudit

Actors

Director

Boring Movie Of the year

THIS is HK's Bid for the Oscars? Fuggedaboudit

great movie

Horror turn Romance Movie

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