An Exercise In Nonsense

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

This movie is the story about a man that is passionate about dancing and it's basically his dream to be a ballroom dancer. The director picked a good actor for this role which is Jang Hyuk who is an actor that is passionate no matter what role he takes. And it really shows in this with his dancing and all. I am not a fanatic when it comes to these types of dancing but the build up is good enough to make me care about the protagonist and what he is going through. Especially since his character is very peaceful one. The main plot of this movie revolves around the protagonist named Tay Kwan...Glad there is no "Do" at the end and his relationship with father and his female dancing instructor who is also passionate about dancing. And also bonds with through dancing. But a bit of a conflict comes in when the dancing instructor's ex-boyfriend gets in the picture, although he isn't a real bad guy, he is forceful, aggressive and a bit of a bully. And the character is played by Jason Scott Lee which is another great choice because he brings this presence of masculinity and charisma to make him somewhat likable. Even if his character has a forceful exterior he can be a wuss. Since I believe if a man loves somewhat he should try to win her heart even if there is competitors after that person as well. Instead of trying to bully or try to get rid of the competitors. But that is my thought anyways. Also Tay has a difficult time accomplishing his dream because of financial reasons. Jang Hyuk still slightly speaks English with a bit of Korean accent like in "Please Teach Me English" except not as bad. But because of his circumstance in the movie, it makes it work. This is a good romantic dance movies that has to do with the passion of dancing and a bit of rivalry even if the build up is a bit slow at times. It's a well made movie with some good build up that shows the distance some people would go even if they have to risk a lot to accomplish their dream.7.2/10

I disagree with most of the other reviewers. Dance of the Dragon is a terrible, terrible movie. It is all form and little substance, like one long beer commercial. Too much emphasis is given to making the movie look pretty. This indulgence would not have been so painful if the rest of the movie lived up to the cinematics and incessant, evocative score.The lead characters are vacuous and 1-dimensional, spouting lines that could be written by teenagers for a bad school play. There is little to no screen chemistry between them, and the film editing makes it hard to believe some of them can even dance (my guess is they cannot).Nothing about the movie seems grounded in anything meaningful, even clinically clean Singapore is crassly reinterpreted. The characters appear to have found a nook in modern Singapore caught in a 1930s time warp. One gaffe is the portrayal of a dingy public toilet, there is no such thing in Singapore!It is unfortunate that the director provides such a cursory and unrealistic rendition of the film's location when there is so much more unspoken commentary to explore. If moss-stained walls and run down furnishing was the intended setting, then the film should have been set in true-to-life Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur. Please reference Tsai Min- Liang's I Don't Want to Sleep Alone. Perhaps the most unforgivable flaw of this film is its inability to evoke any excitement or deeper comprehension for the world of Dance. It could be argued that the film is about the pursuit of dreams, not about dance per se. All the best movies about dancing were also about the pursuit of dreams, and much much more (Flashdance, Strictly Ballroom, Saturday Night Fever, Billy Elliot). Even Kung-Fu Panda showed us more about kung-fu than this movie did with dance.For a film with the word 'dance' in its title, the glaring omission of anything remotely informative about dance itself is a real shame. Again, form trumped substance, and where we could have passionate dialogue expounding the hidden philosophies of dance, instead we were treated to one Korean pretty boy flexing biceps in slow motion. The directors treatment of the film's driving point was much like his treatment of the film's location: cursory and superficial. I just don't see people signing up in droves for dance lessons after watching this film.Ultimately this movie's undoing was in taking itself too seriously, its pretension only served to magnify all its obvious shortcomings. As far as pretty Asian cinema is concerned, far more capable directors have made far better films: Wong Kar Wai, Shunji Iwai, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang.

This movie is draggy, dour, poorly-scripted, badly-acted and an all round disappointment.Let's talk about the plot. We have loopholes throughout, like how the father of the protagonist knew his address in Singapore, why the money box contained exactly the same amount of won it did twenty years ago, and why Jason Scott Lee (Cheng) would even agree to be part of this trash. The entire plot revolves around some contrived love triangle that is sparked off by Cheng's jealousy of Tae dancing with his wife, which we're led to believe is unacceptable, despite the fact that she's a dance instructor and dance with male students is what she does for a living. So what's a martial arts champion to do about her wavering loyalties? I know, why not challenge him to a martial arts competition, seeing as to how he's a male ballroom dancer and kung fu would be the fairest gauge of who the better man is.Let's talk about the acting. Fann Wong has all of two emotions: sad, and very sad. Jason Scott Lee has all of two emotions: angry, and very angry. Hyuk Jang has all of one emotion: confused. That's five emotions over 111 minutes, over, and over, and over, and over again.Let's talk about the musical score. So you have the constant drone of classical music, which makes the movie extremely draggy. The viewer, fortunately, gets treated to two reprieves from the ubiquitous ballroom dancing soundtrack - once, during a ridiculous choreographed kung fu-off sequence where angry drums are banged, and at the movie's end where the couple actually ballroom dances to a techno remix of Enrique Iglesias' Hero. I can't be making this stuff up.Let's talk about... no, let's just not talk about this movie anymore.

This movie cannot be appreciated by those of a superficial nature. It is a profound drama with tales of romance and passion. Most of the show consists of scenes with the main characters in deep thought, leaving much of these thoughts to the viewer's imagination. In line with the typical Korean drama, this show may seem slow-moving but in actual fact is rich in emotions which one must delve deep into to understand. The three main actors have put on stunning performances, with Fann Wong still looking fabulous at her age. Her part as an ex-champion and dance instructor comes across most aptly through the pain one can notice in her eyes. Jang Hyuk does a very convincing portrayal of Tae, with his deep passion for dance able to successfully strike a chord in viewers. The soundtrack for the final scene was very appropriately selected, with fitting and moving lyrics. Beautiful cinematography. Good art-house fare.