Unbeatable (film): Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 00:28, 16 April 2014
| Unbeatable | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Dante Lam |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | Candy Leung |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Kenny Tse |
| Edited by | Azrael Chung |
| Music by | Henry Lai |
Production companies |
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Release dates |
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| Countries |
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| Languages | Cantonese Mandarin |
| Box office | $18.54 million[1] |
Unbeatable (激戰) is a 2013 Hong Kong–Chinese film directed by Dante Lam. The film had its premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 18, 2013.[2]
Production
An early title English-language title for the film was MMA.[2] The film was written by Jack Ng, Dante Lam and Fung Chi-fung.[2] Ng and Lam had previously worked together on The Viral Factor, The Stool Pigeon, and Fire of Conscience.[2][3][4]
Plot
Ching Fai (Nick Cheung) is a former boxing champion who has struggled since his glory days, having gone to prison over involvement with the Triads due to financial problems and now working as a taxi driver. When Triad loan sharks torch his taxi and chase him down for money he owed, Fai decides to flee to Macau to avoid them.
In Macau, Fai accepts a job offer from an old friend to work as an assistant in a gym, while renting a room with a feisty young girl Xiaodan (Crystal Lee), who has been taking care of her psychologically unstable mother (Mei Ting) since her four-year-old son drowned and her husband left her for another woman. At the gym, Fai meets a young man, Li Siqi (Eddie Peng) who wishes to learn Mixed Martial Arts in order to join an upcoming MMA tournament, the "Golden Rumble", which offers the winner millions of dollars - his motivation for doing so is to help out his father, a businessman who had recently lost a fortune due to a failed "flipping" deal, which has turned him into a depressed drunkard. Fai agrees.
For the next several months before the tournament, Fai has Li follow a strict training regimen, and at the same time he develops a bond with Xiaodan and her mother. After the tournament begins, Li struggles but is able to beat several opponents, making it into the semi-finals, impressing both Fai and Li's father, but also gets the attention of the Triads. Later, while celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, loan sharks unexpectedly show up to attack Fai and Xiaodan's family. Fai fends them off, but Xiaodan is hurt in the process. As she is hospitalized, social services are also alerted to the fact that her mother is psychologically unfit to take care of a child. When she is told that Xiaodan's father is returning to take custody of Xiaodan, she violently assaults a social worker, immediately causing her to be placed into a mental hospital. At the same time, Li faces his toughest opponent yet, and loses badly after his neck is broken.
Believing that he has "done nothing" for twenty years, Fai decides to join the tournament himself and trains vigorously for it, and is selected to enter the finals. Xiaodan's father also comes to meet Fai, and although Fai feels indifferent towards him at first, the father tells him that Xiaodan has agreed to live with him, but only if Fai wins in the tournament. After a brutal fight watched by many, including Li in the hospital, Fai ultimately emerges victorious (by taking advantage of his easily dislocated right shoulder), and Li is so excited over the victory that he leaps out of his wheelchair, cured.
With his newly-earned fortune, Fai pays off his loans and meets Xiaodan one last time, while also continuing to visit Xiaodan's mother. He later meets a now recovered Li, and the two joke about the injuries that the other have endured in the ring.
Release
The film had premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 18, 2013.[2] It was released in China on August 16, 2013.[2]
Critical reception
Clarence Tsui of the Hollywood Reporter writes, "It’s this mix of tears and laughter amidst the blood, sweat and broken necks that makes Unbeatable an enjoyable vehicle."[5]
Andrew Chan of the Film Critics Circle of Australia writes, "“Unbeatable” is one of those films that never stops to excite, entertain, inspire and finally understand. It is an accomplished effort from a director very much in his prime and also bringing a veteran actor to even greater heights. "[6]
Box office
By 1 September 2013, Unbeatable has earned over HK$32.5 million in the box office of Hong Kong. It is the highest grossing film of the summer and also the highest grossing locally produced film of 2013. Lead actor Cheung Ka-Fai said he will appear in eight cinemas to thank the cinema goers' support and drive the box office results further up.[7] Near the end of September, the film has made over HK$43 million.[8]
Awards
| 16th Shanghai International Film Festival | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominee | Awards | Remarks | Results |
| Nick Cheung | Best Actor | - | Won[9] |
| Crystal Lee | Best Actress | Youngest winner | Won[9] |
| 50th Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards | |||
| Nominee | Awards | Remarks | Results |
| Nick Cheung | Best Actor | Winner in 2009 for Beast Stalker | Nominated |
| Eddie Peng | Best Supporting Actor | First nomination | Nominated |
| Crystal Lee | Best Supporting Actress | First nomination | Nominated |
| Phyllis Cheng | Best Sound Effects | - | Nominated |
| Azrael Chung | Best Editing | - | Nominated |
| Ling Chi-Wah | Best Action Choreogaphy | - | Nominated |
Notes
- ^ "Weekly box office". Retrieved 2013-09-02.
- ^ a b c d e f Elley, Derek (June 25, 2013). "Unbeatable". Film Business Asia. Retrieved July 9, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "fba-review" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Elley, Derek (September 22, 2010). "The Stool Pigeon". Film Business Asia. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
- ^ Elley, Derek (May 14, 2010). "Fire of Conscience". Film Business Asia. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
- ^ Clarence Tsui (12 August 2013). "Unbeatable". The Hollywood Reporter.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Andrew Chan (29 August 2013). "Unbeatable". [HK Neo Reviews].
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Template:Zh-hk"《激戰》狂收3255萬 張家輝謝票". Sina Hong Kong (Ming Pao). 3 September 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Template:Zh-hk"每週詳細票房 2013年9月16日 - 2013年9月22日". Hong Kong Filmart. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Russian film awarded top prize in Shanghai film festival". 16th Shanghai International Film Festival. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ^ "50th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival -Nominees & Winners". Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
External links
- Unbeatable at IMDb
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