Sakra (2023)

Who Am I?

Sakra is an overly ambitious attempt to adapt Qiao Feng's arc from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龙八部), my favorite Jin Yong novel. This is a tall task and inevitably has resulted in an overly condensed adaptation that misses the spirit of the original works. It is carried by the fact that it is such a beloved story that most viewers can fill in the gaps.

Qiao Feng, the magnetic chief of the Beggar Sect is accused of dastardly crimes and outed as being of Khitan descent at a time of conflict between Song and Liao (Khitan). He is evicted from his sect and the entire wulin (martial world) turns against him. As he seeks to clear his name, he encounters Ahzu, a minion in the powerful Murong household. He risks his life to save hers and discovers that like himself, she is also on a Who Am I? quest to figure out her origins. The narrative takes on too much between the rushed and unconvincing romance, solving murders and disentangling both their back stories. The ending is confusing with hurried character introductions to pave the way for a sequel that deals with the mastermind reveal and final arcs of Qiao Feng's story. This hurried rendition makes Qiao Feng little more than a one dimensional, lean mean fighting machine. It is a pity because Qiao Feng is Jin Yong's most powerful, complex and misunderstood male character.

Qiao Feng is the ultimate master of Jin Yong's epic 18 Dragons Subduing Palm martial arts technique, which employs inner energy and is used in most of Qiao Feng's fight scenes. The action scenes are almost ridiculously bombastic - Qiao Feng pulverising an entire horde of martial arts with his amazing energy blasts; gravity defying roof leaping and up close and lethal hand-to-hand combat or swordplay. Qiao Feng's showdown with the entire wulin is the most thrilling action sequence but it comes a bit too early in the movie. It is both incredulous and stupendous to see one man take on so many. I truly feared for Qiao Feng's life but what was more terrifying was the hypocrisy and cowardice of wulin. They basically cancelled a brother-in-arms who stared down death alongside them multiple times and ganged-up on him to try to kill him! I didn't enjoy the final fight scene as much - while splendidly choreographed and thrilling, it veered too far into the territory of wildly exaggerated almost superpower like flying leaps and from a distance qi energy strikes.

I watched the Cantonese dubbed version because to me, Qiao Feng will always be Kiu Fung and Jin Yong's famous lines always sound so diminished and lacking in vehemence and intensity in Mandarin. I think this is a great watch for the action scenes alone. I rate it 7/10.

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Worth to watch for the action

This movie has some seriously good fighting scenes. It's so hard to find a good wuxia series or movie. A lot of has more CGI and natural action. This one doesn't disappoint in the fighting department. There's plenty of action from start to finish. Fighting scenes that keeps you at the edge of your seat. Donnie Yuen does it again. I always like his movies. However, if you're looking for the story in this movie, you will be disappointed. Well, this movie is adapted from an old Jin Yong novel, so if you already know the story and watch the TV series, you kinda know what the story is about. If you're not a c-drama fan and just watch this movie without any background, you will be disappointed and confused. The story seems rushed and you don't get to know much about the characters. In my opinion, period or costume drama is best watched in a series form (although it can be a long one) because you will see the character's background and their development and you get to know the character's story. Overall, this is a really good wuxia movie with good cinematography. I would still recommend watching this movie and I might re-watch if I have time.

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