Storm Riders is an epic comic series started in 1989 and still going strong today. It was a top legend in Hong Kong’s comic book industry, likely being the most praised and most referenced work of all times. It was also my absolute favorite epic story… for a long time. The series started going downhill around 10 years ago, and seeing how the story is going these days, well, let’s not get into that.
Given its gigantic fan base, Storm Riders is probably also the most merchandised HK comic series: toys, replicas, games, TV shows, and movies. The first Storm Riders movie came out in 1998 and was decently perceived. It wasn’t awesome, obviously, but given how different the film medium differed from comic books, they did an okay job at capturing the essense of the story.
Twelve years later, Storm Riders II came out featuring the original two main actors:
It sucked ass to an unprecedented heights. The poster above was honestly much better than any single frame in the movie, and for the last hour and 45 minutes of it, all I wanted was for it to end. In fact, I went taking a nap after the first half of it.
It should be noted that bad acting and stupid plot are expected in an average action movie, so I didn’t really take any point off for those. However:
- The character designs are all messed up. Why does Wind still have both eyes and what’s with everybody’s TV-drama-styled personality? And the original comic author claims to have been involved in the process?
- So… where’s the script? Did HK writers also go on a strike? I partially understood the movie only because I remembered the comics.
- Last but not the least… the special effects SUCKED. Worse computer graphics than the movie 12 years ago? How’s that possible?
The only redeeming value of this movie is to remind the hardcore fans how great the story used to be. I despise the author’s shameless attempt to capitalize on his old work from 15+ years ago, allowing inappropriately funded amatures butcher such a classic.
Growing up sucks, when it involves watching your favorite art trashed by its own creater.