Dazzling martial arts and stylish production design grapple with an undercooked story and one-note central characters in “100 Yards,” which comes to U.S. theaters Friday after a limited domestic release in China in September. Initially an enticing picture of two martial artists seeking to take control of a martial arts academy in 1920s Tianjin, this remarkable effort was directed by brothers Xu Haofeng (“The Final Master” and co-writer of Wong Kar-wai’s “The Grandmaster.” ) and new feature Xu Junfeng is gorgeous to look at but falters with a seemingly endless series of encounters between status-obsessed males who become less interesting the longer their feud drags on. Action fans simply seeking top-notch wushu combat should be satisfied, but general viewers may grow impatient with a repetitive plot that struggles to deliver compelling human drama from its promising elements.
“100 Yards” gets off to a lively start at the martial arts academy of a seriously ill Master Shen (Guo Long). To determine his successor, the master orders a duel between his son, Shen An (Jackie Heung, “Chasing Dream,” “True Legend”) and his chief disciple, Qi Quan (American-born Chinese action film pillar Andy On). With Old Master as the only witness, Quan defeats An and is declared the winner by Shen before dying. Unable to accept the humiliating loss and painfully aware that his father never believed he was up to the task, An plans to organize a series of rematches to try to settle things in his favor.
The simple story is embroidered with details that make the early parts engaging. As we enter a city where foreigners and their shiny, modern buildings are everywhere, it is proven that martial arts schools did not arrive in Tianjin until 1912, one year after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. When An seeks advice from his father’s second-in-command, Chief Meng (Li Yuan), a cunning woman in men’s suits with tremendous vision and strategic skill, she tells him that martial artists were once viewed as vulgar and were vulgar. I looked down on him. “Now, we have turned those in power into celebrities,” she says.
Chairman Meng’s words resonate when An begins working for a wealthy (and unnamed) French banker (Mattel Vincent) after pretending to accept his earlier defeat. He is summoned from his office to a lavish dining room where his boss’s friends and family are gathered, and asked to entertain everyone with an impromptu fight show against opponents including the Banker’s hunky son, Kevin (Kevin Lee). Although such a public display breaks time-honored rules and is an insult to his predecessors, An gives in to the banker’s provocation about his “excuses” before easily defeating the incompetent competitors and resigning from his job.
The balance between Chinese tradition and Western influence – cleverly observed here, without the strong nationalist messages that have become common in Chinese cinema of late – plays a prominent role in the escalating dispute between An and Kwan. Now willing to flout strict rules prohibiting any combat more than 100 yards outside the academy’s gates, both men also began to seek an advantage by forging hitherto forbidden alliances with foreign fighters and loose street gangs, such as the Swinger Costume run by a costumed leader Like cowboys.
There’s plenty of engaging action as An, Quan and their colorful group of new recruits take up the fight in a re-creation of Tianjin’s streets and alleys that scream ‘awesomely fake studio’. But it’s hard to get emotionally invested in a long series of “final” showdowns that largely consume the last 45 minutes. No man is virtuous or evil enough to establish a good-guy-versus-bad-guy dynamic, and nothing is bigger or more complex than a man’s stubborn pride and testosterone-fueled ego ultimately at stake.
Most interesting are the supporting female characters, starting with President Meng who is seen briefly. Having some room to excel, albeit in roles that require deeper exploration, is Tang Shiyi as Gui Ying, a school teacher and martial artist with a close connection to the An family; and Bea Hayden Kuo as Xia An, the banker’s illegitimate daughter who is romantically involved with An. A professional dancer making her film debut, Tang is terrific as the keeper of family secrets, and Dynamite is the film’s best action scene, which finds Gui Ying facing off against an army of henchmen sent by Quan to kidnap her. Hayden Koo (the hit film series “Tiny Times”) stars as a smart worker who uses cunning and beauty to survive as a mixed-race outsider in Tianjin. In a memorable moment late in the proceedings, Xia An expressed what some viewers might be thinking when she told An that “games between men are pathetic.”
Although it falters in its storytelling after the halfway mark, “100 Yards” is never less than visually and technically outstanding, with Shao Dan’s clear, beautiful cinematography, Xie Yong’s stunning production design and Liang Tingting’s costumes (“A Writer’s Odyssey “) Week-worthy fashion leads the way. Best of all is An Wei’s sublime score, which blends traditional harmonies with soulful spaghetti western acoustic guitar, thunderous electric rock guitar, spine-tingling harmonica lines and gorgeous electronic sculpts that create an atmosphere of mystery and heightened emotion like no other. It is not always present in action and dialogue.