18-11-2004
This article is old as fuck; but in all fairness: in Hong Kong years, Stephen Fung is about 82 years ancient, and still considered (somewhat) relevant. So why the hell not?
From a Hong Kong newspaper: I learned very recently that Milla Jovovich is starring in another scientific action film that's currently shooting in some very interesting locations: Hong Kong and Shanghai(!). This news came from, of all places, the mouth of Stephen Fung Tak-Lun.
Fung was asked by the interviewer if he had plans to star in or direct a film entirely in the English language. His response was a little nonsensical, but I gathered that he'd be willing to be involved in that type of production if Milla (as he simply called her) were on board. Strange terms, Fung! I wondered, briefly, what history those two had. He then made a reference to a film called UltraViolet and Jovovich's current status of working. To me, this was a curious reference. Fung obviously had some kind of interest in UltraViolet, which I had just assumed to be a Western production...
Then again, given the downward trajectory of Jovovich's career with failures like The Messenger (1999) and Resident Evil (2002), if she were buttering her bread with very low-budget DVD hopefuls in the Hong Kong scene, a la Jean Claude Van Damme and Paul Rudd, I wouldn't be surprised.
There's no shame in it, either--for an actor, I mean. Rob Schneider was in a similar place just a few years ago when he made Knockoff (1998) with Van Damme for notable Eastern director Tsui Hark. Not a glamorous position, but Schneider rebounded by converting the force he must have been gathering since Surf Ninjas (1993) into headlining a profitable series of low budget comedies.
Anyway.
This article wasn't meant to inform people about UltraViolet, originally; rather, I was doing research for a piece on the success of Stephen Fung's directorial debut, Enter the Phoenix (2004), which deserves attention for its atypically homosexual-themed gangster story... unusual and exciting new territory for Hong Kong films (Fung must be after some of that Corky Romano money).
But UltraViolet is what my article seems to have settled on (the bit about Rob Schneider was pure insanity).
A new dimension was gained by the Fung-Jovovich associative mystery during the world premiere of Enter the Phoenix. Phoenix is the very first film produced by JCE (Jackie Chan Emperor), a joint-venture by the popular action star and Hong Kong-based Emperor Multimedia Group. The opening of such a significant film was duly commemorated with a lavish celebration. So far, all of this makes sense (for Hong Kong). What was baffling was when, near the end of the celebration, Milla Jovovich was revealed to have been the "mystery guest" the audience had been teased about throughout the evening. It's said that she even went on stage and gave a little speech. This baffles because Jovovich has absolutely nothing to do with JCE or Enter the Phoenix, nor does she have a public relationship with any of the cast or crew. It's as if Pauly Shore were announced as the mystery guest at the Laws of Attraction (2004) premiere.
This makes ample room for the theory that Fung has taken Jovovich as a viable "in" into Hollywood, or the Western filmmaking community (if there is such a thing). I find this theory unbelievable and slightly strange, as I'd wager burgeoning B-queen Jovovich herself needs an "in" into Hollywood as much as any run-of-the-mill Cantopop star. If Fung had such aspirations (and he has intimated as much during interviews) he'd have better luck tapping Jackie "sequel whore" Chan for an opportunity. Chan recently rewarded Fung's fellow "Heavenly King" Nicholas Tse with a cameo appearance as a waiter in The Medallion (2003).
Well, then.
I hope by now you've developed firmer footing on the true purpose of this news item than I have. (I hate feeling bullied into curious directional changes in writing by my own stream-of-consciousness--it's happening more and more often!)
Let's learn about UltraViolet together.
UltraViolet is an American production. That it's being shot in Shanghai and Hong Kong is incidental.
Kurt Wimmer must be some kind of magical person. Despite the abysmal box office take of Equilibrium (2002), which lands in the neighborhood (ghetto?) of roughly 1.6 million, Wimmer secured a 30 million dollar budget for UltraViolet. To one degree or another, the man has talent.
From what I could tell, this is a futuristic vampire film that's heavily derivative of manga/anime and other science fiction films. The derivation is a necessary film evil of which The Matrix (1999) and many James Cameron films are very guilty, so let's not hold that against it.
Then again, I hear that the script is shit, too (though many feel the same of Titanic's (1997) script, and there's no denying the mass appeal of that film. Perhaps, in the best case scenario, Wimmer is a filmmaker in the vein of Cameron, which could mean future treats for film fans).
The outline (which contains elements with striking similarity to the upcoming Rob Schneider film Fearless) goes like this: in the near-future, a blood disease giving Humans enhanced speed, strength and intelligence is identified. The film tells us that this condition has been around for a long time and that people in the past with these symptoms became known as vampires.
The futuristic society is at the cusp of a major war between the infected (vampires) and uninfected. Normal society wants to eradicate the few remaining infected people. Jovovich plays an infected character that's sent incognito into the "normal" world by its vampire faction to carry out a critical task that leads to the escort of a young boy by Violet (Jovovich's character).
I hope you're beginning to comprehend the measure of UltraViolet. I am, and it's making me increasingly discouraged to write about it.
As always, The Alliance is eternally optimistic and wishes all the luck in the world to the filmmaker. Let's see if Wimmer can properly animate this apparent Frankenstein's Monster of a script.
UltraViolet has been in production since December and will be released later this year (exact date TBA).
I am Merryweather Jones
