bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Edmund Lee

1.5/5 stars
Inexternal is a Hong Kong martial arts fantasy that hits all the cheesy beats of those pulpy old-school kung fu extravaganzas of a bygone era – only to fall desperately short when it comes to the fighting.
If its psychedelic animated pre-title sequence raises reasonable expectations that viewers are in for some zany entertainment usually reserved for the midnight crowds, the movie proceeds slowly but surely to dash our hopes with its astonishingly clumsy storytelling.
The “story” centres around Chet (Angus Yeung Tin-yue, Social Distancing), an employee of a veterinary clinic who inadvertently gets on the wrong side of a gang of thugs. When we first meet him he is already badly beaten up and left in a coma, struggling to hold on to his life on a hospital bed.


In his hallucinatory state, Chet finds himself wandering alone in a dark fantastical world. There he meets the martial arts master Sifu Turtle (Dave Lam Ching) and his granddaughter Cloud (Macy Ma Sihui), who are hiding from Dragon (Louis Cheung Kai-chung), a powermonger in this underworld.
It soon transpires that Chet is the chosen one to inherit Turtle’s ancient technique of “Lethwei boxing”. And there is something about a sacred pendant, a bloody history between Turtle and Dragon, three other grandmasters ready to mentor our hero, a dragon lady working for Dragon, and so on.
If all these sound like martial arts novel clichés, it is because they are. In a parallel and sometimes amusing plotline, we learn that this story is actually being read to Chet from a book by his mother (Candice Yu On-on), who is doing her part to keep her son’s mind alive by his bedside.
Still, even by the loose narrative standards of films based around near-death fever dreams, Inexternal, which is co-scripted by director-producer Yuen Kim-wai and screenwriter Ryan Ling Wai-chun, is a surprisingly incoherent mess.

For instance, it’s not clear how Chet can picture Dragon as the villain in his dreams when he has not met the gang leader in real life. Similarly, while it is a clever gimmick to let Chet’s mother dictate his fate with her reading, the film never manages to show that correlation.
None of these would have mattered if the fight scenes were remotely watchable. Instead, the awfully edited, barely comprehensible martial arts sequences that pepper Inexternal only prompt one to wonder about the point of it all.
The film’s scramble to understand the appeal of its own genre is on par with Yuen’s first two efforts, Heaven in the Dark and Legally Declared Dead. It’s perhaps worth noting that Inexternal was shot three years ago – before the filmmaker finally impressed with The Moon Thieves, released earlier this year.
Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook


Hong Kong to unveil 71 measures to level up creative, cultural industries on Tuesday

Who is Golden Horse best actress Chung Suet-ying and how did she start out in Hong Kong?

How the Erotic Ghost Story films shocked and seduced Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s Chung Suet-ying named best actress at Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Inexternal movie review: martial arts fantasy fails even to offer watchable fight scenes

Macy Ma (left) and Angus Yeung in a still from Inexternal. Photo: Emperor Motion Pictures

Angus Yeung as Chet in a still from Inexternal 
(category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Yuen Kim-wai. Louis Cheung co-stars.

Louis Cheung as gang leader Dragon in a still from Inexternal.

High Forces movie review: Andy Lau fights hijackers in stupid Chinese aircraft thriller

Andy Lau in a still from the Chinese aeroplane thriller High Forces (category IIB; Mandarin), directed by Oxide Pang. Zhang Zifeng and Qu Chuxiao co-star.

Qu Chuxiao (left) and Zhang Zifeng in a still from High Forces.

Stuntman movie review: Tung Wai leads passionate homage to Hong Kong action filmmaking

Terrance Lau as Wai in a still from Stuntman.

Tung Wai as Lee Sam (left) and Terrance Lau as Lee Sai-long in a still from Stuntman (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Albert Leung and Herbert Leung. Philip Ng co-stars.

From left: Philip Ng as Wai, Tung Wai as Lee Sam and To Yin-gor as the director in a still from Stuntman.

Terrance Lau as aspiring stuntman Lee Sai-long in a still from Stuntman.

Once in a Blue Moon movie review: Gladys Li, Peter Chan confront life’s disappointments

Gladys Li as Mei-chan in a still from Once in a Blue Moon.

Gladys Li as Mei-chan and Loletta Lee as her mother (left) in a still from Once in a Blue Moon (category IIB, Cantonese), directed by Andy Lo. Peter Chan co-stars.

Li Sum-ling, of girl band Collar, as Wing in a still from Once in a Blue Moon. 

Peter Chan as Floyd (right) and Yeung Wai-lun as his neighbour in a still from Once in a Blue Moon.

Love Lies movie review: Sandra Ng, Michael Cheung in online dating scam comedy drama

Sandra Ng as doctor Veronica Yu and Michael Cheung as scam artist Joe Lee in a still from Love Lies (category I; Cantonese), directed by Ho Miu-ki.

Michael Cheung (centre) in the office of an online dating scam gang in Love Lies.

Michael Cheung and Stephy Tang in a still from Love Lies.

The Unwavering Brotherhood movie review: Hong Kong gangster drama is familiar but fun

Mark Cheng in a still from The Unwavering Brotherhood.

(From left) Louis Cheung, Bosco Wong and Carlos Chan in a still from The Unwavering Brotherhood (category III; Cantonese), directed by Terry Ng.

Mark Cheng as triad faction leader Fa Kam in a still from The Unwavering Brotherhood.

Michael Tao as Kwan in a still from The Unwavering Brotherhood.

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Martial arts clichés, clumsy storytelling and terrible fight scenes all add up to a fantasy that is less than fantastic


Martial arts clichés, clumsy storytelling and terrible fight scenes all add up to a fantasy that is less than fantastic.


Chinese language cinema

Asian cinema

Film reviews

Cinema

Hong Kong cinema

Asian cinema: Chinese films

Fame and celebrity

Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Hong Kong culture

Hong Kong entertainment

Martial arts

What to do in Hong Kong

An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

Review | Inexternal movie review: martial arts fantasy fails even to offer watchable fight scenes

Martial arts clichés, clumsy storytelling and terrible fight scenes all add up to a fantasy that is less than fantastic