Iceman

Iceman Information

Iceman, formerly known as The Iceman Cometh, is a 2014 Hong Kong-Chinese 3D martial arts action-comedy film directed by Law Wing-cheung and starring Donnie Yen, who also serves as the film's action director. The film is a remake of the 1989 film The Iceman Cometh which was directed by Clarence Fok and starred Yuen Biao, who was earlier reported to join the film. Donnie Yen hand-picked Jam Hsiao for his unique voice and deep emotions to sing the mandarin theme song. The Cantonese version is sung by Hong Kong singer and actor Julian Cheung. The film was released in Hong Kong and China on April 25, 2014.

The sequel is slated for release at the end of 2014.

Plot

Iceman revolves around a Captain America-like character portrayed by Donnie Yen. He was tasked with bringing a mythical time traveling back to the Ming emperor. He was betrayed, and subsequently frozen. The heroic role and his evil foe (Wang Baoqiang) lived during the Ming Dynasty. Both were frozen during a fight and were defrosted in modern day Hong Kong where they continue their battle.

He Ying, Sao (Wang Baoqiang),and Niehu (Yu Kang) are being transported in cryo-stasis pods, when an unforeseen accident sets them free. The three of them escape into the city to fufill their tasks. Niehu and Sao are dead set in exacting revenge on He Ying, despite not understanding the new world they woke up in. He Ying soon befriends May (Huang Shengyi), who takes advantage of He's confusion at the modern world by charging him extraordinary amounts of money for rent, food, and so on. Niehu and Sao unknowingly helps 2 Indian mobsters escape the police, and as a result joins the Indian mafia.

All the while, it is slowly revealed that Cheung (Simon Yam) is the one who is looking for the trio, but in particular He. Through various flashbacks, it is revealed that all 4 of them were blood brothers who fought side by side, before He was betrayed and charged with treason.

After several hilarious encounters in the modern world including meeting May's mother, fleeing custody of the police (using his master martial arts skills), and the use of technology, He starts to put together who is ultimately hunting him down.

Cast

Donnie Yen as He Ying (??)
Wang Baoqiang as Sao (??)
Huang Shengyi as May (??)
Simon Yam as Cheung (??)
Yu Kang as Niehu (??)
Lam Suet as Tang
Zhang Shaohua as He Ying's mother
Benny Chan as Celebrity
Hu Ming as Eunuch
Gregory Wong as Officer Szeto
Jaqueline Chong as Jacqueline
Mark Wu as Slander
Ava Yu as Ava
Alice Chan as Director of retirement home
Lo Hoi-pang as Pang
Wong Man-wai as May's mother
Chen Huihui as Mimi
Bao Yumeng as Kid
Kelly Fu as Female officer
Fun Lo as Female doctor
Tin Kai-man as Male doctor
Jeana Ho as a prostitute speaking Japanese (cameo)

Production

Filming for Iceman began on 19 December 2012 in Hong Kong. Originally produced at a budget of HK$100 million, the production soared up to HK$200 million due to its slow paced filming and to cover the film crew"?s insurance. Because the Hong Kong government did not approve the film to shoot at the Tsing Ma Bridge, an addition of HK$50 million was spent in order to build an imitation set of the Tsing Ma Bridge. Lead actor and action director Donnie Yen expressed that a seven-minute fight scene took ten days to shoot. Besides Hong Kong, a chunk of the film would also be filmed in Beijing. For a car chase scene, actor Julian Cheung also loaned his black Lamborghini to the production.

Filming locations include Hong Kong's defunct Kai Tak Airport and the Changbai Mountains.

Reception

The Hollywood Reporter writes "Plagued by all manner of production snafus and a ballooning budget, the problems show in the final product. Iceman is a fractured and often baffling martial "epic"? that not even popular star Donnie Yen is likely to be able to save." Screendaily writes the film is "beset by multiple problems, from a patchy incoherent script, to jarring shifts in tone and genre, and sub-par action and effects sequences that even the star presence of Donnie Yen may find hard to reconcile."