"Sakra": one-paragraph review

Donnie Yen as Qiao Feng

"Sakra," directed by and starring Donnie Yen, is a 2023 wuxia action movie based on a popular Chinese story, Demigods and Semi-devils, which was initially published in serial form in the 1960s. A Khitan baby is orphaned and placed with a Song Dynasty couple to raise. The kid grows up to become martial-arts legend Qiao Feng, head of the Beggars' Gang. Feng, who is initially unaware of his own origins and ethnicity (the Khitan people are more or less nomadic Mongols), is framed for the murder of a local official, and he is linked to the murders of his adoptive parents and a prominent monk when people see him at the locations of these deaths and misunderstand the situation. Feng's Khitan origins come to light, and he eventually relinquishes his position in the Beggars' Gang while vowing to find out more about his origins and about who framed him for the various deaths. Feng rescues a young woman named Azhu, who is severely injured during one fight while she is trying to steal a special manual devoted to health. Feng uses his own healing powers to keep Azhu alive until he can take her to the land's most renowned physician, Xue Muhua, but the physician initially refuses to help any patient brought in by a filthy Khitan. There's far more to the story, which is typically convoluted in the way of most Chinese movies. There's plenty of unrealistic wire-fu, tons of smashed walls and furniture (to the point of ridiculousness), the use of "Mission: Impossible"-style masks, and CGI renderings of projected qi wreaking havoc—which got to where I was thinking this could be China's answer to a superhero movie. The story, when it makes sense, is often unintentionally funny, with some characters overacting in a way that would make William Shatner proud. The script contains more self-contradictory nonsense than I can tolerate (example: the hero offers to pay for an opponent's lunch, then a few seconds later says he can barely afford to feed himself from day to day), and the story's ending—meant to prepare us for a sequel—contains some reveals that, for me at least, lack any impact because there's been no real buildup. Set design is also frequently problematic: stone walls and pagodas vibrate upon impact in ways that reveal the sets are of made of wood and not stone—a cheap flaw that's guaranteed to take one right out of the movie. While the overuse of wire work makes the over-the-top fights less visceral and engaging, the main problem with "Sakra" (and I still don't know what that word means*) is the writing. Apparently, the original epic is thousands of pages long, so trying to condense that narrative into a two-hour film must inevitably mean huge sacrifices in story and coherence. It's a shame; the movie features some beautiful shots of Chinese terrain, and there are moments in the plot that feel deep and real, but despite these sparse virtues, the movie is a dud. If Yen directs another movie, I hope he lands a better script. This one is a drag, and I regret wasting my time watching it, especially when I know that good wuxia films like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" are out there.

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*If it's Sanskrit, it could be the word for "powerful" (shakra). Thanks, Wikipedia.