Like many other HK Cinema fans I was hopeful that "House of Fury" would deliver what it seemed to promise (cool action, dynamic fighting and fun story). With tantalizing (and deceptive) poster art, action provided by action choreographer master Yuen Woo-Ping with Jackie Chan producing and Stephen Fung directing, I thought this should be a sure thing. Boy was I wrong.
Granted, "House of Fury" is not a bad movie but as many other viewers have noted in their reviews, the movie is pretty mediocre.
The casting was a mixed bag to say the least.
Anthony Wong is very good as former secret agent Siu Bo who has since retired and is now trying to fit into normal civilian life while caring for his two teenage children.
The "Twin's" better half Gillian Chung, who portrays the spunky daughter Natalie, while better here than in "Twin's Effect" is still a bit too ditsy for my taste. Gillian fights better than she acts and may replace Ziyi Zhang and Vicki Zhao as HK Cinema's cutest hellcat.
Director Stephen Fung, who plays the other sibling Nickie, is also okay in the acting/fighting department but doesn't really bring anything special to his role.
Many have criticized model turned actor Michael Wong's "non-acting" skills but I didn't think he was that bad here albeit his portrayal of Rocco, a CIA Assassin wronged by one of Siu Bo's colleagues, was pretty lethargic to say it kindly, it was none-the-less atypical of most HK Cinema foreign bad guys.
Surprisingly, the other "Twin" Charlene Choi has only a small role in the movie as Natalie's schoolmate and love interest to Nickie. Maybe that's a good thing.
"House of Fury" was trying to emulate the style of the similar but vastly more inventive "Spy Kids" but ended up being more like a watered down version of "Agent Cody Banks" with neither the satire of "D.E.B.S." nor the bite of "True Lies".
A definite missed opportunity.
Granted, "House of Fury" is not a bad movie but as many other viewers have noted in their reviews, the movie is pretty mediocre.
The casting was a mixed bag to say the least.
Anthony Wong is very good as former secret agent Siu Bo who has since retired and is now trying to fit into normal civilian life while caring for his two teenage children.
The "Twin's" better half Gillian Chung, who portrays the spunky daughter Natalie, while better here than in "Twin's Effect" is still a bit too ditsy for my taste. Gillian fights better than she acts and may replace Ziyi Zhang and Vicki Zhao as HK Cinema's cutest hellcat.
Director Stephen Fung, who plays the other sibling Nickie, is also okay in the acting/fighting department but doesn't really bring anything special to his role.
Many have criticized model turned actor Michael Wong's "non-acting" skills but I didn't think he was that bad here albeit his portrayal of Rocco, a CIA Assassin wronged by one of Siu Bo's colleagues, was pretty lethargic to say it kindly, it was none-the-less atypical of most HK Cinema foreign bad guys.
Surprisingly, the other "Twin" Charlene Choi has only a small role in the movie as Natalie's schoolmate and love interest to Nickie. Maybe that's a good thing.
"House of Fury" was trying to emulate the style of the similar but vastly more inventive "Spy Kids" but ended up being more like a watered down version of "Agent Cody Banks" with neither the satire of "D.E.B.S." nor the bite of "True Lies".
A definite missed opportunity.