Jet Li’s new project looks like his most fanciful yet.
There is an ancient Chinese legend about a man who falls in love with a beautiful woman only to find that she is a snake monster in disguise. It’s essentially the Chinese equivalent of a Mermaid tale or a Selkie story. It’s a cautionary fable about not trusting the nature of beautiful women.
The Sorceror and The White Snake is a version of that legend which stars Jet Li as a kicking and punching sorcerer who has seen the true nature of the snake monster and is fighting a whole host of monsters and demons in an effort to save the man from a horrible fate.
There are lots of amazing visuals in this trailer alone, and we know that with Jet Li, it’s going to be great for the fight choreography as well. It might not be as gory as some of the recent martial arts fantasy flicks that have been popular in thwe states lately, but I think it will more than make up for it with Whimsey, especially since much of the mythology and monsters will be so unfamiliar to many members for the audience outside of China.
The Sorcerer and The White Snake, which also stars Shengyi Huang and Raymond Lam, is already released in China, and has been modified for a North American release on VoD in early January 2013. It will have a limited theatrical release on February 8, 2013.
