The Storm Warriors, hunky leading men Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng, touched down in Malaysia this week to promote their latest flick. MSN Entertainment got a chance to chat with both actors about reprising their roles as the legendary swordsmen Wind and Cloud, carrying dumbbells around and the horrific injuries sustained on set.
Eleven years ago, one modest movie made by a small time director thrilled comic fans worldwide. The Storm Riders, starring pop icons Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng, was released in the summer of 1998 and went on to become one of the highest-grossing movies in Hong Kong cinematic history.
Eleven years later, Aaron and Ekin are back to reprise their role as legendary swordsmen/ cultural icons Wind and Cloud in The Storm Warriors – a CGI-heavy sequel to the Storm Riders, helmed by the reputable Pang Brothers.
Welcome back, Aaron. How does it feel to be back in Malaysia?Aaron: I’m happy to be back. Judging by the warm reception we get here, it makes me really happy and really excited that we are able to share this masterpiece with all of our fans here.
First of all, are you a big fan of the Storm Riders comic books?Aaron: I wasn’t really a big fan of the comic books until the director of The Storm Riders offered me the role of Cloud. To prepare for the role, I read all the comic books but I ended up liking the Wind character instead. (Laughs) As the director had already casted Ekin as Wind, I had no choice but to concentrate and study the characteristics of Cloud. I’m now a big fan of Storm Riders and Cloud.
Compared to The Storm Riders, was it much more difficult filming The Storm Warriors?Aaron: It was much more difficult. Compared to The Storm Riders, The Storm Warriors is very CGI-heavy, therefore it’s harder to act without anyone beside you. When we set foot onto the set, we have to at first imagine what the scene will be like and then get into character. Besides that, we also have to choreograph the action scenes with our full costumes on – which was really heavy – and our very heavy weapons as well.
We heard that you were injured pretty badly while filming the movie. What happened?Aaron: Ekin and I were filming a fight scene and the scene requires explosives. The explosives were barely a foot away from me when it went off. After the scene, the director asked if I was OK. I said ‘NO! I’m injured!’. After the explosives went off, I felt a sharp pain on my arm and I insisted on going to the hospital because I was bleeding quite badly. It felt like someone shot me in the arm, but I had to finish the scene first. At the hospital, the X-Ray showed a piece of shrapnel embedded into my arm. But luckily the injury wasn’t serious.
11 years on, what’s different with Cloud in The Storm Warriors?Aaron: In the first movie, Cloud had blue hair like the character in the comic books. In The Storm Warriors, he has more of a natural, human hair and nicer costumes. As for the characteristics, Cloud is more mature in the second movie.
How did you prepare for the role of Wind in the second movie?Aaron: On the first day of shooting, the director came up to me and said that I needed more work on my body, especially my biceps. So I trained intensively for almost two weeks, and the first few days were the hardest. As the shooting progressed, I had to train really hard to keep my body fit and in shape. Before and after make-up, or before shooting a scene, I’d always carry a dumbbell around.
What was your favourite part of filming the movie?Aaron: The fight scenes, of course. With the animation and special effects added into the mix, it’s just amazing.
Added on December 3, 2009, 12:29 pm
Was it much more difficult filming The Storm Warriors than The Storm Riders?Ekin: For me, it wasn’t really difficult. When we filmed The Storm Riders 11 years ago, there was no story board. For The Storm Warriors, we have storyboards, we have better choreography and we have better technologies. So relatively, The Storm Warriors was a little bit easier to film.
It’s been 11 years since The Storm Riders came out. What was the chemistry like between you and Aaron when you started filming The Storm Warriors?Ekin: The chemistry was better, as a matter of fact. During the first movie, I did not get much screen time with Aaron. Both of us did not communicate that much on set because we were both busy at that particular time with our careers. But for The Storm Warriors, the directors requested for us to stay on location and we were not allowed to work on anything else except the movie. So we trained together, we rehearsed the scenes together and slowly, we had the same understanding that we wanted to make this movie better than the previous one.
Was it more difficult for you to play Wind after the 11-year gap? Do you find it hard reprising that role?Ekin: To be honest, when the directors told me that there would be a sequel to The Storm Riders, I was really excited and really happy. After the first movie, I was eagerly waiting for the sequel but I was disappointed no plans for a sequel were discussed then. So when the chance came along, I was really happy.
We asked Aaron about his injury while filming the movie. Did you sustain any injuries yourself?Ekin: Very minor injuries, nothing major. But while filming a scene from the movie, I aggravated a back injury which I sustained from all my wire-hanging days. (Laughs) I was in a lot of pain and I was thinking about pulling out from shooting the scene that day.
How did you prepare for the role of Wind in the second movie?Ekin: After shooting the first movie, I gained quite a bit of weight, for various roles in other movies. When the directors called me and said we'd be shooting The Storm Warriors, of course I was happy but I thought to myself, “My body is in such a bad shape”. So the directors gave me six months to bulk up and after the six months, they came up to me and told me that I bulked up a little bit too much and asked me to tone it down a little. (Laughs)
How different is Wind from The Storm Warriors compared to the first movie?Ekin: If you noticed in the first movie, Wind was very compassionate. But in The Storm Warriors, his role has been reversed. Instead of being the nice, good guy, Wind is now an evil swordsman who kills anyone in his path.
What was your favourite part of filming the movie?Ekin: I personally like the ending, but I have not seen the movie yet so I’m not sure how that turned out. But during filming, I like the scenes where Wind is possessed by the evil presence. Another scene I like is the love relationship with Charlene Choi.
If there are any plans for a prequel, would you still jump at the chance of playing Wind again?Ekin: Definitely! Aaron and I wish there would be another Storm Riders movie and we hope the directors would write a compelling story.
http://entertainment.malaysia.msn.com/movi...umentid=3729609This post has been edited by everest: Dec 3 2009, 12:29 PM 
Nov 23 2008, 09:26 PM, updated 17y ago
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lastly cloud help him out from the evil heart.. when wind wake up, he and the girl (ah sa) fall down from the hill and cloud go safe them and himself fall down to the hill then the story ended.. will be continue maybe 
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