Tag: action

Film Review: Hong Kong Goes Ballistic

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Hard Boiled is a Chinese action film that was released in 1992 and directed by John Woo. It’s a ridiculous piece of cinema, but it isn’t bereft of merit. The screenplay was written by Gordon Chan and Barry Wong.

Chow Yun-Fat leads the cast which includes Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Teresa Mo, Philip Chan, Anthony Wong, and Philip Kwok.

Gun smuggling in Hong Kong is at the center of the chaos in this film. Chow Yun-Fat portrays a jazz-loving, hard drinking inspector for the Royal Hong Kong Police. He comes across an undercover cop while in pursuit of a major gun smuggler named Johnny Wong. Inspector Yeun has some scores to settle with Wong but does not want to jeopardize this newly discovered colleague. Tony Leung plays the undercover detective named Alan and is also pretty good. Of course, what follows is a plethora of acrobatic fights and shoot-outs that culminate in some gruesome deaths for both cops and killers.

The movie attempts to have a somewhat nuanced plot, but the crazy amount of violence makes it hard to keep it all straight. At times, I was losing track of for whom I was supposed to cheer other than Chow Yun-Fat.

Chow Yun-Fat is rather fun to watch. I remember this guy from a few decades ago, and I understand the appeal. He’s not a bad actor in spite of some dubious dialogue at times. He does not have the hardened look of someone who can be quite so lethal, but he sells it quite effectively regardless. He was a great choice as the lead for this one.

The fight scenes were pretty well staged as well even if they required a massive amount of suspense of disbelief. The action sequences did seem drag on quite a bit, particularly the final confrontation at a hospital. Woo was definitely out to test his audience’s tolerance for all the insane amount of gunfire and assorted bangs and flashes depicted here.

There were some attempts at some interesting character moments between Inspector Yeun and Tony Leung’s undercover cop character. Although there were some moments of cringey dialogue, not all of it was worthy of derision. It’s also likely some of my reservations with this film may have to do with my lack of viewing of Chinese cinema. I’ve seen the occasional snippet of this genre, but my experience here is pretty sparse.

A family member describes it as the greatest action movie of all time. I would not go that far, but the overall experience was amusing and enlightening. Although I have some objection to the politics and governing practices of China, it was still worthwhile to get a taste of their culture with this style of cinema.

Also, I initially described this film as being ridiculous, this time I meant that with some affection. If there is a good chance this film isn’t going to induce some kind of seizure or panic attack, I would recommend seeing it. You may want to bring some ear plugs to muffle the noise, however.

Film Review: AI Versus The IMF

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning is a pretty fun cinematic experience as long as one doesn’t examine the actual plot too closely. Tom Cruise returns as super operative, Ethan Hunt, leader of the Impossible Missions Force, with Christopher McQuarrie as director. McQuarrie also co-wrote the script with Erik Jendresen.

This film continues the storyline which began in the immediate predecessor, Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning. Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames also return as Benjo Dunn and Luther Stickell, respectively. Hayley Atwell is back to help Ethan against the battle against a powerful Artificial Intelligence known as the Entity. Angela Bassett, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, and Greg Tarzan Davis are included in the cast.

When the film starts, Ethan Hunt has been in hiding for a few months after taking possession of a vital component to controlling the Entity. He rejoins his team and spends much of film trying to stay ahead of Gabriel, played by Esai Morales, who is trying to stop Ethan from achieving his ultimate goal of neutralizing the Entity. Ethan will have to decide who or what may be sacrificed in order to save the world from the Entity’s dominion.

As usual, there are some astonishing and sometimes ludicrous action sequences that are definitely eye-catching. Cruise puts out a strong performance which is likely his last turn as Ethan Hunt. This film is being touted as the final one in the franchise, but when it comes to Hollywood, who can say for sure?

The film is a bit of a jumble when it comes to the plot. There are some engaging callbacks to the earlier installments. Rolf Saxon reprises a role from the first film that was not much more than a cameo, and he has much more substantial part to play here.

There are times when the transition to different locations seems a little jarring, but the film is pretty long anyway. McQuarrie throws in quite a bit of death-defying moments in this film that almost makes it to three hours.

The problem is that Hunt at times seem too superhuman for the suspension of disbelief to be maintained. Although these films are not really designed to be grounded in reality, it is still a bit distracting when Hunt gets himself in some of these outlandish predicaments.

I thought Morales was pretty well cast as the main villain. There was nothing too spectacular about his performance, but he was not particularly bad either.

Overall, I was glad to have made it to the likely end of this franchise, or at least the end of this phase. It’s a film with some flaws and falls short of any real artistic greatness, however it was an enjoyable diversion from the daily pressures of real life. It certainly is better than many of the recent films I have seen.

Film Review: Even Gangsters Can’t Fight The Ravages of Time And Disease

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Absolution is a slow-moving, yet interesting crime thriller directed by Hans Petter Moland and written by Tony Gayton. Liam Neeson is in the lead role and is joined by a cast which includes Yolanda Ross, Ron Perlman, and Daniel Diemer.

Neeson plays an aging gangster who learns that he is afflicted with a degenerative brain disease and is motivated to reconnect with his daughter and her son. He also has to dodge other gangsters who want to kill him. He also wants to make some amends for his violent past before he totally loses his mind.

It’s not a terrible film, but I would not call this one of the better additions to Neeson’s credits. It’s kind of slow, but it picks up in the second half when the bodies start piling up. Neeson is compelling enough to make this a little better than watchable. There is a repeated dream sequence with Neeson’s character talking to his deceased father on a boat, which seemed an awkward fit.

Also, this was one of those films where some of the lead characters apparently didn’t have proper names. Yolanda Ross plays someone just credited as Woman. Neeson’s character isn’t named either. I just find that a little distracting and frustrating.

This may be a film I need to watch again in order to appreciate it better. It was just interesting and unique enough for me to revisit eventually, but I suspect there are plenty of legitimate criticisms as well.

Film Review: No Need To Chart A Course For This One

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Uncharted is a 2022 action-adventure film based on a video game franchise, and I would guess the game is much better than this almost worthless effort from Sony Pictures. As director, Ruben Fleischer is the main culprit assembling this ill-conceived venture. It took three screenwriters in the shape of Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway to present this to the studio. Jon Hanley Rosenberg and Mark D. Walker share the blame with Judkins for the story idea. Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, and Tati Gabrielle comprise most of the lead cast.

The supposed premise is that Nathan Drake, played by Holland, is convinced by a fortune hunter and a former associate of his long-lost brother to join him on a worldwide search for said brother. There’s some explorer’s diary that sends them on a hunt for some ancient cross. There are secret passages and many traps that beleaguer Drake and his shifty allies. Rival mercenaries are on their trail. There are many spectacular stunts and scenery that fail to make up for the lackluster dialogue.

Holland and Wahlberg are charismatic enough to almost make this watchable, but they had little to work with when it comes to the script. Tati Gabrielle is kind of hot as a psychotic henchwoman, so she was somewhat fun to watch, but even that isn’t enough to tip this into something that would dissipate the regret I have for sitting through this.

The cinematography looked great, although there was some heavy CGI use. The fight scenes were just too ludicrous. I know that films based on video games should receive some grace and patience to have any hope of enjoyment, but the producers were just asking for too much.

It is not really the worst movie I have seen, but Uncharted does hover over the abyss of being total cinematic garbage, which is a shame. I can usually enjoy a movie featuring Holland or Wahlberg, but their agents didn’t think this one through. I usually enjoy this genre of film, and I would likely play the original game if I find the time to fire up the Playstation again. What is unlikely is that I will take the time to give this film another chance.

Film Review: A Bit Of Blood With The Honey

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Beekeeper is an action film written by Kurt Wimmer and directed by David Ayer. Jason Statham plays the mysterious and deadly Adam Clay, who is a beekeeper who retired as some undefined government agent who was also known my that moniker. Jeremy Irons, Minnie Driver, and Phylicia Rashad are the more experienced cast members in this line-up. Also included in the cast are Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, and Jemma Redgrave.

Jason Statham has retired from some shadowy government group of killers known as the Beekeepers and is actually keeping real bees in his quiet life. He has befriended an older neighbor who was scammed out of all of her savings, which leads to her committing suicide. Statham’s Adam Clay finds the organization responsible and launches into a bloody vengeful rampage that will take him to the most powerful forces in the American government. He has to dodge the attention of FBI agents, one of whom is the daughter of his dead friend. Anyway, Clay uses a variety of gruesome lessons to teach the unscrupulous scammers a bit of fair play.

Jason Statham fans will be relieved to know that he has not been experimenting with his acting style. He can still pull off some implausible fisticuffs with his usual stoic panache. There is plenty of death and dismemberment to satisfy the more ghoulish movie goers. Statham still has an intimidating glare and can handle himself with brutal precision. A lot of bad guys get their comeuppance, and that’s just fine.

Unsurprisingly, the plot is almost completely incoherent. I guess the revenge motive is straight-forward enough, but I was distracted by not really knowing what function the Beekeepers actually served. When are they actually called in and by whom? The president doesn’t appear to know much about them. Basically, the whole background of the character and this weird agency from which he retired did not seem very well thought out. The FBI agent who just lost her mother to a tragic suicide was a little too glib considering the circumstances. I like seeing Rashad onscreen, and her soothing yet somehow firm presence was welcome to see, but she was not around very long. Jish Hutcherson does well as the bratty rich kid behind the scam network. Irons is always pretty solid.

It’s a somewhat fun and forgettable cinematic experience, but it is pretty poorly plotted. Wimmer, the writer, does little to add any real dimension to the main character. He would have done better to have Clay be a retired agent from a more well-known agency, who happened to be a beekeeper. That would have made more sense and perhaps made it easier to enjoy the constant onslaught of fights and mutilation.

Statham remains consistently fun to watch. The film isn’t really so bad as being unwatchable, but it isn’t for the faint of heart. Fortunately, the classic, mindless revenge flick doesn’t need to work that hard generally, however this one could have used a little more effort on the script.