Karfoo Reviews

Outside the Wire (2021)

A decent concept wasted on a juvenile plot

[2/10 · 18 January 2021]

I tried to like this movie. I really did, because I watched all of it. But ...

... Harper was deemed a failure for "disobeying a direct order", and then was deemed a failure for not "disobeying a direct order". Not sure what the moral of the story was supposed to be.

The dialogue was juvenile. Harper acted like a teenager. The robot came across like a cyborg, and acted inconsistently (maybe it was meant to show he was a psychopath, but it was too contrived and with nothing to explain his actions from moment to moment). All the supposedly unsavory characters who eluded the might of the Americans could somehow be readily located. All the unconvincing gun-fu and jump cuts. The list goes on.

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

A lighthearted fare

[5/10 · 15 April 2016]

The Huntsman: Winter's War - A spoiler and fat-free review

The Whipped Cream and the Ice Cream fight over a magical Golden Bowl, which they call a mirror, for the right to serve black pudding or iced dessert to the lands forever. Some humans and dwarfs get in the way.

After the Marvel movies, one just cannot look at the Huntsman without thinking Thor is much cooler.

After Zero Dark Thirty and Crimson Peak, one just cannot look at Sara without thinking she is neither as intense nor as insane. And one cannot wonder what her character adds to the script.

It was a fun romp with my kid, but a "leave brain at door" type of movie.

Youth Without Youth (2007)

Life is but a dream

[9/10 · 14 December 2008]

I have never heard of this film, and bought it on the strength of Coppola and Tim Roth. What a delight it proved to be.

Having said that, I do find one of the theme, that of trying to find our origin, to that "inarticulate moment", which I think refers to the origin of wisdom, being a futile quest a bit sad. One takes a lifetime, and even that isn't enough. One makes sacrifices along the way, and even that isn't enough. In the end, it is still beyond the grasp of us human beings.

Another theme of the film is actually "spelled out" in the film itself, albeit in Chinese. Just as Morpheus asked Neo: "What is real?"

At the beginning of the film, Dominic is learning Chinese. He writes and pronounces fragments from the tale of Zhuang Zhou dreaming of himself being a butterfly who dreams of itself being human who dreams of himself being a butterfly ... and so on.

At the end of the film, Dominic actually explains this concept to his imaginary, old colleagues.

The Children of Huang Shi (2008)

Why? Why? Why?

[1/10 · 4 April 2008]

The first time I heard about the premise of the film, one thought popped into my head: "The Sound of Music". The real thing was much worse.

Many questions haunted me throughout the film, all starting with: Why? Why did the initial description already show an erroneous grasp of history? (The Japanese took control of Shanghai, and then went on to Nanjing, all as part of a single campaign. Not many reporters tried to rush into Nanjing. In fact, many could not get out, which was why they could report what happened.) Why was Meyers' acting in the initial scenes so bad? Why would someone (Fisher, I think his name was) go boxing, and let others punch him in the face repeatedly, a few days before his own wedding? Why was the one scene of the massacre done so badly that it failed to evoke any emotion? Why was the beheading contest by the Japanese, reported as "The Hundred Beheadings" in the Japanese newspapers, in Nanjing not mentioned at all? Why were the Communists in Nanjing? (The city was a Nationalist stronghold, and the Communist had no military presence in town before, during and after the massacre. Communist attacks on the Japanese army during WW2, few and far between as they were, took place largely in the countryside. The Communists were busy expanding their bases of support with the farmers and peasants. They were conserving their strengths and letting the Nationalists (i.e. someone else, who happens to be their mortal enemies) do most of the fighting.) Why were they growing sunflowers, when everyone was short of food? Why did they have fuel to run the generator? Why do the uniforms of the Nationalist army look exactly like those of the Japanese Imperial Army? (The Nationalist army uniforms were gray.) Why would the caravan encounter Japanese army personnel going "the other way" near Lanzhou? (The Japanese only wished they got that far inland.) Why would Chen (Chow Yun Fat) waste three bullets to salute Shi Kai, and risk attracting attention? (These are Chinese people, not westerners.) Why did the film title really mean "Escape from Huangshi (and from the Nationalist for fear of conscription)"? Why did the uniforms of the police in Lanzhou look just like those of the police in Shanghai? (Shanghai police's uniforms were unique. The writers probably assumed police uniforms in China in the 1930's were like those in USA/Oz today, the same across the country.) Why would the officials in a poor town like Lanzhou just give away (not lend, but give away) four trucks which must be valuable assets of the local government? Why did none of the livestock get eaten throughout the whole journey? (As some guy near me commented out loud) Why was Chow Yun Fat just walking around and dropping in on the children once in a while? Why was Chow Yun Fat free to roam all the way over in Lanzhou, when all the fighting was in central and eastern China? Why did none of the kids have any personality? (They might as well have been cut out of cardboards. But maybe the writers got it right by accidence, since Chinese kids are mostly compliant like this.) Why was this in the end just another film about two westerners, with China largely the backdrop? Why was this film directed so badly that I felt nothing for any of the main characters at all? Why would anyone allow scriptwriters who don't really know Chinese history or the Chinese frame of mind to write a script and waste money like this?

2046 (2004)

Wong in good form again

[7/10 · 30 September 2004]

2046

Fans of Wong will not be disappointed: the disjointed narrative, the rich imagery, the theme of unrequited (sp?) love, and a decadent soundtrack.

Of course, Wong's film has never for the faint hearted, nor those who cannot handle anything but a linear narrative. In 2046, Wong, in a sense, pays tribute to all his previous work. Depending on whether one likes him or loathes him, one can say he is merely trying to say what he wanted to but couldn't say in his previous films, or one can say he is masturbating to himself. Either way, if you have seen his previous films, all the references, either in the stories or the visual imagery, are quite interesting. It is as if Wong is trying to tie everything together, to complete the arc of his version of the late 1960's Hong Kong.

It is refreshing to see Tony Leung in the lead role of a playboy. After his recent outings, it is a complete change from the cold, hard, troubled type of characters he seems to end up with these days. Instead, we get a warm, hard, troubled character. It is also interesting to contrast him with Leslie Cheung (with apologies to Leung, but any playboy character of Wong's cannot but be compared to him). Cheung excelled at the "devil may care" type, while Leung seems to have mastered the "If I am toying with you, I will toy with you to the best of my abilities and give it all the attention I can" type of playboy. Seen knowing the sub-current of his longing for Maggie Cheung's character from "In the Mood for Love", one could picture the loneliness of his character, behind the playful and sociable facade.

Surprisingly, Zhang Ziyi got the most screen time as Leung's main love interest for the film. However, I must confess that I am not partial to Zhang, and that hindered somewhat my rooting for her as a victim of Leung. Faye Wong seems her usual, forced cutesy and ditsy self, a reprisal of her role in Chungking Express (not to mention many other films), and there doesn't seem to be much emotional depth to her character. At times, though, and I don't know why, seeing her on screen reminds me of The Million Dollar Hotel.

The best surprise came from Carina Lau's reprisal of Lulu, and the sadness that underscore her character, having probably suffered long after Days of Being Wild, comes through in good force. It would have been nice to have more screen time for her. Last, but not least, it was strange seeing Gong Li as Leung's love interest, as I have always pictured the two to have a significant age difference (movie industry-wise). And the most extraneous scenes in the film, likely to dumb it down for those who cannot take visual cues to guess what happened, is to do with the part of the film about her and Leung.

All in all, I do not expect that I got everything out of this film in one sitting. It will be like Ashes of Time, I am sure, where you find little surprises every time you view it again. While this is a sequel to In The Mood For Love, it is not a recap of it. Leung's character grows out of the previous film here, and learn something new. Everything else that happens helps him on his way. But the audience does need to be patient to understand that.

House of Flying Daggers (2004)

Waster opportunity

[3/10 · 16 July 2004]

The House of Flying Daggers

*** Spoilers ***

Starting from a familiar and simple premise, this film began on a simple note. Given that it was from Zhang Yi Mou, and the publicity surrounding the film, the audience would expect the plot to crescendo to a grand finale which, sadly, never came. After the groundbreaking Crouching Tiger, and the follow up attempt in Hero, not to mention the atrocious The Touch, one would be forgiven to think that Chinese directors are unable to shake the urge to turn films into a living tapestry of colours to cater to an increasingly interested western audience, but forgetting that a film needs a plot (regardless what Goddard thought).

From the posters and trailers, one already knew the film would be a feast for the eyes. And it was so. But colours only carry a film so far. Sitting there, I could only wonder if Zhang has exhausted his talent, when he could not outperform the use of colours in Hero. The scene/colour changes were abrupt, and did not help to carry the story. It was as if the shots were merely made because great locations were available, and the audience was simply required to ignore the inconsistencies arising therefrom. An example is the snow scene which, aside from its being climatologically almost impossible, served little purpose other than to make the scenes look good.

Given the weak plot, and the weaker still direction, the use of only three characters to weave together a plot was inadequate. Zhang Yimou failed to create here what he did in Hero, nor what Ang Li did in Crouching Tiger. The dialogue was trite, with the characters not speaking enough where they should, and, at times, better acting and giving more credit to the intelligence of the audience could well have done with less. This was especially so in all the dialogue to do with the love triangle, demonstrating again that Zhang had set his sight too high.

Another thing I fail to understand is why these directors continue to use Zhang Ziyi. It is by now becoming tedious to watch her basically reprising the same role over and over again. Her character in this film is not very convincing, and one does wonder what effect her choice of roles has been having on her acting ability.

Last, but not least, Zhang should stay away from these delicate love stories, for he has neither the sensitivity nor the directorial skills to pull them off.

Men Suddenly in Black (2003)

Great parody

[6/10 · 1 March 2004]

It will be difficult for anyone not steeped in Hong Kong culture to make much of this film.

The film takes on the shell of a Hong Kong gangster film, specifically Infernal Affairs, and inject it with a completely different subject, infidelity of a kind commonly found in Hong Kong men. One needs to have seen Infernal Affairs to truly appreciate the in-jokes, and to know the recent history of Hong Kong to get many of the local jokes.

Granted, there is not much substance to the film in terms of making you think. But it is still a piece of Hong Kong comedy so skillfully woven together, with so many cameo(es), that you can not but laugh yourself silly all the way through.

Infernal Affairs III (2003)

Best of the three

[8/10 · 22 December 2003]

I must admit I was surprised. And pleasantly so.

The first two instalments of the series were, in most respects, well-done cop-and-robbers fare, with the first sequel explaining a piece of history in the story, while making some nice adaptations from Godfather. This second sequel, however, in fact requires some thought as the story unfolded.

*** Spoilers Ahead ***

I will try to reveal as little as possible, since my own enjoyment was partially ruined by having read a review which gave the plot away.

On the surface level, the story weaves together the past and present, showing the fall of the main character. Some would criticize the introduction of too many seemingly commercial elements. While the use of Leon Lai may be so, his character is IMO an outsider necessary to unravel the mess that plagues the police department, namely the many moles inserted by Han. The introduction of a mainland Chinese element ties in nicely with the second sequel, again highlighting the fact that the affairs of Hong Kong is no longer merely its own. Han was indeed getting to be one of the biggest fishes in the pond, and has attracted the attention of powers higher than just the Hong Kong Police. Although his untimely demise, at the hands of one of his protege, put an end to his mainland ambition, the point is by and large neither here nor there in so far as the story behind this particular instalment is concerned.

I am uncertain as to the true intentions of the directors, but, having seen the whole story knitted together so tightly, I must conclude that the first half of the film was designed to mislead the audience in emphasizing the characters who turn out to be in fact subsidiary. The story does indeed focus on Lau as he sinks deeper and deeper into his personal hell. Personally, I dislike schizophrenia as a dramatic device, but I can accept it in this case since the previous instalments alluded to Lau's desire to turn himself clean.

The actions of Han also explained the gaping hole in the first sequel, namely his taking on the son of the former triad boss who tried to kill him and was, in the process, killed by Han. That is simply a supreme piece of human resource management we so often see in the real, corporate world. And, in having watched all three films in the series, I must commend the writers/directors on how Han's character has been fully developed, and I would say his is the most fleshed out of all, barring perhaps Chan Wing Yan.

I would even go so far as to argue that the plot is a cut above any other Hong Kong director/writer has produced so far, both in terms of the plot consistency and its style. One can not avoid comparing with Johnnie To who has regrettably floundered of late.

*** Spoilers End ***

There are, however, minor details that I have contention with:

1. In both sequels, the writers still think, as evidenced by the dialogue, it is the Department of Justice which sentences people.

2. In the first sequel, the flag on Wong Sir's desk on the even of the Handover was an Australian flag.

Running on Karma (2003)

An insult to my intelligence

[1/10 · 12 October 2003]

Running on Karma

I am once again disappointed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai. What happened to the talent that shown so brightly in their macho cop and robber films? Perhaps, and it is an easy conclusion to reach, that is the only type of films they know how to make well.

The gimmick of this film was that Andy Lau wore a muscle suit. Except, other than its being a gimmick, it in fact served no purpose whatsoever in the film! Almost all the publicity for the film beforehand was based on this, and it is rather shocking to find that it was just that, and the ploy played no part in the film.

Where do I begin? The story, to start with, was so muddled that it left me wondering who gave the green light to its being released. I can see what the film was trying to say, about reincarnation, about the Bhuddist idea of karma, of planting the seeds of good and helping it germinate, about how that alone is no guarantee that things will turn out better. But the plot line was so confused (not confusing, but confused, though it was the former as well), the presentation so plain and directionless, that the entire experience left a sour taste in my mouth as I left the theatre.

I would not even bother to give a plot summary, since I do not recommend anyone see this anyway. There are other bad films one can waste his/her time with.

For all those who say this was a good, or even excellent film, I am glad for them. Blessed are those easily satisfied, though not understanding something (whether by its being truly complicated or merely by atrocious presentation) does not make it deep.

Turn Left, Turn Right (2003)

A waste of a good idea

[3/10 · 12 October 2003]

I am normally a fan of Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, though lately I have found they forays outside of macho, all-male films a bit distressing. Stylized though films such as Chung Fo and PTU were, films such as Running on Karma and Turn Left Turn Right can not but make me wonder about if they have any sort of talent outside of the genre made great by the likes of John Woo.

The film, based on a story by Jimmy, a comic book writer of a gloomy variety from Taiwan, takes the premise that two people who, having met once when they were small, are fated to take on lives which parallel each other's. Without giving too much away, it follows the typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl routine. Fair and well. But the good things I have to say end here.

<Chip on shoulder warning>

It is difficult to take a film seriously when it attempts to portray a violinist who is supposed to be good enough to be hired from Taiwan to work for an orchestra in Vienna, when the actor himself can not be bothered to learn to hold a violin properly, let alone bowing properly to the music he was supposed to be playing. Equally, it is difficult to root for a girl who get scared translating German horror novels into Chinese, when her very job was translation of such texts. Perhaps the use of the Polish poet, and her poem, served some dramatic purpose which eludes me, though I suspect its only purpose was to show how "classy" and "refined" our heroin was. But the Chinese translation she kept mumbling on about was so badly done, so hard on the ears, so devoid of literary artistry that it only served to alienate me, the audience, rather than giving me the sense of fate and romance that it was supposed to. In short, two rather lacking actors playing two unconvincing and rather lacking characters. Apt, perhaps. Interesting? No.

Then there was the supporting cast. I fail to understand what the script writer and the director thought throwing two comical supporting characters into what should have been a gloomy film, shot all in a grey tone, would achieve. The moment I laid eyes on them, in the midst of what would otherwise have been a delicate and sensitive story about fate and unrequited love, I wanted to reach into the screen and slap them silly.

Though the premise was interesting, the film grew tiring very quickly when every scene has to be repeated, almost verbatim, once, by the other leading character. That was simply a clumsy and sloppy way of showing how their lives parallel each other, and was very trying on the audience's patience. Effectively, the film could well have been cut into 50 minutes and be done with.

Perhaps I should say that the script writer and director should be lauded for their ability to take a perfectly interesting idea and making it uninteresting, and taking a cast for whom we would potentially have sympathy for and making them formulaic and laughable.

PTU (2003)

Technically competent, sunk by weak ending

[5/10 · 17 April 2003]

I have not seen many of Johnny To's films, until I hit on The Mission. From that point on, I was hooked. So I went back, and watched all his other "masterpieces", specifically his cop films. These included The Heroic Trio (interesting, in a strange, anything goes kind of way), A Hero Never Dies (an excellent piece), Running Out of Time (excellent, if a bit contrived), The Mission (his best piece IMO), Fulltime Killer (excellent, though with another terminally ill Andy Lau and therefore reminiscent of Running Out of Time, therefore lowering its value in terms of the characterization), Running Out of Time 2 (obviously a half-hearted and very commercial attempt to make a fast buck, riding on the original). And, based on the above, it must be said that PTU is weak.

The film spends over 90% of the time trying to weave together the various characters, and, based on what we know of To, we expect everything to come together seamlessly and end with some sort of a bang. If not, at least with some elation as to how things will pan out in the end. Instead, Johnny To seems to realize, 70 minutes into the film, that he can't really do it or can't be bothered, and throws in another group of wholly irrelevant and previously unseen stand-ins. Just so everything can be explained away in one word: Coincidence. That is just weak. And sloppy too. For me, this rates up there with the disappointment that was the film called Hero (Zhang Yi Mou).

On the technical side, however, To is of course his usual self. The dark moods were nicely cast by the dark alleyways, the semi-lit and deserted streets. I do agree that the supporting cast is a bit weak, in that they do not seem natural. In fact, the only people who seem natural in the whole film were Simon Yam and Lam Suet. The female cast, of course, were dispensable as in all Johnny To (and John Woo) films.

All in all, the film only rates as "see it if you have nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon" fare.

The Touch (2002)

Do you believe? Its hard to.

[2/10 · 3 August 2002]

After all the hype about its beautiful scenery and background, it was with much anticipation that I went into the theater for this film. Was I ever disappointed.

I will give credit to Peter Pau's artistic sense, and some of the locations chosen for the film were breathtaking. But the good things I have to say about the film ends here. And, in view of this, the film may well serve better as a plug for the Tibetan travel industry than as a proper film.

=== Spoilers ahead ==> Where shall I begin? The plot was ludicrously childish. Not to say that Yeoh and Pau pilferred material from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the entire affair watched like a bastardized version of Indiana Jane, in search for the holy sharrira, with neither the gripping pace nor sense of fun and adventure. The film failed in attempting to be all things all at once. It was neither sufficiently fast paced to be a good swashbuckling adventure, nor slow enough to make the contrived romantic interlude convincing. The plot inconsistencies, some of which plain deny common sense, well, let's not even go there.

There was no characterization to speak of, and the film-maker seemed to think that they can get by simply by conjuring up all the stereotypes they can muster: the Chinese martial arts fighter; the faithful, religious and sagely father/monk, the one-dimensional bad guy (yes, one-dimensional), the obligatory meat heads as henchmen, the annoying comic relief. All of which add up to a garbled cast and a sense of misdirection, and the film never was able to form its own distinct identity. What annoyed me even more was that the producers seemed to think that selling the sense of the stereotypical "mysterious China" would be sufficient, probably thinking that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" succeeded solely on this (which it did not since Crouching Tiger was a good film based on a good, albeit decade-old, plot and strong characters).

The plot is again a jumbled mix fast and slow sequences, action sequences and supposedly character development scenes juxtaposed, which served only to destroy any pace the film could possible have established. The good guys were simply good, and the bad guys were simply bad, in a very comic book simple sort of way. The audience is, as asked of the leading characters in the film, "believe", since the actors themselves certainly failed to deliver any sense of goodness or badness. Which is completely sad since Yeoh, Chaplin, and Roxburgh are capable of being so much more, as they have shown in other films, and are victims of a daft directing and an even worse story.

I have seen a Yeoh interview in which she stated that The Touch was her way of trying to make a Chinese film for a worldwide audience, in the way that Hollywood makes films for that audience. But what I saw was the juvenile plot and characters that have so plagued Hong Kong films and, IMO, caused their demise. What Yeoh should realize, as any movie-watcher today must realize, is that a film should at the very least have a decent plot and believable characters, or else all the exotic location shoots in the world can not salvage what I have no doubt will be a tanker.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Redeemed by effects (barely)

[3/10 · 18 May 2002]

Though a fan of Star Wars, plots in all four previous movies have been wanting. Darth Vadar's "I am your father and your hottie is actually your sister" thing has been done to death in Hong Kong in the 1960's, and frankly has no place in today's cinema, fresh as it may be for a western audience. Coincidence that The Lion King was also to be an alleged stolen plot from Asia? Me think not.

===Spoilers== Any way, the plot utterly floundered in ATOC. While the arc could have been very interesting, with the plot of the Dark Side slowly being uncovered, the lead character, Anakin the Brat, was totally unconvincing and was in fact painful to watch. His "tormented self" elicited from me not sympathy but an urge to take a light sabre to his face, since his "pain" came across more like "moaning and whining". In anger, he killed the whole tribe of raiders who caused his mother's death. If I didn't all know that he will be Darth Vadar eventually, I would have asked: So what? Did it say that he felt more powerful when driven by anger? No. Did he say he felt good killing? No. Lax plot development there. Instead, the future Darth Vadar cried like a baby. Wow, that really scared me there...erm, okay.

Amidala, while a nice piece of eye candy if you are into the teenage looks (a marketing ploy on the part of Mr Lucas?), was almost equally hopeless, though her character did not allow her to sink to the same depth as Anakin. The dialogue between these two, well, let's not even go there. 90210 had better dialogue. The scriptwriter shot for Shakespeare but fell far, far short.

Obi-wan's inspection tour of the clone factory was equally daft. WHO wrote the dialogues for this film? As if anyone with an IQ of 50 couldn't figure out that Obi-wan didn't belong there, and wouldn't have exposed him? As if Jango Fett would think twice about killing Obi-wan on the spot as they met in Fett's home? And since Fett was the original for the clone army and was "paid handsomely", why does he live in a nut-sized cubicle a quarter the size of Palpatine's office or Amidala's room on Coruscant? Don't the film crew even consider these basic inconsistencies? Slipshod work is that it is.

The final battle scenes were interesting to watch, though I am sure many are already bored by the display of computer graphics capabilities used in every other film these days. Jango Fett, being the most feared bounty hunter in the Republic, got finished off in 2 seconds. Tough luck on him having to meed Windu I guess? And I still think the Imperial troops should have brought along cans of Raid along with the guns. Would have finished the job much faster.

Last off the cuff comment: Christopher Lee, first as Saruman, and now Dooku. He has no luck getting new roles, does he?

The Crimson Rivers (2000)

Entertaining, but not water-tight

[5/10 · 20 May 2001]

One can hardly avoid comparing this film with `Seven'. But at the very least, the feel of the film is different, as the French influence and the beautiful mountain scenery is not something commercial American films can manage to create. The rest, however, is only run of the mill crime story fare.

The story has two detectives investigating seemingly separate crimes, the clues for which leading them on to the same path eventually. The story can be so much better if the director, and presumably the script writers, can restrain themselves from all the unnecessary foreshadowing, which only served to give the plot away and dispel the sense of mystery. Have the clues from early on in the film served to distract or misdirect the audience, this would have been a fine film. As it is, any member of the audience with an average IQ should be able to know what has happened and what is happening. The only aspect I did not guess correctly during the film was the fact that eugenics was involved rather than genetic engineering. Had this been an American film, I suspect, they would have substituted it for genetic engineering.

There are logical inconsistencies in the plot that seriously undermined the believability of the film. For example, Fanny's mother supposedly arranged for the `death' of Judith, yet she entered a convent and became a recluse a scant two years after the `accident'. The whereabouts of Judith is never explained, and she simply popped out of nowhere at the end, completely shattering the credibility of the plot. While I am willing to take every aspect of the story as told on screen, these inconsistencies are careless, and cause the film to be far less enjoyable.

Reno and Cassell are average in the film. They do, however, play their characters well, giving a sense of the rebel cop, with a sense of barely contained capacity for violence. Once the two are brought together, the audience has a fairly good idea of what is going on, and the film becomes more an action movie than a suspense. Reno's attraction for Nadia Fares' character, Fanny, is, however, too contrived, giving one the sense that the director suddenly realizes the film must end soon, and is bringing the story to a close with scant regard for the abrupt change of pace.

Overall, the film is an entertaining piece, even though it suffers from some glaring inadequacies.

Brother (I) (2000)

Propaganda for Japanese supremacy

[5/10 · 20 May 2001]

I have yet to a Japanese film that was satisfying, and this one proved to be no exception.

The film depicts the encounters of a life-long yakuza gangster, Aniki Yamamoto, in Los Angeles after he is forced to leave Japan. Bringing his particular brand of problem solving skills, he quickly carves for himself a nice little criminal niche within the vast L.A. underworld. First, Aniki takes on the Mexican mafia, portrayed as the smallest in the pecking order of criminal organizations. Then, he takes on a Japanese gang, eventually absorbing them through the efforts of his trusted lieutenant. After that, he takes on the Chinese, and makes for himself, and his followers, a comfortable living. Eventually, however, this little troupe of petty criminals take on something too big for them to handle, the Italian mob, and their world comes crumbling down around them. I would like to say that there is more to the plot, but sadly, it is about as deep as it gets: fairly linear, with no surprises.

Although Takeshi Katano has done some good work, the characters in this film are all two dimensional. Add in the wooden acting of most of the actors, it is actually quite painful to watch. In over ninety percent of the film, Katano¡¦s Aniki bears a wooden expression that presumably was meant to portray coolness and calmness, but only succeeded in looking bored. His brother¡¦s character did manage to look like the scared wet-in-the-pants kid that he was supposed to be, though one is hard not to think that the look is achieved by accident instead of thespian skills. Omar Epps has the black character, Denny, down pat, though that is unlikely to be a stretch, playing his own ethnic group. The character portrayed in a most believable manner is that of Aniki¡¦s lieutenant, though he, too, was on the verge of over-acting, a common trait among Japanese actors.

An interesting aspect of watching the interactions between all these badly acted, and even more badly scripted, characters is that one gains a glimpse into the Japanese mind, assuming Katano¡¦s opinions are representative of the Japanese ones. Upon seeing the first lines spoken by an American, the taxi driver, one can immediately feel the depth of the cultural chasm and misunderstanding between the Japanese and Americans. The United States, Katano seems to be saying, is the land of greed and discrimination. All they want from the Japanese is money. And the Japanese will be discriminated against whether the money is forthcoming or not. The film does make a point of this, as Aniki made sure anyone who slurred the Japanese within his hearing range met with the proper punishment. As a study in cultural differences, the film falls well short, resorting to cultural stereotypes which are flat and do nothing to advance his cause.

Overall, the film falls short in any category that one may assign it to: it is unexciting if regarded as a gangster story, and too shallow if regarded as an exploration of cultural or philosophical differences between Japanese and American gangs or lifestyle. The most difficult to swallow, however, is Katano¡¦s attempt to portray the Japanese as the superior and ¡§inscrutable¡¨ race. In short, the film becomes a work to convey Katano¡¦s thinly veiled idea of Japanese cultural and racial supremacy, echoing those advocated by the Japanese during World War Two and have never been cast away.

Eye of the Beholder (1999)

Quirky but decent

[6/10 · 3 April 2001]

Had I read a few reviews of this film beforehand, I would never have gone and seen it. Thankfully, I did it as a spur of the moment thing, and saw it for myself.

Granted, the film has a number of logical flaws in it. For example, the two scenes, one in the museum where Eye first photographed Joanna and the one where he first witnessed her committing murder, are for me grossly inadequate in explaining how he became so obsessed with her.

I did, however, enjoy the quirky character of the reclusive Eye. His psychological problems are barely hinted at in the beginning, though it became far too contrived for my liking, and Eye managed to fall neatly into that stereotypical mold of a failed father and husband. In a way, there is a sort of consistency in his character, since he is some type of a surveillance expert in the espionage business, and his single-mindedness in pursuing Joanna is in line with his trade. At the same time, however, his geekish and rather clumsy outlook somehow fails to convince me of his ability to carry out the cross-country, high tech surveillance exercise that he embarked upon.

Joanna's dark side is, of course, never truly explained. We are told that she had a troubled childhood, that she had suffered great losses in her life. She was taught to protect herself, to never reveal her true self to any man. While it explains her constantly being on the move and her various forms of disguises, any relationship between this background information and how she became a murderess is tenuous at best. Since the entire film is based on the characters of Eye and Joanna, and their interaction thereof (rather, their non-interaction), the great logical gaps that exist in these characters simply can not be ignored.

What there is of a plot is very linear, which should have made it easier to guess what is going to happen next, but disorganized enough to make you wonder how one scene leads to the next. Eye sees Joanna. Eye follows Joanna. Eye falls for Joanna. One never quite manages to discern what spurred him on. Though I suppose that is the darker definition of obsession, and perhaps the director chose not to dwell on the reason of the obsession. The different men in Joanna's life, however brief the encounters, cuts the plot up into tiny chunks, each having no more relationship with another than the fact that the law, be it the local police or the FBI, seems to be in perpetual pursuit of her. There is little sense of continuity, and it is difficult, though not impossible, to empathize with Joanna for the sense of permanent dislocation from mainstream society that she must feel.

In the end, it is perhaps merely a simple story of two lonely people, one a spook and the other a crook, isolated from mainstream society, who see the possibility of finding happiness and living normal lives. Their paths crossed, yet at all the wrong times, and they never quite manage to find each other to look for that happy ending.

The Mission (1999)

Slick

[8/10 · 13 February 2001]

Having sworn to never watch Hong Kong films, save those by Wong Kar Wei, the only reason I saw this film was the good reviews it received from the Hong Kong Film Critic Society. And I must admit it was a most pleasant surprise.

The film is a slick and well packaged story of five strangers in gangland coming together to get a job done, namely that of keeping a triad boss alive. The characters, while still stereotyped to a certain extent, are not the usually uncontrolled triad powermongers that are often portrayed in other less palatable fare. These people are professionals, and they knew how to get a job done. Faced with a sniper, none of them panic, and each of them know exactly what to do. The scene in the mall was tightly controlled and well orchestrated, with minimal movement and gun fire adding more to the tension then any hail of bullets can.

The direction of Johnnie To evokes images of films by John Woo, whose scenes of gun fights have always, in my opinion, verged on poetry in motion. To's characters are restrained, while the same degree of subtlety is employed with the plot. The audience, in my opinion an often mindless group who are unwilling to think and must be spoon fed every little detail, are left to find meanings and hints in little gestures.

The film also reminds me of Things To Do In Dallas, When You Are Dead. Five strangers, called together to serve a mob boss who is past his prime. And again, there is conflict among members of this special 'team'.

In the end, aside from a less than believable plot line, The Mission scores high on its entertainment value, both in its visual style and delivery.

Running Out of Time (1999)

Nothing new, but entertaining nevertheless

[7/10 · 13 February 2001]

This film is a refreshing change of pace from the mindless Hong Kong triad movies I have grown so tired of. There are no spectacular gun fights. No car chases. And practically minimal action to speak of. The audience is kept in suspense for the most part, though certain aspects of the so called "ploy" by Andy Lau are quite obvious.

The film has been hailed as a departure from the genre of violent triad films, and as an "intelligent" crime film. To an extent, it is. But, to some extent, it still fails the "believability" test. One can hardly picture any triad member to be dumb enough to not see through the female disguise of Andy Lau in a second. It also seemed to have fallen for the "if someone was seriously ill, the said someone will be coughing up copious amounts of blood regularly" thing Chinese films seem to go for all the time.

The subtle relationship between the two lead characters is a refreshing change.

All in all an enjoyable film, even though the concept is not new and there are few surprises. >

Christmas in August (1998)

Powerful

[10/10 · 13 February 2001]

How often do we live our romantic life as on the big screen, with torrid affairs and passionate encounters? Almost never, if what I see as normal life around me is anything to judge by. Romances, as previously stated, are hardly ever earthshaking affairs that leave you at the top of the world or batter and bruised.

Romance, in its every day form, as lived out millions of times over around the world, is a slow, subtle, and quiet affair. Something that grows in you, ever so slowly, probably without you even noticing it slowly taking over your being. No one can tell me when I am in love. For if someone did, I would not believe him anyway, for no one but me would know. And even then, it is just a feeling, a certain knowledge that you are feeling this exalting emotion. That you want nothing but the best for someone, that you would never want to see them suffer a moment of sadness. That you are willing to take a great degree of pain for them. I would not go so far as to say be willing to die for your loved one, for we are all human, and we do not know what we are capable of in the face of death until that moment is upon us.

Is the love between the main characters of the film, ever so subtle and understated, no less noble than that between Romeo and Juliet? The unstated emotions, the unsaid feelings, convey far more than any repeated shouts of "I love you". The restraint shown by the lead actor, displayed ever so poignantly in the scene where he watches his love interest through the cafe window, yet never did he move to make himself known to her, was simply heart-wrenching to watch. Would most of us be selfless enough to remain hidden, knowing that her emotions and feelings could not possibly be reciprocated?

On another note, how will I deal with my own certain death? While I can claim I have been seriously ill, I can not in all honesty say that I have ever come close to death. Will I be so calm, putting all my affairs in order, and leaving instructions for others to take up what I leave behind? I suspect I will be calm, for I will have little choice in the matter. Can I be so selfless? Again, the answer will have to be in the negative. I can empathize with the anguish, knowing that your life is forfeit, that fate has dealt you a fatal blow, and that future events, however little there are of them left, are no longer under your control.

Life is nothing more than a series of small events, the culmination of which may seem great for some in retrospect. But only very rarely.

In the Mood for Love (2000)

To cheat or not to cheat

[8/10 · 13 February 2001]

The notion of marital fidelity portrayed in the film seems outdated today, but it is exactly the main characters' adherence to that notion which makes the entire story so touchingly tragic. It is this notion that ennobles them and allows them to stand out, to, as they refer to their respective spouses, "not be like them".

As Tony Leung said in the film, love just happens. There doesn't need to be a rational explanation as to how it happens, it simply does. Despite their not wanting to stoop to their respective spouses' level, it happened. Fidelity, social mores, and timing all conspired against this relationship coming into fruition. Simply being in love is far from enough.

I had the misfortune of sitting beside a young couple (still in university from the snippets of conversation they kindly shared with me throughout the entire film, and uninitiated to the pains of lost love and missed opportunities). Their gross inability to digest the subtleness and the deeper emotions evoked made me realize just how much a film such as this, as well as other Wong Kar Wei's work, is wasted on the local audience.

Shanghai Noon (2000)

New definition for "funny"

[1/10 · 4 June 2000]

In my opinion, Jackie Chan has stopped making good movies after the Super-Cop series. From Drunken Master II and on, and that was like six to seven years ago, his movies have had zero plot, and have been action sequences strung together on the flimsiest pretense of a story. This movie proved to be no exception.

To sum it up, this movie is a tool for exploiting the ignorance of westerners of the East, and vice versa, to make money. Raised Chinese, I can spot the errors in the film miles away. Since when was the huge courtyard of the Forbidden City used for regular martial exercises? It is a palace, for crying out loud. And did the film makers think no Chinese in those days were smart enough to know "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"? Going around the West in imperial Chinese uniform is, to say the least, conspicuous. And how far would one get in the States dressed that way in the late 1800's? Not very far, I suspect.

But if I were able to suspend my disbelief for so long as to believe all that happened in the film were possible, there is still the matter of the following: the entire film is based on racial/ethnic stereotypes, and most of the humour derived from that. What age do we live in, people? Those were funny back in the 50's and 60's. But in Year 2000? The fact that the film is doing not so badly makes me shake my head at the implications on societies, both Western and Asian, at large.

My advice to Chan is this: either do like John Woo, and make Hollywood style films better than the Hollywood people and wow them, or stay at home like many other Chinese film makers, and make Chinese/Hong Kong films that are authentic and true to oneself. Not this sell-out "let's make a total fool of myself and sell tickets" garbage.