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The Expendables 2 (2012)
Are you serious?
It makes me sad that this movie has such a high rating. Do the masses really enjoy action movies that lack good action? Most of the stars in this movie have been in at least one awesome movie if not a whole slew of awesome movies. Most likely the entire budget was spent on their salaries versus putting together a good script and good action. What a terrible waste of an opportunity to make a great action film.
If you want to see a movie with awesome action and an awful script, watch something like The Raid Redemption. I'm totally okay with sacrificing a script for good action, but this doesn't even deliver on that. This is exactly the type of garbage people associate with big ticket Hollywood movies made for those who can't decipher what a proper film is. For those that enjoyed the one liners, for me that just wasn't nearly enough to make this a fun film. I thought the 1st Expendables, while not a great film either, was at least more entertaining than this one. If you are bored, pop this on in the background while you do something else, otherwise I suggest you don't waste your time watching it.
Aragami (2003)
hidden wonder
I really enjoyed this flick. I came in with no expectations and I never watched Versus, but the concept of this film was very intriguing to me (looked it up on IMDb).
A severely wounded samurai seeks shelter at a temple which unbeknownst to him is the temple of the demon Aragami who wishes to die in combat via our unwary samurai.
The conversation is exactly what you would imagine it to be between a man and a being proclaiming to be supernatural. Skepticism and disbelief is played well in here and the scene is great. This is all shot in one room in a dark slightly tainted sort of Buddhist temple. The fact that this movie was shot in only one week is amazing (although if they had spent more time on it it could easily have been better as it is not without its flaws).
The slightly creepy serving woman is the only other real character we have on screen and she only has a few words to say at the end. What I really wonder is who she is as perhaps she is Aragami after all and she just enthralls/seduces warriors so she can watch battle after battle? I wish they played that possibility up just a tiny bit more, adding perhaps some covetous looks throughout on the samurais side and more coyness/ seductive possibilities on her part.
My only real issues with this film was that it seemed to get a little rushed at the end. The major fight could should have been done better and had slight elements of cheesy stances which were unrelated to the fighting. Also the last warrior, the future attacker could have been cooler looking. I did like the fact that our protagonist seemed to be crazy at that point (which still stands to reason that the woman is really Aragami after all). Also, the electric guitar music at the end seemed out of place. I would have liked a more philosophical ending versus one that makes you think you just finished watching your average action movie.
Summary: Very entertaining story built upon Chinese (really any ethnic background) mythology with only 2.5 actors (the woman gets a 1/2 a count since shes more just a visual portion). I just wish 2 weeks was spent on this as it could have been on a whole new level. Either way, I'd definitely recommend this.
Ajeossi (2010)
All the right elements
What we have here is the story of a child who through the failings of her mother ends up being taken to be used as basically a drug mule for a gang. It just so happens that her neighbor whom she has developed the beginnings of a father daughter relationship has just the type of background needed to help rescue her. Well executed cast of gang members (you have the bold/ the drugged out, the brutes, the crazies etc) that is very believable and the fight scenes are quite well done (altho in the beginning they tend to only hint at our protagonists fighting prowess leaving us asking for much more, but they do deliver on that!) ending in one epic finale with very good knife fighting choreography. The story itself is well done and our lead man does a great job in making us feel that even though he is the "strong silent type" he becomes strongly emotionally attached to his little friend. The little girl does a fairly good job of playing the outcast child, altho her pain is less believable. Also didn't help that the end got dragged out just a tad long in terms of emoting. In summation - good action, good story line, nothing over the top convoluted as far as plot structure, and a strong actor in the lead role. Glad I watched this.
Shinobi (2005)
Middle of the road
It is almost hard to rate this movie as it is so close to the mark in many ways.
You have here your basic story of Romeo and Juliet, cept done in the ninja version. Star crossed lovers (yes they actually use this analogy several times in the movie which was a tad cliché but w/e maybe it was just the best translation they could find) from the 2 most powerful ninja clans, which also happen to be fierce enemies, end up having to lead their clans in battle against each other as part of the emperors plan to ensure peace in the realm.
The good: fantastic shot settings. The backdrops are very pretty. Some of the views such as Gennosuke killing the 3 ninja framed by the moon are pretty cool, while there are a number like the last shot of Oboru drinking from the wintry stream which are very beautiful. The action - Some of it was quite good, most specifically the fight between the 2 shinobi that showcased their skill in the beginning to the emperor.
The bad: could have done so much more with the action. The film is called shinobi... You are already taking the story from Basilisk? (I read that it was Basilisk in someone else's review which I watched sometime back, assuming they are correct), so you already know what type of scenes that anime had. Granted it is tough to squeeze even a short series anime into a movie, I just feel there could have been so much more done, or even more with what they already had sequenced. Also, seems to be that everyone seems so enraptured with this as a romantic movie. Emotionally this movie could have been done even better as well. The only strong out of the ordinary part was when she took her eyes to take her own power out. I remember the anime being much more poignant than this film due to being more connected to the characters. Each death was such a huge loss that you basically just got sadder as the series progressed.
Overall, I think this was a good stab at this genre. I just think a little more action, a little better pacing (dragged a little), and some work on the storyline to evoke more dramatic emotions from the audience, would have helped this movie drastically.
Session 9 (2001)
Eh...
This movie is not without merit but in the end fails to deliver enough bang for the buck. This is a slow moving movie which I enjoy, as it lends itself to higher creep factor and more psychological thrills, however that setup only works if you get a good reward at the end. Things to note - this movie def has a decent creepy factor, a believable cast with good acting, great sound effects, decent dialogue, and a healthy dose of what I will call "unknowns". Unknown being factors you aren't sure about (altho for this movie I think things got a little too confusing at one point as it was trying to lead you in too many directions at once so you wouldn't realize what this movie is really about). I will say that visual of the chair is pretty damn cool tho.
In any case, the end result turns out to be the type of thriller that's been done by others and done well by others. This didn't really offer up anything new to me and the ending was a bit of a let down considering the wait you put in for something to happen.
If you are looking for a thriller, go watch something like Identity, or if you want something more towards horror inside an asylum, go watch Grave Encounters.
Grave Encounters (2011)
good creepy film
Solid scares, slow build up with an increasingly elevated creepiness factor along with an ending that doesn't leave you annoyed or scratching your head (altho I would have liked a post document type deal on what others thought happened). It does take the approach of "typical ghost hunting/TV show team which gets more than it bargained for" which has clearly been done, but its better done than a lot of the trash out there.
This is done documentary style and I gotta say the acting is pretty believable. Everyone fits the part of jaded spook hunters which ends up doing a 180, and you can really empathize with their fear.
All in all, decent horror flick (from a guy that doesn't even really like the horror genre all that much)
Sutorenjia: Mukô hadan (2007)
you should watch this
If you are a fan of action anime and ninjas/ sword fighting this is definitely worth watching. I feel like its been quite sometime since I've watched any good anime, so I was happy I ran across this. While nothing is amazing, everything is solid. Plot isn't really new (wandering reluctant hero type ends up saving someone in need)and the drawing isn't very new age, rather reminisce of old school animes, BUT - like I said, everything is the classic formula for a good anime. I've seen ppl liken this to Ninja Scroll, and in that vein I would agree. If you liked that you should like this.
and if anyone has some suggestions of some good anime movies like this (solid action/ drawing/ decent plot etc) I'd love to hear em and I could probably give a couple good suggestions too.
Chocolate (2008)
sub par
I had high hopes when I sat down to watch this but after watching, I'm pretty shocked this has a 7 rating on IMDb. I'll first say I'm a fan of Ong Bak 1 & 2 (#3 being god awful). So I was basically expecting a movie with a weak/ implausible story line and some kick ass action. While the main character definitely pulled off a couple of pretty awesome combos/ athletic martial arts moves, as a whole the fight scenes were unconvincing. How many times is someone going to attack you with the same type of punch which is completely telegraphed and beyond obvious. Okay, now multiple that by 100 or so and thats what this movie is. It's not a god awful movie, but I had a hard time watching the whole thing. Pretty mediocre as far as martial arts movies go.