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sikboy21
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Ong-Bak (2003)
Stunt Reel
There's not much to say about Ong Bak. It's essentially, as my summary says, a stunt reel for Tony Jaa. The movie plot is non existent but what can you expect for a martial arts film? The combat action is totally overwhelming. It's a movie so suspension of disbelief is necessary but with the amount of elbows and knees planted into heads, you have to wonder how bad guys keep getting up. Most of the strikes Jaa perform are perfectly timed lethal blows. Almost each one left me thinking that there's no way someone can take that hit, let alone get up and keep fighting. Then again, it's martial arts... The French Gangsta rap during the closing credits was an odd touch. I have no idea who chose the tunes but it seemed way out of place. If you like Martial Arts movies, enjoy the flick. If you don't, then why are you even on this page?
The Man (2005)
All the production values of a Saturday afternoon action serial.
I can't say the movie was a disappointment because I got what I expected from the trailer. I hoped for Jackson to reprise the Jules character from Pulp Fiction but I knew I wouldn't get him. Instead we get someone almost as angry and a whole lot more impotent: he threw tantrums when it's obvious that his bad-ass character would beat Levy. The chemistry between Jackson and Levy never develops, it's a tired combination of the oblivious and irritating (Levy) teamed up with the dead-serious bad-ass (Jackson). The director doesn't know how to take advantage of the two as his gags are poorly set-up. There's an awful lot of lowest-common-denominator stuff in this movie. Once the movie starts to drone on, out comes the fart jokes. In the end, I amused myself by substituting my own dialogue throughout the movie and looking for references to Toronto. That's another disappointment: the movie is set in Detroit and filmed in Toronto but there was minimal effort to actually make the city FEEL like Detroit. Sure, they digitally removed the CN Tower from the city skyline but the unique Toronto streetcars and streetcar tracks, Petro-Canada gas-stations, Royal York Hotel, bilingual signposts, people walking about and NO garbage or graffiti anywhere prove that it is NOT Detroit. They should have at least avoided the skyline completely since it doesn't match Detroit at all, even with the Skydome and CN Tower removed. There you go: a poor to mediocre effort on all levels.
Phone Booth (2002)
Since when do snipers enforce morality?
****MINOR SPOILERS****
This movie is about a sleezeball public rep to the stars and how a sniper decides to teach him a lesson in values. Farrell is an incredibly slimy deal-making leech. The movie opens with him strolling down the street with his assistant in tow. He pumps the public image of his clients in order to make it appear that he is doing a favour to venues when they decide to host his clients. I have no sympathy for him. The rep enters a phone booth to make a call to his mistress. He only calls her from this specific phone booth because he doesn't want a paper trail. I have less sympathy for him. What we have is a MAJOR break in logic. Mr. sniper-man decides that he must teach Mr. Sleezeball a lesson about fidelity while having no qualms whatsoever in shooting completely innocent bystanders. WTF!? I have several gripes about this flick but I'll stick to one more at this time: A handgun fired at the chest of an individual will not leave a similar wound as a high-powered sniper rifle fired at the back of an individual! I found the movie excruciating. I felt no empathy for Farrell, no desire to see him win, and no eagerness to have the sniper defeated. I do not recommend this movie to anyone.
The Way of the Gun (2000)
Corruption, kidnapping, deception, and gunplay! gunplay! gunplay!
Don't let the first scene of the movie deceive you: It's practically the only part of the movie I dislike. The acting within this gem blossoms as the film progresses. Although at first concept, Ryan Philippe and Benicio del Toro seem to be the oddest couple they do hold some kind of chemistry. If you enjoy Quentin Tarantino movies, this one follows the genre (except for the lack of a disjointed timeline). I recommend it to almost anyone.