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Reviews
Jin pai shi jie (1989)
Decent film marred by poor editing.
Directed by the king of cut-and-paste Godfrey Ho, 'girls and guns' flick Princess Madam is actually one of the director's better efforts. When a secretary agrees to testify in court against a semi-retired Triad boss, two cops, Moon (Moon Lee) and Lisa (Sharon Yeung), are ordered to protect her from being assassinated. When Moon kills a would-be assassin, his girlfriend (played by Michiko Nishiwaki) vows revenge. Matters are complicated further when Lisa's stepfather, an accomplice of the Triad boss under investigation, is ordered to sever all ties with his stepdaughter. Add in a plot twist and you have a decent narrative which unfortunately becomes muddled due to shoddy editing.
The problem, it seems, is that Godfrey Ho couldn't decide which plot line to focus on, and as such, Princess Madam meanders between numerous sub-plots before dropping most of them almost all-together. The film eventually finds its focus about half-way through and concentrates on Sharon Yeung's character, Lisa, who is torn between upholding the law and honouring her stepfather. Yeung brings some surprising depth to her character and, along with Moon Lee, provides some decent, if slightly generic action sequences. With the presence of Moon Lee, Michiko Nishiwaki and Sharon Yeung, one would have expected the action scenes to have been better than they are. Whilst they are entertaining they certainly don't break new ground, and the film has a tendency to rely a little too heavily on poorly choreographed shootouts.
Although the film appears to have been made very cheaply and, judging by the muddled editing, very quickly, Princess Madam is a fun flick which keeps a steady pace and never becomes boring. It's just a shame that Godfrey Ho didn't hire a better editor.
Leatherheads (2008)
I really enjoyed this film and disagreed with the critics...
...until the final 15 minutes.
Whilst the film managed to keep the screwball comedy and the sports side of things fairly balanced throughout, the focus shifted too much in favour of the sport in the last 15 Min's or so. Throughout the film the Football had been the field to which the romantic hi-jicks played out, both of which complimented each other. Whilst watching it I was confused as to why reviewers have criticised Clooney's lack of focus, but their comments made sense by the end.
Personally in my opinion, had the game at the end taken up half the screen-time it did, the film would have served its purpose as a fitting tribute to the romantic comedies of old. Unforuntely, this slip up has changed a 4 star film into a 3 star film. Clooney however, cannot be criticised for a substandard effort. His emulation of the 20s genre was perfect. Whilst the dialogue wasn't quite as snappy as the likes of His Girl Friday, and his chemistry with Renee didn't always gel perfectly, the film was a cinematic nostalgia trip back to a time where the men were smooth, sharp and sophisticated and the woman had more sting then hard liquor. Any effort to revive the screwball genre of old should be commended, especially when the filmmakers love of the genre is as apparent as it is here.
The unfortunate thing about this film is that both members of its core audience will be slightly disappointed. Those expecting a sports film will be disheartened by the romance. Those expecting romance, will be seduced until the final sports showdown, bored for 15 minutes, then disappointed at the tacked on love ending. I was in the latter camp.
***/*****
Rambo (2008)
Updated 80's action aesthetic breaths fresh, yet familiar air into an industry filled with 'pretty boy' heroes.
In an industry clogged up with sorry multimedia cash in's, neutered to guarantee widespread commercial success with the (13-17 year old) masses, Rambo (2008) breaths fresh, yet nostalgically familiar, air into a system which in recent years has all but abandoned actions films in favor of recyclable light shows for the Playstation generation. Whereas many recent action films (The Matrix series, Die Hard 4.0, Bourne, MI:3 etc) have relied on an overuse of CGI, MTV editing and what can only be described as 'shaky camera', Sylvester Stallone has nixed this style in favor of returning to the old school aesthetics, and indeed ethics, of the 1980's action film.
The film is undeniably a throwback to days gone by when 'action' films were exactly that - scenes of violence pieced together by a flimsy patriotic story held together by cartoonish characters who ooze absurd amounts of testosterone. Whilst Rambo undeniably harks back to 80's action films, the film has updated the bloodletting for the post-Saw generation of film goers. Whereas Rambo: First Blood Part II displayed Rambo as a killing machine mowing down hundreds of Viet-Con troops, Rambo displays Stallone mowing down hundreds of Burmese solders; albeit with a lot of bloody gratuitous violence. This, as mentioned earlier, makes for a familiar yet all too refreshing change from the commercially friendly action films thus far of the 00's. Whilst most action films this millennium have relied on fast cuts, montage and cut aways to seemingly 'suggest' violence (and receive a lower classification rating), Rambo goes balls-out to display it in a gloriously exploitative manor, much akin to the torture-porn aesthetic of so called 'horror' films as of late.
Where Bruce Willis failed to produce what he promised would be "Kick ass, old school action" for Die Hard 4.0, Stallone has succeeded in successfully updating this formula for a generation of movie goers who long for the action films of yesteryear yet expect the blood-letting of recent titles such as Hostel.
Whilst I don't believe it'll happen, I certainly hope the films success at the US box office will convince producers to repeat the updated 80's action aesthetic Stallone has carved with this film.
No more flashy, filter filled, shaky films please. Bring on the second coming of the 80's action film.