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hammy012
Reviews
Serbuan maut (2011)
Probably the craziest movie I've ever seen. Wickedly satisfying.
When I finished watching this movie... I was left speechless. Usually, I would probably dislike mindless action films... the only notable exceptions being Transformers and Ninja Assassin, both guilty pleasures in their own right.
The Raid came off as the most insane movie I've ever seen. Gareth Evans really had the guts to pull it off: giving us a clichéd protagonist with a mediocre motivation and a weak, nonsensical plot, and instead, throws at us 99 solid minutes of mindless skull-bashing action and brain-numbing violence, inviting us to step into one adrenaline-maxed out scenario after another, the intensity of the fights escalating as the movie progresses, making all of the Hong Kong action films I grew up watching seem like child's play.
The film does have its rare calm moments in between brawls, but they are all too short to make an impression. When it does cool down... you're biting your nails, wondering what vicious and imaginative way would the director execute another fight scene or kill more people off. And when it arrives, the sequences would leave any viewer attempting to catch their breath... but the film just leaves no room for that.
Mindless action aside, the cinematography and editing were awesome, not what was I expecting from a movie that cost 1.1 million dollars to make, contributing to the intensity of the film. The gritty and dark photography cranks up the tension to the max, making it one of the best films that would get your heart racing by the second minute, a wondrous experience for action fanatics.
Forget the solid acting, the unbelievable situations of the film (Where the hell in Jakarta can you find a flat populated entirely by ridiculously psychotic or mentally sick criminals who knows how to put up a good fight whenever confronted?), the terrible and recycled writing. Leave your brain at the doorstep and watch it, immense yourself. I highly recommend this to any action fan.
Omohide poro poro (1991)
Beautiful
This is arguably the most heart-warming, beautiful and nostalgic movie that Studio Ghibli has ever made. For me, my favorite Studio Ghibli has always been Spirited Away, however, I somehow could relate more to Only Yesterday. It takes the memories, discard what we consider important and conjures up an odd and sometimes humorous assortment of events that shows how much they matter and affect the female protagonist after so many years.
Only Yesterday is unique in the sense of coming-of-age films that it does not offer us a heavily dramatized coming-of-age film, presenting us with a bland, plain-Jane main character, Taeko. Taeko's love and longing for the countryside takes her on a trip down memory lane, however, it is often the smallest, plainest things that matter to her the most. And director Isao Takahata does it so well, by presenting an assortment of scenes, painted in a lighter shade to evoke the mood of a time gone by, such as a girl's first crush, or her family's lack of knowledge on how to eat a pineapple, that anyone will fondly remember as Taeko does. I sure will.
It is profoundly affecting, emotional, light-hearted but never meaningless, and arguably among the best yet most underrated of Ghibli's films.
Skyfall (2012)
Good, but was expecting more.
I have a confession to make. I have never seen a Bond film until now.
Okay, forget it. I enjoyed this movie somewhat... but there was something missing. All the action scenes, from the opening chase sequence in Turkey, up till the final battle in the Scottish wilderness were pretty decent, nonetheless. As the modern Bond films have shown, Craig's Bond is a tougher, more realistic Bond, with his own depth and frailties that shine through even with the mock-tough lines he says throughout the movie.
However, Skyfall was quite a letdown. Sure, the buildup was decent and everything, but when the villain shows up, it just falls apart. As for the plot, there wasn't much of a plot there. The film could've been character driven, but it just wasn't enough to make me feel for any of them, they had a lot of potential. Silva, Bond and M weren't as deep as the synopsis of the film here described. I was actually expecting Bond to show more of his own morality and insecurities instead of sticking to protecting M for the rest of the movie, even going as far as to betray MI6 could be good, M's past and whatever wrong or bad choices she made to have Silva on her tail, and send Bond into doubting her, and Silva to be more complex, his motivations for killing M explained further. A few plot twists could've been good too.
About halfway into the movie, I was actually wondering, "What the hell are the supporting characters there for anyway?" Moneypenny and Mallory were just a waste of space... they were just there to fill in the rest of the scenery. They could've been further developed, especially Mallory.
However, the film's production values were all great, never an issue. The wide, sweeping landscape of the Scottish hills to the fight in a office building in Shanghai with glowing neon signs in the background... well, they were all beautifully shot. The editing was decent, the action scenes are great... however, what made me speechless were the opening credits. They were beautifully done, all evoking the apocalypse inside Bond's world... with such emotion and the haunting song sung by Adele just makes me all hyped up for the film... but it just wasn't that impressive.
All in all, Skyfall is a pretty entertaining watch. 7/10
Drive (2011)
A top-notch crime thriller
I've had really high expectations for a movie like this. Well... mainly because of the awesome soundtrack, not to mention the positive response from the film-buffs and all that... Pretty much geared-up to watch it anyway. I expected an action movie, with a decent storyline. Yet, it blew me away.
Drive is about a mysterious man only known as "Driver", who works as a getaway driver for crooks, bank robbers and the sort. He gives them only five minutes to do their job; should they fail, they'll be on their own. He works anonymously, with no regrets about the past jobs he has done, and this makes him more mysterious. When he meets single mother Irene, and her young son Benicio, Driver eventually softens. Here is the portrait of a once mysterious man, then you suddenly get the feeling that he's not as badass as he seems. He helps Irene's recently-out-of-jail husband Standard complete a job to pay off his debts, although this means breaking his moral codes. The heist goes horribly wrong, all hell breaks loose from there, and... well you get the point.
The point is, I really understand the people who don't like the film, and were expecting senseless carnage and a fast-paced thriller (I admit that sometimes I do enjoy a Michael Bay film)... Drive is not a movie made for everyone. It's all about the man who does not have a name... it is intended to arouse your curiosity about him, he doesn't say much, you wonder where he's from, why is he here, why is he doing all of this while he can get a full-time legal job. When he falls for the girl, you feel like that's all, but the film catches you off balance as he suddenly begins his transition from a gentle, caring man into a savage murderer when someone threatens the people he loves. There's more than that to him.
Director Nicolas Winding Refn deserves praise for his modern-day 1980s classic. The cinematography is excellent; a dark, decaying Los Angeles serves as the backdrop to all the mayhem, while the carefully executed scenes just pile up to an outburst of ultra-violence evoking the B-movie feel, yet, it is never overdone; the makers know how to restrict the violence before it overwhelms the viewer, and instead, it just makes it more fun to watch. This is a stylish, class-A art-house flick; a fresh counter-film to all the movies of today which just features little to no moral complexity in their characters and stunts which attempt to make an audience go "Ooh!" and "Aah!" while failing to thrill them at the same time.
KL Gangster (2011)
I don't get the hype...
First of all, I'll say that this is just another bad movie. When you watch a film that is more concerned with executing some bad rip-offs of those old, old action films with sound effects, than giving a complicated plot and at least some decent characters to sympathize with, well, you get another bad film. Not to say that I like lambasting the Malaysian film industry, but seriously, this movie really sucks.
However, I'd like to praise the director for one thing. Although he did not portray the criminal underworld of Kuala Lumpur as realistically as expected, he did do some research into how the characters might talk and act. Sadly to say, KL Gangster is a film with potential, however, give it good ol' stereotypical heroes and bad guys with no moral complexity whatsoever, a really light and rushed plot in which almost nothing matters except for the combat and a few hastily done dramatic scenes... well, the point is, don't watch it.
Akira (1988)
A pure mindf**k from start to finish
My uncle, who studied in Japan during the 1980s, introduced me to this film two years ago, when I was 13. Initially, I was reluctant to watch it due to the poster... what, a capsule? I stereotypically thought of it as just another bizarre 1980s cyberpunk film with giant robots and Matrix styled sh*t... all that my uncle was interested in... given that I had a shallow understanding of what the culture was all about.
How wrong I was.
The opening was the most epic of any film I've seen so far (besides Oldboy and City of God). It set the mood for the entire film perfectly. I was in awe... growing up alongside Disney animated movies, what other "cartoon" opens with a gigantic nuclear explosion? It was utterly brilliant from that point on - a hypnotic trip through the underbelly of a society on the verge of collapsing. Being politically conscious and having lived through observing numerous cases of widespread corruption and oppression in my country, as well as being a bullied, angry teen with discipline issues. I immediately resonated with what Otomo was trying to express. The animation was unlike anything I've ever seen... the music was great and unique... and you get my point.
However, what startled me the most was the movie's message. Being 13 when I watched it, it wasn't really clear to me... the first few minutes were instances of mindless action and rioting... it was crazy and to a point, near extremist to me. Yet, the film never loses its way of providing unpredictable surprises, especially during the end. The film left me speechless, shocked and awed by the sheer brutality of it.
What was the film trying to tell? Beyond the madness, I thought that maybe humans could never be given the power of God... see what Tetsuo became during the end... he was overwhelmed... I'd leave that disturbing scene to your imagination as not to spoil it for you people. I could see parts of me here and there in Tetsuo... and I thought maybe that was what I would do if I was given powers like these. This film is, according to me, both a haunting criticism of human nature, and a beautifully animated masterpiece; a milestone in animation.
Watch it - just be prepared for what it'll throw at you.