Detalhes

  • Última vez online: 34 minutos atrás
  • Localização:
  • Contribution Points: 216,522 LV90
  • Papéis: VIP
  • Data de Admissão: Agosto 24, 2019
  • Awards Received: Finger Heart Award33 Flower Award99 Coin Gift Award7
Completados
Gamera vs. Gyaos
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Out 21, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 6.0
História 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Musical 5.0
Voltar a ver 1.5

Turtle vs Bat

Gamera vs Gyaos is the third installment in the Showa era for Gamera. It features the two Kaiju, the requisite annoying child, and a Kaiju merry-go-round with a fountain of pink bubbling "blood".

After Gyaos emerges from an active volcano, the giant, bloody battles are on! Gyaos is able to split things in half with his laser-like sonic sounds. He can't turn his head and like a vampire, avoids the sun. Gyaos also enjoys eating people when he's not carving up planes and buildings with his beams. Gamera acts as the good guy in this movie battling this fierce opponent. There is a subplot about people wanting to build a road and the "greedy" farmers and villagers who apparently want to be paid well for their land and being displaced.

The humans, with the exception of the annoying child, do a good job in their various roles trying and failing to stop Gyaos. When there's a terror on the loose only a turtle can handle the job!

The rubber suits were not very good. Gyaos was a poor man's attempt at Rodan. Gamera's wires were visible on several occasions. The special effects, even for 1967 were rudimentary at best. Having said that, Gamera's spinning fiery flying was fun to watch.

The one positive I would say about this movie is that the monsters are on screen more often than not and there were several battles. Though with the exception of the blood letting and people falling to their deaths or being eaten and the giant vat of blood used to lure Gyaos into the daylight, this felt like a children's movie. If you can watch it with a child-like fascination it might prove entertaining. I found it unintentionally humorous, but I'm not sure that is a reason to recommend this movie.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Godzilla Raids Again
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Out 14, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 8.0
História 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Musical 8.0
Voltar a ver 8.0

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...

Godzilla Raids Again was the direct sequel to the original 1954 Godzilla. I'd heard it wasn't very good and saved it for my last Godzilla movie to watch. Happily, I was not disappointed with this follow-up to Big G's story.

Godzilla had a worthy adversary to complicate his story, Anguilus determined to fight for the title of top Kaiju. After battling on a deserted island with two human pilots as their audience, they took their fight to Osaka and tore up the town.

The human stories are usually the weak part of any Godzilla movie. I found these characters to be quite charming in a 1950's manner and wasn't the least bit annoyed by them. Instead of watching the clock waiting for the big guy to appear I found the time went by quickly as they built interest in the humans who would fight Godzilla and be his victims.

The monster fights were violent and animalistic, no comic boxing and professional wrestling moves that were to come in the movies that would follow. Speeding the film up also helped to distract from the obviousness of two guys in rubber suits. For a 1955 film, the special effects were quite good.

Sato Masaru's score was emotionally evocative hitting the right notes for each scene. Director Oda Motoyoshi also knew when to use silence to intensify the fear in the people waiting in a darkened city with only the sound of the fighter planes attempting to lead Godzilla away from them heard overhead. This was the last black and white Godzilla movie and I think it actually works better than many of the color films. It blurred the lines of the obvious miniatures and rubber suits and allowed for more suspension of disbelief. Regarding the miniatures, they were also much better than the 1960's -1970's Godzilla movies.

I am quite at peace, making nearly a full circle back to the 1950's. Godzilla Raids Again was not a perfect movie, but it was emotionally satisfying and entertaining. Instead of ending on a low note, I ended on a high one. Big G, thanks for the memories, you beautiful giant irradiated lizard.


Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Godzilla vs. Mothra
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Out 6, 2021
Completados 2
No geral 7.5
História 8.0
Acting/Cast 5.5
Musical 8.0
Voltar a ver 8.0
Godzilla and the humans learned a valuable lesson about butterflies/moths in this movie. Don't tick them off!

Godzilla vs Mothra was jammed packed with Kaiju and action. There was an asteroid, volcanic eruption, forest clearing megalomaniacs, a bickering divorced couple, the usual hapless leaders and military, and a Shobijin kidnapping! Mothra is usually a defender of Japan and the Earth. There are three things that will cause her to go into battle mode--(1) Godzilla or some other monster starts tearing up Japan, (2) people abusing the environment, and (3) anyone who messes with her besties, the Cosmos. Godzilla and the humans managed to check off all three.

Godzilla was awakened when an asteroid hit nearby where he was sleeping. It also uncovered Mothra's egg. And it awakened Battra, Mothra's evil twin. Godzilla wanted to be rid of Mothra's egg, and no wonder, she was the only Kaiju (aside from one other female) who had been able to run him out of town. After her caterpillar form and Battra's drove him off, he headed to Japan to start destroying things. Battra, judge and destroyer of those who abuse the earth was out to destroy the humans, leaving Mothra to have to broker peace and clean up the Kaiju mess. Greedy humans had kidnapped her BFF, the Cosmos/Shobijin which caused her to go on a tear as well. Once the Cosmos were safe she turned her attention to Godzilla and Battra.

Godzilla vs Mothra was good fun. Ifukube Akira's score always fits the mood. I'm always happy to hear the Mosura song sung by the Cosmos. The cinematography was better than usual as well. The less said about the humans, the better. Odaka Megumi was back with her ESP connections, a part of the Heisei legacy I've never been able to embrace . The human story worked better for me in this movie because the stories were closely connected to the monsters, especially Mothra. Godzilla's, Battra's, and Mothra's stories and interactions with each other and the humans was well woven throughout the movie. There were not huge swaths of time where the monsters were absent. Of course there were plot holes Big G could have stomped through, but they didn't take away from the enjoyment of the movie.

Godzilla and Battra looked properly menacing while Mothra had a cuddlier look. Cuddly for a giant creature who is able to do battle with Godzilla and could crush Japan if she had a mind to.

If you enjoy Godzilla movies with guys in big rubber suits and a butterfly which looked like it was made out of pipe cleaners, this is definitely one to try.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Out 5, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 7.0
História 7.5
Acting/Cast 6.0
Musical 8.0
Voltar a ver 5.5

Take That You Dinosaur!

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah is the third movie in the Heisei Godzilla series. Big G gets an upgrade and Ghidorah has a new origin story. The gullible humans once again fall for any story people in a spaceship tell them, much to their detriment.

The aliens in this movie turn out to be from Earth's future, called Futurians, because...well, why not? They arrive to tell the people of Japan that Godzilla who up to this time has been a somewhat protector will turn on the them and destroy the island. Back into time the Futurians go with a handful of 1991 characters to try and stop Godzilla from being created. The crew arrives on Lagos island during WWII where a dinosaur helped the Japanese there rout the American fleet because, well, why not? The dinosaur would mutate into Godzilla after nuclear bomb testing in 1954. Godzillasaurus, I kid you not, is transported to the 1991 Bering Strait so that he can't mutate. Of course a Russian nuclear sub starts the whole mutating cycle again. The Futurians turn out to not be the good helpers they originally appeared to be and now have King Ghidorah under their control.

There are plot holes galore in the timey wimey travel stories. Suffice it to say that Godzilla comes back bigger, badder, and madder.

Godzilla's weakness is nearly always the human stories. They weren't all bad in this one and there is a strong female lead who isn't military or a reporter who continually needs rescuing. Miki Saegusa is back as the ESP expert and per usual I am unimpressed with her one facial expression.

I'm never one to criticize guys in rubber suits, I find that to be part of the whimsical fun of these movies. The problem I had with the special effects were the ones unrelated to the monsters. They looked more 1976 than 1991. I was also saddened that they replaced Ghidorah's familiar shriek.

Ifukube Akira's score is a highlight to most Godzilla movies and this one was no exception.

Godzilla Vs Ghidorah was packed with a lot of story. Characters went back and forth in time. There were multiple monster issues and fights. Yet somehow, much of the first hour was dull, the characters were not nearly as compelling as the writers thought they were. Big G didn't stomp onto the scene until the final third of the movie. Godzillasaurus was interesting in his short scenes early on but even he was not what I came to see. It was the battle royale between Godzilla and the King, which turned out to be okay. The battle scenes ramped up as the credits neared making the movie worthwhile to watch. My biggest complaint in the final fight was that the good guys caused a lot of collateral damage and building destroying. It's one thing for monsters to do it, another for humans.

Big G vs The King is entertaining as long as you don't try to make too much sense from the convoluted story.








Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Blood Money
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Out 1, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 7.0
História 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Musical 4.5
Voltar a ver 6.0
Where to start with this mash up of Spaghetti Western and Kung Fu movie? Carlo Ponti and Run Run Shaw put together a crew of Hong Kong, American, Italian, and Spanish actors among others. Set in America, filmed in Spain and Hong Kong with music that ran the gamut including rock, American Western, and Chinese and Italian influenced. It may not have always made sense but it was never boring.

Lo Lieh's Ho was sent to America to find his recently deceased Uncle's booty that ultimately belonged to the warlord back home. Lee Van Cleef's Dakota was a ne're do well thief that landed in prison for trying to break into the uncle's safe ending in the uncle's accidental death. The clues to where the treasure was hidden were tattooed on the backsides of four of the uncle's, uh, female friends. Ho broke Dakota out of jail where he had been canned and they began trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. They were tailed by a murderous religious fanatic sharing a dark history with Dakota.

The movie was not dubbed well, Lo Lieh's voice-over actor sounded like he took a hit of helium before reading his lines. The music as stated above was all over the place and didn't always match up to the mood of the scene. The fight choreography was bad, with fists and kicks clearly missing their marks and not particularly inspired. Lo Lieh has shown in his other work that he was capable of much more. Van Cleef looked like he was having fun, having done this type of role many times before. He and Lo had good chemistry and made believable on-screen comrades in search of the treasure. Ultimately, it was their friendship that made this movie enjoyable for me.

If you are lactose intolerant, best to skip this movie as it is a 1970's cheese fest of the highest order and bare derrieres abound. Some of the gags were funny, others landed on their rear ends, much like the puns I've used in this review. Despite it's many drawbacks, the combination of Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh was enough to keep me entertained from beginning to tail end.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
The Beast Stalker
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Set 8, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 7.5
História 8.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Musical 5.5
Voltar a ver 4.5
A multiple car crash became an intersection of good guys, bad guys and those who could go either way. The impacting of lives resulted in tragedy and reverberated into the futures of all involved.

Beast Stalker is a suspenseful thriller that felt like it could have been better than it was. Hampered by a shaky camera that looked like they were filming during an earthquake, erratic close-ups, and choppy editing, it was hard to follow some of the action scenes without feeling nauseated. The actual car crash scene was done quite well, choreographed by Bruce Law, even if you could tell they were the only cars on the road.

The acting ranged from adequate to good. Nicholas Tse did a fine job portraying a dutiful cop whose actions led to a tragedy and the shattering personal and professional fallout resulting from it. Nick Cheung played the scarred villain on a collision course with Tse's cop. I honestly felt if he had been able to bring more nuance to his role as conflicted as his character was, it would have made his story arc more powerful. I was most impressed with Wong Suet Yin who played Ling, the prosecutor's youngest child. The daughter was kidnapped to force her mother to capitulate to the Big Bad's demands. Wong beautifully portrayed a little girl who never gave up and was resourceful in trying to rescue herself despite numerous setbacks.

Overall, too many characters took away from the central core of the story for me. In a thriller like this, the fewer characters the better, and the better to develop those few fully.

The film displayed how a fateful accident drove people to drastic measures both for good and evil which brought up the age old question, "Do the means justify the ends?"

Beast Stalker is not a bad film, just remember to take your Dramamine before you start it.


Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
One-Armed Swordsman
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 28, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 7.0
História 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Musical 5.0
Voltar a ver 5.5
A martial arts classic from the 1960's, this movie did not disappoint. Primitive by today's standards, it was cutting edge in its time.

I was reticent about watching this as I'm not a huge Jimmy Wang Yu fan nor Chang Cheh. To my surprise, I enjoyed this movie. Either lovingly restored or lovingly cared for it was sharp and vibrant. Those who have watched old kung fu movies know what I'm talking about. Some of them look like they've been drug over 20 miles of bad road. While most of the scenery was filmed on a lot, the sets were very nice to look at.

Most of the actors performed well for the time and genre. I was surprised to see Tien Feng and Ku Feng playing good guys, they usually played wicked men. Lisa Chiao Chiao, no stranger to holding a sword in a movie, played the gentle love interest with no desire for her man to ever pick up a sword again. Fortunately, her character just happened to have a secret book on how to fight left-handed hidden away and was able to give it to Wang's character after he lost his right arm and fell into a depression. This role fit Wang's screen personality like a glove and it made him famous.

The sword fights were typical of the time, with quite a few, uh, disarming scenes. Bloodier than movies that came before it, but not as bloody as Chang Cheh would make in the future, the fights were mostly entertaining.

The One Armed Swordsman excelled more in storyline and mood than in the actual fight scenes. The one-armed swordsman received a gift in his loss as he came to learn compassion and affection. Though he lost everything he knew, he gained a way out of the cycle of violence. For martial arts movie enthusiasts, it's a good one to watch in homage to the past and also to see how far these movies have come.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
The Big Boss
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 28, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 7.0
História 7.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Musical 1.0
Voltar a ver 7.0

They Didn't Come Home for Dinner!

Bruce Lee made a big splash in Hong Kong with The Big Boss. Set in the contemporary time, bloody, more realistic, and of course centered around Bruce Lee, it was something bold and new.

The story had plot holes and was weak despite a good idea. Ice dealers were also drug dealers which put the honorable men working at the ice house and unknowingly for the syndicate in danger. They found out soon enough, as one or two at a time were called into the boss' office and disappeared. These guys were not the sharpest knives in the drawer when it came to figuring out the danger lurking behind the big boss' gated mansion complete with guard dogs and endless armed minions. The only clue friends and family had that something untoward might have happened was that they didn't come home for dinner.

Most of the fights were brawls rather than martial arts conflicts. Cheng Chiu On (Bruce Lee) had taken a vow to not fight, why we don't know, and watched most of the action until the halfway mark in the movie. When the bodies started stacking up he finally decided to enter the fray, though for many it was too little too late. Most of the extras were slow and lumbering compared to Bruce when he took center stage and showed everyone how it was done. There is no overestimating the skill, quickness, and precision he displayed. Han Ying Chieh, the Big Bad, who also choreographed the fights was at least an able opponent in the final conflict.

The fights were brutal and bloody. It was one of the few times I've seen Bruce fight with weapons, aside from nunchaku, as he did in this one. Oddly, director and writer Lo Wei, inserted weirdly comedic moments in scenes at least somewhat grounded in realism. Wuxia flying guard dogs are not to be missed! There was also more wire work than I would have expected, completely unnecessary when dealing with a fighter the caliber of Bruce Lee.

James Tien also gave a notable performance early on as Cheng's friend, Hsu Chien, who tried to stand up for the workers. He had a light and spark that was entertaining to watch. For the most part, the rest of the acting was typical of old kung fu movies, stilted and weak.

Like many kung fu movies, the story was imperfect. The early fight scenes were also flawed. Once the real Big Boss stepped up, the movie became worthwhile for me. Bruce Lee had a grace, magnetism, beauty, and fluidity that I've never seen matched. It was worth sitting through the more stagnant parts of the movie to be able to watch him work.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Freedom Strikes a Blow
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 27, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 5.5
História 6.5
Acting/Cast 6.0
Musical 1.0
Voltar a ver 1.0

First we kill them, then we dump them!

If Bolo hadn't been in this movie, I would have seriously considered dumping it.

What I liked:
•Refreshingly this movie was set near the ocean where workers loaded and unloaded cargo for boats at the pier.
•Did I mention Bolo was in this movie? He's a favorite of mine and it was fun to watch him fight and snarl at people.
•Fong Yau gave a charismatic performance as a sadistic syndicate man, far out charming any of the good guys.
•Bolo and Huang Chung Hsin, and also Huang Chung Hsin and Leung Tin had brutal fights. Finally fighters went after the parts of the body that will stop a person---the arms and knees.
•I liked that they tried to show the emotional aftermath of a person who thought he had killed someone with his bare hands.

What I didn't care for:

•Michael Chan's performance was weak for me. I thought he came across as whiney instead of conflicted. After thinking he'd killed his girlfriend's brother he ran away and vowed never to fight again. Of course, he ended up in a place where people's lives were in danger because of a tyrannical boss and cowered in the back or was beaten senseless.
•I didn't like Michael Chan's windmill style of fighting very well.
•His girlfriend gave him what had to be the worst pep talk in the entire history of cinema when he was hiding out after some of his buddies and his girl had fought, been wounded, or died in a big battle with Bolo.
• The music was loud and dreadful, as were the fighting sound effects.
• With the exception of the fights involving Huang Chung Hsin I didn't think any of the fights were particularly inspired.

If you are a Bolo fan, it's worth sitting through this movie to watch him, he was in fine form.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Hapkido
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 21, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 7.5
História 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Musical 4.5
Voltar a ver 9.0
Hapkido aka Lady Kung Fu was jammed packed with kung fu legends. Starring Angela Mao, Sammo Hung, Carter Wong, and Hapkido expert Whang In Shik, the fighting and choreography did not disappoint.

Angela, Carter, and Sammo played Chinese citizens who studied Hapkido in Korea for five years until one day they had a little skirmish in a park with some Japanese guys harassing Angela. Forced to leave Korea they returned to China and opened up their own school. Unfortunately for them, the Japanese had also opened a dojo in their town and as happens in many of these movies, the Japanese were running roughshod over the locals and tried to close down the school. The trio's Hapkido master had preached patience at all costs which they tried to adhere to, but it only resulted in death after death. Finally, Angela had to take things into her own hands with a little help from Whang In Shik in the final fight to clear out the dojo.

The story was wafer thin, and if I'm being perfectly honest, a little annoying at times. I'm all for being kind and patient, but when dealing with murderous bullies, it will also get you killed. There was no character development or back stories, the characters were plopped into the story already statically formed.

What I did like, Angela Mao's character was fierce, decisive, and utterly ruthless. She was also a badass fighter. Hapkido had a wealth of talented martial artists in it and Sammo choreographed the fights with exquisite care. I bumped up my score because I have no complaints about the fast, furious, creative fights. And I have a real weakness for women who are not damsels in distress but take control of situations and handle them with the spirit of a warrior.

In the background as extras were Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Yuen Wah. The extras were a who's who of martial artists bit players.

Hapkido is a kung fu classic because the fights are amazing and fun to watch. Sammo and Carter were young and quick. Angela Mao had real screen presence and was a delight to cheer for as she took care of business with her fists, kicks, and killer stare. If you enjoy old kung fu movies, this is one not to be missed.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Forest of Death
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 18, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 6.5
História 6.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Musical 6.5
Voltar a ver 1.0
Fangorn Forest isn't the only place where you'd better not turn your back on the trees!

Shu Qi plays a detective trying to solve a rape-murder. Ekin Cheng plays a botanist who believes he can communicate with trees and is trying to prove it. His girlfriend, Rain Li, is a reporter using sensationalist stories about the numerous suicides and disappearances taking place in the forest to further her career. Shu Qi enlists Ekin Cheng to see if the trees can provide evidence in the case. Please don't stop reading, it gets better. Throw in that this is supposed to be taking place in Thailand with a Hong Kong cast and this movie is a real head scratcher. I won't even spoil it with the big reveal behind some of the spooky elements going on in the forest, but if you watch this movie, you may be like me and say, "sure, why not?" and just start laughing.

Full disclosure, I am a Shu Qi fan and she's why I started and didn't drop this movie. She gave a good performance, even if we never learned much about her character except that she is a doggedly determined detective. Ekin Cheng didn't have much to do except to occasionally talk to the trees and look at "scientific" equipment. Rain Li's reporter probably had the most development as she had to deal with her demanding boss and inattentive boyfriend.

Forest of Death does have some good moments of suspense and creepiness. The acting is all more than adequate. The story, however, adds in too many unbelievable elements. If they'd stuck to one fantastical element they could have built their mythology around it. Instead, they try to weave in too many supernatural stories into one and it ends up making for a vague and even ludicrous culmination.

Forest of Death could be another name for all the trees who gave their lives for the script pages of this murky, mess of a movie.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Moon Warriors
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 17, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 7.0
História 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Musical 7.0
Voltar a ver 1.0
Pour yourself a nice glass of wine and grab some crackers, because you'll need it to go with all of the cheese in this melodramatic movie. It's hard to take any movie seriously when it doubles as an advertisement for Sea World/Shamu or 'Free Willy Goes to Hong Kong'.

Kenny Bee stars as the 13th Prince who is deposed by his evil brother, the 14th Prince played by Kelvin Wong. I was happy to see Maggie Cheung as one of 13th Prince's bodyguards. 13th Prince and his small entourage are saved from a plethora of assassins in a bamboo forest by Andy Lau's fisherman, Ah Fei, who happens to be wandering about. They make friends and Ah Fei takes them to a secret underground royal tomb to hide out in. Ah Fei is tasked with bringing 13th Prince's fiancé to him. A gorgeous Anita Mui plays the willful Princess and on the long dangerous road back to the 13th Prince, feisty banter turns to love. Duty above all, everyone ignores the obvious feelings because 14th Prince is hot on their trail.

Moon Warriors has one of the most preposterous endings I've ever seen which takes away any tragic feelings and replaces them with laughter and WTF? This is not one of Andy's strongest performances, but I can't blame him, he's required to say some pretty cheesy lines. Maggie and Anita both do a good job with what they are given and their fight is the highlight of the movie. Kenny is properly stoic and noble. Kelvin has the evil laugh down which is half of what he needs for his performance as the villain. The actors could only do so much with the script they were given so I tried to cut them some slack.

The pinnacle of ludicrousness is Ah Fei's friendship with a killer whale. I do have to applaud Andy Lau for his commitment to the role and learning to ride and do tricks with Hong Kong's version of Shamu.

My evaluation of martial arts movies always comes down to the fights. Moon Warriors used so much wire-fu it looked like the actors were on the moon bouncing around half the time. I have no problem with light body skills in a wuxia, but this movie overdid the super human leaping never missing the chance to have someone flying through windows or simply defying gravity as they ran. While many of the fights were creative and fast, they often looked incredibly awkward as well. I do have to say I saw the most creative decapitation ever, at least through my fingers.

Moon Warriors has some beautiful cinematography and fight scenes every few minutes to keep things interesting. The actors gave it their best. Ultimately, it ended up being a slightly below average wuxia for me. It was filmed in the 90's so it didn't receive my grading on a curve that I give much older movies. It's not a bad way to spend 90 minutes but if you are lactose intolerant you might want to skip this one.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Enter The Fat Dragon
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 17, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 7.5
História 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.5
Musical 9.0
Voltar a ver 3.5
Donnie Yen in a romantic comedy kung fu movie wearing a fat suit truly sounded like a train wreck idea. At times it felt more like a parody of kung fu movies and police movies. Amazingly, it succeeded for the most part.

The story is nonsensical, and started off slow, picking up steam when Donnie's character Fallon, had to transport a prisoner to Japan. I was bracing myself for a lot of fat jokes and fat shaming, thankfully, it didn't happen. Fallon had been demoted after destroying the police station in the process of catching a band of bank robbers. His girlfriend dumped him and at work he was exiled to the basement storage check-out. Like a lot of people might have done, he comforted himself with food and gained weight. When called into action in Japan he was still able to perform his moves, act courageously, and handle the dangerous situations. A lot of movies would have made him feel inadequate after gaining weight, not this movie, regardless of his weight he was still a good cop.

I thought it was funny in places, my husband laughed out loud through the whole thing. Maybe the Y chromosome helps to understand some of the humor.

The martial arts choreographers outdid themselves with creative and entertaining fights, with and without weapons. Donnie and his stunt double(s) made the action thrilling to watch. The choreographers designed fights often using whatever might be lying around, be it meat cleavers, frying pans, large tunas or a forklift. I'm used to seeing Godzilla tear up Tokyo Tower, this time Donnie and the Big Bad fought over Tokyo precariously kicking, fighting, and jumping above the brightly lit city.

Among the side characters I enjoyed the interpreter (Jessica Jann), she moved seamlessly between Japanese, Cantonese, and English with a ditzy flair. Wong Jing played the good-natured Thor, who was in love with a restaurant owner. Donnie had to come to the aid of his ex (Niki Chow) when she ended up in the clutches of the yakuza baddies. Love was definitely in the air!

Enter the Fat Dragon had action, humor, and a little romance. The story and action were fast. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but was easy, breezy, and beautiful even at 250 pounds (113kg).

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
The Dragon Lives Again
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 14, 2021
Completados 0
No geral 5.0
História 5.0
Acting/Cast 5.0
Musical 1.5
Voltar a ver 1.5
Bruce Lee went to Hell and while there he ended up in a war against Dracula, James Bond, the Godfather, Clint Eastwood's 'Man with No Name', Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, the Exorcist, a racy Emanuelle, zombie skeletons, and mummies! Don't worry though, because Bruce had Popeye, The One-armed Swordsman, and Kwai Chang Caine (from 1970's Kung Fu, the role that should have gone to Bruce) on his side!

This movie was bonkers, trashy, stupid, extremely low budget, everything I should have run from. Instead I was drawn to any movie with the above characters going at each other! Objectively speaking I should have rated it lower, but it was so bad that it was funny and I gave it a ratings bump.

The plot was completely illogical. The whole story was simply an excuse to have the biggest cross-over event in kung fu history. I had to watch a badly dubbed version. It sounded like one man did all the men's voices and they all sounded like they had thick New York (USA) accents except for the Exorcist who had an outrageous French accent (Monty Python joke). This version had also been cut several times and parts of the action didn't always show on the screen. Thankfully, there weren't subtitles or they would have run off the screen.

The fights were funny with bizarre sound effects. Bruce would call out the names of his movies for some of his moves. Zatoichi received a Fist of Fury in a very sensitive area.

Fair warning, there was quite a bit of female nudity in this movie. Unwanted and unneeded in the context it was shown. There was also a lot of talk about Bruce's "third leg". I'll leave it at that. In the double standard department, Bruce didn't even take his shirt off in the final battle. How were we supposed to know when he'd had enough and gotten serious?!? My guess is that Bruce Leung wasn't in good enough shape to take his shirt off.

This movie was awful, truly awful. It was also hysterically funny in places. If you can handle so bad it's good movies, this is one of those. It would benefit you to have a friend with an absurd sense of humor to watch it with and a big bowl of popcorn. Just don't expect any of it to make any sense.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Completados
Twelve Gates of Hell
1 pessoas acharam esta resenha útil
Ago 11, 2021
Completados 4
No geral 6.0
História 7.0
Acting/Cast 6.0
Musical 1.5
Voltar a ver 2.0
Twelve Gates of Hell falls into the so bad it's funny category. Just when you think it can't get any more ridiculous, Dragon Lee says, "Hold my beer."

Lee Wan and his father were on their way to meet up with his perspective wife when they were waylaid by evil doers working for the local tyrant. They met up with Lee's potential father-in-law who had been badly wounded by the evil doers for he had been carrying the secret list of rebels. The tyrant would stop at nothing to get his hands on that list including poisoning Lee and leaving him for dead. He was rescued by his future bride. Sadly, his leg had to be amputated to save his life. Happily, he remembered there was a secret book and technique to make a metal leg and the manual came complete with the 18 Kicks instructions! Time for revenge! Whee!

This movie was filmed with all the sophistication of a high school play and probably with the same budget. The fights of which there were many were not particularly inspired but thankfully, they weren't super slow. The few indoor sets were bargain basement finds or thrown together. The cinematography was primitive at best. Even though it was filmed in Korea, don't expect to see any historical Korean costumes, the costumes and wigs were standard 1970's fake Bruce Lee wigs, and bland kung fu wear. The sound effects could range from someone banging on a metal trashcan to 1970's sci-fi spaceship sounds. A twelve-year old on Tik Tok could have filmed some of the special effects better with a cell phone. The acting ranged from adequate to bad.

The outdoor scenes were filmed in Korea and showed a wide range of scenery, laughably all on what was supposed to be the same day at times, but still they were pretty. Mountain scenes with and without snow made good places to fight and ambush. The forest, or the ocean shore, or on the banks of a frozen river were all settings for flipping, kicking, and hitting. Oh, and blowing fire breath. And of course there were the four evil female attendants who could disappear and even more frighteningly----turn into clowns! The horror.

If it sounds like I'm making fun of the film...I am. Even Dragon Lee couldn't help himself from smirking and winking at the camera. Twelve Gates of Hell mercifully clocks in at under 90 minutes. If you are an old kung fu movie enthusiast who isn't afraid to laugh in all the wrong places, and you're feeling up for a challenge that might feel like traversing the 12 gates of hell, you might want to give this one a try. Otherwise best to change the channel with the speed of the changing scenery in this movie.

Leia Mais

Esta resenha foi útil para você?