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Gong woo gau gap (2000)
Where character driven plot meets style
This is a very well made movie all around. The movie is will acted, featuring a bunch of interested colorful characters brought to life by very good character actor performances. The movie is very well directed. Full style and it moves along at a good pace. The movie explores interesting themes of change, tradition, and honor among thieves. The setting of the late 90's Hong Kong underworld is full energy. Fans of Asian cinema will be very familiar with these archetypes but The Triad Zone handles them well enough that they don't feel like stereotypes. Truly, the movie doesn't have a weak point. The Sopranos set in Asia with the style of a good music video.
The one possible hang up is that The Triad Zone makes some bold creative choices. I think most of those choices stick the landing and enhance the movie. If your idea of a crime drama is a 3 hour dry awards bait, you may find this film to be too quirky. I think most films will not have that problem.
Also note that the IMDB description is 100% incorrect. This has nothing to do with a troop of comedians and acrobats. The correct non-spoiler description for the movie should be "A Triad crime family boss struggles to hold on to power while trying to balance tradition and the changing times."
Zeiram 2 (1994)
Just like the first movie, but better executed
If you aren't familiar with the Zeiram franchise, take your favorite Saturday Morning action cartoon from the 1980's, adapt it to live action, and add HR Giger-like R rated special effects to it. Zeiram 2 continues that formula of taking campy action packed fun and adding impressive horror special effects to it.
Zeiram 2 covers a lot of the same group as the original but you can tell that director Keita Amemiya feels a lot more comfortable with the material. The main character Iria is a bad ass space bounty hunter in both, but she comes across as a lot more friendly and relatable in this sequel than in the first film. The Zeiram monster is impressive in both movies, but monster lends itself to better action sequences in the second movie and far more horrific scenes involving the biological elements in the sequel. The fight scenes between Iria and the Zeiram are better choreographed and varied in the second movie. Outside of the iconic opening of the first film, which is probably the peak of the entire franchise, the second movie is a plain better movie overall.
Do you need to see the first movie to enjoy the original? The second movie assumes that you've seen the original. The concept of "The Zone" is explained in the first movie and the second movie just assumes that you know how it works. The second movie expands on the character relationships of the first movie. If you can watch both movies, then watch both movies. If you can only watch one movie then Zeiram 2 is the way to go.
Judging Zeiram 2 as a stand alone film away from it's franchise, they don't make action movies like this anymore. No one uses practical effects like this anymore. No one makes movies with this kind mix of PG tone and R rated violence at the same time. I'm reviewing this movie in 2022, and as such I think that Zeiram 2 is a worth while sci-fi action movie that stands as a cool hidden gem from an era that is gone and is no longer coming back.
Fall (2022)
A thrilling and horrific tale of survival
The movie is very simple. What you see in the trailer is what you get. There's not a lot to it. But the real magic that makes this movie special is that it fully commits to it's scenario. No cop-outs. No easy solutions. The main characters are put into a horrific scenario, and you have to experience it with them in all it's vertigo inducing glory.
The movie is very well directed. It's visually stunning and very intense. It's technically a low budget movie by 2022 standards but it doesn't feel cheap at all. The effects are convincing. The movie moves along at a good pace. The plot is simple but tight. There really aren't any unreasonable plot holes.
The acting is good. The characters are fairly cliche so you shouldn't expect an Academy Award winning performance here. But I felt like Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner did a good job of expressing their emotions and the terror of the situation. They did well with the material given.
Overall, I think this was an excellent movie. Fans of man vs nature type of horror movies like Jaws will find a lot to like here.
Beibî warukyûre (2021)
A Very Charming Action Comedy.
The movie does a good job of balancing brutal action, funny moments, and some subtle social commentary to create one of the best action comedies of the past few years.
There's less action than one might expect from the trailer and other reviews but the action that we do get is very good. The climax fight in particular is S level stuff and makes the movie really must-see. The leads have excellent chemistry together. They keep the movie very entertaining during the periods without gun fights.
The social commentary is very light. If you aren't familiar with life in Japan in 2021, you won't notice it and you'll still be able to enjoy the film. If you are familiar with life in Japan in 2021, you'll have a deeper understanding of the struggle of young people entering the workforce in a declining country. And that Maid Cafes aren't just a quirky weird Japanese trend but actually kind of horrible places to work and a means of survival. There's a brief conversation behind the scenes at the Maid Cafe that does an excellent job of briefly bringing these themes to the forefront before the movie moves on to bigger things.
Overall, this is a must watch movie for action fans, comedy fans, and fans of foreign films. It gets a lot of things right.
K.G. (2011)
It's Good Enough
The acting is either wooden or scene chewing over the top with almost nothing in between. The plot is paper thin, generic, and illogical even by martial arts movie standards. Overall, the movie feels low budget....but none of that is probably why you're interested in this movie. You probably care about the fighting and I'm happy to report that this movie has plenty of excellent fight sequences.
The movie doesn't have the budget or the creativity for big action set pieces, so they wisely keep the action sequences as simple as possible. That puts the actor's very cool karate fighting styles front and center. The movie does not use quick cuts or shaky camera so you really get to see the details of the fight choreography. Overall, that's the main appeal of the movie. Hand to hand combat. It elevates an otherwise bad movie into watchable territory.
Bonus points for including behind the scenes fight and stunt footage during the ending credits. Not enough action films do that these days.
Geung see ga zuk (1986)
The best parts of a bunch of different genres
Zombie-like magic Vampire outbreak
Three Stooges slapstick comedy
Kung Fu fight scenes
Kids movie about friendship
Violent 1980's Hong Kong cop movie
You wouldn't think these genres mix but Mr. Vampire 2 somehow manages to mix them all and mix them really well. It creates a very unique and fun atmosphere. A world where anything goes, but somehow everything feels like it belongs together.
The individual elements of the movie work well enough. The action is good to very good. It's nowhere near the peak of 1980's Hong Kong action, but most people will be satisfied with the fighting and explosions. The acting is acceptable for this kind of movie. The story is easy to follow and doesn't get in the way of the fun. It's a decently made wild ride that accomplishes it's goal.
If this is your first time in the Mr. Vampire universe, you need to know ahead of time what you're getting into. This is not like any Hollywood or even standard Hong Kong action movie you'll ever see. You're not going to get a tight three act structure or well developed characters. That's not the point of this kind of movie. This is a live action cartoon. If you go in with an open mind about that you'll probably have a blast.
Technically Mr. Vampire 2 is a sequel to the original Mr. Vampire but it can be watched as it's own stand alone film. It takes place generations after the first film with very little connecting the two movies. If you watch Mr. Vampire 1 first, you'll get some Easter eggs in the second one, but that's about it. Mr. Vampire 1 has better action sequences and higher production values. Mr. Vampire 2 has an easier to follow story and is arguably funnier. Both are well worth watching.
Ni shi ying jiu (2017)
Like A Summer Blockbuster, But Dumber
This is the kind of movie I could see being remade by Hollywood someday. It's given to the biggest leading lady of the year, it under-performs at the box office, and her career is never the same after that.
On the positive sides, the movie looks expensive. The sci-fi tech is sleek and the effects look very good. Lead actress Yang Mi does an excellent job. Especially after the time jumping starts. Unfortunately, this is a very dumb movie. It has every movie trope ever. It's very predictable. It has plot holes on top of obvious plot holes. It also misses the "so bad it's good" mark by taking itself very seriously and looking like a fairly expensive. Only the most forgiving and easy to please sci-fi would enjoy this.