ko_hy Reviews

Wonderful Days (2003)

unoriginal, though wonderfully animated

[6/10 · 24 April 2005]

Don't discriminate others for their social status and pollution is bad for you. That is, to the full extend, everything this movie has to say.

Oh, and that Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell: Innocence) aren't the only ones who can incorporate 3D and 2D animation like nobody's business.

The animation, yes, is beautiful. There's some shots in this movie, that are so complicated and complex, a less dedicated production team would've just given up on.

There are several shots that seemed unnecessarily cheap though, where they simply took shots of 'real' rain and cloud and mixed it in with the animation. Looked bloody awful.

Other than the animation, there's really nothing much to talk about, expect how incredibly boring and unoriginal the story, character, and theme were.

If you're looking for an anime film with intelligence, go for 'Ghost in the Shell: Innocence'. If you're looking for one with a touching story, go for 'Tokyo Godfathers'. If you want a better one about saving the environment, go for 'Princess Mononoke".

If not for the damned good animation, there's really no other reason to go for 'Wonderful Days'.

Running on Karma (2003)

Genius, Brilliant, along with other complimentary adjectives

[10/10 · 9 April 2005]

I will list three major reasons why this film should rock your world: 1. (The action.) It is a mixture of Chinese-martial and superhero choreography. The protagonist and the various "villains" he encounters are over-the-top, their abilities are by all means supernatural, there's nothing believable about them. All this exists in a contemporary Hong Kong setting. The film isn't even about kung-fu or wild action sequences. This is brilliant.

2. (Andy Lau showing off his skills with a piece of tissue.) The most original way of demonstrating martial art skills of all time.

3. (Unconventional genre mixing.) It has action, it has comedy, and it has philosophical depth. It features Andy Lau in a goddamn body-suit. There's a love story. It's a tragic love story. There's a tragic love story involving Andy-freaking-Lau in a goddamn body-suit. He does kung fu. There are cops. There's mystery. There's a detective story. This is very brilliant.

I find this film brilliant. There's no other adjective I find more fitting. Every word of that screenplay and every movement captured by the director (Johnnie To), is goddamn brilliant.

Along with One Nite In Mongkok, this was my favourite HK film of 2004.

The Girl Next Door (2004)

Elisha Cuthbert, oh, that sexy lady

[4/10 · 26 February 2005]

I was just as surprised as anyone when something as seemingly low-brow as this was getting positive reviews over at Rotten Tomatoes. Then I was even more surprised after having watched it, and realizing how amazing terrible the film was.

There were jokes, here and there, that were hilarious. I don't 'remember' any of them, but I'm pretty sure there were. Other than those few jokes, everything else was just braindead.

For a subject that's largely portioned much more gloomy and dark, I at least give this film credit for making a semi-serious comedy out of it. It's unfortunate that they 'tried' to maintain a level of gloominess and darkness, because that was probably the worst part about this film. Had they simply made a straight-forward comedy, I might've enjoyed more (more Elisha Cuthbert would've also worked).

The 'evil guy', whose name I don't remember but could easily check using this website I'm on though I'm too lazy to, was a great character nonetheless. Along with the 'friends', they were great as well. The lead actor though... that guy... annoyed the flipping balony out of me. He can not act, at least he did a hilariously bad job at it in this film.

The directing was generic. The montage during he beginning was stupid. The everything else was pretty meh also.

Overall, overrated.