Reviews

"Repent and turn back!"

Prolific martial arts director Tang Chia/Tong Kai only directed three movies. Having just finished watching Shaolin Intruders, I’ve now completed all three. Hard to believe Shaw Brothers only used him a handful of times as I enjoyed all three of his films. He utilized several well-known martial arts directors for this kung fu lollapalooza with deception, revenge, and secret identities galore!

Buddies, perhaps frenemies, Lei Xun and Qiao Yi Duo come to the aid of pretty acquaintance Ye Qing Hua when she is accused of murdering 2 of the 4 most powerful clans. Xun and Yi Duo discover evidence that fighters trained at the Shaolin Temple are the culprits. In order for Qing Hua to be allowed to identify the intruders she witnessed, the two men must pass three tests. When it seems the mystery is solved, the two heroes realize it might not be as simple as it seemed.

Tang Chia and Shaw Brothers brought in numerous stunt men and actors capable of stunt fighting. The six martial arts directors utilized numerous styles, creative weapons (bolo dice!) and formations to keep the action rolling, stacking, and flipping from opening credits to ending ones. Every clan chief had their own men and the Shaolin Temple was staffed well, too.
With the exceptionally large cast of bit players, you know to expect a similarly large body count.

Derek Yee played the stern and earnest swordsman while Jason Pai Piao turned on the charm as his gambling and vivacious partner. Phillip Ko Fei brought the kung fu know-how and speed as the Big Bad. Lau Yuk Pok who only worked in 10 films before retiring played Ye Ching Hua. She held her own, though one of Shaw’s other more established actresses might have given this role the darkness it needed. Ku Feng, a regular Shaw Brothers contract player, made an appearance as one of the doomed Chiefs.

The story was rather thin with just enough substance to tie the numerous fight scenes together. Jason Pai’s Yi Duo kept things lively and entertaining. Phillip Ko Fei often played smaller roles and it was nice to see him in a weightier one. The SB sets and costumes were always more opulent than their Taiwanese competitors and a multitude of stuntmen flipped, flew, and lunged through the walls and railings to sell the action. If you enjoy old kung fu films this is one to try. As always, I grade these cheap, niche, films on a curve.

26 November 2024
Trigger warning: Snakes. Lots of snakes.

Read More

Well-written and acted, very entertaining : an enjoyable and emotional ride !

This movie is centered around Lee Jung Do who becomes Martial Arts Officer for the Electronic Monitoring Division of the South Korean Police, partnering with Police officers to monitor probationers. It is a topic that I never really see approached in South Korean fictions, so I found the story pretty innovative and super interesting.

The main character is ultra endearing and touching. I love Kim Woo Bin and I never saw him playing that kind of role, requiring such purity and levity : it was extremely well-done and very nuanced. Next to him, Kim Sung Kyun which might be one of my favorite South Korean actor is doing amazing in the role of the probation officer, partnering with the hero. Their mentor-mentee relationship was one of the best part of the scenario. The secondary cast was very good and supported by good writing: frightening bad guys that are serious and credible threats for the nice guys, in addition to believable friendships and family circle.

The filmmaking was very good with very convincing fight scenes which made my heart fasten as it was pretty brutal and worrisome for the parties involved. The soundtrack was pretty good overall in setting the mood during the action sequences, not that memorable but fitting without overpowering.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a great and entertaining police movie featuring the department that supervises the probationers. In addition to great acting and filmmaking, there are humor, thrills, emotions and character growth. Be mindful of the tags if you have any trigger, it is pretty violent with sex crimes and crimes against children being part of the storytelling.

Read More

Who is the real madman?

I’m unsure where to start, so I’ll begin with the most striking feature—the cinematography. It was visually impressive, evoking a nostalgic, old-film feel, which I assume was the intended effect. No surprises there, though I did wish for a bit more clarity, perhaps because I wanted a clearer view of Zhu Yi Long’s handsome face.

The lack of music was another effective choice, heightening the tension and enhancing the suspenseful atmosphere of the film.
The performances of all the actors were good, completely immersed in realism.

I also appreciated the timing of the story, set between the monsoon season and the onset of winter. The rain, combined with the crime, created a rich and atmospheric tone that worked well.

Regarding the main plot: I’d set aside the obvious elements, like the murders and investigation, and focus on where the story takes a more surreal turn. To me, the protagonist is disturbed by how everything falls into place so perfectly, and we, as viewers, share in that discomfort. While the simplest explanation might be the right one, the protagonist struggles to accept it.

He seems overwhelmed and stressed, especially with the pressure of expecting a child who might have a genetic disorder. His downward spiral appears to start after his superior questioned him about a Grade 3 Merit Certificate, which he thought he had already earned, but only receives after solving the case.

The film's issue lies in its synopsis—"he unravels dark secrets of the villagers"—because these secrets aren’t truly dark. Affairs and cross-dressing are secrets, but they aren’t life-altering or sinister. There is, however, one "dark secret"—the protagonist’s certificate and the puzzle pieces he flushed down the toilet. Clearly, something is wrong with him. The film awkwardly hints at a past event, suggesting his mind has tried to bury that memory. At least, that’s my interpretation.

As I mentioned earlier, his decline seems to begin with the murder, the certificate, and the pregnancy, and it seems to halt (hopefully) with the murder solved, the certificate obtained, and the healthy birth of the baby.

Ultimately, I suppose what matters is that everything ends up okay for the protagonist... Nothing really new but at the same time not a bad one either.

Read More

"All people have different faces so that they can live different lives"

Here me out!! I usually don't enjoy korean movies but this one is an absolute masterpiece. It's realistic unlike other korean shows featuring "perfect lives" "perfect friendships". This movie is so sweet and made me tear up at the end. It shows how your soulmate doesn't have to be your romantical partner rather it can be your best friend who knows you the best , who understands you the best. I love how the friendship between two of the bestfriends isn't perfect. Its so simple yet it gave a new way to think about life and the friends I have around me. I absolutely loved this movie.

_**Cast**_
The cast was amazing. The directors used the right people to star in this movie. Byeon Wooseok has been talked about alot lately and he is also present here so if you're his fan then just start watching this movie already. Kim Dami and the other actress ( I don't know her name unfortunately) did an excellent job too. Didn't watch any of kim Dami's projects in a while but this made me want to see her in more shows and movies.

_**overall thoughts**_
I want to keep this short and spoiler free so all i want to say is that I highly recommend this movie to anybody. Even if you really like romantic movies ( it doesn't have that many romantic scenes ) i highly suggest you to watch this. Trust me you won't regret it. And you'll most definitely get another meaning to friendship after watching this movie.

Read More

Truest coming of age movie

This coming of age movie explores the usual themes of the first love, being rejected and self discovery. And the main point accepting your family for who they are, and trying to be real with them. Zheng Yuxing played by Leo Wu/Wu Lei, and Chen Chen played by Zheng Zifeng. These young actors nailed it, I don't think I have watched any coming of age movie without skipping any scenes. But this movie made me watch it without skipping anything.

A Girl who failed her college entrance exam, because she found out a truth that was supposed to be hidden. A Guy who blew off his entrance exam because he lost his first love, that was not his. They met because of a lie, that was not meant to hurt anyone but unfortunately did.

Zheng Yuxing a highschool guy, music enthusiast, the cool kid, lives on the internet and uploading tiktok videos hoping someday his first love will see them. But to no avail, afterwards he decides to help and support Chen Chen with the lie she told her parents.
Chen Chen a highschool girl, meticulous student, quiet girl. Failed her exam, because she found out something about her parents, that was supposed to be hidden. She's conflicted about what to do now. When she's inquired about the reason of her failure, she lies. Which brings Yuxing and Chen together.

They form a mutual connection, and understanding eachother. Chen wants to help Yuxing, knowing he's become her crush now, can't help herself. She decides to go on a trip with Yuxing, that changes everything for Chen Chen, her parents and Yuxing.

A Dialogue from the mid part of the movie - "In the future, if the people we like, can also like us, how nice would that be."
It showed such emotions, and it was so touching.

The actors portrayed the emotions so beautifully and the story was good too.

And ending the movie with the Dialogue: "When will the future arrive? If right here, right now, the one you like happens to like you back, then right now is the future"
It shows that love is not that simple, even it's concept is complex. And not everything you want can be achieved in terms of affection.

The reference of Coldplay songs was really good. And the Drone show, the EDMs and the music festival and all the lightings and the stage the decorations. It was all so lovely. And I was impressed by it.
The background music good too.

What I liked the most: 1. The Meaningful Dialogues. 2. The Intro. 3. EDM 4. The Drone show and the music festival stage decoration and lights. 5. How simple straightforward story it was but yet it was so meaningful

So finishing my review, I'll admit I watched it only for Wu Lei but it was worth it. I love his works, they're always good, but I'm satisfied that I decided to watch this movie. And Zheng Zifeng too, her acting was so good.

Hope you'll give it a try, The story was much more but I'm not good with writing reviews, I've so much to learn.
Have a great day ahead!

Read More

Cold Fish but worse.

Basically Sion Sono's Cold Fish but worse. I think when they aren't found footage Shiraishi's movies feel noticably more amatuerish on a low budget. I don't get how this is a dark comedy, it just felt deathly serious to me the entire time.

The acting from everyone kinda sucked as well, Shohei Uno being the highlight as usual, as although delivering a somewhat dull performance by his standards, he still manages to be extremely intimidating and him sitting still in a chair made me more on edge than I've been watching any supernatural horror movie.

Although not horrible, Cold Fish accomplishes similar themes to this in a much more impactful, thought provoking, and confronting way and has some of my favourite performances and movie characters ever in Denden's Yukio Murata (equivalent to Uno's character) and Mitsuru Fukikoshi's Nobuyuki Shamoto (equivalent to basically everyone else in this movie).

It was nice to watch another movie from Shiraishi-san after a while even if this was a bit of a letdown, there is not much enjoyment to be had here and I'd probably rank it the worst of the full length movies I've seen from him so far.

Read More

Felt like the trailer for a cute GL Chinese historical and fantasy drama - they should make it

It is a super short movie (3 minutes !) that almost feel like a trailer for a cute GL Chinese historical and fantasy drama. Of course, given the short length, it felt a bit disjointed, but the compilation of scenes was enough to give a very good idea of relationship arc between a Fox demon and a Priestess and what could be a series around them.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a cute short (very short - 3 minutes) bite of GL Chinese historical and fantasy drama. I'm left to wish they would make it into a full length series because there is a lot of potential in the relationship featured between a Fox demon and a Priestess.

Read More

A short queer story : interesting point of view but too short to really leave a memorable impression

This very short movie (a bit more of 15 minutes excluding the outro generic) is centered around a delivery guy from a Chinese restaurant who has a crush on one of his customer.

The story shows in snippets of life experience of the main character how difficult it is to be gay and accepted in South Korea. The intentions are good but it is too short to really get deep into the discrimination details and it remains at a quite superficial level. Similarly to the story, the characters are very simply brushed up, not for lack of care but rather because of lack of time to deepen them more.

I don't think the cast did a bad job but neither is it very memorable. I found the camera work quite sluggish and maybe a bit too slow, which dragged the storytelling.

I would not recommend this to people because I have seen other short films that impacted me more around similar thematic. I feel here it remains at a relatively superficial level which prevented me to really connect with the story.

Read More

"My ammunition is my speech"

Apostasy was a muddled criticism of the caste system in Japan set in the early 1900’s. I learned some new things about the feudal system and their utter disregard for the burakumin. The burakumin were social outcasts due to their jobs that related to uncleanliness and death. Fascinating how eating butchered meat is okay, butchering the meat makes you less than. Everyone wants their dearly departed loved ones taken care of, but undertakers were less than. Segawa was a young teacher who came from the burakumin caste who was sworn to silence by his father so that he could live a normal life.

Kazama, an older teacher from the samurai caste is forced to resign months before he could retire and collect his pension. Young progressive teachers Segawa and Tsuchiya attempt to argue his case with the principal but are promptly shut down. The principal’s “modern” nephew is hired to take Kazama’s place. Inoko, a burakumin who has come out and is leading the charge for equal rights for outcasts is constantly threatened. He is looking for a successor and hopes Segawa will take his place. Segawa is in love with Kazama’s daughter Oshiho, but afraid to push forward as she is from a higher class and he is secretly an outcast and terrified of being found out.

In older Japanese films, it is usually a solid rule of thumb that the good guys/girls are dressed in traditional clothes, while the bad guys/girls are dressed in Western style clothes. While Segawa and Tsuchiya were progressive in their ideas, they wore traditional clothes. The principal and immoral nephew wore suits. The lower middle class that had taken over the school board in this time of change drove out the samurai for financial reasons. They were just following “the rules.” The once ruling class was initially shown sympathetically. Yet those whose standings were raised were oppressively prejudiced against the outcasts and unwilling for them to have the same chances opened up to themselves. It was the same game, just different players with the marginalized still suffering the most. The outcasts were refused medical care and told they were not welcome even in small backwater towns. When one burakumin was murdered it wasn’t seen as a crime. The film also alluded that it would be these new people stepping into the power structure that would support the militaristic ideas that led to WWII. And of course, this film was largely dealing with men’s ability to have access to better opportunities. If Oshiho had told Segawa she wanted to train to be a doctor, he’d have thought she was out of her damn mind.

Segawa should have been the focal point of sympathy but he behaved so emotionally and at times cowardly that it was hard to relate to him. He was surely torn between his father’s mandate to keep his heritage secret and his mentor’s mandate that only by stepping into the light and demanding equality could the outcasts ever lead normal lives. Examples of abusive behavior toward the outcasts was often shown and Segawa who lived a respectable life did not want to be run out of town or beaten to death. Part of the disconnect for me was Ikebe Ryo’s performance which was overwrought, bordering on hysterical, even by 1940’s standards.

Apostasy was an example of people not wanting to give up power and refusing to share it. A stalwart attitude of total collectivism with certain people relegated to the bottom was difficult to shake up. Old superstitions and pecking orders did not give way easily to egalitarianism. This rigid way of thinking still plagues societies today, marginalized people who harm no one are forced to stay on the outside of society for no better reasons than what was portrayed here. Stepping forward and demanding equality is a daily and dangerous business.

“If you still look down on villagers or honor the samurai or the noble, you are still bound to the feudal way of thinking.”

25 November 2024

Read More

Who deserves to die?

I was eagerly waiting for the chance to watch this movie, and it did not disappoint. Admittedly, the movie is a bit uneven—it starts as a silly action comedy but later turns into a serious action thriller. It also felt odd that the movie clearly hints at the villain from the beginning. However, this was executed quite well, even better than having a shadowy figure revealed only at the finale. So, watching this movie from start to finish, it gradually became better and better. The final scene of the movie adds the icing on the cake, helping us viewers to put our emotions in the right place as we follow the plot. This comment may sound abstract, but I don’t want to spoil anything.

The action is very well executed, and the actors did an excellent job in their roles. There are a few brief disturbing scenes, almost horror-like, but ultimately, this is an entertaining action movie. I wouldn’t have given it such a high score if it didn’t have a meaningful message and some food for thought, particularly regarding taking justice into one’s own hands. The best scene in the movie is the moment when the main character, veteran detective Seo Do Cheol, addresses the bloodthirsty onlookers.

The movie is great on its own but even better in the context of the original "Veteran (2015)" because it ties into many details, especially when you grow attached to the main characters. In my opinion, this sequel is even better than the original, and it seems to have the potential to become a full-fledged series.

Read More