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ballazrus
Reviews
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
a very possible candidate for one of the greatest FAILURE in movie history!
one word.......BORING, this sequel is full of flaws and tedious and dialogues that runs in circles and the story just goes way off track compared to the first movie in this trilogy. not to mention how ridiculous the action goes. did they put a bunch of monkeys in front of the typewriters? this was a big waste of time and i should've seen it coming by watching matrix 2 which was already showing strong signs of FAILURE!
avoid at all costs!
Mou gaan dou II (2003)
a classic case where it cannot meet up to its prequel (or rather sequel in this case)
first of all, do NOT be fooled with ignorant people relating this movie as a concept used by the Godfather trilogy, it does by no means borrow any ideas other than the fact that it happened to use IA2 as a prequel to IA1, there's a reason for it to do so although the movie failed to deliver out the reason to us.
How did it fail you may ask? well to start with, the performance was very poor by the two young actors depicting the young Tony Leung and Andy Lau's roles in IA, moreover these characters did not play any significant roles in the movie, they could've simply been omitted from the movie and the movie would've still made sense, in fact this prequel is here to describe more about the relationship between Inspector Wong and Sam (the triad boss in IA1), and of course also the fall of the triad family Ngai and the rise of Sam, and once again it's just an addon.
some more flaws would be how the role played by Tony Leung (Min in the movie) in IA1 is related to the Ngai family, and when Sam takes down Ngai, he still keeps Min in his gang, why would he do that? Min also asked to be reinstated in the police department and quit as an undercover once the case was over, but as we see he'll still be working as a mole in the triads, that doesnt make sense either (unless i missed something).
this could've been greater if they had just revised the screenplay and perhaps never included these young newb actors
Yeopgijeogin geunyeo (2001)
great romance/comedy movie
as another user put it, " my first korean movie with zero expecations..." same goes for myself.
i had heard great reviews of the movie and i just had to get my hands on it too, took a great deal of effort but now that i just finished watching it...it was all worth it.
supposely based on a true story the movie evolves around a couple that met through an awkward situation and through that day the girl has been somewhat of a control freak, but her excuse as of behaving like that will soon be found out and the boy feels a responsibility as of how to cure her attitude.
as the movie goes along (with many hilarious scenes and quite cute as well) he develops feelings for her and it will have it ups and downs
i was seriously absorbed into this movie from the first seconds i laid eyes on it, it has a good narrative and it doesn't quite give away anything although it keeps implying a subtle message which will tie everything together and soon the sadness that may have fallen over you towards the end will be lightened up...watch it! you'll love the story!
i mean..if i can! then anybody else can
Hap do Ko Fei (1992)
Friendship, Betrayal, or Cowardness...which one will get you first?
Very good movie, action scenes are on the top of the line, very stylish jut like The Killer (another, and probably the best Chow Yun Fat as of yet), the plot is very powerful as well as it is focusing on Friendship, Betrayal, and Cowardness. The good thing is that it is unpredictable based on Jeff's friend's cowardness, but just wish for the best, i'm not going to give out any spoilers.
all in all, this is a must see movie, in fact all chow yun fat's movies are a must see, but i usually prefer the collaboration of CYF with John Woo, but Ringo Lam directs this piece very well and i must say it is the second best CYF movie i've seen and i've seen many of his movies and i have never rated one of his movies under 8, so i'm going to go ahead and give this a 10.
Jung wa ying hong (1999)
oy...i rather watch golf than this
i've heard of this movie, but i've never really paid attention to its review, for those who enjoyed this movie...by golly, i don't know how you guys manage to but we all have our differences.
this movie as most other recent HK martial arts movies (with young unexperienced actors when it comes to chinese kung fu movies) is too dependent on CGI, what's the point in watching a movie filled with CGI's??? (Computer Graphic Images), the actors gets to do nothing, the viewers is watching a bunch of incompetent scenes. they should just make the whole movie in animation, there's nothing great nor close to decent in these kind of movies (talking about Legend of Zu, Legend of Tekken, all bunch of crappy CGI movies).
now if it was wire fighting, it would've been better (like yuen woo pings movies). enough of how bad the movie is, let's move on to the plot of the movie
so Hero's parents are murdered and he decides to move to America, his wife becomes pregnant on the night before he moves and the wife and her brother decides to look up Hero to tell him the good news, on the day that she concieves her twins, one (the daughter) is taken away by a corrupted chinese guy co operating with the japanese ninjas that are looking for a duel with Hero and his master Pride. his wife passes away, and Hero is told to be "born under the star of death" which basically means all his dearest will meet a tragic end, which the movie has successfully implied. so he decides to stay away from all his dearests and live a lonley life.
the movie either intentionally leaves some of the things incomplete for whatever reasons or it simply forgot to explain what happened to Hero's daughter. this movie reminds me of a chinese fantasy movie because of Shadow
Shadow depicts the same character in that fantasy movie as he is armless and carries an identical mask to cover his face and his fighting style is based on footwork and his ponytail. anyhow all in all this movie is really bad, if you absolutely find NOTHING to watch or do then fine go ahead and give this one a shot, but beware of it's absolute ridicule plot and directing.
0/10, i'd rate it even lower if it had negative.
Do san 3: Siu nin do san (1996)
should've been a total separation from GoG series
it's always nice to wrap up a Good movie as a trilogy, adding the third sequel, in this case a prequel to the first movie. however, as this is considered the "early stage" of god of gamblers, it's flawed with contradicting things, such as Ko Chun and Dragon meeting one another, which they did not do until the japanese gambler in God of Gamblers I assigned Dragon as a body guard to Ko Chun. moreover, the characters depicting the original characters in GOG does not quite meet up to the requirement, Jordan Chan being Dragon, does indeed do some good action scenes but his physical appearance is too small to be Dragon, while as Leon Lai does not have the same charisma as Chow Yun Fat depicts in the 2 original GOGs.
finally, the plot of GOG3 explains how Ko Chun came to like chocolate and why he has faded back hair. i personally think they needed to be revised they didn't quite make sense.
all in all, putting aside the above notion, the movie has the same slick twist at the end leaving you in suspsense and then a fair explanation as of how the result came to be as it came. and action scenes were very well too, if not better than the original GOG's which used more gun vs gun battle, here Dragon usually starts off barehanded and ends up with a gun from his enemies hands.
try to put aside the original GOG's and watch this as a separate movie, it did try its best to tie the movie to the original one's , but i guess they tried too hard and they tried to ignore the fact that Ko Chun and Dragon never met until GOG1.
Honogurai mizu no soko kara (2002)
i see the similiarities betweent his and Ringu
As most know, it is the same director from Ringu that directs this movie as well. It can almost be told by all the similarities and the set up itself. Instead of a well (which was used in Ringu) they use a water tank, the "ghost" is a child, the family consist of a single mother and her child (likewise in Ringu it is a single parent..)
on with the movie, the movie itself does drag abit but that's to build up the story and to the climax of the movie. there are a few scary scene's, but most of the others are more of suspense and a lot of help from the sounding effects
*******SPOILER*******
what's with the ending, that was so sad, it made me dislike the movie, i guessi'm a sucker for happy endings, but hey i can take a twisted ending but this one was just too much, i felt so sorry for the poor little girl, and i'm not even sure if i understand why she chose to leave her daughter
*********************
a comment to another user in here...you said that asian horror movies are bad?..wow i suggest you become more open minded..and talking about taste....to even mention jeepers creepers as one of the "decent" horror movies suggest how your taste in movies must be very FLAWED..lol...i'm sorry but jeeper creepers is a child horror movie, it is such a joke it should be categorized as a comedy movie
Gin gwai (2002)
Horror of the new millenium!
3 words..oh my god...this movie creeped me out..and i'm not the type of guy that gets creeped out easily..i've watched the exorcist, the trilogy of evil dead, the others, and the ring or ringu (japanese version), all those movies were good, but the eye took home the prize, no doubt. it put the chill in me and i was literally tucked into the blankets, and hey, cant blame me for that, just the very music scared me. some may say this resembles 6th sense, and yes i guess it does to a certain extent, because of 'i see dead people' and so does she...well i bet there's a bunch of other movies before 6th sense that had the same concept..seing ghosts, but the eye actually has a story to it, and it all starts to make sense as the movie keeps on going and going..i wtached this movie without subtitles, and i am not 100% fluent in cantonese so i had a little hard time grasping the story line, but i was mostly just interested in getting scared and this movie surely did the work of it, i've heard so many positive reviews of this movie so i just had to get my hands on it, well i watched it and it was worth the time and money to get it. i recommend this movie to anybody who needs a challenge to be creeped out because this is a worthwhile contender for that challenge
basically the story is about a woman who has a cornea transplant to reinstall her vision, and not only does she get the cornea..but she gets the unpleasent experience of seeing the 'metaphysical' world , and believe me, it is very unpleasent, the combination with the Pang brother's directing, visutal effects, and sound effects...its a master piece
10/10 , i'd rate it an eleven but they dont have that :P
Ying hung boon sik (1986)
the path to choose..
the movie has a powerful plot with a powerful performance all around.
the movie emphasizes on betrayal and what the next step is to do from thereon. after Ho is betrayed by his younger "desicple" and spends 3 years in jail, his dear friend Mark is after vengeance of Ho's betrayals. Unfortunately he's injured for life and loses his position and rank in the gangster world.
Ho is finally released after 3 years, but things have changed, his younger brother Kit who is a cop cannot condone Ho's past life style of being a gangster, and he blames Ho for a tragic event (i'll let you guys see that for yourself)
MINOR SPOILERS**********************
the movie in my view is a big success like many of john woo's other movies because of the unpredictable ending, it doesn't always turn out for the better, in fact it is tragic just like John Woo's - The Killer which too stars Chow Yun Fat, and he dies at the end of the movie, but it is because of this "reality" that the hero doesn't always ultimately survive that makes it more real
********************* MINOR SPOILERS
Ho now has to try to convince his brother that he has chosen a different path in life and want him to accept him, but Kit has a hard time looking over this
the movie delivers good action, and yes this is of course a given seeing it that John Woo directed the movie
if you want to see some good action and a GREAT story line (this is very rare to come in a combination) then get this movie! and get john woo's - the killer
fancy but nonetheless entertaining action with the exchange of bullets.
Dip huet seung hung (1989)
hailing bullets
This movie simply isn't missing anything
Not only is this movie pumped with exchange of bullets and beautifully directed by John Woo, but the performance given by the actors is astonishing. If you thought you knew what action consisted of (by the glance of hollywood movies...) then reconsider right now by watching the killer.
along with the flying bullets there's a great story behind it and it all leads up to an incredible climax. I don't want to give away anything because it's worth watching this. Don't watch this movie dubbed, get it with english subtitles if you aren't familiar with chinese. The translation is not 100% accurate but it helps and you will get a grasp of the theme/setting. The plot is quite simple, it's about morality and friendship, and nonetheless a little love theme to it as well.
if you haven't heard of john woo or chow yun fat (which i find quite impossible) then start off by watching this movie and i guarantee you'll be addicted to more of their future coworking movies.
Do san (1989)
gambling, intellect, and guns, is anything missing??
No, not much is missing at all. The movie has great actors performing great all around whether it is comedy or action. The action wasn't much emphasized as in rather friendship, but when the action does kick in, it brings you to the same level as John Woo's bullet exchange, and heck, even Dragon (the bodyguard) knows some kick ass moves when he fights.
I did not expect much of this movie at first knowing it wasn't john woo who directed it, but after just the first 5 min i was totally into the movie and had forgotten who directed the movie, because it was equally great, and i couldn't ask for more
get this movie! i can't wait til i get my hands on it's sequels
Road to Perdition (2002)
The Irish Godfather
The meaning of word powerful could be by itself describe this outstanding crime genre movie.
Road to Perdition, may be considered one of the handfull of successful crime movies made ever since the Godfather Trilogy. The movie is about loyalty, betrayal, and nonetheless revenge.
After an incident whereas Mike's (Tom Hanks) son Michael Sullivan, Jr. had witnessed a murder committed by Mike and his partner, his wife and his youngest son are the victims of a murder themselves that was intended for Michael.
Despite being a loyal 'employee' to his 'father' he had no choice to avenge his wife and kids death at all costs.
The audience will probably never witness such remarkable performance by Tom Hanks depicted as an avengueful man with nothing to lose. Moreover, the audience will probably never spot Tom Hanks in such a powerful crime movie as this.
All the puzzle pieces falls into place although the cost of it was a tragic fall.
The movie was excellent, I gave it a 10/10 because of its great plot, and directing.
I'd recommend anybody to watch this movie if you are into mobster movies.
However, this movie differs greatly from other mobster movies that deals with drugs, loan sharking etc. it's more of a story of an irish who was betrayed by his own friends.
Shu dan long wei (1995)
The chinese version of Die Hard
Story line was an aye ok plot, acting was also decent; but that's ok, because the fighting took the prize home!
Basically the movie is about Jet Li playing a bodyguard/stunt for a famous actor after losing his wife along with some school kids on a terrorist attack.
The set of the movie is much similar to the Die Hard movie except for the John Woo style of gun fights and the mediocre use of wires in fighting scene (excellent, not too much and not too little use of it)
However, what dissappoints me for the very first time is the last fighting scene....very surprising....that's all i'm going to say about it, just let you guys watch it and see for yourself
Another dissappoint (as usual) is the poor....VERY POOR perfromance once again by Jet Li during the romantic scenes...he really need to work on it!
Other than that, the movie is a really nice change, this is a must see if you ACTUALLY enjoyed Hitman which lack in many things ranging from fighting to characteristics.
i gave this movie an 8/10 (could've been better if the dissappointsments mentioned above could've been mastered a bit)
Sat sau ji wong (1998)
a change in character
Jet Li plays a hitman in this movie but lacks too much of the characteristics of a hitman, instead he is overwhelmed with morality and sympathy.
The plot wasn't all that great, a Japanese Tycoon has put on his death will to award 100 million dollars to whoever kills his assassins as he suspects he will be assissinated.
What disappoints me most in this movie is the fighting choreography, as much as i hate to say it, this movie really lacks of wire used fighting. However, the movie is still worth to watch because this is somewhat a change of a movie when it comes to Jet Li. But if you are interested in really good fighting scenes with Jet Li, i'd suggest you watch Twin Warriors (Tai Chi Master) or Fist of Legend, which has just about enough wire fighting scene work, and nonetheless a pretty good story as well.
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
shouldn't even be called halloween if it werent for mike myers
As mentioned earlier this movie shouldn't even be wearing the title Halloween if it weren't for the Michael character. I couldn't agree more with what one of the users commented by saying its a clash of House on Haunted Hill and Blair Witch Project. This movie really messed up with the bad performance of the teen actors and they made Busta Rhymes way over his head with all that bruce lee yelling and karate kicks...could they make it any worse? This movie should only be viewed by die hard halloween fans that haven't missed a single sequel and want to continue it that way. Too many coincidences in the movie, almost too predictable, you can also tell who will be the last survivor(s) right off the start of the movie
all in all it's just another horror movie but in addition to that it wasn't scary whatsoever. (i had no sympathy for those who were killed either, which is very rare, perhaps its because of the short running time so you can't get to know the characters all too well)
Blow (2001)
Not too shabby after all**SLIGHT SPOILERS**
a movie i hesitated to watch when i found out that depp was starrin in it, as i'm not a big fan of his. However i noticed it was a 'crime' genre movie, and from his previous performance of Donnie Brasco, i gave the movie a try. And it was worth it.
what i like about this movie is its ending, well it's sad but it is very modest. Moreover, the ending was not predictable unlike other movies and that is what makes the movie so great. This movie is not an academy award performance nor was the make up any more convincing (geroge jungs parents look just the same, especially his mother). However, the story took home the prize. The directing was great, Ted Demme sure did turn around many cliche's that we've seen. This movie reminded me of goodfellas and scarface (as mentioned by another commenter), mainly because of the ending and also because Ray Liotta is in goodfellas, and that the time being and drug trafficking was similir to scarface
i don't want to give out any spoilers on this movie, just bare with it and you'll enjoy it so all in all this movie was B+
X-Men (2000)
Just another guy movie
X-men is a movie people just watch because of the famous comics
x-men could've been a big disappointment because of the numerous of characters involved and how you have to zoom out to get a braoder vision on all the characters and not just one, however x-men did focus more on Rogue and Wolverine which saved the movie (in my opinion) because it would be dull to switch back and forth from all the characters to show their powers. Thus, the movie did enhance its performance by making the story more unique and just following Rogue and Wolverine more
all in all the movie is still good if you are a hardcore fan and still worth watching if you have no idea of what x-men are
Yi tin to lung gei: Moh gaau gaau jue (1993)
Just another fantasy kung fu chinese soap opera..BUT IMPROVED
Surely this is a confusing movie with the numerous characters to remember and nonetheless the over use of wires for fighting scenes, but that's what a typical old school chinese kung fu soap opera is. They are usually in the type of a series (ranging from 20 to 60 hours long) and they tried to squeeze it all into 100 min film roll. But enough of that.
For those who complain about the dialogue or subtitles have to suit themselves. First off, this movie was made in China, its not here to satisfy everybody so if you are not familiar with cantonese then don't watch the movie in the first place, secondly the translations isn't always accurate so do not assume that the dialogue follows as the subtitles brings to you. In fact the language is an old fashioned, polite chinese language thus very sophisticated rather than the translation into english.
The movie, I'd say is somewhere in between an 8 and a 7 considering its poor ending (why did they end it like that? doesn't make sense, should make a prequel, but that's not happening now after almost a decade)
this isn't really a jet li kind of a movie so if you are into jet li's Fist of Legend, Twin Warriors, Once upon a time.., do NOT even bother watching this because the fighting style is definitly not the same, as mentioned this is one of those typical old fashion movies where they fly and shoot fireballs and jump 100 ft up in the air. Moreover the plot wasn't all too sophisticated considering they had to get to the point quick since its only 100 min to make it in such a movie.
For other comments about the shaolin monks and stuff, how they are corrupted, well i dunno if its true but as in Iron Monkey the shaolin temple was corrupted by the government and this could be another case of it
all in all this movie is a clash of modern and old school martial arts because of the wires used in fighting scenes but also have great modern fighting like the fight between Jet Li and the Monk (when jet li encounters his grandfather for the first time)
the movie delivers a decent martial arts and plot line so i'd say this is a must see for those who enjoy both chinese soap opera fighting and modern martial arts of jet li