DarthKato's Reviews [Archive] - Kung Fu Cinema Forums

DarthKato

10-21-2011, 07:56 PM

:smile2:Hey everyone! I have always been interested in writing reviews and have decied to give it a shot. This is my first review, so any feedback would be great.

Movie Review “Hero”

Starring:
Jet LI as Nameless
Tony Leung as Broken Sword
Maggie Cheung as Flying Snow
Donnie Yen as Sky

Short Story Summary: A nameless warrior is summoned to meet the king of the Qin State to tell the story of how he defeated three feared assassins.

(Note: I will be judging movies on five aspects: story, characters/cast, fights, music, and graphics. I will rate each from 1 to 10 and I will give a short explanation for my choice of rating.)

Story: (6/10) I don’t want to spoil any of the story, so I will be brief with this part. I felt that the story was interesting, but the way they went about telling it could have been better. Certain developments in the plot seem to come from nowhere and I can see someone getting confused real quick. Another thing that bothered me about the story was the ending. I don’t know why it bothered me, but I just didn’t like it that much. One thing that I did like about the story was the point that they were trying to get across to the viewer. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that it has to do with doing what is best for the greater good.

Characters/Cast:(8/10) The cast and the characters they played were all top-notch. Jet LI does well as Nameless and I believe that this is one of the most complex characters he has played. His character’s ambitions changes several times throughout the movie and the transitions are believable. Donnie Yen is as great as ever as Sky, but I felt that he was underused in this movie. He is only seen a few times in the movie, which I feel is a shame. He is a great actor and fighter and I think his character should have had more screen time. Last, but not least, is Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. I though they did a really good job as Broken Sword and Flying Snow respectfully. I thought they had great chemistry and they also worked well in combination with Jet Li’s character. All the other characters in the movie were good. I did not see any that I did not like and I believe that is one of the reasons that I was able to get into the movie, despite the mess the story could be sometimes. The only reason that the characters got an 8 instead of a 10 was the small role they gave Donnie Yen, but otherwise a really good line up.

Fights:(7/10) This is one of the parts I did not really like that much. I am not a real big fan of Wukia style fighting. It is OK, but I just can’t get into it. This movie did have a few fights I was interesting in. One was the fight between Jet Li and Donnie Yen, which was great to see. It could have been a bit longer, but it was fun to watch anyways. The second fight was Nameless and Flying Snow Versus the Qin Army. This fight was really entertaining to watch. The best part was when the army released a volley of arrows and nameless and Flying Snow use graceful techniques to dispatch every one of the arrows. I also liked the fight between Broken Sword and Flying Snow versus the Qin army. This fight between the two assassin’s and the Qin army was not very long, but it’s something that was great to watch. With shields and weapons being busted and a trail of bodies, this is the best fight to me next to the battle between Nameless and Flying Snow and the Qin army. The last fight I like to talk about is between Flying Snow and Moon. This fight itself is not that great, but the way the film makers integrate the environment into the fight is great, I will talk about it more when I get to the graphics section of my review.

Music:(8/10) I can’t remember much about the music, but it seemed okay and helped set the mood the film was going for.

Graphics:(10/10) This movie is awesome to look at. With the ever changing environments like the Lake, desert, palace, and my favorite the field of trees( which I will talk about in a minute) it is really nice to look at. Now about the field of trees, I am having a difficult time describing how great it was. To really understand how great it is you need to see it for yourself, it is the setting for the fight between Flying Snow and Moon (I hope I have the right character). The fight is ok, but it is really the setting that steals the show. With the twirling leaves and the way the leaves change color at the end of the fight is great. You have to check it out.

Conclusion: The story can be confusing, but the characters, graphics, and a few great fights more than make up for it. I would recommend checking it out.

Well, thats the end of my review. If everyone likes it, I will write another review soon. Thanks for reading.:smile2:

ShaOW!linDude

10-21-2011, 08:36 PM

Good first review, DarthKato.

You're much smarter than I for you set a format to review by for yourself.

DarthKato

10-21-2011, 10:32 PM

Good first review, DarthKato.

You're much smarter than I for you set a format to review by for yourself.

Thanks! :xd:

DarthKato

10-22-2011, 07:08 PM

:smile2:Here is the next review.

Movie Review “Ip Man”

Starring:
Donnie Yen as Ip Man (Pronounced Yip Man)

Short Story Summary: A story about Ip Man, the first master of Wing Chun and the master of the legendary Bruce Lee.

Story :(10/10) The story was really well written and easy to follow. I did not once get confused or bored while watching this movie. As always, I don’t want to spoil anything, so I will just say that it was a great tale of struggle and patriotism in World War II China.

Characters/Cast :(9/10) The cast of this movie was very good and they fit their parts perfectly. Donnie Yen as Ip Man was a great choice. He played the part perfectly and this movie really shows off his acting and fighting skills. Hiroyuki Ikeuchi did a fine job as the villain, General Miura. I found his character to be complex, in that, although he was obviously evil, he also seemed to have a deep sense of honor. This made him much better than a one dimensional character. Lynn Hung did a fine job as Ip Man’s wife. She was a another deep character,in that, although she wanted to support Ip Man’s martial arts, she also felt that it was causing him to neglect his family. Their chemistry is spot-on and they play off each other well. The rest of the cast is good and help to fill out the world.

Fights :(8/10) I have seen few movies were every fight is entertaining and well-choreographed. One of the fights that really stood out was when Ip Man fought ten Japanese fighters. It actually brought a smile to my face with how cool it was. The one fight that I though could have been better was the last one involving Ip Man and General Miura. Although it was good, I felt that it should have been much longer than it was. It was over about as fast as it started, but this did not really take away from the entertainment value of the fight.

Music :(10/10) Like everything else, the music was good. There is not much more I can say about it.

Graphics/Set :(10/10)The sets in this movie were really good. It was great to see the transition of the city from lively and prosperous to sad and in a state of decline. Now, the graphics in the movie were very well done. The blood effects in the movie were good and were only used when necessary. Another effect that was done well was the breaking of bones during fights. It was really great to see and showed off the furious nature of the fighter’s attacks.

Conclusion: It may seem that I am over glorifying this movie, but it really is that good. It is an instant classic and should be watched by anyone that is a fan of martial art movies. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback is welcomed.:smile2:

DarthKato

10-31-2011, 08:39 PM

Next review will be coming soon, just trying to get done with some school assignments first.

ShaOW!linDude

11-01-2011, 08:53 PM

Nice review, DK. I agree with your viewpoint of the fights.

And, um......I think you meant to say "you won't be disappointed".:tongue:

DarthKato

11-02-2011, 02:24 AM

Nice review, DK. I agree with your viewpoint of the fights.

And, um......I think you meant to say "you won't be disappointed".:tongue:

Yeah, I did. Thanks for catching that.

DarthKato

11-03-2011, 01:27 AM

:smile2:Here is the next review, sorry for the wait.

Movie Review “Battle of the Warriors”

Starring:
Andy Lau as Ge LI
BingBing Fan as Yi Yue
Si Won Choi as Prince Liang Shi
Zhiwen Wang as King of Liang
Sung-Kee Ahn as the Zhao Commander
Nicky Wu as Zituan

Short Story Summary: A warrior named Ge LI arrives at a small city called Liang to defend it from the invading Zhao army.

Story: (6/10) The story was fine and easy to follow, but it is hard to describe without entering spoiler territory. I will say it takes the themes of love, war, honor, values, fear, and revenge and weaves them into a very tragic tale. This is not a feel-good movie that you will walk away from with a positive out look. Basically nothing good happens in this movie: People lose love ones, they are betrayed, and you will have a hard time deciding who is really good and who is bad. It would probably be a good idea to keep the anti-depressants around while viewing this film.:tongue:

Characters/Cast: (8/10) The cast and characters were, overall, pretty decent. Andy Lau does an okay job as Ge Li, but the ones that steal the show, to me, were BingBing Fan and Nicky Wu. Their characters are so likeable, that they single handedly kept me watching this movie. Without them the score would have been a lot lower, as I found most of the other characters to either be unlikeable or bland. The only other character that was close to descent was the prince, but he could come off as winey sometimes. Not the best Cast or characters I have seen( except for the few I talked about).

Fights :(4/10) This is where the movie really suffers and nearly kills the movie. There are very few one-on-one fighting scenes and the ones that are there are not really that fun to watch. Even the battle scenes are not that interesting to watch and are mostly just exchanges of arrows back and forth. The final fight is boring and forgettable and will be a letdown for anyone who watches the whole move looking forward to at least seeing a descent showdown between the hero and villain. There are many movies that do what this film tries to do, but they do it much better.

Music :(10/10). I actually, before writing this review, went online and listened to the music of this film, so I could judge it on its own merits. I have to say that this is probably the best part of the movie. I am not at all an expert at music, but I know when I hear something I like and I though this music was well done.

Graphics/Sets :(6/10) The sets were not really that great considering it was mostly set in the desert. If the movie was better it would not have been a problem, as many good movies have been set in this kind of environment. I was happy the few times they decide to enter a forest area, as it was a nice change of pace. The graphics where fine, nothing special mind you, just the regular battle effects you see in other films.

Conclusion: I though this movie was not really that good and I can’t see myself recommending it to anyone. I would suggest skipping this one.

Thanks for reading. As usual any help is welcomed and appreciated.:smile2:

ShaOW!linDude

11-03-2011, 04:44 AM

I've not heard of this film. I hate when a movie has a cool sounding title but doesn't deliver on it. I'll be skipping it, I reckon.

DarthKato

11-03-2011, 06:00 AM

I've not heard of this film. I hate when a movie has a cool sounding title but doesn't deliver on it. I'll be skipping it, I reckon.

Yeah, I though it was going to be good when I got it, but was really disappointed when I saw how bad it was. You might reconize the alternate title for this movie which is: "A battle of Wits"

DarthKato

11-04-2011, 06:15 PM

:smile2:Here is the next review.

Movie Review “Ip Man 2”

Starring:

Donnie Yen as Ip Man
Sammo Hung as Master Hong Zhen Nan
Lynn Hung as Zhang Yong Cheng
Xiaoming Huang as Wong Shun Leung
Darren Shahlavi as Twister

Short Story Summery: The continued story of Ip Man, the legendary master of Wing Chun.

Story:(9/10) Though not quite as good as the first, the film makers once again craft an excellentstory around the Wing Chun master Ip Man. The story picks up where the other film left off withIp man and his family going to Hong Kong. This is a very well-paced movie that grabs you and holds on till the ending credits. There is really nothing I can find wrong with this film’s story. I will also say that this has one of the greatest , most unexpected endings I have ever seen. Any one who has saw this movie will know what I am talking about.

Characters/Cast:(10/10) This section could get a ten out of ten for the lone reason that they have both Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung in the same movie, how awesome is that!? Donnie Yenonce again once again does a great job playing as the wise master Ip man and Sammo Hungis great as the half villain, half hero Master Hong. You will see a lot of recognizable faces from the first film. Lynn Hung returns as Ip Man’s wife, Fan Siu-Wong also returns as Jin Shan Zhao, and a few others appear that you may recognize. The main villain Twister, a boxer from Europe, is played very well by Darren Shaahlavi. Trust me when I say that you will hate Twister by the end of this movie. one of the other new characters they introduce in the movie is a guy named Leung, who near the beginning of the film challenges Ip man to a fight to learn Wing Chun. He is a good addition to the cast and the interaction between him and Ip Man is fun to watch. Once again, I am unable to say anything bad about the characters or cast.

Fights:(10/10) The fights are once again has well-choreographed and entertaining fights. The main thing I like to talk about in this section is the final fight between Ip Man and Twister. This fight, to me, was much better than the ending fight from the first film. The way they build up this fight really gets you anxious to see it and when you finally do, it will blow you away. To put into perspective how great this fight was, I was actually cheering out loud (Which I don’t usually do) for Ip Man to stomp this guy into the ground. The other stand out fight in this movie is Ip Man versus Master Hung. Just seeing these two fight was great to see and the fight was really well choreographed (though it did use a bit too many wires in places). The rest of the fights are good, but the final definitely takes the cake.

Music:(10/10) Like most of the other things about this movie, the music is great.

Graphics/Sets:(8/10) Not really anything new in terms of the graphics or the sets. That is not to say they’re bad, it is just that I did not really see anything that can distinguish it from the other film. The one really interesting set was the area where Ip Man fought the masters for the right to be one. It is kind of interesting that they fought on a table top.

Conclusion: This movie is every bit as good as the first and is a must see for anyone that even remotely likes these types of movies. I highly recommend it, give it a shot.

Thanks for reading!:smile2:

DarthKato

11-16-2011, 06:24 PM

A new review will be coming soon, I just got to get time to write it.

By the way, if anyone has a movie that they want me to review just leave a post with the name of the movie, the year it was made, and the main actor/actress if you can( this helps to make sure I have the right movie).

DarthKato

11-20-2011, 06:39 PM

:nerd:Here is the next review:

(Though I try reviewing a movie outside of Martial arts. I just got Avatar, so I figured it would be a good choice since a lot of people have mixed feelings about it.)

Movie Review “Avatar”

Starring:

Sam Worthington as Jake Sully
Sigourney Weaver as Grace
Zoe Saldana as Neytiri
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch
Michelle Rodriguez as Trudy Chacon

Short Story Summary: paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. (This summary comes from IMDB.)

(Some Spoilers may show up in this review, sorry for this inconvenience.)

Story :( 6/10) The story of Avatar can be summed up with one word, clichéd. It the same old story that you have seen a thousand times before” A group of more advanced people go and try to take natives land form them, but lone man from group has change of heart and helps the helpless natives.” Sounds familiar doesn’t it? I am not saying that this story style can’t work, I am just saying that it has been done to death.

Characters/Cast :( 7/10) The characters in the film are okay, but like the story, they can come across as clichéd. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is okay as the protagonist of the film, but he doesn’t really have as much depth as he could have had. I will explain: Near the beginning of the film, Sully is asked by Colonel Quaritch to spy on the "Na'vi", so that he will be able to wipe them out if it comes to that. Although this could have been an interesting part of the plot, I feel that it was played down and didn’t reach its full potential. Sully pretty much changes his mind right from the start and there isn’t really any internal conflict like there could have been. The other characters suffer from this same problem. Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is such a stereotypical bad guy type, that he comes off comical, instead of menacing, Grace (Sigourney Weaver) is the usual hard nose, but fair mentor type, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) is the usual love interest, and Trudy Chacon( Michelle Rodriguez) is the usual tough-as-nails chick who kills things(the same character that Miss Rodriguez always plays, but she is still my favorite character in the movie). You can see that the cast are trying and they do an okay job, but again, the characters are way too clichéd.

Fights: (9/10) There is not many fights to speak of, but the final battle between the humans and the Na’vi is epic. This battle is one of the best parts of the film, next to the graphics (but more on that later).Not much more I can say about it but that it was well worth the hour and something to two hours I had to wait to see it.

Music:(7/10) James Horner does a decent job with the music. I don’t think it is anything ground-breaking, but it sounds alright and sets the mood of the film. Nothing great, but not bad either.

Graphics/Sets: (10/10) This the highlight of the film and is what people will remember after seeing “Avatar”. The world of Pandora is amazing and is breath taking to see. I will warn that people that hate CG (computer Graphics) will most likely not like the graphics and should not even be watching “Avatar “in the first place. If CG does not bother you though, you will be treated to a wonder of computer technology.

Conclusion: An entertaining, if clichéd, movie that is worth a viewing. It is not for everyone, but I recommend giving it a try.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

11-25-2011, 03:09 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review:

Movie Review “Inception”

Starring:

Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb

Short Story Summary: A thief who enters into people’s dreams to steal their secrets is given
one last task of a slightly different nature: Inception.

Story :( 9/10) The best way to describe this movie is that it is like “The Matrix series”. Both films involve going into a world that is similar to ours, but different at the same time. They also have main characters that are hackers that enter into the other world via a special machine. Now, although I say they are similar, I really think that Inception is the better of the two. I know it may be heresy for making such a statement, but I stick by it. The Matrix movies, although good, had a really confusing story and the parts outside the matrix were boring. Inception’s story, on the other hand, was very well written and the movie actually did well making both outside and inside dreams interesting. The only gripe I have is with the ending, but it is not really that bad. That is really all I can say about it without going into spoiler territory.

Characters/Cast :(10/10) I really can’t see anything wrong with the cast. Everyone was really good in this movie and this could easily be DiCaprio’s best film. The characters are all fine and I guarantee you will get invested in seeing what happens to them next.

Fights: (8.5/10) Not really that many fights to speak of. This is where the Matrix and Inception differ a lot. Where the Matrix is heavily reliant on action scenes, Inception is mainly focused on story and that is the reason that Inception outshines the Matrix. Don’t worry though; there are quite a few gun fights throughout the movie and couple of hand-to-hand fights.

Music: (10/10) The music does a great job adding to the tense atmosphere that the film is trying to create.

Graphics/Sets: (10/10) I thought the graphics were really good in this film. When the CG is used, it is not over used as is common nowadays. In the film, the characters travel to many different settings, each one is unique, and this helps to keep the movie fresh and interesting.

Conclusion: One of the best Sci-Fi films I have seen in a long time and is definitely worth seeing. Give it a try.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

11-26-2011, 02:46 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review:

(I got some time off from college for Thanksgiving, so I was able to do two reviews back to back. We are also back to martial art movies this time.)

Movie Review “Fearless”

Starring:

Jet Li as Huo Yuanjia
Shido Nakamura as Anno Tanaka
Yong Dong as Nong Jinsun
Betty Sun as moon

Short Movie Summary: Tell the story of Master Huo Yuanjia, the founder of the Jin Wu Sports Federation.

Story: (9/10) While the story is very good and excellently told, it does start off show. It does not really get interesting until about half way in, but then it grabs a hold of you hand does not let go. The makers have really spun an excellent tale of a master’s disgrace and redemption.

Characters/Cast :( 10/10) This film has a superb cast of talented actors/actresses. Jet LI is really at the top of his game as the Wushu Master, Huo Yuanjia. As for Master Yuanjia himself, at first I did not really like the character. It seemed that Jet Li was over acting the part a bit (and he could have been), but I believe that it was effective in conveying that the Master is not meant to be likeable to start with. It is complicated, but I assure you that his acting style changes and that is all I am going to say. The rest of the cast are great and their characters are well fleshed out(minus the Europeans near the end, which are just your stereotypical bad guys and con men).

Fights: (8.5/10) There are only really three fights of note that I found interesting. The first is Master Yuanjia versus Master Chin: this is my favorite fight in the movie. The two masters start off with swords, but soon go hand to hand in this ferocious fight. The next fight is Master Yuanjia versus four challengers at the end of the film. Each fight is one after the other and features many different weapons and styles. The third is the fight between Yuanjia’s father, Huo Endi, and another fighter named Zhao. The reason I picked this one is because it does have some significance pertaining to the story. There are a few other fights, but these are the high lights.

Music: ( 7/10) Not much to speak of. The few spots where there are music are good, the best being played during the fight between Master Yuanjia and Master Chin. It really adds to the tension of the seen.

Visuals :( 7.5/10) Nothing special concerning the setting. It is mostly the same city/rural areas you see in most films like this. The effects during the fights, like bones breaking and blood, are done well and are not over the top. Like I said, nothing special, but it gets the job done.

Conclusion: Although it starts off slow, Fearless quickly speeds up into an exciting tale. I recommend giving it a try.

Thanks for reading.:nerd:

OpiumKungFuCracker

11-26-2011, 03:26 AM

Please Review Serbian Film... I was about 6 mins into the movie and called it quits.. I'm lazy...

jmungus

11-26-2011, 12:44 PM

I got some time off from college for Thanksgiving, so I was able to do two reviews back to back

Thanks for reading.:nerd:

hey there.
since u mention it (-doing reviews consumes time), heres my 2 cents i kept my mouth shut about before.
frankly, im not interested in your reviews simply for the choice of movies u keep reviewing- the cream of the crop blockbusters.
not the kind of movies im interested in reading up on, since everybody talks about them all the time anyhow and i`ve already watched em as soon as they were out.

taking aside theres reviews available in the thousands already, i rarely find reviews on these flicks very interesting to read.
dont get me wrong, its not your writing m8- i hardly ever read ANY reviews on the uber-major flicks no matter the origin/author of a review.
battle of wits was about the only choice worthy of a read to me (incidentally, on that one i do only partially agree btw).

ie, i checked out a few reviews on inception prior to my 2nd go with the flick. fearless i read up on a bit some time after i`d watched it thrice already & when i do seek out those reviews, i have my selected few places and reviewers that im interested in due to their specific approaches and mindsets when they review a flick.
the other movies u`ve reviewed thus far i`ve no intentions to read on and i doubt i ever will.

for fan reviews, i`d go for any titles that are not that large scale. or forgotten jewels from the past 20 years. additionally, throw in a classic or personal unsung fave of yours from the 60s-80s every now and then and finally, basically any recent movie that doesnt have that much of a public echo and hype.

to be fair, heres a few random examples to fit the above criteria:
magic crystal (wong jing), terra cotta warriors (ching siu tung), the mighty one (highly entertaining sb caper with the legendary ivy ling po from 40 years ago), warriors of heaven and earth (its review ratio compared to ie crouching tiger at the imdb is about 70:2000), or do a theme-thing, ie "flying dagger 1969 vs flying dagger 1993")
or instead of just reviewing "shaolin", do a "my benny chan reviews"-special. theres many interesting titles in his resume building up to whats arguably his best effort yet.
and last but not least- the controversial stuff in terms of quality/fan reception- ripping a movie apart that deserves it, done with some wits, is the most fun to read and write me thinks :xd:

DarthKato

11-26-2011, 03:44 PM

Please Review Serbian Film... I was about 6 mins into the movie and called it quits.. I'm lazy...

Sorry, but I don't watch porn or anything that is even anything close to being such, so I won't be reviewing them either.

hey there.
since u mention it (-doing reviews consumes time), heres my 2 cents i kept my mouth shut about before.
frankly, im not interested in your reviews simply for the choice of movies u keep reviewing- the cream of the crop blockbusters.
not the kind of movies im interested in reading up on, since everybody talks about them all the time anyhow and i`ve already watched em as soon as they were out.

taking aside theres reviews available in the thousands already, i rarely find reviews on these flicks very interesting to read.
dont get me wrong, its not your writing m8- i hardly ever read ANY reviews on the uber-major flicks no matter the origin/author of a review.
battle of wits was about the only choice worthy of a read to me (incidentally, on that one i do only partially agree btw).

ie, i checked out a few reviews on inception prior to my 2nd go with the flick. fearless i read up on a bit some time after i`d watched it thrice already & when i do seek out those reviews, i have my selected few places and reviewers that im interested in due to their specific approaches and mindsets when they review a flick.
the other movies u`ve reviewed thus far i`ve no intentions to read on and i doubt i ever will.

for fan reviews, i`d go for any titles that are not that large scale. or forgotten jewels from the past 20 years. additionally, throw in a classic or personal unsung fave of yours from the 60s-80s every now and then and finally, basically any recent movie that doesnt have that much of a public echo and hype.

to be fair, heres a few random examples to fit the above criteria:
magic crystal (wong jing), terra cotta warriors (ching siu tung), the mighty one (highly entertaining sb caper with the legendary ivy ling po from 40 years ago), warriors of heaven and earth (its review ratio compared to ie crouching tiger at the imdb is about 70:2000), or do a theme-thing, ie "flying dagger 1969 vs flying dagger 1993")
or instead of just reviewing "shaolin", do a "my benny chan reviews"-special. theres many interesting titles in his resume building up to whats arguably his best effort yet.
and last but not least- the controversial stuff in terms of quality/fan reception- ripping a movie apart that deserves it, done with some wits, is the most fun to read and write me thinks :xd:

Thanks for your input, jmungus. I am still new all this and it really helps when people like you come and give your thoughts and opinions. I will try in the future to be more diverse in the films I pick and I will pick some lesser known films to review.

OpiumKungFuCracker

11-26-2011, 05:57 PM

That's fine... How about 13 Assassins?? I'm dying to know what your take on it is... Or do any Takashi Miike film for review, that'll be great.....

jmungus

11-26-2011, 06:44 PM

Or do any Takashi Miike film for review, that'll be great.....

kumamoto monogatari for instance would make for an errrrr.... interesting experience :angel:
then again, some efforts are better be forgotten :wink:

http://www.movierapture.com/kumamotomonogatari.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308459/reviews

(i`d rate it s/t like 2,5/10- the 2.5 come courtesy of a few redeeming elements in 2 of the 3 parts)

DarthKato

11-27-2011, 12:13 AM

That's fine... How about 13 Assassins?? I'm dying to know what your take on it is... Or do any Takashi Miike film for review, that'll be great.....

Okay, "13 Assassins" will be my next review. I will also see if I can get a hold of some Takashi Miike films.

kumamoto monogatari for instance would make for an errrrr.... interesting experience :angel:
then again, some efforts are better be forgotten :wink:

http://www.movierapture.com/kumamotomonogatari.htm
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308459/reviews

(i`d rate it s/t like 2,5/10- the 2.5 come courtesy of a few redeeming elements in 2 of the 3 parts)

It does sound......interesting, I might check it out.

DarthKato

11-27-2011, 03:16 AM

Hey guys, I have decied not to take anymore suggestions for reviews. I would like to pick the films that I review from now on. I will still review "13 Assassins" like I said I would, but that will be my final "request review".

DarthKato

11-27-2011, 05:55 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review

Movie Review “13 Assassins”

Starring:

Koji Yakusho as Shinzaemon Shimada
Takayuki Yamada as Shinrouko
Yusuke Iseya as Koyata
Goro Inagaki as Lord Naritsugu Matsudaira

Short Movie Summary: A group of 13 warriors go to kill an evil lord.

Story: (9/10) I thought that the story was basic, but good. It flowed at a steady pace and was never confusing or boring. It was pretty dark tale and the ending, for me, was bitter sweet. Since it is such a simple, yet complex(if that makes since) story, I can’t go into any more detail about it without risking spoilers.

Characters/Cast: (10/10) The cast was very good in this movie. They all fit their roles perfect and gave credibility to their characters. The characters were well written and complex in nature. Although I have, unfortunately, not seen many samurai films, I have read a lot about them and the samurai in this film seem pretty close to the real ones. It is this kind of care to historical detail that makes the film much better.

Fights: (10/10) The fights in this movie are awesome and there are plenty of them to watch. The chorography is well done, with bloody, stylized action that never seems to slow done and you will not want it to. If I had to pick my favorite fight it would be the last one. I clocked this fight at almost forty-five minutes long, but it never got boring once. Not much else to say except some of the best fights I have ever seen.

Music: (7/10) Not much in the way of music, but what they did have was good.

Visuals: (8.5/10) The settings in this movie were good, but they were the standard you would see in in this kind of film. The most interesting place is the village they are in at the end of the film, but I will let you check out the movie to see why. The blood and sword wounds in this film are very well done and look realistic. The blood was also not way over done like in some films (see Ninja Assassin) and that makes the film much better to watch.

Conclusion: Great samurai film that I could see standing with other classics such as The Seven Samurai. I highly recommend checking this one out.

(I would like to thank OpiumKungFuCracker for suggesting this film.I really enjoyed watching it.)

Thanks for reading:nerd:

OpiumKungFuCracker

11-27-2011, 01:05 PM

Awesome and my thoughts exactly on the film... This movie reminded me of those old skool Jidaigeki movies from the 60's and 70's, Miike pays tribute wonderfully in this film.. I love the last fight scene as well, so raw and emotional....
Thanks again darthkato looking forward to more of your reviews...

DarthKato

11-27-2011, 03:34 PM

DarthKato

12-01-2011, 11:47 PM

:nerd:Here is the next review

Movie Review “Transporter 3”

Starring:

Jason Statham as Frank Martin
Natalya Rudakova as Valentina

Short Story Summary: Frank Martin is forced to deliver an unknown package after having a bomb strapped to his arm.

Story: (2/10) The story in this movie was really bad. It was confusing in some parts,predictable in others, and was boring throughout. I really can’t put into words how bad this movie is. The only way I can put how bad the story is would be to say that the Twilight movies have a better story then this and those are terrible(Yes, I had to suffer through those abominations).

Characters/Cast: (4/10) The cast is either bad or know they’re in a bad move, so they are not trying. Jason Stratham looks board out of his mind throughout the movie and does not give his usually good performance. His character is made a fool out of and it is just sad to see. The female lead Natalya Rudakova, who plays Valentina, gives a horrible performance and you are wishing the whole time she is on screen that the bomb on her arm would go off. Her character is annoying , winy, and not the least bit attractive. Everyone else was just as bad, if not worse.
Action: (2/10) The fights where so disorientating, due to sloppy editing, that I actually got a headache from watching them. I watched the first two Transporter movies, so I know that Jason Stratham can do better than this. He just does not seem into making this movie and it shows big time. The car chases in this film were also bad and not the least bit thrilling. The only part I liked was near the ended were Stratham’s character drove a car off one train car to another one. By that time though, I was so sick of this film that I really didn’t really care all that much about it.

Music: (1/10) It was bad, yeah, no surprise there. If the rest of the movie is bad, why not the music too.

Visuals: (4/10) Well, the cars were okay to look at, some of them anyway. Everything else was either nothing special or badly done, so this movie, on top of everything else, was bad to look at too.

Conclusion: This is a badly made movie in every sense of the word. DO…NOT… WATCH… THIS…MOVIE!!!

Thanks for reading:nerd:

OpiumKungFuCracker

12-02-2011, 01:08 PM

I haven't seen a Jason Statham movie since Crank the 1st one, lol... I guess I haven't missed much...

DarthKato

12-02-2011, 04:09 PM

I haven't seen a Jason Statham movie since Crank the 1st one, lol... I guess I haven't missed much...

You Haven't. Every movie he has made since then has been bad or mediocre.

DarthKato

12-03-2011, 04:16 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review.

Movie Review “Serenity”

Starring:

Nathan Fillion as Mal
Gina Torres as Zoe
Chiwetel Ejiofor as The Operative
Summer Glau as River

Short Story Summary: The crew of the ship Serenity try to evade an Assassin sent to capture one of their members.

Story: (8.5/10) I have not seen the TV show Firefly yet, so I will be judging the movie’s story solely on its own merits. I thought it was pretty good. The story was easy enough to follow, even for a person like me who has not seen the show, and it got to the action early. With that being said, the story and plot devices were nothing all that special. I have seen most of the things in this movie many times before. That does not take away from the entertainment value though; it is more like visiting an old friend.

Character/Cast: (10/10) The whole cast from the TV series returns for Serenity and I think they did a fine job. The characters are pretty good, River being my favorite. There is nothing else I can really say, as I did not see anything wrong with the characters or cast.

Action: (9/10) The action starts early and keeps going throughout the film. There are not that many fights, this is my one complaint, but the ones it had were entertaining. The final fight is the highlight and is worth the wait, especially the part with River and the Reavers( sounds a little like a rock group:tongue:).

Music: (6/10) I could not remember much about the music in this film (not a very good sign). To be able to make a judgment call, I did some research( Typed in Serenity soundtrack in YouTube) and listened to each of the songs. I have to say that I didn’t really like them all that much. They were not terrible, but I have heard much better.

Visuals: (8.5/10) The visuals looked okay. They were a bit dated, but have held up pretty good. The various ships in the movie, from “Serenity” to the Reavers ships, are all well done and interesting to look at. The movie takes place in several different worlds and this helps keep the film from becoming dull. Like I said, a bit dated, but the visuals get the job done.

Conclusion: A well-made Sci-Fi film that should keep the fans of the show and new comers entertained. I would probably recommend watching the TV series first, it is not necessary to enjoy the film, but it will help to better understand the characters and situations. I recommended checking out this film.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

The Dragon

12-03-2011, 07:09 PM

Darth Ebert.
:bigsmile:

DarthKato

12-03-2011, 10:15 PM

Darth Ebert.
:bigsmile:

lol, sounds good to me:tongue:.

massa_yoda

12-04-2011, 01:06 AM

DarthKato

12-04-2011, 03:29 AM

Serenity is one of my favorite films ever. I, like you, started with the film and then went back and watched the TV show. The show is the best thing ever and increases the enjoyment of the film. The Reavers and Rivers' condition were all strong parts of the show, so you know they had all this stuff planned out from the beginning. Joss Whedon's direction is spot on, starting with an opening tracking shot through the ship that lasts several minutes. After the villain's intro I mean. The villain is SO amazing ("I do, because I have to."). The characters are perfect and the story builds to a cathartic and thrilling climax. This movie is a blueprint on how you should make movies. I can't wait for The Avengers.

I agree with you 100%. This is one of the best Sci-Fi films I have seen in a long time and I hope my review of the film did it justice, because I really did enjoy it. I will be picking up the show soon and I might do a special review of it.

I also can't wait for The Avengers, it is going to be awsome!:xd:

DarthKato

12-04-2011, 03:33 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review

Movie Review “Commando”

Starring:

Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Matrix
Rae Dawn Chong as Cindy
Vernon Wells as Bennett

Short Story Summary: An ex-commando has only 11 hours to save his daughter from an evil dictator.

Story: (8.5/10) The story is okay and is easy enough to follow. It is not at all deep and is mainly used to help Schwarzenegger’s character get from one place to another so that we can see him kill, blow up, and “one liner” everything in his path. It is entertaining to watch and the bits of comedy mixed in is a nice change from all the action constantly going on.

Character/Cast: (9/10) The cast are all top notch. Arnold does what he does best (destroy things) and Rae Dawn Chong is really good as the lead lady and is the source of many of the films comic moments. Vernon Wells, who plays the main villain Bennett, is probably the worst person on the cast. He way over acts and the outfit he wears makes him look like a complete idiot. With that said though, his habit to way over act in this film does lead to some pretty comical dialogue exchanges between him and the other characters, so I guess he is not all that bad. There is no real character development, but everyone does what they are supposed to and they do it well.

Action: (10/10) A movie like this that has little plot and character development relies on having an abundance of action and this film delivers big time. Commando waste no time getting Arnold killing things and throwing one liners and it is like this the whole film. The combat is well done and is entertaining to watch and there are a few, well done, car chases thrown in for added excitement. The people who made this film understood their target audience and gives them exactly what they want, well made, non-stop, action.

Music: (8/10) While there is not much music in this film, what it did have was good.

Visuals: (10/10) Since this movie was made back in the 80’s, there is no CG to be seen. It is a really nice change of pace from all the films nowadays that rely on CG heavy. All the explosions, blood, wounds, and sets look great because of the simple fact that they are real and not just put there with a computer.

Conclusion: An entertaining 80’s action flick that is a fun ride from beginning to end. I recommend checking this one out.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

massa_yoda

12-04-2011, 03:47 AM

"Let off some steam, Bennett" :)

DarthKato

12-04-2011, 03:55 AM

"Let off some steam, Bennett" :)

lol:biggrin:

jmungus

12-04-2011, 11:35 AM

dude! treat yourself to a FIREFLY marathon asap. its a wonderful series.
has awesome characters and chemistry, its charming appeal travels galaxies and theres predominantly original and exciting episodes as far as their plots go. and dont get me wrong here- its completely free of fillers or snoozers. compared to the movie, they make up with extra heart what they lack in production values.

lol @ commando..... my favourite movie back when it first hit the video stores.
last time i`d rewatched it was about 6-8 years ago.
my rating in accordance with your system would be more like:
story: 2.5/10 (comes with the territory of living in the year 2011 now)
characters: uh! bland. how do i avoid a 1/10 rating. will have to play the 80s card. 3.5/10
action: the story of this movie, 27 years after it was made- 3.5/10. DATED!! seriously dated.
those many static frames of trigger happy action are nothing i can digest anymore, given the viewing habits one develops throughout the years.
music ? rata-tat-tat and kaboom is music to my ears. guess it did have an excellent score then :tongue:
i find it unfair to rate cinematography of a movie that looks worn out simply for the fact i`ve never watched a wide print.

for mid 80s action, i`d watch commandos hk counterparts in the likes of eastern condors or the (iron) angels ten times over again, before reactivating that old commando tape. in your face arnie :wink:

DarthKato

12-04-2011, 07:18 PM

DarthKato

12-05-2011, 05:11 AM

:nerd:Hey Guys and Gals!

In anticipation of the new Underworld movie coming out next year, I have decied to review all three of the original films. These reviews will be spread out over the coming week in this order:

Monday Dec.6- Underworld

Wednesday Dec. 8-Underworld: Evolution

Friday Dec: 10- Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

I am a big fan of this series, so this should be a fun and interesting week. Hope to see you here.:nerd:

OpiumKungFuCracker

12-05-2011, 12:03 PM

I going to watch Firefly as soon as I can get it. I am low on funds at the moment. As for Commando, yes its dated, but it is better than a lot of the action films that have been made recently.

Try Netflix....

DarthKato

12-06-2011, 03:24 AM

:nerd:Here is the first "Underworld" Review

Movie Review “Underworld”

Starring:

Kate Beckinsale as Selene
Scott Speedman as Michael Corvin
Michael sheen as Lucian
Shane Brolly as Kraven
Bill Nighty as Viktor

Short Story Summary: A vampire named Selene must try to stop a group of werewolves from getting their hands a human that may bring about the end of a century long war between the two races.

Story: (8.5/10) The story is well written and entertaining. I will go as far to say that it is one best vampire/werewolf movies that has been made in a long time. It seems that most movies and TV shows that have these kind of characters in them nowadays are like Twilight. Underworld proves that not every movie with vampires in them have to be a romance. Sure, they’re a romantic subplot to the film, but it is not the driving factor of it. This movie is a nice change from those terrible, mind numbing, movies. The story can get confusing at points, but it never gets to the point where you will be wondering what is happening.

Character/Cast: (9/10) The casting choices for this movie are top notch. No whiny, brooding pains anywhere to be seen , just really cool vampires and werewolves duking it out. Kate Beckinsale is great as the Death Dealer Selene. Her character breaks from the norm of female action stars, in that, she is both tough, but still retains her feminine aspects as well. Scott Speedman does a decent in this movie. Although he is mainly confused and bewildered by what is happening around him at least he is not brooding. Michael Sheen is good as the main antagonist of the film. Although he acts like an evil monster, you can tell that he is a deeper character than that and I will stop there before I go into spoilers. The rest of the cast are fine and their characters well written.

Action: (10/10) The action gets started early and does not slow down to the ending credits. There are a lot of fights in this film and the characters use a variety of weapons from guns to swords. The action is pretty close to the matrix with acrobatic gun fights throughout and the use of slow motion in some of the scenes. The fights are bloody and gory most of the time, but it is done in a very stylized way.

Music: (7/10) Not really all that great, but it was alright.

Visuals: (9/10) The setting had a dark gothic feel to it and it fits well with the nature of the story. The creature effects look great and don't look at all fake like the ones in Twilight . The scene where the vampire is resurrected is well done and is one of the highlights of the movie. My one complaint is that the slow-mo is poorly done and should have been left out.

Conclusion: A well-made film and a great start to the Underworld Trilogy ( I will still call it that until the fourth movie comes out). I highly recommend giving this one a try and see what a real vampire movie should be.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

bruceleewannabe

12-06-2011, 04:16 AM

Just started looking into this thread and I gotta say it's great! You can learn so much about a film just from someone elses review of it and I'm learning much from your reviews! :smile:

DarthKato

12-06-2011, 05:14 AM

Just started looking into this thread and I gotta say it's great! You can learn so much about a film just from someone elses review of it and I'm learning much from your reviews! :smile:

Thanks! I'm glad that you like my reviews and that you are learning from them.:xd:

DarthKato

12-08-2011, 03:16 AM

:nerd:Here is the next "Underworld" review.

(May contain a spoiler about who the villian is)

Movie Review: "Underworld: Evolution”

Starring:

Kate Beckinsale as Selene
Scott Speedman as Michael
Tony Curran as Marcus

Short Story Summary: The continued story of the Death Dealer Selene.

Story: (8.5/10) I will start by saying that this movie feels like it is trying to do too much. I am not saying that it was badly written, just that it had too much going on and it could get confusing real fast. With that being said, it never got to the point where I was hopelessly lost. I was able to pull everything that was being thrown at me and put it together into something comprehensive. It does a pretty good job at filling in some of the plot that was hinted at in the first and it is a great lead up to the events of the third movie.

Character/Cast: (9/10) Once again the makers of the film has gathered an excellent cast. Kate Beckinsale is as great as ever as Selene and Scott Speedman is a lot better in the role of Michael. Their romance is further developed, but it is still not over done to point of being overbearing. Tony Curran does a fine job as this movies villain, Marcus. There are a few characters that were annoying, like Tannis, most of the other characters are descent. The acting was overall pretty good, but sometimes the actors did over act. While it does not happen often, it can jar you out of the movie and kill the suspense of the film.

Action: (10/10) While there is not as much combat as in the first film, “Evolution” still has its fair share of exciting fights. The combat no longer reminds me of style used in The Matrix. This time it seems a lot like the type used in The Terminator, especially Terminator 2. If you watch it you will know what I am talking about. There is a chase scene near the beginning of the film that seemed really similar to the type of chases seen in the Terminator films and they’re a lot of super-powered beings throwing each other around.

Music: (7/10) It was about the same as the first, so it was not bad.

Visuals: (8.5/10) The creature effects are once again really good. I have two complaints with this film in terms of visuals: too much blood and the flying creature looked fake. While the first film had its fair amount of blood, this film goes a little over board. The only thing I can figure is that they had a few tons of the red stuff left over from the first film and decided not to let it go to waste. Now on to the second complaint which is the flying creature. To me it looked so bad that it reminded me of the gargoyle thing that captured Ash’s girlfriend in Army of Darkness. I am pretty sure that I actually saw, at one point, the wires holding the actor up. It could have been my imagination, but I don’t think so. Everything else, visual wise, was fine. The movie is once again set in a kind of gothic style world like the first and it looks great. Not much else to say, overall very well done except for a few mistakes.

Conclusion: A good follow-up to the first Underworld film. I recommend seeing this one.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-10-2011, 02:12 AM

:nerd: Here is the last of the "Underworld" reviews

Movie Review “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans"

Starring:

Michael Sheen as Lucian
Bill Nighty as Viktor
Rhona Mitra as Sonja
Steven Mackintosh as Tannis
Kevin Grevioux as Raze

Short Story Summary: Prequel to the first two Underworld films that tells the origin story of the Vampire-Lycan war.

Story: (10/10) The filmmakers did an excellent job finishing the origin story that was hinted at in first two films. The plot goes together flawlessly and fits with what we had already been told. When telling origin stories, it is very easy to make mistakes that does not fit with the continuity of the previous films. I am happy to say that this is not the case in “Rise of the Lycans”. Not only did they get the story right, they also made it very easy to understand and it is very easy to follow. Out of the three films this one definitely has the best written story.

Character/Cast: (8.5/10) No Kate Beckinsale this time around:frown:. Instead we get Rhona Mitra who is okay, but is not as good as Miss Beckinsale. It really does not matter though in terms of the story, as this time its Michael Sheen’s character Lucian who is the main protagonist of the film. He does a fine job and is much better than Scott Speedman, who is also absent from this film. Bill Nighty makes his return as Viktor, Kevin Grevioux returns as Raze, and you will recognize many other familiar faces. The acting is all top notch and they’re really none of the over the top acting that sometimes popped up in the previous movies.

Action: (10/10) The action is very well choreographed and does away with some of the annoyances of the other two “Underworlds”. No more slow-mo is a plus, as it was never really needed to start with. Weapons are not as advanced this time around, with the majority being swords, crossbows, and other arms of 13th century, the era that this film is set in. Who will however see a few weapons from the previous movies, the most recognizable being the throwing stars that Selene used.

Music: (7/10) The music was okay, but seemed to be mainly an orchestra playing during dramatic ( much like the first two films).

Visuals: (9.5/10) The setting for this film fits this type of movie much better than the modern setting used in the other films. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans keeps the gothic look and it fits very well with the new setting. I am happy to say that they toned down the blood this time around and they’re no mistakes made like the ones I mentioned in the Underworld: Evolution review. The creatures still look good and it is cool to see the vampires dressed in suits of amour. The only thing I saw wrong, that keeps this from getting a 10, is that the movie is a little too dark. It is not real bad, but sometimes I did have trouble seeing.

Conclusion: When I first saw this film, I did not really like it that much. After going back and watching it again though, I have to say that it’s probably the best in the series. I highly recommend checking this one out.

(Well that is the last of the "Underworld" movies for now. I will be doing a review of the new one as soon as it comes out.)

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-12-2011, 03:00 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review

Movie Review “The Bourne Identity”

Starring:

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne
Franka Potente as Marie
Chris Cooper as Conklin

Short Story Summary: A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and without memory, then races to elude assassins and recover from amnesia. (This summary comes from IMDB.)

Story: (8.5/10) It was overall well written and an interesting story. It caught my attention early and was able to keep it until the end, except for a few times that I got confused about what was going on. I will warn that it can get confusing real fast and it may throw you out of the story while you try to figure out what is going on. The good news is that you should be able to, with relative ease, figure out what is happening and get back to enjoying the film. This is a very entertaining film and you will stay glued to your seat as you wonder how Bourne will escape the next assassin.

Character/Cast: (9/10) The cast was okay and the characters were pretty interesting. Matt Damon’s acting was kind of flat, which caused his character to be lacking in personality. I am not saying his acting was bad, just that it seemed to be lacking in something. It could be that it was not his acting, but just the way Bourne is supposed to be. Franka Potente does a good job as Marie and her character’s more likable personality was a nice contrast to the void in Bourne’s. The rest of the cast was the standard stock you expect from this type of film, but they were, like I said, okay.

Action: (10/10) The action in this film is great and should more than make up for some of the short comings of the story. The encounters between Bourne and the assassins are defiantly the highlight of this film. The encounters are varied, in that, one consist of mainly martial art fighting and the other is manly gun play. Bourne also has to fight other enemies as well, from guards at an embassy to the agents working for the main antagonist. A few well done car chases finish filling out the action and are thrilling to watch.

Music: (7/10) The little that I can remember of it, I thought it was okay.

Visuals: (10/10) The characters in this film travel to many different locations which is always a plus. A variety of places to see always helps to keep movies from becoming boring. Not much in the way of blood in this film, but I did notice a few bones breaking that were done well. Not much else to say on this topic, except that I don’t believe I saw much in the way of CG (its kind of hard to tell sometimes).

Conclusion: A well done movie that is entertaining to watch. I recommend checking this one out.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-13-2011, 11:26 PM

:nerd:Here is my next review

Movie Review “Five Deadly Venoms”

Starring:
Sheng Chiang as Yang Tieh
Phillip Kwok as He Yuan-Xin
Feng Lu as Zhang Yio-Tian
Pai Wei as Qi Dong
Chien Sun as Ma Chow
Meng Lo as Lang Shen

Short Story Summary: A teacher’s dying wish is for his last student to check on the activities of his former students.

Story: (9/10) The story was an interesting mixture of martial arts and mystery genres. I thought it was very well wrote, but it did get confusing at certain points. It was interesting to follow Yang Tieh as he tried to find each of the “Venoms” and discover their identities. Watching him try to solve this mystery really leads to a very suspenseful story, as you have no idea, at first, who is friend or foe. I’m not going to go into any more detail because I don’t want to spoil any of the mystery.

Character/Cast: (10/10) I thought the cast in this movie was great. Their acting was well done and even the dubbing was good. The characters they play were all interesting and it was great to see all the different styles that they used. Sheng Chiang is really good as the movies main protagonist and each of the actors that played the venoms were all great.

Action: (10/10) The fights in this movie are some of the best I have seen. Not because they are long or overly complicated, but for the fact that they all involve many different martial arts styles. The final fight was excellently done and was thrilling to watch. The fight themselves were very stylized and well-choreographed. Not much else to say but they defiantly deserve a ten out of ten.

Music: (5/10) The opening music was okay, but other than that, I don’t remember there being any other music.

Visuals: (9/10) The ancient china setting fits this movie very well. It is a lot better than if they had set it in modern times, as it gives it a fantasy style look and feeling. The fact that there was a lot of different places that the characters went helped to keep the film from becoming boring. A few set are reused a few times, but it does not an overall effect on the film. The blood and wound effects are well done and they add to the great fights I talked about earlier. Some sets being reused several times keep this from getting a perfect score.

Conclusion: An excellent martial arts film with a little mystery mixed in .I highly recommend checking out this film.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-16-2011, 02:06 AM

:nerd:Here is my next review

Movie Review “Legend of the Eight Samurai”

Starring:

Sonny Chiba as Dosetsu
Hiroyuki Sanada as Shinbei
Hiroko Yakushimaru as Princess Shizu

Short Story Summary: A princess and eight samurai must go and get vengeance on the ones that destroyed her clan.

Story: (9.5/10) I found the story to be an interesting fantasy/horror samurai film. The story was itself was easy to follow and entertaining to watch. I will say that the story was very basic and sometimes things were not explain very well, but nothing really hampered my enjoyment of the film.

Characters /Cast: (8/10) First of all, it has Sonny Chiba, so that puts this movie at a good start. The problem is that I though they really under used him in this film, which is a same. He is not in many scenes until the last thirty minutes or so, but in those last minutes he gives a fine performance. The real star of this film seemed to be Hiroyuki Sanada who plays a young Samurai/Ninja named Shinbei. I think he did a fine job and his character is one that I think you will be cheering for. Hiroko Yakushimaru,who plays the princess, was good and I never saw anything wrong with her overall performance. She did tend to over dramatize sometimes in my opinion and that could get irritating. The rest of the eight samurais are all pretty good and the actors do a decent job. Now the villains are the ones that I had kind of a problem with. First , there seemed to be a romance between the evil queen and her son that was more than a bit disturbing. Second, the queen and her son really overacting to the point that it was campy. I don’t mind villains that act crazy, but these two weren’t just crazy they were creepy (in a bad
way) as well.

Action: (10/10) Very well-choreographed and stylish are the best way to describe the fights in this film. The action never really stopped the whole two and a half hours that this film runs, but there was always something new to keep things interesting. Not only do the heroes encounter enemy samurai. but they also fight giant snakes, shape-shifters, and even the undead. They’re also a wide variety of weapons used besides the katana and this also contributes to the entertainment of the action scenes.

Music: (10/10) The music in this film is some of the best I have heard in a film. Not because it was all that great of a selection, but because it was fun to listen to. I will explain. Throught most of the movie I heard the typical orchestra music you would expect to here in this kind of movie. Then all of a sudden they start playing really corny 80’s songs and I could not help but to bust out laughing. It was so out of place that it was hysterical to listen to.

Visuals: (8.5/10) The special effects in this film were actually really well done, considering the time it was made. A fantasy version of ancient Japan is an interesting place to set the film. The sets overall look descent with only a few that look poorly done and they’re a wide variety of areas that the characters go to.

Conclusion: While it is kind of a long, this is really great movie to watch. I don’t just recommend it I think you should go and watch it right now. Why are you still reading this? Go watch it, GO!

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-17-2011, 05:31 AM

Hey everyone! Next week, I will be reviewing three Chuck Norris film. I have never seen these particular films of his, so I thought it would be interesting to share my thoughts of them to everybody as a first time viewer. The schedule is as follows:

Monday, Dec 19- The Hitman (1991)

Wednesday, Dec 21- The Delta Force

Friday, Dec 23- Delta Force II

Well I hope everyone enjoys "Chuck Norris Week" on DarthKato's Reviews.:nerd:

massa_yoda

12-17-2011, 03:49 PM

Movie Review “Five Deadly Venoms”

Music: (5/10) The opening music was okay, but other than that I don’t remember they’re being any other music.

Great review. If I remember correctly from the commentary, that opening music was lifted from Monty Python of all places. I don't really remember the music in the rest of the film either.

DarthKato

12-17-2011, 05:47 PM

Great review. If I remember correctly from the commentary, that opening music was lifted from Monty Python of all places. I don't really remember the music in the rest of the film either.

Thats where I heard that music before, I thought it sounded familar.

DarthKato

12-19-2011, 02:33 AM

:nerd:Here is my next review

(Just a quick review I thought I do of a movie I just watched)

Movie Review “Ninja in the Dragon’s Den”

Starring:

Hiroyuki Sanada as Jin-Wu
Conan Lee as Jay

Short Story Summary: A ninja is out for revenge against the people responsible for his father’s death.

Story: (9/10) The story is a great mixture of comedy and drama that forms into a very entertaining tale.While the story may seem like a bare basics revenge story, it soon shows that it is much more. It has many twists in the story and everything is happening at a fast pace, but it is never confusing. The script was well written, with really entertaining dialogue between the characters and a tale that will keep you enjoying every minute. By the way, the opening sequence is awesome!

Characters/Cast: (10/10) The cast is excellent in this film. Hiroyuki Sanada (who you may remember from the movie “Legend of the Eight Samurai” that I reviewed) is great as the vengeful ninja Jin-Wu. His character is not just a one-dimensional killer thought, as he has both a sense of humor and really cares for his love ones. Conan Lee is really good in this movie as the wise cracking, joke pulling Jay. Lee reminded me a lot of Jackie Chan and I actually thought it was him to start with. Both of these actors are really talented, but the other people in the movie are also great. The best being the ones playing the “God Fighters”(I think that is what they were called). Their actions are so hysterically funny, that I could not stop from laughing every time they were on screen. The actress (Can’t remember her name) that plays Jin-Wu’s wife, Akane, and actor Tai Bo, who plays Jay’s nutty “sidekick” Chee, both give fine performances. The rest of the cast are all top-notch and really deserving of a 10 out of 10.

Action: (10/10) The fights in this film are a brilliant combination of acrobatics and martial arts. I found all the stunts mind-blowing to see and this film is full of them. The fights are excellently done and the dialogue exchanges during them are great. The actors in this film are really talented and it shows in their fights. There was not one fight that seemed dull or failed to entertain me.

Music: (10/10) The opening theme, “Legend of the Ninja”, is one of the best movie themes I have ever heard. It plays several times during the film and is always a welcome tune to hear. The rest of the music is also good, but the theme takes the cake.

Visuals: (8.5/10) The overall job with the effects is well done. Some of the effects are either dated or look ridicules to start with( like when Jay uses a black and white cloth to blend in with his environment). The sets are okay and they fit the movie, but they’re nothing special. They consist of things like a tower, mill, and a boat. The most entertaining set was the house where Jay and his Uncle lives. I don’t want to spoil anything about it, so check out the movie and see for yourself.

Conclusion: A excellent movie and one of my new favorites movies. I highly recommend checking this one out.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-19-2011, 10:49 PM

:nerd:The first review of "Chuck Norris Week"

Movie Review “The Hitman”

Starring:

Chuck Norris as Garrett/Grogan

Short Story Summary: After an officer is nearly killed by his partner, he is sent undercover in a criminal organization to destroy it from the inside out.

Story: (5/10) Even though the premise of the story is simple, the writers still found a way to make it really confusing. You don’t even find out why he was sent undercover untill about mid-way in the movie. Even when I did finally learn what was going on it didn’t help the boredom I was feeling. This film always felt like it was dragging and not getting anywhere. It even had some sub-plot about a bullied kid which I felt should have been left out for the sake of having more time to try to advance the main plot. I will say that the ending was kind of cool and that keeps this score from being even lower.

Characters/Cast: (6/10) The cast is really not that bad. It at least looks like their trying, but it’s made really difficult by this movie’s script. The characters are not at all interesting and are mainly stereotypical gangsters types. Their dialogue in this film is really corny sounding and can’t really be taken serious. Chuck Norris’s character Garrett is probably the best in the movie, but that is more of the actors ability than anything the writers may have done.

Action: (4/10) There are hardly any martial arts to be seen it this film, which is strange considering who stars in it. This leads to a complete waste of Norris’s talents and all we get are a few half-hearted gun fights. There are also no car chases either that could have bring some excitement into this movie. The final fight is okay, but is not at all worth sitting through this film to see.

Music: (8.5/10) The music in the movie was not that bad, but I am pretty sure that there was only like two songs in the whole film. Not bad but there should have been a few others.

Visuals: (3/10) The film is setting was nothing special being only an ordinary city. The special effects where the bare basics. Not much else to say but they were just dull.

Conclusion: A boring, poorly done film that is a chore to sit through. I highly recommend staying away from this one.

Thaks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-21-2011, 02:56 PM

:nerd: The next review of "Chuck Norris Week"

Movie Review “The Delta Force”

Starring:

Chuck Norris as Maj. Scott McCoy
Lee Marvin as Col. Nick Alexander

Short Story Summary: After a plane is hijacked by terrorist, Delta Force is sent in to stop them.

Story: (7/10) The story is well suited for the type of movie that this film is aiming to be. The story is really simple, but this works to the film’s advantage. When the point of a film is to just let the viewer enjoy themselves, it’s unadvisable to weight them down with an over complicated tale. Now I don’t mean that it was poorly written, it’s the complete opposite. It has good pacing and it is never allowed to be boring. The action never let up for a second and I was always anxious to know what would happen next.

Characters/Cast: (8.5/10) The cast was really good in this movie. We of course have Chuck Norris who is in his element and he gives a great performance as Maj. McCoy. Also in the cast is the great Lee Marvin. He is not really in a lot of the film (probably cause of his age), but he stills the show when he is. I think that the creators had a great idea teaming Marin and Norris up. You may also notice Robert Vaughn in a small role as Gen. Woodridge. The only problem I had with the characters is that I wish there had been a better main villain at the end for Chuck Norris to face. It is obvious, from the beginning of the final fight, that the main bad guy is not going to be any match for Norris and this lead to a rather anticlimactic boss fight.

Action: (6/10) The action is entertaining, but it did feel a bit dull to me. The villains are no match for Chuck Norris in this film and are there mostly to be bullet absorbers. I just wish that there was a few enemies that could have stood up to Norris. I mean, even though Schwarzenegger in commando was tough, there was still enemies that could pose a threat, like Bennett. Even though you knew Schwarzenegger was going to win it did add some suspense to the fight. It this film Chuck is basically the terminator and can’t be stopped[((Spoiler)) He is not even injured once in the entire film]. The fights also amount to mostly gun fights with hardly any punches thrown. The millions of gun fights are interrupted by a few chase scenes that are okay, but under climatic. Finally, like I said before, the “Boss” fight is not very good and amounts to Norris pounding the guy’s head in.

Music: (7/10) The theme is good but you better get used to it. The reason for this is that it is not only the only song, but they insist on playing it over and over( I think it was played close to fifteen to twenty times over the course of the movie’s two hours). I’m sure the producers were proud of the song, but there are more songs out there.

Visuals: (8.5/10) The settings are diverse, since they do travel to several different places over the course of the film. The special effects are good, with a lot of nice explosions and car wrecks. There are a few bloody scenes, but the blood looks really fake and came across looking like paint to me.

Conclusion: A descent film if a bit flawed. This one I think I will leave up to you. If you can get past the flaws, check it out, If you can’t though, I think I would skip this one.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-23-2011, 12:30 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review

( I thought I give this film a quick review)

Movie Review “Vengeance of a SnowGirl”

Starring:

Li Ching Yuan as Shen Bing Hong
Yueh Hua as Ting Ying

Short Story Summary: A crippled girl seeks to kill the men that killed her parents.

Story: (9/10) Vengeance movies are a dime a dozen, but this film does change the formula enough to make it an interesting watch. The writing is very good, never once becoming complicated or boring. It also flows at steady pace, first filling us on the backgrounds of the characters and then further developing them over the course of the film. They also added the bonus of some fantasy elements to keep things interesting later in the film.

Characters/Cast: (10/10) This film had a great cast. Li Ching Yuan is perfect as the, would be, avenger Shen Bing Hong. Her character is both a likable person and a talented fighter. Yueh Hua Is good as the son of one of the targeted men. I thought these two worked very well together and have good chemistry. The cast is also filled with many familiar faces. Sammo Hung, who, I think, is playing ahenchman and James Tien Chun, who plays ta prince and is also the action director are a few of the ones that I recognized .

Action: (8.5/10) The fights in this film are, overall, good. I found the early fights to be a bit slow, but by the middle end of the film they were much better and fun to watch. There is not much in the way of hand to hand style combat in this film. Instead we are treated to a ton of sword fights. These swords fights are nicely integrated with acrobatics and wire-work. I found it particularly impressed how Li Chiang was able to keep her legs stiff and still fight.

Music: (5/10) Not much. What I heard was okay, but it would have been better if there had been more.

Visuals: (6/10) This is where the film suffered a bit. The wire work is my biggest complaint. It was not very well done, causing it to look weird. The fake heads that was used looked really bad and you could tell that they were fake. The setting is pretty standard fair for this type of film. There are a few placesthat are cool, like volcano and the snowfield. The blood effects were pretty good and looked pretty realistic.

Conclusion: This film has a few flaws, but nothing that should keep you from watching it. I recommend checking this one out.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-24-2011, 01:41 AM

:nerd:Here is the last review of "Chuck Norris Week"

Movie Review “Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection”

Starring:

Chuck Norris as Col. Scott McCoy
Billy Drago as Ramon Cota

Short Story Summary: After DEA agents are captured by an evil kingpin, it is up to delta force to go in and save them.

Story: (7/10) Like the first Delta Force. The story of this film is there only to help get the action started. It is a bare-basic rescue mission that you probably seen a million times before. The thing is, that with this kind of movie, this is the kind of story you want and mostly expect to see. The reason is that, when you sit down to watch this kind of movie, you want to be able to relax, shut your brain off, and just enjoy the ride. I few go by this way of thinking, then this story is very well done.

Characters/Cast: (4/10) The characters in this film are terrible. I don’t know if it’s the actors or just the way the script was written. Billy Drago, who plays the main villain Cota, looks like he is high the whole time. He also really overacts in every scene he is in and he just comes across as a one-dimensional villain. Paul Perri’s character Bobby Chavez is really annoying. I am happy to say that he is not in the movie for that long, which save the score from going lower. Finally, John P. Ryan’s character General Taylor looks and acts completely insane, not much else to say about him. . I will say that Chuck Norris is pretty good in this one. He is basically the same type character he always is, but like they say: “If something isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Action: (8/10) The action in this film is much better than in the first “Delta Force”. Chuck Norris is actually beat up a bit before going all terminator again. There is much more martial arts in this film, which is a plus. There is a training sequence early in the film, where Norris is sparing with members of Delta Force, that I thought was cool. The violence is really turned up in this film, with plenty of shots of people getting violently killed a Varity of ways. As you expect, there are also enough chases, shooting, and explosions to make you think WW3 has started.

Music: (6/10) Standard fair for this type of film, at least they didn’t play the same song over and over.

Visuals: (8/10) I found the sets of the film to be okay. I do wish that there had been more of them. The only places that are really used for any amount of time are the kingpin’s house and a small village. The special effects are well done. The explosions look good, but I kind of wish that they could have found a way to make it look like there are bodies in the vehicles after they explode. The blood is really turned on in this film, so I am glad that they at least made it look real and not like barn paint or something.

Conclusion: While this movie does suffer from several problems, it’s still a fun film to watch. I am happy to finally be able to say, I recommend trying this film out.:yociexpress01:

That is it for Chuck Norris Week. Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

12-27-2011, 10:36 PM

:nerd: Here is the next review

( I tried to give an unbiased opinion about this movie, didn't happen.:yociexp100:)

Movie Review “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie”

Starring:
Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver/ The White Ranger
Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Hart/ The Pink Ranger
David Yost as Billy Cranston/ The Blue Ranger
Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos/ The Red Ranger
Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park/ The Black Ranger
Karan Ashley as Aisha Campbell/ The Yellow Ranger
Paul Freeman as Ivan Ooze

Short Story Summary: After an ancient evil is awakened, it is up to the Power Rangers to stop him.

Story: (9/10) Since some of you may not have seen the TV series by the same name, I have decide to judge this movie on its own merits. I think that the story is pretty good. It opens with scrolling text that explains who the Power Ranger are and what the situation is. This should help anyone that may have missed the series. I really doubt though that there would be that many people watching this movie that hasn’t, at least, heard of the “Rangers”. That is not to say that only fans can enjoy this film, it is overall well written and an enjoyable film to watch. I found the pacing to be very nice and I never got bored while watching this movie. I really don’t see there being any reason for non-fans not to enjoy this story.

Characters/Cast: (8.5/10) I find the cast to be really good. The actors playing the rangers are all, to me, great. I will say that their acting can sometimes be a little over the top when they are the rangers, but this, to me, adds to the charm of their characters. The one problem I have with this movie is the villain,Ivan Ooze, played by Paul Freeman. He is not a bad villain, but I kind of wish that they had kept the series’ villain, Rita Repulsa, as the main antagonist of this film. She has a minor role in this film, but she is basically just there to be the reason that Ooze get free from his prison. Before I end this part of the review, I would like to reminded you that this was made in the mid-nineties. This means that the banter between the characters, as well as their clothing and speech, may seem a little outdated for some people. For people that grew up in the nineties though, like me, it will be a nice trip back to their child.

Action: (10/10) The fights in this film are awesome. It has surprisingly good martial arts for a show that was originally meant for children and the banter from the rangers is priceless. They fight a variety of villains in this film, from tengus to Ooze’s war machines. The rangers also have a variety of weapons at their disposal that add excitement to the already great fights.

Music: (10/10) The Power Ranger’s theme alone is enough to warrant this grade. The rest of the music is really good and I cannot, in clear conscience, give this a grade less than 10 out of 10.

Visuals: (8/10) This is where the film suffers a little. The CG that is used is, while not the worst I have ever seen, is still pretty bad. The worst brunt of it is at the end, during the final fight. I wish it had been done the same way it was in the show with people in suits( think Godzilla, except with a giant robot and a random monster each episode) and left the CG out. There is also some poorly done wire work, but it’s not really done all that bad. The suits are changed a bit from the show, but they still look reallly cool. The movie has a nice variety of settings that keep the film interesting. These range from the ranger’s command center to another planet.

Conclusion: I tried to stay unbiased in this review, but I like Power Rangers so much that this was impossible for me to make it completely unbiased. All I can say is that if you find this movie interesting from what I wrote then give it a try, If not, then just past on this one. I do think that it is a must for anyone that is a Power Rangers fan.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

Petie

01-02-2012, 10:01 PM

DarthKato,

These are all great reviews. Concise but very informative. I especially like the structure you have for them. Keep it up!

DarthKato

01-03-2012, 01:14 AM

DarthKato,

These are all great reviews. Concise but very informative. I especially like the structure you have for them. Keep it up!

Thanks for the positive feedback Petie. :smile:

DarthKato

01-05-2012, 10:45 PM

New reviews will be coming soon. I am just in the middle right now of getting ready to get back to college. I will have a special review coming up of "Underworld: Awakening". I can't wait to go see it. :xd:

DarthKato

01-07-2012, 01:29 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review

Movie Review “Holy Flame of the Martial World”

Starring:
Max Mok Siu Chung as Yien Tien-Chu
Mary Jean Reimer as Tu Chuan-erh
Yeung Jing Jing as Yin Tan-Feng

Short Story Summary: A brother and sister seek vengeance on the ones that killed their parents.

Story: (8/10) The bases of the story is nothing special. It is the usual revenge tale that shows up in many martial art films. That being said, I did find the movie really entertaining. It is a fantasy/Wukia film that is well written and stays at a nice, steady pace. I will warn that this movie is very campy and may not be for everyone. Crazy, over the top things happen throughout the movie and it may turn off some people.

Characters/Cast: (9/10) First, the dubbing job on this film is hilarious to listen to. Also, for some reason,every time the characters do something they perform a series of hand gestures(they even perform hand signs for holding their breath.) Even though their acting is really comical to see sometimes, I did really like the cast in this film. Max Mok Siu Chung is great as the main protagonist of the film. I found that his character acted more normal than most of the others and he is overall likable . His sister Ying Tan-Feng, played by Yeung Jing Jing, is also good and is the other sane character in this film. She also really good and I actually found her to be the more interesting of the two main protagonist. The reason is that while her brother is set on a steady path from the beginning, she is in a terrible situation of being manipulated by the people that killed her parents. It is interesting to see her struggle in trying to make sense of the confusing situation before her. As for the rest of the characters, the best way to describe them is that they are each their own form of crazy. They all do crazy things, like Yien Tien chu’s master has a laughing attack(that is the only way I can describe it), there is a mummy that knows martial arts, and that is just a few on the crazy characters that you will see. Even though they are quirky, I still liked all the characters and the cast did a top notch job.

Action: (7/10) I was not that crazy about the fight scenes. They were entertain to watch, but most of them you could not really call “martial arts”. The fights in this film consisted of mostly magical attacks such as flying swords and shooting beams out of their fingers like Yusuke from “Yu Yu Hakusho. The more traditional fights where mainly sword fights, but they were okay. The final fight is not so much intense as it is hysterically over the top and a sight to see. Not the best action scenes, but entertaining
none of the less.

Music: (9/10) while not much in the way of music, what’s there is really good. They really add to the
action scenes and are a welcome addition.

Visuals: (7.5/10) Three words: Too…much…wire! I am not really the biggest fan of wires, but if is used in moderation I can stand it. This film thought uses it in every fight scene and even sometimes in other scenes as well. There are wires on everything from the actors to the weapons they carry. I know that this is a Wukia film, but could they not have just toned down the wire use a little. Also, when the actors are flying it looks comically bad. I will say that the scene when the swords are flying around is cool and looks well done. The blood affects are pretty good, but the skeletons that some people get turned intolook obviously fake. There are also a few good explosions thrown in for good measure (this was made in the 80’s after all) and the sets are interesting.

Conclusion: A film not for everyone, but still a well-made comedy/martial arts/fantasy movie. I recommend checking this one out.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

Serbianguy

01-09-2012, 05:54 AM

Good work Kato:wink2: But I want to see more old school movies:nerd:

DarthKato

01-09-2012, 06:37 AM

Good work Kato:wink2: But I want to see more old school movies:nerd:

Thanks! I will see what I can do about reviewing some older films.

DarthKato

01-21-2012, 07:51 PM

Just thought I say that I have not stopped writing reviews. I just have a lot on my plate right now with college and everything, but I will be writing new reviews soon.

DarthKato

04-08-2012, 05:53 PM

:nerd:Here is my next review

"Been a while since my last review and I am kind of rusty":smile:

Review “Firefly” (“TV Series”)

Starring:

Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm Reynolds

Short Story Summary: A group of “mercenaries for hire” are on the run after they pick up a passenger that is wanted by the totalitarian alliance regime that experimented on her.

Story (7/10): The plot is pretty basic, but it works to keep the show moving at a steady pace and to keep the action going. It was never really confusing and it keeps the technobabble to a minimum. This show really has that fell of being like a western that, instead of being out west, it is set in space. Although the themes of the show are pretty serious, it does make time to comical at time(Not to the point of being campy though) and that helps to liven the mood. The one thing that I found that may turn people off is that this show is that is filled with messages about things ranging from political power to references to the Civil War. These messages, I found, did not really affect the enjoyment of the show and will be most likely be over looked in most cases.

Characters/Cast(10/10): The cast of the show is excellent and work perfectly together. Nathan Fillion is great as Captain Reynolds. His character can come across as a jerk at times, but you can tell that he is just trying to keep his crew out of harm’s way. The rest of the cast are great in their respective roles and interact well with each other.

Action(8/10): The action I found where pretty good, ranging from barroom fights to shootouts in space. If you have seen a lot of westerns, then you will have a good idea on how the action plays out.

Music(10/10): The opening theme is pretty good and works well with the show. The rest of the music that I heard was pretty good, having a western twinge to it, and fits the show.

Visuals(8.5/10): To be a TV series, this show has really good graphics. The ship looks very well made and the special effects are well done. The settings are also diverse and keep the show from becoming stale, as some shows that are set in one local sometimes become. The aliens are also well done.

Conclusion: One of the best TV series I have seen in a long time. While It is a must see for Sci-Fi and westerns fans alike, it should be an enjoyable watch for anyone. I highly recommend watching this show.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

massa_yoda

04-08-2012, 06:29 PM

Conclusion: One of the best TV series I have seen in a long time. While It is a must see for Sci-Fi and westerns fans alike, it should be an enjoyable watch for anyone. I highly recommend watching theis show.

Yep, nailed it! Good review. :smile:

DarthKato

04-09-2012, 03:38 AM

Yep, nailed it! Good review. :smile:

Thanks, it really is a great show.

DarthKato

04-16-2012, 03:26 AM

:nerd:Here is the next review

Movie Review: “Assassin’s Creed: Linage”

Starring:

Romano Orzari as Giovanni Auditore

Short Story Summary: Prequel to Assassin’s Creed II, that focuses on Ezio’s father Giovanni.

Story: (7/10) Not a bad story and it does well to show the events leading up to the story in AC: II. The big problem is that if you are not already a fan of the game, you will most likely not understand what is going on. Fans of the games will be sure to enjoy this film thought and that is pretty much the whole point that it was made for anyway.

Characters/Cast :( 8/10) The cast was okay. I think the acting in this movie was pretty good for a made-for internet film. The characters are, of course, great. You will see many familiar faces from the game and that will add a sense of joy to any fan.

Action: (10/10) The action is very well done and has the Assassin’s Creed feel to it. The action is quick and exciting and players are sure to recognize many of the same fighting moves that where in the game. You will also recognize many of the same weapons that appeared in the game(that includes the assassin’s signature “Wrist Blade).

Music: (9/10) The music is pretty good and fits the time ans setting of the story.

Visuals: (8.5/10) The visuals are really well done. The shots of the city are beautifully done and look better than a lot of big budget films. The costumes are also well done and it is great to see a live person in a assassin’s outfit.

Conclusion: Fans are sure to like this film, but everyone else will probably be scratching their head. It could be a good way for someone not familiar with the game series to become acquainted with it. It is now available on DVD pretty cheap, but you can still view it online. A must for fans and most likely a pass for everyone else.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

05-07-2012, 10:08 PM

:nerd:Here is the next review

Movie review: “Police Story 3: Supercop”

Starring:

Jackie Chan as Inspector Chan
Michelle Yeoh as Jessica Yang
Maggie Cheung as May
Kenneth Tsang as Chaibat
Wah Yuen as Panther

Short Story Summary: A Hong Kong Police officer goes undercover to break up a drug ring.

Story: (7/10) The story is standard fair for a Jackie film. It is nothing special, but it gets the job done. The story is basically just there to help get from one fight or comic scene to the next, while trying to not become overly complex. Anyone that is a fan of Jackie will not notice this lack of a more sophisticated story, but others may find the story lacking in substance.

Characters/Cast: (8.5/10) Jackie Chan is as great as ever. His comic and action scenes are well performed and he gives an excellent performance. He makes his Character named “Chan” (go figure) a very likable and sympathetic fellow and you are sure to be rooting for him throughout the film. Michelle Yeoh also gives an excellent performance as Jessica Yang. She and Jackie’s interactions with each other are what really made the film interesting and fun to watch. She is a very talented woman, who not only does her own stunts, but also does well in the comic scenes as well. Maggie Cheung is as great as ever in her role as Jackie’s Girlfriend, May. The villains Chaibat (Kenneth Tsang) and Panther (Wah Yuen) are both pretty good. I think that Panther is the better of the two, as I felt that Chaibat was a bit over the top in his actions most of the time. It just seemed like Mr. Tsang was over acting way too much for my taste.

Action: (7.5/10) The action scenes were okay. There was no real good one on one fights, save for near the beginning when Jackie has to fight one of the military policemen in a training yard. This fight was short, but was pretty good, having a nice blend of action and comedy moments. The rest of the fights are basically against henchmen and not all that thrilling. The stunts in the film where good though. Both Jackie and Yeoh do a nice verity of stunts that should keep anyone both entertained and thrilled.

Music: (4/10) Very poor and generic. It did have a few good songs, but I don’t think they were by the original artist which would have raised the score a bit more.

Visuals: (9/10) The visuals where okay. The film had a nice variety of locations ranging from a coal yard to the back of moving train. No CG was used in the production of this film (well non that would bother anyone that is against CG) and this adds to the thrills of the stunt work. There was also no “Noticeable” wire work and this keeps the film from looking strange. Bad or over-done wire work can do that.

Conclusion: While it is far from perfect, this is still a very fun film to watch. I recommend checking it out.

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

05-10-2012, 12:10 AM

:nerd:Here is my next review

Movie review: “Underworld: Awakening”

Starring:

Kate Beckinsale as Selene
India Eisley as Eve
Stephen Rea as Dr. Jacob Lane
Michael Ealy as Detective Sebastian
Theo James as David

Short Story Summary: After Selene awakens after twelve years in a cryogenic coma, she must find out the identity and protect the mysterious Subject 2 who awoken her from her coma.

Story: (7.5/10) The story is okay, but it does contain quite a few plot holes. For example, it is never (to my knowledge) explained how humans found out about the Vampires and Lycans. The film just starts with Selene explaining the events of the previous films and about the current “Purge” of the Vampire and Lycans races. The actions then heats up and does not slow a bit. While the story looks like Swiss cheese, the action keeps things flowing and the story is not really that confusing. I will say that it did end kind of abruptly and there is sure to be a fifth one (which is okay with me).

Characters/Cast: (8.5/10) The cast was all around pretty good. Kate Beckinsale returns, after her sad absence from “Rise of the Lycans”, as the Death Dealer Selene. Miss Bechensale is just as great as she was in the other films and it’s great to see her back. Her supporting cast on the other hand was kind of touch and go for me. India Eisley did an okay job as Eve/Subject 2. Michael Ealy who played Detective Sebastian was not really that good in this film. His character was basically not really needed. Sebastian kind of just went through the film with a confused look on his face and looked uninterested in everything going on. David, played by Theo James, was a little better. Mr. James seemed to really get into his role and he had some pretty decent action scenes. I really believe that they could have just combined the David/Sebastian characters together and it would have made a much better character. The main antagonist Dr. Jacob Lane, played by Stephen Rea, is a terrible villain and is a major step back from the antagonists from the rest of the films. He is a very stereotypical, boring bad guy and his son, Quint, played by Kris Holden-Reid, is a little better, but not by much. The rest of the cast was nothing really special, but they were okay.

Action: (9/10) I thought the action in this film was really well done and entertaining. They did rely a little too much on wires during the action scenes, but it does not get to the point that it ruins them. Once again they’re a nice assortment of weapons and the fights are well filmed and easy to follow.

Music: (6/10) There was some okay background music, but nothing really that great.

Visuals: (9/10) The moody, gothic look from the previous films returns and it looks as great as ever. There is a good verity of locations and they all look okay. The creature effects are once again well done and luckily do not have a campy look to them. -10 points for overuse of wires in some scenes and some really unnecessary gore.

Conclusion: While it has its flaws, “Awakening “is a really good film and is a great follow up to the original trilogy. I recommend checking this film out.

:nerd:Next review will be of the film "True Legend" :nerd:

Thanks for reading:nerd:

DarthKato

05-12-2012, 01:46 AM

:nerd:Here is my review of the film "True Legend"

Movie review: “True Legend”

Starring:

Man Cheuk Chiu as Su Can
Xun Zhou as Yuang Ying
Andy On as Yuan Lie
Michelle Yeoh as Sister Yu
Jay Chou as God of Wushu/Drunken Master
David Carradine as Anton

Short Story Summary: The story of Su Can, who became known as the “King of Beggars”

Story: (7/10) While the story was overall good, it was far from original. The story is told in a story book form and is split into two chapters. The first part is basically a combination of every plot device used in martial art films through the years and the second part is pretty much the plot of “Ip Man 2” with a little of Jackie Chan’s “Drunken Master” thrown in. While I feel I understand where they were coming from ( trying to make a kind of “tribute film” to honor the Martial arts Genre), I do believe that the story could have been structured better. By the, I believe, sixty minute mark, I thought the film was over, only to realize that I had a whole second part to watch. The way it was, you are basically watching two films in one, a movie and its sequel you could say. With that said, I did enjoy the two stories and their nods to other films.

Characters/Cast: (9/10) To me, the cast and characters of this film was the most important part that the film makers had to get right: I will explain. As this film is, to me, a tribute to the MA genre, that means that the characters are a combination of every other hero, villain, and love interest that has ever appeared in in these types of films. In my honest opinion, I believe they did a fine job. Chiu’s “Su Can” is a great character to fill the role of the heroes that have come before in other movies. Throughout the movie he has to go through the trials that other heroes have faced, from losing a love one to facing his greatest enemy. He is not shown as perfect, but as a person that must struggle against all odds until he is triumphant. He may suffer, but he knows that he has to keep saying to himself that “You can do this”( even his name represents this “Su Can”-“You Can”.). Villains of this genre are too great to be filled by one person, so the film has two antagonists. The first, Yuan Lie played by Andy On, is the reprehensive of the traditional villain in Martial arts cinema. He is the bad guy who is not only a master, but is also a master deceiver ( “Look: “Su Lie”-“You Lie”). The second villain, Anton played by the late David Carradine, is reprehensive for the newer, more foreign villain. He may not know how to fight, but he is no less evil. He is the type that is willing to wager all on using the skills of others to further his plans (Look:” Anton”-“Ante”). Both of these villains are well done and truly contain and show the essence of their “elders “. Yuang Ying, played by the Xun Zhou, is the combined spirit of all the love that the other movie heroes receive from their love ones. She is shown in the film as being a pure spirit, because true love is the purist thing one can receive. I think the actress did a fine job portraying this and does honor to all the lo thing one can receive. I think the actress did a fine job portraying this and does honor to all the other loyal supporters that have helped their own heroes in their time of need. Lastly, but certainly not least is the representative of the master. Jay Chou’s God of Wushu and Drunken Master are the very embodiment of the “Master” figure, that comes from nowhere and helps the hero find his/her way. This now legendary figure may go as fast as he comes, but his mark stays . There are two masters because, like the villain, they cannot be contained in one body. You may on the one hand have the strict, no nonsense master (“God of Wushu”) or you may have the less serious, more lighthearted master ( “Drunken Master “). I also believe that they chose to have the same actor portray both parts, to show that even though the two masters have different ways of teaching, they both are, deep down the same person, with the same reasons for helping the hero. You could say that every character in this film was the embedment of many hundreds of other characters. Even the Iron Twins were the representives of the faithful henchmen, who will fight to the death for their master.

Action: (8/10) I found the fights to be all around pretty good. The film makers includes many different styles and weapons into the action scenes. They were sure to make sure that they added a good verity of fight situations, from one on one fights to major skirmishes, to make sure they had covered the hundreds of battles that had occurred in other films. The only problem I found was the over use of wires in some of the fights and the sometime frequent use of slow-mo.

Music: (9/10) I found the music in this film to be very good. the only problem was that there was not enough of it.

Visuals: (7/10) The visuals were not bad, but I feel they could have been better. One thing was that the CG landscapes were not very well done and looked fake in most cases. This is not a real big problem, because there was not many of these CG landscapes in the film. Another problem was the frequent use of slow-mo. It was okay the first couple of times, and then it just got old. Lastly has to do with my nemesis, the over use of wires. The wire work did not look all that bad and I know that this is partly a Wushu film, but they could of slacked up on it a little.

Conclusion: While not original (it was never meant to be) and some slight technical problems(wires and slo-mo), I think this is a really good movie. It does a good job at paying tribute to those films that came before it and is entertaining to watch. I highly recommend checking this one out.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out ShaOW!linDude's and Massa_yoda"s reviews of this film, here are the links:nerd::
Reviews by Yoda (http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17759)
My Many MiniReviews (http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12252&page=17)

massa_yoda

05-12-2012, 02:10 AM

:nerd:Here is my review of the film "True Legend"

Awesome review. I like your analysis of the characters.

The 'True Legend' trilogy of reviews is now complete! :tongue:

DarthKato

05-12-2012, 02:16 AM

Awesome review. I like your analysis of the characters.

The 'True Legend' trilogy of reviews is now complete! :tongue:

Haha, thanks for reading massa_yoda! :xd:

ShaOW!linDude

05-12-2012, 01:42 PM

Nice review, DK.

I never really considered this film to be an homage of sorts. But that's an interesting perspective. It is strange that the film keeps going after you think it's peaked. Very off-putting.

(Question: where you use the word "reprehensive", do you mean "representative"?)

That's cool that you linked all 3 reviews here. Thanks.

DarthKato

05-12-2012, 11:26 PM

DarthKato

05-15-2012, 02:24 AM

:nerd:Here is a quick review of "The Green Hornet"

(I hated this film so bad that I had problems writing this review. I hope I got my point across okay)

Movie review: “The Green Hornet”

Starring:

Seth Rogen as Britt Reid/The Green Hornet
Jay Chou as Kato
Cameron Diaz as Lenore Case
Christoph Waltz as Chudnofsky

Short Story Summary: After his father’s death, Britt Reid teams up with his father’s assistant to fight crime.

Story: (7/10) The story its self was not that bad. It did an okay job at explaining how everything came together to lead to the “Birth” of the “Green Hornet”. That is not to say that the story was not flawed, actually it was very flawed. It could be confusing at times and some of the things that the writers came up with is ridicules. For example, we are, at one point, lead to believe that Kato managed to create two other “Black Beauties” (the Green Hornets Car) in the spanned of just eleven days. There is no way that one guy could create two highly advanced cars in that short span of time. Another problem I had was with the predicable plot twist that comes near the end. I will not spoil it for any poor soul that actually wants to watch this, but you will see it coming a mile away.

Characters/Cast: (2/10) This is where the film fails in just about all regards. Seth Rogen is a fool and should never been allowed anywhere near this film. The problem is that he was the producer, so I guess there was nothing anyone could do. He is so completely wrong for this part that it actually hurt to set and watch him make a mockery of this great character. The whole time he made the character look like a jerk, idiot, and, guess what, a fool. Jay Chou’s take on Kato was just about as bad. The way he portrayed the character, he just came across as a know-it-all and a jerk at times. Basically I am trying to say that both of these “Heroes” are completely unlikable and make a mockery of the source material. The villain is most likely the worst in movie history, being such a boring, stupid, and one dimensional character. The only person that was okay was Cameron Diaz as her character was at least likable. She was unfortunately really underused and had very little on screen time, but she does keep the score from going to a (1/10).

Action: (1/10) Welcome to my lowest score ever. I am being dead serious when I say that this movie has got to have the worst action scenes of any movie I have ever seen. There are very few fights and the ones they do have are ruined by stupid gimmicks and over use of slow-mo and wires. I was bored the whole time and I really did not have anyone to root for, because I hated almost all the actor/characters.

Music: (9/10) This film did have some pretty good music, so I guess it was not a complete and utter failure.

Visuals: (6/10) Most of the visual effects where okay, with a few exceptions. One thing is the “Kato vision”( when he fights time slows done and he is able to tell where enemies and objects are and can plan out strategies to counter them), which is one of the main corporates of the fights scenes being so bad. It just takes all the excitement out of the fights and we are left with a lousy Matrix imitation. Another thing is the stupid shots filmed for the 3D effects. I do not really like 3D and I really dislike like it when it is cheaply done. Other than these two things, the effects where okay and the cars and gadgets looked fine.

Conclusion: A terrible movie that should be avoid by anyone with any taste in films (that leaves out anyone that likes the “Twilight series” so they should be able to watch this film okay). I highly suggest avoiding this film at all cost.

Thanks for reading:nerd: