DarthKato's Reviews

[DarthKato]

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:(6/10) 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.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Good first review, DarthKato.

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

[DarthKato]

Originally Posted by ShaOW!linDude

Good first review, DarthKato.

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

Thanks!

[DarthKato]

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.

[DarthKato]

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

[ShaOW!linDude]

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

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