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Movie review: Red Cliff (Chibi, 2008).
Synopsis:
Prime Minister Cao Cao (Zhang Feng Yi) sees Liu Bei and Sun Quan as a possible treat to the Han Dynasty, 208 AD. He requests for the Emperor's permission to tackle this problem and fight against the two warlords. After hesitating, Cao Cao convinces the Emperor by reminding the Emperor of his previous contributions and he is granted permission to lead the Imperial Army. Cao Cao soon sets out to fight against Liu Bei (You Yong), a relative of the Emperor, and Sun Quan.
After leaving Xinye and escaping Cao Cao's armies in a battle, Liu Bei's chief advisor Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) proposes to form an alliance with Sun Quan. Zhuge Liang isn't the only one who thinks of an alliance. In the meantime Cao Cao's advisors are concerned and mention a possible alliance between Liu Bei and Sun Quan.
Zhuge Liang's arrival in Wu doesn't seem to help Sun Quan (Chang Chen). In the middle of a dilemma, unsure whether to surrender or not, Liang uses 'clever' words to convince Sun Quan to form an alliance with Liu Bei. But Sun Quan needs more time.
At first Liang doesn't seem to be impressed with Wu's war strategist Zhou Yu (Tony Leung) and even calls him "outdated" at one point. But soon Zhou Yu manages to impress Liang with the way he trains his soldiers.
Together with Zhou Yu and his sister, Sun Quan finally decides to form an alliance with Liu Bei. Both Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu let each other know that they are ready to fight Cao Cao. Clearly knowing that they are outnumbered by Cao Cao's army, can they come up with a plan to defeat Cao Cao?
My thoughts:
In Hollywood he is mainly known for Face/Off, Mission Impossible II and Paycheck. So who doesn't know John Woo? But it's Asia who vaguely remembers Woo and his efforts such as The Killer (1989) that were mainly made for the Asian cinema. After more than a decade, Woo finally returns to Asian cinema with Red Cliff. Based on an historic event in Ancient China, Red Cliff is a big production with Chinese A-listers. The movie got released in July 2008.
Blockbuster Red Cliff has many well-known faces such as Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhao Wei and Chang Chen. The movie also marks Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi Ling's first role.
Takeshi Kaneshiro plays Zhuge Liang, a famous strategist known for his intelligence. Waving with his feather fan, Kaneshiro tries to portray a clever person. With his gestures Kaneshiro somehow manages to be somewhat believable as Zhuge Liang and yes that charming smile on his face helps. But there is a slight problem with Kaneshiro's age, he looks too young to be convincing as Zhuge Liang. Not a major flaw though.
They tried to make Zhou Yu charming by instantly adding elements such as likeable characteristics and flute music when he showed up. But Tony Leung doesn't really need these elements to make his character work. Introduction to this character Zhou seemed rather rushed, putting all his (favourable) characteristics in a couple of scenes.
Chang Chen usually picks roles that belong in arthouse movies or movies in that direction (Leung and Chang both starred in Wong Kar Wai's 2046). It was nice to hear Chang Chen talking (he didn't say a thing in Breath). Chang this time plays Wu's emperor Sun Quan. Ruler of Wu is uncertain of his own achievements and it seems he isn't good at making decisions. Chen is aware of this by giving us a slightly insecure Sun Quan. Sun Quan's bold sister Sun Shang Xiang, played by Zhao Wei, seems to be the opposite of Sun Quan. Zhao looked a little rough in the movie, like Shang Xiang is supposed to be.
Zhang Feng Yi plays Cao Cao, the villian in the movie. Zhang even made his character somewhat likeable (as a villian of course). His love for Xiao Qiao is made clear at one point in the movie and he almost seemed obessed to me.
Lin Chi Ling's first role ever, she's more known for her supermodel career. While many said she didn't serve a purpose at all and some even called her a incompetent "vase". But her character Xiao Qiao is important to Cao Cao, she's supposed to be the prettiest women and he started the war just to get her. People shouldn't expect too much from Lin Chi Ling and critise her, as a beginner she has room for improvement. Not that bad for a first attempt, I've seen worse from beginning actors and 'experienced' ones.
The performances were likeable. One thing about the cast is that I don't really understand why they put Nakamura Shido as General Gan in Red Cliff. It seemed he had some difficulty saying his text. When he delivered his lines, his face moved in such a way that you don't know if you should focus on the dialogue or his rather overreacted expressions. This is relieving knowing that they didn't pick Ken Watanabe for Cao Cao's character. Don't get me wrong, Watanabe is a good actor, but I don't think he'll suit that role.
The war between Liu Bei, Sun Quan and Cao Cao take place in ancient China, where the battles take place on land. We mainly see the generals interacting with their followers and army in their camps. It's mentioned that Cao Cao's army is big and it indeed looked huge, the many battle ships from Cao Cao looked impressive.
Settings are fitting for this ancient time and not too complicated because unnecessary items were avoided. But this doesn't mean there were no details at all. Details were added here and there throughout the movie (notice the tiny details when the palaces were shown).
Emphasis is put on the characters and events, not on the costumes. Red Cliff takes place in an old period and for this time period everyone seemed to be wearing the right costumes. What I like is that the right shades and colours were used, definitely not too vibrant or rich (unlike in the Curse of the Golden Flower).
Red Cliff is based on the battle of the Red Cliffs, considered to be a huge event. I don't know much of that event, but the battle scenes in Red Cliff look great and impressive. The nice background music had a supporting role, ending theme by Alan suits the movie as well.
Woo never forgets to add pigeons to his movies, no exception this time as he lets Zhuge Liang sending a pigeon to Cao Cao's camp.
The whole story takes place in more than two hours, but this is not the complete picture yet. Yes, there is a second part where the events continue. Not many things happen in Red Cliff to be honest, considering the runtime. Knowing its long runtime and that there is a second part, now the boring-factor is threathing the movie. I admit that some scenes were a little bit boring, but Red Cliff isn't doing bad. We get to see some action and attractive characters.
The characters are likeable and even villian Cao Cao is almost likeable. A little humor is added to the movie with Sun Shang Xiang's actions. But it seems that there is no room for a little character development.
Red Cliff sounds promising: John Woo, the Battle of the Red Cliffs, many famous actors, action and more. After more than ten years, Woo's name already attracts a lot of attention in Asia.
The acting was not outstanding, but likeable in general with some little forgivable flaws. Keeping in mind that all this happen in a particular time period, the settings were nicely done and overall convincing. Just like the costumes they were not too complicated. Due to its long runtime, this piece seems to be getting a little bit boring at certain points. But it's acceptable as many things compensate for this tiny thing. This movie is definitely one of the better movies from Asia that got released in 2008. After the many disappointing movies such as An Empress and The Warriors earlier in 2008, it seems Red Cliff is the winner of 2008. Looking forward to part 2!
Written by Mialee L. aka Sukachu.
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Get your copy of Red Cliff now!
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Red Cliff 2008
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
Epic, Action and War 2008
As 2008 is coming to an end, it's time to sum some things up. Epic, martial arts and action/war movies seemed to be popular this year in Asia. I'm providing some notes and recommendations here.
Asia cinema provided An Empress and The Warriors in March. Remember this piece? Kelly Chen as the warrior princess, not it's not Xena. An Empress and The Warriors didn't seem to impress that much, even though they added Donnie Yen as bait. No that didn't work, it takes more than actors to make a movie work.
Another epic film followed in April. Three Kingdoms Resurrection of The Dragon seems to be a better epic film, based on a well known novel and considered to be more serious. With some flaws such as unnecessary scenes with average actors that appeared for a minute or two, TKROTD failed to leave a big impression. It was just an average movie.
If this wasn't enough, Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom got released the same month. Is this America's first attempt to make a good martial arts movie? With a story involving the monkey king and big names such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan it certainly looked good to me. This alternate story of the monkey king wasn't recognisable and likeable at all after so much editing. But this only wouldn't do according Minkoff, to appeal to a certain audience he found it necessary to add a white actor in this piece. This all together didn't work for me, what a disappointment.
No, 2008 didn't look promising at that point with these disappointing Asian movies. After these movies I was waiting to see a better movie in this same genre. Many people were anticipating John Woo's Red Cliff and I was one of them. Based on a huge event in Ancient China, popular actors and slightly related to the Three Kingdoms movie, no wonder it gained so much popularity before it's release! Red Cliff got released in July and it was definitely worth the wait. Due to its long runtime (over two hours), it seems to be a difficult piece to sit out. But the film is filled with spectacular battle scenes and acttractive characters.
Winner 2008: Red Cliff.
Yes the winner is clearly Red Cliff. Even though its entire story isn't completely shown in the first piece, as Red Cliff is split into two seperate movies, it's an excellent piece. The second part will be released in January, 2009.
Links:
Get your copy of Red Cliff now!
Sunday, 28 December 2008
Where did I go?
After a long absence, I'm back. Well, kinda. I know, I know.... it has been months for a proper post or update. Yes, the last review was about The Dark Knight back in August. During Autumn I was mainly busy with my study. Will try to write some stuff for Blue Munchkin once in a while.
Like every year, there are bad movies and good movies. Not gonna lie and recommend these movies to you: Fatal Move and College Road Trip. Both are really two of the worst movies I saw this past year. Also be aware of The Forbidden Kingdom, it may look good but it's not. The same goes to Indiana Jones 4. I liked the previous Indy movies, but Indy 4 is just a ripoff of the whole Indiana Jones series. Who came up with that idea of putting aliens in the picture? But at least there are some good movies. My favourites this year are:
- Red Cliff.
- The Dark Knight.
- Iron Man.
- A Man Who Was Superman.
Friday, 15 August 2008
The Dark Knight
Left: Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Batman. Right: Heath Ledger as the Joker. Photo credit: © Warner Bros. Pictures.
Movie review: The Dark Knight.
Synopsis:
With its criminals and corrupted people, Gotham City is still not a better place. A bank robbery doesn't really come as a surprise in the city. But this time one of Gotham's bank is being robbed by a group of masked men, led by a mysterious and scary man. Not only are there mobsters, corrupted police officers and judges, now Gotham City is also being terrorised by a new villain called the Joker (Heath Ledger).
As Batman (Christian Bale) and Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) are trying to put the criminal organisations behind bars, new district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) arrives in Gotham City. Soon Bruce Wayne discovers that Dent is dating his old flame Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), thus creating a certain tension between Rachel and Bruce. Both Batman and Gordon question if they can trust Dent, but they both believe he can be the public hero that Gotham desperately needs.
In order to make Gotham City a better place, Gordon and Batman decide to work together with Dent. Even Bruce Wayne supports Dent and his 'I Believe In Harvey Dent' campaign in public. Together they manage to catch a couple of bad guys and the cooperation seems to be success, but the Joker is just starting his evil games. The Joker is not like the other criminals, he doesn't care about money and moreover he's dangerous and out of his mind. In no time the mobsters are getting scared because of the many arrests, but the Joker doesn't back off. He continues to terrorise Gotham City and its citizens.
With his terrifying laugh, he threats to kill people if Batman doesn't show his true identity. With Bruce Wayne's playboy image in public, the Joker is not aware that Wayne is actually Batman. But things get more out of hand.
This time Batman has to pull everything together in his struggle against the Joker. Forcing himself to the limits both mentally and physically, Batman has to do everything to stop the Joker. This also includes improving all his technology. But things get personal for Batman when Rachel is involved.
My thoughts:
After Batman Begins from 2005, Christopher Nolan comes with The Dark Knight this year. The Dark Knight is obviously a darker movie than its prequel. The Dark Knight with its 152 minutes is an action movie, also a thriller with drama and crime. The successful Batman Begins managed to make many Batman fans excited for the next Batman movie. If that wasn't enough, Warner Bros. released many posters and other advertisements that kept the many fans excited while they waited for the movie. The movie not only focuses on Batman, but also on the Joker and Harvey Dent (Two-Face).
The cast includes familiar faces, there isn't a single unknown name. Returning characters are Bruce Wayne / Batman, Alfred, Gordon and Rachel. Main roles are played by Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart. Minor roles are for Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Lets see what the main guys have to offer.
Satisfying many fans in the prequel, Christian Bale is again Batman and Bruce Wayne. Moreover Bale again does an amazing job. What can you expect from Bale? He is capable of playing two entirely different characters in the same movie, just like in Batman Begins. One moment we see the flirt Bruce Wayne in his luxurious life, the other moment we see the darker side of Wayne: Batman. Bale's character is somewhat different from other superheroes, an ordinary man who doesn't really have superpowers just like Iron Man. But the fact that Batman doesn't have special powers, doesn't make less superhero of him and Bale makes this very clear. This time we see a darker Batman than in the prequel. Bale is really convincing as the caped hero, not only with his gestures and movements, he even adds the deep and dark voice to his character. Christian Bale always manages to entertain the audience and make his characters believable. He again does an excellent job, fans have even called Bale the best Batman to date and I think he does deserve this title.
Heath Ledger plays the Joker, a dangerous psychopate terrorising Gotham City. Ledger almost looks perfect as the Joker with his make up, hairdo and purple suit. His hair looks so dirty and greasy that you can almost imagine that it stinks, it seems he doesn't wash it. Like they say 'clothes make the man', in this case 'clothes make the Joker', but what else has Ledger to offer in his purple suit? One thing is sure, one of the Joker's characteristics is his eerie laugh. Ledger pulls off such an eerie laugh in the movie that it makes some dialogues scary. Heath Ledger's movements, way of talking and facial expressions all contribute to his character, making it complete. The Joker isn't the Joker if he doesn't make you or himself laugh. Even though he's a villain, he manages to make many people in the audience laugh, seems like the Joker likes to joke around when the moment is right. Moreover, Ledger's Joker is scary. Many people remember the Joker as a chaotic villain, a crazy and dangerous guy. Here he seems rather calm and more organised with his evil schemes. But this doesn't matter much, Ledger's Joker is almost perfect and just too entertaining to mind such a tiny thing.
They call new district attorney Harvey Dent the White Knight, Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. 
With his big and happy smile, Eckhart has the right appearance as the White Knight. Dent looks like a nice guy with a heroic spark in his eyes, trying to make things better. This all indeed sounds too good to be true for Gotham. He arrives in Gotham City and together with Gordon and Batman he manages to catch some bad guys. But the success is short, and in no time the Joker is laughing at Gotham City, at him. Dent transforms into a guy who is on a killing mission, a guy who has snapped and is just seeking revenge. Well, no more nice guy says Eckhart. Just like Bale, Eckhart has two roles, Harvey Dent and Two-Face. Eckhart shows that he can also play a madman, a man who has just lost it. The evil grin on his face, the angry look, the anger, that's the Two-Face we want to see.
I have to mention Maggie Gyllenhaal who plays Rachel Dawes, both Bruce Wayne's and Harvey Dent's love interest. She replaced Katie Holmes as Dawes. Was Holmes' portrayal of Dawes so hopeless that they decided to replace her? Maybe. But don't get too much hope for Rachel Dawes, Gyllenhaal's version isn't much better. Were they really that desperate to have Gyllenhaal? She didn't suit the role much and she wasn't convincing, not in the least. She wasn't even compatible with the two love interests. I feel sorry that they created this character, but I feel more sorry for the fact that they picked the wrong actress twice.
Many people have praised Heath Ledger's work in this movie. Don't forget Christian Bale, he actually has the main role. Bale is very convincing and he did a wonderful job, just like Ledger. Frankly, Eckhart was amazing too and the supporting actors all did their respective part making the movie enjoyable. I did not like Gyllenhaal's portrayal of Rachel, she was not convincing at all and seemed rather weak.
The battle between Batman and the villains take place in Gotham City. Gotham is a unsafe city full with criminals and corrupted people, it's a dark place. The darkness that expresses the state of the city is visible in the movie. They did not use bright or very vibrant colours, the only bright colours you'll see is when the Joker appears. The look of Gotham consists of dark colours and shadows only, making the city look convincingly unsafe and unpleasant to live in.
Events take place at several places, but the story mainly takes place in Gotham City. We even get to see Hong Kong with its skyscrapers. Hong Kong definitely looks a little brighter than Gotham and certainly more pleasant to live in and livelier.
With the stunning action scenes, interesting characters with their dialogues, the story is exciting and thrilling. What I like about the movie is that most of the things make sense in the story. Some of the characters are likable, but don't like them too much as some characters change during the movie, some character development. Ledger's version of the Joker villain is much scarier than Nicholson's version and it might be one of the reasons that people called The Dark Knight the darkest Batman movie so far. What about Batman? Bale's version of Batman seems great, a great suit, the coolest gadgets and that voice, what an irresistible Batman. Another positive point for the movie.
What I did not really like is the following. We all know that Dent transforms into Two-Face, personally I thought the transformation was a bit too quick. One moment he was still Dent and then the next minute he's Two-Face. It seemed like they didn't spend enough time for this character. It's clear why he becomes this character, but they could have given this villain some more time in the movie.
Overall The Dark Knight has a strong story with convincing characters. The title for the movie suits the movie. The Dark Knight is definitely darker than the average superhero movie.
The Dark Knight is a great movie, entertaining and enjoyable. It's packed with action, crime, thrills and some drama. The story is strong in many ways and it's a little bit darker than previous Batman movies. The cast is strong too with names such as Bale, Ledger, Eckhart and many others. Ledger's death shocked many people and it might have contributed to the high interest that people showed for The Dark Knight, but lets not forget other actors' efforts as they all did a wonderful job. The movie has some minor negative points, but what movie doesn't? There are just so many things that you like about this movie, you'll forget those minor things. After the many Batman flops in earlier years, it seems Nolan managed to make Batman 'cool' again. Just like in the cartoons. The movie is exciting, interesting and Bale is again a great Batman. Don't miss the opportunity to see this in the cinema!
Written by Mialee L. aka Sukachu.
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
CJ7
Movie review: CJ7.
Synopsis:
Construction worker Ti (Stephen Chow) is a poor man who works very hard. Ti struggles daily in order to survive. Despite the fact that he is very poor, it doesn't stop him from sending his son Dicky (Xu Jiao) to an expensive private school. Ti repeatedly tells Dicky important things. He hopes that his son will grow up as an educated person who will be useful to the society.
At school, Dicky is often bullied by other children due to his poor background. To make things worse, his teacher also looks down on him. A young teacher named Miss Yuen (Kitty Zhang) often tries to comfort Dicky. When one of the children shows up with a new toy, a robot called CJ1, Dicky secretly wants one too.
On one day, Ti and Dicky are watching TV outside a department store. The TV show suddenly gets interrupted by a news report, it seems an UFO has been spotted by some people. In the meantime Dicky went into a toy store to look for CJ1. Ti finds his son, but Dicky doesn't want to leave the store without the robot toy. Dicky begs his father for the toy, but Ti can't afford it. Dicky walks away after he gets spanked by his father.
Ti regularly looks for usable things at a trash dump as he is too poor to buy new things. That night he goes to that trash dump, there he finds a green ball and takes it home with him. He quickly goes home and tells Dicky that he has found something better than CJ1. Dicky is still mad, he ignores his father and the toy. But soon he gets curious and plays with the ball. The following night the ball turns out to be an alien dog. Dicky befriends the alien and names him CJ7.
With CJ7, Dicky is more interested in playing than studying. He dreams about CJ7 and his special abilities, but forgets to learn for his test. Dicky will soon learn important lessons when he wakes up.
My thoughts:
Stephen Chow directed CJ7, he also co-produced and co-written it together with Vincent Kwok. The Chinese title for CJ7 is Chang Jiang Qi Hao. The movie had it's first premiere in January and the first DVD appeared earlier this year in April. CJ7 has yet to be released in some countries. The movie has comedy elements, which is Chow's signature. To make some things possible, Chow has used CGI and several special effects. Besides comedy, the movie has also been marked as a science fiction and drama movie.
Main characters are Ti and son Dicky, although Ti seems to be more like a supporting character in the shadow of his son Dicky. Xu Jiao, who is actually a girl, plays Dicky. Ti is played by Stephen Chow. Computer animated CJ7 plays a big role too. There's a minor role for newcomer Kitty Zhang as Ms. Yuen.
Xu Jiao plays Dicky, a boy who is more interested in playing than studying. Dicky has a poor background and his father can't buy him many things. But Dicky has a rich imagination, this is made clear after his father finds CJ7. Little girl Xu Jiao is quite convincing as a boy and as an imaginative kid. Not only is she convincing, she offers more for the viewers. She's funny, almost like a little comedian. CJ7 is Xu's first film, but she shows that she already has many facial expressions suiting particular scenes.
Then we have Ti, Dicky's father played by Chow. Unlike in his previous movies, Chow definitely has less jokes in CJ7. Chow is also less funny, but this may be his intention as the story of CJ7 isn't comedy only. Chow can be amusing at certain moments, not necessarily funny. The reason why Chow is amusing is because some viewers hold on to Chow's earlier funnier appearances such as in Kung Fu Hustle. For some it's hard to let go of Chow's appearance as a comedian, as he has always been a comedian.
Just like Xu Jiao, Kitty Zhang is also a newcomer. Unlike Xu, Zhang only has a minor role and we don't see much of her. She doesn't impress much though in the moments that she does appear. It's a waste of the character Miss Yuen as they could have used that character more.
Young star Xu Jiao did an excellent job, considering it's her first role. Stephen Chow's character is a little bit disappointing, I expected a little more jokes coming from Ti. It seems Ti intentionally made space for Dicky.
Ti is so poor that he can't afford a normal house, instead he lives in a broken house with Dicky. In this house, Ti tries to learn his son important things such as no stealing. The house indeed looks semi-demolished, both from the inside and outside. They even added broken furniture and many other things that make Ti look poor. Other locations are the private school and a construction site where Ti works. To be honest, the private school looks more like a normal school. Dicky plays with CJ7 in his house and even takes him to school. A little side note, the movie got shot in Zhejiang, China. The Chinese title for CJ7 is Chang Jiang Qi Hao, this is literally translated as Yangtze River 7 or Long River 7 (an existing river in China).
CJ7's story is simple to understand, it mainly focuses on Dicky and his pet CJ7. The story has place for drama and comedy, but it's certainly less funny than Chow's previous movies. There are several scenes referring to previous movies Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. It seems Chow's main intention is to bring some certain messages instead of making the audience laugh. The movie is somewhat heartwarming because of the messages.
But besides entertaining, CJ7 can also be disappointing. There are several reasons contributing to the disappointment. Many people mainly watched CJ7 because Stephen Chow has attached his name to the movie. Fans were eagerly awaiting Chow's movie and then Chow doesn't appear a lot in the movie. As an excuse they use Ti's extra hours at work. Then we have the alien CJ7. With the many toys, DVD editions and other items, the movie can be misunderstood as an advertisement for the alien itself. Like I mentioned before, when people think about Stephen Chow, they think about comedy, jokes and laughs. The movie doesn't provide much of these elements for the viewer. Let's not forget CJ7's other genres, the movie is still amusing and entertaining.
CJ7 is not your usual Stephen Chow comedy, instead it's more like a family drama. If you are expecting something like Kung Fu Hustle, then be prepared that you might feel disappointed after seeing this movie. But CJ7 can provide entertainment for some people with its heartwarming but simple story. Others like other Chow movies so much, that they forget that CJ7 is whole different movie. It sure took Stephen Chow a lot of years to make CJ7, just forget Chow's previous movies for a little while and try to enjoy CJ7.
Written by Mialee L. aka Sukachu.
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Thursday, 31 July 2008
Get in the line for The Dark Knight
After Nolan released Batman Begins in 2005, he now comes with The Dark Knight. A new Batman movie means a new villain. Yes, the Joker is going to entertain you this time. The Dark Knight proves that there are many Batman fans, some have impatiently waited for its release. Many trailers and posters kept the fans excited till the release of The Dark Knight. The wait is over for most countries (some still have to wait for a little while, like Japan, France and other countries). The Dark Knight got released here on the 24th of July.
As a Batman fan, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see this movie on a big screen. I imagined the cinemas would be full on the first days, so I decided to wait a couple of days before watching the movie. Finally I went to The Dark Knight last night.
Oh no... there were many people waiting outside, probably all for the new Batman movie. The cinema was packed, many people standing in queues and I had to squeeze myself into the building as many people were making an attempt to leave the cinema after seeing The Dark Knight. To be honest, it was difficult to see who wanted to leave and who wanted to enter the building. Finally I got in the building, quickly queued in the line to get my ticket, lucky I made a reservation.
Christian Bale is still the caped crusader. Other cast members include Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Baine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman. Many people have praised Heath Ledger's version of the Joker. And Ledger indeed does a wonderful job, but lets not forget other actors' efforts. The movie is great and the 150 minutes quickly passed by for me.
Dark Knight poster. Photo credit: © Warner Bros. Pictures.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Chungking Express
Left: Cop 663 (Tony Leung) waiting for his girlfriend to return. Right: Is Faye (Wong) daydreaming about cop 663?
Movie review: Chungking Express (1994).
Synopsis:
There are two separate stories. The first one is about a heartbroken cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro). His girlfriend May breaks up with him on the first of April. Cop 223, who is named He Qiwu, treats the break up as an April's Fool Day joke. As his birthday is on the first of May, he decides to wait for exactly a month before moving on. Every day he buys a can of pineapples with an expiration date of May 1. But he has more strange rituals, he hopes that May will come back by doing these rituals. May isn't joking and she doesn't come back. Cop 223 decides to look for love and ends up in a bar. Here he meets a woman with a blond wig (Brigitte Lin). Exhausted from a failed operation, she falls asleep in a hotel room with 223 watching the TV. She leaves the next morning. She doesn't forget He Qiwu and she wishes him a happy birthday by leaving him a message on his pager. He visits a snack place where he comes often, the snack place seems to have a new staff member Faye (Faye Wong). This is where the second story starts.
The second story is about cop 663 (Tony Leung), he also has to deal with love problems as a flight attendant (Valerie Chow) breaks up with him. He meets a girl Faye (Faye Wong) at a local snack place, she secretly falls in love with 663. After his girlfriend breaks up with him, 633 starts to talk to his decorations at home. Faye tries to cheer him up whenever she has the chance. She also starts breaking into his apartment and moves his belongings, trying to improve his living environment. When 663 realises that she likes him, he invites her for a date at a restaurant called California. But Faye decides that she wants to see the world and doesn't show up and leaves a little something for him. Will there be happiness for cop 663?
Left: Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro) eating his pineapples. Right: Cop 663 (Leung) is starting to talk to his plushie.
My thoughts:
Chungking Express got released in 1994 for the first time, directed and written by Wong Kar Wai. Cinematography has been done by Christopher Doyle. The movie was made in two months (shot in less than a month), when Wong took a break from the production of his previous Ashes of Time movie. Originally Wong wrote three different stories, two of them are part of Chungking Express. The next movie Fallen Angels by Wong is about the third story. Even though it got shot in less than a month, many people feel that this is Wong Kar Wai's best movie to date. A remastered DVD got released earlier this year in May together with the DVD for another Wong movie, Fallen Angels.
There are four main characters in Chungking Express, two for each story. He Qiwu or cop 663 is played by Takeshi Kaneshiro. Brigitte Lin plays the woman with the blond wig. Tony Leung plays cop 663 with Faye as his love interest, played by Faye Wong. There is a minor role for Valerie Chow as a flight attendant, cop 663's ex.
Young Takeshi Kaneshiro plays the sad cop 223. Cop 223 has to deal with love problems after May breaks up with him. His appearance eyes as a young and somewhat dorky guy, not sure how to deal with his love problems. This fits the story and Takeshi does it in a convincing way. Most important thing is that he appears sad, also convincing. Cop 223 soon meets a woman with a blond wig, who seems be smuggling drugs. There is basically no conversation for the two of them. This woman is played by Brigitte Lin. She appears as a cool and calm woman and it fits her role perfectly. Despite the fact that the main characters don't talk much to each other in the first story, the viewer can understand what's going on.
In the second part we see cop 663 (Tony Leung) dealing with his break up. Cop 663 doesn't seem to suffer as much as 223, partly because a different new woman enters his life and mainly because Tony portrays a less sad guy than Takeshi does. Leung makes his character likeable in Chungking Express, he does it by adding a little extra something to the movie by delivering his lines in his own charming way. The new woman in cop 663's life is played by Faye Wong. Leung and Wong are compatible on screen, but Leung always seems to be compatible with his female opposite players. Definitely a plus point for Leung. Wong looks somewhat adorable in this movie. She has to play a woman who is trying to cheer up a heartbroken guy. It's not that it's not convincing, but I've seen more movies with Faye Wong as an actress. While you might not notice this in Chungking Express, the thing about her is that I feel that she can't show many emotions. But I have to admit she did a pretty good job in Chungking Express.The cast did a good job by making the characters likable. Main characters are compatible and this is a positive point.
In the first part, it looks like they used a handheld camera, this is very clear during the chasing scenes. In the second part we see a different technique, less blurry than the first part. The second part also features a technique where the main object is moving very slowly, but the background is moving faster. The events take place at several places. We see Faye redecorating 663's apartment, this is actually Christopher Doyle's apartment. The many places with its colourful background and sometimes vibrant colours are mostly Tsim Sha Tsui, a busy area in Hong Kong. Not only do we see 663's apartment, there are bars, local food stores, local eating places, local market place and many other places that have characteristics of Hong Kong. The title Chungking Express refers to two places, Chungking Mansion and Midnight Express.
Two separate stories can clearly be distinguished in Chungking Express. Each story featured in the movie is about a cop dealing with love. Both cops are suffering from a break up, but we don't see any clear emotions such as tears showing that pain. Lacking tears, brilliant Wong manages to make things very clear in both stories. Love sickness can lead to crazy things, look at cop 223 eating a can of pineapples every day. There is not only sadness, but also happiness as cop 663 manages to find new love. Like the sadness part, there is no clear element that represents happiness (think about kissing, holding hands and other things that represent 'happy love'). But Wong does it again, the happiness in the movie is convincing.
Cop 223's break up felt sadder than 663's story. Even though 663 got dumped, his love problems got presented less sadder. The second part is definitely the strongest part of the movie, this may be due to more conversations in that part. It features camera techniques that are simply amazing. Add an irresistible great actor Tony Leung and a somewhat adorable Faye Wong to that.
Chungking Express is irresistible, even after seeing it for the second time. Many Wong Kar Wai fans have chosen this movie as their favourite to date, this is not without good reasons. The actors did an excellent job by making the main characters likable. If that's not enough, we even get to see Doyle's apartment when we look at 663's apartment. The stories featured in the movie are simply, yet amazing when you think about the time Wong took to make this movie! The second story is definitely the strongest part of the movie, but this doesn't make the first story a bad one. The tagline "If my memory of her has an expiration date, please let it be 10,000 years..." seems to fit the first story about cop 223 perfectly. If you have seen other movies by Wong that you like, then this might be something for you. For those who have seen this movie already, don't forget it and watch it again.
Written by Mialee L. aka Sukachu.
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