Andalucia: Revenge of the Goddess (2011) User Reviews

It takes some time and patience to kick off as it should

[kluseba · 6/10 · 9 January 2012]

Andarushia is a very interesting Japanese suspense or conspiracy movie. It convinces with a bunch of solid actors and actresses, a couple of exotic locations and a twisted story. The whole mixture gets a special something with an intense atmosphere reminding me of the film noir genre.

The problem with the movie is that it takes some time to kick off and is a little bit confusing from time to time. It's not always easy to distinguish the different characters and to understand their actions and goals which can lead to some frustrations in the beginning. The locations also change too often and each time you get used to a new turning of the scenario, the feature accelerates and drowns you into another time and space. The movie has a couple of lengths but it needs nevertheless your full attention or even multiple viewings which is quite a dilemma. This movie is certainly not always easy to watch for those who are used to Western cinema.

It really needs a lot of time and patience to ultimately get into this movie and once you sat through a slow paced and somewhat complicated first half-hour, you certainly will enjoy a twisted story in original and unusual locations that is very well done even though it is not outstanding. My verdict is that you should loan this movie or watch it online first before you decide to purchase it as this kind of feature might not be easy to digest even for experts and fans of Asian cinema after all.

first the TV series, then movie 1, now movIe 2

[dumsumdumfai · 8/10 · 28 December 2012]

I'm gonna be lazy here and review all 3. First was the TV series. The premise is focused on a diplomat who is actually some kind of intelligent service to prevent international situations from going out of hand. The TV series is interesting in that it introduced this take.

So there is some international intrigue, some mystery, and part of who-don-it and why it came to be.

Then came movie 1, I forgot the name now. But of course on a bigger scale, budget and location. In a much tighter script. I recall that is about a kidnapping. Very well done misdirection of sorts. With some clever technical solution. The exotic location helps a lot. There is a exchange hostage situation in the middle, tense, like the plane sequence in North by NorthWest. But the over tone, to me is sort of like a thinking man's James Bond.

The ending however, is not as satisfying due to more of a talking off. A little bit too ...civil. I'm not calling for action, but if the intend is to be clever, maybe a more cerebral ending will "fit" the intend more? Then this 2nd movie, with a as much twisted plot about some secret document intrigue(recalling also, as the viewing was > 9 months ago). I like the casting of main actress here, fitting the role. She looks more innocent then her character leads the viewer to be. Not as convoluted as the 1st movie but well done nevertheless. I like the ending on this one better also, although not as grand as the 1st movie, this one to me, holds together more solid as a whole, end to end product.