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Ebenezer Beelzebub
Reviews
Stickmen (2001)
Pleasantly surprised
Stickmen was an enjoyable film with a strong Kiwi flavour, some likable characters and plenty of laughs. The plot was well-paced with very few hiccups; the directing was slick, professional, and did justice to the film's comedic moments. Minor criticisms: some genre cliches, some awkward dialogue (particularly in the romantic scenes), occasionally uneven acting.
Nothing too original or artistic here, but overall this was a fun underworld comedy caper. Recommended to fans of Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, and Mike Hodges (Croupier, Get Carter). Nice work. 8/10
Shao Lin si (1976)
I'm trapped. Let's die together!
An entertaining kung fu film, with acting, plot and fight scenes a cut above the average chop socky. All of the cast are likeable characters and skilled martial artists. Alexander Fu-Sheng's proto-Jackie Chan comedy antics are fun to watch, and his austere companion shows particularly impressive skills. For me, the film's only glaring flaw is the size of the cast -- at times, things get a little confused as the film chops and changes between various subplots, and some of the characters are not as fully fleshed-out as one might wish.
But a kung fu film should be judged first and foremost on the quality of the action, and Shaolin Temple definitely delivers on that count. The film climaxes with a high-bodycount battle that allows each character to show off his skills against a worthy opponent.
Overall, Shaolin Temple is an enjoyable low-budget kung fu movie. Not up to the quality of a good Jet Li film, but definitely worth a look for fans of the genre. My rating: 8/10.
Misc notes: The 1987 Warner Home Video release I saw was (predictably) poorly dubbed, and lacked full cast & crew credits.
Black Scorpion (1995)
Yo, Computer!
A cop watches the city attorney shoot her father with no apparent motive. She's thrown off the force for police brutality after confronting him in his jail cell, and vows to continue fighting crime by donning a dominatrix outfit and becoming a vigilante superhero.
Given this premise, the film wisely doesn't take itself too seriously, which makes its many glaring shortcomings more forgivable. Statuesque Joan Severance is appropriately amazonian as the title character. There are plenty of fight scenes; also a bit of nudity courtesy of a strip bar and an all-too-brief sex scene with Scorpion in costume.
Overall this is only an average comedy/action/thriller, even by b-grade standards. However, if you're a) a fan of Severance, or b) looking for a video with some intentional and unintentional laughs, a bit of softcore action and some butt-kicking scenes -- you won't be disappointed. My rating: 6/10.