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Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)
The defining movie of flashy martial arts
There have been many greats before Scott Adkins, but Adkins brought a new style of martial arts to cinema. I would say Undisputed 3 is one of his greatest, and probably the greatest film he has made. For those that don't know, Scott Adkins martial arts is characterized by tricking, or fancy kicks that involve spinning in nearly unbelievable ways in the air to land deadly kicks on the faces of his opponents.
There are two things that make this stand out from other martial arts films. First, Adkins can actually execute these moves without the help of wires, and he's physically fit so the moves look powerful and real. Secondly, the editing of this movie is really topnotch. Very few camera cuts and directed by Isaac Florentine, a martial artist himself. So what you have here is some of the finest martial arts choreography ever filmed, and certain up to the standards of the Raid movies.
We also get many highly skilled opponents, who are also quite adept at on-screen martial arts, the standouts being Lateef Crowder and Marko Zaror, both of whom have made many other fine martial arts movies. So, basically, you have non-stop action, top-notch choreography, and outstanding camera work.
Not only that, but the story is actually good. Basically Adkins plays Boyka stuck in jail, fighting for his freedom. We get Mykel Shannon Jenkins playing Turbo, who has instant chemistry with Adkins. And of course Adkins himself has created a icon in the form of Yuri Boyka, with an awesome accent and amazing lines that are funny without being ridiculous.
Somehow, the perfect storm of martial arts goodness came together for this movie with just the right combination of art and violence without excessive visual distraction or brutality.
If there ever was a list of perfect martial arts movies, it would be a short list containing movies like the Raid 2 and Ip Man. And Undisputed 3 would be near the top of that list.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)
Worth one watch, maybe
This film seems to be quite polarizing, and I can see why. Many of the scenes seem to be a caricature of the first film, over the top and taken out of context. The dialogue in some places is funny but in others it is actually distracting. The script feels rushed and incoherent. The basic premise is senseless and the way it is solved is pretty much equally senseless. Definitely, far below the first xXx.
As an action movie it isn't bad, and has some decent scenes. I might have given it an extra star for Tony Jaa and Donnie Yen, but the movie only makes use of 1% of their talents.
I would say this is on the level of the 2005 movie Doom, or slightly worse even. If you can watch that movie, you can probably watch this movie.
Magnus (2016)
Excellent chess documentary
This documentary examines the life of Magnus Carlsen, world chess champion.
The reason why it does such a good job portraying his rise to fame is because his family has quite a lot of documentary footage starting from his early life to world champion. The story is thus illustrated quite well. It manages to convey the chess world along with the stress that can come at the top levels.
One thing I really enjoyed about this documentary was its positivity. I dislike documentaries that focus strongly on drama and failure just to bring in the audience. Far too obvious and off-putting. This is generally just a very nice, uplifting story.
It's hard to find anything wrong with it. I might have enjoyed a bit more commentary on some of the games, but otherwise it is nearly perfect.
Revenger (2018)
Decent martial arts but bad pacing
This is a classic martial arts film where the story is barely considered compared to the fighting. it's a little hard to watch because at times it's just really slow.
The choreography is good. The fighting is more realistic (I mean, for a movie) and less flashy. Tricking and excessive takedowns are avoided. The final fight is actually quite good.
Unfortunately there is so much time spent on other random characters or medicine-healing scenes that I actually had to watch the movie in two sittings. Most of these scenes are not really integral to the plot and seem to be there for no reason.
It think there is supposed to be some humour in this film but I didn't get any of it.
For serious martial arts fans only who have run of out everything else to watch.
Elementary (2012)
Near perfection
I am a Sherlock Holmes fan. I've read all the stories and have watched multiple adaptations including the movies and Sherlock. My take is Elementary is the best portrayal of Sherlock Holmes done so far.
Sherlock Holmes is one of those very intelligent, intense characters who uses his intelligence to solve crimes. Therefore, one needs a very intense actor to play him, and I think it would be hard-pressed to find someone better than Jonny Lee Miller. He brings the neurotic focus of Holmes on screen with such passion that I think Arthur Conan Doyle would be proud. The drug use is very believable, as Sherlock Holmes did do drugs in the stories.
Then there is the casting of Lucy Liu as Watson. Also perfection. I also think it makes perfect sense to make Watson female. Relationships like Watson and Holmes in the stories sadly do not happen in exactly the same way any more and the intimate friendship seems somehow more believable with Watson female. Also, the writers did an exceptionally good job portraying this friendship, and Liu and Miller have excellent on-screen chemistry.
There is a strong faithfulness to the source material, including characters such as Moriarty. But moreso, I think the characters are very close to the source material as well. That in my opinion is the huge problem with Sherlock (the British show). In that show, Holmes is too childish and Watson is a little too whiny, which is not at all how they are written in the books.
If there is any flaw to this show, is that some of the episodes lose some the magic of Sherlock Holmes observational powers and become a little too formulaic without much attention paid to peculiarities. But I guess that has to happen with so many episodes per season.
From beginning to end, this show is a very solid performance and highly enjoyable.
The Mentalist (2008)
Good concept, slow execution
The Mentalist was part of my semiannual binge TV watching ritual where I do little else but watch TV and sell unused possessions on eBay. I chose the Mentalist because I am an unabashed fan of investigative mystery shows. I've seen most of them including Psych, Sherlock, Elementary, Monk, Columbo, Murder She Wrote, and Poirot. The exception are medical shows, because I can't stand those, with the exception of Quincy.
This show is about Patrick Jane, a fake psychic with profound observational powers who has recently had his wife and daughter murdered by the serial killer Red John. He joins law enforcement and uses these powers along side Teresea Lisbon and her team to solve crimes. Patrick's motivations are somewhat self-serving as his true goal is to find Red John and seek vengeance.
What makes this show different from other shows such as Psych or Elementary? As Patrick uses the fake psychic or con man persona to solve crimes, with the execution of the solution of the crimes structured like a con. Fans of heists will certainly like that.
The show also has a few overarching themes such as the character development of Patrick Jane as he comes to terms with losing his family. Central to this is Patrick's relationship with Teresea Lisbon, the lead detective he works with. Subtle romantic overtones persist here. The supporting cast consisting of Wayne Rigsby, Grace van Pelt, and the stoic Kimball Cho also play a significant role.
So what are the strong and weak points of the show? Certainly Simon Baker's performance as Patrick Jane is fun to watch due to his irreverance for the rules and his sometimes comedic actions. He genuinely pulls off a very intelligent character, although some of his more fake psychic behaviours such as hypnotism somewhat dampen his brilliance as they are somewhat unbelievable.
Teresea Lisbon also has good chemistry with Patrick, and as far as TV male female partnerships go, this one is pretty good and not overdone with ostensible annoyance as was the case in the show Bones. The supporting characters are generally great. In general, most episodes made me smile and even laugh. Overall, this show is a generally good time.
The Mentalist's greatest weakness unfortunately is the overall story development. Ultimately this is a procedural crime drama, but the longer Red John serial killer arc was drawn out way too slowly. When tidbits of this fascinating arc were shown, they often took up far too little time per episode, and far too much time per episode was spent with run of the mill police-work such as looking through photographs or solving mundane issues. Thus, upon first watching, I found some of the episodes tedious. Patrick's character is set up as a tormented one, but that often was underemphasized and at times the writing of each character becomes too similar.
Paired with this slow development is the underuse of several fascinating stories or themes. A very strong example of this is the cult leader Brett Stiles played by Malcolm McDowell, certainly one of the best guest stars on the Mentalist. Stiles and his cult have the potential to be woven into a very complex arcing plot that could be quite engaging, and yet it remains in its infancy. There is a similar plot developed a little later in the series, which also has great potential, but needed to be introduced at least two seasons earlier.
The same is true of the character development and relationships. I actually really liked Teresea Lisbon, but I felt her character and especially her feelings towards Jane should have been more nuanced in the first five seasons. Sometimes, her character is too predictable, which is mainly the fault of the writers and not the actress. Part of this is the lack of support from the plots, which don't stress the main characters enough. When such stress is shown, the writers often miss golden opportunities to show the strong friendship bonds between the characters. Don't get me wrong, if you watch it from beginning to end, there is a progression and cohesion to the character development. However, it just doesn't happen fast enough for my taste.
A lot of these problems with the Mentalist are solved in the last two seasons, in which the writers are bolder to develop characters and story arcs. Even the cases become more intriguing, and the erratic and slow pacing of the first five seasons are somewhat made up here. There is also a welcome break from the overly strict find the body-solve the crime template that became far too formulaic for many of the earlier season episodes.
Overall, I enjoyed the Mentalist. It is a nice addition to the hyperobservant crime solver with enough originality to be interesting. A solid effort and worth a watch.
I, Robot (2004)
Awesome
I love Isaac Asimov. Typically his stories involve a lot of dialogue to advance the plot so there is always a danger that an action-oriented movie will not really tell an Asimov story properly.
Luckily I, Robot does a really good job. You've got the Three Laws of Robotics, and the question of what can go wrong with them, which is a strong theme throughout this film.
Another aspect of Asimov's story is the typically involve an intelligent main character or pair of characters trying to figure out the events unfolding around them. That's Del Spooner (Smith) and Dr. Susan Calvin (Moynahan), a character from Asimov's Robot stories. Spooner's mistrust of robots plays quite well against Calvin's fondness for them, and together they investigate the possibility that something might be wrong with the three laws.
Unlike Asimov's stories, this movie has quite a bit more action, but yet it is a good modification for the big screen. The sets are very well done and the cinematography is excellent. There is a main robot character well and I think the voice they chose for him is perfect.
This is a solid film with very few flaws and an excellent illustration of the ideas of Asimov.
Chuck (2007)
Outstanding show
Chuck is a story about a guy who gets a bunch of government secrets downloaded into his head. Being stuck with this dangerous and powerful knowledge, he gets to work with an agent from the CIA and an agent from the NSA to do good in the world. Incidentally, the CIA agent is the girl of his dreams, Sarah.
The development of this show is nearly flawless. The humour is actually funny. And Chuck (Levi) and Sarah (Strahovski) have amazing chemistry. Fitting with the nature of the show, the missions are somewhat unbelievable yet highly entertaining. There are side plots and pop culture references, and the soundtrack is usually excellent. As a bonus, there are quite a few famous guest stars such as Linda Hamilton and Timothy Dalton.
Naturally, a large part of the story revolves around the romance between Chuck and Sarah. The pacing of this development is really quite impeccable and yet not overly annoying. They are such a cute couple that the show is worth watching just for this. How the writers managed to fit great dialogue in with humour and espionage is really quite surprising.
Of course, nothing is perfect and I did deduct 2 stars from this show. The primary reason is Season 5, which I'm sure a lot of people hated for various reasons. Mainly, Season 5 felt like the show was going on too long, like a joke told where no one laughs. The show just kind of lost its momentum by then. I actually watched this show twice but the second time around I just skipped that season. There are other reasons to dislike Season 5 but I'll leave that for you to judge. I also found Scott Krinsky's character Jeff Barnes a little too annoying.
Concluding, I really liked Chuck. It is a gem of television and definitely worth a watch.
Almost Human (2013)
Worth watching once
Almost Human is a near-future science fiction series about a human cop John Kennex (Urban) who is partnered with an android Dorian (Ealy). Kennex has a strong dislike for technology and every episode features a crime where technology goes wrong.
The series combines mystery and action, and I would say it does that fairly well. However, where this series disappoints is that it rarely advances the arc teased from the first episode of a mysterious terrorist organization. Instead, procedural crime mode takes over and dominates pretty much every episode. References to the arc are made and perhaps some information is revealed but it is never integral to the story.
The other weak part of this series is the lack of character development. Love interests for John are hinted but never developed one way or the other. There are other characters and conflicts hinted at but they are kept at a great distance from the partnership between Kennex and Dorian. Although they did that part well, the lack of other character interaction together with the procedural style makes the show repetitive quite quickly.
One might forgive this show of its weaknesses as it only ran for one season, but in my mind there was plenty of time to develop an intricate story and it was just never done.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)
Surprisingly good
Wow, I've been a fan of the Resident Evil series since the first one came out. I did not play the video games either. I also kind of held off watching this one because Afterlife and Retribution let me down a little. In my opinion, the first three movies were fairly strong because they had cohesive theme in mind: the initial release of the T-virus, what happens in Racoon city, and survival of humanity after the T-virus.
Afterlife and Retribution didn't have a cohesive theme, except the vague nefarious actions of umbrella. However, Final Chapter actually comes back with a good premise: the conclusion of the T-virus outbreak and settle it once and for all with umbrella.
For my expectations, this film is actually way above average for two reasons. First, the story is quite cohesive and advances well. Second, the fight scenes and action were taken up a notch compared to some of the fights in Afterlife, which had too much CGI. Don't get me wrong. The fights are not on the level of Hong Kong martial arts, but they are fairly well-done. Moreover, the action does advance the story as well. It really feels like someone put a lot of effort into making this film.
If there is anything wrong with this film (within the realm of what we can expect from Resident Evil, of course), it is that there should have been a little more character development. There was some time wasted at the beginning of the movie that actually would have been better spent in Racoon city as opposed to getting to Racoon city.
In my opinion, The Final Chapter is a solid end to the Resident Evil franchise, roughly on the level of the first three films. Recommended.
Lady Bloodfight (2016)
Average choreography
I tend to like these types of movies, and I'm a fan of the original Bloodsport. That being said, I primarily go into these movies to see martial arts. I was a little disappointed here because the choreography was average only. There are many quick cuts, and most of the fights were unconvincing. While the original Bloodsport is certainly not up to modern standards of movies like Scott Adkin's Ninja 2 or Ip Man, the fights in this movie were definitely worse.
Ninja Assassin (2009)
Mediocre Action With Little Plot
Normally I don't mind much if the plot of a movie is horribly predictable, but then the action must be good. The trailer excited me for the action, but the actual movie was a complete letdown, starting from the first action scene.
Ninja Assassin certainly has much gore and blood, which is actually overdone and a little silly. However, the martial arts choreography in this movie is mundane and has little variety. Every fight scene is the same, with some basic movies that hardly look real, and a constantly view-switching camera that tries to hide that no one knows how to do a martial arts scene.
For instance, in many movies the style and skill of the various characters in martial arts can be seen from their moves, speed, and the way they interact in fights. In this movie, everybody seems to have the same skill, but only win because it's written in the script. Also, the way some ninjas can heal themselves was poorly written in, and could have been left out altogether.
The plot itself is more ridiculous than the average action movie. We learn early on that ninjas supply assassins to governments. How did this come about? None of it is explained, and the plot quickly fades away to one poorly done action scene after another.
For a ninja movie, this is probably good, but compared to other action movies this is practically unwatchable. Even the acting is rough, and I didn't care about most of the characters.
The Descent (2005)
Pointless and Not Scary
The two stars are for the few good points in this movie. There are worse movies out there, but I haven't seen many of those.
To start I'm a casual horror fan. It's not my main genre but I love to be scared once in a while. Unfortunately nothing in this movie is scary.
I won't go over much of the plot. Basically a group of women explore a cave. They don't know that there are strange creatures inside the cave.
The first problem is that there is so much shrill screaming from the all-female cast. A few screams here and there are fine, but you'd think half the script called for screaming. After twenty minutes this became unbearable for me. Nevertheless I continued watching the movie.
The encounters with the creatures are bland and not scary. Part way through the movie I checked to see how much time there was left, and I usually never do that. Although being stuck in a cave seems like it could add to the horror, I never felt a sense of claustrophobia like there could have been, and most of the time the characters acted like they were on a movie set rather than a real cave.
The creatures to me didn't seem that dangerous, and I could probably have killed twenty while eating dinner.
There was a bit of tension between the characters but it was mostly high-school type drama. Definitely one of the worst films I've ever seen, and my expectations are usually quite low.
Iron Man 2 (2010)
Entertaining but bland
Score: 6.5.
Note: I did not see the first movie, but I didn't think it was necessary.
First, the good parts. Robert Downey Jr. does well playing Iron Man, a superhero who has various personal issues but yet isn't annoying. He's also supposed to be a physicist but unfortunately he seems unconvincing in this role. However, that's easy to dismiss as he rarely actually does any physics in this movie.
The plot isn't very strong. Basically the military wants the Iron Man technology and there's also a nemesis that wants to destroy Iron Man and blow stuff up. Unfortunately none of the issues Stark faces here are particularly tense. This wouldn't be overly problematic if the action made up for it, but it doesn't.
In fact, the action scenes mirror the social conflict in this movie. I never felt that Stark was in any danger in this movie. The longer action scenes were a bit painful because of this. I blame the lack of tension on the G rating of this movie (in some places it's PG-13), but it's on the lower end of PG-13. As a comparison to another superhero movie, Iron Man 2 is far tamer than 'Spiderman'.
Perhaps the most painful part of the action was Scarlett Johansson, whose martial arts choreographed scenes were laughable, in a bad way. In fact, any fighting in this movie is essentially what you would find from a movie for little kids. Disappointing.
The redeeming quality of this movie is some of the dialogue, which was humorous on many occasions, although silly at others. Hopefully the powers that be will realise that trying to make action appeal to such a wide age range is virtually impossible.