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Shurayukihime (2001)
Not Horrible
It should be noted that I knew next to nothing about this film going in. I knew it had a cute Japanese girl on the cover holding a samurai sword, and I had seen a trailer for it which consisted of mostly action. Anyway it seemed like a no-brainer to me.
Thinking this film is a mere action flick would be a mistake, however, as the fights are more sparse than one might expect. The movie starts out as most martial arts movies do, with heavy themes of revenge. Yumiko Shaku plays Yuki, a member of an assassination group who were all once members of the royal family, who have since been exiled. Plot ensues when she finds out it was the leader of her clan who killed her mother, because she tried to escape the life of killing.
After narrowly escaping with her life, she ends up in the house of Takashi (Hideaki Ito), who is a rebel fighting the new monarchy. Far from trusting each other, they learn to befriend each other, realizing they both have the common goals of staying alive and not really liking their bosses very much.
The movie doesn't really concentrate on the revenge theme too much, as much as it contrasts the morality of a rebel killing for a cause, and that of an assassin killing for profit. The viewer must decide if Takashi is right, or that in the end it doesn't matter, either way people are dead.
The version I watched was the English dubbed, though I plan to go back and watch it in the original Japanese. The voice acting isn't horrible, though maybe a little stiff, and it is synchronized better than most Jackie Chan movies. The fights are particularly well done, a lot of the moves seem fresh, not as clichéd as more American movies tend to be.
The DVD is about as barebones as you can get. Other than the movie, you can watch the original trailer, change the language, and watch other ADV trailers. That's all, folks. Unless you really enjoy this movie, I'd wait until this one hits the bargain bins, or for a special edition.
Overall this movie won't make you think too hard, but the characters are somewhat endearing, if not a little unexplored, and it definitely doesn't fall into typical martial arts movie category. I give it a 7.5 / 10.
Paycheck (2003)
Better than I thought
I went in to this film with relatively low expectations. Other reviews I had read led me to believe that this was a cookie cutter, run of the mill, made for tv-esque amnesia story. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The main plot of most amnesia types is trying to find out who they are and why someone erased their memory. With Paycheck, however, our protagonist already knows why his memory was erased, and since it's only been three years, he of course knows who he is.
The plot device is that at the end of this little memory wipe he's supposed to be 92 million dollars plus richer. Imagine his surprise when he finds out he's forfeit the money, and instead mailed himself some apparently worthless junk. Oh, and the company that hired him is trying to kill him.
This is what a Sci Fi movie should be, relying on an interesting premise, with future predictions based on current technology. Sci Fi is not space with explosions every five minutes.
Although there are a few minor plot holes, I found the movie very engaging, and thought the acting was competent, to say the least. Those who enjoyed Minority Report might also like Paycheck. It's worth a look.
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