Saturday, January 17, 2004
INFERNAL AFFAIRS 1, 2 & 3
Featuring: Andy Lau, Tony Leung
Brief Synopsis: OK this is a trilogy of 3 films but it revolves around the first film.
The first film pits the police against the triads in the streets of Hong Kong and each as an informer in the upper ranks of the other. The race is on to find out the informer in the opposing team.
The second film gives a lot of background history to the first film, how they got into the police force, the triads and so on.
The last film is more of a sequel to the first one but with occasionally flashbacks and 2 new characters.
Comments: All are worth watching. As with The Matrix, the first one is the best! The background that the second film provides makes it intriguing and sometimes made me wonder if it was better to watch that one first! The final installment in the series isn’t as good as the others but still provides enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. I find that is what the Infernal Affairs series is all about – a plot that keeps the viewer guessing and hip hopping as if we were on hot coals. No overly dramatic gun play or explosions, they are used when necessary, but it is the performance of the large cast that keeps you riveted to your seat.
Thing to learn from this film: Life is not always what it appears.
Ratings:
The first one 10/10
The second one 9/10
The third one 7/10
Featuring: Andy Lau, Tony Leung
Brief Synopsis: OK this is a trilogy of 3 films but it revolves around the first film.
The first film pits the police against the triads in the streets of Hong Kong and each as an informer in the upper ranks of the other. The race is on to find out the informer in the opposing team.
The second film gives a lot of background history to the first film, how they got into the police force, the triads and so on.
The last film is more of a sequel to the first one but with occasionally flashbacks and 2 new characters.
Comments: All are worth watching. As with The Matrix, the first one is the best! The background that the second film provides makes it intriguing and sometimes made me wonder if it was better to watch that one first! The final installment in the series isn’t as good as the others but still provides enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. I find that is what the Infernal Affairs series is all about – a plot that keeps the viewer guessing and hip hopping as if we were on hot coals. No overly dramatic gun play or explosions, they are used when necessary, but it is the performance of the large cast that keeps you riveted to your seat.
Thing to learn from this film: Life is not always what it appears.
Ratings:
The first one 10/10
The second one 9/10
The third one 7/10
Thursday, January 15, 2004
THE MEDALLION
Featuring: Jackie Chan, Claire Forlani. Lee Evans
Brief Synopsis: Some villain steals something that gives him powers out of this world and the others, including a Chinese govt agent (surprise, surprise), have to try to stop him.
Comments: It was a bit of thin plot line but at least with Jackie Chan, you know you are going to get some authentic, creative stunts and his first on-screen kiss. Lee Evans provides a bit of comic humour to keep it all light hearted and his Chinese martial arts wife, Christy Chung, gives a cameo appearance to thwart the baddies. But the whole film is rubbish. The over acting by the evil baddie is awful and the powers of The Medallion with regards to martial arts makes it all seem like a very bad computer game. By the end of the film, I was very happy that I didn’t pay any money to watch it!
Thing to learn from this film: Don’t try to copy any Jackie Chan moves.
Ratings: 2/10
Featuring: Jackie Chan, Claire Forlani. Lee Evans
Brief Synopsis: Some villain steals something that gives him powers out of this world and the others, including a Chinese govt agent (surprise, surprise), have to try to stop him.
Comments: It was a bit of thin plot line but at least with Jackie Chan, you know you are going to get some authentic, creative stunts and his first on-screen kiss. Lee Evans provides a bit of comic humour to keep it all light hearted and his Chinese martial arts wife, Christy Chung, gives a cameo appearance to thwart the baddies. But the whole film is rubbish. The over acting by the evil baddie is awful and the powers of The Medallion with regards to martial arts makes it all seem like a very bad computer game. By the end of the film, I was very happy that I didn’t pay any money to watch it!
Thing to learn from this film: Don’t try to copy any Jackie Chan moves.
Ratings: 2/10
