Friday, June 11, 2004
THE PUNISHER
Featuring: Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Rebecca Romijin-Stamos
Brief Synopsis: A highly decorated, military, undercover man has his entire, and I mean entire, family wiped out by very rich man whose son was killed in military’s man final mission. The former then sets about destroying the latter’s life whilst he tries to avoid being killed himself.
Comments: Whilst the Marvel comic has some history and background for the Punisher to develop, the essential plot of the film has been carried over by Hollywood many times over. And frankly, a lot better. The Malaysian censors had a good time with this one, snipping violent scenes short and at one stage cutting off part of his revenge speech when he started talking about avenging something that the law couldn’t. However it wouldn’t have helped the film much even if they had left the film intact. The action isn’t anything new, the bad guys are pretty well average and well it’s hard to think of many good things at all. Ok, the neighbours are easily the highlight of the film (along with the Russian assassin) with their ordinariness juxtaposed against the surrealism of The Punisher’s life. The lady neighbour is particularly fine although the many body shots of The Punisher helps to even this for the females members of the audience. But overall, it’s very difficult for me to recommend this film on any sort of basis.
Thing to learn from this film: Do not get piercings – if an evil henchman comes after you, that is just easy torture.
Rating: 3 /10
Featuring: Thomas Jane, John Travolta, Rebecca Romijin-Stamos
Brief Synopsis: A highly decorated, military, undercover man has his entire, and I mean entire, family wiped out by very rich man whose son was killed in military’s man final mission. The former then sets about destroying the latter’s life whilst he tries to avoid being killed himself.
Comments: Whilst the Marvel comic has some history and background for the Punisher to develop, the essential plot of the film has been carried over by Hollywood many times over. And frankly, a lot better. The Malaysian censors had a good time with this one, snipping violent scenes short and at one stage cutting off part of his revenge speech when he started talking about avenging something that the law couldn’t. However it wouldn’t have helped the film much even if they had left the film intact. The action isn’t anything new, the bad guys are pretty well average and well it’s hard to think of many good things at all. Ok, the neighbours are easily the highlight of the film (along with the Russian assassin) with their ordinariness juxtaposed against the surrealism of The Punisher’s life. The lady neighbour is particularly fine although the many body shots of The Punisher helps to even this for the females members of the audience. But overall, it’s very difficult for me to recommend this film on any sort of basis.
Thing to learn from this film: Do not get piercings – if an evil henchman comes after you, that is just easy torture.
Rating: 3 /10
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
ONE NIGHT IN MONGKOK
Featuring: Daniel Wu, Cecilia Cheung, Alex Fong
Brief Synopsis: Escalating triad retaliation is threatening to lead to all out war with the police attempting to stop it. A first time assassin is hired to kill a gang boss but during his stay rescues a prostitute from a beating. The story is told in the main from their point of view.
Comments: A film that left me very pensive exiting the cinema. Excellently crafted, it leads up to the final dark night in palpable stages with no obvious conclusions in sight. The setting of Hong Kong’s famous district provides the backdrop for Daniel Wu who does an excellent job of portraying the quiet assassin despite looking anything but one. Cecilia Cheung does OK as his guide in the bustling area although I think that Alex Fong looks too overburdened in his role as head of the police unit. The violence in the film is strong but unlike its Hollywood counterparts, it is due to the realism.
Thing to learn from this film: A bloodied man can sometimes be the good guy.
Rating: 8 /10
Featuring: Daniel Wu, Cecilia Cheung, Alex Fong
Brief Synopsis: Escalating triad retaliation is threatening to lead to all out war with the police attempting to stop it. A first time assassin is hired to kill a gang boss but during his stay rescues a prostitute from a beating. The story is told in the main from their point of view.
Comments: A film that left me very pensive exiting the cinema. Excellently crafted, it leads up to the final dark night in palpable stages with no obvious conclusions in sight. The setting of Hong Kong’s famous district provides the backdrop for Daniel Wu who does an excellent job of portraying the quiet assassin despite looking anything but one. Cecilia Cheung does OK as his guide in the bustling area although I think that Alex Fong looks too overburdened in his role as head of the police unit. The violence in the film is strong but unlike its Hollywood counterparts, it is due to the realism.
Thing to learn from this film: A bloodied man can sometimes be the good guy.
Rating: 8 /10
