Well, its been awhile. It appears that I have not posted up in over two weeks. Apologies for that, but, no worries, nothing much has happened. The only action I can report is two movie viewings: Yellow Sea, a Korean film, done by the same director behind The Chaser, and the early summer blockbuster, The Avengers. Here's a couple shortened reviews:
Yellow Sea: Korea's Answer to Kill Bill.
All you have to do is look back to see my last movie review, a Korean film called The Chaser, which i really liked. The next movie I took in was by the same director, and included the two main actors from Chaser. Yellow Sea is about a down-and-out, heavily indebted taxi driver living in Yanbian, an autonomous region in China, near the North Korean border, made up primarily of ethnic Koreans. The Driver's wife has disappeared in Seoul, where she went to find work, and his loan-sharks are now calling in his debts. A gangster boss in the area approaches him with a proposition: Go to Seoul and carry out a hit and your debts will be cleared, and you can search for your wife as well.
Interesting plot-line, and it remains an engrossing film for an hour and a half or so (its about two hours and twenty minutes long), as the protagonist tracks his target and plots how he will strike, all while searching in vain for his wife. It makes for very interesting viewing. However, the story eventually becomes incredibly confusing, as third parties enter the story and a series of betrayals take place and I pretty much lost all sight of what was really going on. While disappointing, what made it worth continuing was the absolute over-the-top action and violence that consumed much of the rest of the film. I mean, comparing to Kill Bill is just about right. Blood flies around in buckets, and guys survive seemingly devastating attacks from knifes and hatchets. Its actually quite a bit of fun. I imagine many people would probably be turned off by it, it does get a bit ridiculous, and it would be nice if I could have kept track with the story, but the fight scenes, in particular an orgy of violence between rival gangs in a Seoul safe-house and a chase/fight in a shipyard are a riot, and worth watching. Firearms are notoriously hard to acquire in Asia, so all the action is done with sharp implements, which only ramps up the crazy factor.
Verdict: Its not as good a film as "The Chaser" and it does get confusing, but I am going to say see it. The story-line is a good one, and the action takes care of the rest. Grade: B
If you liked this movie you might also like: Ummmm....probably Kill Bill.
The Avengers: Hollywood Runs Out of Ideas
I am not going to spend a lot of time on this one. If you haven't heard of The Avengers, or don't know what the premise is, you should probably climb out of your Cold War-era bomb shelter. Somebody had the genius idea of taking all the Marvel Comics heroes that have gotten screen time in the past couple of years, throw them all in the same film and have them battle against the forces of evil hell-bent on destroying the Earth. Its far from original, but that somebody made a lot of money off of it. Now, I am not really a big super-hero movie fan, and this movie is beyond ridiculous, but, what the hell, its fun. The action, of which is almost non-stop, is all CGI, but that is par for the course nowadays. Its a wild ride, and all movies can't be works of art. Sometimes its nice just to sit down and enjoy the spectacle, which is pretty much what The Avengers offers. Also, its funny. Lots of clever one-liners in this one, and, its got my man Robert Downey Jr. in there, so its gotta be good. I don't think this movie is a world-beater, but its a guilty pleasure.
Verdict: See it, its fun. Grade: B+
If you liked this movie you might also like: There are like 8 different superheros featured here. I suppose you could watch all their individual films. Just a thought.
Yellow Sea: Korea's Answer to Kill Bill.
All you have to do is look back to see my last movie review, a Korean film called The Chaser, which i really liked. The next movie I took in was by the same director, and included the two main actors from Chaser. Yellow Sea is about a down-and-out, heavily indebted taxi driver living in Yanbian, an autonomous region in China, near the North Korean border, made up primarily of ethnic Koreans. The Driver's wife has disappeared in Seoul, where she went to find work, and his loan-sharks are now calling in his debts. A gangster boss in the area approaches him with a proposition: Go to Seoul and carry out a hit and your debts will be cleared, and you can search for your wife as well.
Interesting plot-line, and it remains an engrossing film for an hour and a half or so (its about two hours and twenty minutes long), as the protagonist tracks his target and plots how he will strike, all while searching in vain for his wife. It makes for very interesting viewing. However, the story eventually becomes incredibly confusing, as third parties enter the story and a series of betrayals take place and I pretty much lost all sight of what was really going on. While disappointing, what made it worth continuing was the absolute over-the-top action and violence that consumed much of the rest of the film. I mean, comparing to Kill Bill is just about right. Blood flies around in buckets, and guys survive seemingly devastating attacks from knifes and hatchets. Its actually quite a bit of fun. I imagine many people would probably be turned off by it, it does get a bit ridiculous, and it would be nice if I could have kept track with the story, but the fight scenes, in particular an orgy of violence between rival gangs in a Seoul safe-house and a chase/fight in a shipyard are a riot, and worth watching. Firearms are notoriously hard to acquire in Asia, so all the action is done with sharp implements, which only ramps up the crazy factor.
Verdict: Its not as good a film as "The Chaser" and it does get confusing, but I am going to say see it. The story-line is a good one, and the action takes care of the rest. Grade: B
If you liked this movie you might also like: Ummmm....probably Kill Bill.
The Avengers: Hollywood Runs Out of Ideas
I am not going to spend a lot of time on this one. If you haven't heard of The Avengers, or don't know what the premise is, you should probably climb out of your Cold War-era bomb shelter. Somebody had the genius idea of taking all the Marvel Comics heroes that have gotten screen time in the past couple of years, throw them all in the same film and have them battle against the forces of evil hell-bent on destroying the Earth. Its far from original, but that somebody made a lot of money off of it. Now, I am not really a big super-hero movie fan, and this movie is beyond ridiculous, but, what the hell, its fun. The action, of which is almost non-stop, is all CGI, but that is par for the course nowadays. Its a wild ride, and all movies can't be works of art. Sometimes its nice just to sit down and enjoy the spectacle, which is pretty much what The Avengers offers. Also, its funny. Lots of clever one-liners in this one, and, its got my man Robert Downey Jr. in there, so its gotta be good. I don't think this movie is a world-beater, but its a guilty pleasure.
Verdict: See it, its fun. Grade: B+
If you liked this movie you might also like: There are like 8 different superheros featured here. I suppose you could watch all their individual films. Just a thought.
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