GoonJakesh Reviews

Enemy (2013)

Keyword: Be patient and pay attention!

[9/10 · 6 May 2016]

(NB!Two lines of spoilers written in parentheses further down - easily ignored.)

I hate it when movies contain unnecessary scenes which simply consumes valuable sleeping time. Somehow, even a sex scene longer than 10 seconds should have some substance or meaning to the plot. While watching this particular flick last night, I thought it was doing exactly that; depriving me of my valuable sleep. I couldn't get a grasp of the whole thing. I only made sense of bits and pieces here and there and it certainly seemed like it was merely «trying» to be clever but was failing tremendously.

I thought that all the way up until the last half hour of the movie.

WARNING! SPOILER ALERT: (After watching the bed scene where she asks him «how was school» and then the car crash - I was convinced I knew what was going on. The key and the big spider at the end certainly confirmed my assumptions.)

So, I checked online to see if I was wrong on my understandings of the movie and it seems that I wasn't. This movie is definitely well made. It seems like a mess at first, but if you are patient enough, you will see that everything is connected and that both the atmosphere, the people involved, the shady illusions/dreams all makes sense in the end. A very dark movie with elements at times that seem bizarre and a bit disturbing. These elements all play a significant role to the plot so do not brush them off.

This is one of the few movies where whether a person personally likes it or not is completely irrelevant. The mind behind this production undoubtedly deserves an applause and one should definitely watch it because of that. I would never watch it again, but, man what a trip!

Watch it and see how brilliantly Denis constructs all the pieces in the puzzle into this one big real enigma. Afterwards, check out IMDb member «mrpaulkennedy's» spot on analysis on the film to fully comprehend its content:

https://shoton35.com/2014/06/05/enemy-in-depth-analysis/

ENJOY!

Merantau (2009)

A new Martial Arts Star has emerged with a refreshing new Martial Arts Style!! Man, I love Asian Cinema!!

[8/10 · 18 June 2011]

Please check out Valen's Shadows review here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R28DSJSHY64RA2)

The above review sums it up best. I'm a Martial Arts trainee myself (Tae Kwon Do and Capoeira) and after watching this flick I feel Iko Uwais will add to the world of MA styles and techniques and become a rather recognizable star if only given a chance. A big mistake is to compare Uwais to Jaa which I see many fans of this genre do. Although its true that the films plot was very much like Ong Baks, the fighting however, was way more real than the ones done in Ong Bak. The film did not portray Uwais's role as a 'master' in Silat - it portrayed him as a 'young', 'innocent' newbie exposed to the dangers outside his village, and because he was lightly skilled in the arts of fighting and defending - he managed to stand up against the villains. It was believable in the end. Those that regard this film a lame martial arts film - are not into martial arts at all, and last but not least they don't understand it. In reality, exercising martial arts in a real upfront combat is far from appealing like depicted in any of Van Damme, Jason Statham, Scott Adkins and/or Michael J. Whites movies. This film was so realistic that it's hard for me to believe that they used any special effects or stunt-men at all in any of the fighting scenes.

I give Merentau plot 5/10 - while the fighting scenes and especially the new star an 8/10.

In other words - a great film for martial arts lovers (introduces a new style of fighting to the International audience which always is a thumbs up), while not so good for those into 'storylines' and 'acting' etc.

Watch it by removing any prejudices beforehand, don't compare it to something else, and I will guarantee you that those almost two hours of your time will not be disappointing.