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andrewhollingsworth
Reviews
Alexander (2004)
A film as bad as its accents
Apart from the very good and gory battle scenes, Alexander bored me senseless. Trying to keep up with Hopkins's ramblings which apparently kept you up to date with the story was too much for me. Why did most of the characters have Irish accents? Presumably because Colin Farrell couldn't do any other accent. Why did Alexander have an Irish accent while his mother sounded eastern European? Perhaps because Angelina Jolie couldn't do an Irish accent. Why did we only see two battles when Alexander fought in over 50? Maybe it was deemed more interesting to focus on half-hearted homosexuality and yawnsome story-telling. All in all it was a tedious three hours that I can't believe I sat through.
Forbidden Warrior (2005)
So bad it's beyond laughably bad.
I will not bore any readers with anything about the story of this film. Except that the story is more corny than ten tons of popcorn. Just do not waste your time watching this film. Everything about it is incredibly inept. The acting, the script, the costumes, the choreography, the CGI .... the list goes on and on. Films like Catwoman, Elektra and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen are all examples of bad films, however, they all look like masterpieces compared to this film. It has been claimed to be like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and that it is very good. You cannot get further from the truth. Why so many have given it 10 out of ten is beyond me. Please do not see this film or you'll regret it.
Tian di ying xiong (2003)
Entertaining yarn
I knew nothing of this movie before I watched it.
I wish people would stop comparing every single Asian film to CTHD. The film is not trying to be CTHD or better it. It is trying to be something different from the wire-fu extravaganzas that are coming out of China.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this film. Certainly one of the better Asian films to be released in recent years. It's not perfect but I found it to be entertaining and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates simple adventure yarns. The story is simple but why should stories be complex to be good? The best stories are often simple ones.
Go and see it but don't expect a wire-fu spectacle and you won't be disappointed.
Shi mian mai fu (2004)
A genre classic
I find that most people either love kung fu films or they don't. Many people that didn't like the genre have been enlightened to the fact that they can in fact be good entertainment due to the arrival of Crouching Tiger. Crouching Tiger's strengths lie in its cinematography, good script and good acting. It also had some reasonable martial arts sequences but it does not excel in this area.
Hero is also a fine film, I think possibly better than Crouching Tiger, especially from a martial arts choreography point of view. As far as storytelling goes, Crouching Tiger and Hero are probably the best, they have now become the benchmark to compare all kung fu films. As soon as one comes a long which is quite as good, such as House of Flying Daggers, many people seem to think that it is not very good. I disagree.
If anyone can name a kung fu film that is better acting, story, cinematography and action than HOFD in all these aspects then please enlighten me. I have seen many martial arts films and in terms of story and acting the only other martial arts film I can think of that is possibly better is The Warrior (AKA Musa the Warrior). I am not saying the film is amazing and I am not saying it is not without fault, few films are, but as a genre fan I certainly don't regret buying the DVD.
Bottom line: As far as Wuxia goes HOFD is only beaten by CTHD and Hero. At least HOFD is better than most of the Hollywood action movies to be released for quite a few years. To anyone who likes kung fu films, I highly recommend it, but don't expect it to be as good as CTHD and Hero, if you do you will be probably come away disappointed.
San ging chaat goo si (2004)
Better than his recent movies
Anyone expecting a film to equal the classic Police Story will be disappointed. I didn't, so I wasn't.
Some comments have been rather scathing but I believe that New Police Story is the best Jackie Chan film to come out since Drunken Master 2, especially as far as action is concerned.
The story, although not perfect, is more than adequate and is something of a departure for Chan. He may not be the world's greatest actor but his performance is more than adequate. Although comedy action is what Jackie does best, that formula is getting tired now.
Although little of the action was original (bus stunt again, amongst others) it is much better in this film than any of his recent American financed films.
Wires have been used by Hong Kong action stars for a very long time now. Jackie Chan used wires in the New Police Story but that is nothing new for Chan now either, he is 50(ish) after all. Anyone who has worked with wires will tell you what hard work it is so it shouldn't be so easily dismissed.
Overall reasonably entertaining film that most Jackie Chan fans will enjoy as long as they are not expecting a film as good as Police Story.
One reviewer gave this 3/10 but if New Police Story is worth 3/10 then the Medallion (for me possibly the worst Jackie Chan film) should have a negative rating. I highly recommend this one to Jackie Chan fans and those who are not may be pleasantly surprised. I give the New Police Story 7/10.