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Reviews
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
What happened?
I loved the first movie. Being a long time fan of both speculative sci-fi and Hong Kong movies, as well as a big fan of the Wachowski's first film (Bound), I saw The Matrix the night it opened. And it blew me away. It was the most potent, flawless combination of brain candy and eye candy I've seen to date. So I should have expected that the Wachowski's would find it impossible to match that feat, much less surpass it. But I would have been happy if they'd at least come close.
First of all, if you were as turned on as I was by the more cerebral aspects of the first film, you'll be severely disappointed by Reloaded. The only cool idea in the film (actually, the only idea period) is definitely too little, too late (near the end). There is next to no plot, just an eventually tiresome sequence of (admittedly elaborate) action scenes. But the film still might have been worthwhile if not for the often painfully fake animation in these scenes. Until computers can generate images of moving humans that are indistinguishable from real ones, all filmmakers should avoid like SARS using fully animated people for fight scenes. Animated monsters or environments can sometimes achieve verisimilitude, but only because we have no real monsters to compare them to, and environments aren't in constant flux and motion like a living being. But we are simply too aware of exactly what a person, especially one in motion, should look like. There are whole sequences in the multiple Agent Smith fight and the car chase where everyone--worst of all whoever the center of attention happens to be--is animated, and it's depressingly obvious. I spent agonizing minutes during these scenes trying to block my awareness of it, to no avail. And I'm not some FX tech geek who gets off on exposing the clockwork, so to speak. When I see a movie like this, I want nothing more than to be duped. But the abundance of truly weak illusion ruined (for me, at least) every scene it was used in. And that's pretty much all the action scenes. And that's pretty much the whole film.
I have some more minor complaints as well. Such as: while I'm not a big techno music fan (although I giddily jumped out of my seat when Meat Beat Manifesto came belting out of the walls during a scene in The Matrix), I thought the use of music during fight scenes in the first movie was invigorating, brilliant, and unequalled in effect. Unfortunately, the music used during fight scenes in Reloaded is like a watered down, safe-for-your-grandmother mix of beats and typical orchestral music (which equals feces).
I wanted to love this movie. I expected to love this movie. But I didn't even come close--and I don't think this is a case of letdown due to unreasonably high expectations. The Wachowski's really seem to have sacrificed brains for beauty, and flawed beauty at that. This is a shame, especially when they've demonstrated in the past that they are capable of both simultaneously (Bound was just as smart and gorgeous as The Matrix, although in a more low-key way). Not just capable of it, but masters of it. I can only hope that Revolutions will return to the cleverness and visual purity of the first part of the trilogy.
I think it's still probably worth your money to see, though. Especially if you're not bothered by transparent computer animation.
Yan pei go jang haai (1996)
I've seen MUCH better Category III fare...
I actually bought--sight unseen--an obscure import DVD of this film, so my expectations might have been higher than those of someone just looking to rent. But in all honesty, I can't even recommend it for a low-priced rental.
I was willing to settle for something only half as disturbing and well-crafted as The Untold Story or Dr. Lamb when I ordered this DVD. I'm addicted to being disturbed; that is to say, I have intense admiration for violence, cruelty, brutality, and gore in films. So if a film contains enough of these elements, I can forgive other shortcomings. Unfortunately, Horrible High Heels isn't very disturbing to the jaded--yes, there's a decent helping of gore, but I've seen worse (or do I mean better?) in any dozen Italian zombie/cannibal films, and in quite a few Asian films as well. This is irrelevant, though, because its other shortcomings are so severe that no amount of barbarism could sway my low opinion of it.
The film's greatest flaw is that it's utterly incoherent. This is actually an odd statement coming from me, because I'm normally a huge fan of incoherence, especially when it's intentional--for example, when it's used to instill a sense of confusion in the viewer that mirrors the mental state of the film's protagonist. But the incoherence in HHH is the result of nothing more than an abundance of filmmaking ineptitude. If this ineptitude were at least comical, I might still have enjoyed the film, but it's simply perpetually frustrating and inappropriate to the narrative. In many sections, it's as if the editor decided that shot sequence was arbitrary, and simply spliced the shots together in random order.
And so on. To make a long story short (too late), don't waste your money. If you've seen Cannibal Ferox, City of the Living Dead, Organ, Men Behind the Sun, and the like, this film will not fulfill your mayhem jones, and it will irritate you besides. If you DON'T like your entertainment brutal, for god's sake why are you reading about this film?
The Search for One-eye Jimmy (1994)
See it for John Turturro, if nothing else
It's been several years since I saw this film; I don't remember much about it other than the fact that I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it was.
But one aspect of the film left an indelible mark on me: John Turturro. I've loved Turturro ever since I first saw the Coen's "Miller's Crossing" waaayy back in '90, but his performance (that dance!) in "One-Eyed Jimmy" is easily the most hilarious thing he's ever done (although I'll agree with another reviewer here that his character in "The Big Lebowski" is pretty damn funny too).
Ignore the low average rating you see here. If you like any of the brilliant character actors in this film, especially John Turturro, you'll enjoy it.
Lighthouse (1999)
Accomplished style and technique, weak script
Although "Lighthouse" is competently directed with appropriate style and is adept at building tension, the film is little more than a stereotypical slasher flick. It's crippled by flat, uninteresting characters (not even the killer is interesting--he never says a word and no details about him are provided) and a totally pedestrian script that is full of holes and all the usual slasher cliches: people are repeatedly and illogically separated from one another, multiple opportunities to do in the killer are passed up in favor of running another thirty feet, etc. With a good sense of style and rhythm, Simon Hunter shows promise as a director--but he desperately needs to look to someone else for his scripts.