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Reviews
Shanghai Knights (2003)
AWESOME SEQUEL!
This movie was AWESOME! I saw it the second day it came out and I totally blown away by this movie! I really never expected a "sequel" would be so good. Shanghai Noon was pretty decent, but in my opinion, Shanghai Knights was much better then the first. Chan's fighting sequence improved a lot in this movie then the original. The comedy in this film is SO HILARIOUS! I laughed so hard I almost choked! One of Chan's best Hollywood films. I'm guessing there's going to be a 2nd sequel. The first movie took place mostly in the Old Old West. This sequel took place in England. I'm guessing the third movie, if there is going to be a third movie, will take place mostly in China. The title might be called Shanghai Monks or something. But I guess we gotta wait and see. 10 out of 10.
Versus (2000)
Great Action, But Poor Story
Versus had some great action and martial art scenes, but the story itself wasn't that great. I guess this movie is for people who are only into action regardless of a real storyline. Much of the action is very well staged with John Woo-style action, mixing athletic sparring with Sam Raimi-styled camera tricks and state of the art gore right out of Peter Jackson's "Dead Alive"/"Braindead".
SPOILERS!
The premise is pretty weak. But the strong points goes something like:
"Fated by the past. Destined by the future..."
500 years ago, the fate of the world was in the hands of two brothers, both who were mere immortal beings. But both had their own intentions: One strived for ultimate power which will enable him to become immortal to annhiliate the world. The other, was destined to save the world by killing his brother. But in the bloody end, the hero lost, and the evil brother took the place to determine the fate of the world.
500 years later, the hero was reincarnated, but the memory of his past was concealed. But soon the memory of his past will be awaken, as he will then see the truth--his true purpose of existence, to find his brother through fate and destroy him. And when he meets his brother, his fate will become his destiny...
That's the small portion of the premise. The rest is very complex. The movie takes place in a forest. The story consist of different things like samurais, Japanese mafias, violence, a girl, more violence, zombies, 666 portals having the 444th one in Japan, and did I mention violence? LOTS AND LOTS of violence! The first fighting scene was awesome, but the fights after that were all the same and it got pretty dull throughout the movie, except for the last fighting scene. I won't spoil the last scene before the credits, but it's something that would make you anxious to watch the sequel! 7 out of 10
Resident Evil (2002)
It Wasn't That Bad
Ok, for the good stuff. This movie wasn't that bad when I saw it for the first time in the theaters. Even though a lot of the characters... ok ALL of the characters, weren't the ones in the game, this movie does stay true to the plot with the Resident Evil video game. First they got the Mansion. Second they got the STARS Swat team. Third they got the zombies. Fourth they got the dogs. And last they got the Licker. Their object is to break into The Hive, which is a secret Umbrella facility deep underneathe the mansion, to investigate what the hell was going on in there. Oh did I forget to mention they're going to have Nemesis? So this movie does go little bit closer to the games, unlike Mario Bros the Movie, Street Fighter Live Action Movie, and the dreaded Final Fantasy: Spirits Within. The special effects were cool and well done, and the gore scenes were awesome!
Ok now for the bad stuff. I'm going to talk about "some" of the things I thought needs improvement on. The make-up and special effects of the zombies were cool in the beginning of the movie, but some how they started to get dull throughout the rest. All of the zombie's make-up started to look the same, without any of the special effect features like the ones in the beginning...you know the zombies that had their eyeballs missing or the one with part of its face missing. The zombies later in the movie just looked like they've been hit in the face with some white powder to make them look pale and a pair of blurred contact lens. Spencer was the exception. Next, I kinda thought the little hologram girl started to get annoying throughout the movie. And last, they should of added more action scenes which takes place INSIDE the mansion, instead of having most of it in The Hive. This will make it seem more equivalent to the first Resident Evil game.
7 out of 10
Mononoke-hime (1997)
Great Movie!
I've watched the Japanese dubbed and the American dubbed version of this movie after my friends saw the American dubbed version in the theater and they we all thought this movie was totally awesome. You should watch the Japanese version with English sub, the voice acting is better. This isn't my favorite anime, but still goes on my "Animes I Like" list. The animation was great and beautifully drawn. The story was terrific. The violence was excellent. Speaking of violence, I thought the gore would be toned down due to Disney. Heh I was wrong!
I read this rumor somewhere a long time ago when the movie was in theaters. It was an incident which happened in this one movie theater. Apparently, a mother brought her young daughter to watch this movie, thinking that since it's distributed by Disney, it would be a typical children's film with funny musical characters. About near 1/4 of the movie, the mother, in rage, walked out the theater with her child and complained to the theater about the violence and gore. She sued the movie theater for having such a violent "Disney" movie be shown to kids. Funny...she actually thought this was a Disney movie. Also after this incident, she wrote an angry letter to Disney to spit up on more of her complaints. This is what I read long time ago. It's just a rumor that was still unproven.
Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
Best American Jet Li Movie Ever!
Wow! I was impressed how this movie was, far surpassing Jet Li's other American movies. The fight scenes were better even though it didn't use any of the crappy special effects that was used in The One, and the story was pretty decent. Even though not as good as his Chinese films, this movie was better then his other American movies. 9 out of 10
The Musketeer (2001)
What The Heck...
Man this movie tried so hard to make the fight scenes look like your typical Chinese martial arts flick. Too bad it failed. Especially that last fight scene in the room of ladders. It's actually a rip off of some Chinese kung fu movies. Even the Mortal Kombat movie uses almost the same scene, but that's another story. As for the storyline, it was not that bad. At least it kept me awake in the theaters.
4 out of 10
Le pacte des loups (2001)
It was...ok...
1. The story was aite, but still almost fell asleep in some parts of the movie.
2. The wolf looked cool, but how it was used in some scenes stunked.
3. The fighting sucked. I prefer Matrix/Jet Li/Chinese martial art style.
4. Well at least the first fight scene was kinda cool.
5. This movie reminds me of The Musketeer...(shudders)
3 out of 10
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
CGI...10/10! Storyline...0/10...
When I first heard about the film, about Square has taken large step from videos games to the big screen, I was excited and was so eagered see it once it came out in the theaters. Being a Final Fantasy (VG) fan, I was actually expecting alot...having the storyline which follows the Final Fantasy game series. Well then later I finally watched it in the theaters, and oh man was I disappointed! Yeah the CGI was breathtaking, way surpassing any American CGIs, but the storyline sucked! It's far from anything like the games, and I understand that Hollywood tried to make things "original", but still the story sucked. Even I could cough up a better storyline then this snoozer of a film! I literally fell asleep in some parts of the movie. Even with Cid, this movie doesnt even come close to the games. This is a totally different story, and could of been given a different name. The title "Final Fantasy" was probably placed there just to lure game fanatics and non-gamers in. The CGI is terrific, but Hollywood and Square wasted their money and time in creating superior CGI given to a crap of a storyline. I heard rumors that Square is deciding to create another Final Fantasy movie, but this time the movie will relate more to the games rather then this one.
3 out of 10 (Would of been a 1, but I loved the CGI!)
Guyver: Dark Hero (1994)
Not Bad.
The first movie was pretty decent, except for the acting and the way the costumes look, but the sequel was better. The fighting was pretty good, and the Guyver costume was awesome. Guyver actually looked buffer in this film then in the first installment. The last fight was pretty cool, just too bad it was too short. Speaking of fight scenes, it kinda reminds of Power Rangers. Some fight scenes could of been done a little better, with fast movements and stunts like in Jet Li movies. But overall, this movie is not bad. 7/10
Ringu (1998)
Ringu...Fact or Fiction???
For those who ever wonder if Ringu is based on a true story, then read on...
Answer is, it's "semi" true. If you haven't seen Ringu yet, then I suggest you to go watch it first because you won't understand anything I'm going to say.
**POSSIBLE SPOILER**
The two unique characters in Ringu, are the mother and the child; Yamamura Shizuko and Sadako. The movie itself was base on the novel by Suzuki Koji. Shizuko and Sadako were based on real people.
The idea of Yamamura Shizuko was from a real Japanese woman name Mifune Chizuko who lived during the early 1900s. Ironically, this woman possesses the same "future prediction" abilities as Shizuko. An assistant professor of Psychology at Tokyo University, name Fukurai Tomokichi, who has an interest in the supernatural, discovered her and took her to an infamous public demonstration that held on September 15, 1910. Her death was also suicide like Shizuko, but she killed herself by poisonous injection. She was 25.
Lastly, the famous Yamamura Sadako was based on a psychic name Takahashi Sadako (That's how Suzuki Koji got the name "Sadako"). This real life Sadako was born right after Mifune Chizuko's death, and possesses the same ability as Yamamura Sadako. The ability is called "nensha"; the focusing of will to produce an image on film or some other medium (Spirit Photography).
The internet has many detailed information and resources of these two women.
*There was rumors of actual hauntings on both the sets of Ringu and The Ring (American Remake).*
The Ring (2002)
Ringu vs. The Ring
Usually when I hear the word "American Version/Remake", it just makes me want to grab my hair and tear it off my scalp. I have watched both the original version (Ringu) and the American version (The Ring), and made a conclusion that the original version is MUCH better than the American version. One of the reasons why the Japanese version is better is because it explains more of the situation or plot rather then throwing audiences around in confusion. Yet the American version does try its best to follow the original's plot, even though Hollywood has a bad rep of screwing up original stories from books and video games. For those who didn't know, Ringu (the original Japanese version) is a series that has two sequels and a prequel , followed by tv spin-offs, a Korean remake of the original, and many others.