Reviews

A Worthy sequel but didn't top the first movie for me

When I finished watching the prequel about 6 months ago, I was immediately jumping up and down in excitement. I rated the first movie a 9.0 (which is high for me). Coming into "Brotherhood of Blades 2", I had high expectations but I didn't end up jumping up and down in excitement.

Acting continues to be stella and its strength. The cast is full of veterans. I was mesmerized with Chang Chen in the prequel, and he continues to deliver in the sequel. He took center stage in this movie, surrounded by an outstanding supporting cast. I enjoy the introduction of the character Pei Lun, played by the excellent Lei Jia Yin. His frenemies relationship with Chang Chen's character is a joy to watch. I would have loved to see more scenes between Shen Lian (ML) and Lu Wen Zhao. The introduction of two female characters, Yang Mi's painter Bei Zhai and Xin Zhi Lei's assassin Ding Bai Yi, makes sense to the plot and they are not there just because we need a female presence.

Although there's a tiny romance element to the movie, it's very subtle and lovely. It adds another side to Shen Lian's character without making him go all lovey-dovey and becomes a different person.

I love the hard-hitting, gritty fight scenes. You can see the dedication all the actors put in. There's no flailing, twirling, flying here and there or just standing there to wait for someone to attack you. Each fight scene is choreographed well and each hit is impactful.

However, compared to the first movie, I find the story a little more confusing. There isn't enough time to explain more about the political maneuver behind the scenes, when the majority of the time is spent on Shen Lian trying to run away. Viewers have to really pay attention as a sentence spoken could be the answer to your confusion. I want to know more about Bei Zhai's drawings and their role in the rebellion. What's the backstory between Bei Zhai and the main person behind-the-scene? A 2-hour movie is not enough to answer all my questions. Maybe a drama would do! Oh wait.. there's a drama version now in "Pledge of Allegiance".


Completed: 4/30/2023 - Review #303

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아름다운 청년 전태일 편히 쉬세요.

🔸️Can you imagine what level of despair one has to reach to set themselves alight and die the most horrible death publicly? Will their sacrifice change anything at all? In 5 years? And in 50 years?

🔸️Jeon Tae Il used his last resort by the end of the Third Republic of Korea. Two more Republics would change before the democracy is established, and many more bloody years were ahead. Self-immolation is not an effective form of protest but the most shocking one. It does leave an indelible impression on witnesses, making them question their situation. It is only up to the living if the horrible act of sacrifice has a real impact later. In case of Jeon Tae Il, it wasn't forgotten.

The camerawork in the movie is absolutely fantastic. The depth of shadows and light gives sometimes dramatic feel or sometimes the feeling of being trapped. The leading actor Hong Gyeong-In is perfect. It would easily go to my favorites if not for the slightly undercooked screenplay that made me stray in between the two story lines with the newest one less clear.

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Love does not conquer all

We have always heard the famous saying " Love conquers all" but does it really?

This movie is the exact answer to that question. It shows first love and childhood romance. Fresh, full of life, and beautiful, but there is a lesson here; Timing matters. No matter how you try to keep it alive, life happens. People change. Hearts change and so does surviving in this world.

The leads depict a beautiful chemistry. Their love is real, and so are their struggles. The story does not drag at all. I can say it's flawless in some way.

Maybe it didn't fit in a movie to show more details, but that was missing a bit. They could've given each other second and third chances, but they didn't. We could've gotten to know their feelings a bit more, but that was missing too.

Overall, a beautiful movie. Not your typical love wins and all movie, but rather a very realistic and in some way heart-wrenching one.

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Once More, With Feeling

When I read the title in english, it made me immediately think of the famous musical episode of Buffy though this movie has nothing in common with it except for the title. And dancing!

Mara is a trainee architect successful in everything she does. All of a sudden she fails an important exam everyone though she was going to ace. Ashamed, embarrassed and depressed she meets her neighbour Gali who happens to be deaf and whose attentive behaviour helps her out of her misery. Even though they fall in love can their two worlds meet?

This is one of the rare movies/dramas dealing with handicap and how the society perceives it.
Gali is at ease with his deafness, he's got dreams and works towards achieving them. But unfortunately most of the people do not know how to deal with sensitive situations like this and are either aggressive (car driver) or dismissive (delivery guy) and sometimes even Mara, when surrounded with her friends, forgets about him.
Mara is someone who does not know the meaning of failure and when it hits her, she latches on a first person showing her kindness, understanding and asking nothing in return. That is Gali.

The romance was nice but I was not convinced of Mara's sincerity. She seems to love him but only when they are just the two of them in their bubble. That's where the movie is lacking as well: apart from one scene at a party at her work, Mara does not introduce Gali to her family. This is actually good material for a drama in which we could see the development of their relationship and the impact it has on their respective surroundings. Because, while Gali's deaf friends accept he and include her, her friends do not know how to address him so they pretend they do not see him. That party scene at Mara's work was painful when she abandoned him.

Carlo Aquino who plays Gali was outstanding showing kindness, sweetness, understanding and optimism of that character. Maine Mendoza was just the right amount of smugness and the incredulity when she was cut to size by destiny. Or more likely, by her own shortcomings.

The cinematography of this movie is rather good: playing a lot with lights and shadows and soft lighting and water. The effects are calming, fluffy, feeling good. The sound editing was extraordinary too often showing us the silence Gali lives in and how uncomfortable it makes everyone feel when they do not understand what is going on around them. Mara had the same experience when she went to the silent birthday party barely knowing sign language. But she felt welcome. Not Gali, rejected because of the silence.

Kudos for giving us a movie with an amazing character such as Gali showing us the daily struggles of non hearing individuals fighting for acceptance.

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Together is better

Break from my drama, decided to just looked randomly at YouTube. Find this movie, since fit with the Alphabet Drama / Movie Challenge so I just jump watch this. Haha...

So basically the story its about Sakamichi Onoda (SO) who is an otaku, loves animation and a loner. One day Imaizumi Shunsuke (IS) saw SO riding his 'mom' bike (bike with little basket at the front) in the steep incline, that most people kinda afraid to ride the bike there, but SO can easily ride his bike there. IS became curious with SO & asked him to compete with him in that steep incline with the bet to join each other intended club (SO with his anime club & IS with bicycle racing club). Short story of course SO is losing. For obvious reason, SO with his 'mom' bike and IS with ricing bike & more over all the training IS had before.

But that competition make SO blood 'boiled' with excitement & he decided to join bicycle racing club too. What excitement do you ask? For someone who is lonely and have no friend like SO, the excitement is about someone to compete / join activity together, the excitement of finding friend & opponent in the same field together.

In the club, they do the test to join the club & find out that turn out SO has talent for bicycle racing. They begin training for the competition & SO enjoy every moment of it. While in the same time we also found out that IS has fear & trauma that he has to overcome.

I really like how they show us that in the end bicycle racing sport turn out not single person racing or problem. But turn out this about group & how to support each other in the group. How we need to just be patient to wait for our turn to shine and not selfish.

Overall this really good movie to teach us about team & support each other. But as Mluth wrote: "if you were looking for some romance this movie might not be for you."

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Had a lot of potential IF...

I recently watched a movie that had a promising start and really piqued my curiosity. The first third of the movie was incredibly fun and engaging, but unfortunately, I started to lose interest in the middle. I knew I shouldn't read any reviews or spoilers before finishing the movie, but I couldn't help myself and ended up learning the ending, which made it difficult for me to continue with the story.

Despite feeling discouraged, I still managed to finish the movie and found myself agreeing with most of the comments I read about it. While I don't think I would want to rewatch the movie, I do appreciate the effort that went into creating it.

Overall, I think that the movie had a lot of potential and could have been even better with a few adjustments to keep the momentum going throughout the entire film. While it's not my favorite movie, I still think it's worth checking out for yourself and making your own opinion on it.

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Wholesome and Healing

Who doesn't love a hard worker? "Nice View" not only tells the story of the hard working genius Jing Hao, but it also shows the rewards of such work. I feel as though movies such as these end up with a protagonist who gets beaten to the ground (though there is plenty of that) with no hope left until the plot demands it, but this story constantly blossoms with love and hope. Some of my favorite moments in this story are Tong's tears for Jing Hao every time he isn't taking care of himself in order to take care of her. They treat each other so gently with utmost care and love. So much so that when troubles arise, giving up isn't even a question. For anyone.

Where it falls short would be giving more growth to the story. I was fascinated by many characters and the business, but there wasn't enough time to expand on everything. The movie felt cut short in some ways, but the emotion stayed strong. In the end, however, there is so much wholesomeness in this story that I instantly fell for it. It hurts just right and heals you even more. It's fast pace and raw emotion are reason enough to recommend it. 8/10.

As always, my rating for music is also my rating for sound production, and the rewatch value represents that of entertainment instead.

Cheers,

Kenzie

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What goes around, comes around!

This movie was made in 2013 and it shows: the Thai BL industry was only starting to explore the market and the budgets were limited but creativity was there.

There are three seemingly independent stories: the first one about a high school couple exploring their burgeoning feelings for each other, the second is a story of a gay influencer couple who are being stalked and the third one is about a small hotel owner falling for one of his guests. The ending surprisingly connects all three stories together. And therefore explains the title because I must admit I could not figure out why the movie had this title while I was watching it! All comes to those who wait!

They were directed by three different directors and you can tell. The first story looks like a high school project, badly filmed and acted, all over the place. The story about discovering one's own sexuality and acting upon it, is told well and though it looks messy, there are no red flags!
The second story is somewhere between a comedy and a horror, not really knowing what it wants to be. It also briefly touches upon the ugly side of intensive social media presence. What goes around....The filming is ugly though smoother than the first film.
The third story was the best in terms of storytelling as well as filming. It was polished, flowed naturally and there were more feeling involved. It is a story of a hotel owner looking after his bedridden boyfriend who suffers from an unknown sickness and is feeling miserable. One day a guest comes to stay in his hotel bringing back the laughter, joy and happiness in his life. He is so sorely tempted.

The quality of the movie grows as it progresses: if you manage to watch the first story without dropping it, you will end up loving this movie in spite of all its flaws. Keep in mind it is a low budget movie made 10 years ago and you should forgive them for some amateurish looking scenes!

I wanted to add cast and crew but they are not known to MDL so you can find them here:
https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/362535-timeline?language=en-US

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Pretty and quiet

I believe this short film deserves at least one watch. It's a coming-of-age story about a boy, Yi Jie, who slowly comes to some realizations about his feelings toward his girlfriend Pei Xuan and his art teacher Cheng Qi.
I don't recommend watching if you're looking for an exciting plot, because this short focuses for the most part on the feelings of the characters. Rather than looking for events, it's important to pay close attention to the reactions of the characters to certain things and the dynamics they have with each other. The acting is pretty good and the camera work is interesting as well - I was able to understand what was going on without being spoonfed the entire picture.
The tone is a little bittersweet, as it usually is with coming out stories about high schoolers, but I didn't mind at all. The 100 apples idea was actually pretty cute and made the ending sweeter to me.

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Passion takes flight and soars

This movie is overflowing with heart, passion, and dedication. The unsung people known as test pilots are so under appreciated. Born to Fly highlights their spirit and determination in their chosen profession, taking on risks to ensure their air force have the best possible equipment to go about their duties.

I love how the director tried to keep it as real as possible (from what I heard in interviews), incorporating anecdotes from real test pilots, showing us glimpses and sacrifices of their lives.

The aerial scenes are breathtaking, so vivid and mesmerizing. I also love how the story takes us through the conditioning and training one would go through to even be considered for a test pilot position in China.

Lei Yu is an eager beaver, going through life fueled by his love of the air. He can be spontaneous to a fault however he more than makes up for it with his intelligence, love of problem solving and drive to succeed. Wang Yibo plays Lei Yu to perfection, injecting his brand of 100% dedication to his chosen craft.

I love the camaraderie between the team and personnel, everyone understood their assignment, gave their all.

This movie is well casted, I especially loved Hu Jun’s role as Zhang Ting, he inspires such loyalty.

You will laugh, cry, cheer but most of all, overflow with admiration for a team of dedicated people at the end of this movie.

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Best Match confirmed.

For a Kamen Rider series tie in movie this is excellent. It’s also further confirmation, that honestly after episode 31 I am not surprised at anymore, that Banjou and Sento really are a Best Match. I know some will read it as friendship but it’s been clear to me since 31 that there’s a romance here too. Not just a bromance and this film provided more of this.
It was a hard movie to watch at times, Sento being literally brutally beaten physically and emotionally. I’m sure this went over most younger kids heads but for any adults in the audience it was a rough watch.
He picks himself up via his faith and belief in his friends and that Banjou is his most important partner. All in all I really enjoyed it.

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The majesty and cruelty of Life ... inseparably intertwined

:･*:･ 10/10 MAJESTIC･:*:･ﾟThis movie was based on a true story written by Yang Liu Song. He was the first person to ever attempt to cross the Qian Tang uninhabited zone horizontally by foot. Zhao Han Tang plays "Yang" and Jiang Yi Yan plays "Lan Tian", who is also a real person who runs an inn in Lhasa. The scenes from the Qian Tan uninhabited zone were actually the real deal and my god, the cinematography of them was absolutely magnificent ... it was mind blowing awe inspiring. The landscapes, the vastness of land and sky ... some times you could not tell where one ended and the other begun ... the colours and the majesty of it all WOW ... profoundly beautiful, rugged and harsh and so 'true to itself' at the same time. The score matched the majesty of the vistas and the human struggle ... it was so in tune with it all ... magnificent and hauntingly beautiful ... such a visual and auditory feast
╰(*´◡`*)╯

The story itself was very thought provoking ... human existence ... what the hell is it ... why do we exist in the first place, for what purpose ... how long should a person 'keep trying'. Some dialogue that I thought was thought provoking ...

All my life I've wanted to do something that I actually want to do. Just like the old saying, many people die at 30, but they aren't buried until they're 80. I just want to feel like I'm still alive.
(Yang)

I have nothing, but I still have to give those inspirational speeches. I have to pretend to be optimistic! I know I am lying to myself, but what else can I do?! What else can I do to move on in life? ...I'm so tired of living. I'm just so tired ... ... You should have let me end my life, not help me achieve my dream. I've tried so hard in life, but I'm still full of despair. I can only use death to defy my cruel destiny. What's wrong with death?
(Lan Tian)

Lan Tian's spirit could survive and thrive in the wild but her body found it very difficult ... her body could survive in civilisation but her spirit found it really difficult ... what a sad and tragic contradiction ... Yang knew what she was going to do and I think he wanted to help her achieve her dream before she took that path. Lucky he did because it was a path she did not end up taking.╰(*´◡`*)╯

Yang later reflects: Why cross the wilderness? Perhaps I have been searching for what is right in front of me. In this vast universe and in this short life, building up the courage, doing what you want and becoming the person you want to be.

It is an amazing and magnificent story ... I whole heartedly recommend you give the movie a go, even if it is only to behold the magnificent vistas that were so beautifully filmed. Watch to the end for some interesting behind the scenes shots.

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Loving You

I watched this in very poor quality video on youtube so if you know of any other service providing a better quality please do tell! I'd love to watch it again because the story is fascinating.

It is a story of two photography students. Noboru is an immensely talented but introverted and barely talking to others. The other one, Hayase is impressed by Noboru's talent and intrigued by his personality and even though he tries to be friendly, he is met with an unbreakable wall every time he tries. One day Noboru saves Hayase from drowning. A few days later Hayase bumps into Noboru's twin brother Ryu, who is the complete opposite.

They do not make them like this anymore: the authors managed to tell a complete, complicated story of Noboru and his twin brother in a 1h movie. On the other hand, we know absolutely nothing about Hayas: I guess he is just an ordinary student coming from an ordinary family. But surrounded by a bunch of annoying friends starting with the noisy and nosy girl hitting hard on Hayase of which he is completely unaware.

The best scene and the most original was a photography shoot duel in a studio. Amazing idea! Fun and it tells a lot about the characters' relationship with each other and tou can actually see Noburu's walls cracking....

The movie is 15 years old and it shows in costumes and flip mobile phones (aaahhhh, good old times!😂) but what is important
here is the story well told with an interesting twist at the end! I wish it were longer in order to elaborate more on the issues involved and how to deal with them. This is the problem here, just like in a lot of bls where they mention mental health issues quickly solved by falling in love.

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