Reviews

Possible spoilers

This movie is beautiful. Don't get me wrong, it is. But why in the world does it have only a 15+ content rating? Im 22 and when i watched it, it hit me from all different directions and i thought about it for a while after i finished it. Its upsetting but beautiful at the same time and it makes you cry basically. I really hated the ending, it left me in shock and i don't know if they really HAD to give us that ending, but maybe they thought it matches the theme of the movie. It does, but still.... I would give this a 18+ content rating tbh. It has some VERY mature scenes and themes. But overall it's worth to watch if you're sure you can handle something of this genre.

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"You don't have anyone to fight with anymore"

In SPL: Sha Po Lang aka Kill Zone it didn’t matter what their star was everyone suffered painfully. Those three troubling stars---power, destruction, lust---there was very little lust but an awful lot of destruction for the cops and robbers in Hong Kong on a fateful Father’s Day.

Inspector Chan is aboard a vehicle with a witness and his family. The vehicle is attacked and the witness is killed leaving a young daughter behind. With no witness, the notorious criminal Wong Po is released from jail. When the surgeon removes a large shard of glass from Chan’s head, he discovers a tumor. Chan adopts the witness’ daughter and spends the next three years with his team trying to bring down Wong Po. As the clock ticks down on his life, Chan prepares to retire. The conscientious Inspector Ma comes on board to take his place. It doesn’t take long for Ma to realize that Wong Po isn’t the only one engaging in illegal activities.

Director Wilson Yip and fight choreographer Donnie Yen attempted to turn back the clock in this Triad film by using a minimum of wires and undercranking. With the casting of Donnie, Sammo Hung, and Wu Jing, the expectation was for spectacular fights. There were a couple of small skirmishes near the beginning, but you will have to wait until the last twenty minutes or so to be rewarded for sitting through the corruption, murders, and hand wringing on Father’s Day. The fight between Donnie Yen and Wu Jing was unbelievably fast and vicious. The last fight on the docket was Donnie vs Sammo. This fight included more grappling and was brutal and punishing. Donnie may have been 42 but Sammo was 53 and showed he could still bring it! Donnie’s Inspector Ma learned why one of the main rules in fighting is---Never turn your back on your enemy! Another character learned the tsunami lesson, if all the bad guys are running away it means there is either a Balrog loose from Middle Earth or a very scary bad guy is headed your way. Run!

Most of the action took place on Father’s Day prior to 1997. As a father or child, every character had an issue. The story was melodramatic, nihilistic, and just a big Debbie Downer. The acting was excellent for the most part. Simon Yam made a great weary Inspector Chan. Sammo brought a bit of humanity as a father and husband to his ruthless Triad boss. He also didn’t overact and make the character cartoonish as so often happens with martial arts villains. Donnie played low key as he often did, turning on the energy when the fights began.

Sha Po Lang wasn’t a great movie and the script felt like a retread of better crime films. Infernal Affairs it wasn’t. The saving grace was that the final two fights were memorable, enough to bump my rating up. There’s an old saying that “crime doesn’t pay” but it does pay back. Character after character was sliced to bits. I had to watch through my fingers on a couple of fights. Everyone seemed to be in the Kill Zone.

5 March 2024

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Emotional story

I wasn't going to watch this movie. It looked depressing, there seemed like there was going to be a lot of violence in it, and those aren't the types of shows I like. Well, I'm going to have to modify my first impressions, for sure.

The story itself it heart wrenching. Have you ever known anyone that, no matter what they did or tried, they continue to live under a black cloud of misfortune? That was Kiwan and Marie both. They lived lives that we can't even fathom, the kind of lives we wouldn't wish on anyone. This was a story about going on, about not giving up, and also about the strength we get from others. There is romance, but it isn't about the romance at all. That seemed secondary to me. If this is something that matters to you, it has a good ending.

The acting was amazing. Song Joong Ki was mesmerizing, not only from the fact that he looked completely different than anything else I've seen him in, but his deep quiet voice, his economy of movements and his soulful eyes brought Kiwan to life. I really felt for him and kept wanting things to get better for him.
Choi Sung Eun as Marie. This was a character that we've seen in countless dramas, but she played the part without the extreme hardness that I've seen elsewhere. I was rooting for her almost from the beginning, wishing she could catch some kind of break. The love between Kiwan and Marie actually redeemed both of them.
Jo Han Chul as Marie's father. He's very versatile. If seen him in many things where he's the comic relief, or the bumbling fool. I saw his in something else as a psychopath. In this movie, he was a man living with his grief, trying unsuccessfully to have a relationship with his daughter.

The cinematography was interesting. It was darkly filmed, to go along with the darkness of their lives. Early on, on the few occasions that we it lighter, it was more of an artificial light, the kind that gives skin a yellowish hue and you can't tell what color things are. Counteract that with the ending, out in the sunshine (and freedom), it was very effective.

Though they were supposed to be in Belgium, shooting actually took place in Budapest, which was a treat for me after vacationing in Budapest.

My only complaint was the translation done by Netflix. I don't speak a lot of Korean, but "thank you" is not "I love you". Also, when they were attempting to speak English, by saying "I do not speak English", Netflix translated it as "I don't speak French", and then when they were speaking in Korean, the subtitles said, "Speaking in English".

Don't pass over this just because it's not your usual genre. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

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Uninspired BL movie: banal story + bad acting

This BL movie depicts a quite banal romance. It had some cute moments but honestly I could not get behind the romance. I felt no chemistry and I really think the way they set up the romantic elements make it difficult to support it. Too much "destiny" stuff preventing any real character development. Destiny is pushing them together (-at least we are told so) but there is not much else there to show why they would develop mutual romantic feelings. It feel very surface level despite the fact that the film address some concern faced by the protagonists regarding their sexuality and their acceptance within society.

Unfortunately, the actors skills are pretty weak. Most of the dialogs felt super flat though strangely enough, there are also so many over-the-top and overacting moments. I cringed at so many scenes, which I am pretty sure was really not the purpose.

The production value was overall ok, it felt like your standard / middle-of-the-road high school series. The saving grace of the movie was a couple of songs sang by one of the main character. It was nice without being very remarkable.

I would not recommend this to people as there are much better BL highschool romance out there. It is only the second production from Philippines I watch and I must say that so far, I'm not convinced about what I have seen. I still want to discover more from this country because I think I might just be not lucky so far with my picks.

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Good, but still could be better

At first it startet really great. Starting of war, the “GO” squads, everything was good, but at some point in this second movie the fights wasn’t this great as the previous one. It was interesting with the new characters and especially with Kai, her story was really touching. Shin as always was himself and that probably made me watch till the end. My only question is, is the general there only for the show? I’ll probably get my answer in the next movie, but he is still very interesting character as well. And at the end of the movie, this open ending with Eisei was quite surprising.

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I'd say... It's pretty aight film

The story is okay, easy to follow, it's not convoluted and it can be quite dramatic at times because of the characterization, well-paced as well.

The CGI is decent. It's not jarring, though it can be janky at times.

The characters are okay, though none of them stuck with me, but bro... the ML/Antagonist literally is like op. He's unkillable.

Acting is good, but I have this pet peeve, especially when you wanna be a little frisky in a B-grade film, and that's like the cheeky fake sexual harassment thing that they do in media, where the guy is just literally rubbing his face and sniffing the woman by the neck area, like bro... cringe. I'm not saying I want to see a full-on sexual assault, but if you're gonna have something like that, just do 2 or 3 slow shots of the guy sniffing the girl by the hair or something, and that should be enough to get something across.

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Michelle Yeoh and non-stop action!

In the Line of Duty: Royal Warriors showcased Michelle Yeoh’s rising star power. Only twenty-four at the time she had no problem carrying this film. Sanada Hiroyuki joined her making for an appealing and high kicking duo!

Flying home to Hong Kong, Officer Michelle Yip and retiring Interpol agent Yamamoto become involved in a high jacking. Air Marshall Michael Wong is along for the ride as well. After defeating the two criminals, they are hailed heroes. What they don’t realize is that the now deceased “Tiger” has buddies who are seeking vengeance. From there family members are murdered, a break neck car chase takes place, later a shootout in a nightclub raises the body count, and finally an explosive battle determines who will live and who will die.

Royal Warriors was a quintessentially 1980’s cop film. It was ultra-violent, there were numerous explosions, it had a destructive high speed car chase, and a shootout in a nightclub with flying glass and bodies everywhere. You did not want to be the loved one of a cop in this era because the odds of you making it out alive were zero to none. And the nostalgia factor also shown through for me. There was a poster for my favorite movie, LadyHawke, in the background. Items you don’t see anymore like audio cassettes, boom boxes, video tapes, phone booths, and cell phones that resembled WWII walkie-talkies made their appearances.

The complex fights were no problem for Michelle Yeoh as she was athletic, fast, and agile making the moves look natural. She was in great form in this film. Sanada Hiroyuki was also able to deliver fists and kicks believably. Mang Hoi’s choreography made for thrilling fights as the two officers battled the different bad guys in deadly confrontations. No two fights were alike and the stars of this film were exciting to watch. One fight even included a chainsaw and another, a coffin! There was also plenty of gunplay for those who prefer their violence to be packed with not just punches but high-speed lead.

Lam Wai and Michael Chan conveyed their villains in quiet deadly fashion. Pai Ying preferred to chew the scenery with his maniacal “Bandana”. As I mentioned, Michelle and Hiroyuki played their roles quite well. Michael Wong’s Michael seemed out of place. Everyone else was in a brutally violent film and he acted like he was in a romantic comedy. The character seemed badly out of place. I suppose the writers felt the need for some humor in the dark and deadly film, but Michael came across as annoying instead of funny. The attempt at a romance also failed.

Though the technology and ultra-violent deaths for civilians date it, the movie largely holds up today. The action was nearly constant and well choreographed making for an entertaining movie. The writers did Michelle a solid and didn’t make her have to be rescued or have the male lead take down the bad guy in the end as so many films have done with strong female leads. There were no histrionics, just a powerful woman doing her job and taking out the trash. Michelle Yeoh shone brightly and would develop her screen persona even more after this film. If you like martial arts films, 1980’s crime films, or the girls with guns genre, this is one try.

4 March 2024

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"My sword is getting thirsty"

The Swift Shaolin Boxer, even by 1970’s Taiwanese kung fu standards, was completely bonkers. There were triple crosses, maybe quadruple, I lost count somewhere along the line. And for around 45 minutes I had no idea what was going on and who were the good guys and the bad guys and why it all mattered. The fights were fun though and used a variety of styles, weapons, and accoutrements.

Angela Mao worked at an inn that was the headquarters for the bad guys. The translation said rebels, but the rebels were usually the good guys, right? Not when Lo Lieh was the leader and ordering people to be murdered. Whatever their game plan was and it was never disclosed, they were the baddies. The good guys sent Hsieh Hsing and later Wang Kuan Hsiung with letters or lists, something that people were willing to kill for. Ultimately, Barry Chan showed up twenty-five minutes into the movie in a field of flags and began dueling with people. He faced people using swords, staffs, a giant, and kung fu fighting, finally facing Chia Ling. After winning the contest he was allowed to work for the emperor and off to Angela’s inn he goes. Was Angela a bad guy? Was Barry a good guy? The bad guys were terrible at communicating to each other who was on their team because they kept fighting each other.

The fights for the time and place were actually pretty good and for the most part avoided kung fu posing although there were way too many misses. The choreography was over the top though----lots of wire fu, trampoline bouncing, gymnastics, reverse shots, and undercranking. Several people fought in an umbrella labyrinth. Why was there an umbrella labyrinth in the middle of nowhere? Who knows? Not only did the grown-ups fight, but when Wang went into a secret monastic lair in a mountain he had to fight child monks wearing gold sequined outfits with special abilities. Why were their child monks? Who knows? One of my favorite tropes-hopping vampires made an appearance and got the chance to fight, too. There was also a killer flute. Music so bad it kills!

The story became more convoluted and hilarious by the minute, fortunately the fights kept coming. I’m always happy to see Angela Mao and her fierce gaze and quick feet. Barry Chan may not have been the strongest fighter but he acquitted himself well in this movie. And Lo Lieh made every kung fu movie better by being on screen even when he was relegated to only a few minutes at the beginning and then at the end. Did I ever figure out what all the fighting was about? To quote one character, “Who knows?”

4 March 2024

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What nonsense is this?

I seriously thought that they would actually focus on his journey and it would be more introspective but this, I just don't know what the point of it was.

I'm getting real tired of shows using Europe as a country, like if the differences between one country and another were at the level of between states in the US. It was very clearly not Brussels and it was annoying they were trying to sell me it was. I don't know, the ML could have actually gone to Budapest and the story could have been set there, but I guess it would sell less? Maybe many people don't know where Budapest is?
This movie was way more melodramatic than it needed to be, or at least the melodramatic bits needed to be in other moments not the ones chosen. At points it keeps dwelling on it but I just couldn't care, meanwhile things like the fact his mother's corpse was sold is mentioned a few times for shock value but doesn't have the emotional depth that other less interesting moments have, for example.
I started to roll my eyes when he kept finding locals and would get beaten up for the stupidest things, it was so unrealistic and even the lighting changes between those rough moments and the end of the movie. Now he made it I'm sure he won't bump into anyone that will beat him to nearly death... *logic not found*. Once ok, but he was beaten up so many times or pushed around like a pathetic box of potatoes too many times in a short time span to be realistic in my opinion.

As other reviewers have mentioned as well, that's not how the process for refugees works, not only in Belgium but also in other European countries. If they wanted more realistic melodrama they could have tackled for example that there has been cases of abuse and terrible conditions in refugee centres.

Then he finally has the court meeting and he just runs out because of the girl and somehow he still gets the refugee status? Excuse me? I guess he didn't even need to go in the first place then, "this court case could have been an email".

The female lead was a very unlikeable character and I still don't understand what her deal was. She was a spoiled brat. She clearly comes from a family with money and she rebels against the father because her mother passed and I guess she's against assisted death but it was not her decision anyway but the mother's? So she has a tantrum that gets her into trouble and that kind of life. I still don't understand why the gangsters would care so much about her in the end, and if they did to that extend they would have found her in whatever country she went to. Equally unrealistic is that she used drugs but didn't suffer the consequences of any of it.

The romance here could have been a side story and I thought it would, but as a main plot it's just not there. Their love doesn't grow in a realistic way nor it was realistic that he would risk so much for her. Two minutes prior he was telling her about the razor and how he and his mother were ready to end their lives than be deported, the next he's leaving the court to run after her even though, from his knowledge and perspective, he doesn't know what or if anything has happened to her. Also, call the police or something? I don't get it. He's the masochist type I guess, he didn't have enough hardships that he decided to put her baggage onto his shoulders too. Sorry but I don't think many people would do that for a fling. Sure, they say they love each other but I felt nothing other than "boy, you have a problem".

The "airport" at the end was the cherry on top, and the FL in that ending was quite puzzling until you remember that she has daddy's money I guess.

Acting is good but it can't save the mess it's the writing and the overall execution. I don't know how different the book might be but I'm zero interested after watching this movie I'm afraid.

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Disturbing: I'm not sure about the what and why, icky but kinda grossly fascinating

This very short movie of about 15 minutes is very indie as it focus on a very odd and relatively disturbing topic as one of the character has a strong secret kink. No judgment from my part, but I personally found it quite gross and icky.

The camera does not shy from the disturbing details and the main actor does an overall convincing job. The filmmaking has a very strong approach on featuring the specific kink of the main character. It is kinda fascinating in a way and I felt a bit sick watching it.

It is impactful in a way but I am absolutely not sure of what the movie is trying to say or why...Honestly there are many fascinating elements in the psyche of the main character that would be interesting to explore...But the short length of the movie prevent any kind of plot & character development.

I would not recommend this movie as I am so unsure of what to think of it after watching it. It is pretty short so you might want to give it a shot if you like indie movies featuring somewhat obscure and disturbing topic.

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Visually stunning, but 'tragic' at its heart.

First of all, I want to say that if you happen to suffer from or deal with mental issues, this movie could be concerning since it lacks trigger warnings and has inconsistent handling of very sensitive material.

If you think this is a strangers-to-lovers romance movie that was filmed in a foreign country, technically, you are not wrong. But the core concept of this movie is far from the typical romantic movie you’ve seen. The idea is somewhat tragic: the FL is suffering depression and flew to Switzerland seeking assisted voluntary death (AVD), a morbid activity that’s legal there, and by chance, she meets another Pinoy, and strangely enough, they bond over the mutual understanding of AVD.

Visually, this movie offers the best views of the picturesque natural beauty of Switzerland. During the 1 hour 48 min running time, it almost feels like I’m watching a travelogue rather than a movie. Ironically, while this movie provides your eyes with breathtaking scenery and shows a few experiences you can add to your bucket list, the essence of it is disheartening. The dialogues could’ve been done in a better way, especially when the mental health issue is the midpoint of the movie’s narrative. Even as someone who doesn’t deal with serious mental issues, I found it depressing, especially the often juxtaposed scenes of emotional disarray of two people strolling across beautiful Swiss landscapes like it’s a sweet romcom. 

Mental health is a sensitive topic to discuss in any medium, especially when it touches on the idea of ending one's life. While this movie attempted to encourage conversation about this topic, with some reminders of self-love, it wasn't being handled with the right amount of sensitivity. Just when I thought there would be a light at the end of the tunnel, the ending turned out to be gloomier than I expected. Tons of beauty shots couldn't save this movie. The way it romanticizes suicide is a bit problematic. It’s frustrating to see the lack of basic research by the filmmakers on the right approach to a sensitive subject.

In terms of acting, Kylie Padilla handles her character and scenes efficiently. Playing a character with such a significant psychological and existential burden is not easy. Gerald Anderson, on the other hand, isn’t really noteworthy. He has his charms, but they fail to impress beyond that. While Kylie and Gerald show a decent chemistry, their intended romantic dialogues sound contrived.

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The only 10/10 Japanese movie so far

I was always into movies like this. Kingdoms, battles, etc… But this one was a truly masterpiece. The story was very interesting and catch my attention so fast. Kento was amazing in his character as Shin, a boy who’s dedicated to his and his best friend’s dream. And Ryo playing two characters as the king Eisei and the slave Hyou was quite something I never expected. From the beginning to the end everything got me surprised and stunned.

The fighting scenes were very nice and the battle for the throne between two brothers was interesting to watch. But the goal is Sei to unite China as one catch me really hard. For sure I’ll complete the whole series and recommend to watch it!

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