The Mission (1999)

Maybe I should've written the original title: "Cheung Fo" in order not to create any confusion with an older much more known film, but since the interest for HK movies doesn't seem to be that big around me, I've told myself that it would be more "catchy" in English :). Although, I have to admit that in this case I don't have something that I would strongly recommend. Actually, a bit off-topic, it seems that I've reached a phase again where I tend to select what I see based on length criteria (in this particular case is somewhere below 90 minutes), which is probably not very "healthy" for my blog entries. But, let's see what we have here ...

I'll start as usual with the subject. About which I'll be quite blunt in this case: it's lame. So lame, that I won't hesitate spoiling something like 90% of it in the next lines. Extra info: I think it doesn't really matter, since this movie is probably not to be seen for the subject. So .. we have a boss of a Chinese Triad, somewhere in Hong Kong who manages to survive an assassination attempt. Following, he hires a group of five trusted bodyguards, four experienced and one rookie, who manage to protect him in another two similar situations. After which, the head behind the attempts (obviously a member of the same Triad family) is identified, executed and the problem solved .. with something like 15-20 minutes before the movie ending. So, in this interval we have the second problem revealed, totally unrelated with the first part = "the rookie" had an affair with the boss's wife .. and obviously this has to be solved too. Well, I'm not gonna spoil everything, although it's not that hard to predict the "unpredictable" ending. That's all. Now let's see what's worth seeing in this movie ...

The '99 production is directed by Johnnie To. A while ago I was writing about something shot during the same year, more exactly "Running Out of Time" (or "Am Zin"). The interesting part is that the respective title from my lighting quick unreliable research did at the moment seemed to be done on the rush between the scenes for the current discussed movie. I'm not sure it's exactly like this, but in my opinion that movie is far superior to this one here, although it seems rather unpolished in comparison. It is though a totally different style. To be specific, it has a light scent of "melancholic drama" ( I can't come up with another term right now ) which in my opinion is exactly the nice part that gets to your heart in HK action movies (as long as it doesn't become too cheesy). However, Johnnie To, quite appreciated as a director there, is a bit different in this aspect from what I've seen up to the moment ("Election 1 and 2", "Vengeance" with Johnny Halliday + the rest referenced up to here). That's why I've been surprised this Spring by the other title. Anyway, here we get back to his classic style. Which is .. dry & cold (I'm not really in my best day for finding the right terms, and I also don't have time to think too much, but that's pretty much "the feeling"). It's a simplistic subject, with a simplistic dialogue, an extremely dry humor .. to check out the scene with the ball game between the five bodyguards that I've linked below instead of the trailer. The only aspect that seems somehow opposed to that is the score .. and I managed to find also a clip for this, although it's not the best quality. Is a mix of themes, repeating quite often, which seem to be taken from an '80s or early '90s platform game, as Mario or something else. Overall, this approach for the movie, the style combination more exactly if we consider also the cinematography (which I have to admit that's very nice even simple = if you're careful enough you can spot details showing the work put in it), is probably the main argument to watch what we have here. As a final idea I've had the feeling, keeping the proportions, that I see something like a Melville movie ("Le Samourai" with Alain Delon as a classic example) transposed in the Asian version. It's not only my opinion, I've heard this comparison made for To before. Unfortunately, despite the seeming general appreciation, this style which doesn't care to much about the story is not really on my taste.

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Despite the fact that this was the last week of a sort of "vacation" I didn't get to see more than the "The Bourne Legacy". And since I'm busy packing my luggages, I don't have the time to get into much detail. So, let's get to the point ...

In the sequel to Bourne, which does not have anything to do with the original series of books, we have a sort of "reboot". More exactly we find that the American government has another secret program to train agents (actually .. more programs to have place also for another reboot ..). And like this we start again with Jeremy Renner instead Matt Damon, pissed off badly when the agency leadership decides to shut down the bussiness and "fire" the employees. Without other spoilers, the result is a Bond-Terminator mix :) The last part might sound a bit weird, and when you see the movie also a bit SciFi, but I really think it's the part to appreciate. And this because it makes somehow the movie to be a bit different from the previous ones.

Overall I liked it. I wasn't very sure since Tony Gilroy (the rest of Bourne, "Michael Clayton", "Devil's Advocate" .. but also "State of Play", "Proof of Life") which is also the director here and besides the usual screenwriter job, alternates sometimes from good to bad quite easily (although in my opinion he is currently one of the best thriller screenwriters). With all the similarity with the previous movies (after all it's the same series), the result is a pretty good one in its genre. And I have to admit that I'm also a bit subjective and I prefer the Bourne universe to Bond. We'll see about Skyfall ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Total Recall (2012)

I have sufficient problems on my head these days, so I've found myself thinking on what sense does it have to keep this blog running, especially since I don't know how much time will I have for movies soon. Anyway, I managed to catch the 2012 version of "Total Recall", especially since for a while the SciFi became sort of a rarity at the big screen level (I'm not counting the superhero stuff that's pretty much the same story with a different mask every time). The opinions I heard before were not very good. My opinion after .. let's say it's divided.

I don't know if it has sense to tell something about the movie subject, since we're talking about a remake after something that we can call a genre classic that being the '90s version directed by Verhoeven and starring Schwarzenegger. I'm going to do something else, with the risk of losing the attention due to the writing volume, that being a resume of the P.K. Dick short-story-ului which is the base of the movie. In the story, Douglas Quail (with an "l" at the end and not a "d") is a minor clerk (not a worker building his muscles in a factory or on a construction yard) living a pretty dull life, and being married with a sort of hag as a wife named Kirsten (so not Lori and far from being so tender in the first phase as the movie version). The man decides one day to achieve his life dream, that being to travel on Mars, but since he does not have the necessary money for this tries to solve it with a visit to Rekal Incorporated, firm that handles memory implants according to the slogan "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" (the title of the novel). Without more details, our man chooses a packet that will guarantee him the experience of having "lived" two weeks on the red planet as an Interplan agent (a sort of intergalactic CIA). Service payed, subject taken by the operator, execution problem .. the memory is already there, but was deleted after Mr. Quail assasinated an important person. Therefore, the client half asleep is sent home where is taken by the Interplan agents with the purpose to eliminate him from the current planet. The reasoning - you know too much and if we erase your brain again, you'll go again to Rekal to "leave" to Mars. Well, here comes "the movie" = for something like half a page in the book Doug uses his fists and runs desperately. After which he gets an idea about a compromise - and here starts the spoiler for the book :) : he will surrender in the terms of replacing his Mars memory and "tendances" by something more powerful that will erase his subconscious travel desire. Done: Rekal Inc., meanwhile recruited by the government, finds in the mind of the subject a powerful childhood fantasy in which he sees himself as the saviour of the Earth from an extraterestrial invasion. And like this, the new memory package is created with the perfect memory to eliminate his Mars travel dreams: more exactly, the invading race impressed by the innocence and compasion of the little Quail decides to embark in the flying saucers and leave as long he will be alive on the blue planet. Service payed (by the government), subject taken by the operator, execution problem .. guess what ;)

This is pretty much what I remember from what I've read not long ago, and which is the basis for the two movies. Why did I spent my time with writing so much text instead giving a summary for the 2012 version. Well, because like in the 1990 one, the movie goes way further than the short story. In the same time, compared to the '90 film we have major differences = Doug does not get to Mars, Lori = the wife becomes the principal evil character, we do not have Quato anymore, etc. And these are the main reasons (more or less conscious/obvious) for which the movie is bashed. And this is wrong ... Because after all the visual "original" diverges a lot from the written original, as it can be seen from the story above. And in this years' film we do not have a total remake after all, we have an adaptation of the remake. Which adaptation gains exactly from having an original script (and it is quite original) and for that deserves appreciation, and not the contrary, since the book was anyway already far before the movie came up. Talking about which script or story is better, I think this is subjective here. As story (and movie overall) I think I like more the one from 1990. As a script on the other hand the new one seems more close in a few points (not many) to P.K. Dick as general atmosphere (the piano scene for instance). AS general, because as I said the original novel is quite far and quite simplistic after all in the literary universe it belongs to + is filled with a fine sarcastic humor characteristic to the author that is lost almost completely in the movies. To end my plea about the wrong comparison done between the productions one should take in account also the time when these were released. We have more than 20 years as a difference. And to be more clear where I'm going with this, I always had a feeling (possibly a wrong one) that the '90s "Total Recall" got a bit influenced by the politics of the time. More exactly, I don't know why but every time I'm seeing it I'm involuntary thinking on South Africa and Apartheid. Starting with the evil leader = Kohaagen - Dutch name (that doesn't show up in the book) up to the oppresive situation against the mutant population on the Mars colony (that again has nothing to do with the book). Probably it already starts to sound weird :) so I'll stop my rambling here. Conclusine: it's a movie to be seen ;) ..

Rating: 4 out of 5

.. PS: at least for Kate Beckinsale & Jessica Biel it deserves this :D I've almost forgotten :P

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

I'm back. Not in a very good shape unfortunately. But sufficiently to maintain this blog on a survival line (I hope). And since I'm talking about survival + like I said last time, I come back with something that really deserves attention, despite a title, trailer and a first impression that do not suggest more than an average horror: "The Cabin in the Woods" :D .

My initial expectancies were like said before, and the movie was somewhere at the bottom of my "to see" queue. I had the luck though to stumble upon it in the closing evening of a festival where I didn't have the time to catch much else. This one however filled the space. What's it all about after all ... Well, the movie starts pretty much like a "typical teen horror where people wander in the wild & get slashed" but trust me on this .. it's much more original than whatever I've seen up 'til now in this category. I'm gonna try to limit the spoilers. We have two action plans: 1 - two guys + two girls who can be placed (well, probably) in the "hot" section + another guy who is a combination between Screech from "Saved by the Bell" (yeah I know, I'm old) and a joint loving hippie get into a summer trip somewhere to an isolated cabin ; 2 - something that looks like a secret branch of the US army with an underground HQ has the cabin under control and triggers an operation coordinated by two cynical guys targeting the "cheerful" group above. I'm gonna say just that the operation starts by attracting them in a cellar filled with objects like a sphere similar to the keys in "Hellraiser", a journal of a psycho family, etc. What's coming next you can see in the movie.

There are some aspects to point out. Firstly, "the hippie Screech" played in a brilliant manner by an unknown (at least for me) Fran Kranz, has an incredible well written part of the script. And considering that the script is generally way above than the usual horror average, the result already demands to be watched. The movie has a very good dose of black humor. So if you like the genre you should definitely not skip it. I laughed a lot, which doesn't happen very often. The idea itself is also something quite original, and even the end is a bit surprising on top of this (just a bit). I'd like to say that you also have something more deep in there, but after all the main line start-to-finish is just the fun = the perfect summer movie to see when you need something relaxing. There is blood in there (it's a horror after all), but again it's not exactly how it seems to be at the first sight. I've written already too much to give more info, but to do an overall characterization, as a feeling is a mix of light '90s horrors like "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" with a scent of "The Cube" trilogy. As a feeling .. about the rest, check it out ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5



( & remember, don't trust much the trailer :) what you need to get from there are the captions "You think you know the story ..." ;) )