Forestaller Reviews

Operation Red Sea (2018)

SPEC OPS THE ACTION MOVIE: "Operation Red Sea"

[10/10 · 17 February 2018]

Who'd have thought that the first live-action SPEC OPS action movie with realistic effects work would be made by China (starring their Navy SPEC OPS "Sea Dragons")? I guess I was wrong to think that without a rating-system, Chinese movies wouldn't dare to show anything -- it turns out that they have no qualms about showing everything (without lingering over it like Hollywood gore porn, of course) if the movie/genre was right...

Featuring 5 main escalating missions/set-pieces -- which are always strongly grounded by detailed sniper tactics and expertly strung together with clear plot-points as well as characterizations -- all the usual Hollywood war/military movie "fat" (such as "character arcs", "grand narratives", "social justice" polemics, etc) has been trimmed off, so that military enthusiasts can simply immerse themselves in the gritty and heart-pounding SPEC OPS action.

Just for its utter lack of pretension (to appear more "balanced", "diverse", profound", etc.) -- 10/10, would BANG again!

Wolf Warrior 2 (2017)

American Action Movie Tropes -- ONE-UPPED & SUBVERTED!

[8/10 · 9 August 2017]

"Wolf Warrior 2"(2017) sets its tone perfectly with an opening underwater fight which is practically impossible but looks in every way realistically do-able (on account of being filmed underwater with real actors)! IOW, this film straddles plausibility (a historical event) and implausibility (over-the-top action) in a way that will tickle "woke/red-pilled" audiences and frustrate/confuse ideological purists to no end...

I mean, it features a Chinese man staring down a Chinese tank and a rebel army identified by their red scarves! Combined with jokes about the USA military leaving its citizens to die in Africa, it is clear that actor-director Wu Jing is out to "troll" western(-ized) film-makers and audiences who have lost their sense of humor and self-awareness to a climate of hate speech laws and political correctness.

Especially for those film-makers desperately trying to "insert" a flag or product wherever possible... It must be absolutely "triggering" to see Wu Jing unapologetically expanding upon a real-life premise where having a Chinese flag/ passport is completely natural and pivotal to the plot; as well as brandishing all manner of Chinese products (e.g. last generation armaments supplied to Africa).

So despite ostensibly being inspired by the numerous emergency repatriations successfully executed by the Chinese military in Africa (Libya 2011, Yemen 2015, etc.), this is a fictional and romanticized story (a la "Romance of Three Kingdoms") created to feature a series of larger-than-life characters, sly social commentary, and most importantly, action-movies set-pieces!

The 1st Act is almost a marvel of economical and visual story-telling in that it recaps the ending of Wolf Warrior 1, introduces the background to Wolf Warriors and summarizes what Chinese repatriates went through in Africa with minimal dialogue and maximum editing... It's clumsy but it works, if only because you can't look away from the relentlessly climbing body count.

The 2nd Act is where the fun starts as it nonchalantly (i.e. "blink-and-you'll-miss-it") ticks off every action movie trope it can squeeze in-- keep up with me if you can: car through wall-check, self-sacrificing adult-check, girl to save-check, bodybuilder throws people-check, hanging on car-check, bike on rooftop-check, booby trap wire-check, armed surveillance UAVs-check, wargaming with models-check, etc.; and whenever the action does stop to get on with the story for a few minutes, you should still hang on to see if you catch the jokes or commentaries Wu Jing has slipped in there.

The 3rd Act is basically one long, multi-stage, escalating action sequence (involving a crossbow, rifles, tanks, missiles and fists; in that order) where "story-telling by montage (or music-video)" takes over... And it's a marvel of action movie writing(story-boarding?) and pacing-- provided you can get over not knowing exactly how the rescue chopper was co-ordinated or the missile strike was executed, etc.. Much like the better kung-fu action movies, it arguably gets "one-up" over most action-movies by simultaneously being grittier (more practical effects, actors doing stunts, etc.) AND more stylish ("full-contact" close-ups, hand-held cameras chasing actors).

Data for online ticket-purchases in China seems to show that the audience for "Wolf Warrior 2" (2017) comprised almost 70% graduates (& above) with only 15% being in the teenager/ student demographic, i.e. the opposite of what would be expected of a pop-corn or blockbuster movie-- which I see as indicating that Chinese audiences have been waiting for a cheeky/clever (Chinese) subversion of the "American action movie"... so "laughing along with Wu Jing" is probably the best mindset to have for enjoying this movie!

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (2016)

"You don't pull any punches, do you?"

[8/10 · 31 August 2016]

After starting with a fairly clunky prologue with the obligatory voice-over-- which I told myself to endure, since Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV is obviously not some stand-alone/origin story-- my jaw just kept dropping throughout the movie... until I picked it after the final credits (with the somewhat tongue-in-cheek easter egg).

That the script steep in Final Fantasy lore, with its huge cast of characters and no end of plot-twists, could stay so clear and connected means it must have been worked over at least 10 times more than Blizzard's Warcraft movie.... And viewers (especially on repeated viewings) will probably thank the Japanese writer for trusting the audience to follow the main thrust of the story (and for trusting the voice and motion-capture actors to deliver), instead of stuffing with tendentious exposition or character moments (how many different ways do we want to see Marth Stewart's or Uncle Ben's death?).

And despite all the western voice actors, 3D models and high fantasy tropes-- this is Asian 3D film-making at its best, with animation studios from Shanghai to Thailand being led by a Japanese production team that clearly worked with a lot of budget/time constraints but also a very, very firm vision. The details, close-ups and slow-mos are only there when there is an action or dramatic beat to be hit and never felt gratuitous (hint to Zack Snyder: it's about how much weight, not clutter, you can put into a scene/sequence-- take it from Superman'78)

For a movie primarily designed as advertisement/periphery for the Final Fantasy franchise, I can pay it no higher compliment than saying-- this is the way sequel baiting should be done! It may not have anything truly new/original to say or show-- but as one of the few frenetic fantasy action movies that actually manages its diverging/ converging plot-lines and action-sequences rather well (vs say, the live-action Transformers movies), it was just a pleasure to sit through (& try catching up with everything!).

TL;DR: Would watch again! Recommended to genre-fans as one of the few truly uncompromising genre-film (hence the positive word-of-mouth in Japan vs general/mainstream movie-goers).

The Mermaid (2016)

How Stephen Chow is getting 1 billion Chinese to watch "The Cove(2009)"

[8/10 · 10 February 2016]

Stephen Chow is known for his consummate ability to pay homage AND lampoon his cinematic influences to a degree which exploitation film "auteurs" like Quentin Tarantino can only dream of.

And since moving his movie productions to mainland China in the 22nd century-- beginning with Shaolin Soccer(2001) --Stephen Chow has been earning new fans and losing old ones as he increased his presence behind the camera and broadened the range of his film subjects, all the while showing up all the lame Chinese directors and scriptwriters still using mainland Chinese censorship as an excuse for their inability to tell a coherent story with a meaningful message for more mature audiences.

But now, after Stephen Chow has paid homage to and parodied the horrors of "The Shining(1980)" with "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons(2013)", he has even gone so far as to pay homage and parody the ecological documentary "The Cove(2009)" in a mainstream romantic-comedy and urban fantasy using a modern Chinese setting.

Structurally speaking, "The Mermaid(2016)" is basically "Lust, Caution(2007)" + "The Cove(2009)" (fans of Disney or Han Kristian Andersen, please see yourselves out)-- but tonally it remains a Stephen Chow slapstick-comedy and social farce, complete with a no-surprise "tacked-on" ending.

So this is one of Stephen Chow's more "indie" projects, like "CJ7(2008)", where the "big moments" are few and far between-- but therein lies his genius: the movie sails by so smoothly that Chinese audiences did not even realize that the last Chinese legends about folks who were half-human and half-fish were recorded in the "Mountains And Seas Classic" over 2000 years ago... cos the scene-stealing Grandmistress Mermaid (appearing to strains of traditional Chinese music) could not have appeared anywhere else but in a Stephen Chow movie (made/set in mainland China).

The only real criticisms that can be made about this movie are the ones that were also leveled at "Monkey King: Hero is Back(2015)" last year: it's too short, too simple, and it's production values too mediocre (for a "blockbuster" movie)-- but why do you think audiences left theaters wanting more (story/character)? Stephen Chow "gets it" that movies are not really about how much effects work/ world-building or how many twists/ ideas you can stuff in them, but just how much you need to do so that the audiences "get it".

Personally, I am glad that Stephen Chow gave up on the Hong Kong/ International market and is just making movies that he has a genuine interest in-- cos when a mermaid/ merman asks in genuine confusion/ frustration: "what's the point if there's not a drop of clean water left?" or "who gave you the right to destroy our homes?"... I realized I've just been preached to in the most "natural" way possible.

Recommended for those who have heard of, but are too "cool", too "chicken", or too "clever" to watch "The Cove(2009)"

Monkey King: Hero Is Back (2015)

The "Monkey King: Hero is back" (2015)-- And On His Way Home

[9/10 · 19 July 2015]

The "Monkey King: Hero is back" (2015)-- And On His Way Home

TECHNICALLY speaking, "Monkey King: Hero is back" (2015) is essentially "all there"-- meaning that you can sit back and let the 3D animation take you into the story, without issues like lip-syncing or frame-rates breaking the "flow". But the frequent use of jump-cuts, fades-to-black and other cost-saving techniques (e.g "indestructible" clothes) also makes it clear that this is blockbuster film-making on a shoestring budget-- though the director can be seen burning through his budget where it matters., e.g. a cameo of the first-ever 3D-animated (available in IMAX) Chinese dragon rendered with mane, scales and all.

So even if the animation is not as detailed/fluid as the state-of-the-art Hollywood fare, you might still be able to enjoy how differently the developer of this film, October Animation Studio, chose to animate Chinese characters and landscapes.... Using old-school "motion capture"-- i.e. making animators study rehearsing actors like in "Only Yesterday" (1991)-- and manipulating space and perspective as deliberately as Chinese ink-paintings, this film accomplishes (in 3D, no less) the cinematic sweep and kinetic camera-work from kung-fu fantasy classics likes "Swordsman" (1990) and makes the likes of "Kung Fu Panda"(2008) look "cartoonish" by comparison.

But pretty moving pictures aside, now that I've established that this film is perfectly "watchable", what's the real story here? Well, a little background would be helpful.

N.B.(or BACKGROUND): More than 400 years ago, "Journey To The West" hit publishing houses in China (oldest existing print, 1592) and has never been out-of-print since-- but with all the spins-off and sequels that have been written/published throughout the centuries, not one of them has been a "true" successor worthy of re-reading or analysis.

Then some 50 years ago, with the advent of film technology, the animated film "Uproar In Heaven" (1965) hit the cinemas and showed audiences all the fantastical action and imagery described in the first major action set-pieces of "Journey To the West", such as the classic "transformation duel/pursuit" between the 3-Eyed God and the Monkey King-- and for decades, sealed the on-screen character of the Monkey King as an irrepressible rogue with a child-like sense of wonder/humor.

Then some 20 years ago, the 2-parter live-action film "A Chinese Odyssey" (1995) hit the cinemas and gave the Monkey King a "tragi-comical" love story as an alternate/added background to his journey to the west-- and so, like the young adult audiences it garnered, the Monkey King reached adulthood and began to see everything with a sense of loss and cynicism.

Then, just over a week ago, the 3D-animated film "Monkey King: Hero is back" (2015) hit Chinese cinemas and saw the character of the Monkey King take the next step of his development in film-- taking on the joys and frustrations of parenthood, and daring/struggling to care again.... With a predictably simple story that is smart enough to "show, don't tell" (go on-- get your parents to "explain" why they love you...), this film is about the emotional journey of a few lost souls on their way home... under the guise of a comic-fantasy action-adventure.

TD;DR (or REVIEW): At only 80+ minutes, the film throws in everything at breakneck speed-- so the current generation of film audiences (Chinese and international) should be able to enjoy it as mindless fun, IF they are not too concerned about "originality"... seeing as how, in their impressionable but uninformed minds, the Monkey King and Chinese dragons are based the likes of "Dragonball" (1989) **face-palm**.... "Journey To The West" was the progenitor of party-based "challenge of the week" serial storytelling-- complete with slapstick humor and witty banter-- and this film stays true to its roots and that time-honored formula, despite continuity and pacing issues (see first paragraph above).

But for the previous 2 generations of Chinese film audiences with memories of "Uproar In Heaven" (1965) and "A Chinese Odyssey" (1995)-- who have all but given up ever seeing the "true" Monkey King again (much less in 3D)-- this film is like a long-lost dream coming true.... In short, it is almost incomprehensible if you don't know enough about the "Journey To The West" universe (e.g. the Monkey King's reputation for finding and beating up dragons), but jam-packed with brilliant homages, meaningful references and clever in-jokes for the aficionado.

No wonder then, that it has become an internet and movie industry phenomenon in China as fans of the "Journey To The West" universe, or just Chinese animation generally, flooded social media and thanked the director for "bringing back my youth/childhood!" and "reminding me who I was!" In fact, the allegorical appeal of film (much like the novel) is so "spoiler-proof", that October Animation spoiled its story in a promotional music-video and STILL attracted repeated viewings in China-- possibly because the "tour-de-force" of escalating drama and action in the final act never gets old!

P.S.: Bets are on (and vulture/venture capitalists are circling) now as to whether this film will be become the "Nausicaa of Valley of the Wind" (1984) for Chinese animation, and whether October Animation will become the Studio Ghibli of China. Hopefully for everyone who "laugh-teared" throughout the film, October Animation will be able to finance all the planned sequels to "Monkey King: Hero is back" (2015) without any more money trouble, or interference from the moneyed-interests of the Chinese film industry-- and, unlike "Nausicaa of Valley of the Wind" (1984), finish telling the story it wants to tell.

P.P.S.: In contrast, one can see how/why the "Superman" (1978) movie has yet to see a "true" successor, whether its reboots/remakes tried aping it or veering off in a different direction-- e.g. "Superman Returns"(2006) introduced Superman's son but had nothing much/new to say about the characters or their relationships, while "Man of Steel"(2013) re-introduced Superman's father but had nothing much/new to say about the characters or their relationships either...