Kick-Ass 2 (2013) Review

Purchase from Amazon: DVD - Blu-Ray Pros: +Solid action +Chloe Moretz's performance Cons: -Bad writing -Unfunny, tasteless humor -Lackluster direction Other films by Jeff Wadlow: Cry_Wolf, Never Back Down Similar films: Kick-Ass, Super, Defendor

Director: Jeff Wadlow Stars: Chloe Moretz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey Genre: Superhero, Action, Black Comedy Sequel to 2010's Kick-Ass, based on the comic of the same name by Mark Millar, with artwork by John Romita Jr. Does this sequel live up to the standard set by the first one? Continuing where the last left off: Red Mist, now renamed The Mother Fucker, wants to kill Kick-Ass, who is being trained by Hit-Girl, who has retired her costume and is strictly coaching. With a group of other "superheroes," Kick-Ass joins a team called Justice Forever, who must inevitably do battle with the supervillain team, the Toxic Mega Cunts. The plot follows the comic closely enough. Some of the things from the hyper-violent, tasteless comic have been toned down here: specifically the violence and gore. Quite frankly, I'm not at all a fan of the comics, so the more the film adaptation differs, the better. The only reason I liked the first Kick-Ass movie was because of its differences compared to the source material: whereas the comic tried to be deep and edgy and failed, the movie tried to be over-the-top and campy and succeeded. Does this sequel manage to surpass its source material as well? Well, not really, and if it does, it's not by much. This film tends to be just as mindless, tasteless, and unfun as the comic was. The rape "joke" with The Mother Fucker and Nigh-Bitch in here is dumb, pointless, and most of all unfunny. It may not be as explicit as the scene was in the comic, but it's equally vulgar. Doubled with the fact that Night-Bitch as a character exists solely so this rape joke can be made. Think about it. They changed Night-Bitch from the comics and gave her a weird costumed sexual relationship with Kick-Ass. That's her entire character. There's no more depth to her than that. She exists to have sex with Kick-Ass and to allow rape jokes. Unfortunately, Kick-Ass 2 has many scenes like this that are just plain awful. Perhaps one of the most nonsensical scenes is the one with Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie, Kick-Ass's girlfriend from the last movie. I guess the script had no use for her and wanted to get rid of her so what takes place is one of the most ludicrous and illogical scenes of all-time. Out of nowhere she accuses Dave (Kick-Ass) of cheating on her with Mindy (Hit-Girl), without even giving him time to explain. Didn't she know he was Kick-Ass? In the last film he told her. Why is she acting like she doesn't know? And then, to top it off, she implies that she's been cheating on him this whole time. What!? That makes absolutely no sense given the prior context of this character. Some of the sloppiest writing I've ever witnessed. Oh, and then there's a penis joke. There's a disgusting diarrhea/vomit scene, which is very likely the worst thing I've ever had the displeasure to watch in a movie (I find it even worse that they had to use CGI for shit and vomit, which are like the two easiest practical effects ever). The scene with Chuck Liddell is absolutely cringe-worthy; the whole thing feels so forced and the humor in that scene just doesn't work at all. The boy band scene is almost equally cringe-worthy (I found out only afterwards that the boy band was actually a real band, called Union J). There's a Justin Bieber joke thrown in here also, which just screams "hey, look, we're hip too, guys!" The immodest dance scene (with a 17 year old girl, I might remind) was perhaps the very best example in the history of everything of something being completely and utterly pointless and tasteless. None of that stuff is funny. There's no wit or sophistication or cleverness in there. It's vile, unnecessary, and lacks point. Far too many of the jokes in here failed miserably. It seems as if the film has a very twisted view of what it means to be edgy and cool, and in the end they achieve neither, instead only being forced and ineloquent. Crass and tactless even. The film is as delusional as its characters. The first film may have relied a lot on referential humor, but at least it was mostly funny and well crafted. A lot of people complain about the coming-of-age high school scenes with Hit-Girl. While I didn't particularly like these scenes (especially the aforementioned ones), I didn't find them to be as bad as a lot of the other scenes in the film. At times I was thankful to have a break from sloppy rape jokes and Chuck Liddell, even if the alternative was to watch a girl go through high school. The action in the movie is pretty good. Not as great or well choreographed as the action in the first film, but it was okay, despite some occasional cinematography hiccups that failed to compliment the action. The Mother Russia scenes(s) was really great. The van scene was, even if cliched, pretty good also. The violence wasn't quite as over-the-top and tongue-in-cheek as it was in the first one, which is a big disappointment, but it has its moments. I'm glad we got to see a lot of Hit-Girl in here, she's enjoyable in and out of costume, even if she is little more than a little girl shouting profanities, and delivers some of the film's best action. Justice Forever and Toxic Mega Cunts were huge letdowns--especially their final battle, which could have been way more epic in scale. In the comic it took place in the middle of Times Square; in here it takes place in an empty warehouse. If there's one thing the comic did better it was to give off an apocalyptic, this-is-it vibe, which the movie failed to capture even slightly. The soundtrack, though not bad, is very disappointing compared to the wonderful soundtrack in the first film. Chloe Moretz gives a show-stealing performance here. She carries a lot of the film. McLovin, ehem, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, does a solid job as well. Jim Carrey could have been better, plus he was underused. Everyone else was forgettable. A pretty awful movie all in all. Jeff Wadlow's directing and screenwriting can't even come close to the first one's. The bad scenes far outweigh the good ones, and even the things that this film does well had already been done better in the first film. I'd pass on this one; I can hardly believe I made it all the way through this.

Kick-Ass (2010) Review

Purchase from Amazon: DVD - Blu-Ray - Stream Other films by Matthew Vaughn: Layer Cake, Stardust, X-Men: First Class Similar films: Kick-Ass 2, Super, Defendor, Watchmen

Director: Matthew Vaughn Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Lyndsy Fonseca Genre: Superhero, Action, Comedy Based on the comic book of the same name written by Mark Millar with illustrations by John Romita Jr., Kick-Ass is one of the greatest and most enjoyable superhero movies I have ever watched. A certain question comes to high-schooler Dave Lizewski: "why has no one tried to be a superhero before?" It's a question that nags at him until he decides to do it himself. Donning a mask and costume, Dave becomes Kick-Ass, a lackluster crime fighter and a teenager who has no idea what he's getting himself in to. There's plenty of noticeable differences from the comics, but this was actually a good thing in my opinion, as I found the comic to be incredibly mediocre. The comic set up some great potential, but it utterly failed in living up to that potential and ended up being completely mindless, misguided, and convoluted. The film, however, managed to break free from its source material's pretensions and mediocrity. The violence in the film is over-the-top rather than pseudo-realistic and gritty. The action is incredibly enjoyable, well choreographed, and executed to perfection. The violence definitely translates better on screen than it did on page. After watching, you won't soon forget Hit-Girl massacring an entire hallway of armed thugs in well-utilized slow-motion. It's stylish, operatic action that celebrates its exaggerated violence. And it's awesome. The action is over-the-top in the vein of silver age superhero comics; it embraces its comic book nature and takes advantage of its superhero camp. There's plenty of references to catch in here, whether they be visual, vocal, or stylistic, from Spider-Man to Tim Burton's Batman to Hong-Kong action movies. There's a lot; probably more than a single person can ever catch in a single viewing. Admittedly, like in the comics, a lot of the humor revolves around/relies on the referential nature of the film, which may understandably seem cheap to some, but it's done pretty well and most of the time is actually fairly hilarious. Pardon the pun, but the soundtrack is kick ass. It exploits songs we're all familiar with to great effect, like Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" or the Banana Splits song as covered by The Dickies. There's some excellent, almost satirical, use of Ennio Morricone. Then there's some songs in here that may surprise you; personally, for me, hearing "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" by Sparks, one of my favorite bands, was a great surprise. Some fantastic tracks that amplify the on-screen action well and make the film all the more enjoyable. There's some top-notch acting to be witnessed in Kick-Ass. Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl does phenomenal as the foul-mouthed killing machine. Not only does a lot of the film's action involve Hit-Girl, but so does a lot of its humor, and Moretz delivers a great performance on both fronts. The always enjoyable Nicolas Cage is on top of his game here as well, playing Big Daddy, Hit-Girl's off-beat and crazy father. With an Adam West-like performance and a voice that is surely a nod at The Dark Knight, Cage brings plenty of great humor and action to the film as well and is unbelievably enjoyable to watch. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, still known to most as McLovin, does a good job here also as the spoiled and snobby rich kid in a superhero costume. Kick-Ass just may be my favorite superhero movie made so far, which surprised me being that I wasn't a big fan of the comics. What's genius about it is that I think while fans of the comic will be satisfied, it also removes a lot of the things non-fans didn't like, making it potentially enjoyable to non-fans of the comic as well. It's a loving homage to comic books and action movies, and it's both a good comic book movie and a good action movie. Though not perfect, it's still a must see for anyone even mildly interested.

Pacific Rim (2013) Review

Purchase from Amazon: Blu-Ray  -DVD - Soundtrack Pros: +Awesome fight scenes +Great special effects +Good editing +Intriguing universe +Decent writing +Above average character development +Mostly good acting Cons: -Some weak plot elements -In many ways conventional -Bland main character Other films by Guillermo del Toro: Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone, Hellboy Similar films: Godzilla, Robot Jox

Director: Guillermo del Toro Stars: Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie Day, Ron Perlman Genre: Science Fiction, Giant Monster, Mecha There's many reasons why someone would go see Pacific Rim; whether it be fans of Guillermo del Toro, fans of the cast, etc. But the biggest reason, I think we can all admit, to why we went to watch Pacific Rim, is to see giant mechs fights giant monsters. And if that's the case then I think it's hard to argue that Pacific Rim didn't satisfy.   The story is fairly straight-forward: through a portal in the sea giant monsters from another dimension come out and attack cities, killing millions. Humanity, in response to this new threat, combine their resources and create a new weapon to combat the kaijus: giant mechs, called Jaegers, that require two pilots. Awesome fighting ensues.  The plot isn't of much substance. Last month's Monsters University followed a less conventional plot progression. But that's not quite the appeal of Pacific Rim. The appeal is, mostly, getting to see giant mechs fights giant monsters. Of course when it comes to giant monsters Pacific Rim is following a long line of Japanese kaiju eiga like the Godzilla and Gamera series, and it's also following the recent resurgence of Giant Monster films like Cloverfield, The Host, The Troll Hunter, Super 8, et al. And when it comes to mecha Pacific Rim finds obvious inspiration from anime series like Tetsujin 28, Giant Robo, Mazinger Z, Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and countless others along with various tokusatsu shows. But one realizes that when it comes to live-action mecha films there is a severe shortage. Sure there were efforts here and there like Gunhed or Robot Jox, and even Michael Bay's Transformers can loosely fit the bill, but there's never really been an all out true mecha film shot in live-action yet in the vain of anime. Which is why when Pacific Rim came along not only Giant Monster fans took notice, but Mecha fans as well. And fans like me can only hope that Pacific Rim, along with next year's Godzilla reboot, ushers in a new generation of mecha and kaiju films.  If anyone had the balls to not only make one of the first big mecha films but to combine it with kaiju eiga as well it surely has to be Guillermo del Toro. He's a director that has shown passion in every project he has worked on and just from listening to him talk about Pacific Rim for a few minutes it would be hard to disagree with him being both knowledgeable and appreciative of the genres he is paying homage to. It's hard to imagine a Godzilla fan or a Gundam fan not being satisfied with this film.  While the concept is genius, the film follows countless plot and character conventions. Our main character here, played by Charlie Hunnam, is so absolutely bland, generic, and even unlikable that it actually hurts the film quite a bit. On top of that you have your standard progression and conflicts and dramatic moments. There's a romantic sub-plot that is hardly present enough to be considered a sub-plot, which is a good thing. It's very brief and it's actually done fairly well in that it's much subtler than many other films with romantic sub-plots. The rival pilots sub-plot, which seemed both unnecessary and randomly resolved. And, perhaps most disappointing, there is your seen-it-a-thousand-times-before Hollywood ending that leaves us with little to think about after the film. The idea of having a single Jaeger require two pilots that have to be perfectly compatible and able to go into each others' minds does add an interesting twist to the story and to the way the characters develop but I felt it missed some potential. But this film has other elements which are strong enough that it can survive with a lackluster plot.  This film is absolutely beautiful. Not necessarily beautiful in, let's say, a Tarkovsky or Kubrick sort of way, or even in a Pan's Labyrinth-The Devil's Backbone del Toro sort of way. It's beautiful in a very epic grandeur sort of way. The special effects, a combination of practical and CGI though the actual monsters and mechs are much more the latter, are some of the best of all-time. At no point does it look like it was generated in a computer. The CGI looks real, it looks detailed, it looks impressive, and, above all, it is blended well with everything else. Giant shiny mechs fighting giant monsters rising out of the ocean has a great stylistic potential and del Toro definitely realized it.  The fight scenes are thrilling. I've been a fan of Giant Monster films my entire life and I can easily say that I never thought I'd get to see something like this. It's stunning. And perhaps the best part of the fight scenes is that del Toro wisely chose to let the camera sit back and show us the fights from a wide shot, rather than a series of dizzying close-ups like so many modern action films utilize. The director allows us to see all the action in frame and only a few times did I feel the close-ups were somewhat convoluted.  The editing is definitely great and compliments the action well. Somewhat disappointing, and something that everyone seems to be commenting on, is that pretty much all the fight scenes take place at night while it's raining or deep in the ocean. I do admit it would have been nice to see some more varied time of days during the fights, but here's the thing: giant mechs look extremely cool when they're dark and wet. Just saying.  I do wish that there was some more focus put on other countries' Jaegers. Clearly each country's mech had a unique design and I wish they were explored more. The film mostly focuses on America's Gipsy Danger, and we also get to see a bit of the British Striker Eureka, the Russian Cherno Alpha, the Japanese Coyote Tango, and China's Crimson Typhoon. I just wish there was a bit more focus placed on the latter Jaegers, or even on some of the Jaegers who weren't featured in the film at all. Which brings me to my next point... Great concept and average plot aside, Pacific Rim hosts a massive and intriguing universe with the potential for nearly limitless additions to its world and lore. Just look at some of the awesome Jaegers that we didn't really get to see in the film: Tacit Ronin, Matador Fury, Shaolin Rogue, Vulcan Specter, and more. All these are official Jaegers that are in the Pacific Rim universe, but just haven't gotten the chance to have their story told yet. Another thing that could easily be elaborated is the alien dimension which the kaijus spawn from. In the film we find out that the monsters are actually being grown and harvested by aliens who desire to take over the world. This motive is a little boring, but the mystery of the alien world and the aliens themselves is very interesting and something that would be great to see in further detail. Pacific Rim certainly has a fascinating universe surrounding it, one that has potential to challenge the depths of something like the Star Wars universe.  And that's not even mentioning the smaller details that were included. Things like showing how there were religious cults formed around the kaijus, or how there were "Kaiju Groupies", or how an entire black market formed because of these monsters. That's superb attention to detail and a fine example of world-building.  The cast was varied, both in ethnicity and in talent. Charlie Hunnam, who plays the bland main character, is honestly, to me, not a very good actor. I haven't seen much of his other work but him and his character were likely the biggest disappointment of the film. Idris Elba steals the show here, both in performance and in character. His character , the commanding officer, has the most depth out of everyone (which makes sense being that he's the most experienced there) and this allows Elba to give emotion, intensity, and passion in his performance. Rinko Kikuchi, a Japanese actress, also does a very good job here. She plays the co-pilot of Hunman's character; her performance is interesting: you can tell just in her demeanor that she has a history to her and perhaps even a bit of trauma. She conveys simultaneous feelings of weakness and strength masterfully. It's nice to see a female with such a large role who is not a blatant sex symbol but is instead intelligent, in control, and easily one of the most psychologically deep characters of the entire film. And she's a non-American actor in a Hollywood movie to boot! Of course I can't forget the enjoyable cameos by Ron Perlman as the unforgettable Hannibal Chau, black marketer of kaiju body parts, or the scientist duo of Charlie Day and Burn Gorman, all whom bring some well crafted comic relief to the film. The chemistry between Day and Gorman is good, and it's nice to see that these supporting "comic-relief" characters actually hold some weight in the plot rather than just being there to be there.  The score by Ramin Djawadi is sufficient. I think he could have taken a bit more inspiration from Akira Ifukube, but then again didn't he pretty much achieve the same thing? After watching a Godzilla movie you'll find yourself chanting the Godzilla Theme, and I can pretty much guarantee when you're through with Pacific Rim you'll find this little number stuck in your head.  I think proof that this film goes beyond typical big budget fare is one key scene. That scene is none other than the flashback scene where a young Mako (Kikuchi) is alone in an alleyway crying while a giant monster lurks around the corner. This scene not only holds psychological merit and tells us a lot about the character and the effect that these Kaiju have had on the populace (similar to how Ishiro Honda used a crying mother gripping her children before being killed in Gojira), but it's also probably the most intense scene in the entire film. And when a scene with a scared little girl crying is the most intense scene in a film filled with giant monsters fighting giant mechs I think it serves as clear indication that there is some good filmmaking at work.  It's a kaiju eiga-mecha epic. Some of the best action ever filmed and one of the best action films, one of the best Giant Monster films, one of the best mecha films, and perhaps even one of the best science fiction films of all-time. This is definitely one you want to see in the theater, preferably in IMAX or RPX, and I can definitely recommend the 3D as well. The type of people who think they'll like this film know who they are, and I'm telling you that this is worth seeing. It's not the most intelligent movie of all time, but it's arguably the most enjoyable.

The Punisher (1989) Review

Director: Mark Goldblatt
Stars: Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett Jr.
Genre: Action, Exploitation

One of the earliest film adaptations of a Marvel comic book character (lest us not forget the Howard the Duck movie), though perhaps not the finest example of how to do a comic book movie right.

So the mob kills Frank Castle's, an ex-cop's, wife and children. So he decides to kill every criminal there is, especially the mob. Thus he becomes The Punisher. However, when the yakuza come over from Japan and try to take over the mob by kidnapping all the dons' young children, The Punisher must step in and save the children.

The plot doesn't really have much to do with The Punisher comics at all. Sure there's Frank Castle's backstory (a very loose backstory, mind you) but there's no classic Punisher enemies, take for example Jigsaw, instead there's all new enemies and a new story. I know that when this film came out The Punisher was still a fairly new series (started in 1986) but they still had plenty to work with. This is essentially The Punisher thrown into the plot of a typical 80s action film. The yakuza? Seriously? A bunch of young kids serving a major plot in the film? The kids in the film mostly ruined it for me. It made the film seem like it was undecided whether it wanted to be family-friendly or not. With the yakuza and ninjas and the kids it almost feels like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie at times.

The main problem is that this film is just some damned conventional and boring. Everything about it follows the formula of an 80s action film: from the enemies to the stereotypical black 80s cop to the involvement of children to the soundtrack to the camerawork to everything else. If you've seen any other action film from the 80s you've essentially seen this one. 

Then we have The Punisher himself, played by Dolph Lundgren (whom also did many of his own stunts in here). Lundgren does a decent job portraying The Punisher/Frank Castle, for the most part. He certainly fits the look (except for that painted on 5 o'clock shadow. Seriously, what the hell?). He has such a dumb face though that sometimes the sight of him makes you want to laugh. If anyone has a dumb-looking face it's Dolph. He's not a terribly good actor either, but that sort of works for The Punisher. He does a decent enough job as the title character, I can't really complain. What I can complain about, however, is the design of the character. Where the hell is the skull? Why would you design The Punisher without a skull on his torso? That's like making a Superman movie and not giving him the 'S' on his chest. Were they trying to make it less comic-booky and feel more realistic?

This is an action film. In fact, I'd probably even call it an exploitation film (or, more accurately, an Ozploitation film). The only problem is the action scenes are lame. They're boring. The action is dull, unimaginative, and often gratuitous (not that I have much of a problem with gratuitous violence, so long as it's in good fun). And when an Action Film's action fails then there's not much else you're left with.

I watched this movie a lot when I was a kid. I wasn't born yet when it was released (not that it was released into U.S. theaters anyway), but I remember having a VHS or possibly even DVD release. There was probably even a time when I would have called The Punisher my favorite comic book character largely because of this film (my favorite pretty much changed every other week back then). But even with nostalgia working for it I couldn't call this a good film or even a largely enjoyable one.

There's many better Action films from the 80s that you can watch. I'd avoid this one unless you really love The Punisher and want to see what early Marvel films were like.

Purchase The Punisher on Amazon: DVD - VHS

The General (1926) Review

Director: Buster Keaton
Stars: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack
Genre: Action Adventure, Comedy

Widely considered to be one of Keaton's best, if not his best, by many fans. Quite ironic being that at the time of its release it received poor reviews and was a complete failure at the box office. This film is actually the main reason Keaton's career was ruined; because of this film's failure he was forced to move to MGM where he lost nearly all of his creative control and only made lackluster comedies from then on. In fact for a long time the only person who would have called The General Keaton's best film was Keaton himself; a statement he believed true and stuck with till the day he died. 

But now The General is seen by the majority to be Buster Keaton's best, or at least one of. Orson Welles (director of Citizen Kane, which is largely considered to be the greatest film ever made and the first masterpiece of cinema) has been quoted as saying that The General is "the greatest comedy ever made, the greatest Civil War film ever made, and perhaps the greatest film ever made." Film critic Roger Ebert lists it in his top ten films of all time, along with countless other cinema buffs and it's been on countless lists of greatest films of the silent era. So why is it that this film went from failure to success in the eyes of the public? 

I think one thing that may have plagued this film at the time, and still, to an extent, to this day, was that The General, in defiance of Buster Keaton's reputation, isn't really a comedy. Keaton was known for making Romantic Slapstick Comedies, and sure, The General has plenty of slapstick and comedic and even romantic elements, and it follows the same plot of boy-overcoming-obstacles-to-win-girl that nearly every other Keaton film followed, but, I think, The General is, and was indeed intended to be, more of an Action Adventure picture. And if you view it as an Action Adventure film with comedic elements rather than a straight Comedy with adventure elements I think the film becomes much better. Because let's face it, when you compare The General to Sherlock, Jr. you realize that when it comes to laughs The General is severely lacking. The General is perhaps Keaton's best produced and shot and structured film but his funniest? Absolutely not. 

The General is a good film but I wouldn't call it one of my favorites from Keaton. It's shot very well and has some excellent cinematography; the lenses capture some truly beautiful images. The plot is, as I said, a typical one for Keaton, but it works here perhaps better than in any of his other films. Sure, the female Keaton is trying to save is nearly the complete opposite of likable, and yes the film forces you to root for a Confederate soldier, but this is still probably Keaton's most engaging film. The plot actually feels like it progresses here. It feels, as it should, more like the film is taking you on an actual adventure. It is, for lack of a better word, perhaps Keaton's most filmish film. Whereas Sherlock, Jr. was non-stop comedy with laugh after laugh, The General is non-stop action with awesome scene after awesome scene. You may not be laughing the whole way through but you certainly won't be bored. 

Above all I wouldn't call this one of my favorite Keaton films because when I think of Keaton I think of non-stop laughs and The General just doesn't achieve that. It has its funny moments and Keaton is still a pleasure to watch regardless, but I didn't want a Buster Keaton Action Adventure and I don't think anyone at the time did either. Looking back on it we can see it as a great Adventure film with some fabulous Action scenes and superb production values but it'll never be my favorite Keaton as it seems to be for so many people. 

An Action Adventure first, a Slapstick Comedy second, a great film overall, and a largely enjoyable one at that. Essential Keaton. Just barely short of a 4/5. 

Purchase The General on Amazon: Blu-Ray - DVD - Stream

Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) Review

Director: Toshiya Fujita
Stars: Meiko Kaji, Juzo Itami, Yoshio Harada
Genre: Chambara, Political Drama

Sequel to 1973's Lady Snowblood, based on the manga Shurayukihime by Kazuo Koike. Both films (though mostly the first one) are noted for their large influence upon Tarantino's Kill Bill duology.

Continuing the story of Yuki from the last film, after Yuki avenged her family she is now wanted for murder by the police and is sentenced to be executed. Yuki, who was born for the single reason of revenge, feels her existence is now pointless and accepts her fate. However, during her arrest she is rescued by the Secret Police who wish to hire her to retrieve a document from an anti-government anarchist.

As you may come to realize this film is much more plot-heavy than the last one. Whereas the first was a simple tale of revenge, this sequel turns a bit more into a political drama. And I suppose that's the main complaint most people have with this film, and I can't blame them.

This film is slow paced, despite the nearly non-stop action you've come to love from the first (a bit similar to Kill Bill Vol. 1 compared to Vol. 2, to make further connections between the two). That is something you have to accept while watching it. There's not much action in it. If you go in knowing that you will enjoy the film; after all, we don't criticize Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove for being a war film with no action. No, we differentiate them into separate genres. Lady Snowblood 2 is different from the first, so different in fact that it nearly crosses into a completely different genre. 

Despite the subtitle of Love Song of Vengeance there's actually not must revenge going on; it's not really much of a revenge story at all. And, as you may be surprised to find out, the story really isn't about Lady Snowblood, it just happens to involve her. Much of the time is spent with other character or other things happening that have very little to do with Yuki. Which is a shame, because when the camera's on Yuki it's awesome. 

It's slow-paced and pretty talk-heavy, but there is some action. The beginning has some cool fighting and there's a big showdown at the end (which was a bit disappointing). The main problem I had with the end fight scene (only minor spoilers here) was that it wasn't thrilling or epic. It was just slash, slash, shoot, shoot. It lacked substance. Plus, it was very poorly choreographed. Lady Snowblood gets shot about half a dozen times without so much as flinching. The large fights suffer from the problem of having people idle, just waiting until their turn to die (a problem that many action films of the sort suffer from). The film definitely fails to maintain the thrilling and exciting and just plain awesome action of the first one, but that's not to say it's all bad.

Despite these negatives I've mentioned I still think Lady Snowblood 2 is not a bad film, indeed I'd call it a great one. First of all it's incredibly well made. Allow me to elaborate...

This film is beautiful. Every shot seems perfectly crafted and executed. The cinematography is masterful. Take for instance a scene early on in the film: Yuki is on a beach fighting off a group of policemen whom have her encircled; the camera captures everything from an overhead shot; we see the wave come up to everyone's feet and for a brief second everything is still as if suspended, then, as the wave pulls back into the ocean, the policemen move in on Yuki and capture her. Obviously words can't do the scene perfect justice but it is quite an amazing shot and there are many more like it throughout the film.

Another positive for the film is that the politics are actually very well written. I'm no Japanese political expert but even the little I knew was enough to make this all the more interesting. I've also seen people whom are very well versed in early 20th century Japanese politics who say that it was very well done and fascinating.

The acting is great, I particularly liked the guy who played the anarchist. Of course Meiko Kaji as Yuki does a great job and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses.

Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance is a good film. You just have to know what to expect and view it less as a sequel to an action-filled gore fest and more as it's own movie...one which happens to have a bit less snow and blood. Do that and you should enjoy it immensely.

Purchase Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance on Amazon: Blu-Ray/DVD Combo Double Feature (UK only) [Steelbook] - DVD - VHS

Death Proof (2007) Review

Part of Merry Christmas and Happy Tarantino Month! 

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson
Genre: Action, Thriller, Exploitation

One half of the Rodriquez-Tarantino double-feature, Grindhouse. The other half being Rodriquez's Planet Terror. Tarantino has been quoted saying that this is the worst film he's ever made. Well, it sure ain't that bad for his worst.

The premise is simple. There's a guy named Stuntman Mike (Russell) and he likes to crash his "death proof" car into cars that are driven by beautiful women and, in some cases, kill them. It's essentially a slasher plot.

This film was intentionally made to resemble the '70s grindhouse B-movies, both in plot and in style. In that sense the film is successful. Intentional damage was done to the film to achieve the worn look of many exploitation films and there's numerous jump-cuts and audio cut-outs that all add to the film's great style.

The film has its slower talky moments and it also has its contrasting action scenes.

The action scenes are great. Zoe Bell (who also has a large role in the film) served as the main stunt performer. [Fun fact: Zoe Bell was also Uma Thurman's stunt double in Kill Bill.] The car scenes are great and this film has one of the coolest chase scenes you'll ever see. The first crash scene is awesomely detailed and replayed from numerous angles. There could have been a lot more action though. It's nearly a two hour film and the action goes like this: short (but awesome) car crash in the first half of the film, girl driving around on the hood of a car for a few minutes in the second half of the film, great chase scene in the last ten minutes of the film. So most of the film is without action, which wouldn't usually be a problem except...

...The slow scenes in Death Proof pretty much suck. Well, maybe that's not completely fair. Much of the first half of the film was very enjoyable (with the first batch of girls). The first half also had better characters (in my opinion, though most of the characters were pretty awful) and features one of the greatest lap-dance scenes ever put to film. So the first half, in the bar, was pretty good. But Tarantino, a man known for his dialogue and skill in crafting slow long-take scenes, really failed to bring great dialogue or scenes. The scene where those four girls are in a diner eating (the camera spinning around the table like in Reservoir Dogs) is one of the worst scenes I've ever watched (I will admit there was one cool line: "You know what happens to motherfuckers who carry knives? They get shot!").

Allow me to make one thing clear: nearly every scene with Kurt Russell is five star material. He's great in here and he really carries the film. His dialogue is very well written and him as a character is very interesting. Unfortunately there's not much of Russell in here. He really only appears during the action scenes. I also didn't like how he became a whiny bitch in the second half, but whatever.

So the dialogue goes like this: In the first half it's pretty good (though far from Tarantino's best), in the second half it's sometimes decent but mostly mediocre, and anything that comes out of Kurt Russell's mouth is gold.

I definitely liked the first half better than the second half. The only good part in the second half is the action scenes towards the end. I didn't really have a problem with the ending, it was okay.

The cast here is pretty great as are the performances. Obviously Kurt Russell steals the show. Rose McGowan has a nice small role (who was also in Planet Terror and whom I have had a cinematic crush on ever since The Doom Generation). Eli Roth makes a cameo, who I don't mind at all as a person but I just for some reason really hate his face and acting. Zoe Bell, who isn't an actress, did a surprisingly good performance. There's plenty of beautiful girls in here (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Jordan Ladd). I should also note that Mary Elizabeth Winstead is at her prettiest in here. Quentin himself also makes a cameo.

The soundtrack is awesome, none of it original. My favorite track being April March's "Chick Habit" which plays during the end credits.

Watch Death Proof if you're a fan of exploitation or a fan of Tarantino or Kurt Russell. You'll definitely enjoy it. There was some missed opportunity and some things were just surprisingly mediocre, but all in all not a bad film.

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