Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Brian A. Miller
Cast: Jason Patric, Bruce Willis, John Cusack, Jessica Lowndes, Curtis ‘50 CENT’ Jackson, Jung Ji-Hoon a.k.a Rain
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Violence and Drug Use)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 25 September 2014
Synopsis: JASON PATRIC (My Sister’s Keeper), BRUCE WILLIS (Red 2) and JESSICA LOWNDES (90210) lead a venerable group of veterans and newcomers in The Prince, an unrelenting action film that forces a retired crime boss back into the seedy underworld he’d left behind. For twenty years Paul Brennan (Patric), a retired New Orleans crime boss, has lived a quiet life off the grid, running an auto repair garage in remote Mississippi. When his teenage daughter goes missing, Paul is forced to return to the city and face his former enemies. With the help of his daughter’s friend Angela (Lowndes), Paul comes face to face with Omar (Willis), the city’s most powerful man whose family he mistakenly took out, in an explosive final standoff that may offer redemption for Paul’s past mistakes. Starring alongside Patric, Willis, and Lowndes in The Prince are JOHN CUSACK (2012), RAIN (Ninja Assassin), JOHNATHON SCHAECH (The Legend of Hercules) GIA MANTEGNA (The Frozen Ground), and CURTIS “50 CENT” JACKSON (Escape Plan).
Movie Review:
You can’t blame every has-been action star of yesteryear from wanting their own ‘Taken’ franchise - after all, the concept is easy enough to replicate and the payoff, as evinced by what the two Luc Besson-produced films did for Liam Neeson’s career, potentially tremendous. Indeed, it’s no secret that ‘The Prince’ is yet another ‘Taken’ knockoff designed for star Jason Patric, what with its premise of an ex-military and retired assassin on the hunt for his daughter gone missing who is also suspected to have been involved in some bad company.
At first glance, it may seem as if this Brian A. Miller film could be a cut above the rest. Besides Patric, John Cusack stars as an old acquaintance with whom the former forms an alliance when he hotfoots to New Orleans. Bruce Willis is also billed, in a rare villainous turn as a mobster whom Patric is responsible for the death of his wife and daughter many years ago. And last but not least, Korean pop-star Rain is also in the movie with a minor role as Willis’ reliable henchman, called upon from time to time to do the latter’s dirty work. But don’t let the big-name stars fool you - this is ultimately no more than a generic, straight-to-video quality production that fails to rise above its B-movie trappings.
As is increasingly commonplace for many such cable-quality offerings, this one sends Patric’s widowed auto mechanic Paul to New Orleans in search of his college daughter Beth (Gia Mantegna). Paul gets some help from her friend Angela (Jessica Lowndes), a party chick who claims that Beth is deep into hard drugs and mixed up with the dealers who supply them. Despite the company, Paul is essentially a one-man show, and the dismally flat script by Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore tries its darnest to convince us that he was someone notable in the criminal underworld whom everyone feared. It also tries to convince us that Willis’ aging crime boss Omar is someone to be reckoned with.
Sadly, the film fails miserably on both counts. No matter that Patric is at least a decade younger than Neeson, Miller shortchanges the actor by filming the close combat action in close-ups that fail to convey how quick or lethal his character is with his moves - and no, we’ve seen too many such conveniences to be impressed by Patric’s apparent ability to shoot with the accuracy of a marksman. Nor, for that matter, does Willis come across as anything close to formidable - most of the time, the actor just looks worn and bored reading the lines off his script while thinking about when he can collect his paycheck.
On that note, we may as well add that the drug pusher whom Beth is caught up with is some guy called The Pharmacy, played by rapper Curtis ’50 Cents’ Jackson, whose appearance in the movie is no more than 50 seconds. The only credible villain here is Rain, who gets a mano-a-mano fight with Patric towards the end but is ultimately shortchanged by the action choreography which decides to let it come down to an utterly disappointing denouement - though we can’t quite blame whoever did it, since the slightly pudgy Patric was never any match for the toned and buffed Korean actor in the first place.
Though the star pedigree might make you assume otherwise, ‘The Prince’ is really a middling B-action thriller that tries to replicate the ‘Taken’ formula without any flair of its own. It hardly comes close for sure, and even on a visceral level, the shootouts and showdowns are just yawn-worthy. Cusack and Willis certainly deserve better, and even Patric, who desperately needs a career restart like a patient needs a defibrillator, could do better than slumming around in this absolutely unnecessary time-filler.
Movie Rating:
(Yet another ‘Taken’ copycat that tries to replicate its premise without imagination or flair, this star-driven thriller is strictly B-grade Direct-to-Video material)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Director: Scott Frank
Cast: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Ruth Wilson, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Sebastian Roche, David Harbour, Mark Consuelos, Astro
RunTime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://www.awalkamongthetombstones.com
Opening Day: 18 September 2014
Synopsis: An ex-NYPD cop and recovering alcoholic haunted by regrets, Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) has a lot to make up for. When a series of kidnappings targeting the wives of drug dealers escalates to grisly murder, Scudder reluctantly agrees to help a heroin trafficker (Dan Stevens) and his brother (Boyd Holbrook) hunt the two men down and bring them to bloody justice. An unlicensed private detective, Matt gets help from his former colleague (Ruth Wilson) and a homeless 17 year-old artist, TJ (Astro.) Operating just outside the law to track down the monsters responsible, Scudder stops just short of becoming one himself.
Movie Review:
You have to admit – ever since Liam Neeson took on the role of Bryan Mills in 2008’s Taken, every other show he stars in seems to be a derivation of Pierre Morel’s action thriller. And there we have it, instead of the life saving Oskar Schindler (Schindler’s List, 1993), the wise Qui Gon Jinn (Star Wars Episode !: The Phantom Menace, 1999) and the founding father of human sexuality Alfred Kinsey (Kinsey, 2004), we get the latest breed of an action hero, one who is charmingly past 60.
The 62 year old Irish actor has since taken on roles in The A Team (2010), The Grey (2012) and Non Stop (2014). You can regard these movies as ‘Taken with young punks/ with wolves/ in the air’, and they all feature a lean and mean Neeson. Let’s not forget the Taken sequels (one in 2012 and one upcoming in 2015), and the wonderful Internet which gave us countless memes of Neeson threatening to hunt you down over the phone.
And that is why, when the award winning (one Oscar, one BAFTA and three Golden Globes, no less) actor threatens the enemy in his latest work, we couldn’t help it but be reminded of how far he has come. And of course, how we all want to be an action hero like him when we turn 60.
The crime thriller based on a novel by Lawrence Block of the same name, this Scott Frank directed popcorn flick has Neeson playing former NYPD cop and private investigator who gets hired by a drug dealer to find the killer of his wife. Set in a rather glum New York City, the 113 minute should be a sure winner at the box office – don’t you want to see Neeson hunting down baddies with his signature deep voice?
The movie opens with a grand entrance fit for Neeson’s Matt Scudder. A man walks into a bar, behind him follow gun-toting thugs, sparking a shootout that spills into the street. Even the opening credits are well-considered, with Neeson framed from below as he descends a flight of steps to finish off one of the gunmen.Thenwe find out the suffering soul left NYPD and quitted booze, but never once compromising his hatred for baddies in the city.
He is surrounded by stereotyped supporting characters played by relatively unknown actors (we’d imagine the filmmakers pumped their money into convincing Neeson to take on yet another action role). There’s a drug trafficker (Dan Stevens) who comes to Matt — via his strung-out brother (Boyd Holbrook), who attends Alcoholic Anonymous sessions with Matt — to find the guys who kidnapped then murdered his wife. There’s a homeless teen (Brian “Astro” Bradley) who is so excited to have an ex cop as a buddy that he tails Matt everywhere and becomes embroiled in the case himself. The villains (David Harbour and Adam David Thompson) are killers who are more excited about torturing and dismembering their female victims than the actual ransom. Topping the storybook characters off are a suspicious, creepy cemetery groundskeeper (Ólafur Darri Ólaffson), a friendly storeowner (Mark Consuelos) and a frantic Russian drug dealer (Sebastian Roché).
You can expect the movie to be littered with clichés, but a towering performance from Neeson and some delicate artistry from writer turned director Frank (screenwriter of Out of Sight and Minority Report) lifts it above bog standard.Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare, Jr. (The Master) gives the New Yorkseedy streets, back alleys and small stores, not to mention the cemetery in the title, a desaturated color palette to accentuate that old-fashioned noir feeling.
You’ll watch this movie to enjoy the action, not the cast’s acting chops. And this is probably what the kind of movies Neeson will be starring in for a big part of his career ahead to milk his action hero status dry.
Movie Rating:
(The entertaining genre action thriller does what it’s supposed to do, with no surprises along the way)
Review by John Li
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Genre: Comedy/Family
Director: Paul King
Cast: Ben Whishaw as the voice of Paddington, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.paddington.com/us/home/
Opening Day: 11 December 2014
Synopsis: From the beloved novels by Michael Bond and producer David Heyman (HARRY POTTER), PADDINGTON tells the story of the comic misadventures of a young Peruvian bear who travels to the city in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined - until he meets the kindly Brown family who read the label around his neck that says “Please look after this bear. Thank you,” and offer him a temporary haven. It looks as though his luck has changed until this rarest of bears catches the eye of a museum taxidermist.
Movie Review:
Can you believe it has taken more than half a century for Michael Bond’s beloved literary creation Paddington to make it to the big screen? That’s not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, as recent Hollywood bastardisations of ‘Garfield’ and ‘Marmaduke’ have proved; but those who had similar reservations of this live-action computer-generated adaptation can definitely heave a huge sigh of relief. With spot-on casting and much delightfully oh-so-British charm and wit, producer David Heyman (of ‘Harry Potter) and writer/director Paul King have made an utterly winsome family film that is as in tune with the sensibilities of modern-day children as it is with the nostalgia of those who have grown up (and old) with the character.
King and his co-writer Hamish McColl have kept the basics of Bond’s London-set stories: a small Peruvian bear with a soft spot for marmalade is found and adopted by the middle-class Brown family at Paddington station, hence inspiring the family to give him the name by which he would be known by. But to cater to the inquisitiveness of modern-day audiences, there is a more elaborate prologue than Bond’s books ever had, explaining how Paddington came to learn the language, the manners, and not forgetting to love the marmalade. So, instead of London, we begin in darkest Peru, where through a black-and-white ethnographic-styled documentary, we learn of how an English explorer came to befriend the natives and promise them a similarly warm reception should they ever come to visit the English city.
It is with that same hope many years later that Paddington makes the transatlantic voyage after his home is decimated by an earthquake, finding himself at the titular train station after hiding in a packet of mail. There is but one key difference – rather than the hospitality he was expecting, he comes to find London “a strange, cold city” where hordes of busy people in their winter coats shuffle and jostle him by while paying him no attention. Except for the gentle and kindly Mrs Brown (Sally Hawkins), who offers to take Paddington in for the night, much to her uptight but lovable husband’s (Hugh Bonneville) chagrin, who has made it his nature to risk-analyse every single scenario for the ostensible sake of their two children, teenage daughter Judy (Madeleine Harris) and son Johnathan (Samuel Joslin).
As it turns out, Paddington’s first few minutes in the home of the Browns prove his fears right, the former’s mishap in the “facilities” on the top floor the classic stuff of Bond’s books. But Paddington needs a roof over his head as much as the Browns need a catalyst to break the monotony of their lives, and so through the joyously funny slapstick and pratfalls, one bear will melt the frost at the heart of a family while trying to track down the explorer who had brought London to Peru in the first place. Oh, and to make this adventure big enough for the multiplex, King throws in a nefarious plot for good measure, with Nicole Kidman giving a evil taxidermist named Millicent who wants to stuff the bear her best Cruella de Vil impersonation.
Indeed, it’s quite brilliant how King manages to retain so many of the distinguishing characteristics of Bond’s books by working them into the well-balanced plot while throwing in a couple of nice surprises along the way. The elderly housekeeper, for instance, gets more than a touch of ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ thanks to its star Julie Walters, who is now also a distant relative of the Browns and fills in a nice backstory to illustrate the transformative effect of parenthood on the former hippie/ rocker before he turned into the Mr Brown we are now acquainted with. The Browns’ mean and bad-tempered neighbour Mr Curry (Peter Capaldi) best known for being a penny-pincher also gets to be part of the action, seduced by Millicent into helping her kidnap the new arrival. Yes, fans of Bond’s creation will certainly love the nostalgic trappings that King lovingly preserves (and we’re not just talking about the orangey kind that Paddington loves), most prominently how Paddington comes to acquire his signature look of a duffel coat and red hat.
There is also plenty of visual spectacle for the young and young-at-heart. Paddington’s pursuit of a pickpocket provides an excuse for a wildly inventive action sequence that sees him go from skateboarding to kite-surfing. Millicent’s initial attempt to kidnap Paddington is given a touch of ‘Mission Impossible” and guileless slapstick. In between the more obvious setpieces and the action-packed climax, there are also perfectly amusing bits such as one where Mr Brown infiltrate the fictional Geographer’s Guild HQ by donning drag and fanning off the flirtations of Simon Farnaby’s sleazy security guard.
Those more acquainted with British cinema will recognise Farnaby as King’s lead in his feature filmmaking debut ‘Bunny and the Bull’, but besides Farnaby, King has assembled a veritable ensemble of British acting and comedy talent – such as “Sightseers” duo Steve Oram and Alice Lowe, Jim Broadbent as an antiques dealer and Matt Lucas as the cab driver who delivers Paddington and the Browns to their Notting Hill house. It’s a delightfully British affair from start to end, from the humour to the characters to even the depiction of London as a melting pot of cultures, where on no less than three occasions, King relies on calypso songs performed onscreen by Tobago Crusoe and his band to enliven the atmosphere.
Not that it already isn’t lively enough on its own, mind you. The pacing is more effervescent than we’ve seen in any live-action family film in a while, and the Wes Anderson-inspired art direction lends it a rare touch of elegance. What doubts there were of Whishaw’s voicing of Paddington (who replaced Colin Firth at nearly the last minute) should also be firmly put to rest, for the young(er) actor’s delivery captures the bear’s childlike yet noble character perfectly. No matter that it is arriving more than half a century since Bond’s lovingly hand-drawn picture books, this handsomely mounted, beautifully crafted and exceedingly well-made film is old-fashioned and fresh, hilarious and meaningful, and quite possibly one of the most enjoyable family romps you’ll see this year.
Movie Rating:
(Witty, inventive and bursting with charm, this live-action CG adaptation of Michael Bond’s classic literary creation is a perfect holiday film for the whole family)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Crime/Comedy
Director: Daniel Schechter
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, Tim Robbins, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Mos Def, Charlie Tahan, Seana Kofoed
RunTime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: GV
Official Website: http://www.lifeofcrimemovie.com
Opening Day: 11 September 2014
Synopsis: When a pair of low-level criminals kidnap the wife of a corrupt real-estate developer, they get both more and less than they bargained for in Life of Crime, a dark caper comedy based on legendary author Elmore Leonard’s novel The Switch. Starring Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, yasiin bey, Mark Boone Junior, Isla Fisher, Will Forte, and Tim Robbins, Life of Crime is packed with the outrageously eccentric characters, black comedy and unexpected twists that earned Leonard a reputation as one of America’s sharpest and funniest crime writers. Mickey Dawson (Jennifer Aniston), the wife of crooked real-estate developer Frank Dawson (Tim Robbins), is kidnapped by two common criminals (yasiin bey and John Hawkes), who intend to hold her for a $1 million ransom and extort her husband with inside information about his illegal business dealings. But Frank, who is holed up in the Bahamas with his mistress, decides he’d rather not get his wife back, setting off a sequence of double-crosses and plot twists that could only come from the mind of master storyteller Elmore Leonard.
Movie Review:
Hollywood loves adapting Elmore Leonard for the big screen; not only is the late novelist’s works often concise enough to fit within the runtime of a feature film, his blend of memorable dialogue, colourful losers and lowlifes and darkly comic twists have lent themselves easily to such adaptations. Not all however may proven to be successful at capturing the spirit of Leonard’s works – whilst some like ‘Get Shorty’, ‘Jackie Brown’ and ‘Out of Sight’ have seemingly done so effortlessly, others like ‘Be Cool’ and ‘Killshot’ have fallen by the wayside simply because they fail to make the material snap, crackle and pop.
The good news for Leonard’s fans is that writer/director Daniel Schechter remains faithful to the word of the text; indeed, those who are familiar with the 1978 source material known as ‘The Switch’ may even be able to pick out some lines which have been taken verbatim from the book. The bad news is that while being one of the most faithful adaptations from the author, it lacks the spark found in the aforementioned favourites. In fact, when compared with Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Jackie Brown’, Schechter’s caper is sluggish and spiritless, redeemed only by a stellar ensemble cast which includes Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, Yasiin Bey (previously known as Mos Def) and Tim Robbins.
The comparison with ‘Brown’ is inevitable though, and some have even gone as far as to label ‘Crime’ a prequel to that 1997 movie. To be sure, it is not a prequel, but the association lies in how both movies share the characters of Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie, which in the case of Tarantino’s film, were played by Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson. The new Louis and Ordell here are portrayed by Hawkes and Bey, who admittedly acquit themselves admirably even in following the footsteps of De Niro and Jackson respectively, especially in how they contrast their respective characters.
When we first meet them in the depressed Motor City in the late 1970s, Ordell is plotting to kidnap the wife (Aniston) of a sleazy businessman Frank Dawson (Robbins) while he goes off to the Bahamas to see his much younger mistress (Isla Fisher) and to keep an eye on his less-than-legal assets stashed away. Besides his partner Louis, Ordell also enlists the assistance of a racist, neo-Nazi nutjob (Mark Boone Junior) whose role is as a comic foil as well as a loose disreputable confederate by whose actions the entire plan could fall apart. That’s not the only twist in the story though: Frank, who has filed for divorce, simply refuses to pay; his gold-digging girlfriend Melanie handles the negotiations in the hopes of getting something out of it; and last but not least Louis starts to develop a kindred connection with Frank’s wife.
Such complications are de rigueur in Leonard’s universe, but Schechter stages them with little flair. Instead, he lets these narrative developments go by amiably, such that not only is there little urgency to the telling, there also doesn’t seem to be much at stake in the first place. You don’t feel that Mickey, Frank’s wife, is in any particular danger. Neither do you expect Boone’s unhinged character to pose much of a threat in the end, nor for that matter do you get the sense that Will Forte’s supporting character, a family friend with designs on Mickey, will jeopardise the kidnapping in any appreciable manner.
Thankfully, the game cast keeps the film humming. Aniston is in fine form as the trophy wife, though you wish she’d were a little tougher around the edges. Robbins and Fisher share some amusing moments together as an adulterous pair, and Forte who sports a porn-star ’stache and long sideburns adds to the humour. But the show belongs to Hawkes and Bey, the former of whom reveals a lesser-known affable side as the sweet-natured Louis to whom the latter provides a nice complement to as his wryer, more conniving and more cold-blooded accomplice. They don’t match the chemistry of De Niro and Jackson in ‘Jackie Brown’ for sure, but do a good enough job holding the show together most of the time.
And yet, despite the cast’s best efforts, Leonard’s signature elements of crime, comedy and character are too slackly spun to live up to the author’s prose. It isn’t quite so much Schechter’s scripting than his directing that is lacking – indeed, Schechter’s script which he had written on spec did carry Leonard’s stamp of approval, who is given an executive producer credit here – and one need only look at ‘Jackie Brown’ or even David O’ Russell’s ‘American Hustle’ to realise just how inert his staging is. The 70s ought to pop with energy, verve and style, all ingredients which this ‘Life of Crime’ could do with a lot of.
Movie Rating:
(Despite a stellar cast, this generically-titled Elmore Leonard adaptation is sluggishly paced and unimaginatively staged, lacking the pop, crackle and snap of the author's works)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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EARTH TO ECHO IN-CINEMAS PROMOTIONPosted on 28 Aug 2014 |
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Director: Keishi Ohtomo
Cast: Takeru Sato, Emi Takei, Munetaka Aoki, Kaito Oyagi, Yu Aoi, Yosuke Eguchi, Yusuke Iseya, Min Tanaka, Tao Tsuchiya, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Maryjun Takahashi, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Fukuyama Masaharu
RunTime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 9 October 2014
Synopsis: To stop Makoto Shishio who aims to conquer Japan, Kenshin arrives in Kyoto and tries to face off against Shishio’s troops. However, his enemy has begun its course to start invading Tokyo with the steel-reinforced battleship. To save captured Kaoru who is thrown into the sea by Shishio’s men, Kenshin also dives in after her but is washed ashore alone, unconscious. Kenshin recovers with the help of Seijuro Hiko, the master of Kenshin who happens to find him on the shore. He realises he is no match for Shishio unless he learns the ultimate technique of his sword style, and begs the master to teach him. In the meantime, Shishio finds that Kenshin is still alive, and puts pressure on the government to find Kenshin and execute him in public for his sins during his days as the “Battosai the Killer”. As Kenshin faces his biggest challenge, can Kenshin really defeat his fiercest enemy Shishio, and be reunited with Kaoru?
Movie Review:
I’ll say this first – die-hard fans of the manga series would probably not like the movie very much.
Well, book fans rarely go gaga over movie adaptations, deeming it inferior to the original due to the lack of detail most of the time. That said, it is lacking detail, and there is changing the storyline until it feels like a different story but with the same characters and a vague resemblance to the original plot.
I might be exaggerating, but for a self-confessed Rurouni Kenshin fan, it sure felt that way for a good part of two hours.
Picking up where Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno left off, Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends launches itself straight into the plot. With Shishio Makoto (Tatsuya Fujiwara) advancing to Tokyo and threatening to take over the country, the weakened Himura Kenshin (Satou Takeru) must dig deep and find out how to defeat him, and fast. And in a stroke of good luck, who else to find him washed up from the sea but his teacher, Hiko Seijurou (Masaharu Fukuyama).
Despite the deviation from the original manga, the plot does retain some part that require the audience to have read the manga to fully enjoy. For example, the self-sacrifice required behind the ultimate technique of the "Flying Heaven Honorable Sword Style", and the backstory behind Sagara Sanosuke and “Ten Swords” member, Anji. This lack of information does not take away anything from the plot, but it does seem lacking in some sort without these intricacies.
Like the first and second Rurouni Kenshin movie, what the Legend Ends uses to sell itself to non-readers of the manga is probably the sword fighting sequences in the movie. To get to that, however, the audience must sit through 1.5 hours of dialogue with almost next to nil actual fighting scenes. This could be to make up for the lack of character development in Kyoto Inferno, where it was sacrificed for the action sequences. From the dialogue and non-fighting parts, we learn about Kenshin’s past, before he was picked up by his teacher, the callousness of the Meiji government, and in general, a lot more evil laughing from Shishio. That is fine for people who want to learn more about the characters and their motivations. But for action fans, I suppose it would be boring. On the other hand, what was not explained was the backstory behind Sojiro’s childhood, and how he became with cold, smiling right hand man of Shishio. That would have taken up more time, but it was the most memorable backstory in the manga, in my opinion.
And finally, after the huge buildup to the main fight – Shishio vs. Kenshin – the fight disappoints. Perhaps it is due to the need to rush through things, due to the time taken up by story and character development. Perhaps we were desensitized by the other fighting scenes. Or perhaps it is the four versus one (blasphemy!) to wear Shishio down. But Kenshin’s supposed victory over Shishio did not seem conclusive.
As a whole, the film accessible to all audiences, fans or non-fans of the manga alike. No prior reading is required, although watching Kyoto Inferno before this movie would be recommended. Also, with the Shishio arc in the manga spanning across multiple volumes, the Rurouni Kenshin movies do a decent job in condensing the story to make it suitable for theatres, so kudos for that.
Movie Rating:
(For non-readers of the original manga, the fight scenes would probably impress; for fans of the original manga, I’d say either prepare for a new version of the story, or just re-read your 28-volume Rurouni Kenshin series)
Review by Goh Yan Hui
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IMAX 3D Documentaries for September School HolidaysPosted on 29 Aug 2014 |
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