SYNOPSIS: A Civil War veteran agrees to deliver a girl, taken by the Kiowa people years ago, to her aunt and uncle, against her will. They travel hundreds of miles and face grave dangers as they search for a place that either can call home.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Captain Jefferson Kidd from News of the World might be the same Captain John Miller from Saving Private Ryan and the latter might also be the same Captain Chesley Sullenberger in Sully if you believe in such a thing called reincarnation. Kidd, Miller and Sully are all honourable, brave men who has no qualms risking whatever it takes to fulfil their missions. Coincidentally, all three characters are played by Hollywood’s most likeable actor, Tom Hanks.
In his second collaboration with Paul Greengrass (we forgot there is Captain Phillps also), Greengrass takes Hanks to the Wild Wild West. Captain Jefferson Kidd is a former civil war veteran who is now making his living travelling from town to town reading newspapers to folks who are eager to know more about news outside their small town. On one such occasion, Kidd found a white girl dressed in native clothing all alone beside an overturned wagon. He learnt that her real name is Joanna (newcomer Helena Zengel) although she can no longer speaks her mother tongue. As there is no one to turn to, Kidd has no choice but to take on the mission of bringing Jonna back to her living relatives.
The story that Greengrass and Luke Davis has concocted is downright simple and bare. It has all the predictable tropes of a good old western. You know the ones that consist of familiar dusty, harsh environment where crooks and danger lurks at every corner. Yet it’s also a character-driven drama where the relationship between an aged man and a young girl that is old enough to be her granddaughter is forged and bonded along a treacherous journey.
Kidd attempts to teach Joanna English and the latter reciprocates by teaching him Kiowa, language of the Native Americans. He taught her what is coffee and sugar and she taught him how to fire a rifle when you run out of bullets. Greengrass does things the old-fashioned way and as audiences, appreciate his emotive touches and his frequent attentiveness to lush and picturesque shots of the vast landscape. New Mexico standing in for Texas by the way. Ridley Scott’s frequent collaborator, Polish cinematographer Dariusz Wolski of course deserved the praise as well. At least, Greengrass’s signature vomit-inducing shaky cams are nowhere in sight.
Despite running for almost two hours, the movie never feels bored or dry. There’s a heart-pounding shootout in the wild between Kidd and three hooligans who are out to kidnap Joanna. It doesn’t possess all the flashy treatment of a typical shootout but at least it sells Kidd’s heroism beautifully. Greengrass also smartly smuggled in a subtle message about the current political climate when Kidd and Joanna encountered a racist town leader, Mr Farley before encountering a deadly dust storm.
Just in time for the awards season, Greengrass and Hanks delivered a likeable, entertaining Western epic in the form of News of the World. German young actress Helena Zengel puts in a sensitive, warmth performance as a girl trying to find her place in a vast strange land. Hanks as usual is effortlessly fantastic regardless which Captain he plays onscreen. For a tale about redemption, troubled times and fatherly love, this is a damn fine Western although you won’t see Captain Kidd bursting out of saloon doors firing his rifle anytime soon.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Director: Simon McQuoid
Cast: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Chin Han, Joe Taslim, Hiroyuki Sanada, Max Huang, Sisi Stringer, Matilda Kimber, Laura Brent
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: M18 (Strong Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 8 April 2021
Synopsis: In "Mortal Kombat," MMA fighter Cole Young, accustomed to taking a beating for money, is unaware of his heritage-or why Outworld's Emperor Shang Tsung has sent his best warrior, Sub-Zero, an otherworldly Cryomancer, to hunt Cole down. Fearing for his family's safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Soon, he finds himself at the temple of Lord Raiden, an Elder God and the protector of Earthrealm, who grants sanctuary to those who bear the mark. Here, Cole trains with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano, as he prepares to stand with Earth's greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. But will Cole be pushed hard enough to unlock his arcana-the immense power from within his soul-in time to save not only his family, but to stop Outworld once and for all?
Movie Review:
Few video games have successfully leapt from console to screen, but thanks to Paul W.S. Anderson’s deft direction, ‘Mortal Kombat' counted among one of those which did. Alas, the same cannot be said of its subpar (not ‘Sub-Zero’) sequel ‘Annihilation’, which for the lack of a better word, annihilated any hopes of a feature film series (unlike say ‘Resident Evil’). So a reboot was probably the only way of resurrecting the franchise, with original studio New Line Cinema deciding to place its confidence in producer James Wan and his belief in first-time director Simon McQuoid.
Unlike Anderson’s 1995 original, this latest is decidedly a lot grittier and more violent. Aside from an arrogant, wise-cracking Kano (Josh Lawson), almost nothing else in the movie is played for laughs, such that the entire premise – of the Earthrealm and Outerworld; of fighters from each world meant to compete in a tournament that will determine the fate of the Earthrealm; and of lineages and ‘chosen ones’ – is handled with utter solemnity. While sincere, there is no disguising the campiness of the source material, and the fact that the movie refuses to acknowledge that fact renders it somewhat tone-deaf.
On the other hand, we’re sure fans and neophytes alike will cheer how gleefully it has embraced its source material’s sense of bloodletting – from heads being crushed, limbs being shredded, bodies cut in half from top to toe, and even hearts ripped out of their chests – so let that be fair warning for those who are more squeamish. To McQuoid’s credit, all that gore isn’t done in gloating fashion; rather, it is seamlessly integrated into the breathlessly choreographed action, just as how it would have felt like a natural part of the game itself.
There is no doubt that the focus of the movie is on the ‘kombat’, and in that regard, both McQuoid and his stunt team have done brilliant work here. Starting with a thrilling prologue between Bi-Han/ Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) and Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada), each of the plentiful action sequences are well-staged and beautifully executed by the ensemble, most of whom come well-equipped with backgrounds in martial arts. Like the game, these sequences are largely designed as mano-a-mano battles – Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) against Kano and Milenna (Sisi Stringer); Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) against Kabal (Daniel Nelson); and Kung Lao (Max Huang) against Nitara (Elissa Cadwell) – which allow the respective characters to showcase their unique set of powers. Fans will be glad to know that much attention has been paid to remain faithful to the design of the characters in the games, so you’ll love what Kung Lao does with his metal hat, or what Liu Kang does with fire, or even what Sub-Zero does with ice.
As much as it does fan service, the movie also tries to forge its own path by carving an origin story for a new character Cole Young (Lewis Tan). Born with the signature dragon logo, Cole is a mixed-martial arts fighter sucked into the world of Mortal Kombat when Sub-Zero pays him and his family a visit out of the blue. The significance of his lineage is only revealed towards the end, but Cole is not only a pivotal role in the narrative but also an audience surrogate meant to introduce those unfamiliar with the franchise to its design. Fans will likely be divided on how Cole takes centre-stage, but at least he gets a worthy showdown at the end against Sub-Zero.
That we haven’t spent much time talking about the plotting is deliberate – indeed, it should come as no surprise that the story is secondary to the fights, so much so that when the movie stops to do its obligatory world-building, the pacing slows considerably. It doesn’t help that neither Raiden (Tadanobu Asano) or Shang Tsung (Chin Han) are compelling leaders on the side of good and evil respectively, without which it is difficult to buy into what exactly is at stake and what needs to be done to save the world; and while it is noble that the filmmakers had invested in looking for acting talent to back these roles, we’re sad to say that neither actor is match for his predecessor (remember Christopher Lambert and Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa?).
Thankfully, ‘Mortal Kombat’ delivers where it matters at the end of the day, serving up bouts of impressive fight action that is raw, intense and exhilarating. Like we said, it stays true too to its video game origins, and fans who have grown up with the games will appreciate that the filmmakers have not forgotten why this reboot even has a place to exist. It is no secret that the movie is intended as a franchise-starter, and by the time it ends with a poster of Johnny Cage’s latest movie on the wall of a gym, you’ll most likely agree this reboot gives the once sputtering series a renewed boost of life.
Movie Rating:
(As gleeful a reboot as fans would expect, 'Mortal Kombat' breathes new life into the movie franchise with plenty of thrillingly brutal action)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Romance
Director: Hong Ji-young
Cast: Kim Kang-woo, Yoo In-na, Yoo Yeon-suk, Lee Yeon-hee, Lee Dong-hwi, Chen Du-ling, Yeom Hye-ran, Choi Soo-young, Yoo Teo
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 11 February 2021
Synopsis: 4 different couples spend 1 romantic week over New Year's Eve.
Both coming out of failed marriages, Ji-ho and Hyo-young are not open for the possibilities of new love. A week before the new year, will they be able to get over the trauma and embrace this new love? # Revive the Thrill of Romance
Heartbroken after being dumped, Jin-ah heads to the other side of South Korea and encounters Jae-hun who also has left Seoul behind. A week to the new year, can they find a turning point in their lives and love? # Refresh from the Burned-out Past
Yong-chan and Yaolin are an international couple soon to get married. But their already- growing marriage blues begin to get worse as Yong-chan is swindled out of his wedding savings. A week to the new year, will they be able to finally set up a real family? # Reset your Love-Translator
A Paralympic snowboarder Rae-hwan pops a question to his long-time girlfriend Oh-wol. They are a perfect match in their eyes, but not in other’s point of view. A week before the new year, can this long-term couple keep their love strong? # Remember the Moment She Said “Yes”
ONE WEEK TO THE NEW YEAR Stories of anxiety and hope unfold following four couples wishing a handful more of happiness for the new year.
Movie Review:
Presented as a series of romcom vignettes, New Year Blues is mould in the same manner as Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve. Since this one comes from Korea, don’t expect Ashton Kutcher, Halle Belle or Julia Roberts to turn up in this ensemble drama.
Paralympic snowboarder Rae-hwan is ready to walk down the aisle with his girlfriend, gardener Oh-wol. But because of his handicap, Rae-hwan feels he will never be able to match up to Oh-wol and society’s expectations of him. The next guy Yong-chan runs a small tourism company and when his Chinese girlfriend, Yaolin plans to hold a lavish wedding in both Korea and her hometown, Yong-chan feels the mounting financial pressure especially when his staff has recently absconded with his savings.
The third guy is a cop named Ji-ho who is being assigned to protect a physiotherapist, Hyo-young who has a stalking ex-husband. The last happened to be a young lady, Jin-ah who has been dumped by her long-term boyfriend and is now on her way to Bueno Aries to clear her mind.
The whole point of having the movie being set five days before New Year is plain gimmicky. Nothing worthy or relevant to the entire movie. In fact, there are no apparent reasons to do so however since National Liberation Day of Korea Blues don’t sound catchy or right, we have to stick with the universally related New Years’ Eve.
Out of the four love stories, the most entertaining one goes to Yong-chan and Yaolin. Not that their love story is the most captivating or special. But Yong-chan has a lovable elder sister played by veteran Yum Hye-ran that constantly has us in giggles with her antics. The love story of Ji-ho and Hyo-young can probably spin-off to a full-length feature given that Hyo-young’s creepy husband likely has more tricks up his sleeve while the fumbling Ji-ho who has been divorced for the past six years deserve more screentime besides doing pottery with Hyo-young.
Who needs Niagara Falls when you can afford to go all the way to Argentina? The money shots of the entire movie no doubt go to Jin-ah’s story. There’s nothing like a romantic trip to watch the magnificent Iguazu Falls with conveniently, a Korean oppa who worked locally as a wine delivery man as your companion. The least inspiring of all however is the relationship between Rae-hwan and Oh-wol which falls pretty much flat right from the beginning.
New Year Blues is a gathering of various characters caught in a week where Cupid is clearing his annual leave. The entire cast members did a decent job trying to live up to its theme and their respective mini stories of hope and love. Though there are no A-list Korea superstars to be spotted here, Super Junior’s Choi Si-won has a cameo as Jin-ah’s nasty ex.
Movie Rating:
(No blues at all; just predictable fluffy romcom stuff)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Rao Xiaozhi
Cast: Andy Lau, Xiao Yang, Wan Qian, Cheng Yi, Huang Xiaolei
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Nudity & Violence)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 12 February 2021
Synopsis: Chen Xiaomeng is a theater actor who just can’t catch a break in life. His career is in shambles, his love life is depressing, and he can’t even properly commit suicide. Before he takes another attempt at suicide, he decides to visit the local bathhouse so he can die with dignity. In the bathhouse, Xiaomeng accidentally causes a man to slip on a piece of soap and falls into a deep coma. In a split second, he decides to switch places with the comatose man, only to discover that the man is a renowned professional assassin. Under his new identity, Xiaomeng is forced to undertake the assassin’s missions. Meanwhile, the assassin wakes up in the hospital with no memory of his identity. Believing that he’s the failed actor, he begins piece together his “past life” with the help of single mother Li Xiang. As he tries to “continue” his life as an actor, the amnesiac assassin and Li Xiang develop a bond. But when the assassin regains his real memories, our three heroes become entangled in messy and complicated ways.
Movie Review:
Endgame no relation to Avengers is a remake of a little-known 2012 Japanese movie, Key of Life which in turn also spawned another remake, the 2016 Korean version, Luck-Key.
Adapted to the screen by director Rao Xiaozhi and stars Heavenly King Andy Lau with one half of Chopstick Brothers, Xiao Yang, Endgame tells the story of how a contract killer, Zhou (Lau) switches identity with a down-and-out extra actor, Chen Xiaomeng (Xiao).
In the opening sequence, we see how Lau’s character expertly carried out his killing and shortly after, we cut to Xiaomeng failing to kill himself before visiting the bathhouse for a shower. And it’s there at the bathhouse, the two met and Xiaomeng assumed the identity of Zhou after he fell and suffered from amnesia. Zhou woke up thinking he is just a poor actor living in a dilapidated rental unit while Xiaomeng spent and enjoyed Zhou’s riches not knowing that he is an assassin for hire.
The first hour of the comedy is candid and amusing with Xiaomeng enjoying the wealth of others to the fullest and Zhou romancing a single parent, Li Xiang (Wan Qian) and trying his best to learn how to be an actor or extra in this case. Needless to say, there’s more coming up especially when an underworld figure, Sis Hui engages Xiaomeng to kill the partner of her infidelity husband.
There’s no exaggerated or over-the-top performances from both Lau and Xiao Yang because the plot doesn’t require them to do so. Instead of doing a fantastical body-swap liked Big and Freaky Friday, Endgame keeps things (almost) relatively grounded. Lau puts in a subdued performance in general and despite the fact that he is well over his fifties, he still looks remarkably well-maintained opposite his 38-year-old co-star, Wan Qian. Xiao Yang has proven he is much more than a comedian after Sheep Without A Shephard. As Xiaomeng, he is convincingly awkward, awfully funny without being overly cringy.
The very obvious flaw is that the movie tends to be overly complicated and busy in the final act. Zhou regains his memories. Li has her son kidnapped. Sis Hui wants to kill Xiaomeng. And that is the general description of the finale without resorting to revealing the so-called big twist. Honestly, there’s close to none if you are looking for some action-oriented bits although Rao did throw in two pop-cultural references in the form of A Better Tomorrow and A Moment of Romance, those too young however might not catch it though.
We got to admit while Rao’s version is more restrained, it also has a lot of heart. The movie largely fulfils the expectation of a body-swap comedy but without any grossed-out body gags and offensive humour. Endgame offers a lightweight escapism experience for everyone in the family this Lunar New Year. As with any other CNY titles, all’s well end’s well.
Movie Rating:
(Genuinely sweet and good-hearted, Andy Lau and Xiao Yang help liven things up this CNY!)
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Every few hundred years a powerful immortal demon awakens. The four Yin-Yang Masters come together to summon the guardians of the realm and push back the demon. When one of the Masters is murdered, the other three must find out who is responsible for his death and replace the Master in order to keep the realm safe. The Princess of the kingdom has her own plans for the demon and its power to grant eternal life. She and the head of the royal guard conspire behind the Yin-Yang Masters' backs to claim this power for their own purposes.
MOVIE REVIEW:
As lavish a sword-and-sorcery fantasy as it gets, ‘The Yin Yang Master’ sees the titular protagonist play a Detective Dee-like character named Qingming who is summoned to the Imperial City to protect the Empress from an evil serpent. The same serpent is responsible for the death of his beloved master in the opening scene, and with his dying breath, tells Qingming that he needs not only to know how to attack but also to defend aggressively, and to find the one thing he would risk his life protecting in order to summon his true potential.
Qingming is not alone in his mission. He is accompanied by Boya (Allen Deng Lun), a master archer who grows immediately suspicious of Qingming when the latter stops him from vanquishing a demon he caught stealing a sacred pipa from the city; Longye (Jessie Li). Rounding up the quartet is Longye (Jessie Li), whose skill is in discerning motivations and disguises, and Shouyue (Duo Wang), a near-expressionless priest who bears an uncanny (and deliberate) resemblance to Qingming’s late master. These pugilists find their lives threatened by a demon who has already murdered Shouyue’s predecessor by strangling him around the neck, and must figure out who is plotting the release of the serpent before it is released into the world.
Styled after Tsui Hark’s ‘Detective Dee’ series, writer-director Guo Jingming’s plotting unfolds like a murder mystery, with each of the four masters taking turns to be at the centre of suspicion. It isn’t hard to guess though that the machinations have to do with the seemingly young and innocent Princess (Yang Ziwen), whose life Qingming saves by extracting the worm demon from under her skin. Neither would it come as any surprise that it has something to do with Shouyue, who behaves from the very start like he wants us to know that he is up to no good.
To be fair to Guo, the story turns out a lot more nuanced than we had assumed, especially as it dives into the relationship between Qingming’s late master and the Princess, ruminating on how grief and joy, partings and meetings, and life and death are inevitabilities in life. We dare say it gets unexpectedly poignant during the last half-hour, giving the characters depth and meaning that had hitherto been absent from the mix of slick costumes, impressive production design and exciting swordplay which made it more a visual treat than anything else in particular.
It is clear that no expense has been spared to make the visuals look absolutely gorgeous; indeed, presented in Dolby Vision, those with a 4K TV will probably agree that the images look even more stunning and remarkable than if you were to watch it in the cinemas. But is also equally clear that Guo has drawn from Marvel’s ‘Doctor Strange’ in designing the action, with Qingming’s use of portals to travel from one point or location in time to another especially reminiscent of the latter’s powers of sorcery – and if you know the controversy that had led to the movie being pulled from Mainland Chinese cinemas just 10 days into its release, you’ll probably be even more sensitive to the similarities.
Notwithstanding that, we must say the pleasures of ‘The Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity’ remain undiminished. This is as sumptuous a period action fantasy as it gets, and though the pacing could have been tighter, there is still enough intrigue and mystery in the plotting to keep you engaged. Like we said earlier, it does also muster enough profundity to be more than just a pretty but shallow picture. We haven’t said much about the actors in their roles, because frankly the performances here, even that of Chao in the titular role, is just passable. Still, for the scale, effort and sheer grandiosity, it is as entertaining, transporting and moving as dreams should be..
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Chasing after space debris and faraway dreams in year 2092, four misfits unearth explosive secrets during the attempted trade of a wide-eyed humanoid.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Space Sweepers marks the second collaboration of Song Joong-ki and director Jo Sung-hee after A Werewolf Boy and also Song’s first movie after his much-publicised divorce. Touted as Korea’s first big budget space epic, it was delayed by Covid-19 but was subsequently acquired by Netflix for a worldwide streaming. Not a bad deal considers the somewhat mediocre result.
In the year 2029, Earth has become so polluted that the rich and smart have all allocated to an orbiting home in space led by the head of UTS corporation, James Sullivan (Richard Armitage from The Hobbit). In the meantime, a crew of junk collectors, Captain Jang (Kim Tae-ri), Tae-ho (Song Joong-ki), Tiger Park (Jin Seon-kyu) and Robot Bubs (voiced by Yoo Hae-jin) discovered a young android girl nicknamed Dorothy, a mass destruction weapon wanted by both radicals and Sullivan in a cargo compartment.
Tae-ho proposed to sell away Dorothy in order to earn enough cash to search for his missing adopted daughter and the same time pay for the maintenance of their spaceship, Victory. But as the story goes, the crew members start to develop a liking for Dorothy especially Tiger Park and when they discover the dark secrets behind Sullivan and his intention to detonate Dorothy, the crew of Victory decides to bend together to fight against the advancing enemy force and reunite Dorothy with her scientist father.
For a sci-fi piece which Jo Sung-hee has planned for more than a decade, it does seem kind of dated with more than half of the ideas being done to death in other similar movies. Dying Earth? Checked. Egomaniacal billionaire. Checked. Brave ragtag crew? Checked. A wisecracking robot? Checked. For a movie that runs more than two hours, you can’t help feeling it’s just old stuff recycling. Hilariously in Jo Sung-hee’s planet, all the Koreans in the movie are somehow the good guys and the foreigners on the other hand, well you know who you should avoid in space.
To their credit, the writers did provide a decent background to the various crew members with Tae-ho having a more substantial backstory than the rest. It turned out Tae-ho is a former commander of UTS space force but was forced to leave by Sullivan after refusing to kill. Captain Jang is also a former space force member but left to become a pirate. Tiger Park is a wanted criminal on earth though he has a heart of gold and Robot Bubs being the comical element wishes to earn enough money to undergo a skin transplant to become a true human lady.
For an action sci-fi flick, Space Sweepers has no lack of dogfights and gunfights. While the effects are reasonable well-done by local VFX company, Dexter, it often lacks clarity, tension and overwhelmingly busy for audiences to catch what’s happening onscreen. Consider these with scenes that feature the interaction between Dorothy and the crew, the latter is more emotionally rewarding and satisfying.
Despite the anticipation, the storytelling is hardly inventive and it never feels like a sci-fi movie that came out of the usually reliable Korean movie industry. You know like how they shake up the monster genre in The Host, zombie genre in Train to Busan or even the disaster genre, Ashfall. Space Sweepers is simply too safe and way too long to make an impression. Similar to what the crews of Victory did for the living, this is merely collecting and recycling space junks.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
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CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER (1930 - 2021)Posted on 06 Feb 2021 |
SYNOPSIS: Just as they decide to separate, Linda (Anne Hathaway) and Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor) find life has other plans when they are stuck at home in a mandatory lockdown. Co-habitation is proving to be a challenge, but fueled by poetry and copious amounts of wine, it will bring them closer together in the most surprising way.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Premiering on HBO is this romantic heist movie set during the pandemic and shot over 18 days in London. Featuring Anna Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor and directed by Doug Liman, the director behind The Bourne Identity, Mr & Mrs Smith and The Edge of Tomorrow.
Big names. Small movie though.
Linda (Hathaway) and Paxton (Ejiofor) plays a couple who is on the verge of ending their relationship with constant bickering and quarrelling about their past and present during their lockdown. Linda as the CEO of a marketing company spends her days on Zoom liked firing her staff online for a start. Paxton on the other hand is trying to find a decent job after assaulting someone years back and is currently losing his mind because quarantine doesn’t help isn’t it?
One day, Paxton gets a job transporting jewelries from Harrods and it so happens that Linda’s company has a prize diamond that has to be returned back to New York. So Linda hatched a crazy plan of swapping the real one with a replica and intend to make off with a diamond that is worth $3 million pounds.
Despite the selling point of it being a heist movie, it takes a long, long way just to get there and even that, it fares like a failed experiment. For the most part, it’s merely Linda and Paxton yakking. Paxton complaining about his predicament and mouthing religious quotes with his boss (Sir Ben Kingsley in a cameo), Linda ranting about her near breakdown which caused her to fall back on cigarettes. Paxton reading poems to the whole neighborhood, smoking opium while Linda getting disillusioned with her job by the days. Its stuff liked these that took up more than half of the runtime.
While Anna Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor has lots of chemistry and charisma to share, there’s only so much an audience can take in. The Covid-19 setting is just a gimmick not exactly something that steer the narrative. Steven Knight who also wrote and directed the 2019 flop, Serenity seems to be writing a stage play rather than a well-panned out movie. This is genuinely material that works best on the stage. Imagine two incredible actors and their powerful monologues. Assemble all these elements in a feature film and that is Locked Down.
And when it comes to the finale, Liman didn’t even bother to have the leads do anything other than more talking and arguing across the gorgeous aisles of Harrods. At least break a lock or something. Other than a repetitive gag about Edgar Allen Poe and stars liked Ben Stiller, Stephen Merchant and Mindy Kaling calling in via Zoom for a few minutes of humorous chat, there’s practically nothing of importance and interesting to talk about.
It’s a pity but not a surprise to see how limiting Locked Down turned out to be despite the sheer enthusiasm of Anna Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor. It seems clear that everyone involved is having a bit of fun doing this project during a pandemic. Fun for them perhaps but definitely a miss for us.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Robert Lorenz
Cast: Liam Neeson, Katheryn Winnick, Teresa Ruiz, Juan Pablo Raba, Jacob Perez
Runtime: 1 h 48 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence & Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures and Encore Films
Official Website: https://www.themarksmanmovie.com
Opening Day: 25 February 2021
Synopsis: Hardened Arizona rancher Jim Hanson (Liam Neeson) simply wants to be left alone as he fends off eviction notices and tries to make a living on an isolated stretch of borderland. But everything changes when Hanson, an ex-Marine, witnesses 11-year-old migrant Miguel (Jacob Perez) fleeing with his mother Rosa (Teresa Ruiz) from drug cartel assassins led by the ruthless Mauricio (Juan Pablo Raba). After being caught in a shoot-out, an injured Rosa begs Jim to take her son to safety to her family in Chicago. Defying his step- daughter Sarah (Katheryn Winnick), Jim sneaks Miguel out of the local U.S. Customs and Border Patrol station and together, they hit the road with the group of killers in pursuit. Jim and Miguel slowly begin to overcome their differences and begin to forge an unlikely friendship, while Mauricio and his fellow assassins blaze a cold-blooded trail, hot on their heels.
Movie Review:
It’s only been four months since we last saw the man with a particular set of skills on the big screen in the disappointing Honest Thief. Liam Neeson is back playing Jim Hanson in The Marksman. Not the famous late puppeteer Jim Henson just to be clear but a former marine turned rancher.
As a lonely rancher trying to make ends meet, Hanson also patrols the Arizona-Mexican border for illegal trespassing. On one such occasion, he meets a mother and her young son, Miguel (Joe Perez) being chased by a ruthless drug cartel led by Maurico (Juan Plabo Raba). A shootout between Hanson and Maurico’s gang occurred shortly which led to the death of Miguel’s mother. Before she passed, she entrusted Miguel to Hanson hoping that her son can safely reached her relatives in Chicago. Being the unwilling righteous hero, Hanson begins a dangerous road trip to Chicago in his trusty old truck with Maurico and gang trailing shortly behind.
Neeson’s compelling presence is the only thing that helps keep The Marksman mostly afloat. His character misses his late wife. He is quiet, stout and determined despite his insistence to Miguel that he shouldn’t embark on this thankless mission. The lanky actor is probably the last Irish man on earth to convincingly don a cowboy hat and play a cowboy with a heart in Arizona.
The entire narrative on the other hand feels tired and generic. The hackneyed plotting is a derivative of Rambo: Last Blood which itself is a derivative of Neeson’s Taken. There’s no wild twists or elaborate setups, it’s mere an old-fashioned cat-and-mouse game that leisurely takes its time to unravel the finale which sees Jim gearing towards a climatic showdown with Maurico at a farm.
The Marksman is directed and co-written by Robert Lorenz (Trouble with the Curve), longtime collaborator of Clint Eastwood which explains the subdued, less than tense pacing. In another alternate time line, Clint Eastwood might be the one playing Jim Hanson, a cantankerous old rancher ready to blow your toes off. In this case, it’s Liam Neeson playing his version of Eastwood.
In Lorenz’s world, the entire policing world in the states seem corrupted and non-existent. The border police force is corrupted same goes to the patrolling police force in Arizona. Nearly everyone in the force is bought over by the cartel. Even a harmless sales girl at a petrol kiosk is killed by Maurico without any dire consequence. Perhaps Lorenz is hinting at the recent Capitol attack but we doubt so. The cartel is so advanced that they can track down Jim’s credit card purchases. Plot holes or plain lazy writing? You decide.
There’s a border agent named Sarah (Katheryn Winnick) who is on friendly term with Jim and is in constant contact with him over the phone but in the end there’s no real development of the character. Thus it’s just Miguel and his guardian (sorry there’s Jim’s dog as well) making their way slowly to Chicago. There’s very little excitement going on here as Lorenz obviously fails to acknowledge the fact that audiences are buying a ticket to catch Neeson delivers some serious damage. Well, it does delivered in the end but it’s just too little and too late for a movie that runs close to two hours. Perhaps it’s time for Neeson to be a little picky over his scripts. A biography on Jim Henson isn’t that bad to begin with.
Movie Rating:
(Since he never hits his mark here, we think it’s about time Liam Neeson the action hero rides into the sunset)
Review by Linus Tee
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HAPPY "牛" YEAR!Posted on 11 Feb 2021 |
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