Plot summary (story synopsis): It is early 20th century China. A time when primitive motorcars and guns coexist with kung fu. Apprentice monk He Anxia's (Baoqiang Wang) mountain monastery falls upon hard times and is unable to support so many monks. He is asked to leave and fend for himself in the big city.
Luckily for him, the sheltered and innocent Anxia ends up as assistant to kindly doctor Cui Daoning (Fan Wei). However his happy new life doesn't last long. The doctor's wife Yuzhen (Lin Chiling) is having an affair with his brother Daorong (Vanness Wu). Daorong poisons the doctor and Anxia kills the two illicit lovers to avenge his master.
He then apprentices himself to kung fu master Zhou Xiyu (Aaron Kwok) who is an enemy of the evil father-son team of Peng Qianwu (Yuen Wah) and Qizi (Jaycee Chan, Jackie's son). Qizi shoots and kills Zhou. Anxia now finds himself paired with Zhou's old friend Boss Zha (Chang Chen) against Peng, Qizi and a mobster (Lam Suet).
***
I'll have to admit that I haven't seen many Chen Kaige movies, but Monk seems rather crude story-wise for a director of his reputation.
Monk is an odd kung fu movie that against all odds, ends up working. It seems haphazard at first, Anxia getting a new master every 30 minutes. But the characters and individual stories work, probably thanks to Xu Haofeng’s source novel. At the end of the movie it's all nicely summed up - Anxia needed to experience human follies in order to become a better monk. So it's not about the plot, but the richness and bitterness of human experience.
The beautiful period sets (especially the doctor's house) and generally good acting help to support the movie.
Baoqiang's Anxia is an unrelatable simpleton with an annoying laugh. But Aaron Kwok and Chang Chen are convincing and sympathetic as serious, mature kung fu masters. Aaron Kwok is detached and enlightened, Chang Chen is passionate and vengeful. As a bonus, Lin Chiling looks absolutely stunning as the doctor's wife. Yuen Wah and Jaycee Chan are deliciously hateful.
Cinematography by Geoffrey Simpson is unremarkable. The fights are many, as is the wirework for the flying kung fu. I'm not a fan of wire fu but in certain cases such as in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon it works as a Fantasy element. It kind of works here. The problem with flying kung fu is that it is so removed from real fighting, that it's closer to dancing than martial arts. So it's all fluff, with no meaning or reality behind each move, nothing you can sink your teeth into.
Speaking of Crouching Tiger, Monk seems to be consciously trying to create a similar epic mythology. It fails because come on, Crouching Tiger is a unique one-off masterpiece. Monk succeeds as decent entertainment, and that's not too shabby.
2015-07-20
2015-07-17
Our Sister Mambo (2015)
Plot summary (story synopsis): Cinema executive Mr. Wong (Moses Lim) is a mild-mannered father of 4 daughters, and husband to a loud-voiced property agent (Audrey Luo).
We follow their misadventures such as Wong coming to terms with the public not caring about Singapore's movie past, Mrs. Wong not getting along with a colleague, Mambo (Michelle Chong) quitting her job as a lawyer and becoming an apprentice chef, Grace (Ethel Yap) dealing with a divorced suitor from China, Rose (Oon Shun An) dating a series of jerks, June (Joey Leong) dating an Indian.
***
Our Sister Mambo is one of the best Singapore films I've seen. Everything works.
The script by Michael Chiang (Army Daze) is tight, flows well and never devolves into melodrama. We get a light-hearted, good-natured peek into the life of the Wong family through the details of their daily life, family squabbles, love life, and professional struggles. Marketed as a rom-com, it's more a comedy/drama. And despite its title, it's not really about Mambo. Equal emphasis is placed on all family members.
There are no boring dead spots. The scenes are short, smart and full of energy. Its all done in Ilo Ilo's show-don't-tell style, but in a more fun and accessible way. However the general public might have the same complaint as they did with Ilo Ilo - But nothing happens!
Cathay's 80th anniversary celebrations (Cathay produced the film) are nicely integrated into the storyline and don't come across as forced or crass (Jack Neo could learn something from this). The same goes for corporate supporters such as DWG (where Mrs. Wong works) and chef Willin Low (Mambo's boss).
Cameos by celebrity blogger Xiaxue, black-and-white movie stars Grace Chang and Dato Maria Manado Abdullah, and the obligatory muhibbah multi-racial supporting characters (Siti Khalijah, Rani Singam), also fit together naturally.
Michelle Chong puts in a nicely restrained performance and doesn't try to steal the show. (Everyone knows that she could have if she had wanted to.) Ethel Yap, Oon Shun An and Joey Leong handle themselves well. Coming across as distinct, realistic, likable personalities.
Moses Lim also gives a nicely toned-down performance compared to his Under One Roof days. Audrey Luo expertly balances her character's brash persona, pushing her to the edge of being unlikable but never quite going over the line.
Lighting by cinematographer Yoke Weng Ho (supported by top-notch color grading) is stunning, better than most Hong Kong and even Hollywood films. It's even more impressive considering that OSM is an urban comedy/drama that has everyday locations for its scenes.
It's almost too pretty. I found myself being distracted by how well each scene was lit.
Outdoors, high-rise office backlit against window, bedroom, kitchen, home garden at night, lift (elevator), moving car interior, indoor car park, night club. It doesn't matter. Yoke Weng Ho exercises total control over each environment.
There's lots of soft light. Everything is clearly seen. There are no blown highlights or muddy shadows. Skin tones are good and light sources look natural (not obviously from off-camera studio light).
There's no ugly greenish tint from fluorescent bulbs, and it looks better than a color grading fix - the colors are rich. Makes me wonder whether they replaced the ceiling lights with high CRI lights. (Even for a short scene in an indoor car park? That's a high level of perfectionism.). All this was shot on an Arri Alexa - the camera that a lot of the big Hollywood movies use.
Camera movements are kept minimal and don't call attention to themselves. One rare miss-step being an extended Steadicam shot at the end. It was unnecessary and distracting.
If there's one weak spot in the movie, it's the use of the classic song Jajambo. It's one of those annoyingly brash songs that gets stuck in your head.
For everything else, director Wi Ding Ho and the rest of the crew and cast, should take a bow.
We follow their misadventures such as Wong coming to terms with the public not caring about Singapore's movie past, Mrs. Wong not getting along with a colleague, Mambo (Michelle Chong) quitting her job as a lawyer and becoming an apprentice chef, Grace (Ethel Yap) dealing with a divorced suitor from China, Rose (Oon Shun An) dating a series of jerks, June (Joey Leong) dating an Indian.
***
Our Sister Mambo is one of the best Singapore films I've seen. Everything works.
The script by Michael Chiang (Army Daze) is tight, flows well and never devolves into melodrama. We get a light-hearted, good-natured peek into the life of the Wong family through the details of their daily life, family squabbles, love life, and professional struggles. Marketed as a rom-com, it's more a comedy/drama. And despite its title, it's not really about Mambo. Equal emphasis is placed on all family members.
There are no boring dead spots. The scenes are short, smart and full of energy. Its all done in Ilo Ilo's show-don't-tell style, but in a more fun and accessible way. However the general public might have the same complaint as they did with Ilo Ilo - But nothing happens!
Cathay's 80th anniversary celebrations (Cathay produced the film) are nicely integrated into the storyline and don't come across as forced or crass (Jack Neo could learn something from this). The same goes for corporate supporters such as DWG (where Mrs. Wong works) and chef Willin Low (Mambo's boss).
Cameos by celebrity blogger Xiaxue, black-and-white movie stars Grace Chang and Dato Maria Manado Abdullah, and the obligatory muhibbah multi-racial supporting characters (Siti Khalijah, Rani Singam), also fit together naturally.
Michelle Chong puts in a nicely restrained performance and doesn't try to steal the show. (Everyone knows that she could have if she had wanted to.) Ethel Yap, Oon Shun An and Joey Leong handle themselves well. Coming across as distinct, realistic, likable personalities.
Moses Lim also gives a nicely toned-down performance compared to his Under One Roof days. Audrey Luo expertly balances her character's brash persona, pushing her to the edge of being unlikable but never quite going over the line.
Lighting by cinematographer Yoke Weng Ho (supported by top-notch color grading) is stunning, better than most Hong Kong and even Hollywood films. It's even more impressive considering that OSM is an urban comedy/drama that has everyday locations for its scenes.
It's almost too pretty. I found myself being distracted by how well each scene was lit.
Outdoors, high-rise office backlit against window, bedroom, kitchen, home garden at night, lift (elevator), moving car interior, indoor car park, night club. It doesn't matter. Yoke Weng Ho exercises total control over each environment.
There's lots of soft light. Everything is clearly seen. There are no blown highlights or muddy shadows. Skin tones are good and light sources look natural (not obviously from off-camera studio light).
There's no ugly greenish tint from fluorescent bulbs, and it looks better than a color grading fix - the colors are rich. Makes me wonder whether they replaced the ceiling lights with high CRI lights. (Even for a short scene in an indoor car park? That's a high level of perfectionism.). All this was shot on an Arri Alexa - the camera that a lot of the big Hollywood movies use.
Camera movements are kept minimal and don't call attention to themselves. One rare miss-step being an extended Steadicam shot at the end. It was unnecessary and distracting.
If there's one weak spot in the movie, it's the use of the classic song Jajambo. It's one of those annoyingly brash songs that gets stuck in your head.
For everything else, director Wi Ding Ho and the rest of the crew and cast, should take a bow.
2015-07-03
SPL 2: A Time for Consequences (2015)
Plot summary (story synopsis): Undercover Hong Kong cop Kit (Jacky Wu Jing) has his cover blown and is illegally held at a Thai prison in retribution.
The prison is run by crooked warden Ko (Max Zhang Jin) who is beholden to bad guy Hung (Louis Koo). Coincidentally, honest prison guard Chai (Tony Jaa) has a sick daughter Sa (Unda Kunteera Thordchanng) whose only hope is a bone marrow transplant from Kit. Chai tries and fails to contact Kit, not realizing that Kit is right under his nose.
Hung has a weak heart and his only possible donor is his own brother Bill (Jun Hung). Hung kidnaps Bill to forcibly get a heart transplant.
Meanwhile, Kit briefly manages to telephone his uncle and fellow cop Wah (Simon Yam). Wah goes alone to Thailand to rescue Kit.
***
SPL 2 is your stereotypical melodramatic Hong Kong kung fu movie. Its plot is more complicated than normal but its melodrama is standard Hong Kong industrial strength.
Thankfully, the fight choreography by Li Chung-Chi is excellent and saves the movie. The fights are in classic Hong Kong style - way drawn out. But this is one of the rare movies where the long action sequences don't become boring. The fights are also never repetitive. There's speed and skill to the moves, not just simple punches and blocks. Tony Jaa fans will be pleased to see him fight more in SPL 2 than he did in Dolph Lundgren's Skin Trade.
And it's not just hand-to-hand. There's also a thrilling shootout at Hong Kong's cruise terminal. It takes some imagination to work out an exciting shootout scene and Li Chung-Chi manages to do it. Movie gunfights are as common as car chases so you can't just have some perfunctory bang bang action and expect to impress the audience. Another standout action scene is a large-scale prison riot, where it's not just the stars but also the dozens of extras that are fighting their hearts out.
However my favorite is a smaller scale duel between Kit and a nameless assassin (Zhang Chi) who is a knife expert. (An earlier scene where nameless assassin takes out a staircase full of cops is also excellent). Kit uses a tonfa (one of my favorite weapons, and one that is too rarely seen on screen) against the nameless assassin, but unfortunately only in reverse grip and like a club. Okay, maybe reverse grip makes sense against a knife because you want to increase your reach, but at least use the handle fork for some blocks or hooks.
Less forgivably, after dispatching the nameless assassin, he leaves his tonfa on the floor and goes on to fight the other bad guys. Not only are we deprived of more tonfa action, why would he leave such an effective weapon behind and proceed bare-handed? This is a symptom of the pervasive lack of smoothness in the storytelling.
The coincidence of Kit landing in a jail where the guard's daughter just happens to need his bone marrow transplant, is laughable. And not just the coincidence. Why would Kit even have himself tested to be a donor, especially when he is a drug-addict undercover cop?
And of course, the biggest kung fu movie trope of all - why so many skilled kung fu fighters? Especially Chai. He's just a prison guard. The movie doesn't even try to justify this.
So it's another wasted opportunity. With a more believable plot, SPL 2 could have been a great action movie. Instead, what we have is a bunch of cool fight scenes that are emotionally empty, because we don't really care for the characters, because we know that we are being manipulated by the movie and therefore refuse to suspend our disbelief. You want to do melodrama? Do it like John Wick. Keep it simple.
PS Another plus is the Thailand locations, which look beautifully gritty and authentic, especially the prison.
The prison is run by crooked warden Ko (Max Zhang Jin) who is beholden to bad guy Hung (Louis Koo). Coincidentally, honest prison guard Chai (Tony Jaa) has a sick daughter Sa (Unda Kunteera Thordchanng) whose only hope is a bone marrow transplant from Kit. Chai tries and fails to contact Kit, not realizing that Kit is right under his nose.
Hung has a weak heart and his only possible donor is his own brother Bill (Jun Hung). Hung kidnaps Bill to forcibly get a heart transplant.
Meanwhile, Kit briefly manages to telephone his uncle and fellow cop Wah (Simon Yam). Wah goes alone to Thailand to rescue Kit.
***
SPL 2 is your stereotypical melodramatic Hong Kong kung fu movie. Its plot is more complicated than normal but its melodrama is standard Hong Kong industrial strength.
Thankfully, the fight choreography by Li Chung-Chi is excellent and saves the movie. The fights are in classic Hong Kong style - way drawn out. But this is one of the rare movies where the long action sequences don't become boring. The fights are also never repetitive. There's speed and skill to the moves, not just simple punches and blocks. Tony Jaa fans will be pleased to see him fight more in SPL 2 than he did in Dolph Lundgren's Skin Trade.
And it's not just hand-to-hand. There's also a thrilling shootout at Hong Kong's cruise terminal. It takes some imagination to work out an exciting shootout scene and Li Chung-Chi manages to do it. Movie gunfights are as common as car chases so you can't just have some perfunctory bang bang action and expect to impress the audience. Another standout action scene is a large-scale prison riot, where it's not just the stars but also the dozens of extras that are fighting their hearts out.
However my favorite is a smaller scale duel between Kit and a nameless assassin (Zhang Chi) who is a knife expert. (An earlier scene where nameless assassin takes out a staircase full of cops is also excellent). Kit uses a tonfa (one of my favorite weapons, and one that is too rarely seen on screen) against the nameless assassin, but unfortunately only in reverse grip and like a club. Okay, maybe reverse grip makes sense against a knife because you want to increase your reach, but at least use the handle fork for some blocks or hooks.
Less forgivably, after dispatching the nameless assassin, he leaves his tonfa on the floor and goes on to fight the other bad guys. Not only are we deprived of more tonfa action, why would he leave such an effective weapon behind and proceed bare-handed? This is a symptom of the pervasive lack of smoothness in the storytelling.
The coincidence of Kit landing in a jail where the guard's daughter just happens to need his bone marrow transplant, is laughable. And not just the coincidence. Why would Kit even have himself tested to be a donor, especially when he is a drug-addict undercover cop?
And of course, the biggest kung fu movie trope of all - why so many skilled kung fu fighters? Especially Chai. He's just a prison guard. The movie doesn't even try to justify this.
So it's another wasted opportunity. With a more believable plot, SPL 2 could have been a great action movie. Instead, what we have is a bunch of cool fight scenes that are emotionally empty, because we don't really care for the characters, because we know that we are being manipulated by the movie and therefore refuse to suspend our disbelief. You want to do melodrama? Do it like John Wick. Keep it simple.
PS Another plus is the Thailand locations, which look beautifully gritty and authentic, especially the prison.
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