Thursday, October 12, 2006
Fearless
I like Jet Li. He is an incredibly skilled martial artist and just a phenomenal athlete. I like his movies, because I am bound to see some move or fight sequence that I’ve never seen and makes me say, “wow.” That said, as his career “progresses,” it is becoming sadly apparent that he can not act. I mean not at all. Not even a little. Most of the time, that is just fine because he doesn’t have to. He has to fight lots and lots of bad guys, preferably all at once. He is the Chinese Keanu Reeves. As long as it’s an action movie requiring little more than some looks of pain and stern “I’m about to open up a can” looks, both Reeves and Li are just fine. Ask them to act and you get “A Walk In the Clouds.”
So, Fearless starring Jet Li and lots of other fighting Chinese people was a bit of mixed bag. It had tremendous fight sequences without heavily relying on wire work, but also asked Li to act which was nearly unwatchable. He may have the worst fake laugh in the history of cinema. On to the review
What’s to like:
1. Jet Li’s fighting. He’s amazing. On thing though, that was the subject of a long and continuing debate between me and my buddies that I saw the movie with, and that is, why don’t martial arts movies make some attempt to show real fighting, ever? I mean I get why we get the styalized stuff most of the time, but why does it never make an attempt to be real? It is always so obviously choreographed, I’m left wondering, would any of those things actually work in a real fight? I’m sure some would, but you can’t tell from watching the movies. All the moves end up looking like that scene from Napoleon Dynamite where the karate instructor is showing a move that requires you to grab his left arm in a certain way for it to be effective. I always think, sure if that guy happens to grab you just so and then stayed still while you whirled around, that might work, but when does that happen?
2. The fight scene in the restaurant. Great wood breaking, table smashing more “realistic” type fighting. Best scene in the movie.
3. The landscapes, CGI city shots and just the look in general. Had that epic look and feel even if the story didn’t.
4. The fighting. Oh wait, did I mention that already, oh well, it was the good part of the movie, so there you go.
What I could have done without:
1. The horrible dialogue. Now, here I’m not sure whether to blame the writing which was all in Chinese which I don’t speak even a little, or the subtitles which were in 2nd grade English which I know well enough to know it stunk. For example, the crowd would erupt in chants and cheers after the conclusion of a fight and the subtitle would read, “Great” “Really nice job” “Excellent victory.” I mean, is that really the kind of thing Chinese people yell at the close of a fight? Seriously? Then there was one fight when one of the fighters was mysteriously able to tear Li’s clothing and skin using his finger tips at which point Li said (according to the subtitles) “kitten paw” This provoked the other fighter to yell, “Tiger claw!!!” and they exchanged these piercing barbs which no doubt left a deeper impact than their blows. Ugh. So, either this movie boasts the worst dialogue since Battleship Earth, or we have to do something about how we translate movies from Chinese. I also enjoyed that there were some words they didn’t translate like “Wushu” I guess maybe because some people familiar with martial arts would have known that term, but whatever the reason it allowed for great lines like, “Master, his wushu is greater than yours.”
2. All the Westerners being corrupt morons. I know, Hollywood deserves this for doing the same to Asians for years in movies, but it is no more fun in reverse than when we do it to them. It’s a movie, not a cartoon.
3. The obligatory fight with the giant, growling westerner where in spite of the fact that he is about 7 feet tall and freakishly muscular he is helpless against the Yoda sized Li. I get that Li is fast and skilled, but give me a break. By the way, the growling goliath is the same guy that take it in the neck from Achilles in the best scene in the movie Troy and has apparently started making a living being the huge guy that the little guy beats up on. Given how unlikely that would be for him in real life, I wonder if it bothers him…..probably not.
4. The story – It was allegedly based on a true story, though my buddy James did some reading and discovered they (gasp) actually changed some of the facts. Shocking I know. Nonetheless they should have kept on changing because the story is a wee bit thin with a strange disconnect from the final scene. Nevertheless, the look and action of the movie propped the story up well enough so this is only a minor criticism.
Who do you like: Li’s character passes for sympathetic. Otherwise, there is no one of note in this movie. So, if you don’t like Li, stay very far away.
What’s new: Good new fighting scenes, the best of which was Li fighting with this 3 rod contraption. Think extra long nunchucks but instead of a length of chain in the middle a third rod with all three connected by short lengths of chain. I’m sure there is a wushu name for this, but I don’t know it. He uses that to fight a guy with a sword and it is pretty amazing.
What’s the last word: As mentioned above, the ending seemed disconnected to the rest of the story. It is also, apparently, not very grounded in truth. Not a criticism, just letting you know.
Who you should bring: People who like martial arts movies, which I suspect mostly means guys. There is a love story….sort of, but this movie is really about a guy who learns to fight and spends his life fighting and very little else. So, bring people that don’t mind subtitles and love fighting.
Where you should watch: See this on as big a screen as possible. The scenery is beautiful and the fight scenes are better when bigger. You need to go to the theater (and quickly) if you want to see this movie.
What’s the couch rating: Tanya digs martial arts fighting so I think she would have stayed awake through most of it. That said, she would have been sound asleep for the last 25 minutes or so. Once the fighting slows and the characters don’t engage you, she would have been out.
What my gut tells me: I liked it. It doesn’t stand up to criticism when you break it down, but I enjoyed it and enjoyed all the discussion and debate afterward about whether a tiny kung fu expert could beat a big fast boxer type like Tyson. Over all I enjoyed it.
What it’s like: House of Flying Daggers meets every other Jet Li or Jean Claude Van Dam movie.
Where it rates: 7. Not great, but enjoyable enough.
So, Fearless starring Jet Li and lots of other fighting Chinese people was a bit of mixed bag. It had tremendous fight sequences without heavily relying on wire work, but also asked Li to act which was nearly unwatchable. He may have the worst fake laugh in the history of cinema. On to the review
What’s to like:
1. Jet Li’s fighting. He’s amazing. On thing though, that was the subject of a long and continuing debate between me and my buddies that I saw the movie with, and that is, why don’t martial arts movies make some attempt to show real fighting, ever? I mean I get why we get the styalized stuff most of the time, but why does it never make an attempt to be real? It is always so obviously choreographed, I’m left wondering, would any of those things actually work in a real fight? I’m sure some would, but you can’t tell from watching the movies. All the moves end up looking like that scene from Napoleon Dynamite where the karate instructor is showing a move that requires you to grab his left arm in a certain way for it to be effective. I always think, sure if that guy happens to grab you just so and then stayed still while you whirled around, that might work, but when does that happen?
2. The fight scene in the restaurant. Great wood breaking, table smashing more “realistic” type fighting. Best scene in the movie.
3. The landscapes, CGI city shots and just the look in general. Had that epic look and feel even if the story didn’t.
4. The fighting. Oh wait, did I mention that already, oh well, it was the good part of the movie, so there you go.
What I could have done without:
1. The horrible dialogue. Now, here I’m not sure whether to blame the writing which was all in Chinese which I don’t speak even a little, or the subtitles which were in 2nd grade English which I know well enough to know it stunk. For example, the crowd would erupt in chants and cheers after the conclusion of a fight and the subtitle would read, “Great” “Really nice job” “Excellent victory.” I mean, is that really the kind of thing Chinese people yell at the close of a fight? Seriously? Then there was one fight when one of the fighters was mysteriously able to tear Li’s clothing and skin using his finger tips at which point Li said (according to the subtitles) “kitten paw” This provoked the other fighter to yell, “Tiger claw!!!” and they exchanged these piercing barbs which no doubt left a deeper impact than their blows. Ugh. So, either this movie boasts the worst dialogue since Battleship Earth, or we have to do something about how we translate movies from Chinese. I also enjoyed that there were some words they didn’t translate like “Wushu” I guess maybe because some people familiar with martial arts would have known that term, but whatever the reason it allowed for great lines like, “Master, his wushu is greater than yours.”
2. All the Westerners being corrupt morons. I know, Hollywood deserves this for doing the same to Asians for years in movies, but it is no more fun in reverse than when we do it to them. It’s a movie, not a cartoon.
3. The obligatory fight with the giant, growling westerner where in spite of the fact that he is about 7 feet tall and freakishly muscular he is helpless against the Yoda sized Li. I get that Li is fast and skilled, but give me a break. By the way, the growling goliath is the same guy that take it in the neck from Achilles in the best scene in the movie Troy and has apparently started making a living being the huge guy that the little guy beats up on. Given how unlikely that would be for him in real life, I wonder if it bothers him…..probably not.
4. The story – It was allegedly based on a true story, though my buddy James did some reading and discovered they (gasp) actually changed some of the facts. Shocking I know. Nonetheless they should have kept on changing because the story is a wee bit thin with a strange disconnect from the final scene. Nevertheless, the look and action of the movie propped the story up well enough so this is only a minor criticism.
Who do you like: Li’s character passes for sympathetic. Otherwise, there is no one of note in this movie. So, if you don’t like Li, stay very far away.
What’s new: Good new fighting scenes, the best of which was Li fighting with this 3 rod contraption. Think extra long nunchucks but instead of a length of chain in the middle a third rod with all three connected by short lengths of chain. I’m sure there is a wushu name for this, but I don’t know it. He uses that to fight a guy with a sword and it is pretty amazing.
What’s the last word: As mentioned above, the ending seemed disconnected to the rest of the story. It is also, apparently, not very grounded in truth. Not a criticism, just letting you know.
Who you should bring: People who like martial arts movies, which I suspect mostly means guys. There is a love story….sort of, but this movie is really about a guy who learns to fight and spends his life fighting and very little else. So, bring people that don’t mind subtitles and love fighting.
Where you should watch: See this on as big a screen as possible. The scenery is beautiful and the fight scenes are better when bigger. You need to go to the theater (and quickly) if you want to see this movie.
What’s the couch rating: Tanya digs martial arts fighting so I think she would have stayed awake through most of it. That said, she would have been sound asleep for the last 25 minutes or so. Once the fighting slows and the characters don’t engage you, she would have been out.
What my gut tells me: I liked it. It doesn’t stand up to criticism when you break it down, but I enjoyed it and enjoyed all the discussion and debate afterward about whether a tiny kung fu expert could beat a big fast boxer type like Tyson. Over all I enjoyed it.
What it’s like: House of Flying Daggers meets every other Jet Li or Jean Claude Van Dam movie.
Where it rates: 7. Not great, but enjoyable enough.
# posted by Josh Stump : 12:30 PM
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
