Watched some movies recently. Might have less time for that what with EPL season just started [woot, GGMU Go Red Devils!!!].
Anyway...
Disclaimer: I will be reviewing some Korean movies, and since I'm really, really, really bad with korean names [hey, I'm a Jap/Filipino shinigami, cut me a break], I'll give the characters identifiers instead, k?
The Chaser
The Chaser is a Korean [and by Korean, I mean South Korean, k?] movie. Basically, it's about a cop-turned-pimp whose girls all go missing. Now at the beginning of the movie, he sends one of his few remaining girls to a guy. Thing is, he soon finds out the guy is a serial killer.
The movie is very unique. A lot of it plays out in the streets of Korea at night, which was shot well. Also, the movie sticks true to its title - much of this movie is about chases. Not the hollywood car chases where cars go boom everywhere - here, a lot of the chasing is on foot. It's also very unique in that everyone knows who the killer is, the problem is - where are the victims [the girl, in particular]?
There's also this side to the story which plays out as a commentary of the capabilities of their police force - or the lack of it. For most of the movie, mr killer makes them all dance on his palm, while mr pimp chases him - literally and figuratively - at every turn.
Bottom line is, the movie delivers. It's not action-packed for the sake of action. The violence is realistic even if some of the blood is rather OTT. And as usual with good Korean cinema [that I've watched], they interweave subplots and contexts seamlessly. You'll laugh at the whole ordeal of the mayor getting shit thrown at his face, and feel for the daughter of the girl who was sent to mr killer.
Bedevilled
Holy shit revenge movies. Now, I have to yet find a good copy of Korea's pinnacles of revenge movies, that being oldboy and the more recent I saw the devil. Bedevilled is yet another revenge tale - with a little difference. It's a reversed role movie.
The movie starts with a woman in seoul. She's a very "look out for number 1" kind of woman [bitchy too]. This gets her in trouble [how did I not see that one coming? owait...], and so she decides to "take a vacation" to a remote island where she grew up.
Now this is where the story shifts focus. On the island is miss bitchy's friend. This friend of hers is treated like a slave by the old women and a plaything by the men [there are like less than 10 people total in the island]. So as not to spoil too much, one day her friend goes psycho. And I mean absolute friggin nuts - with a sickle, mostly.
Yes, i know that summarization sounds lame - trust me, the movie isn't. I just don't want to spoil the major plot points. Again, the violence is as realistic as you can get, and it's not too bloody. The story also does a great job setting up. By the time the poor woman finally goes ballistic, you are sure to be feeling sorry for her. I was actually cheering - but that's me, of course.
The part before the ending did puzzle me a little, but that's no great error. Overall, it's good. And I really do have to get to those copies of oldboy and I saw the devil... hm...
Law-Abiding Citizen
Yes, revenge movies. Oh, how I love 'em. This one's premise is simple. House invasion results in two dbags killing mother and daughter. Dad was there. Lawyer strikes a deal with one of the dbags. One dbag walks, one goes to death row. Dad is unhappy. Fast-forward 10 years later.
That really is the premise, pure and simple. Some of the things that happen are on the preposterous side, but meh, who cares when you got a re-tooled bomb-disposal bot equipped with machine guns and anti-tank rocket launchers, amirite? Again, this is a none-too-subtle dig at the justice system. It also begs the question does revenge = justice? And where's the line between revenge and rampaging?
The thing that really drew me in - aside from the rather cool kills - is the mindgames. Both sides are trying to outfox each other. As most revenge movies do, they build up a rather solid feel of empathy for the avenging party. You feel the injustice that's been done, so to speak.
The thing that really pissed me off, though was the ending. A quick search online told me a lot of people agreed. It was a copout, almost cheap, really. Aside from that and some of the aforementioned required suspense of belief [or disbelief], it does its job well of telling a vengeance story.
Predators
I'll make this review short and sweet.
Not enough "get to the choppa".
Also, katana vs extra-terrestrial wristblade FTW.
...
Anyway, that's all of it. I'm yearning for good old horror now, maybe a touch of gore. On that end, FD5 is out soon, I should totally watch that. Tony Todd is back, and that creepy voice of his telling people that death is after them is more than enough reason to watch it, IMHO. LOL
Anyway...
Disclaimer: I will be reviewing some Korean movies, and since I'm really, really, really bad with korean names [hey, I'm a Jap/Filipino shinigami, cut me a break], I'll give the characters identifiers instead, k?
The Chaser
The Chaser is a Korean [and by Korean, I mean South Korean, k?] movie. Basically, it's about a cop-turned-pimp whose girls all go missing. Now at the beginning of the movie, he sends one of his few remaining girls to a guy. Thing is, he soon finds out the guy is a serial killer.
The movie is very unique. A lot of it plays out in the streets of Korea at night, which was shot well. Also, the movie sticks true to its title - much of this movie is about chases. Not the hollywood car chases where cars go boom everywhere - here, a lot of the chasing is on foot. It's also very unique in that everyone knows who the killer is, the problem is - where are the victims [the girl, in particular]?
There's also this side to the story which plays out as a commentary of the capabilities of their police force - or the lack of it. For most of the movie, mr killer makes them all dance on his palm, while mr pimp chases him - literally and figuratively - at every turn.
Bottom line is, the movie delivers. It's not action-packed for the sake of action. The violence is realistic even if some of the blood is rather OTT. And as usual with good Korean cinema [that I've watched], they interweave subplots and contexts seamlessly. You'll laugh at the whole ordeal of the mayor getting shit thrown at his face, and feel for the daughter of the girl who was sent to mr killer.
Bedevilled
Holy shit revenge movies. Now, I have to yet find a good copy of Korea's pinnacles of revenge movies, that being oldboy and the more recent I saw the devil. Bedevilled is yet another revenge tale - with a little difference. It's a reversed role movie.
The movie starts with a woman in seoul. She's a very "look out for number 1" kind of woman [bitchy too]. This gets her in trouble [how did I not see that one coming? owait...], and so she decides to "take a vacation" to a remote island where she grew up.
Now this is where the story shifts focus. On the island is miss bitchy's friend. This friend of hers is treated like a slave by the old women and a plaything by the men [there are like less than 10 people total in the island]. So as not to spoil too much, one day her friend goes psycho. And I mean absolute friggin nuts - with a sickle, mostly.
Yes, i know that summarization sounds lame - trust me, the movie isn't. I just don't want to spoil the major plot points. Again, the violence is as realistic as you can get, and it's not too bloody. The story also does a great job setting up. By the time the poor woman finally goes ballistic, you are sure to be feeling sorry for her. I was actually cheering - but that's me, of course.
The part before the ending did puzzle me a little, but that's no great error. Overall, it's good. And I really do have to get to those copies of oldboy and I saw the devil... hm...
Law-Abiding Citizen
Yes, revenge movies. Oh, how I love 'em. This one's premise is simple. House invasion results in two dbags killing mother and daughter. Dad was there. Lawyer strikes a deal with one of the dbags. One dbag walks, one goes to death row. Dad is unhappy. Fast-forward 10 years later.
That really is the premise, pure and simple. Some of the things that happen are on the preposterous side, but meh, who cares when you got a re-tooled bomb-disposal bot equipped with machine guns and anti-tank rocket launchers, amirite? Again, this is a none-too-subtle dig at the justice system. It also begs the question does revenge = justice? And where's the line between revenge and rampaging?
The thing that really drew me in - aside from the rather cool kills - is the mindgames. Both sides are trying to outfox each other. As most revenge movies do, they build up a rather solid feel of empathy for the avenging party. You feel the injustice that's been done, so to speak.
The thing that really pissed me off, though was the ending. A quick search online told me a lot of people agreed. It was a copout, almost cheap, really. Aside from that and some of the aforementioned required suspense of belief [or disbelief], it does its job well of telling a vengeance story.
Predators
I'll make this review short and sweet.
Not enough "get to the choppa".
Also, katana vs extra-terrestrial wristblade FTW.
...
Anyway, that's all of it. I'm yearning for good old horror now, maybe a touch of gore. On that end, FD5 is out soon, I should totally watch that. Tony Todd is back, and that creepy voice of his telling people that death is after them is more than enough reason to watch it, IMHO. LOL
