Brave (Thailand 2008)

"Whoa! Now that the truth is revealed, get ready to go to hell!"

Brave (กล้าหยุดโลก) is a film attempting to do what Hong Kong martial-arts cinema God Jackie Chan did the best in the late eighties and nineties. Basically, take action with an unlikely hero that uses the environments, wit, and charisma to outshine his opponents. So does Brave have what it takes to bring us all back to that classic time? Maybe.

B (Pairote Boongerd), is a young guy thats forced by the biggest mafia gang in Thailand to steal client information from Wealthy Bank, an international credit card company. He shows up "looking for a job" and makes his way in. Once inside, he places some calls for a ton of food to be delivered to the various businesses within the building. After taking care of some martial-arts experts/credit-card call center workers, B finds Lita (Supakson Chaimongkon), the company's vice president, and forces her to give him the password that will allow him to finish his assignment. With the cops everywhere, he's bound to mix it up with at least a few of them and still manages to find enough time to sneak away disguised as a food delivery driver. Now B has the data he can use to negotiate the release of his brother Tong (Afdlin Shauki), who has been captured, tortured, and held hostage by this gang. So B goes to rescue him and make the switch, but the gang sets up the old double-cross, "rig your buddy with explosives trap", in an attempt to kill both B and Tong.

Later, the mob boss Kovit (Sahaschai Chumrum), finds out that B and Tong are still alive, so he sends waves of gang members to finish the two off, as well as B's former best friend Mia. Meanwhile, Lita's husband, the CEO of Wealthy Bank, takes his own life due to the embarrassing and disrespectful loss that his company has experienced. B and Tong find out about this man taking his life and feel nothing but guilt because of it. They try to find Lita to explain that B was just a pawn in this gangs evil plan, but when they get to her home, they find that the gang has already arrived.

There are things going on in Brave that will really make you want to like it, but sadly, there are also too many red flags that get raised to let you. As with most action movies, the action taking place is definitely the film's selling point, but in the search for the perfect action movie, the narrative is always the one part getting the short end of the stick, and Brave is no exception. It has these odd sub-plots that keep rearing their ugly heads and sends the viewer into mass confusion. So really, you'll just end up ignoring them and continue waiting for more action. At times, the acting is passable. The bad guys say as little as possible and mostly stand there looking menacing. The "sidekick" (Tong), overacts and gets exciting about everything, while Lita cries a lot and seems to question everything that happens. B does his best Jackie Chan impression, from the smiling, light-hearted, good-guy antics, down to the facial reactions he uses to "sell" his pain during the fights. It's not a bad thing per se, but he just has to make all of this his own, and it seems a bit sacrilegious to play on the masters work.

Now, as for the fighting and the stunt work in Brave, I will say that this stunt crew takes some pretty darn good bumps and falls. Just about every scene has a slew of guys flying through something or falling from way too high up, which is always a treat to see. The use of an old building sets up an exciting jump that Pairote Boongerd takes, and it does that classic martial-arts "double-take" replay, and yeah...it's worth it. The fights as a whole do a good job of gradually getting better as the film progresses, with the best being saved for the climax. Seasoned fans will notice that some of the choreography could have been a little tighter at times in order to keep a better flow during some fights. Other than that, most scenes were quite entertaining and you can really tell that the action was the main focus. So is the Thai martial-arts action film on par with Hong Kong martial-arts action? No. Is it headed in the right direction? With a little help and time, I'd say so. (CBKevin)

Dragon Tiger Gate (Hong Kong 2006)

"Never go against someone from the Gate."

Take one long-running manhua (comic book), and team up the combo of the great Donnie Yen with Wilson Yip, the same men that brought us the fantastic SPL and Flash Point, and you should have a movie that beats 100% ass! Well at least you'd hope...

The Dragon Tiger Gate is a martial-arts school that has helped rid the town of gang activity and has also become a safe haven for kids that have become orphaned due to the Triad. Dragon (Donnie Yen) and Tiger (Nicholas Tse) are orphans in their own right, and are the sons of one of the schools co-founders, Wong Fu Hu, albeit from different mothers. Dragon's mother chooses to leave the Gate and live alone with her son. She gives him a jade pendant which has the character, "dragon" written on it, and tells him that Tiger wears the matching half of the pendant so that they will always know they are brothers. Dragon looses his mother to a house fire and tries to rush back and save her. Ma Qwun, the Triad boss working for Lousha Gate, a rival martial-arts gang, stops him from entering the burning building so that he doesn't lose his life. Now Dragon is under Ma Qwun's care and as he gets older, he takes on the role of Ma Qwun's bodyguard.

Years later, Tiger and his brothers from the school are dining at the same restaurant that Ma Qwun is receiving the Lousha plaque, which will prove that he is the top Triad boss in the Lousha Gate; second only to it's leader, Shibumi. While dining, Tiger sees a couple getting bullied and feels the need to intervene. The disrupts the deal going on upstairs and triggers a fight with Lousha's men. Dragon is called in to shut Tiger down, but during the fight Tiger gets his hands on the plaque. Ma Qwun sends Dragon to get it back by any means necessary. Another of Ma Qwun's retainers who is vying with Dragon to be the next in line to take over the Triad, shows up with some of his cronies to get rid of Tiger once and for all and take the credit for getting the plaque back. During the fight, Tiger receives help from a fellow patron named Shek Hak Long (Shawn Yue), and together they dispatch the horde of thugs. During the fight, Dragon looses his pendant and Tiger happens to be the one to find it; making the realization that they are indeed brothers. Will Dragon go back to his roots and rejoin the Gate? And will Tiger be able to get his help in bringing down the Lousha army?

Whew...there is a lot going on in Dragon Tiger Gate and I gave you the super abridged version. They story has been laid out by the comic book and the film tries its best to respect the source material, but when you have so much story to tell and such a short running time to tell it in while trying to keep it interesting, well that's one hell of a battle my friend. Dragon Tiger Gate does an decent job of trying to do such a task, but in the end it just comes off as stale with flashbacks happening left and right which take you away from the story at hand. So really, you just end up waiting for the next fight to take place. That's the main complaint with comic book movies, American or otherwise. Other than that, the fighting, when it happens, is pretty fun to watch. I highly enjoy the Japanese restaurant fight and the camera work that took place during it. Think Storm Riders with less "powers" and a lot more arm - swing - punch - pose. Don't go looking for a SPL or Flash Point style of fighting or you'll just be setting yourself up for disappointment. I know the idea was to make sequels for this movie, so I just would've liked to see the story paced out accordingly. As for the acting, the three lead characters were passable, but not being familiar with the comic I couldn't call them out on any discrepancies that they maybe didn't fulfill. So in closing, is Dragon Tiger Gate a great action movie in compression? No. Is it something to watch in order to fill an afternoon and say, "man, I saw Donnie Yen with long hair kickin' ass."? Yes. (converter)



Buy Dragon Tiger Gate 2-Disc Set US Version DVD from YESASIA!

Fighting Beat aka: Pahuyut Muay Thai Chaiy (Thailand 2007)

"Why the hell these guys use Muay Thai moves I never seen before, goddamn it"?!

As Thailand slowly finds it's bearing in the cinematic world, we, as lovers of foreign film get to share their successes and unfortunately their failures. Fighting Beat does one of these better than the other.

Phi Phi Island is a tropical paradise that holds an exciting bar that keeps the drinks flowing Muay Thai action hot, which keeps the foreigners happy as they spend all of their money on the festivities. This is also home to Kem (Thun Thanakorn) and his friend. They work at the bar serving drinks and letting random customers beat them in controlled fighting matches. When they lose, the customer is then encouraged to give a tip for the hospital care they have to receive for the harsh beating. Even though they're just taking a fall in order to earn some quick cash, Kem is haunted by the fact that his father was murdered in this same location years ago which left him as an orphan residing at a local temple. Under the watchful eye of his new caregiver, Kem begins to learn the ways of Muay Thai. However, things hit a snag as a group of thugs come in and want to buy the bar from the owner, Uncle Praow. Praow immediately makes it known that he isn't interested in selling. Naturally, the thugs try to take the bar by force, but are swiftly defeated by Kem and his friends. The thugs later return to their boss to report their failed attempt, but the boss isn't too concerned as he has a friend who's just gotten himself out of jail and he just happens to be the man who killed Kem's father.

When I first saw the poster for Fighting Beat, my eyes widened and my heart went a flutter. I had been looking for a balls-out slug-fest to hold me over until, "Chocolate" comes out. I actually thought to myself, "this is it." The cover alone reminded me of the 16-bit beat 'em up games of yesteryear like, "Streets of Rage", "Final Fight", and so on. So needles to say, I was eager to watch this one. The carnal rule, at least for me, when it comes to movie-watching, especially foreign films, is to expect nothing and hopefully be pleasantly surprised. If you don't follow this rule, you end up with the same feeling I had after watching Fighting Beat...sadness.

At second glance, Fighting Beat comes off like a teen Thai pop vehicle that's meant to use these multi-talented entertainment forces (i.e. Twins, Boyz) to bring in a younger audience, but even that didn't work because the movie tanked at the box office. That being said, it's left to stand on it's own merits which is where Fighting Beat does just about everything wrong that you can do in a "martial-arts" movie. The lead actor can not fight at all. He can barely mimic some kicks and jumps, and I understand that trying to show authentic Muay Thai is what the director is striving for, but Thun Thanakorn looks as if he's never heard of it. Hell, I'm not even sure director Piti Jaturaphat has heard of it, because he presents it in the most uninteresting way possible. The supporting cast is as lame as he is, if not more so. Are they supposed to be funny comic-relief or bad-ass Muay Thai students? It doesn't matter because they can't seem to be either. The women in the group are pretty hot, but that's about it. The acting is god-awful, especially when they attempt to act in English. The story is paper thin and on the wrong side of retarded, leaving you to wonder why things didn't move away from the bar within the first thirty minutes. Do these guys do anything with their beach-bum lives other than hustle foreigners? Well I guess it doesn't matter, because if you're the foreigner wasting time watching this; consider yourself hustled. (converter)



Buy Fighting Beat on DVD from YESASIA!

The official Fighting Beat website *In Thai

My Scary Girl (Korea 2006)

"Ah Fuck. It's a porn republic because of the internet."

Korea is yet again responsible for another romantic comedy. They are the reigning champions of the genre and just might be running out of steam. My Scary Girl (달콤, 살벌한 연인) attempts to change all that by adding a few twists and perhaps something new.

Hwang Dae-Woo (Park Yong-Woo) is a thirty-something, shy, soft-spoken English professor that has never had any luck with the ladies. No date, no kiss, nothing. Dae-Woo is a nice guy and longs for female companionship and with help from his buddy he manages to ask out Lee Min-Na (Choi Gang-Hee), his new neighbor from downstairs. With love at first site, for Dae-Woo anyway, he finds out that she's an aspiring art student that wants to study in Italy someday. Mi-Na is everything that Dae-Woo could want in a girlfriend. She's smart, beautiful, and most important of all...she talks to him. After going on a few dates with each other, the two begin to really hit it off. Dae-Woo's dorky, "I've never been around a girl in a romantic way" charm starts to take it's effect on Min-Na and thus the sparks start to fly. Now that the two are in love, Dae-Woo shows up bringing some flowers for his sweetie, but to his surprise he finds a naked guy coming out of Min-Na's shower! Dae-Woo is naturally crushed by this discovery and wants to call the relationship quits. Min-Na explains that he's just an old boyfriend that barged his way into her place and he means nothing to her. She promises Dae-Woo that she'll take care of everything and that he shouldn't worry.

And that's about as much of My Scary Girl without giving away too much of the zing. With that said, you get a typical romantic comedy that takes a chance by implementing some new ideas. The look and feel is all up to snuff with what you'd expect from Korean cinema. In a way, it's really all up to the viewer and how much they've been exposed to this type of film in the past. If you're tired of the somewhat stale Korean romance formula, then the twists probably wont' do anything for you. On the other hand, if this type of film is your bag, then you'll most likely enjoy it for what it is and smile at it's attempts to bring you something new. As a whole, there isn't anything technically wrong with My Scary Girl, but it leaves you feeling unmoved and unfulfilled. In the long run, and unfortunately, it just comes off like an old dog trying it's hardest to do a new trick. (CBKevin)

Exodus (Hong Kong 2007)

"Women are planning to kill men all the time".

You can call it a war of the sexes, a conspiracy theory gone awry, over the top, or even a little silly, but it would be more accurate to call it one of the most interesting movies to come out of Hong Kong in a long while. Exodus takes itself very seriously, and with a mix of fine performances and cinematography, you'll feel the same way.

Tsim Kin-Yip (Simon Yam), is a low-ranking cop with twenty-years on the force under his belt who is handed a suspect by the name of Kwan Ping-Man (Nick Cheung). Yip begins to take Kwan's colorful statement about how he was in a woman's bathroom video taping and peeping in on them. While doing this, Kwan explains how he overheard a couple of women plotting to kill men...all men, and he was gathering evidence to prove it all. Yip takes it as the ramblings of a crazy man and pays Kwan no mind by wrapping up the paperwork in order to let him go as soon as possible. Yip heads back to his life with his wife Ann (Annie Liu), and the task of helping with the renovations of their new place. Among other things, Yip also has to deal with Ann's mother (Candy Yu), and her always harping about his age and his time spent on the force. She's constantly complaining that he should own his own business and be doing something more with his life. Yip's bored with his position at work and and he doesn't give his wife very much attention at home, which results in her acting out in a variety of different activities. But when Kwan changes his statement to a simple peeping story, and nothing related to a "women killing men" conspiracy, Yip is interested in finding out why his story suddenly changed. He finds out that his superior officer, Fong (Maggie Siu), spoke with Kwan and that's when his story changed. Yip decides to dedicate all of his time to the case and finds out that a string of men have died in unexplained ways. While looking for Kwan, Yip finds Kwan's ex-wife Pun Siu Yuen (Irene Wan), snooping around Kwan's apartment. The two form an interesting relationship that seems to do nothing more than distract Yip from his investigation. Is Yip just looking for something that isn't there or just lost in the idea of making a difference?

The way Pang Ho-Cheung handles the subject matter in Exodus accounts for the reason you will either enjoy this movie or dislike it. I, on one hand, thought that it didn't come across as funny or a black-comedy in any way. I was there the whole time with Simon Yam questioning, "is this real? are these things happening?". I genuinely wanted to know the entire time and wished that Yip was a better cop to figure out the, "murder of men" scheme. I lost myself in the hunt for the answer and not so much in the answer itself. Yam's performance as Yip was a great spin on the usual police affair, because Yip is just an ordinary, curious guy who just happens to be a cop. He's not a super-cop or detective extraordinaire and that makes for a refreshing change. There's also no explosion-laced gunfight with a ring leader face-off at the end either. It's really just a man that wants an answer for himself. He's removed himself from his boring life of dealing with his wife and mother-in-law in order to dive head-first into a shallow case that just happened to be bigger than him. Does that account for boring cinema or boring story-telling? To some, I could see where it would feel as if nothing gets done and no questions get answered, but maybe nothing is all that's meant to happen. (converter)



Buy Exodus on DVD or VCD from YESASIA!

My Boyfriend is Type-B (Korea 2005)

"All I wanted was a boyfriend I could lean on while riding the bus".

The simple idea behind My Boyfriend is Type-B (B형 남자친구) is that blood-type dictates the way a person acts and how compatible they are with another person. Now this is a weak premise for anything, let alone a movie. So with no strength to hold up an hour and a half of so-called entertainment, a shoddy movie experience is indeed on the horizon.

Young-Bin (Lee Dong-Geon) is a young heart breaker (and also happens to be type-B), that starts things off by leaving his girlfriend in the car so he doesn't get a ticket while hanging out with his boys. She naturally puts up a bit of a fuss and he has no problem with dumping her right on the spot. When he's not kicking them to the curb, he's off trying to sell his ideas for different types of phone jingles and sound effects. After a meeting with hopeful clients, he receives yet another rejection. While leaving in a huff, he runs into Han-Mi (Han Ji-Hye), a young and timid college student (who just happens to be type-A), just coming off the bus and longs for a boyfriend and romance in her life. They both spill onto the ground and their cell-phones get mixed up. Han-Mi's phone gets destroyed in the process and after a little bit of cat and mouse, and who has who's cell-phone, they two end up on a lunch date. Upon returning home, Han-Mi tells her cousin Chae Young (Shin Hee) about her exciting day. Chae Young demands to meet with this Young-Bin to see what kind of a guy he really is. See, Chae Young just happens to deal in the realm of match-making with the aspect of blood-types being a major factor. With Young-Bin being type-B, a cold, hardheaded, arrogant, jerk, douche bag, etc. Han-Mi, being type-A is a timid, soft-spoken, delicate young woman. This is clearly why Chae Young believes the two to be incompatible. However, Han-Mi believes it's destiny that they met and promises to give it her all, despite what her cousin friends might say, because she thinks she may have found the man she's always wanted. Will these too be able to make it through all the ups and downs? Or is there something to be said about a person's blood-type?

The romantic comedy is one of the tried and true hallmarks of cinema. Sure it's been done a million times, and thus should be a well-oiled machine by now, but My Boyfriend is Type-B seems to miss the point each and every single time it tries to execute anything from the genre. The two leads, the very beautiful Han Ji-Hye and Lee Dong-Geon, try to fill the screen with that campy kissy-kissy goodness, but Lee Dong-Geon's character is such an overwhelming prick that you don't care anything about him and you pray for the second that Han Ji-Hye's character stops acting like a doormat and tells this guy to get lost. The story does a poor job of giving us any incite or background on him and why he acts this way. I mean blood-type can only go so far right? One second he's treating Han-Mi like she's the only girl in the world and in the next scene he's reprimanding her like a child and speaking down to her. It just creates a situation where there is no real threat of love loss for Young-Bin when things don't goes his way or when he's "misunderstood", because it just turns into Han-Mi trying to figure him out while he pushes her away. She has endured a series of terrible crap coming from this guy and is ready to call it quits forever, and rightfully so, but this is a romantic comedy right? Maybe? Kinda?

The main piece missing from My Boyfriend is Type-B is an essential one; balance. This makes experiences of funny, silly, light-hearted mishaps with like-able characters a treat. Next time, let the couples work things out, be different, and slowly find out they have things in common, and yes, even need each other, or hell, want each other. That's what people want to see. It's something that warrants a smile, a chuckle, or sometimes even a tear. In short, balance is a simple trait that every romantic comedy needs to have in some degree. No excuses. (CBKevin)

 

Hooked On You (Hong Kong 2007)

It's 1997 and the Fortune Market is alive and well with a plethora of different vendors. One inparticular fish stall is run by Miu (Miriam Yeung) and her father (Stanley Fung). Miu and her gambling and promiscuous father are in debt to local loan shark Uncle Right (David Lo). With little to no help from her father, Miu works long hours and even sells congee on the side in order to make some extra cash to pay off the debt. The residents of the Fortune Market, Porky (Huang Bo) and Fishman (Eason Chan), both have an interest in Miu for different reasons, but Miu longs for a better life and wants something more than just the life of owning a stall in a food market. Fishman does his best to try and bully everyone, especially Miu, and even goes as far as to trash her stall. He loves to throw his weight around, but in reality, everyone in Fortune Market doesn't take him seriously. When Miu isn't working overtime, she's on a quest to find a high-profile husband to take her away from the mundane existence that is the Fortune Market. Fishman slowly stops picking on Miu and eventually finds himself warming up to her. Unfortunately for the Fishman, he's a part of the life at Fortune Market which is everything Miu is trying to leave behind.

Hooked On You has that rare something within the genre it's representing; namely two leads that work well together and don't annoy you as the viewer. Miriam and Eason play off each other incredibly well as their relationship volleys up and down throughout time. There are times when you really want to see the two of them happy together, as opposed to the usual "hurry up and get it over with" feeling. This is all thanks to the well-written story by Fung Chi-Keung and the direction of Law Wing-Cheong. An interesting addition to the character interaction is the way their story is marked throughout time with occurrences like the popularity of pyramid schemes, mass urban renewal, commercialization, SARS, and so on. This all plays out in Hong Kong's recent history and it's a cool addition not seen in many films. So as the story progresses through time, you see the characters grow and mature. This could possibly be the reason you feel such a closeness to them, because you really see them go through so much. For a romance comedy, Hooked On You does a pretty good job of keeping things light and interesting and tries not to bog things down with an overly sappy approach. The leads are fun to watch and both shine in their roles. A movie well worth your viewing, Hooked On You will make you smile and is undeniably "cute". (converter)



Buy Hooked On You on DVD or VCD from YESASIA!

Cutie Honey (Japan 2004)

Honey Kisaragi (Eriko Sato, pin-up model extraordinaire), is enjoying a nice bubble bath when she gets a call from her Uncle Utsugi (Masaki Kyomoto), a top science professor. While on the phone, she hears him being abducted by an unknown assailant and quickly leaps into action. Honey, alter-ego of Cutie Honey, finds that she doesn't have enough energy to transform, so she's forced to dress in a clear garbage bag and run to the store for some snacks. With that catastrophe averted she's finally able to transform into Cutie Honey by pressing the heart-shaped button on her choker and yelling, "Honey Flash!". But alas, uncle Utsugi's captors have already been completely boxed in by police at the Tokyo Bay aqua line. Most notably among them is squad chief Natsuko Aki (Mikako Ichikawa, also a model). The chief finds herself in over her head when the kidnapper turns out to be Gold Claw (Hairi Katagiri), a member of the evil organization Panther Claw. Cutie Honey, dressed as a police officer, saves the chief just in the nick of time and drags her kicking and screaming out of harms way. Cutie Honey takes over from there and eventually defeats Gold Claw single-handedly, rescuing her uncle in the process. Natsuko is anything but impressed and tries to take Honey into custody. A mysterious reporter named Hayami Seiji (Jun Murakami), interjects that the chief is committing a false arrest and he finds himself being handcuffed for interfering with police business. With a smile, and some nice diversionary tactics, Honey slips away and turns back into plain ol' Honey Kisaragi, the low-status office worker with no friends who can't seem to do anything right.

Upon returning to headquarters, Natsuki is having problems of her own. Her superiors reprimand her for the damage done at the aqua line and her inability to capture the criminals responsible. With that, she finds out Professor Utsugi has been kidnapped by Panther Claw once again from right under her nose. Now we're all back to square one. So Natsuki, Cutie Honey, and Hayami come together due to the fact that they all have their own reasons for wanting to get to the bottom of exactly what Panther Claw might be up to.

Cutie Honey is based on Go Nagai's 70's comic creation. This has spawned countless OVA's comics and other merchandise over the years. Enter Hideaki Anno, of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame, Warner Brothers distribution company, and a legion of fans that have probably been waiting years to see one of their favorites manga's come to life. All of this could be a recipe for success, or it could create a movie that is aimed directly towards the hardcore fans, so much so, that it completes neglects anyone else. Cutie Honey is a perfect example of the latter. I for one have seen the animation and found it to be alright, but how it would translate into a live action movie was the million-dollar question. I like to think that it holds it's own. The presentation is bright and colorful and keeps with that anime flare. Eriko does a fine job playing a bubbly, cute, yet dim-witted at times Honey. However, the story starts without you, in the sense that it's based on a world that the fan's know all about, but be patient and you'll soon catch up. Most of the special-effects are a double-edged sword. Either you'll hate the campiness of them, or you'll totally adore it. I did notice a few animated effects that were pretty original, such as when Honey is flipping about during her fight sequences. Overall, Honey won't amuse everyone and I don't believe it was meant to. It was built for the fans and I think they love seeing Honey come to life and do her thing. (Converter)



Buy Cutie Honey Subtitled US Version on DVD from YESASIA!

Buy Cutie Honey Limited Edition; Subtitled US Version on DVD from YESASIA!

Tokyo X Erotica (Japan 2001)

The year is 1997 and a man by the name of Kenji traveling through the tunnel underneath an overpass on his scooter. He stops when he finds a slew of dead bodies lying on the floor. He goes to investigate the bodies to see if he can help, but by the time he realizes what has happened, he's overcome by the toxic gas that has flooded the tunnel. He falls to the ground, dying from the fumes, when he begins to remember what an old girlfriend had once asked him. "Which is longer, the time before birth, or the time after death?" Meanwhile, Kenji's ex-girlfriend Haruka, who is working as a prostitute, is standing by a street corner watching a man in a bunny costume promoting a local shop. She slowly makes her way to him and invites her services. After Haruka expertly services the man, he seems to go bi-polar and begins to degrade her and questions all of the choices she's made in life. His tirade becomes more violent and the man ends up strangling Haruka to death. That marks the time that Kenji and Haruka both died. Welcome to 1995, where the couple are alive and not so well because they've just broken up and Haruka isn't dealing with it well. We then move on to a woman who is waiting for her lover and watching the news on television which begins to describe that the gas in the tunnels were the result of a terrorist attack. Her lover shows up and after the two have sex, we're transported to 1989 where we meet a younger Kenji and Haruka who are meeting with friends to party and hang out. There's a little cheating done on Haruka's part with the other two friends and once again we are whisked away to 2002 when the same couple is alive and well...again. However, now it seems as if it's just the same lead actors playing different parts. Although, relationships and death are still all in question.

Tokyo X Erotica is an example of what is called pink cinema. Where basically a movie's story is hidden within a lot of soft-core sex scenes. So if that's not your thing, you might want to stay clear of this due it's graphic depictions of sex. Tokyo X Erotica's story of life and death with sex can be a bit confusing at times due to the way the story hops around different time periods. There is a narration that tries to fill in all the little holes and move things along, but sometimes it ends up doing more bad than good. The uses of color and black and white are subject to the viewers interpretation. I believe it represents death and the times of their lives that they get to choose to live. This is the basic theme in the movie that gets explored every time you meet the characters in a different time period. There are also documentary-style interviews with random people and some of the main characters throughout different times in their lives. The interviews explore how these people live and if they're living their lives the way they truly want to. There are some key references and items that show up throughout to aid in the life and death mystery, but these soon become afterthoughts. The actors and their performances are all pretty decent, and the cinematography holds up too. Director Takahisa Zeze does a lot better with this film than say...Moon Child. All in all it's just hard to say if the adventure is really worth it. I just wanted things to be a little tighter with the story because it has an interesting premise. So if you do watch Tokyo X Erotica for just the simulated sex, you'll only be getting a few scenes and you'll be missing the point of the film all together. However, if you watch it for the story, you'll be left wanting more. (Converter)

*No Trailer Available

Buy Tokyo X Erotica on DVD at YESASIA!

War (North America 2007)

Jack Crawford (Jason Statham), is an FBI agent in charge of an anti-Asian gang force in San Francisco who discovers that a hitman name Roge (Jet Li), is back in town after 3 years of complete seclusion. The trail is sparked up again by Rogue's trademark titanium shells with depleted uranium slugs. Crawford has dealt with Rogue's antics before due to the fact that he killed Crawford's partner Chang (John Lone), Chang's wife and daughter, and set fire to their home. Crawford is now hell-bent on getting revenge for his partner, so much so that it's cost him his marriage and his relationship with his son. While Crawford and his team hit the streets to find out this killers whereabouts, Rogue is pulling off robberies, and a murder that incites a war between the local Triads and Yakuzas in San Francisco. All the while, he's also a personal "yes man" for local mafia head Shiro (Ryo Ishibashi), and is ordered to help him keep his control over the local syndicates. While cleaning up most of Rogue's handy work, Crawford finds out Rogue has actually changed his face with plastic surgery and his current identity is Victor Shaw (Jet Li). Now it seems that Crawford's back at square one on his revenge tangent, that is until Rogue goes looking for him.

War is undoubtedly one of the worst action movies I've ever seen. One would've thought that "The One" was terrible enough to keep Jason "I play the same character in every movie" Statham and Jet Li from ever working together again. These two have zero chemistry together and I don't buy into the hype of these two together on-screen. The director, Philip G. Atwell's career lies mostly with music videos and he has no real experience in the action movie genre and that definitely shows in War. On the other hand, it doesn't really matter, because War plays out more like a bad drama than an action film. The story is a train wreck that is just so uninteresting you'll begin to question if you even want the over-acting Statham to get revenge for his partner or he'd just be better off callin' it a day. So the story just spins around and around, with the worst part of it being the ending. It comes so fast and abruptly that you'll stare at the black screen waiting for something, anything to help explain what just happened for one hundred and three of the longest minutes of your life. The saddest thing about War is that it seemed to have had the recipe for a solid action movie; revenge always equals plain and simple text-book action. It looks like everyone involved with War doesn't read books. (Converter)

Moon Child (Japan 2003)

The year is 2014 and Japan is suffering from a major economical collapse that forces it's citizens to emigrate to nearby mainland China. Most of the refugees seek a meager life in a city called "Mallepa", where crime, drug-use, and thugs infest everything. This is also where three street-wise orphans Sho (Gackt Camui, ex-singer of pop-rock band Malice Mizer), his brother Shinji (Susumu Terajima), and Toshi (Taro Yamamoto) survive by pulling off scams and pick-pocket attempts. While the three try to rob a gangster, they come across Kei (Hideto Takarai aka Hyde) a vampire who is weak from not being able to feed and he's about to die. The boys are chased and attacked by the gangster, but Kei steps in to save their lives. Sho and Shinji are taken aback by Kei's thirst for blood, but they aren't afraid and end up becoming good friends. Years later we find the boys are now young men who have continued their hustle of robbing gangsters. Shinji, who now has a limp and is addicted to drugs, is replaced by Kei who takes his place and helps Sho with some pointers. During a robbery, the team runs across Son (Wang Lee Hom), a man out for revenge for his sister Yi-Che's (Zeny Kwok) rape. The team aid Son in his revenge and this is the beginning of the group becoming close friends. Sho and Kei slowly develop feelings for Yi-Che, but don't act on them which in turn creates a small amount of tension. On top of that, Kei grows tired of needing to "feed" in order to survive and he continues to bring up the fact that Sho can succeed without him and he'll just outlive everyone anyway. This begins the downward spiral within the group as their lives begin to change and grow apart at a rapid pace.

Moon Child has a lot of things going on within it's futuristic, manga-inspired, vampire, HK-style gun-play, eight-gun-toting-hero, bullet-dodging, Japanese not liking Taiwanese people in the fake city of Mallepa, storyline. However, the one thing that sticks out the most is the huge inconsistencies in the story. It's a field day of subplots that get lost in the shuffle. The main reason Moon Child is such a mess, is because the story jumps forward through time, leaving huge gaps of to be filled with just a few lines of dialogue. You come back and there are new subplots and characters to put up with. The only thing that is forced in order to keep the time line is that of the group's friendship. When that begins to deteriorate in leaps and bounds, it makes you shake your head. It's doesn't help matters that the characters are so boring to watch. When they interact with each other, namely on the beach, you're supposed to believe that this is forever? The worst is when they don't even interact with what's happening to them! Why don't the friends ever question Kei for not being around for half the day? Has no one noticed that this guy doesn't age? What's with his death-wish mentality at times? Or when he attacked that man at the park, why was he sucking blood from his neck after he hopped ten feet in the air? And so on and so on, it's just plain stupid. All good questions to ask one of your supposed best friends with abnormal behavior. Well, I guess when a movie is mostly laced with pop-stars, this is the kind of product you end up with. So a lesson has been learned and it is as follows: when strong friendships border strangely with a homo-erotic symbiosis between two androgynous guys, but one happens to be a vampire, this won't do anything good for anyone. (Converter)



Buy Moon Child on DVD at YESASIA! (Japan Version w/English Subtitles)

Dynamite Warrior (Thailand 2006)

Welcome to 1890 Siam, Thailand where the northern land rice fields are under great pressure to produce their chief export. To keep up with the growth of the rice, they use animals such as buffalo to help them with the harvest. This resulted in the in the merchants having to transport the buffalo to the northeast. They were known as the "Nai Hoi". With this being the way of life for these people, bandits would often appear and steal from the farms in order to make money. Jone Bang Fai (Dan Chupong), is on a quest to find the man marked with a tattoo that did the same thing to his village and in the process killed his parents. He stops the band of thieves with homemade rockets (used in ceremonies to pray for rain), and his deadly Muay Thai. Jone then returns the buffalo to their rightful owners. Meanwhile, a local nobleman by the name of Lord Waeng (Leo Putt), represents a foreign company that wants to introduce the steam tractor to the local farmers. And after a failed attempt to win them over, he hires The Thief (Somdet Kaew-ler), to steal the buffalo so that he can force the need of his tractor's. The Thief is successful until he runs across a man named Nai Hoi Singh (Samart Payakarun), a cattle trader with supernatural martial-arts powers and a certain tattoo on his chest. After hearing about Singh's powers and the defeat of The Thief, Waeng incites the help of the dastardly Black Wizard (Panna Rittikrai), to help trick Jone Bang Fai into beating Singh.

The one thing that stands out the most in the comic bookish tale that is Dynamite Warrior, is the action. If you're a fan of martial-arts action, than the action and the action alone is the sole reason you should watch this movie. The stunts, bumps, hits and falls that these actors take are simply great. I would just smile and grimace a little when they would hit an unforgiving wall, box, dresser, or even buffalo. Not to mention when the always present flying-knee would land across someones forehead. Of course when you have a hero that uses rockets (more like over-sized bottle rockets), you're going to get the CG. And with supernatural powers, you're going to get the wire-work. "Notice, it's not wire-fu because those fights are real", says director Chalerm Wongpim. The story in Dynamite Warrior is just okay, and it didn't seem too ridiculous when Chupong rides on top of a rocket like a surfboard. That's because I knew when he was done riding, someone was getting a knee to the head...and hard. There are a few laughs that completely work and the acting does it's job in moving the story along. All of this is what made Dynamite Warrior such a fun ride for me. So let's get Dan Chupong and Tony Jaa together in an action film as, "Buddies of the Flying Tiger Knee", so all can be right with the world. And yes, I knew Chupong was in Ong-Bak as a bodyguard. (Converter)



Buy Dynamite Warrior on DVD at YESASIA!

Rush Hour 3 (North America 2007)

Welcome to Los Angeles a mere three years after the outing that was Rush Hour 2. Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), is now a traffic cop and Detective Lee (Jackie Chan), is the personal bodyguard for Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma). The Ambassador is scheduled to speak at the World Criminal Court, and during the middle of his speech about the over-whelming presence of triads, he's shot by an assassin. Lee gives chase only to come face-to-face with Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada), a man that Lee remembers from his past. Han survives the attack, but is in critical condition. His daughter Soo Young (Zhang Jingchu), wants Lee and Carter to seek vengeance and find out who's responsible for the attempt on her fathers life and why. Soo gives Lee an envelope that her father had requested her to deliver if anything were to happen to him, and it contains important information on the triads. While looking for clues, the duo run into French speaking Chinese assassins and find out they're marked for death. Leaving Soo in the care of the French Ambassador, Lee and Carter are off to Paris to get to the bottom of this triad mayhem.

I'm very depressed that Rush Hour 3 has to be my first Jackie Chan movie review for UTAI. I'm a huge fan of this man and have been in awe of his work for a very long time. When watching Rush Hour 3, the only thing I can think of is that Jackie Chan is like the friend you've known for years and you see him start a relationship with a woman named Hollywood. You see that your friend is happy, but you don't like, or approve of his choice what-so-ever yet you smile and wish him all the best. Why? Because he's simply your friend. I understand completely why Jackie has this partnership, but it's still a waste of his charm, charisma, and even his talent. Brett "Hackner" Ratner is still a clueless director after doing three of these movies. He has no idea how to handle film, let alone action. The story is ridiculous in every sense of the word. Yes...even for a summer popcorn movie. Even the Roman Polanski cameo was completely unmoving (I guess Jean Reno was busy). Chris Tucker is still there whining away with his borderline racist comments towards Jackie's character, but I guess it's OK when you're loud and hard to understand most of the time. Jackie's performance, again, seems very turned down, which I guess isn't hard when you're working opposite Chris Tucker. It's a chore to find anything to like about Rush Hour 3. There might be a chuckle here and there, but even if you're a fan of this series, you'll have a difficult time with this so-called "Rush". (Converter)

See You After School (Korea 2006)

Goong-Dahl (Bong Tae-Gyu) is the unluckiest person alive. So unlucky in fact, he is constantly being bullied and abused. He signs up for a year-long clinical study that analyzes people who have been affected in this way and helps these "rejects" mesh back into society. After a large number of previous transfers, Goong-Dahl finds himself at another new school where he runs into Yeon Seong (Kim Tae-Hyeon), also a graduate from the self-help clinic. Seong brings him up to speed on the school, how things are done, and how he's managed to do so well there. His tactic of survival is like that of the sea. Basically, pick on students smaller and weaker than you and you'll get by just fine. To test this theory for himself, Goong-Dahl intervenes with some punks led by Kang Jae-Koo (Ha Seok-Jin), who happens to be harassing Choi Min-Ah (Jeong Koo-Yeon), Dahl's instant crush. So in his blind love for Min-Ah, Dahl has instantly angered the toughest kid in the school who now wants to destroy Dahl on the rooftop after school. Fearful of the impending beat-down which is sure to keep his reject status intact, Dahl with the help of his buddy Seong, now have to figure out a way to get out of this painful situation before the school day ends.

Well, if you've seen the 1987 movie, Three O'Clock High, then you've pretty much seen See You After School. Nevertheless, it still receives passing marks as an enjoyable movie. Technically it's fine and easy to watch, but it starts off rather slow with Dahl coming off as a dork and basically sucking at everything life has to offer. Slowly but surely, he gets his chance to shine as most of the humorous moments in the film fall entirely upon his shoulders. He does a great job in taking control and making the scenes result in a laugh. There are some CG touches to add to the jokes, as well as some slap-stick humor, but it's not enough to take the slack off of Bong Tae-Gyu. The supporting cast is all but non-existent, which makes the drama really lose it's punch. Unfortunately, a movie like See You After School really needs that dramatic element to work in order to make the comedic aspects stand out even more, and sadly that balance is never reached here. The film tries to sneak as many jokes in as possible near the end which really just hurts the movie all the more because it makes it drag on. See You After School isn't a bad movie, it just has one too many loose elements that keep it from being great. The geek and bully formula is a strong one, and we as an audience are sure to see more incarnations of it. Maybe we'll get 'em next time. (Converter)



Buy See You After School on DVD at YESASIA!

Kung-Fu Mahjong 2 (Hong Kong 2005)

Fanny (Cherrie Ying) is a mahjong phenomenon and a loyal housewife to her husband Johnny (Terence Yin), who forbids her to play the game. Johnny's boss, Demon (Keung Ho-Man), invites the young couple over for dinner and to offer Johnny a promotion in his dirty gambling ring. They're also introduced to Demons sister Curvy (Zuki Lee), who is making moves for Johnny's affection. Fanny, being asked to leave after making a scene with Curvy, meets up with her brother Ronaldhino (Sammy) and her Mahjong sisters Auntie Fei (Yuen Qiu), from the first KFM also brings back her husband Chi Mo Sai (Yuen Wah), and First Love (Tiffany Lee), who were all tought by master Three Tiles (Wong Tin-Lam). Fanny shares with her sisters her problems in the love department and they give her tips on how to keep her man interested. When she plans to implement her new love tips, she finds out that Johnny is leaving her for Curvy. Now, with the loss of her husband and her mahjong skills, she tries to end it all, but her sisters won't allow it. Now it's time for Fanny to train and refocus in order to get revenge and win the Mahjong tournament.

Well, if you're not a fan of Wong Jing or his movies, KFM2 won't make you one. But one thing is for sure here is a lot more Mahjong than Kung Fu in Kung Fu Mahjong 2 (雀聖2自摸天后). If you're familiar with the rules of the game, that will help you enjoy the movie a little more, if at all. The attractive Cherrie gets her first staring role in KFM2, but she comes off as a little too corny and really kind of annoying. Tiffany Lee, Sammy, and the rest of the cast all do their part, but again, the performances are nothing to write home about. Granted, there are some funny parts, but then there are some parts that are just hard to watch. They throw in a few topical jokes, as well as some jokes aimed at making fun of movie stars, but they all fall flat. The story is completely by-the-numbers and shows no signs or originality. So if you saw the first one, and want to see what happens to this cast of characters, go ahead and give it a try so you can find out what happens when you're "self-made". (CBKevin)

Swing Girls (Japan 2004)

Tomoko Suzuki ( Juri Ueno) is spending her summer in a remedial math class. As her teacher, Ozawa (Naoto Takenaka), continues droning on, Tomoko peers out the side window and notices the schools Brass band gearing up and heading out to support their baseball team. As the bus leaves, the Brass bands catered lunches show up. So Tomoko and the other girls volunteer to take the lunches to the game. While on the way, the girls dine on one of the lunches. When they finally arrive, everyone receives a lunch except dorky Nakamura (Yuta Hiraoka), whose lunch was eaten. Due to a little carelessness from the girls, all the lunches were spoiled due to the heat, and in turn, makes the whole Brass team sick...everyone except Nakamura, who wanted to quit the team anyway. So with the Brass team out, Nakamura holds open auditions to get a new Brass team together, because the school still has to have a band. Tomoko and her friends show up, along with a stream of wannabes, but there are only sixteen of them, making the team far too small to play as a complete Brass band, but just enough for a jazz group. Now that they're together, can Nakamura really teach these girls to play anything?

When an idea as simple as Swing Girls presents itself, there can only be one thing that makes it stand out and that is it's execution. As for Swing Girls, it has a shine and charm that makes it very enjoyable to watch. You get to see the girls come together and learn the music, the instruments and rhythm, make a band and keep the band, all the while feeling like you're on the journey with them. It's not something that feels forced. The girls all take turns with their different traits, the shy one, the boy crazy one, the chubby one and so on, but it really doesn't get in the way or become over played. Swing Girls just turns into a story about the girls themselves and their love for the music. So just smile, laugh and enjoy the simple, yet entertaining ride that happens when these girls discover the beauty in jazz. (Converter)



Buy Swing Girls on DVD or VCD at YESASIA!

Scared (Thailand 2005)

Phii May (Sumonrat Wattanaselarat), is leaving home for her freshman year at college. To celebrate the arrival of a new student, a trip is planned. While going through the rain forest, the bus full of kids come across a small outpost where a local warns them that they can't take the road ahead of them and that they'd best go home. Outraged, the group of kids are interrupted by a mysterious stranger who says he'll show them the way for a ride. Once inside the rain forest, the landscape reveals various odd shrines and an old, long bridge that the bus attempts to cross. Less than halfway across the bridge, it begins to break and the bus falls into the river, killing half of the kids on board. The survivors disperse and find a small abandoned town just in
time to find out that someone is responsible for killing the students off.

Pakphum Wonjinda brings us a "teen slasher" movie that does a few things right, and does it's best to spice up it respected genre. The deaths of the kids are quite gory, which is a plus, and you do get a pretty high body count. When the killing starts, the kids start dropping like house flies! The atmosphere of the deep rain forest, followed by the small town, does its part in creating a hopeless, lonely feeling for the cast. The characters are incredibly one-dimensional, which is fine due to the fact you don't get enough time to figure out who is who anyway! So don't look for any character development here. The plot isn't a brain teaser by any means, it simply gets the kids to where the killing takes place, but it does try to spice things up at the end. If you're a fan of teen slasher films, horror, or just want to see some original deaths, you might find something to smile about in Scared. (Converter)

Wo Hu: Operation Undercover (Hong Kong 2006)

Wo Hu follows Police Chief Wai (Miu Kiu-Wai), who dedicates himself to combating the triads that plague his city. To shut down their grip on the city he implements Wo Hu: Operation Undercover. In a span of two years he has one thousand cop go undercover to infiltrate the triads. Resident triad leaders Jim (Eric Tsang), Walter (Francis Ng), Fei (Jordan Chan), and Tommy (Julian Cheung), each running a certain business for the low-profile triad head (Yueh Hua), are having a hard time believing the rumors that the organization is littered with so many moles. The solution? Take out the one's who raise suspicion. Jim has his doubts about Eric and sends some of his members to kill him. This puts the cops in an uproar, resulting in them leaning heavily upon the triads. Walter and Tommy are told to keep a low profile, but Tommy doesn't like this and thinks he's getting bullied by his fellow triad members. The cops are onto Tommy so he's forced to get of town. Jim takes over Tommy's businesses, even though Tommy doesn't seem to trust Jim, and has a plan of his own to deal with him.

There are a lot of things going on here in Wo Hu. There are the undercover cops, of which you only interact with three. One gets killed, one gives up and the other is only mentioned. The cops and their master plan all take a back seat just so we can interact with the triads and see how "real" they are as people. They have families, they fall in love with pretty shop girls, they have wives that get on their nerves, sick mothers, and even violin players for children. Oh, and they also have a boss that doesn't trust them entirely. The undercover angle seems to get lost in this mishmash of story telling. You never fill that there is a threat to the bosses, and Police Chief Wai just kinda hangs out, seemingly just to annoy the triads while recalling the days when he was undercover and how he did the unthinkable. Most of the time the bosses are hanging out wondering if they're the good guys or the bad. The acting is pretty good, because it's mostly Hong Kong A-list stars and the production quality is good. Ultimately, I feel like everyone just hangs out and lives life like us "normal" people, only they aren't, they're vicious triad members. I think Wo Hu just doesn't sit well, due to the fact it just felt like a wasted idea that could have been something more intense. (Converter)

Buy Wo Hu on DVD or VCD at YESASIA!

DOA: Dead or Alive (North America 2006)

DOA follows four beautiful female fighters and their quest in the martial arts tournament that is Dead or Alive. Kasumi (Devon Aoki - princess), begins a fight with Hayabusa (Kane Kosugi - resident ninja) about her brother Hayate's (ninja and the best fighter in the world) supposed death. If she leaves to find out what happened to her brother, she will become a shinobi, and her army will kill her. Worried about what could happen to her family, she leaves. When she does, she receives a DOA shuriken, inviting her to the tournament, which happens to be the last known location of her brother. Tina (Jaime Pressly - the professional wrestler), relaxes on her yacht, and is arguing with her father about the importance of taking professional wrestling seriously. At the same time, a gang of pirates shows up and as you can imagine, Tina makes short work of them. A DOA shuriken pierces the side of her boat. Christie (Holly Valance - the Thief) is being investigated along with her "partner" Maximillian Marsh (Matthew Marsden), after a theft of diamonds. After some quick moves, she evades arrest, and the authorities, just in time to receive her invite. Ayane (Natassia Malthe - resident ninja), is instructed to secretly follow Kasumi, and kill her for betraying the clan. Helena (Sarah Carter- descendent of the DOA creator) welcomes the three girls and the other participants that have entered. Helena then introduces the fighters to meet Donovan (Eric Roberts - DOA host and bad guy), the organizer of this year's DOA, who explains about the $10 million prize money, and some of the history about the tournament. However, fighters be warned. These fights can take place at anytime, and anywhere!

When adapting a popular video game, a fighting to be more specific there has to be one simple rule: make the fighting as awesome, fun and fantastic as the source material. This is a tall order for DOA (based off the Tecmo/Team Ninja popular series of fighting games), mainly due to the fact that the movie loses most of the games main story line and tailors it around the four girls. So in turn, this just becomes an "Enter the Dragon" rehash. This is too bad because there is a lot of potential here. Some of the locations are beautiful with filming locations in Bangkok, Guilin, Heng Dian and Hong Kong. The stunt and choreography are decent at times, but it's your typical wire work and CG taking over a majority of the fight scenes. This is understandable with most of the talent involved. The one thing that stood out was the use of sound effects. The sound effect of a character launching and landing a kick, while a shotgun cocks and fire is just plain cool. It worked with the way the movie was presented. I would of liked the movie to take more risks. The acting is cheesy and weak most of the time, but the performance by Eric Roberts and Matthew Marsden will hurt the most and have you questioning the casting as a whole. Overall, DOA is another example of a video game-movie blunder. Due to the overseas release, the movie is wildly available on the internet for sale (YesAsia.com for example), but North American audiences will finally get DOA in theaters on June 15, 2007. So bottom line, if you're a fan of the game, you might get a chuckle out of it, but that's pretty much it. (Converter)



Buy DOA: Dead or Alive on DVD or VCD at YESASIA!

Fearless (Hong Kong/China 2006)

Fearless follows the life of Huo Yuanjia (Jet LI), founder of the Jing Wu Sports Federation. When Hou was little all he wanted was to follow in his fathers (Collin Chou) foot steps. Eventually, he did just that, by taking over over the school and responsibly that comes with it. Now a little older, and only a little wiser, Hou is on the quest to become number one in Tianjin. As his brash tirade continues, he adopts more students that want to one day be as powerful as he is. When one of Huo's disciples is beaten by a rival master, Huo takes it upon himself to get revenge and prove he's the true master...even if it means facing disrespect from the community and his peers. His actions eventually make him lose face and family. So he retreats to the country side to find solace. Soon he comes across a small village, where a local by the name of Moon (Betty Sun) takes him in and cares for him. Moon and her village rekindle the idea of simple honor within Huo. Huo gets his act together and returns to his town and the people that he left behind. He returns to find out there are a few foreign faces that would like to take him out of the game permanently.

The movie is loosely based on true events and life of Huo Yuanjia and his Jing Wu Sports Federation. Jet Li's performance seems a bit up and down, even for the content, but this is never enough to hurt the movie. It takes the fight direction of Yuen Woo-Ping, (who never lets you down) and a little CG coupled together to give you some very intense fight sequences. The direction from Ronny Yu does what it needs to do, and that means showing us the fighting, which he does really well. Also, due to some lofty production, we get some beautiful location shots as well. Other than that, the story moves along in such a way as to just get the viewer to the next fight, but not in a classic "beat'em up" type of way. There is a story here; it's just on fast forward most of the time. So it kind of puts a dent in the story telling aspect of things, but this still remains a very entertaining movie to watch. As everyone knows, this will be Jet Li's final movie about martial arts, which is too bad. There is something about Li and his performances in a period piece that can be described as magical. Legend of Wong Fei Hung, Hero, the OUATIC (Once Upon a Time in China) series, and of course his all time best movie ever: Fist of Legend are all examples of this, and he shines in each one. Fearless is a good movie that does it's best to keep company with the classics preceding it. As his final martial arts film, Jet Li couldn't have done a better job. (Converter)



Buy Fearless on regular DVD or HD DVD at YESASIA!