Ong Bak 2 (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

Martial arts superstar Tony Jaa stars in and directs this epic tale of revenge set hundreds of years in the past. Featuring a huge cast and hordes of elephants, this prequel takes Jaa’s skills to the next level, showcasing him as a master of a wide range of martial arts styles - while proving him to be a promising director as well.

A few years ago, the original Ong Bak set out to turn back the clock on action movies, moving away from overcomplicated plotlines and focusing on delivering as much action as possible. Ong Bak 2 promises much of the same, but falters by offering up a tale that needed meatier plotting. To add insult to injury, a baffling local PG-13 mucks up the flow of Tony Jaa’s action scenes, leaving local audiences with a messy, incomplete version of an already troubled film.

Tien (Tony Jaa) is the son of a commander in the royal army. His parents were killed in a coup that placed a greedy prince on the throne. Tien is left orphaned and is soon picked up by slavers. But he is rescued by a group of thieves and martial artists whose leader sees something special in Tien, and raises him as one of his own. Tien grows up to be a fearsome warrior, and quickly comes to lead the thieves in their raids. He is next in line to king of the bandits, but the memory of his parents has not left him, and he cannot move on without exacting his revenge.

The plot is pretty thin as it is, but the script pushes it even thinner. The movie waits far too long to introduce the story elements of the film, perhaps too confident in the effectiveness of its action. And the action is indeed quite great, but the lack of context makes it feel like a blur. And when things ought to have been moving, the movie sticks us with momentum breaking flashbacks, making the entire second act feel pretty tedious. The movie actually has a somewhat interesting story, with a couple of twists that could’ve been dramatically devastating, but the script doesn’t do justice to its own ideas.

But let’s accept that nobody went into Ong Bak 2 hoping for a narrative masterpiece. This is all about the action, and for the most part, it delivers. There are a few camera issues, but all in all, action and martial arts aficionados should find little to complain about in this movie. Once again, Tony Jaa eschews wirework and CG and concentrates on filming people hitting each other. In many ways, everything here is far more impressive than what can be found in the modern Chinese martial arts epics. It’s just too bad that this movie is rated PG-13, and has some of its violence cut. I’m not particularly bloodthirsty, but the cuts ruin the flow of the action scenes, at times completely breaking the logic of the scene. It’s an absolutely baffling choice.

As there isn’t a lot of plot, there isn’t really a lot of acting in this movie. Tony Jaa mostly lets his body do the talking, his fists and feet enunciating his emotion better than his words. But Jaa also has an expressive face, and though he doesn’t really get to stretch his face much, it works well enough for the film. The supporting cast doesn’t really get to do much either, though there’s some real talent in there. Sorapong Chatree is pretty fun to watch overall. Sarayu Wongkrachang goes a bit overboard, but he makes it work.

For the life of me, I will never understand why the distributors pushed to get a PG-13 rating for this movie. The one thing Ong Bak 2 had going for it was its action scenes, where the visceral violence could somewhat make up for the movie’s general lack of plot. But the rating makes the action scenes incoherent, the fight logic thrown out the window as we skip over vital seconds of movement. I might be able to recommend Ong Bak 2 to die hard fans of fighting, but not in this form.

ONG BAK 2 (2009)

Starring: Tony Jaa

Director: Tony Jaa

Studio: Magnolia Pictures

Genre: Action

Rating: R (For sequences of violence.)

Release Date: September 25, 2009

Official Site: http://www.ongbaktwo.com/

Whiteout (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

After two years stationed at Antarctica's South Pole research base, lone U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) is as anxious as anyone to be going home. She's turned in her resignation and is counting the hours and minutes to the last plane out. But three days before departure, a body turns up on the ice and Carrie is immediately thrust into Antarctica's first murder investigation. As the death toll mounts, the mystery deepens with shifting loyalties, deadly whiteouts, and a relentless killer who will stop at nothing to protect a secret buried for over sixty years. Now with everyone around her packing up and getting out, Carrie must solve the crime before Antarctica is plunged into six months of darkness and she is stranded with the killer on a land where nothing comes in and no one gets out.

You ever hear of this place called Antarctica? Of course you have, it's the place with all the cute little penguins from that documentary you saw four years ago.

However, did you know it is the coldest, most isolated landmass on the planet? Okay, you probably knew that too, just not in such threatening terms. But you better get ready, because the blistering cold and lonely continent is about to bore you stiff in a film that isn't as much awful as it is just plain dumb.

Whiteout has been delayed for as long as I can remember after first seeing footage from it back at the 2007 Comic Con, again at Comic Con 2008 and it finally arrives in theaters in 2009. Typically when a film is delayed this long it's for a reason and Whiteout doesn't disappoint in living up to the rules set forth by film history.

Kate Beckinsale stars as U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko who is first introduced stripping off five layers of clothing and then hopping into the shower -- all without saying a word. I can hardly complain considering Beckinsale is absolutely gorgeous, but as the camera pans up and down her body I didn't know we were actually watching the best action sequences this film had to offer in its 101 minute running time. Without the help of fast cars, neon lights, 30 computer screens and a Paul Oakenfold soundtrack it seems director Dominic Sena has no clue what to do as this film doesn't even live up to the level of stupid fun offered by Sena's Swordfish and Gone in 60 Seconds, and it's not like that's asking for much.

The story is something of a "C.S.I. in the snow" as news of the first murder in the history of Antarctica hits the wire and Carrie's retirement plans are put on hold. Harboring a creepy crush on John Fury, a geriatric doctor with a rock star name played by Tom Skerritt, and not trusting anyone due to a silly back-story serving as a story distraction and runtime space filler, Carrie must go about solving the crime before a massive storm hits, which would leave her stranded in Antarctica for the next six months. I guess if that happens she could at least go find those dancing penguins from that animated movie three years ago.

Plot holes, flashbacks, flashbacks of flashbacks, flashbacks of what happened five minutes ago and just plain dumb action sequences turn Whiteout into an all out bore. This should have been a commercial for Blistex as temperatures reaching 65 degrees below zero will apparently freeze your fingers in seconds all while the lips of our leads remain unfazed. Several chase sequences are slowed down due to the characters' need to use guide ropes as winds push them around and they must hook, unhook and hook again a carabiner before they can run from the crazy killer with an ice axe. This monotony alleviates all tension and once all is said and done you will be left to discuss the myriad of problems this film has and wondering why you just wasted your time watching it.

Whiteout is simply a film you should avoid. It isn't so stupid you will actively hate it, but you do run the risk of becoming a little dumber just for seeing it. And after all that, there isn't one penguin. What a rip-off.

WHITEOUT (2009)

Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt, Columbus Short, Nicolas Wright, Alex O'Loughlin

Director: Dominic Sena

Studio: Warner Bros.

Genre: Action / Thriller

Rating: R (For violence, grisly images, brief strong language and some nudity.)

Release Date: September 11, 2009

Official Site: http://www.whiteoutmovie.com/

The Grudge 3 (2009) Review

SYNOPSIS:

A young Japanese woman hears about a mysterious curse that claimed several people as victims. She thinks she knows how to end the grudge, and travels to Chicago to the apartment building where the curse was first recorded, hoping to end it once and for all.

It is widely acknowledged by fans and critics alike that The Grudge 2 sent the fledgling American version of the franchise spiraling off into the wrong direction, reducing its Asian horror roots in a fractured narrative that would drag the story kicking and screaming all the way to America. The Grudge 3 - The Final Scare starts out pretty much where the last one left off, and keeps walking down that same ugly path, this time without director Shimizu Takashi, and with the added bonus of it being a direct to video feature shot in Eastern Europe. The Grudge 3 takes an already struggling franchise and pushes its head underwater.

The movie starts by updating us on the status of Jake, the kid who was the sole survivor of vengeful ghost Kayako’s haunting of a Chicago apartment. He’s been committed to a psychiatric facility, and the moment he’s alone, Kayako exacts her punishment on him. Meanwhile, back in the apartment building where all of that took place, Max (Gil McKinney), the landlord, is struggling to keep things together and take care of his family as tenants leave and the building owner breathes down his neck. Things get worse when the hauntings continue, once again causing people to die in mysterious ways. But Naoko (Emi Ikehata) has just arrived in Chicago, and she may have a way to rid the world of Kayako once and for all.

The movie forgoes the fractured storytelling of the franchise and features a more straightforward narrative. In theory, that ought to simplify things, but this story seems even more broken than the previous movies, the plot points feeling barely cobbled together. One would One of the shakiest aspects of the movie is the character of Naoko, who we learn has a history with Kayako, and has always held the knowledge on how to defeat her. But of course, despite Kayako killing people for years in Japan, it takes the death of a random boy from Chicago to make her decide that she must finally step up and prevent these killings. That’s the sort of narrative logic we’re dealing with, every possible road towards towards contrivance taken in order to move pieces into convenient places. And strange, despite the more traditional setup, we don’t really get to know the characters very well, everyone given the bare minimum of characterization before being shuffled off to face Kayako’s killing hand. Without Shimizu at the helm, the filmmaking has taken a hit as well. The movie feels like a pale imitation of his style, working off lame shocks and relying on added gore to provide chills that the stale atmosphere cannot.

The Grudge series has become somewhat notorious for wasting the talent that it gets in the acting department, using capable stars and giving them pretty much nothing to do. This movie goes in the opposite direction, taking bad actors and giving them stuff that they obviously can’t handle. Take Gil McKinney, who turns the genuine burdens of his character and turns them into whiny rants. Or Johanna Braddy, whose petulant performance makes it difficult to sympathize with her character. Also, the role of boy ghost Toshio is terribly miscast.

The Grudge 3 ranks high in the list of unnecessary sequels. There’s just no reason to follow up on the events of The Grudge 2, which itself was an unnecessary and much despised sequel. And yet, here we are, stuck with another terrible direct to video horror sequel in our theaters, while we miss out on many of the more original cinematic offerings that the world has to offer. To me, that’s a far scarier curse than what Kayako can ever bring.

THE GRUDGE 3 (2009)

Main Cast:

Beau Mirchoff, Emi Ikehata, Johanna Braddy, Matthew Knight, Shawnee Smith

Supporting Cast:

Aiko Horiuchi, Mike Straub, Shimba Tsuchiya, Takatsuna Mukai

Director:

Toby Wilkins

Writer:

Brad Keene

Release Year:

2009

Released By:

Viva

Website:

The Grudge 3

MTRCB Rating:

PG-13