Ok, I've posted almost everything about everything that "suck". It's time to go to a more lighter, more positive side of things. So what makes a good MA Movie? What are the few MA films that are righteous to be worth our while? Be a film critic if you will.
Warriors Of Heaven And Earth Now this movie rocks! I have observe over the years that the only MA movies that have some substance are either Japanese or Chinese MA films. MA after all is part of their culture. To understand one country's MA, one must understand it's culture. Well, the film is set in the Tang Dynasty in the Gobi Desert. Back then, the silk route is primarily the road of commerce where valuable goods such as silk, gold, and spices came from Asia to Europe. Of course, this route is also very dangerous, being flooded with turks and bandits seeking to profit from other people's goods. From these brutal regions of China, heroes are born. This is the story of two heroes. One a Japanese Emmisary and the other a Mutinous rebel. The two must battle to the death. But they'll have to set aside their personal battle as they need to escort and guard a caraban that the bandits have their eyes on. The film is what I would like to call "a no strings attached" type of MA film. The fight scenes are just amazing. The techniques used are a realistic as it can be, meaning you won't be seeing anything like the "crouching tiger hidden dragon" stuff on the movie. The choreography is really good. The cinematography is in par with Jet Li's The Hero. The actors on the other hand really put their best performance. The fight scenes are as dramatic as the characters in the movie. Good performance. I specially like to give credit to Nakai Kiichi's performance as Lai Xi, the Japanese Emmisary. And who wouldn't miss Zhao Wei? If you're a big fan of the movie SO CLOSE, this is it for you. The beautiful Zhao Wei is just amazing. And the music, oh yes, it's like travelling back in time. It's almost like you're experience the Gobi Desert yourself. This is one MA movie that will overwhelm your senses. Highly recommended by a trying hard film critic.
With all movies, MA or not, you need a good general tone throughout the movie. So at least it looks whole, and without lots of pieces which seem out of place. Romeo Must Die, for example, is crap with bad cgi but they kept it going throughout. it wasnt just thrown in there. Different MA movies give out different 'feels' and then there are many types of movie style MAs. You have the smash and bash realistic kind ie Bruce Lee, Jackie or Best of the Best Semi-realistic HK action - Drive, Kiss of Dragon Old school Shaw Brothers Wire work - CTHD and Fantasy style - Storm Riders, Volcano High. Matrix was nothing new, just good Computer effects and even that wasnt new. They were not the first to create the 360o camerashot, it was an experimental filmmaker (whose name i forget) i think it was a farmer shooting down an animal (i'll ask my film lecturer for the proper details later). Matrix was just the first to mix the 2 together. So what makes a good MA movie? U need a good mix of the elements. action, acting, plot. Just like any other movies in the other genres
a couple of the best fight sequences used on cinema: 1) the wet lawn fight between gary busey and mel gibson in lethal weapon one. (displayed some great sequences of jailhouse, capoera, and bjj). 2) the whole benecio del toro vs. tommy lee jones fight in the hunted. (sayoc kali fma). 3) matt damon's fights in bourne identity (jkd/kdl fma). 3)
A good MA movie must have these. 1/ Bad plot 2/ Bad acting 3/ Silly comedy 4/ Lots o' a$$ kicking with no one bieng able to even touch the hero [Bruce Lee movies] 5/ No love plot or anything to ruin things up [the better ones like drunken master, fearless hyena, way of the dragon etc] 5/ No wires [with exceptions iron monkey was still good with wires] 6/ Lots o' training sequences [again drunken master, fearless hyenapordigal son etc] 7/ A bada$$ villian who happens to be the only one who can match the hero Any more? |Cain|
