Film Review - The Man from Hong Kong (1975)

The Man from Hong Kong is an Australian action film and stars Jimmy Wang Yu and Inspector Fang Sing Leng from Hong Kong who comes to Sydney to extradite one of his own, but when he is assassinated, Leng blows the place Sky High to find out who's responsible.

Clearly inspired by the success of the James Bond series, Writer-Director Brian Trenchard-Smith has created essentially an Australian equivalent of a Bond film, complete with the title song (Sky High by Jigsaw) the pre credit action sequence, multiple action scenes which are just outstanding to watch plus the cherries of both a beautiful heroine and a nasty villain funnily enough played by one time 007 George Lazenby, A coincidence; surely not.

But back to the stunt scenes, which as I said before are outstandingly well made and boy does everyone involve cop a whack, even the film's director who appears in a small role, a pity that with all of the computer graphics directors have at their disposal these days, on screen action simply isn't as good as what's in this movie, no doubt due to the ease of just doing it all on a blue screen or green screen stage rather than going out and doing it all for real and in camera.

But hey, apart from that, go check this film out, it's a knock out in more ways than one with a real sense of energy and excitement, 4 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Sanctum (2010)

Sanctum is an underwater thriller produced by James Cameron and concerns a team of cave divers who are going down a cave in Papua New Guinea when they are caught in a cyclone and trapped underground, so the team has to find their way out, by going down.

This review for the most part will concern both the 3D experience and the film as a whole, first off I'll start with the 3D and boy was it AMAZING, really a great experience which envelopes the viewer and at times, makes you really feel like you're struggling for air, there were times where I was literally holding my breath it was that good, so good in fact that after the film, I felt like I still had water in my lungs (I didn't really) and if there was an Oxygen tank nearby, I would have ran for it, anyone watching this on Blu-Ray will really be missing out.

But what about the movie as a whole, well sadly it isn't up to the 3D effect, probably because the 3D was probably supervised mainly by Cameron whereas Alistair Grierson directed the film itself and I have to say that it really feels like an amateur effort compared to a veteran like Cameron, in fact if Cameron himself had the chance to direct this film, I think it would have been so much more than it is in terms of the claustrophobia, tension and characterization.

As I write this, Sanctum is on it's way out of cinemas and in a way it's a shame as you really do get a proper cinema experience seeing it in one, it's just a pity that Cameron couldn't be persuaded to direct the film himself, as Grierson and Co. make it look like an amateur's job, but hey the 3D experience made it worth the wait so a 3 out of 5 for Sanctum.

Film Review - Easy A (2010)

Easy A stars Emma Stone as Olive, a high school girl who doesn't get noticed much until one night she fakes a story about losing her virginity, a decision that will have some big consequences.

In all honesty I don't think this movie would have been anywhere near what it is without Emma Stone in the lead, she is wonderful in this film with her great sense of comic timing, her wonderful natural look and ability to garner sympathy from an audience, I honestly believe that she could be a big star in a few years, but enough about that, let's talk about the rest of the film.

And that is that it's smart, well written and also funny, with many odds to the 80's teenage comedies specifically those by the late John Hughes and Say Anything, the 1989 film by Cameron Crowe which starred John Cusack and Ione Skye, in fact I dare anyone not to get a little swept up when "Don't you forget about me" by Simple Minds and used in The Breakfast Club and Futurama plays at the end.

You know, as I was watching this I was reminded of some of the best episodes of both The Simpsons and Red Dwarf so you should give this a look when you can, 3 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Basic Instinct (1992)

Basic Instinct stars Michael Douglas as San Francisco Inspector Nick Curran and Sharon Stone as Catherine Trammel a Novelist, Douglas is investigating a murder that happened during a kinky night where an ice pick is the murder weapon, what he will uncover will push him to the brink of insanity.

You know, I really don't know where to begin with this movie, on the one hand it has a great performance by Stone, who's ice cold intelligence makes for compelling viewing not to mention a terrific score by the late Jerry Goldsmith, outside of those however this is one of the most predictable and ridiculous crime thrillers I've ever seen, complete with an ending that undoes everything the film says up to that point.

In some ways, this really feels like last year's Salt with Angelina Jolie, in that something that should be simple to solve at a script level is left unsolved and as a result, the writer (in this case Joe Eszterhas) cuts it both ways and chickens out of creating a final answer, which reminds me of the old idiom "The More things Change, the More they Stay the Same."

You know, I wanted this to be good as it was an adults only movie, something that is in short supply in the current climate but I can't say this was any good at all, despite those minor pluses, 1 out of 5.

Film Review - The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the latest production from veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the story here is that there were three apprentices to the ancient wizard Merlin, Balthazar (Nicolas Cage), Veronica (Monica Bellucci) and Horvath (Alfred Molina), throughout the centuries these three clashed against the evil sorceress Morgana, but in the end, there can be only one that is powerful enough to defeat her for good.

Now some of you might be surprised at the use of "There can be Only One" from the Highlander series, well not so good readers as this movie actually reminded me quite a bit of the first Highlander movie from 1986, I mean you have Nicolas Cage in the Ramirez role, Jay Baruchel (more on him later) in the Connor MacLeod slot, Alfred Molina in the Kurgan role (though he behaves more like General Katana from Highlander 2) and Teresa Palmer filling the Brenda role.

But why am I comparing the two exactly, mainly because this film like that one, had a real spirit and mythology that was interesting and worth following, unfortunately for this film though the potential to become a cult classic like Highlander doesn't quite get there mainly because of Baruchel, it's exactly the same problem I had with Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the centre of the film is a whiny little geek who whinges about anything and everything and would rather pine after a girl that in the real world would dismiss him completely then become a man who's destined for something greater, whatever happened to the good old days of movie heroes where the main leads were confident, self assured and willing to grab their task by the horns and do what's right.

I'll tell you where, it disappeared when Tobey Maguire did his little whinging act in the original Spider-Man movies and since those were mega buck box office hits, everyone since has gone "if we make the hero a nerd who's unassured about himself and lacking in self confidence, audiences will relate to him more" well that might have worked with some but not with me, I have really had enough of this and I wish it would stop, it's really hurting these action adventure movies to the point where it's hard to care about anything that's happening on screen.

But despite all that, this movie did have some real promise and it certainly held my interest enough to recommend it, thanks to Cage and Molina who hold their own well and the interesting sorcerer story, the love story and pimply little git that centres this movie, I could have lived without, at least in Highlander both of those elements were made important as well as the mythical stuff.

All right, time to wrap this review up, a promising fantasy movie that sadly doesn't quite feel the Quickening and live up to its full potential, 2 out of 5.

Film Review - Cobra (1986)

Cobra stars Sylvester Stallone as Lt. Marion 'Cobra' Cobretti, a cop who does things his way and annoys his superiors, but when a woman witnesses a murder by a group calling themselves "The New Order", Cobra finds himself in the fight of his life to protect her.

Cobra is in one way trying to do a Dirty Harry type film where not only do you have the violence extravaganza but also the commentary about violence in society as a whole, but this issue is only partially explored as Stallone's script prefers to go for the guns and blow everyone away with reckless abandon, now I did enjoy some of it as well as Andrew Robinson in a small role but the film's last act which I'm certain was inspired by the finale of the first Terminator film really got on my nerves due to its mindless action and lack of caring with the films characters or storyline up to that point.

In short, what could have been an interesting action picture with some good action and interesting villains and story just becomes another action picture that just leaves you bored by the end of it all, apparently this was what Stallone had in mind for the first Beverly Hills Cop film, thankfully Paramount had other ideas, just a 1 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - A Shock to the System (1990)

A Shock to the System stars Michael Caine as Graham Marshall, a marketing executive who is waiting for a big promotion, but when it's stolen from him by a young wheeler dealer type, he plots a sinister scheme to get what we wants.

A Shock to the System is a very funny but also very dark movie, effortlessly anchored by Caine, who captures the black comedy tone perfectly, making him an absolute joy to watch, Caine also narrates the film and it also is fun to listen to, I also enjoyed Elizabeth McGovern as Stella, the young woman who he tutors in "the magic" as well as the rest of the cast but this is easily Caine's movie through and through.

What else can I say really, I found this movie to be a real joy to watch, 3 and a half out of 5.