Film Review: Wong Kar Wai’s ‘The Grandmaster’ is a Flawed yet Visually Majestic and Affecting Film.

My introduction to Wong Kar Wai came in the form of his english language debut My Blueberry Nights. While a lot of fans of him view that film as somewhat of a failure, I personally consider it to be an amazing film. Besides the breathtaking visuals and remarkable soundtrack, Wong Kar Wai is able to represent love and all of its flaws and powers in a very specific and fresh manner. Since then I’ve watched his other films and while the only other I truly love is In The Mood For Love, I can’t deny that each film yields an interesting and at times cathartic experience. So is The Grandmaster another masterpiece? Or merely a good film?

The Grandmaster traces the lives of martial arts master Ip Man (Tony Leung). How he rose to fame, then to obscurity during the war and back again. It also explores his friendship with the daughter, Gong Er (Ziyi Zhang), of one of the great master who herself is on a path of vengeance against those who would destroy her family’s legacy.

Prior to watching this film I made the mistake of actually formulating certain expectations for the film. As a result of the fighting sequences shown in the trailers, I thought the film would have a lot of action sequences. But just like Wong Kar Wai proved that he could re-conceptualize science-fiction with 2046, he does the same with the action genre in The Grandmaster. This is not to say that there aren’t too many action scenes, but just that the action film formula is morphed into something different. Usually with action film, the end has a climatic showdown between rivals but that’s not the case here. All the action happens within the first half and after that there is none. Now how you take that depends entirely on your sensibilities and familiarity to Wong Kar Wai’s work. I liked it, but first lets take action.

The famous rain action sequences seen in the trailers delivers, but oddly enough it is not the best action sequence. There’s another rain fighting duel that’s also quite good and as a parallel to the first I mentioned, becomes even cooler. And the train station fight is also pretty awesome. But the best one happens between Ip Man and Gong Er indoors. Because that fights has some specific rules, there is an added intensity and creativity at play. Plus it marks the genesis of the strong bond between the film’s two protagonists. The fighting choreography is outstanding from start to finish, and Wong Kar Wai’s treatment of action fluctuates to be honest. In some parts his unique style renders the fights incredibly beautiful and poetic, but other times it feels somewhat intrusive. Sometimes he just doesn’t let the fight breathe and it makes them feel a bit disjointed, especially when it is ten men against one. But when it is one on one they work brilliantly.

Now the biggest surprise for me came at the halfway mark where the film takes a considerable shift. The action is replaced with straight up drama and character dialogue. If the first half was about martial-arts masters proving their greatness and building their legacy, the second half is about how their devotion to honour and technique gradually damages their personal lives. This is also the moment where the war occurs and all of the characters way of life is put into disarray. But more significantly, the film opts to finally explore in depth the relationship between it’s two protagonists. In a way, The Grandmaster turns into In The Mood For Love in its last half and I for one think that was a perfect move to make. This is the moment where Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang’s performances truly shine as they recreate but to greater effect the intense chemistry they had in 2046. There is a strong bond between their characters, an unspoken love and admiration that can never be acted on, only subtlety expressed. It is quite affecting and heart-breaking. 

During the last half I also got the feeling that this was the aspect of this story Wong Kar Wai was really interested in. The previous stuff with the action felt like a director trying to emulate an idea, but with this last part when love is the focus the film finally takes flight. As any fan of his knows, love is his strong suite and I’m still surprised that he is able to show us new aspects of it. You’d think he had said all that could be said about love, but you’d be wrong. A downside to this shift is that it also makes The Grandmaster feel like two films in one. Yes, they both work but it adds a lack of focus that you usually don’t see in Wong Kar Wai. Furthermore, the introduction to a third “protagonist” feels incredibly misguided and forced. That, I believe, is the film’s greatness flaw. Chen Chang’s presence isn’t explained and after the film spends 20-30 minutes on him, it totally drops him never to be seen again. What was the point of that? Besides some cool action, that character added nothing to the film.

Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster was not the film I expected. All of the action scenes are amazing to watch and while they lack the sense of danger, they still manage to be awe-inspiring. Wong Kar Wai tries to infuse them with something new and different, and like many experiments sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Nevertheless, the sheer majestic beautify of the visuals is enough to turn them into one of the coolest action scenes in years. The film’s strength lies in the performances and more specifically in the relationship between Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang’s characters. They are the heart of the film and even though separate they are able to effortlessly carry their respective plot-lines, when they converge is when The Grandmaster reaches it’s precipice. It is the immensely affecting relationship between this two character that will make you forget about the film missteps and flaws. At least the music is consistently perfect throughout the film.

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Film Review: Great Performances and Thrilling Action Overshadow the Predictability of ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’.

Up until 2009 I had no knowledge of Star Trek. Like most people I thought of Star Trek as the poor’s man Star Wars. But then I saw J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek and instantly fell in love with it. That film was immensely exciting with an operatically awesome score and even greater performances. It proved to me that Star Trek is not only on par with Star Wars, it could also arguably be better. Having said all that, my love for Star Trek is exclusively for J.J. Abrams’ new iteration and not the previous films and TV shows. So as you can imagine, I’ve waited since I came out of the theatre that awesome day in 2009 for a sequel and the sequel does not disappoint.

When a Starfleet archive is bombarded by rogue agent John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), a special council is called to determine what the next course of action will be. Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) alongside Spock (Zachary Quinto) and their crew are tasked with eliminating this new threat. However, as they go deeper into their manhunt for John Harrison they uncover a series of secrets and cover ups that could potentially annihilate all humanity.

Because I really, really liked Star Trek Into Darkness I think it’s only fair that I start off with what didn’t work. The film is exceedingly predictable and even with someone with very little knowledge about Star Trek lore could see pretty much everything coming a mile away. This is the film’s biggest downside and prime aspect that will most likely hinder people’s enjoinment of it. Furthermore, the predictability takes away the sense of danger or the perceived high risk stakes the film presents. Most notably though it undermines one of the film’s most emotional scenes. There are also some major plot-holes near the end that honestly felt a bit insulting and rushed. There is a very odd shift in the third act that doesn’t really work.

As expected, the action sequences here are awesome from top to bottom. This is why I love the summer season, you get a real sense of spectacle in films and Star Trek Into Darkness delivers them in droves. The space sequences of battling ships are cool, the opening action set piece of eye-poopingly thrilling but best of all is a gun fight in Kronos, the Klingon home planet. That whole sequence is where the film reaches its true greatness. It is incredibly tense, the special effects astound and then the action itself is unnaturally badass. There is a good sense of control and direction in that scene and you’d hoped the film spend more time there.

But much in like the previous film, all the action is easily overshadowed by great performances from the whole cast. Karl Urban is hilarious as expected, John Cho has a very badass moment that totally gives me a new perspective on him and his character, and Zoe Saldana is given much more to do and she delivers it all with intelligence and awesomeness. But the core performances here belong to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. This film really explores their friendship and demonstrates that sometimes having contradictory forms of behaving can not only end in success, but also enhance a relationship. Pine and Quinto have an impeccable chemistry that sells their struggle beautifully. And it’s very refreshing to see some actual character growth.

Having said all that, you all know who was by far the best thing about the film: Benedict Cumberbatch. Ever since he was announced as the film I was just dying of excitement and then seeing him in trailers increased that excitement tenfold. Cumberbatch is literally the best thing about this film and for me the prime reason you will overlook some of the film’s flaws. He brings such a palpable sense of danger and terror to his character. His stillness and silence are incredibly threatening and endearing. Similar to Tom Hiddleston’s Loki but to much, much, much, much greater effect you kinda want to be ruled by Cumberbatch’s John Harrison. Moreover, the way his speaks is sinister and awesome. He pronounces each word with such gusto and subtext that I genuinely felt like making love to his mouth. I loved him so much to I wished he had been the protagonist of the film. I do hope they bring him back somehow.

Compared to the first film, Star Trek Into Darkness is much more focused and cohesive. Now that all characters are established, time is spent more on examining their relationships. Perhaps some people expected it to explore more characters in the crew, but I think reinforcing the main relationship which is that of Captain Kirk and Spock is a necessary thing do in order to move forward. The film might be mighty predictable, but everything else works so well that you’ll either not notice the flaws or simply ignore them. The action and special effects deliver, and the performances are all great across the board. But like I said, this Benedict Cumberbatch show and he proves that yes, he is easily one of the best actors working right now.

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Film Review: ‘Iron Man 3’ is the First True Cinematic Masterpiece of the Marvel Universe.

I don’t know about you, but in 2008 I never expected that this film called Iron Man would not only go on to launch arguably the most exciting collection of films, but that it would also make Tony Stark/Iron Man into the most beloved superhero. Prior to 2008, I knew nothing about Iron Man expect for his presence in Marvel vs. Capcom. The Marvel universe for me was basically the X-Men and Spider-Man. But now Iron Man is one of my top favourite superheroes and a lot of that comes down to Robert Downey Jr.’s brilliant performance. He redeemed himself with The Avengers after the mess that Iron Man 2 was, and now with Iron Man 3 he has firmly established that yeah he is the best.

Following the events of New York, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is experiencing some severe post-traumatic-stress. He is distancing himself from people and unable to sleep he spends all of his times tinkering and constructing new suits. When terrorist attacks by the hand of The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) start occurring, Stark goes against his best friends James Rhodes’ (Don Cheadle) advice and publicly challenges The Mandarin. This results in all out attack on Tony’s house, which puts Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) in danger and sends Tony into a downward spiral.

When the director for Iron Man 3 was announced my immediate reaction was: “this is going to be an awesome film!” If you’ve seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (and if you haven’t get on that shit asap) you know that Shane Black is pure intellectual fun awesomeness. As a writer, Black is incredible in the way he uniquely meshes humour with serious stuff. He can balance tones beautifully and as a director he knows how compose great looking scenes and bring out even greater performances from his cast. All of that applies to Iron Man 3 plus the added bonus of unpredictability. It’s really difficult to be genuinely surprised in blockbuster films nowadays, but Iron Man 3 was just an actively unexpected experience. There’s so much in it that I never saw coming and as a whole the film feels incredibly distinctive.

Being the third film in a franchise, you run the risk of falling into the same tired formula. But with great success comes the freedom to be bold and with great people behind it, those bold choices will most likely yield something special. Iron Man 3 is the best example of that. The first big and very noticeable bold choice was an active attempt to have Tony Stark out of his suit. In here the focus is on the man and not the machine. Tony is forced to make do with common household items and rely heavily on his intellect to manoeuvre through situations. It’s really fascinating seeing Tony without all of his high-tech gadgets and quite surprising to see how physical he can be even without his suit. Putting Tony in this type of situation was very refreshing and it further spotlighted how great Robert Downey Jr. is.

Now all that isn’t to say there aren’t some badass Iron Man action sequences, because there are and they’re so fucking awesome. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a proper box office film spectacle and with Iron Man 3 the summer season has started with a major bang. The scene where Tony’s house gets blown up is great, but for me the most brilliant action scene was the airplane rescue. I won’t spoil it, but that scene is hilarious, exciting, imaginative and it really established the superhero status of Iron Man. One element that makes all the action work is the sense of danger. I complain a lot about action film nowadays lacking any real sense of danger, like you can tell that it is all going to be fine. Even though you expect that too watching this particular film, the scenes are handled in such a way that you start to believe that shit there might not be a way out of this situation. It’s a really exhilarating feeling to have and one that is pushing me to go watch Iron Man 3 again.

As expected, Robert Downey Jr. is absolutely excellent in the film. I love when protagonists are forced into tight and genuinely dangerous situations that challenge them both on a physical and emotional level. It helps ground the proceedings and increase the stakes. Robert Downey Jr. captures all of those sentiments and suffering beautifully. Moreover, he never loses that egotistical charm that we all love. Things get really serious at times but there’s alway a self-awareness that makes things humorous and increasingly enjoyable. As great as Robert Downey Jr. is, I was surprised by the level of greatness from the supporting cast. Each of them has their moment to shine and they all deliver memorable performances.

Don Cheadle is great a James Rhodes and nails to perfection his chemistry with Robert Downey Jr. Watching them together is like watching a buddy action comedy, and I like that they gave Cheadle more stuff to do. Guy Pearce is his usual brilliant delivering a devilish psychotic version of Tony Stark. Rebeca Hall is effective, but her character suffer a bit from underdevelopment. But the two biggest surprises were Ben Kingsley and Gwyneth Paltrow. Kingsley is incredible as The Mandarin and as the film progresses he literally becomes one of the most entertaining characters in recent memory. Paltrow, who has always been good in the Iron Man films, is exceptionally great in this one. She is given much more stuff to do and has a very cool physical action sequence that had me jumping in excitement. Paltrow has always been the heart that grounds Tony Stark and she’s put to great use here. Plus, Paltrow has the sexiest abs I’ve seen in such a long time.

You know you’re in for an unexpected experience when a film starts off with Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Daba De Daba Di)” and what’s more surprising is how much it works. Iron Man 3 has so many elements that on lesser hands would’ve felt disjointed and bizarre. But Shane Black and co. handle everything with such excitement, intellect, humour and desire to be bold that Iron Man 3 is rendered an utter standout amongst the Marvel universe thus far. This is without a doubt the best Marvel film so far and it makes a strong case for being one of the top 3 greatest superhero films ever. It isn’t a perfect film and something can be said about the way it refrains from dealing with some serious political issues. It’s flawed, but Iron Man 3 is nevertheless a massive achievement delivering everything we love and more from a summer box office film. Plus, it has one of the best end credits scenes in the whole Marvel lore.

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Film Review: Witches and Satan Live in Rob Zombie’s Excellent ‘The Lords of Salem’.

In The Lords of Salem, local radio DJ Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie) is sent a mysterious box containing a vinyl from a band called The Lords. Upon playing it Heidi triggers a series of hallucinations and events that not only shine a light on the dark secrets of this town, but also reveal a higher and diabolical fate for Heidi.

Directed by Rob Zombie, The Lords of Salem is without a doubt one of the most bizarre and distinctive horror films I’ve seen in years. I’m not very familiar with Rob Zombie, but I have to admit that the man knows how to assemble a really fucked up horror experience. Nowadays you get a lot of horror films desperately trying to emulate old classics and so forth, but The Lords of Salem feels original and very fresh. Even though it tackles the theme of witches and satanism, they are handled in such different way that it almost erases everything that came before.

Zombie is a fantastic director with a very clear vision that translates to some of the most intense and awe-inspiring visuals I’ve seen in a while. The end is really quite something to behold. His use of lights, silhouettes and music are genuinely haunting and creepy. There’s a macabre beauty to all of it that simultaneously makes you uncomfortable and excited. The acting isn’t anything outstanding, but instead it is very effective. It succeeds in gradually creeping on you and on maintaining you engaged.

The Lords of Salem is so far the best horror film of 2013. I don’t think it’ll be everyone cup of tea, but if you’re looking for a really twisted, dark and challenging experience then this film is just what you need.

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