Movie Marathon!

Despite all the rush for the looming project submission deadlines and the dreaded examinations at the end of the month, I still managed to squeeze in time this week to catch 3 movies! Yes, I'm a movie buff and I'm proud of it so sue me.

So let's review them in chronological order shall we?

1. An Empress and The Warriors


Kelly Chen, Donnie Yen and Leon Lai stars in this ancient Chinese epic about a kingdom's battle for supremacy against 9 other kingdoms.

Kelly Chen stars as the Princess who is forced into taking the throne when her father is murdered by his own general in his own camp. Under the supervision of her loyal warrior and childhood friend (Donnie Yen), she undergoes military training in order to lead her kingdom into battle. While training in the forest, she encounters assassins who tries to kill her as part of a coup being staged by the general who killed her father. Fortunately, she is saved by a hermit (Leon Lai) who lives in the forest. Love ensues between the hermit and the princess while trouble within the kingdom erupts to an uncontrollable level.

Personally I think this movie is only so-so. Both Kelly Chen and Donnie Yen's acting chops fail to bring out the best of the movie. The movie's saving grace is Leon Lai but unfortunately, he's being reduced to playing the role of the hermit, who does not really appear till near the middle of the movie. The plot is interesting but pretty predictable.

Overall, I give this movie 6/10 stars.

2. Be Kind Rewind

Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover and Mia Farrow stars in this film which has its' title as a reference to a phrase commonly displayed on VHS tapes during the medium's heyday.

Mike (Mos Def) works in a video rental store called Be Kind Rewind in Passiac, New Jersey. His best friend is Jerry (Jack Black) who lives in a trailer near the video store. Due to the authorities wanting to demolish the store in order to make way for a new building complex, Mr Fletcher, the owner of the rental store, leaves Mike in charge of the store while he goes on a trip to learn how to raise the funds needed to prevent that from happening. While Mr Fletcher is gone, Jerry gets himself magnetised while trying to sabotage a power plant and ends up erasing all the tapes in the store. Realising this, Mike comes up with the idea of making his own versions of movies starring Jerry and himself in order to maintain the trust of Mr Fletcher. During the course of making these movies, many funny events take place which is the crux of the movie itself.

The thing that drew me to watch this movie was the plot. While watching a trailer, I thought the plot was pretty interesting and something that's completely original and not so commerical. I would say the movie starts out slow but draws you in as it progresses along.

I give this movie 7/10 stars.

3. Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

Starring Andy Lau, Sammo Hung and Maggie Q, this movie is based on the Three Kingdoms era of China's history. It is one of the two Three Kingdom epics coming out this year. The second one being John Woo's Red Cliff, due out middle of the year. On a personal note, I'm a MAJOR fan of the Three Kingdoms. It's such a rush watching my favourite heroes being personified on the big screen!

This movie tells the story of legendary Shu general Zhao Zilong (Andy Lau). For those who reads the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novels, Zhao Zilong is also known as Zhao Yun. The movie starts off with Zhao Zilong signing up with the Shu army at Phoenix Heights. There, he meets Luo Ping An (Sammo Hung) and the duo quickly strikes up a close and personal friendship. Following several undefeated battles and various acts of selfless courage, Zhao Zilong is being promoted to one of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu. Zhao Zilong would eventually meet his end at Phoenix Heights after being surrounded by Wei commander Cao Ying (Maggie Q). Zhao Zilong coming back to Phoenix Heights with Luo Ping An was symolic as the duo had made a promise to travel round the "big circle" together. However, after 35 years in the army, they were still left wondering how far away peace was.

Although this movie is based on the Three Kingdoms, there are certain elements that are fictional, that is it neither happened in history nor did it happen in the novel. For example;

(1) Zhao Zilong never signed up with the Shu army as a foot soldier. He started out as a general under warlord Gongsun Zan but changed sides to Liu Bei after he realised his judgement of Gongsun Zan was misplaced.

(2) Zhao Zilong didn't die on the battlefield. He died of old age.

(3) Zhao Zilong had a family. He had two sons and an adopted son.

(4) Cao Ying's character is completely fictional. Cao Cao's kingdom was succeeded by his son, Cao Pi.

Overall, I give this movie 7/10 stars.

I made a promise to myself at the start of the year that I'm going to catch all 4 major ancient Chinese epics coming out this year. They are An Empress and the Warriors, Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, The Forbidden Kingdom and Red Cliff. I've already caught 2 of them. Now then, 2 more to go!