Reviews

An exploration of loneliness despite among people

Chihiro-san is a stellar example for the beauty of Japanese slice of life films. It is a slow movie that has you taking in the beauty and silence of Japanese countryside while taking you along with Chihiro's day as a former sex worker on her journey of connecting with people.

While at first the film makes you believe she is the typical, always happy and spreading sunshine protagonist we so often see in Japanese media (Drama and Anime alike) without further depth, it is made clear along the way that there is a deep loneliness within her. It humanizes her character and reminds the audience that often times the outwardly happiest people are struggling deep inside.

What really makes the film is this humanization, this relatability really of feeling alone despite surrounding yourself with people you love and being unable to escape that feeling regardless of where you go.

The film is also filled with beautiful, and quotable, dialogue that has you ponder on them for a while. Despite the slowness of the film I did not feel bored once which is rare, I believe that is partly for the way the script made sure to give some time to the audience to ponder on the dialogue and think about how you relate to it. Not to forget the cinematography really knows how to acventuate the beauty of Japan's seaside which draws you into the scenes.

In the end this is a movie for those who enjoy slice of life and aren't afraid of having the common sadness along with small joys of life visualized on screen.

Leia Mais

Better than the drama adaptation

As someone who has watched the 2019 drama adaptation of this story I immediately recognized the premise upon the first few minutes. Whereas the drama had more time to really go into depth with it all, the movie actually did a better job in clarifying the emotions of all the characters and wrapping the story up properly despite the time crunch.

Whereas the drama had me believing that in the end he remained in denial of his sexuality, the movie made sure to point out the nuance of his struggle with himself AS WELL as the conclusion that he comes to with himself by the end. Mind you i watched the drama with subs and the movie without yet the ending was so much clearer and easier to understand in the movie.

What I did miss in this movie was the references to Queen and how their music really drove and accompanied the protagonist throughout this story. Which doesnt change much but has been a touch in the drama I enjoyed and would have loved to see more of here.

I havent really looked at what others said about the suicide attempt in the last act but I think it's an interesting choice. On one hand it underlines how alienated Jun felt even by himself, how he wished to escape so much that it only took that one last trigger to push him over the edge. On the other hand it is a jarring reminder that your words will always have consequences, which sometimes is needed to be shown in such a shocking way to leave an impression. I m glad though that they chose to have him recover from this as I am TIRED of the "killing your gays" trope. Let people be happy and luckily, he was.

One thing that equally upsets me about both adaptations (and possibly also the source material which i have not read) is the fact that the grown man just got away with everything. Japanese media, possibly also their society as a whole, does not seem to have much interest in seeing the grossness of big age gap romances between adults and teens which i find revolting and hate to watch. That is a middle aged man who took advantage of an inexperienced high school student who struggled with his identity and none of it was addressed as such at all. Yes, he eventually broke up with him but the movie made no point to point out the creepiness of it all as instead they chose to focused on him having a family. Even if we were to only focus on that aspect as well, not even his cheating had consequences other than losing his teen lover (gag). I know from research that it was and is very common for queer people esp. in Japan to marry the opposite sex and hide who they are to live a more peaceful life but I think it could have been tackled a bit better.

That last chunk is the main reason why this story regardless of adaptation will never get a high rating from me. It was still a compelling watch though especially as someone who is queer as well.

Leia Mais

Hard work pays off <3

seeing hobi being so serious and criticizing the chemistry of the dancers scared me a lil but that's why he's so good: the final product is perfect and he puts in the work. His hard work and dedication paid off well, and I loved seeing the members at his listening party as well as jimin at hobipalooza. It was nice seeing hobi a little more relaxed thanks to jimin's presence and encouraging words. Loved this solo project a lot, and the documentary was nice too! ??? It's always nice to have this sort of extra content to see the behind the scenes and all the people it really needs to pull off such a big scale project. Everyone worked very hard and I hope we'll get to see more from hobi in the future (after his enlistment ofc TT, but I will be patient); and since he is so versatile, I know it'll be another 180° from jack in the box the way jitb was so different (and yet hobi) from hope world.

Leia Mais

Simple and Ok

A short film about café flirting turned internet flirting... or more a it´s a small world on K-lesbian twitter. To be honest I did not really feel the chemistry between the girls but I did feel the self doubt, the angst and the slight tango dance between the two.

Should I, dare I... Wait what happened now type of deal.

The story is a bit different than most café/internet flirting stories I have seen so additional points for that.

All in a not a bad way to spend 15 minutes, especially in a world with very few good GLs this is indeed a good choice.

Leia Mais

This was different from the rest of the time travel genre movies and i liked it!

[Mild spoilers ahead]

I haven't watched the original movie but I suppose this one is build up on the same plot skeleton as that one.

We all want to know what the future holds for us. Maybe show us a direction?
But knowing what happens in the future isn't always the best. Sometimes being ignorant and in the moment seems better. Sometimes knowing it makes us take steps we wouldn't have otherwise.
And this movie is all about this!

I personally liked how this movie was executed as well as the plot. Let me explain why!

This does differ from most of the time travel ones as they usually let go of a character or somehow make them end up together.
I do agree that the pace could be slowed down to an extent as it feels rushed but leaving that aside, this was a beautiful watch.
This felt a little realistic to me (imo).
Knowing the future doesn't always end in a good way. Maybe Kim Yong would have had a different ending if not for these interactions but he would have had to give up on his dreams for love. He might have regretted this love latter in life(A lot of people just want a happy ending here but yall are avoiding a lot of real problems here) . And the love the both experienced wouldn't have lasted for long because if he indeed trusted his gf, he wouldn't have been paranoid and jealous of his bestfriend whom he has known for years. He himself also felt like this was for the best...the turtle scene shows it all. He knew he couldn't change the ending and decided to just accept it. He also really liked(not romantically) Mun Nee enough to sacrifice it all. She showed him a way when he felt stuck. He wasn't happy with the course and just continued for love. Mun nee was a miracle to him and so was he to her. She showed him a direction and he wanted to do the same for her. It's clear from what he says at the end to her and him returning the favor to her through the umbrella scene.
This was beautiful. Too many ways to interpret it.

Its a good one time watch which makes you think a little and makes you appreciate being in the moment and ignorant of the future sometimes.

Maybe he would have had a different ending if they wouldn't have connected or maybe the ending would just have been the same except a different path? We would never know!

Also this gives out huge grandfather paradox vibes and I love it

Leia Mais

Just a tad too much

Finally it's here after having waited years, the second part to the High&Low The Worst franchise. When I tell you that I was at the edge of my seat when this was announced! And it didn't..fully disappoint.

As usual the action was amazing, the acting was splendid especially from those having their acting debuts in such a physically demanding movie, and the cinematography never disappoints. The issue is the same though as it is with every movie that has a giant cast: it lacks in the story department.

With so many characters involved it is impossible to flesh out a proper arch or motivation for them which leads to a lot of times of me wondering why they were actually there. I cant help but compare it to Crows Zero (especially since this a Crows Zero universe CROSSover) which also had a big cast . Difference is the cast then was made up mostly by background characters rather than characters meant to have archs/enemies of their own so they could focus on the main conflict. I believe it is best to simply focus on less characters but build on them for a more compelling story.

I think this is where casting so many of your own artists, along with other prominent artists, becomes an issue since of course you want your people to all get to shine as much as possible and broaden their fan circle (sell some of that music along with it) while with actors you can solely put focus on the few characters actually needed.

I was genuinely disappionted with the premise of the movie as well as the motivation for our main "villain". Unless this is your first introduction into the Yankee genre you won't find anything new about the storyarch. I had also hoped to see some more of the cast we already know in the movie (aka Fujio's friends whom we also know from their small drama adaptation) instead of this many new and basically irrelevant characters.

Overall the story was lacking for the fault of cramming as much as possible of the big cast into the story and missing originality, but the action and acting definitely made up for it. As usual Kazuma as Fujio is a stellar character whom I love cheering for and his crew is definitely getting the attention they deserve. I will always love that they didn't go for the typical, edgy protagonist type you see the most in yankee media and instead chose to write Fujio as a sunshine with fists of steel.

If you are a jpop fan you will dedinitely love seeing all these familiar faces taking on these tough roles, which honestly is also a point of enjoyment for itself. Obviously if you are an action fan like me and simply enjoy watching people bashing some heads in that too is really fun. But if you are looking for a compelling and interesting storyarch to go along with all that, this is not the watch for you.

While I have rewatched the first movie several times, I merely find myself skipping through this one to my favorite few fights. I think that perfectly sums up my impression. It felt like many cool action scenes thrown in a pot while the story to connect it all felt like an afterthought.

Lastly of course the music was absolutely perfect, I immediately added some of the soundtrack to my playlist which was to be expected with so many LDH artists involved.

Leia Mais

Twisted sense of justice

This is a good choice if you want to challenge your philosophy on justice and how it should be applied.

Interestingly, the whole idea of justice is twisted here: she wants the truth to come to light, yet she conveniently hides it. I feel like the point is that her actions, in the end, are justified by the fact that she uncovered a bigger secret. Still, no one gets punished. I'd argue that deciding what comes to light and what doesn't is a very dangerous position. This ultimately depends on how you view justice. Should justice apply the same way to everyone, or should it be differential depending on the culprits and victims? Most would agree that it should be the same, but practically we tend to empathize with the oppressed regardless. The flow of the movie makes me agree with her, but apart from that, I'm not so sure the chosen approach is the best in terms of truthfulness. She does say her mother already suffered the punishment, but does that truly justify her actions? I'd say it doesn't, at least not fully.
Otherwise, the movie was a pretty good one, even though it does not really have closure... I'd describe it as an open ending. While the type of story is very usual, the take on it is unexpected. Messing with truth and leaving things "unfinished" is a new approach, at least to me.

Leia Mais

Skip the Series and Just Watch the Special Edit Version!!!

•❅✧❅✦ What's the Difference?!!! •❅✧❅✦

It's hard to point out all of them since I just watched it in theaters today in Japan, but I will write a few off the top of my head.

1. Hira/Kiyoi's narration - A lot of the narration is cut or altered because the film is now in a movie format and there's no need to fill in the audience with what happened in the past. Also, some of the narrations are placed on different scenes or have different timing from the series.

2. The music/bgm - A lot of the bgm that was playing behind a lot of the scenes were cut and replaced with ambient sound. Also because the film isn't episodic the scenes that were affected by the opening/closing themes had more ambience or a different bgm giving more impact to the scenes.

3. Lack of flashbacks - This really helped the story because when I rewatched the series after viewing the film, I got really annoyed with the flashbacks. The lack of flashbacks made the audience was more invested in the scenes.

4. Cut Scenes - They also cut a few scenes out (like the cell phone in the water scene) which really helped the film flow more smoothly. Nothing too noticeable though.

5. Extended/New scenes - While this film advertises "brand new scenes" it actually means extended scenes. Some of the scenes are extended to make easier transitions, while there are a few that are extended to help the story flow better. The extended scenes also hint that Kiyoi was into Hira from way before the kiss scene. The extended scenes (and narrations) also present Koyama as a better option for Hira rather than Kiyoi.

Some of the extended scenes are:
• Hira and Kiyoi walking to the shrine after Hira discovers Kiyoi's dance lessons.
• Kiyoi turning around to look at the person following him after he loses the competition.
• The time skip to Hira being in college and Koyama's introduction.
• Hira calling Kiyoi to tell him that it might not be a good idea to come to practice at his place after Koyama gets sick, but Kiyoi doesn't answer.


Honestly, the biggest difference is the narration and music/bgm. I think this is what makes the film flow more smoothly than the series. A lot of the bgm was replaced by ambient sounds and it felt more real. Also all of the scenes that had the ending theme playing over it felt like they had more impact due to the lack of music during the scenes. For example, when I watched Koyama's confession to Hira in the series, the ending theme was playing and I felt like I want to skip to the next episode to find out what happens next for Hira. But when he confessed in the special edit, I felt so bad for him. He was presented as a better option for Hira (even Hira himself admitted it), but Hira still chose Kiyoi.


•❅✧❅✦ My Thoughts on the Special Edit Version •❅✧❅✦

Overall, this special edit version was so much better than the series. Maybe because the series itself is short, the movie format fit the story much better. There wasn't any dramatic cliff hangers and because of that the story seemed to flow more smoothly. The emotions the characters were feeling felt more real since we the ending theme wasn't interrupting any crucial moments.

I really recommend watching this special edit version if you can because it made me love the series even more than before.

Also if you haven't watched the series yet, don't worry about watching it and just watch this special edit version. You're not missing anything and you're getting more.



•❅──────✧❅✦ Utsukushii Kare Review & Book Comparision ✦❅✧──────❅•

Utsukushii Kare is the best Japanese BL of 2021!
It constantly pulls at your heartstrings and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
A rare gem in the Japanese BL.

•❅✧❅✦ STORY •❅✧❅✦

Hira suffers from severe stuttering when he is nervous. This has caused him to be ostracized from his classmates throughout his entire school career. During his final year of high school he meets Kiyoi, the resident "king" of the school, who saves him from class introductions by walking into class late. Hira is instantly smitten by Kiyoi. Even though Hira tries to keep his distance, the foul mouthed Kiyoi always seems to pull him back into his world. When Hira accidentally reveals his love for Kiyoi, and despite being quite open about his love and admiration for him thereafter, Kiyoi calls Hira disgusting, but doesn't outright ignore him after. The two unknowingly form a bond that's not quite friendship, but become closer than friends.

After a very eventful graduation, Hira and Kiyoi lose contact with each other until they are accidentally reunited in college. Hira finally has a friend, while Kiyoi is trying to make it big in the entertainment world. Hira still idolizes and loves Kiyoi, but Kiyoi is confused and can't express himself well.

Honestly, the plot and story isn't very original, however, what makes Utsukushii Kare different from the others is the characters. The characters are all very vulnerable and have their flaws. Hira is quite obviously the sympathetic lead, but King Kiyoi also has his doubts and is very relatable. He's not the invincible princely with a foul mouth that the usual troupes would have. Also, because we get two sides of the story, Hira and Kiyoi's, we sympathize with both Hira and Kiyoi. We also get annoyed with both Hira and Kiyoi too. Kiyoi is too tsundere for Hira, and Hira is as dense as a rock.

Aside from the characters, the plot, despite it's unoriginality, Ustukushii Kare didn't try to cover too many storylines. The entire series was focused on how Hira and Kiyoi got together. There was no extra storylines for side characters, no extra stories from after they got together. Most importantly, there was no obnoxiously long backstory for an character, nor was there any attempt to gain sympathy from the backstory either. The entire series was focused on how they got together and what they were feeling as they got together. Due to the focus on the characters and their feelings, everything felt real, raw, and amazing.

With the character driven storyline, Utsukushii Kare had it's work cut out, but I'm glad they found outstanding actors to fill in the roles. If the actors had performed poorly, I doubt Utsukushii Kare would have been a great series. Hira's actor was very good at playing that naive, yet dense character, while Kiyoi's actor was perfect with his tough, yet vulnerable, tsundere character. At first I hated Kiyoi for being so hot and cold to Hira, but as the story shifted from Hira's point of view to Kiyoi's, I fell in love with Kiyoi. His actor's performance when he had to portray Kiyoi's vulnerable side made me cry so hard. I've never seen an actor switch between hot and cold as great as Kiyoi's.

Kiyoi & Hira

At a glance, Kiyoi is a terrible person to befriend. He's mean to Hira and calls him names. You could even say he takes advantage of Hira, but it's not until the later half of the series, when you hear Kiyoi's side of the story, that you finally understand Kiyoi. Kiyoi's clumsy with his feelings and can't express himself well. He's also trying to navigate his feelings for Hira, who isn't exactly normal. Meanwhile, Hira's obsessed with Kiyoi to the point it's a bit stalkerish. The audience is made to sympathize with Hira, but Kiyoi does have a point, Hira's behavior is stalkerish.

That being said, Hirai and Kiyoi balance each other out perfectly. Around Kiyoi, Hira is able to express his emotions openly, while Kiyoi isn't very comfortable with expressing himself. Hira's not bothered by Kiyoi's insults because he knows Kiyoi is a tsundere, who doesn't mean what he says.

My personal favorite thing about his couple is that the seme and uke are not who you would expect them to be. I was presently surprised when we got a glimpse of it.

•❅✧❅✦ Book/Drama CD/Manga vs This Series •❅✧❅✦

If you haven't read the book or manga, or even listened to the drama CD you need to do so now! You'll get a different experience of the same story each time. . . and it's amazing! Each version of Utsukushii Kare is just different enough to keep you interested in each version.

Book - The book is the original and it is amazing.

Drama CD - The drama CD is my favorite because of how amazing Kiyoi's voice actor is. I really love this version of Kiyoi. Vulnerable Kiyoi is my favorite. Anyways, some of the scenes are changed to make it easier to listen to, but nothing too major. However, it's their voice acting that will give you the chills. Hira's V.A. sounds a little too deep to be a high schooler, but if you can get past that this drama CD is amazing. You'll really see a different side of Kiyoi that no other version can replicate.

Manga - Volume 2 was just released in Japan, so I haven't been able to read it yet, but Vol 1 was nice. So far it's not as memorable as the Drama CD, but it still allows us to visually see everything that we couldn't in the book. Because of the visuals, I found myself more drawn to the manga than the book, but it's still not complete so I won't say more.

Live Action Series - The producers were probably not expecting to be such a hit because they made a lot changes to the story. In the series we don't see Kiyoi and Hira hang out together as "friends" as much as they do in the other version. In the other versions we already get hint that Kiyoi might be interested in Hira from before Kiyoi's competition, but in this series it's a little vague until after the competition. Also, because the series chose not to have Hira move houses from his parent's place to his cousin's place, Hira offering and looking for a place for Kiyoi to practice his acting loses it's meaning in this adaptation. It's very important in the other versions, and it shows not only Hira's dedication to Kiyoi, but also shows how much Kiyoi loves Hira. Not having Kiyoi practically living with Hira and acting as his "boyfriend" during their fight in which Kiyoi "confesses" his love to Hira really had the live action series lose out on how much Kiyoi actually loves Hira.

The series is still amazing, but it's definitely a watered down version of Kiyoi. Does that mean it's bad? No. Kiyoi is still amazing and his actor did an amazing job with such a complex character, but it's still a shame that we can't see just how obsessed Kiyoi is about Hira. He's honestly just as obsessed with Hira as Hira is of him. Not as psychotic as Hira, but he's still thinking of Hira 24/7 in the other version. Here Kiyoi's just an average ikemen in love with his weirdo.

Anyways, there's nothing really bad to say about any of the variations of the story, so I definitely recommend checking out all version of Utsukushii Kare. It will fill in all of the details and background that each version misses out on. It will also make you more obsessed with the series.


•❅✧❅✦ OVERALL •❅✧❅✦

I really enjoyed Utsukushii Kare. It's a great series that's so unpredictable that you are at the edge of your seat trying to figure out what happens next. The actors were also amazing to the point I actually cried when Kiyoi got emotional.

Words can't describe how amazing this series is, so don't sleep on it and watch it now!

Leia Mais

Deeper than blood and Gore

I think a lot of people might of missed the point and the depth of everything this movie touched. The movie is meant to be absolutely disgusting, comparing the nasty acts and vulgar language, shows the capability of what humans can do. The blood, gore and all the sex is all just a big reference and metaphor. The movie is absolutely gruesome, that's no joke, and if you can't do blood and gore don't watch it. I do however wish the movie talked more about the topic of humans and the capability of us, but this movie was meant to make you look away and feel sick. It thrived for that reaction from you, it wanted to create anger. The movie was about anger, and fear. What's humans do in mass panic, and what humans do when you remove the most important part of our brain. I couldn't and wouldn't say this movie is a masterpiece, and really nowhere near a masterpiece, but I sure will say, this movie stirred something inside me that it was designed to do. Be upset.

Leia Mais

deep and surprisingly hilarious

honestly i am not smart enough to understand the Subtext (watching the director interview helped a lot, but rewatch value is high because i think i would understand more after a second try lol), but i was still deeply moved by the film. the scene where the main character calls his older brother on the phone definitely made me cry. that being said, there were surprising moments of levity/hilarity (aka any scene with the welding coworker) that helped make the heavy film very digestible, like a drink of water after talking for a long time. the best part is that these humourous scenes are still character-defining! masterful stuff.

the cast has to be the most important part of a film like this, and these guys are no exception! the family felt very rounded to me, and i discovered why when i watched the director interview. apparently, the three actors stayed in a house together for the duration of filming and had conversations like 'oh here is how we sit at the dinner table' and 'this is what our life was like Before' - setting up a backstory amongst themselves allowed them to interact with each other in a very natural way that helped the audience innately understand Who They Are despite the reserved and introspective nature of both the main character and the film itself.

the lead actor really sells the whole plot, but the actor for the mom was holding it down too. her motives were simple, the decisions borne out of them were straightforward, but that makes it harder to convey on screen - especially with how little screentime she has! i wish we had more scenes from her pov because she definitely knows more than she lets on, and i think the son could benefit from seeing that too. the dad being a blackhole for so much of the movie adds so much tension in a way that impressed me. the way his actor portrayed him (and how the other family members react to him) made him very sympathetic. in so many ways, he is the reason we have a movie, and the viewer can notice and appreciate that.

i would be remiss if i neglected to mention THE LITTLE BOY. so much depth in that stare; he's gonna go places. even for a secondary character, he doesn't talk a lot; but the camera work does the talking for him. i think that is so appropriate considering his story, his role in the film, and what he represents to the main character. (plus, when he stops bowing? MY HEART!) his mom was also very sympathetic and takes up the right amount of space in all of her scenes, which is great considering the way we're introduced to her.

i had a feeling i was going to like this movie, but i definitely didn't expect ENJOYING it as much as i did. hopefully this essay helps explain why in a spoilerless way :)

Leia Mais

Cute charming Zombie Film

This movie Zombie for Sale was surprisingly funny, had good acting, and it is worth the watch. I watched this with the family, and they laughed and enjoyed this. If you're looking for something of horror but more lightheaded and funny this movie would be it. We like to rewatch it from time to time, it gives a good laugh every time. It doesn't take itself all that serious, which is refreshing for some, and it isn't all that cheesy either. It's the right mix of comedy and horror. It's a pretty decent zombie film, I do suggest it to people who liked the Uk movie Shaun of the dead.

Leia Mais

"When will you become an honest crook?"

Yes, Madam! starring Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock opened the door for the girls with guns genre. When they were fighting on screen they were a sheer joy to watch. Sadly, as often happens in a movie starring a woman, the majority of scenes focused on the bumbling male thieves and the Big Bad, leaving the women almost relegated to supporting roles.

Two hapless hoods and their idiot forger friend get tangled up in triad boss James Tien's murderous methods for trying to retrieve microfilm a Scotland Yard detective had acquired of his illegal dealings. Dick Wei plays his vicious assassin who attempts to track down the damning evidence. Scotland Yard sends Cynthia to Hong Kong to join up with Michelle to investigate and discover who killed the British agent. The women are initially hostile with each other. Cynthia's methods are violent and she has a massive chip on her shoulder and hair-trigger temper compared to Michelle's calmer way of doing business and dealing with suspects. Before you can say Best Friends Forever, the two become battle buddies and it's on like Donkey Kong when they take on Hong Kong's worst.

Much of the film focuses on the bumbling crooks. Tsui Hark, Mang Hoi, and John Shum have their funny moments but they have more screen time and character development than the two leading ladies. James Tien and Dick Wei make for menacing enough, and in Tien's case, annoying enough criminals. Michelle Yeoh in her first starring role shone whenever she was given the chance. Cynthia Rothrock's fighting was much better than her acting but since that's when the women were together for the most part, it worked. As I've mentioned it would have given more dramatic depth to have the women be more than just fighting machines and learn more about them. Their characters were thinly drawn.

The script was uneven and the story in the middle of the film, felt repetitive and began to drag. How many times did we have to see Tsui Hark try to escape from bad guys in his rigged apartment? Or Hoi and Shum running afoul of baddies and getting beaten up and saved at the last minute? Some of the scenes were genuinely funny, but others began to wear thin.

What made this film memorable were the stunts. The opening scene's stunts were dynamic and breathtaking. The final fights at the Big Bad's mansion were brutally delicious. They were fast, creative, and dangerous. Michelle and Cynthia along with countless stuntmen hit the ground hard and some hit hard on architectural elements. Broken glass, broken furniture, broken bodies. The action took place with a bare minimum of wire work. This was all hard hitting, hard kicking, flipping, falling kung fu.

The women's clothes reflected the 1980's styles. They looked like a female version of Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice with their upturned colors and Flight of Seagulls' hairstyles. The music was bad 80's generic cop synth offerings. And the police brutality was showing its age as well. But all of this was to be expected from this era.

Given the title, Yes Madam, I would have liked to have seen this film through the eyes of Michelle Yeoh's character as she has to work with a strong willed foreigner and how they hunted down their suspects and developed a buddy camaraderie. Instead, most of the movie was shown through the criminal losers' perspective. As exciting as it was to watch the two women in action in those thrilling fights it didn't quite make up for them being largely window dressing in their own movie. And it didn't quite make up for the tedium of much of the movie when they weren't featured. I can appreciate the historical context of the film and how it gave women more interesting roles afterwards, but also see where they were afraid to completely leave it in their hands to carry the film. Michelle Yeoh is a favorite of mine and when given the chance she showed what star quality was, too bad they didn't let her shine more.

3/10/23

Leia Mais

Espionage thriller

The movie goes from slow compelling conversation to fast and furious. The fighting scenes will leave you breathless. Tony Leung amazing. Wang Yibo compelling and mesmerizing. Hiroyuki Mori was such a force to reckon with. Jiang Shuying is very pretty in here. The shots for her are stunning.

What’s amazing in here is that Wang Yibo‘s language skill as an actor. Portraying a character that you can’t tell which side he is actually on. Certain point, you’re starting to question if he’s the real villain.

This is a story paying homage to nameless underground spy during WWII. It is is spy thriller with two big action scenes. Very thrilling!!!

Leia Mais