Monday 21 May 2012

Movie review of The Raid:Redemption


The Raid:Redemption - 8/10
Directed by Gareth Evans
Cast - Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Yayan Ruhian, Ray Sahetapy

Plot Summary
In the Jakarta slums, a derelict apartment building has become a no-go area - even the police are unwilling to enter. It has become a safe-house for the most dangerous killers and gangsters. A SWAT team infiltrate the building, under the cover of darkness, to remove its owner - a notorious drug lord named Tama.

Review
You know when you watch a movie without knowing anything about it, unsure if it is gonna be a good or bad movie and whether will you regret paying money for it. The Raid was one of those. I knew absolutely nothing of the movie,Heck, I didn't even know it was an Indonesian movie till I bought the tickets.And boy was I in for one helluva ride! The first scene which introduces the hero, Rama played wonderfully by Iko Uwais. A very subtle and touching introduction,I have to say.And thats just for only 5 mins into the movie. Without further ado, the action starts and doesn't end.Yup...the action doesn't fucking end! The action sequences were so intense that I couldn't stop moving about in  my seat! The fight choreographs were meticulously planned and executed.Definitely one of the best fight scenes I have seen in a long time.Martial arts used in this movie is a traditional Indonesian form of martial arts known as Pencat Silat.None of that slow motion shit,its all lightning quick speed and intense like fuck.My favorite fight scenes are the ones involving a knife and a baton. Remember the famous scene in Bourne Identity where Matt damon uses a pen and pokes a various number of holes onto the bad guy's body? Well, our protagonist, Rama uses a knife and pokes various number of holes onto a various number of bad guys.And the kill scenes....brilliant, creative and gory. The guys who thought of all the kill scenes must be some sick fucks. Some of them are so hardcore, you are bound to cringe or go Ouch! The Raid is an action movie that doesn't pull back any punches. It's dirty,violent and brilliantly done.
The direction for this movie is really good.Kudos to Gareth Evans for this. I really liked the colouring of the film, it gives out a very gritty feel to it. The editing was pretty decent as well.I loved the camera works.There was one particular scene where the action is from one floor and then it is spilled down the bottom floor and the cameramen captures it wonderfully and cleverly too as I watched the making of The Raid.There is not much on the plot,its nothing too fancy as the director is making it out to be a full on action movie and not a halfass one.The acting was good.I loved the bad guys especially Mad Dog and Tama portrayed wonderfully by Yayan Ruhian and Ray Sahetapy respectively.To what I have read, Yayan Ruhian and Iko Uwais are the main fight choreographers.I would love to see Yayan, Iko and Gareth work together again. Script for this movie is a little weird for me as it was in Indonesian.The weird thing was, in the english subtitles there were lots of fucks but whenever the word fuck is being said,the Indonesian says "Anjing" and to what I know,that means "dog'.Oh well, its still a great show nonetheless.

I would highly recommend everyone to watch this. By far the best action movie for me this year and it is uncensored (M18).  It's really fucking awesome and I'm gonna watch it again!

Best quotes
Mad Dog: Pulling a trigger is like ordering a takeout.

Tama: Go to work and enjoy yourself.

Recommended movies done by the director
Merantau

Friday 11 May 2012

Movie review of A Dangerous Method

A dangerous method - 2/10
Directed by David Cronenberg
Cast - Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley 

Plot
Suffering from hysteria, Sabina Spielrein is hospitalized under the care of Dr. Carl Jung who has begun using Dr. Sigmund Freud's talking cure with some of his patients. Spielrain's psychological problems are deeply rooted in her childhood and violent father. She is highly intelligent however and hopes to be a doctor, eventually becoming a psychiatrist in her own right. The married Jung and Spielrein eventually become lovers. Jung and Freud develop an almost father-son relationship with Freud seeing the young Jung as his likely successor as the standard-bearer of his beliefs. A deep rift develops between them when Jung diverges from Freud's belief that while psychoanalysis can reveal the cause of psychological problems it cannot cure the patient.

Review
This is unfortunately one of the worst movies for this year. Everything is basically fucked up in this movie. And to think Cronenberg directing Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender would be absolutely fantastic.Then to make it even more shittier, you have Keira Knightley, possibly one of the worst actresses sadly alive today. From the get go,just barely the first two minutes of the movie, I wanted to instantly punch the screen cause you see Keira acting mad.That whole carriage scene itself should have made me stopped watching this pile of shit... but I carried on.Then she started jutting out her chin about 5000 times. Apparently that's her way of telling the idea she is stark raving mad. I don't advocate beating women but for Keira, I will gladly beat her to a pulp.And this is just 15 minutes into the movie only. There is a scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian where you see 2 characters who are slightly mad and one juts out his chin as well.THEY did a better fucking job than this cunt! She can't even do the Russian accent convincingly and consistently. One moment,her Russian accent sounds forced and then its back to her British accent.
Some one should really slap Cronenberg for allowing this to happen as well.
Fassbender was disappointing in this.seriously lanjiao acting from him. His reactions were dull especially when he said he was madly in love. A fucking stone would have looked better when it is madly in love. And that crying scene was just too painful to watch.I didn't know whether he wanted to take a shit badly or that was crying.
The only saving grace was Viggo Mortensen and thankfully his scenes were very limited but whenever he was onscreen,it was a welcoming relief.
I have to say directing for this was pretty bad. I sincerely hope Cronenberg does a much better job on his next movie because this was haphazard and shite. I hated the camera works as well. Just because this movie is about psychologists,you dont have to do that over the shoulder shot about 2000 times...for fuck sake! Editing was mediocre and the script was exceptionally boring.

I recommend everyone not to watch this movie as it is a waste of 2 hours and it will only make your blood pressure higher. And if you are a fan of Keira Knightley,please don't talk to me or I will spit at you. If you think this idiot was horrible in Pirates of the Caribbean, she raises (or lowers) the bar to a whole new level. I really hope she doesn't be in movies I wanna watch ever again.
Fuck you Keira... Fuck you very much.

PS - For those who are wondering about the Monty Python scene,here is the link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COdT9f-CvhU

Recommended movies done by the director
Eastern Promises
History of Violence
M.Butterfly
The fly
Dead Ringers