I hear that this film grossed a pretty penny where it was made. There are different standards there, and different reasons for watching. How does this film look to a picky westerner?
If you remember the old Barbie commercials that used to air (and probably still do) in commercial breaks during the cartoon hours for children, you will probably understand me when I say that this film gave me a "We're into Barbie Assassin!" sort of vibe.
It felt.. not serious the whole way through. What was I expecting? I guess I was expecting the characters to stay in character. But instead they just sort of flip flopped between being stone cold assassins and girlie girls. Kill a man here, put a giggle there, a sword fight here, a discussion about love there. An emotionless killer one minute and your BFF the next.. It's positively dizzying. Is this a movie about assassins and vengeance or is it about relationships? I guess it's a little of both. But it really came off as more of an erotic story with a touch of "girl power" added.
OK, I can deal with girlie drama. What about the sword fighting and choreography? Unfortunately, things get no better in this department either. The sword fighting is ridiculously overdone. The stunts are cheesy and unbelievable. It's a little embarrassing when your awesome assassins are clearly being "helped" by the bad guys. Try as they might, the girlie assassins still move like girls. The male characters move so much faster and cleaner in comparison, it's hard to believe that the women can hold their own. Add to this the horrendous CGI work, and you have yourself a pretty weak series of action sequences. Trust me, it's bad.
To be fair, the girls were primarily picked because they were pretty. And to that I can testify that they certainly were very pretty.
I'm sorry to say that I was pretty bored overall. Personally, it just didn't entertain me. It really felt like it was trying too hard.
If you remember the old Barbie commercials that used to air (and probably still do) in commercial breaks during the cartoon hours for children, you will probably understand me when I say that this film gave me a "We're into Barbie Assassin!" sort of vibe.
It felt.. not serious the whole way through. What was I expecting? I guess I was expecting the characters to stay in character. But instead they just sort of flip flopped between being stone cold assassins and girlie girls. Kill a man here, put a giggle there, a sword fight here, a discussion about love there. An emotionless killer one minute and your BFF the next.. It's positively dizzying. Is this a movie about assassins and vengeance or is it about relationships? I guess it's a little of both. But it really came off as more of an erotic story with a touch of "girl power" added.
OK, I can deal with girlie drama. What about the sword fighting and choreography? Unfortunately, things get no better in this department either. The sword fighting is ridiculously overdone. The stunts are cheesy and unbelievable. It's a little embarrassing when your awesome assassins are clearly being "helped" by the bad guys. Try as they might, the girlie assassins still move like girls. The male characters move so much faster and cleaner in comparison, it's hard to believe that the women can hold their own. Add to this the horrendous CGI work, and you have yourself a pretty weak series of action sequences. Trust me, it's bad.
To be fair, the girls were primarily picked because they were pretty. And to that I can testify that they certainly were very pretty.
I'm sorry to say that I was pretty bored overall. Personally, it just didn't entertain me. It really felt like it was trying too hard.