Reviews

I saw Broken Path at the Phantasmagoria film festival this weekend and was very excited indeed. Johnny Yong Bosch gives a terrific account of himself here, as does Dan Southworth (a favourite performer of mine since the awesome US Seals 2), Motoko Nagino, and the other tremendous action performers in the film. The film is virtually one long non-stop fight from about 20 minutes in, after establishing Johnny's family life with his wife and young daughter. The action is outstanding, especially the final showdown between Johnny and Dan which really has to be seen to be believed, and the action scenes with Motoko Nagino kick ass, she is a tremendous performer, exhibiting some terrific fighting and stunt skills, and being a great actress as well. There a re a few criticisms such as the fact that every person in the film receives numerous injuries that would kill anyone instantly and then carry on fighting which just feels a bit silly. If the film was an animated Japanese film then you'd probably not bat an eyelid but some of it really was ridiculous. However the action scenes themselves were just terrific viewing and I think I could watch any of the set-pieces again and again. You can see what the cast had to go through making the film, and I'd love to see an outtake reel. In short if you love films like Drive, Wicked Game and so forth you will get a serious kick out of Broken Path, just don't expect any kind of realism per se.

I saw this excellent Noirish comedy thriller at the Phantasmagoria festival this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. The whole cast deliver first rate performances and the film has an excellent visual style, as well as paying generous homage to the classic thrillers of yesteryear and also very modern elements like some splendid (and justified) female nudity and mobile phone usage. The tangled plot is always intriguing and almost plays out as a jet black farce. The production design is excellent and the hotel location where most of the film plays out feels suitably claustrophobic and seedy. On a side-note it was great to see Brian Murphy back on the screen. Overall the film made for terrific viewing. Well done to everyone involved. Recommended if you want to see something a bit different with twists and turns, and laughs and scares.

I just saw this at the Phantasmagoria film festival and it was one of my two favourite films of the whole festival. It's a terrific horror film with excellent production values and some real scares in there. I was also impressed with the quality of the acting and the script as well. You really identify with the main characters and feel for them as they go through Hell in the woods. There are a few good laughs in there too including a funny and quite touching sex scene. The terrific atmosphere is cultivated with some excellent music and the imagery of the film throughout, including some quite splendid wildlife photography. There are some awesome special effects too but I don't want to spoil any of the best moments. Suffice it to say I was mightily impressed with the film, and it stands a good chance of being hailed as a cult movie. If you are a horror fan it is well worth a watch.

I caught this film at the Phantasmagoria film festival this weekend and it absolutely blew me away. Contour is easily one of the best martial arts films I've ever seen, and is hilarious to boot. There were a few bits that I felt were a touch out of place, and some of the characters grated a bit, but in terms of amusing characters and red hot action scenes there is very little out there to compete with this, especially not in recent times. The fights have to be seen to believed, including some very funny moments, and they build to a fantastic 3-way final showdown. If you love films like Drive, Drunken Master 2, Dragons Forever and Undisputed 2, then Contour is essential. Great outtake reel too guys, it shows how hard you worked and the sheer passion you have for what you do. Congratulations to everyone involved, you should be very proud indeed.

Isaac Florentine has made some of the best western Martial Arts action movies ever produced. In particular US Seals 2, Cold Harvest, Special Forces and Undisputed 2 are all action classics. You can tell Isaac has a real passion for the genre and his films are always eventful, creative and sharp affairs, with some of the best fight sequences an action fan could hope for. In particular he has found a muse with Scott Adkins, as talented an actor and action performer as you could hope for. This is borne out with Special Forces and Undisputed 2, but unfortunately The Shepherd just doesn't live up to their abilities.

There is no doubt that JCVD looks better here fight-wise than he has done in years, especially in the fight he has (for pretty much no reason) in a prison cell, and in the final showdown with Scott, but look in his eyes. JCVD seems to be dead inside. There's nothing in his eyes at all. It's like he just doesn't care about anything throughout the whole film. And this is the leading man.

There are other dodgy aspects to the film, script-wise and visually, but the main problem is that you are utterly unable to empathise with the hero of the film. A genuine shame as I know we all wanted this film to be as special as it genuinely could have been. There are some good bits, mostly the action scenes themselves. This film had a terrific director and action choreographer, and an awesome opponent for JCVD to face down. This could have been the one to bring the veteran action star back up to scratch in the balls-out action movie stakes.

Sincerely a shame that this didn't happen.

Meh, Sums it all up for me really. Boring story, bland dialogue, dull action scenes (HOW do you make something like a fight or a shootout boring? Do you actually have to TRY to do that?), no real characters etc. Just dull. Snipes is a gifted actor and physical performer but none of this has come to the surface in ANY of his DTV work, when the opportunity is there to give the audience a much more superior product than they are used to. Imagine a decent script with a few solid characters that you care about and some damn explosive action, fights, shootouts, etc. How can it be that hard to handle? My personal opinion is that the primary players in the productions simply do not care. There is no evidence of enthusiasm for what they are doing. Look at Snipes in the first 2 Blades, Passenger 57, Rising Sun, New Jack City, Demolition Man etc? Awesome, intense performances complemented by decent (if not always outstanding) scripts, good supporting casts and wicked action.

None of that is evident in any of these releases so far which is a tremendous shame. The distributors slap Wesley's face on the cover, knowing the audience will lap them up as they haven't realised yet that they haven't seen him in theatres for nearly 2 years.

I'd love to see Snipes work with somebody like Isaac Florentine who really knows how to make the most out of a DTV production, and work with Alpha Stunts who are simply some of the best action guys out there. Together they would all make an awesome team and a Snipes action vehicle we would all be proud of seeing.

Detonator sucks. It's not as bad as The Marksman, which chews, but it still really sucks.

Great action film all round really. Saw this at Cannes 2005 and had a blast watching it and it was a class touch getting Arnold Vosloo to play the lead villain. My only complaint is that the lead character played by the highly versatile Mathis Landwehr does not get to demonstrate as much of his martial arts ability as he did in Kampfansage. However, the crashing explosion at the end of the film must be one of the largest i've ever seen in all my years. A genuine spectacle. Great fun from start to finish, and it's great to see an Action Concept film making the leap to English language. Although I generally like subtitled films myself, this will hopefully ensure that their films will be seen in more territories worldwide. Well worth seeking out.