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4/10
Were they TRYING to make an awful movie?
7 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I don't even know where to begin listing everything that's wrong with this movie. I guess I should start with the fact that Kristen Kreuk is starring in a movie about a martial artist (although wu shu is more of a performance art than a martial art – but that's another story) despite the fact she is utterly incapable of moving gracefully. However, she can't take all of the blame for the poor fighting as the choreography was atrocious (people getting knocked out by being kicked in the leg?) and the multiple interrogations were intrinsically stupid (Chun Li asks question, bad guy resists, Chun Li punches bad guy and bends his arm funny, bad guys tells her everything – all in the course of ten seconds.) But when you put her together with Chris Klein, it creates a void of acting ability that would have made it impossible to buy into the plot if the plot were actually plausible. The only decent performances in the entire movie were by Neil McDonough as Bison and, surprisingly, Moon Bloodgood as a detective – but that's made moot by the fact that the writer has apparently never heard actual humans converse before, so the dialogue wouldn't be worth listening to even if it were delivered well. Plus, Bison's evil plan is to . . . build quality housing and sell it to the rich? He became head of an evil empire for that? Also, he wipes out other crime families to be able to do it and is doing it because he wants a better life for his daughter – if they hadn't repeatedly called him the head of a criminal organization, I might've thought he was just a decent hardworking businessman/superhero.

It seems the entire movie was just filler until they could put the inevitable final confrontation on screen. And when she threw a fireball in that final confrontation, it was probably the worst special effect ever seen in a big-budget movie. The only way I could imagine anyone enjoying this movie is if they appreciate watching has-been actors ham-fist their way through a script that was written by someone with almost no knowledge of Street Fighter over the course of one booze-filled weekend.
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7/10
An Amercanized version of the history of Kung Fu
15 September 2008
This documentary uses the term "martial arts" very loosely, as the main focus is on the Chinese martial art kung fu (with only a small part dedicated to Japanese director Akira Kurosawa,) while some major stars from karate and muay thai movies (specifically, Sonny Chiba and Tony Jaa) are not mentioned whatsoever. However, kung fu has been the prevailing martial art in cinema, and the main point seems to be a historical progression from the origin of martial arts movies to their use in today's American films. So, because the emphasis is on telling the story of how The Matrix and Face/Off (and more ridiculously, Charlie's Angels and Exit Wounds) came to use "martial arts", the gaps in history are forgivable. This incidentally also makes Samuel Jackson a fairly perfect narrator. The documentary progresses mainly through segments on each major kung fu icon in the history of cinema, and gives a fairly basic overview. If you have any prior knowledge of the history, there may not be a lot of information you don't already know. Also, John Woo gets his own segment in which he is called a "serious filmmaker." Please ignore this. While John Woo movies can be fun, he has no business being talked about in a movie about martial arts. Basically, if you're an American who wants to understand the history of kung fu in movies, or if you're wondering if there's any job Samuel L. Jackson won't say yes to, this doc is definitely worth checking out.
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Le divorce (2003)
2/10
It should have been called Le Boring
27 October 2006
This movie did nothing but fail to impress me. I went in expecting to see at least some good acting performances from Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson, but Le Divorce came up short even on that. The majority of the movie revolves around a painting and who would get possession of it in the middle of a divorce, but this aspect of the movie isn't even all that interesting since a painting can't project human emotions like the actors should have been. All the characters were boring and one-dimensional as well, and it depicted the French in the incredibly cliché manner of being rude and boorish. And after all that, the ending isn't even that satisfying and the problems that occurred through most of the movie are ignored. All in all, save yourself the two hours.
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4/10
a complete lack of personality
20 May 2006
I had to force myself to watch the last few episodes of this anime just so I could be done with it. I just could not stand it by the end. If you're going to create an alternate setting for an anime, you should at least explain it. It is never gone into why the country is at war, why it was necessary to change a little girl into an ultimate weapon, or why this "ultimate weapon" doesn't just end the war immediately. Not only that, but I simply could not stand the characters. They just had no personalities whatsoever, aside from reacting to the fact that she was an ultimate weapon. Everyone treats Chisu with a sort of reverent fear, the only difference in anyone being that Shuji "loves" her for no apparent reason. The visuals are okay and the music and voice acting are decent, but in the end, it's just sadness for the sake of being sad.
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Ninja ryûkenden (1991 Video)
7/10
An anime movie that definitely shows its age
24 April 2006
Note: this is NOT the video game Ninja Gaiden, this is a movie (loosely) based on the video game. I say loosely because I don't remember anything in the game about genetically engineered monsters. I guess this movie best works as a showcase for the animation style and plot type that anime had in the late 80's/early 90's. It has a very generic storyline with characters that don't have much depth but since the emphasis here is on action, it's still quite entertaining. The story is incredibly clichéd: strong male lead fights evil corporation to save world and eventually wins heart of girl. The main character Ryu uses a sword and a couple of his friends use guns and they kill plenty of interchangeable enemies. Nothing special to see here, but if you're a fan of the game and/or a fan of anime, it may be worth checking out.
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