KCR: Equilibrium (movie)

Image via WikipediaEquilibrium is either a prophetic cautionary tale warning of a dystopia without emotion, or one of the most silly but cool looking movies ever made. It is actually both, and thus, you'll either love or hate this movie. There is no in between.

The Premise: John Preston, a Grammaton Cleric, is tasked by the government to hunt down sense offenders... people who choose to not take their daily dose drug to dampen their feelings, and destroy all remaining tokens that evoke strong feelings, such as art, music, poetry, and so on. When he accidentally missed a dose of his own medicine, he realized the world may not be as he saw it before. One transgression lead to another, and soon, Preston is about to make the unthinkable choice... go up against Father, the leader of all...

In the strictest sense, Equilibrium is not comparable to the Matrix, but rather, is more akin to Orwell's 1984 brought to life, with thought-police using lethal force to enforce order, and how one man can make a difference... if he had been trained in this special martial arts called gun-kata.

And that's the biggest schtick in the movie: gun-kata. The idea is by analyzing the close-quarters engagements, you can synthesize a series of moves that combines dodging and counter-attack that will significantly enhance your chances of survival. The director, Kurt Wimmer, had one idea on what it should look like. Unfortunately,  his martial arts advisor for this movie had a very different idea. The result is a style that doesn't quite mesh, but sure is heck cool to look at.

The plot points can get rather silly, as Preston's transformation starts and accelerates. The problem mainly is the trigger to "cross the Rubicon", so to speak, is just plain silly. Let's just say the instigator is a puppy.

Still, worth watching at least once, then check out the spiritual successor, Ultraviolet.

KCR: Fearless, starring Jet Li

The real Ho Yuan Jia
Image via WikipediaJet Li, with his thorough mastery of various Chinese Martial Arts disciplines, had taken on many of the iconic "folk hero" roles in the history of China. In this movie, he is portraying master Huo Yuanjia, a master about the turn of the century, when Western powers and Japan are trying to push the corrupt Chinese government into more concessions by awing them with other masters.

The premise: Huo YuanJia was the youngest son of a kungfu master. The young Huo had always been way too proud of his skills, instead of learning any restraint, which eventually lead to a series of personal tragedies. He tried to commit suicide, but he survived, and lived in the wilderness as penance for a long period before coming to his senses, and returning to the city, just in time to encounter the imperialists and others trying to denigrate China. Huo was able to rally supporters into forming a Wushu association. Then the imperialists challenged him to a match, against other masters... and they want to win at ANY cost...

The martial arts are excellent as always, and this movie is not shy about showing some blood when it calls for it. AND there's a plot instead of just slash and cut and punch. There's a theme behind it, about pride, about not backing down in face of challenge, and about the true winner of spirit if not in body... and about redemption.

Allegedly Jet Li's final martial arts film (except as fantasy characters), this is a masterpiece.

Rating: Watch it!

Related articles

• KCR: The One starring Jet Li (crankyreviews.blogspot.com)

KCR: Tom Yum Koong / The Protector (movie)

Image via WikipediaThe protector is an action movie where Thai action star Tony Jaa shows off his Muy Thai skills against wide variety of opponents by taking on a subject dear to any Thai: elephants.

Premise: Tony Jaa was asked to recover the two sacred elephants of the village by his dying father, killed by the thieves. Tony Jaa tracked the elephants to Australia, where he met up with a Thai-descent policemen, and a beautiful Thai girl who may be part of the organization he is tracking. He digs deeper, he finds that the local Triad boss (Jing Xing) is invovled, and the front is... a restaurant.

This movie combines "fish out of water" premise, plus plenty of action as Tony Jaa knees and elbows his way through Sydney Australia against all bad guys, leaving most of them writhing on the ground in pain. The additional fighting against kapoera fighter, a swordsman, and a very big guy, is great. Later there's even MORE fighting. The non-stop action scene where Tony Jaa fights his way up 4 levels, lasting 5 minutes and dispatching 50+ goons, is probably one of the most interesting action scenes ever (without special effects).

Worth watching at least once.

KCR: The One starring Jet Li

Cover of The One (Special Edition)The One has a clever premise that is barely scifi, and relies on a clever premise: Jet Li vs. Jet Li. How do you set that up? Alternate universes, of course.

The setup: Gabe Yulaw was an MVA (multiverse agency) agent who once killed another version of himself in self-defense. He felt stronger. So he decided to go rogue... go through the various multiverses and kill all other versions of him. He had gotten much faster too, doing all the "Matrix" like moves. Two other MVA agents (Del Roy Lindo and Jason Statham) were dispatched to catch him, but ultimately it falls to the last remaining, "Gabe Law", who also had gotten stronger...

You sure don't watch this movie for the acting. If you understand any martial arts, you may actually notice that Jet Li used different versions of martial arts for the characters. But basically it's special effects all the way.

But then, you don't really watch Jet Li movie for the characters, do you?

Rating: Worth watching once, but not enough to own