Horsemen (2009)

First of the bat let me just say that thr(k)iller genre especially those featuring a somewhat supernatural killer is one of my favorites, so movies like Seven, Fallen and From Hell remains up there as my favorite movies of all time. I guess it then be an understatement to say that I was excited when I chanced upon "Horsemen" from the same director that brought us From Hell on hbo the other day! WooHooo! Finally! Haven't seen one of these in too long a time I thought exuberantly to myself, rubbing my hands together preparing to be shock-a-tained. Did it pay off ? Did the horsemen galloped my sense off into blissful excitement and bloody glee? No! No! and No!

This is definitely one movie that is out of date and out of it's time. Perhaps before the advent of movies like Seven or the multitude of incarnation of the CSI franchise, this may have had a chance of being seen as good or even watchable. Alas, this now seems like a rehash or a re-run of an episode of CSI.

Dennis Quaid plays an inspector or some pathologist specializing in teeth or something like on the trail of a killing that seems to be tied to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Sound good so far? So I thought at first, but all of these things have been done before as I said and better in movies like Seven so all I felt is been there and seen thta computer generated punctured lung!

Come on, the so-called main 'Baddie' or Horsemen as they call it can't even hold a candle and that being on the calmest of days against Spacey's John Doe. Sorry Mr. Jonas Åkerlund but this is all too much of a worn out and trodden path that you are trying to bring us on and I can't say much about the execution of the whole mess either.

At the end of it, I don't even know how I should feel. Should I feel for the plight of the Horsemen or be amazed at how Zhang ZiYi and Quaid is wasted in this turd of a movie! The writers of this movie also decided to save the worst for last. It hit a nadir for me during the 'the reveal' of the movie when the message of the movie is shoved down the audience throat with a huge cattle poke suffering the same problem as the movie "The book of Eli". Jonas, when you trust your audience a bit that they can work a bit like the detective in the movie uncovering the message your are trying to put across much like how the truth is finally revealed, the pay off is better and it's more memorable. As it is, I felt the final message that it tries to put across is peachy and pretentious. Thanks, but I am just going to watch a re-run of my copy of Seven now.

Ugh ... 2/10!

The Book of Eli (2010)

I caught most of the post apocalyptic movies this year including The Road and just today The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington, Milla Kunis, Jennifer Beals and Gary Oldman. Since both movies are set in the same backdrop there is no avoiding comparisons being drawn between both the movies. Which one is better? Hands down The Road for me! That being said, The Book of Eli is a well made movie. Aside from the similar backdrop, there is very little similarity between the two movies.

On the landscape, I really like how the movie is shown. The deserted streets, the saturated colors, the deserted buildings is really well done and totally believable. The story is about Eli played by Denzel Washington on a quest to get the knowledge of the only copy of the bible left in the world to "The West" which is actually ironically the Alcrataz prison. The story has strong Christian undertones and like it's Chinese Odyssey counter part, the path to salvation is lined with perils and dangers most. Instead of ghouls and bull headed demons of it's chinese cousin, here the nemesis Gary Oldman which leads a gang of bikers which looks like extras from the Mad Max days which is maniacally looking for the copy of the Bible for the power he hopes to wield over people with it. Oldman, who looks like he is desperately in need of a bath (the lot of them looks like this except for Denzel who looks suspiciously clean) looks right at home playing "The Bad Dude" like he had done is so many movies. The only thing here is just that I wished that he was not so literal about his intention on getting his grimy paws on the Bible.

The action here is really good and a couple of sequences where the camera follows the path of a projectile it's being shot at while at the same time switching scenes between two warring sides lends a kinetic feel to the movie which I have not seen anywhere else save for those bullet scenes in chinese movies. That is really good. There is also a shootout scene to watch out for. Ok Corral! Boo Yah!

More on the acting ... Denzel is good in this movie, but I wouldn't say that this anything new here. He is playing well ... Denzel. The whole movie is mostly carried on the performances of Oldman and Denzel. Nothing much from the others like Kunis and gang stood out for me including a forgettable cameo by Malcolm McDowell at the last act of the movie. One complain I have about the final scenes is when Denzel does the Gandhi thing that seems so out of place in a movie like this. About the story too, this movie suffers a bit of the same thing as the 2009 Dennis Quaid clunker which is being too literal on the symbolism. Play it differently! I do not need the symbolism shoved down my throat, trust the intellect of your audience to find the message you are trying to put across and that a better movie it makes. Check out the final scene from the Horsemen where everything is explained to get what I mean.

Hughes brothers have done some good movies and this is no exception, just forgettable and I have seen better so 3 out of 5 for this one. Ask me in three times about this and I probably won't even be able to tell you about the plot of this movie.

Straw Dogs (1971)

While reading a review for one of John Woo's film, I chanced upon a director I have never seen before called Sam Peckinpah. According to the site, John Woo in his movie 'Better Tomorrow' pays homage to Sam Peckinpah's films and has been an inspiration to Woo. Woo's inspiration? This is something I have got to watch I thought. So ... enter Straw Dogs.



Dustin Hoffman plays a bumbling professor type husband with a repressed wife spending the weekend over in the country to get inspiration for his work. Sticking out like a sore thumb among the locals, the harrasment slowly gives way to all out violence.

Just when everything is going to hell in a handbasket, the last man you would expect to play the hero Hoffman toughens up and deliver's his own brand of pay back. Was it as good as Chow Yuen Fatt's slo' mo' action scenes in Woo's classics? Hell yes! Even better in some respects. I cheered out lout when Hoffman's character fought back and single handedly defended his whole family in the film's climax. Good stuff!

I credit the great editting work here, for without a two megaton bomb about to go off, helicopter exploding on top of a train or plane exploding in a tunnel, Straw Dogs managed to keep me at the edge of my seat. You action writers wannabes out there sit up and listen up! Take a lesson from Mr. Peckinpah. You don't need 7 digit budget or nuclear devices going off to make a decent or good action thriller. All you need is the basics. A decent story line with good editing and believable acting.

The acting in this movie is good too. Hoffman's protrayal of a bungling David Sumner turned hero when forced into a corner is believable and cheer worthy. Try not standing up and cheering for him at the end when he finally confronts the ruffians which has been torturing him throughout the whole film. The can of whoop ass built up from the beginning of the movie which he finally opens up on these thugs at the last 10 to 20 minutes of the movie is satisfying and exciting to behold!

Reading about what some people seem to think about this film, they say it's not as good as Peckinpah's other classic 'The Wild Bunch'. Waiting to check that one out. One more thing that I should mention here too is that the rape scene in this movie is well quite disturbing. Disturbing as in it borders on the fine line between just a rough session of sex or a straight rape. Just check out the mixed signals given my Mrs. Sumner during this scene. Definitely something that will stay with you. Reminisce of the emotional wrench that movies like the Chaser or Oldboy puts you through. It forces the viewer into an uncomfortable state. I love movies that forsake a comfortable tied up knot of a resolution in order to push the envelope of how far a scene can go. Very good!

A point too about the action sequences, here while it could have been shot straight like the scene where Hoffman is carrying two pots of boiling surprise for the interluders to his house, how it unfolds is not straight action. One would argue here whether Peckinpah is deliberately denying his audience the straight action scene they are expecting or is just bad in setting the scene up. Using the rest of the film as a yardstick of how good / bad Peckinpah is I would give him the benefit of the doubt here. Action in real life is most of the time messy and not as clear cut and as choreographed as a Jackie Chan flick. I think Peckinpah was aiming for that here.

Check out the original theatrical trailer ...



4.8 out of 5 stars! Yee haw!

Next movie ... The Wild Bunch!