RED CLIFF
(Dir. John Woo, 2009) Although historical war epics are far from my favorite genre, John Woo's ginormous production of RED CLIFF is quite an enjoyable experience - especially on Blu ray. It's full of impressive sweeping panoramic landscapes, bustling with brilliantly choreographed battle scenes, and crammed with immaculately crafted CGI; all of which immediately makes sense to why it was a huge hit in Asia (according to Wikipedia it broke the box office record held by TITANIC in mainland China).
Set in 208 A.D., Prime Minster Cao Cao (Fengyi Zhang) of the Eastern Han Dynasty declares war on on the kingdoms of Wu and Xu, whose armies are led by Sun Quan (Chen Chang) and Liu Bei (Yong You) respectively. Tony Leung Chiu Wai (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, ASHES OF TIME) plays Naval Commander Zhou Yu, whose military strategies unite the 2 factions against the attacks of Cao Cao's invading army.
The movie is essentially a series of set pieces weaving in and out of elaborate war sequences that build to the climax - the battle at Red Cliff. Thousands of arrows, flaming projectiles, and bombs are fired with a nice light on the stylized blood approach (unlike lesser war movies like MONGOL and 300).
War movies can be as baffling as sports to me - I never quite understand all of the plays. Not to say there isn't plenty of exposition - many tactics are discussed and maneuvers laid out, but I must admit that I got a bit lost in all the action. But it's such a mighty and gorgeous package of visual splendor that in the end I didn't care.
This review is based on the Blu ray theatrical version which takes the original 2 parts (over 4 hours in length) and edits them together into one 148 minute cut. That's pretty long itself but even though the truncation shows at times it's a thoroughly satisfying watch. The other parts are available on Blu ray if you absolutely need more, but I think this version will suffice. When it comes to the audio, go for the Mandarin with English subtitles over the dubbed option. In the dubbed version the subtitles often don't match (which is annoying) and the phoniness of the voices makes the dialogue sound more cornball than it is.
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WATCHMEN (Dir. Zack Snyder, 2009)
Darker than THE DARK KNIGHT and raunchier than any other Superhero movie ever, WATCHMEN busts out of development Hell into theaters today and it’s sure to be #1 this weekend. Knowing nothing of the source material, I sat transfixed and alternately baffled at what I saw at a late screening last night. Set in an alternate America in 1985 in which Nixon (played with a cartoon-ish prosthetic nose by Robert Wisden) is still president, a group of Superheroes has been disgraced and placed under governmental control. When The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a power player with a crusty charisma is murdered, Superhero turned vigilante Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) focuses on tracking down the killers. Among the not-ready-for-the-Justice-League heroes are Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre II (Malin Ackerman), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), and Billy Crudup as the completely CGI crafted Doctor Manhattan.
Much of this film feels like a Frankenstein monster of a movie with pieces from pop culture classics stitched together – the rain drenched neon-lit dystopian cityscapes from BLADE RUNNER and the War Room set reproduced exactly from DR. STRANGELOVE for instance. For an over the top action movie it’s really exposition heavy at times which works better than expecte
d especially the soft spoken Crudup, who somehow makes a giant naked blue man animation into a study in eloquence. As for the action, the fight scenes lack edge and urgency, but the overall thrust is engaging if not transcendent. As Rorschach, complete with a cool morphing ink blot mask, Haley is the stirring standout showing how far he’s come from pitching for the BAD NEWS BEARS. A sequence involving Rorschach in stir is absolutely gripping with Haley stealing the movie away from his co-stars and the scores of expensive bombast.
As I mentioned above I have not read the original beloved graphic novel on which this is based so I can’t judge how faithful it is, but it certainly felt like a true comic book movie. It was almost as if bold panel edges and invisible establishing text were present while Crudup’s Doctor Manhattan looked like he had literally walked off the printed page. The soundtrack is quite unorthodox for a Superhero epic – an opening montage set to Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” sets the tone with odd choices like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sounds Of Silence”, and Nena’s “99 Luftballons” following suit. Unfortunately, despite all these eccentricities and that it's leaps and bounds better than Snyder’s 300, the film is way too long with a number of plodding parts that don’t gel. As a better than average popcorn flick it’s sure to have many fans, but it had ambitions way above that. Despite that WATCHMEN doesn’t soar to the heights it aims for, its intense intent and wicked sense of self is nearly intoxicating enough.
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"Just don't take any class where you have to read Beowulf."
- Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) ANNIE HALL (1977)
I went to the first IMAX movie I've seen in a long time at a venue I've never been to before - The IMAX Theatre at Marbles Kid Museum in Raleigh, N.C. The movie was BEOWULF, the new Robert Zemeckis 3-D CGI spectacle based on the Old English heroic epic poem (as Wikipedia calls it). Did I mention it was IMAX 3-D? Because if the flick didn't have the ginormous screen 3-D enhancement I don't think I would've liked the movie much. Anywhere here goes a review:
BEOWULF (Dir. Robert Zemeckis, 2007)
The very loose adaptation of the ancient landmark of World literature presented here won't do any high school English teachers any favors. This throws out all but the basics of the original story and CGI's everything up to 11 - with in-your-face bloody battles, in-your-face grotesque sea monsters and dragons, in-your-face golden villainess Angelina Jolie, and in-your-face uh, everything! It was IMAX 3-D you know so everything is constantly coming at you. Beowulf is played by Ray Winstone who with the benefit of the animation process becomes a buff killing machine Adonis while the other actors - Robin Penn Wright, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich appear confined to video game character aesthetic restraints. I honestly didn't know until afterwards that it was the wonderfully weird Crispin Glover who provided the voice and mannerisms for the colosally disgusting Grendel - good thing too because that might have distracted a bit.
I am not a fan of the 300-style bravado that often dominated the proceedings and the thrill of 
the 3-D did wear off after the first half only to come back in spurts but overall BEOWULF is a fairly fun ride through ancient mythic vistas and bloody overwrought battles. Like I said before though it was the IMAX 3-D that made the show - I can't really comment on what this film would play like in 2-D. As my father said to make Angelina Jolie into Grendel's mother is quite a stretch but one that doesn't matter as long as things keep coming at you.
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RED CLIFF
