MovieComment

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

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He’s back and this time, he is again the Terminator of the original movie of the same name. Looking back at the original terminator movie, you start to think, “Wow, Arnold sure looks young for his age!”.

This time, the story follows the young Conner in his mid twenties, his mother dead, and himself kind of depressed. The machines have sent back in time a gorgeous model terminator to kill not only Conner but also his second in commands (his high school classmates). The female lead is played by Clair Danes, who surprisingly looks quite older in this movie, meaning, I myself have not seen a film with Danes in it, for quite some time. The two soon meet and the two terminators, Arnold and the hot model X, come by and blow things up. Soon both are told by the terminator that he was sent back in time to safeguard them during the even we all know as judgement day, the day the machines start a nuclear war.

One of the things that I found strange about the last terminator film, Judgement Day, was the inner monologues, I wasn’t sure if I was watching a Cameron film or a David Lynch rip-off of The Lost Highway. This film does away with the inner conflict and is really about 4 action sequences glued together with some pauses and exposition. The whole film in a sense is not really about inner conflict but about action. The best sequences are of course in the beginning and in the end. About the only thing that was found interesting, was how each terminator film has managed to tap into revelant social topics and illustrate them. For the third film, technology is again illustrated, but more than just its use, software is the main theme of the film. Just what responsibility do we have for our creations, even when it is just code? The implications in Terminator 3 are pretty clear, it is not that we can solve problems, but that we must triumph in spite of them, that we must survive, and in that lies our species most basic attribute.

In conclusion, if you are looking for an old style action film without much story, then look no further than Terminator 3, which surprisingly is really a lot closer to the original film than Terminator 2.

Iron Monkey

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Crouching Tiger Without The Romance

Crouching Tiger is definitely a great film and probably deserves an Oscar for best film, but if you like just action, and can do without the great voicings of Coco Lee or the symphany that is Crouching Tiger’s sound track, then Iron Monkey is for you.

In Iron Monkey, a lone crusader doctor defends the poor and outcasted against corrupt government and their monk henchmen. Along with the help of a disciplined monk and his son, the Iron Monkey and his assistant nurse kick some serious butt in this martial arts film.

I watched this film in its original Chinese soundtrack, but there is an English dubbed track as well. The soundtrack is not impressive, and the film’s visual look is sometimes washed out and grainy.

The action sequences are original and of course cooler than ninja stars. The only other martial arts movie I have is Black Mask with Jet Lee, and I would have to say that Iron Monkey is next on my list now. If you feel like sitting back and watching action, then you can’t go wrong with a little Iron Monkey.

Blade II

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I must admit when I saw Blade II at the theatre, the film really felt disappointing, in that I expected more from an action film, but then I watched the DVD Special Edition and changed my mind.

Wesley Snipes is back as Blade, The Day Walker, a half human half vampire who stalks the earth in search of vampires to kill them all. This time he’s in Russia and the vampires seek him out in order to deal with a mutant strain of the vampire virus that is causing some vampires to become Reapers (half-way between vampires and aliens). Blade has just rescued his old friend and father figure Whistler, when he agrees to a temporary truce and leads a pack of vampire hunters to destroy the Reapers. A love story emerges between Blade and Leonor Varela’s character who is the daughter of the grand vampire. From this point on, the action turns somewhat into Aliens 2, and then finally of course Blade is captured and drained of his blood yet again, but somehow escapes and drinks blood, in order to fight the bad guys in what are surely some of the best action fighting scenes ever filmed.

There is just something about Snipes kicking someone around that makes it so appealing, I’m not sure but I think that unlike other actors, Snipes really enjoys “fucking” with people and it shows very well on camera.

The DVD features a DTS 6.1 soundtrack which is a little subdued as far as surround effects, but crystal clear in almost every way. Visually, the special effects seem smoother at home than in the theatre, and the film is not as dark as well. For Blade fans, their is even a second disk of extras and inside info.

There is really two reasons to watch the DVD though, Snipes and the special effects for the Reapers which is truly amazing and interesting for an action film.

Blade Trinity

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Trinity is the third in the Blade series and is a bit different than the other two films. Unlike previous adventures, BT is not really a horror movie at all and is an action film with a bit of comedy thrown in. It lacks the seriousness of the two other films, which might be good since this is the third film now.

BT starts out with Blade killing the vampires as usual, but this time he gets sloppy and ends up killing a human. This leads to a media campaign and frame up from the vampire nation to get the humans to capture Blade. All alone Blade is then rescued by what can only be described as the Buffy Vampire slayers generation. Enter Jessica Beil and Ryan Reynolds as his rescue team. Blade then learns of the existence of slayer cells that are on his side. Beil plays Whistlers daughter and Reynolds, an ex-vampire turned back human-slash-smart ass. He provides the funny one liners in the film. Along with the gang there’s also Oswald Patton, the funny short guy on King of Queens, but more importantly, the starring supporting role goes to Biel’s Apple iPod which appears in a lot of the scenes. For the vampires, the sometimes appealing Parker Posey is perhaps one of the ugliest vampires you will ever meet. She looks down right unattractive and maybe that is why she is a good villian in the film. There’s also Drake a mystic original vampire who is stronger and better than Blade.

However even with all the good points, Blade Trinity has a thin plot if not a confusing one and somehow the best thing of the entire movie besides seeing Biel almost naked, is Reynolds jokes and the vampire bitch which Posey plays. If that is enough for you, then you probably should see this film. On the whole it was better than Aliens Versus Predator, but not anywhere as good as say The Chronicles of Riddick… Oh wow… did I just say that?