“SEEKING JUSTICE” Movie Review. A Terse, Vigilante Thriller. Or is it Not?

“SEEKING JUSTICE” PRESS PREVIEW

“SEEKING JUSTICE” admonishes us that in life, nothing can be created out of nothing.

There’s always a price tag – you’ve to pay for favors executed.

As in the case of Nick Gerard (NICHOLAS CAGE), a dedicated college teacher who’s trapped in this dilemma.

The story kicks off happily with Nick and his lovely wife Laura (JANUARY JONES) celebrating their wedding anniversary in a plush restaurant.

There’s so much love around, despite the fact that the Hurricane Katrina has just rocked the entire New Orleans and the citizens are still licking their material and emotive wounds from the mass destruction.

Not many nights after, Laura finishes her cello recital and is heading for her car parked in a lonely street.

There, she is physically attacked and brutally raped by a hurly burly ex-con.

Nick rushes to the hospital and is devastated by the heinous deed.

He meets Simon (GUY PEARCE) a smooth talking albeit suave dude from a vigilante group who claims that he’s able to “get rid” of bad people in return for an unspecified favor in an unspecified time.

Simon offers to “bump off” the rapist who shacked his wife as a logical mark of justice.

Nick who’s emotionally distraught over the situation, readily agrees only to regret this when the job is accomplished.

Life flips back to normalcy and everything is quickly forgotten.

Until one fine day – many months later, the underground vigilante comes knocking. Simon has looked Nick up and requests that Nick repay his dues by killing a guy whom the vigilante group deems as a pedophile, thereby a threat to society.

The problem is, Simon is appalled by the idea of vigilante justice and tries to escape the shackles of Simon’s notorious group.  He does not plan to be a killer  and is definitely not keeping  his part of the bargain.

Thereafter, a game of cat and mouse ensues with Nick and Laura fleeing for dear life.

“SEEKING JUSTICE” is an exciting and evenly paced feature with some decent twists.

NICHOLAS CAGE, JANUARY JONES and GUY PEARCE shine in their roles.

One can see that director ROGER DONALDSON sordidly captures a cold and relentless world and demonstrates the plight of an ordinary man when he is pinned to a far corner and forced to choose his options.

If placed in the same situation, what would you have done?

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“LEGENDARY AMAZONS” 杨门女将之军令如山 Hong Kong Movie Review. A Confusing RE-MAKE of the 1972 EPIC.

“LEGENDARY AMAZONS”

– 杨门女将之军令如山

PRESS REVIEW.

“Just let sleeping dogs lie.”

This would be the firm belief of this Reviewer at dreadful remakes.

As it is in the case of the LEGENDARY AMAZONS where you can expect more chaff than fluff.

Sure, Hong Kong is taking a cue from Hollywood on the vast subject of recommendable remakes.

Hence this much anticipated 2011 adaptation of the immensely successful 1972 Chinese Shaw Brothers classic THE FOURTEEN AMAZONS could either be creating waves or rocking the boat.

Nice timing for a reboot.

The only snag is that the man at the helm of “LEGENDARY WARRIORS” is the missing-in-action-for-a-long-time film director FRANKIE CHAN who’s hardly notable for fielding any big time epic.

JACKIE CHAN extends his friendship by producing this one.

You can tell that no expenses are spared, that is is an extravagant, colossal production.

Yet the problem lies in the latent directorial treatment.

Heavens forbid, it stars the stressful CECILIA CHEUNG who, of late, had been reported to be braving marital woes aside pocketing colossal sums for her smart selection of lucrative come-back roles.

“LEGENDARY WARRIORS” is largely a woman depiction that in ancient times, sweet damsels may not necessarily be as hapless as they seem.

They will cast away hysterics, adorn amours and even bravely fight a war.

This time-worn tale is set in the Song Dynasty where all the weaker men of the Yang Clan are massacred in battle, leaving the women to fend for themselves.

The surviving damsels are culled from the pedigreed lineage, starting from a regal grand dame to family abiding daughters.

Salute as they fearlessly strap on armors and swords and gallop into the battle fields.

The gregarious of them all, a Yang family daughter-in-law, Mu Guiying, is a celebrated woman warrior in Chinese folklore that captained the army.

This movie preaches and exaggerates her story.

History lays claim that the facts remain, but you best exercise discretion to lap this all up, or not.

There are loads of “wire-fu” action galore and generous doses of CGI effects which seem to be a staple diet of recent made-in-China martial arts flicks.

The results show a stupendous “same-ness” that can be boring to a fault.

CECILIA CHEUNG takes on the lead role as Mu Guiying, which was played to perfection by the legendary actress IVY LING PO in the original epic.

Clearly CECILIA lacks the stoic grace and the character dominated by her predecessor.

Most of the times she appears wide-eyed, with a pained or disdainful expression, wailing for whatever it takes. She definitely fared better in maiden roles before her marriage.

The celebrated Shaw Brothers version had a bevy of superstars such as LISA LU, IVY LING PO, LILY HO and LI CHING.

The only notable performers in this remake are CECILIA CHEUNG, RITCHIE REN, KATHY CHOW and CHENG PEI PEI but sadly, this line-up pales in comparison to the 1972 classic.

It would have been splendid to watch CHENG PEI PEI the charismatic 1960s Queen of Swordplay displaying her martial arts prowess in a single fight scene, but no – hold your breath, this is not to be.

For the baby boomer it would make complete sense that this film is targeted at the younger market given the selection of the ensemble cast.

The battle field fights are choreographed to be furious and stupendous, but end up being a total mayhem of confusion with an overkill of CGI.

There are a fair amount of tearing scenes yet strangely, these are unable to milk any sympathy from the press members.

With JOHN WOO or ANG LEE at the helm, this gigantic budget feature could have taken a different direction in terms of visual presentation and storytelling.

Alas ….

Go watch it for whatever it’s worth and be your own judge.

For true-blue fans of CGI, special effects, wire-fu works, CECILIA CHEUNG and RITCHIE REN, this feature film will be a royal treat.

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What’s LIFE without LOVE?

God must have his special set of reasons when he bestows upon us that everything should be paired.

It’s LOVE actually.

1 + 1 = 2

Smile, please.

Now take a close look at our two hands, our two eyes, our two ears, whatever else ….. and it’s pretty obvious that “TWO” is an understated number.

We’ve only one heart.

If you are single and if you dig hard enough, you’ll find that a special “someone” may be looming round the corner kindling “your” other heart.

 Helen Steiner Rice is far from mushy when she deliberates:

“Love is like magic

and it always will be.

For love still remains

life’s sweet mystery.

Love works in ways

that are wondrous and strange.

And there’s nothing in life

That love cannot change.

Love can transform

The most commonplace.

Into beauty and splendor

and sweetness and grace.

Love is unselfish,

understanding and kind,

For it sees with its heart

and not with its mind.

Love is the answer

That everyone seeks.

Love is the language,

that every heart speaks.

Love can’t be bought,

it is priceless and free,

Love, like pure magic,

is life’s sweet mystery.”

Love can be everything glorious and magical.

Yet that glimmer of magic can unceremoniously dim,

the whole vision blurs

and everything evaporates to being just an illusion.

No living creature is meant to be alone.

Lonely is the man without love.

What’s LIFE without LOVE?

YOU TELL ME.

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“SLEEPWALKER” 夢遊 3D (2011) Hong Kong Movie Review. ANGELICA LEE sleepwalks into a FILM NOIR.

“SLEEPWALKER” 夢遊 3D (2011) PRESS PREVIEW

YOU may not be enamored by the PANG BROTHERS’ body of work.

Or you may be irked by this directing duo’s inconsistencies at keeping up with a steady tempo of blockbusters.

It has been a decade since the international success of their horror flick THE EYE.

That was a long trek dated way back from 2002.

To err is human, folks.

You can see that the PANG BROTHERS have been working non-stop, shooting in their homeland, relocating to Hollywood for a bit, and thence back – spreading themselves thin with project upon project.

It’s clear that, after THE EYE, nothing is as close as their initial success.

But one thing you can bet on.

They are not about to throw up their hands and sing their swan song any moment soon.

 On the contrary they are espying bigger things to come.

Show business is a vicious cycle and there’ll be many who are waiting to see them fall.

Yet the PANG BROTHERS is a formidable brand to reckon with, going from strength to strength, whether as a team, or singly as OXIDE or DANNY PANG.

They are statistically, the first to embrace the phenomenal 3D culture because they believe in the doctrine, “the early bird catches the worm”.

As a collaborative brotherly team they churned out their first 3D debut with THE CHILD’S EYE.

Now, as OXIDE PANG, the latest 3D offering comes in the current SLEEPWALKER package, starring his beloved wife ANGELICA LEE.

Yes, you have to give PANG BROTHERS kudos for trying to stay afloat in the ASIAN cinema of screams.

In SLEEPWALKER, they have their creative wings clipped when it comes to the core subject of ghosts and ghouls.

The CHINA MARKET is colossal and money speaks.

And China men swear that they are a timid lot (are they?), who will either faint or die of a heart seizure, if they ever smell a ghost.

Therefore, to appease their mainland China investors and to get a firm footing on the greater China soils, SLEEPWALKER is dressed as a taut albeit terse psychological thriller.

Out with the supernaturalism and gore. In with the spooky elements and hey-presto, you get this piece of psychological thriller.

ANGELICA LEE Lee takes the lead as Yi, a compulsive sleepwalker who may or may not have murdered her ex-husband in one of her nocturnal excursions.

Here’s the dimmed storyline:

 Yi (ANGELICA LEE ) wears a blank stare as she goes about her daily chores as the frustrated owner of a small garment shop.

Over the years, she is tortuosly infested by a repeated dream, in that nightmare, she stands desolate on a wasteland, wandering where the hell life is taking her.

One day, Yi encounters a personable young man, Eric  (LI ZONG HAN), when he patronizes Yi’s garment alteration shop.

 Yi shares with Eric about her anguish from those inexplicable dreams.

On the other end, female Sergeant Au (HUO SI YAN) desperately purses a kidnap-murder case, that of her own nephew.

The ransom has been paid, but the kid’s whereabouts still remains a mystery.

Assailed by grief, Sgt. Au’s sister Peggy (CHARLIE YOUNG) is seemingly going bonkers.

She blames her younger sister for not being able to nail down the culprit.

Back to Yi, her nightmares are getting to be more bizarre. Sometimes she finds her bedside is stained with mud in the morning.

The thought strikes her that she could have walked on that wasteland in the night, and murders someone whilst sleepwalking.

Stripping aside of the elements of horror, SLEEPWALKER is, essentially, a work of film noir.

It preys on the mindset, and centers on the dark-edged story of a forlorn woman who’s torn between her grasp of myth and reality. In her fractured conscience, she struggles to make available of whatever logic that comes her way.

It is in part, an edgy and sensual exploration of the human failing, of long-dormant passions that are best left unfettered.

As with most PANG BROTHERS stories, there are the plot holes but the artistic use of lush imagery depictive of poetry-in-motion lifts it above the gutters.

ANGELICA LEE is a splendid actress and a joy to behold.

She holds her fort in the stoic role of a woman teetering on the brink of breakdown.

Her every move, every nuance convinces us that her fears are for reel as she subconsciously “draws” us into her innermost chain of thoughts.

Bravo!

AT THE RECENT PRESS INTERVIEW IN KUALA LUMPUR TO PROMOTE HER “SLEEPWALKER” MOVIE, ACTRESS ANGELICA LEE IS AN ABSOLUTE PICTURE OF RADIANCE AND HEALTH.

SHE IS BLESSED WITH A HAPPY MARRIAGE AND A WONDERFUL CAREER.