Great Expectations

Yes, this is a movie review.

But no, not of Great Expectations…had you fooled!!

First, I just wanted to elaborate about something quickly. I have discovered more and more, that when people go and see movies, they are more and more disappointed and blame the hype and the movie’s lack of innovation, creativity, and originality the reason why. That is a load of bull.

The truth of the matter is that people are finicky, fickle people who have lost all sense of reality. They expect too much. Movies have developed at a rapid rate due to the booming technology industry, and because we have probably reached a pretty near-peak to what movies can do, since now they can break all physical realms and even work without actors but just a real voice (soon that will be replaced) we’re expecting to see continued amazing leaps and bounds.

People expect far too much for a movie that is only two hours long. They only make the movies that long because people don’t have the attention spans for the length and yet at the same time they want elaborate plots. Elaborate plots cannot be made without time spent explaining them so you are not lost in the dust. Like so often happens nowadays as well and which is why most dumb critics booed Basic.

And what makes matters worse is when a movie takes that two hours to make an elaborate story audiences boo and sleep because their attention span has been reduced to a time shorter then a ADD kid whose ridalin has been out for three months.

Onto the actual movie review:

BULLETPROOF MONK: 5 of 5

Now you might think this is a very lofty rating for this movie, and I would have thought so too if it wasn’t for some deep elaboration into the plot, character, and everything else that makes a movie great…and in the end, the movie is a wonderful success when you try not to expect this movie to be some artsy “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Meaning” picture.

Firstly, the acting was excellent. Now, I’m not saying these people deserve Academy Awards, but for the lines written and the topic of the movie, it was well done and nothing came off sounding really cheesy or as if the actors knew that they had the punch-line and tried to milk it. Nothing pulls a person out of a movie more than a guy who milks a punch-line on camera and lets the audience see him do it.

Chow Yun-Fat is, as always, remarkable. Really, he is the only brilliant kung-fu actor that I’ve seen who actually has acting talent as well. Jackie Chan is a funny and nice guy, but he’s no Chow Yun-Fat by any means. Jet-Li’s kick-ass, but also falls flat to Chow Yun-Fat….I made a rhyme, whoopee!! The fact of the matter is, Chow’s delivery is so remarkably dead on that he is funny when the line isn’t that funny……he just delivers the lines perfectly……

Sean whatever whatever….I actually forgot an actor’s name…I think its William Scott, is also very good and all the actors in this movie do their own stunts it seems, as the camera work doesn’t do a lot of those, “Hey, look at my back while I kick” shots so that they could replace the actor. Sean does his stunts and his comedy is great when paired with Chow.

Jaime King is also great…and it’s a remarkable transformation from her last roles…..even she does her own moves and looks very sexy doing them…the last outfit she wears….ohhhh yeahhhhh..

The last person to talk about is the bad guy, this nazi dude who played the more crafty brother in 15 Minutes and who I think is a terrific evil actor. This guy delivers the lines well and also seems to do his own fighting stunts.

As for the cinematography, it is fresh, cutting edge, and polished and the movie does a great job of keeping us knowing what is going on during the intense fight scenes. The digital effects and “Crouching Tiger” Stunts are cool, especially when they dodge the bullets and jump around.

The karate is freaking impressive in this movie, as all the characters use it…from the Nazi to the street-thief, which would seem stupid if it wasn’t for the fact that most Japanese films do the same thing so why should we Americans believe it’s so impossible? Not to mention they give a pretty good explanation for each’s knowledge of the fighting skills…..save the Nazi woman…but hell, she’s a nazi…..Sean William Scott is the most impressive as we see his bo skills early on in the movie and they are just tremendous. The final fight scene is really cool as well.

Finally, the plot is quick and not incredibly innovative, but no one should expect such from an action movie ala “The Corruptor” and “The Replacement Killers.” This movie also seems to play out more like a super-hero movie than an action flick in the villain’s portrayal and that of the heroes.

In the end, the movie is very well done, I thought. And even though some people tried to discourage Greg and I from seeing it, we went and were glad we did. I can’t figure out why they didn’t like it except for the fact that whenever they aren’t fighting or trying to escape the bad guys, there is a very peaceful calm that lulls over the exposition scenes. But even that should be recognized as meant to be, as we are to try and discern whether Chow Yun-Fat’s character already expected all of this to happen, as he seems to sometimes convey. Which is why he has peace whenever nothing’s going on, because he’s trying to relax.

5 of 5 for the movie and just to give you all a heads up, don’t expect too much from movies and you’ll always be happy. Also, if you see the scene where Jaime King goes to the movie theatre to talk to Sean William Scott’s boss….notice they shot it on two different times by the way Jaime wears her hair….close-ups were done with hair in front of ear and further shots with it behind…..just a little something I notice…..

It is the little things.