Ride On (龙马精神, 2023）

Ride On (龙马精神, 2023)

Director (and writer): Larry Yang

Cast: Jackie Chan, Haocun Liu, Kevin Guo, Yueting Lang, Andy On, Jing Wu, Shenyang Xiao, Joey Yung, Rongguang Yu

A washed-up stuntman and his stunt horse become an overnight social media sensation when their real-life fight with debt collectors goes viral. – IMDB

For most Jackie Chan fans, Ride On is a film made by a director who is a big fan of his as well as he gets to work with someone that he praises but also creates an alternate storyline of a character that has the life of Jackie Chan but is called Luo who is a stuntman who knows gains a second fame with his stunt horse, Red Hare. There’s no doubt that this film almost feels like a farewell film from Jackie Chan as it feels a lot like a tribute as Luo’s character rewatches the Jackie Chan blooper reel of all the accidents he has had at one point. At the same time, the film does highlight Jackie Chan (and his fellow stunt peers) who has lived their lives at the heyday of Hong Kong action films and their dangerous stunts that they had no choice but to do for their living but has now moved forward to try to provide a much safe environment, praising both the hard work and the fight from the past stunt actors (and actresses) but also the respect and pride of the career being more than the authenticity of doing the stunts but also accepting that there is a better way in today’s technology because its important to protect the lives of those involved even if its just a horse in this case.

Ride On is more than just about the stuntman life although everything else around it does feel like the result and sacrifices of choosing this life. The film runs at around 2 hours with Jackie Chan’s Luo portraying an older man who has gone through his career hardships to finally be a washed-up stuntman living at the Hengdian World Studios with his horse Red Hare. When the man who sold him Red Hare gets taken over, the company tries to get back their property, Red Hare, sinking him into a seek for legal help which leads to him trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Xiaobao (Haocun Liu) who is a law student dating a young lawyer Mickey (Kevin Guo). Despite the rocky start, he soon bonds with his daughter through this case but also a constant breaking point when his new fame takes him and Red Hare to more and more dangerous stunts which Xiaobao doesn’t agree with and constantly tries to convince him to stop before they both get hurt. While this is categorized as an action comedy, its hard to deny that when a father and daughter relationship and a man and his horse ‘s relationship is put to the test, there’s a fair amount of drama that will inevitably be involved.

With that said, Ride On has a lot of tangents and side plots and side characters which aren’t completely all necessary to make this story’s point but some of it is added for the comedic moments, some is there to give more classic Jackie Chan comedic stunt action with a new twist and some of it is to give it the stronger backup cast it needs to give this film more credit with small roles like successful action stars like Jing Wu and Joey Yung playing as Luo’s disciple and Andy On as the debt collector. The story does have some lull moments but Larry Yang crafts a story that truly gives such a shining light primarily to the relationship between Luo and Red Hare right from the first scene that makes all they go through in these two hours all the more connected to them by the end when their final fate lies in the final verdict. Boy, were my heartstrings pulled. I never thought I’d feel so much for a horse.

Now’s a great time to talk about the cast though. This film is a tribute to Jackie Chan’s career so casting him in his role and having him rewatch those reels is a strong moment. Growing up on Jackie Chan films, its been crazy to watch his career get to where it is now and at his age (almost 70) still being able to carry out these stunts. The man truly respects this life a lot and its what aligns with this character of Luo. The daughter Xiaobao is played by Haocun Liu which is a decent job. Her role does feel like it lacks the depth and feels a little more by the books since her relationship with her father does play a big role but its never quite as strong as his with Red Hare. Mickey, also called Naihua is played by cross-talk actor (Traditional Chinese style stand-up comedy) who is the main comedy outlet here as his interaction with Jackie Chan is one of a future father-in-law trying to craft his future son-in-law to be strong enough to protect his daughter while creating some reluctant interaction with Red Hare. The fear of both Luo and Red Hare from Mickey makes it all the more humorous, which is great when it cuts into some of the more tense moments between their relationship and gives the film a good balance. The English subs are truly fantastic giving him the name Mickey and when they meet his parents, their names are Donald and Daisy. Its not really a big part of the film and not a spoiler by any means but just a good example of the fun moments.

The star of Ride On has to be Red Hare. While this film shows Red Hare as a stunt horse, in reality, he is a retired professional race horse which is also carefully chosen so that his champion race horse stubbornness would play well into Red Hare’s personality here and gives him a certain playfulness. Red Hare is probably one of the most endearing animal characters which didn’t need to talk but the directing and cinematography and I guess choreography managed to give a great performance and truly make the audience care about him from worrying about the possibility of him getting hurt in the dangerous stunts and being scared for him when he was scared or even feeling bad for him when Luo was giving him a hard time for not completing his tasks on par.

Ride On isn’t probably what anyone expects when they first turn on this film. Its not as plentiful in the stunt department although there is one big scene. There are little moments in the film that you can recognize as variations of Jackie Chan’s past stunts. There’s a playback of his reels where he got hurt through his film career. The tribute is done in a really great way. If this is Jackie Chan’s final film (but nowhere has announced it to be), it would be a fitting one. Since it isn’t, its a fun and touching one and especially memorable and well-appreciated for Jackie Chan fans.

*Screener provided by Well Go USA*

Double Feature: The Witch Part 1 The Subversion (2018) & Part 2 The Other One (2022)

The Witch: Part 1 The Subversion (2018)

Director (and writer): Hoon-jung Park

Cast: Da-mi Kim, Min-soo Jo, Woo-sik Choi, Min-Si Go, Hee-soon Park, Byeong-Ok Kim, Jung-woo Choi, Da-eun Jung, Ha-Na Kim

A high school student with amnesia tries to uncover what has happened to her. All leading her into deeper troubles ultimately revealing a darkness she could not have imagined. – IMDB

The first part of The Witch trilogy sets off the story as a girl ends up in a small town home and grows up for many years there. As she enters her teen years, odd people start showing up insinuating that there’s more to her and trying to snap her out of her amnesia. When we look at typical Asian storylines, traumatic amnesia is probably one of the most frequently used plot point. What Hoon-jung Park does with the script sets the story apart as he takes this plot into a deeper horror thriller with a young protagonist with super powers and intelligence full of twists and turns that take the audience by surprise as it steps into a new sudden change in narrative when it seems to be going steady down one path. What starts off as a more teen drama takes a sudden turn into psychological thriller that turns into an action-packed horror.

There’s a lot to love about Part 1 The Subversion. First parts always does the job to set the foundation for the story at hand from the setting to the characters. Its does a great job at doing this especially when the story revolves around an evil corporation of sorts and super humans. The first part ends with a lot of set-up, a cliffhanger of sorts and a few unanswered questions that leaves intrigue. As much as I have a massive pet peeve for films that aren’t standalone enough, this one closes enough doors to feel like it has somewhat drawn a decent story plus it does sell as multipart so its a lot more acceptable.

With that said, the cast in Part One is pretty good. Da-Mi Kim carries this super human role perfectly grasping the innocence at the start when amnesiac but also finding a wild side when things start going crazy. Playing as somewhat of an enemy but also her memory stimulator is a group of young English-speaking witches lead by Woo-sik Choi’s character. The other character that deserves mention is the older cast member who is the head showrunner of the corporation and this experiment Dr. Baek played by Min-Soo Jo which embodies a lot of a manipulative authority figure.

The Witch Part 1 The Subversion is a great film. Its a two hour wild ride that has a bunch of twists and turns. There’s blood and action, strong narrative plot and a great foundation for its next part.

The Witch: Part 2 The Other One (2022)

Director (and writer): Hoon-jung Park

Cast: Cynthia, Min-Soo Jo, Da-Mi Kim, Eun-bin Park, Jin Goo, Jong-suk Lee, Yoo-Bin Sung, Justin John Harvey, Ji-min Kim

A girl wakes up in a secret laboratory and meets Kyung-hee, who is trying to protect her from a gang. When the gang finally finds the girl, they are overwhelmed by an unexpected power. – IMDB

The Witch Part 2 The Other One tells of another one of the super power kids which we soon know is a “twin” of Ja-yoon in the first part. With this, the story of what hides further in these experiments start becoming much more apparent. Part 2 is a different type of story. What this girl goes through, albeit also rather small-town, is full of much more threat and cluelessness, making her character a little more dangerous and unpredictable.

There’s a lot more dark humor injected into Part 2 mostly with the going on and the interactions, making this feel a little bit more of a fish out of water story but at the same time also had a few side plots going on from a military duo trying to track her down to Dr. Baek and her sister’s confrontation from another leader of the organization also trying to track her down and a look at the past with a pregnant teen girl who falls into a elaborate plan just to get her baby. In some ways, it makes the story a little more convoluted and while there is a decent bit of action, the film takes a turn for an over the top style with a lot of computer graphics.

The acting for the most part is on point. The characters, while more to follow this time around, do still have its own distinctive personality that contributes to their purpose. The only characters that seem to not have truly exposed their purpose is the military duo who also has special abilities and adds to the internationalism of the organization but seems to perhaps have gone rogue (or not). The conversation between these two revolve around a lot of nagging and bickering in English which at times angles on annoying but has its comedic purposes. There are more characters or maybe because its more in-your-face since the audience already knows the basics of the story, its trying to set up for the next part while tying up some loose ends from the first part.

The best part of the film is definitely not the length since you do feel the drag especially in the middle part. Overall, the film feels less of a wow factor since the big reveal was already revealed in the first part but what they find digging deeper and whether this girl is as powerful as the other. The best parts of the film is where the Girl will have her unpredictable moments from her reactions which still has a mild psychological horror effect.

Overall, The Witch Part 2 is a more straightforward action horror film with some comedic moments as relief. The film is a little longer and the story feels like its partially meant to set up the stage for Part 3, which I’ve read is the last part (you can correct me if I’m wrong). However, it loses the unpredictable level but maintains some bloody over the top action sequences (even if its computer graphics heavy). Its still a fun watch even if its a little convoluted since it sets up enough to anticipate for the next part.

Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

Director (and co-writer): Harry Bradbeer

Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry  Cavill, David Thewlis, Louis Partridge, Susan Wokoma, Adeel Akhtar, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Helena Bonham Carter, Himesh Patel, Hannah Dodd

Now a detective-for-hire, Enola Holmes takes on her first official case to find a missing girl as the sparks of a dangerous conspiracy ignite a mystery that requires the help of friends – and Sherlock himself – to unravel – IMDB

Enola Holmes is probably one of the better Netflix offerings of the last few months. The first film (review) gave us the introduction to Sherlock’s baby sister and her capabilities, drawing out a picture of the people that is a part of her life and using breaking the 4th wall in a very natural way. The sequel has much more depth this time as there is no more foundation building and can jump start into investigating. This keeps the film at a good pacing however, the use of the 4th wall is not quite as natural and clever as it was in the first film, with only a few instances that work well for the scenario. Being a sequel, it still manages to be relatively standalone while giving small nods to the first film here and there.

Enola Holmes 2 is a charming and fun film with very much the same witty vibes as the first film. This time, the case is much bigger and gives a more prominent role to her own family with her mother played by Helena Bonham Carter and her brother Sherlock Holmes, played by Henry Cavill being a more important part to this mystery adventure. Sherlock becomes key as they start off separate and Enola trying to prove herself independently but soon realizes that their cases may be connected and that her brother is the one to protect her when the time comes. At the same time also being able to exchange with each other a fresh pair of eyes to their respective cases. The film length does also give space for her little crush with Lord Tewkesbury for some growth and include him in a part of her adventures in time for the big finale.

Enola Holmes 2 is a pretty decent sequel. Sure, one focal element isn’t done as well as the first but Millie Bobby Brown makes Enola Holmes so fun to watch as she moves through the cases. Its a vivid character that is growing as a detective but still has the mistakes in judgment every once in a while that makes for some well-timed comedy. At the same time, this film did give Henry Cavill a bigger role and with that, Sherlock Holmes also has more depth and starts to open up a little more to Enola and value company. Much like their mother that has a bombastic entrance literally and Helena Bonham Carter somehow fits that role incredibly well and adds a nice dimension to the film with the one segment that she’s part of.

Enola Holmes leans into the 2 hour length but manages to keep it well-paced. This time the villain is multifold and from different angles with a menacing crooked character but also a more subtle villain and a familiar face in a Sherlock Holmes mystery. While I haven’t checked out the source material yet for Enola Holmes and my knowledge for Sherlock Holmes is more the many film and TV adaptations than the classic novels, its a lot of fun to see the two siblings’ world be pulled together to cross paths. This one ends with a nice little end credit scene hinting at a new character entering his series that makes it all more fun.

As an ending note, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing more of these Enola Holmes films. Its a ton of fun and tends to be one of the better Netflix offerings so far. Hopefully we will see another sequel eventually.

Hidden Blade (無名, 2023)

Hidden Blade (無名, 2023)

Director (and writer): Er Cheng

Cast: Tony Leung, Yibo Wang, Chengpeng Dong, Zhou Xun, Eric Wang, Huang Lei, Mori Hiroyuki, Shuying Jiang, Jingyi Zhang

Follows the story of underground workers who risked their lives to send intelligence and defend the motherland, set after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor when the Wang Jingwei regime declared war on Britain and the U.S. – IMDB

The last chapter of Bona Film Group’s China Victory Trilogy (which feature separate stories), Hidden Blade is a World War II espionage thriller. The film is structured from scattered events throughout the Japan-China War of Resistance from the bombings of Guangzhou to Japan’s surrender. Structured in a scrambled timeline of events, the espionage thriller right away implicates that there will the unknown elements of which character is secretly working for their own forces while on the service the characters all work for Japanese espionage agencies performing at times some brutal moments. Between the director’s intricate script and the outstanding cast selected for this film, Hidden Blade delivers a great thriller and will keep the audience keeping its detective hat on to spot who is not who they appear to be.

Hidden Blade is a visually stunning film. Er Cheng crafts a film where every scene is set up beautifully. There is a wonderful and atmospheric use of lighting and the cinematographic grasp of each scene from where the characters of placed all add to the suspense. The artistic element sets its tone right from its first scene with darkened space and Tony Leung’s character sitting on a chair with nothing much around and he just turns to the camera. With that said, the structure of the scrambled storyline is one that relies on having a decent knowledge of what happened between Japan and China with the Chinese Communist Party and Japan’s invasion. While that’s the case, it does give common knowledge like the attack on Pearl Harbor for wider known events which gives a good point of reference for that timeframe.

The script does touch a few details to give it the basic foundation but knowing more does help with grasping how the timeline moves back and forth through different events and scenes. It does help that the film makes the effort to add in the necessary timestamps to make it easier to grasp. Once the different scenes are set up at the beginning, it does become easier to figure out the sequence and follow the story. While the scrambled storyline takes a little bit of time to adjust to, it does help to create the suspense for the characters and their actions. There are certain hints like drops of blood and a newspaper on the table to help hint towards certain events but a lot of the reveals are cleverly written to give its twist in the final act. Another great element of the film is the language it uses and even for Chinese audience, it will still require subtitle reading as it moves between Mandarin, Japanese, Shanghainese and Cantonese.

The cast is a highlight with Hong Kong veteran actor Tony Leung, most notable to the Western audience from In The Mood of Love and more recently, in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. For those familiar with his filmography, this is right up his alley as he has done films before from this era as well like Lust, Caution but also excels in a variety of genres, much like his work in Infernal Affairs. There is no doubt that Tony Leung is the headliner for this film. However, China’s rising young celebrity Yibo Wang is one that does a fantastic job as well. Multitalented musically as his boyband debut in South Korean band Uniq as their rapper and dancer, his recent years of acting has opened up a lot of opportunities, most notable for popular TV series The Untamed (which is currently available on Netflix Canada and Youtube). Hidden Blade is probably the most sophisticated role he has taken on and proved that he is capable of delivering both a subtle character but also not afraid for the action scenes. While his role as Mr. Ye is mostly paired with his partner Mr. Wang, played by Eric Wang, there are some pivotal plot points that deliver some well-choreographed action scenes. The leading cast between these two are very deceptive for the majority of the film.

The supporting actors are also pretty big names. Eric Wang, Huang Lei and Chengpeng Dong are all renowned actors in China. These three all have rather significant roles in Hidden Blade and each has their own twists and reveals. Its as much as praise again to the intricate script and in turn, the character design as none of the characters are what they seem. Its a strong male cast in this film and reasonably so due to the decade and era that its set. However, the limited female cast also gets very little screen time which is most surprising with Zhou Xun as Ms. Chen who is one of the biggest female actresses in China. While Ms. Chen doesn’t have a big role, her character is embedded in a few plot points in Hidden Blade. Unlike her, actress Shuying Jiang mostly known for TV series like The King’s Avatar (currently on Netflix Canada) and Nothing But Thirty who has one scene in Hidden Blade as an alluring character called Ms. Jiang who we can only wish had a bigger role as that one scene was very memorable.

Hidden Blade is a well-executed espionage thriller. It has all the pieces to put together a thoughtful and clever story set in a significant part of history especially for China as they were oppressed by foreign powers. It focuses heavily on the Japanese espionage agencies inner working with its various characters and spends the film making the audience wonder who is not what they seem. Packed with an exceptional cast, visually stunning cinematography and a well-constructed non-linear thriller, Hidden Blade is definitely a great addition to Chinese cinema.

*Screener provided by Well Go USA*

The Wandering Earth 2 (2023)

The Wandering Earth 2 (2023)

Director (and co-writer): Frant Gwo

Cast: Andy Lau, Jing Wu, Zhi Wang, Yanmanzi Zhu, Xuejian Li, Ning Li, Sha Yi, Zhang Yi

Humans built huge engines on the surface of the earth to find a new home. But the road to the universe is perilous. In order to save earth, young people once again have to step forward to start a race against time for life and death. – IMDB

Following 2019’s The Wandering Earth based on novel of the same name by Cixin Li who is also involved as co-writer on the screenplay, The Wandering Earth 2 is a sequel but a prequel story as the story dials back to how the Earth started wandering and all its hoops that it had to go through giving purpose to the father character in the original film and what happened to create the separation. Dedicated to Man-Tat Ng who has unfortunately left this world (but was added in two scenes with what I expect is some computer magic) but was a huge part of The Wandering Earth, this sequel involves many layers which builds a foundation of both the history but on the many angles of science, astronomy and engineering, the world and the politics. On many levels, the concept and premise is a good angle. It definitely feels like a trend to build a story and to create a sequel that acts as a prequel. While the detail and the depth of every element of The Wandering Earth 2 is very much appreciated, the 3 hour runtime does feel like it ends up losing its footing somewhere in the middle for a little bit before going into its big finale and could have benefited from a tighter edited film.

Looking at the story as a whole, there are many elements because of its phase by phase approach in its history and recount of events that make it very memorable especially since it follows Jing Wu’s character Liu Pei Qiang from both his work and how he meets his family and how the main character of its first film comes to be. The other side is Andy Lau’s character Tu Heng Yu who is a supporter of the other project Digital Life Project because of the loss of his daughter and the desire to be able to give her a complete life but is restrained to follow with the new orders. On the other side is the political showrunner as the representative of China who is an elderly gentlemen Zhou played by Xuejian Li and his assistant Xiao Xi played by Yanmanzi Zhu who backs strongly the Moving Mountains Project despite its strong disapproval from the public including some extreme efforts to destroy what is already built in one part which is one of the best scenes as it allows Jing Wu to show off some of his martial arts. The different characters reveal a different angle of the situation and they all come together in the end in probably one of the most touching scenes when the older crew takes on the dangerous mission to defend the younger generation. The idea of the premise is definitely commendable and honestly, it does stand well and I wouldn’t even know what to edit out but perhaps some of the little moments here and there could be more condensed.

Despite the pacing suffering because of the long runtime (which in my opinion happens a lot with lengthier films), there are still a lot of well-executed elements. Much like the icy landscape in the first one which builds up its world, this future of Earth is still a rather grim place but the big operations and leaps in engineering development is another level of creativity especially with its incredibly visually stunning scenes with the space elevators. The imagination and perspective of the world building is truly astounding and its what made its first film so good since the suspension of belief and using our minds to imagine this future is really amazing even if its also conflicting. It is also supported by an engaging score and the cast is pretty decent as well.

As listed above, the cast is a group of veteran actors from Hong Kong actor Andy Lau who has done an extensive list of films of all genres. This role actually feels very good for him and fits his older and more mature self and almost in some parts becomes a rather selfish person even if he redeems himself in the end in a rather bittersweet ending. Jing Wu is best known for his role in SPL and Wandering Earth 1 and 2 has truly shed a new light of a more emotional character. However because this is a prequel, his character loses the overall surprise element as we all know he makes it out in the end or else he wouldn’t be in the first film. This is also a key issue with making prequels after their original films. While I haven’t seen Xuejian Li in anything else as Mainland China cinema is still rather new to myself, the actor is incredible as the firm political leader who has full faith in his decisions. His assistant however is an underrated actress from her previous roles in the main female lead in Unrequited Love (currently available on Netflix Canada), and the much more conflicting role in River Flows To You and here even as the assistant, she shines as her character goes through character development where as her boss gets older, her confidence also builds by the end where she can handle the political scene on her own. The character designs are all really good including Sha Yi who previously I’ve only seen in Chinese variety shows but delivers a very nice side of his story both as the mentor of Jing Wu’s character but delivers that breath of fresh air needed between the increasingly tense and dangerous situation.

Overall, The Wandering Earth 2 is pretty decent. It keeps a lot of the strengths of its first one from world building, visuals and its imagination for the future of Earth. Its a grand idea to move Earth around in the solar system and to make the elements work, its pretty thought out (at least for myself whose forte is not in engineering). The characters are pretty well-strctured and has a lot of room for development which is a benefit of the long runtime. Its only fault is the almost 3 hour runtime which makes the whole affair feels dragged out in the middle especially when things slow down to the more melodramatic moments which could have been more condensed. If you enjoyed The Wandering Earth, this one should still be a fun time.

*The Wandering Earth 2 is exclusively in theatres and IMAX since January 22nd*

*Screener provided by Well Go USA*

Double Feature: Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022) & Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (2022)

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022)

Director (and co-writer): Stephen Donnelly

Voice cast: Luke Evans, Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Fra Fee, Giles Terera, Trevor Dion Nicholas, James Cosmo, Jonathan Pryce

A supernatural, time-travelling, musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s cult Christmas story – IMDB

A Christmas Carol has been remade so many times at this point that whether you have read this classic novel from Charles Dickens before or not, its an extremely familiar story of a horrible man who has three ghosts to visit him in one night to reflect on his future, see the present and what his future will be if he keeps his ways. Even over here we have reviewed a good few versions despite never having read the source material.

Netflix’s version Scrooge: A Christmas Carol takes this Charles Dickens’ classic and pairs it with the 1970 Leslie Bricusse’s screenplay for musical film adaptation Scrooge and packs it with a decent voice cast. Having not seen the 1970 version, this Scrooge doesn’t offer anything too different. Instead, a lot of parts actually reminded me of Mickey’s Christmas Carol (which I watch almost on an annual basis). The animation is pretty decent especially for its design for the Ghost of Christmas Past which is a good reinterpretation of the character.

Turning A Christmas Carol into a musical is a good idea. Its rhythmic and adds some pep to this rather serious story. The singing is pretty on point and it helps that the voice cast is pretty decent with Luke Evans as Scrooge. Luke Evans has a voice that matches Scrooge very well and delivers the needed tone for the cranky money-obsessed man. Much like Olivia Colman as Ghost of Christmas Past which is a real joy and has some of the best lines in the film. However, as fun as some parts are, the songs are decent but not quite catchy enough. There are probably two songs that stand out like the first one with the nephew singing called I Love Christmas which sets up the stage perfectly and then Thank You Very Much which was a lot of fun in context.

Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (2022)

Director: Matthew Warchus

Cast: Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, Sindhu Vee, Carl Spencer, Lauren Alexandra

An adaptation of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical. Matilda tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a sharp mind and a vivid imagination, dares to take a stand to change her story with miraculous results. – IMDB

My only venture into Matilda is surprisingly only the 90s adaptation and that was actually pretty recent years. Matilda is based on the Roald Dahl novel of the same name except this one is based on the musical adaptation. There’s so much to love about this version of Matilda. Its definitely a musical done right as most of the songs and dance choreography are very good. As I did a little research, these songs are all from the stage musical. Its a fun venture into this world.

The cast of Matilda unsurprisingly consists mostly of children and these young actors are quite good overall. There’s a focus on Matilda and a few of her classmates but also some of the older kids as well. Alisha Weir as Matilda is quite fitting as she nails both the singing and attitude of her character. The cast of kids around do put together some fun moments whether in their musical number or their scene. Around them are five adults in the cast with them. The most notable is Emma Thompson who has been transformed into the harsh headmistress of Crunchem Hall Trunchbull. Emma Thompson is starting to pop up frequently in these unexpected roles and in this one, she is nearly unrecognizable. While opposite her is Matilda’s teacher Miss Honey played by Lashana Lynch who does a pretty good job at the meek role. Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough has Matilda’s parents are actually quite funny and is an exaggerated version of crooked parents especially with their facial expressions. While not a big role, the most fun is probably the traveling librarian played by Sindhu Vee who always listens to her and her stories with fascination.

Matilda has a lot of heart and most of it is because the fun in the story is its naivety. The kids talk about telekinesis (or should I say as one of the kids in the film calls it telekinepsis) and even in their times of oppression and bullying from their headmistress, they still find a way to work together to revolt in their small little way and find their small victories. Throwing lizards in her cup or mixing care products together or gluing a hat to someone’s head: its all seemingly harmless actions. The songs in the musical also reflect this quite a bit since the highlights are definitely the ones with the kids like Alisha Weir’s solo with “Naughty” which ends up being a song that hangs in the air being reprised in different parts. Of course, the dance choreography of Revolting Children has its own hook which is commended on its complexity since it is for kids (and as my husband has told me has struck a TikTok revolution of people using that scene with all sorts of background songs).

At this point, Netflix has released a few musicals. While some of been star-studded like The Prom (review) and a few Christmas ones like Jingle Jangle (review), they have all been rather lackluster (yes, I haven’t seen Tick Tick Boom yet). Matilda the Musical is fun and charming and does so much right. The singing is great, the songs and choreography are creative and catchy and the cast ensemble does a fantastic job. Musicals should make us not only love the story no matter how familiar but also has the songs stuck in our heads and Matilda’s soundtrack has been hanging in my head for quite a while. Its been a long time since I’ve had this feeling and boy, does it feel good.

Project Wolf Hunting (2022)

Project Wolf Hunting (2022)

Director (and writer): Hong-Sun Kim

Cast: Seo In-Guk, Dong-Yoon Jang, Dong-Il Sung, Gwi-Hua Choi, Park Ho-San, Moon-sung Jung, Jung So-Min

Follows dangerous criminals on a cargo ship who are transported from the Philippines to South Korea, as they unleash a sinister force after an escape attempt leads to a riot.- IMDB

Premiered at the TIFF Midnight Madness as the opening film, Project Wolf Hunting is an violent action thriller that fits the term madness to a tee. Recent years (maybe even decade or more) has seen a rise of hyper violent films hit the market and create a lot of accolades and conversation especially on the film festival circuit, a good example being The Sadness (review) which is one of the most gruesome and disturbing films I have seen to date. Project Wolf Hunting does a lot right from the setting to the hyper violence but it also lacks in its overall plot and characters.

Setting a film on any marine vessel as its one setting (for the most part) is actually a rare move (although look at director Hong-Sun Kim’s filmography, one of his earlier films were also set on a ship). There are a few movies who do it but its still a fairly underused setting. Project Wolf Hunting utilizes its space very well as it moves its characters throughout the ship which poses its own issues right from the get-go. Everything comes into play and they all have their purpose. The narrow passageways and the close pipes and even the deck and different levels all add to what is hidden and how the group can use its abilities to their advantage but also leave space for more discoveries to expose a little backstory to the threat at hand.

This brings up a central issue of this 2 hour film: the story. Sure, we can argue that films like this is all about the visual element in the satisfaction of watching hyper violent scenes, the endless ways someone can be killed ruthlessly and the excessive amount of fake blood a human can actually exude with each kill until every surface is covered in blood. However, we watch this film, there’s no doubt that it all becomes rather mind-numbing especially when the plot is fairly generic in its twist of events. The first part is actually pretty clever when the actual prisoner escape attempt riot starts and not a whole lot of violence has happened at this point so it becomes impressive to see all this being a huge plan that had started even before everyone got on the ship. Even the twist and change of enemy force is expected since it was revealed early on but the enemy design is surprising at first. The deal is that there are a lot of characters, a lot of body count and just not enough cohesive backstory to keep itself engaging. It doesn’t help that while the plot takes some predictable twists that a bigger threat is brewing on the ship with a big secret that will gradually be revealed, how all this goes down feels a little unclear.

The question Project Wolf Hunting brings up for these sort of films is a key one: How do you balance plot, blood and violence? Is it enough to just cover a generic plot with blood and violence and use the shock factor? For myself, the answer is probably no as the film loses its appeal as the violence and blood loses its shock element from simply its overabundance, pounding away the purpose one kill at a time. To be fair, the film started on the right foot in the first half. The action sequences and the kills do have some creativity that works with the setting and some extremely brutal ones as well. Looking past all the violence, the prisoners grouping together to create a riot to escape is pretty clever and even if the leading prisoner character is a tad generic in its psycho-killer ways, he still had a certain extreme brutality that made him rather convincingly creepy. Even the timing for the entrance of the new enemy along with their design was sufficiently spine-chilling but what transpires from that point to the end right up to the finale and that ending that almost feels like it could work up for a possible sequel really does feel so lackluster.

For viewers who are there for simply the hyperviolence and bloodshed, Project Wolf Watching is everything it promises. There are every way possible to kill and some pretty creative deaths as well with various items and weapons. There is an over the top use of blood that would probably put Quentin Tarantino’s to shame (but then The Sadness was even more extreme in its bloodbath extremity). The sole amount of blood a head slowly being crushed can pour out from its orifices is apparently an astoundingly ridiculous amount and that’s just one very quick example. The director never forgets that the heart of the film is this element.

*Project Wolf Hunting will hit digital, Blu-ray & DVD on February 14th and available for pre-book on January 10th. Find more info HERE*

**Screener provided by Well Go USA

Double Feature: Tokyo Godfathers (2003) & Perfect Blue (1997)

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

Director (and co-writer): Satoshi Kon

Voice cast: Toru Emori, Yoshiaki Umegaki, Aya Okamoto, Shozo Izuka, Seizo Kato, Hiroya Ishimaru

On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents. – IMDB

*Posted on Friday Film Club*

Inspired by the 1948 American Western film 3 Godfathers, Satoshi Kon wrote and directed Tokyo Godfathers, a film that differed from his previous directorial efforts as it was grounded in realism and no fantasy. Tokyo Godfathers tells the story of three homeless people: a transgender woman Hana, a middled aged alcoholic man Gin and a runaway teenage girl Miyuki who find a baby in the garbage pile on Christmas Eve. They take the baby in and name her Kiyoko and decide to use the information provided in her belongings to seek out her mother and find out why. Its how this dysfunctional family comes together as this week long adventure ends up finding solace and resolution for the three’s own issues. 

Tokyo Godfather is a thoughtful film that portrays its homeless people not with sadness but with solitude . Each of these three have chosen homelessness because of a past event and now are all alone because they haven’t faced their problem. It’s a heartwarming story even if a bit odd at times especially since their search takes them to meet some very odd situations from a yakuza boss being trapped under his car to a Latino hitman right down to the big finale of finding the parents of Kiyoko. It’s all a series of events that connect these three together who were homeless friends but never really knew the deeper stories of each other. Each person’s story is different and representative of a different thing right up to the little baby’s as well.

Tokyo Godfathers delivers three colorful characters and takes us for a fun and sentimental journey from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve. While the time doesn’t really have a measure here and the three do a lot of walking to move around, it still feels like they do encounter a lot as they face one dead end after another and find more clues to the next location Kiyoko’s mother might be. There’s a lot to love about Tokyo Godfathers and is also a wonderful alternate holiday film to give a watch. 

Perfect Blue (1997)

Director: Satoshi Kon

Voice cast: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Okura, Yosuke Akimoto, Yoku Shioya, Hideyuki Hori, Emi Shinohara

A pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past. – IMDB

Satoshi Kon’s feature directorial debut is animated psychological thriller Perfect Blue, which is based on the novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. Featuring one of Satoshi Kon’s trademarks of blurring the line between reality and fantasy, Perfect Blue tells the story of a idol singer who decides to give up her idol to become an actress and makes some immense changes to her image with the acting decisions which also make her start to lose grip of reality when the stress of the change and the uncertainty of her choice clashes with the external forces of an obsessive fan and a growing number of dead bodies connected to her.

Perfect Blue is some top notch animated film. While the film is a little behind its times in technology, the setting of idols and overobsessive fans is a conversation that is still relevant. The psychological thriller nature gives the film space to have some rather extreme moments but where the film starts boggling the mind is the constant feeling that the main character Mima is losing her mind as she sees the idol version of herself judging her for her actions which is an inner struggle that she is having. It doesn’t play only on the external fear of being stalked and her fans reaction to her decisions but actually dives deeper into Mima herself as she deals with them to change her image and reaches a breaking point. The twist in the big finale also matches with her reality and the psychological issue.

For an animated film, the film’s art style feels very grounded in reality. It doesn’t have the more cute animation but here it reflects the material. As you watch the film, Mima may be an animated character but she feels very real. The character has many dimensions much like the supporting characters that pop up around her whether its her agent or her manager. The agent drives her down this rabbit hole and slippery slope while her manager also has to face up to her decisions and has her own disagreement to it. The reveal of the stalker is also one that becomes rather shocking and does a good job in mostly giving it that set-up to make it more surprising. Perhaps what makes this animation stand out are the bigger obscene scenes whether its the filming for the rape scene to the attack and fighting scene against her stalker, it all gives this film the grittiness that the genre needs.

There’s a lot to love about Perfect Blue. Satoshi Kon’s animation style and directorial trademarks shows off perfectly on this film. While the film is based off a novel, other than the key elements of B-idol, stalker and horror being kept, the author allowed Satoshi Kon to create a story revolving those elements which he brought in another screenplay writer to achieve which brings in the play in a play and the inner psychological struggle for Mima. The collective elements of both the original source material and the screenplay are what makes this film fairly revolutionary back in the 1990s in terms of anime. Its a film with a lot of depth and honestly feels like another watch might even help catch some more details.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Director (and writer): Rian Johnson

Cast: Daniel Craig, Janelle Monae, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Noah Segan

Famed Southern detective Benoit Blanc travels to Greece for his latest case. – IMDB

Glass Onion is something of a sequel to Knives Out and takes place in May 2020 in the midst of the pandemic when a tech billionaire Miles Bron issues puzzle box invitations to his best friends for a little weekend of murder mystery game on a Greek Island. Surprisingly, Southern detective Benoit Blanc who is spending excessive time in the bathtub trying to understand Among Us receives one as well. Like him, the former partner Andi also shows up at the party despite the fallout. As Blanc explores the island, he soon learns that he wasn’t invited by Miles and soon learns that this murder mystery game might not be a game after all when every single guest seems to have their own motive to kill Miles and this search is solidified when a death does happen.

Knives Out is hands-down the best first watch I had in this year so its sequel is one that’s been very high on the anticipated films list (as my main source of new releases are all on Netflix and they have some slim pickings). Knives Out and Glass Onion, while both captivating that Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mystery style, they are both different foundations of cleverness. Knives Out was all about the moment where the rug is pulled from under its audience and how to get away from it but Glass Onion places its cards all on the table and its about catching those details and then creating doubt in those pieces and bringing it all in to make sense. Its purposefully silly but its intended to be that way, which is what gives it that dark comedy element. Comedy, of course, is subjective however it worked for myself incredibly well especially in the final act.

The setting for Glass Onion is also twofold as physically they are heading to an island in Greece which holds the Glass Onion structure, which is also a central piece of its setting but the structural elements of this architecture plays greatly into the mystery and this group of friends on the island. Its setting is used effectively to add more depth to it scene to scene from its smokeless gardens to its actual interior. There is just one detail that feels incohesive and inexplicable in the endgame which involves the setting. The physical element is great but the actual time setting is 2020 during the first few months of the pandemic when everyone was on lockdown which makes some of these characters and moments feel like theres a deeper message behind the whole plot and its characters especially the owner of the Glass Onion who made the murder mystery game.

The cast this time is still pretty incredible as well. Not quite the collection of acting veterans like the first film but still holds quite a few. Rian Johnson also is currently directed four final appearances through his two Knives film with Stephen Sondheim and Angela Lansbury playing as themselves in a cameo as Benoit Blanc’s good friends who are playing Among Us with each other. At one moment in the film, it actually feels like they are reenacting Among Us on the island and its actually pretty neat even though I’m not quite sure whether that was intentional or not. Packed with a rather clueless celebrity Kate Hudson has Birdie and her assistant Peg played by Jessica Henwick, Edward Norton as Miles Bron, Janelle Monae as Andi with some cameos of Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke, Yo-yo Ma, Serena Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s voice and of course mentioned before, Stephen Sondheim and Angela Lansbury. Edward Norton as the billionaire is truly such a suitable role and his small expressions to the whole feeling of this character really links closely to some billionaires in real life (almost feeling like there’s a hidden statement there). Janelle Monae is a personal favorite of mine as she might not always be in great films but she’s always great in those films and this one is no exception. As for Benoit Blanc, this more comedic version of him actually works really well for Daniel Craig and that Southern air with exclamations of “fiddlesticks” and “shitballs” truly is so much fun.

Overall, Glass Onion is a real treat. In terms of mystery complexity, Knives Out actually pulls ahead on that one with a plot twist that created more shock value. Glass Onion is a different beast but still manages to be incredibly entertaining. The final act is probably one of the best pay-offs that I’ve watched in a long time which teases its audience a little with a lot of “dumb” (as Benoit Blanc calls it). Great casting, beautiful use of the setting, approachable mystery: I’m always one to gripe about those over 2 hour films but Glass Onion just flew by. There is one scene that I feel hasn’t been explained yet and seems like a plot hole perhaps but the whole set-up and twist is so clever that this is one of those cases where a great pay-off can offset those little flaws.

Double Feature: Falling For Christmas (2022) & Last Christmas (2019)

Falling For Christmas (2022)

Director: Janeen Damian

Cast: Lindsay Lohan, Chord Overstreet, George Young, Jack Wagner, Olivia Perez, Alejandra Flores, Sean Dillingham

In the days leading up to Christmas, a young and newly engaged heiress experiences a skiing accident. After being diagnosed with amnesia, she finds herself in the care of the handsome lodge owner and his daughter. – IMDB

I’m guessing the selling point of Falling For Christmas is Lindsay Lohan and the script does have at least one little bit (maybe I missed others) that does pay homage to the Christmas segment of Mean Girls. However to say that this Hallmark film is different than others wouldm’t quite apply here. In fact, the plot itself other than the obvious amnesia bit was very reminiscent to previous Netflix Christmas films like Christmas Inheritance (review). All the plot points are about as generic as it can get for films such as this.

With films like this, the biggest thing is always the cast and the chemistry. There’s no doubt that the Christmas and winter element will be in full abundance and that does not disappoint here at any level. From family warmth to Christmas activities, this film offers it all up really well. Looking at the cast though, there are elements that work mostly in the family scene at the ski lodge with the daughter and mother and the whole fighting for the lodge’s survival.

The chemistry between the two leads played by Lindsay Lohan and Chord Overstreet doesn’t quite work that well. Chord Overstreet is actually pretty decent in his role but somehow, Lindsay Lohan feels a little wooden for the most part. The scenes at times have their silly charm but for the most part, its mostly as the amnesiac her is learning how to do all these chores and making a mess when its most comedic.

There’s honestly not a whole lot to say about Falling For Christmas. Its a very generic Hallmark-ish romantic comedy for the holidays. Sure, the holidays part fits the bill and there’s certain elements that are fun but its nothing too special or memorable. In fact, some of it does fall into cringe, predictable and boring category and I’m the person that actually doesn’t mind a lot of sappy rom-coms.

Last Christmas (2019)

Director: Paul Feig

Cast: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Emma Thompson, Madison Ingoldsby, Boris Isakovic, Lucy Miller, Maxim Baldry, Michelle Yeoh, Lydia Leonard

Kate is a young woman subscribed to bad decisions. Working as an elf in a year round Christmas store is not good for the wannabe singer. However, she meets Tom there. Her life takes a new turn. For Kate, it seems too good to be true. – IMDB

Last Christmas isn’t your normal Hallmark fluffy and sappy holiday film. In fact, it kind of takes on a bit of the literal interpretation of the lyrics of the song “Last Christmas”. It does have a feel-good but bittersweet sort of feeling to it by the end. The film is almost like a late coming of age much in the line of films like Young Adult.

Last Christmas has a rather stacked cast with Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh being in the same film following their mother-son relationship in Crazy Rich Asians (review) and Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones. Never was there a day that I’d expect to see Michelle Yeoh in a holiday film but here she is and truly embracing it playing as the owner of the year-round Christmas store and gave herself the name Santa. There’s one bit where she talks about her nicknames that is incredibly entertaining, most of them feeling very unfathomable for this elegant lady. The shining point of this film does lie in its cast which delivers up some pretty good performances from the self-centered Kate to the wise and handsome Tom to the guidance of Santa (the person in the movie, not Santa Claus). Right down to the cast at the homeless shelter that truly does bring a lot of shine to the film as a whole.

There are some predictable elements in the film and nothing here feels like it hasn’t been done before. The ending reveal while still has its surprising element still feels like its been used before, however the dynamic between Tom and Kate is what makes that reveal feel acceptable and even a little heartbreaking if anything. Christmas movies don’t have to be all happy and joyous and while this one still maintains a little bit of those elements and even adds some nice short musical elements to it, it still works well enough in terms of the chemistry between the characters and the flow of the events. Some of it does feel a little unnecessary like the whole comedic and bizarre romance for Michelle Yeoh’s character and the constant discussion of sauerkraut.

Overall, Last Christmas might not a completely unique film but as a Christmas movie, it still works relatively well. While the subject does get a little heavy and it isn’t all completely happy happy joy joy and the Christmas element does feel like its just set during the time of year more than being in the center driving force, it still is rather meaningful as it looks into homelessness, family and making amends for the rebellious choices and finding a balance. As I think more about it, there definitely is a certain charm to it.