Asian Movies Releasing In The First Quarter Of 2009

Remember John Woo’s war movie last year? The one big on strategy and human-gutting? The one they called Red Cliff? We’re willing to bet you were balling your hands into fists when the “To Be Continued…” crawled across the screen, teasing you into shelling yet another $8.50 to see the real conclusion. Well, it’s back. Red Cliff 2 will see a release in local cinemas in the first quarter of 2009, but first, here’s a list of other Asian titles coming out during that time as well:

1. Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea (1 January)

Cconsisting of a record 170,000 hand drawn images and a box office record of over US$153 million in Japan, Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea is the 9th film from acclaimed animation directors, Hayao Miyazaki. Revolving around the relationship between a five year old boy Sosuke and an extraordinary goldfish called Ponyo, the two are thrown into an adventure when Ponyo’s decision to give up her underwater life creates a crack in an ancient magic spell, placing the world in danger.

Cast: Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Jôji Tokoro, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Yuki Amami, Kazushige Nagashima, Akiko Yano

2. Lady Cop And Papa Crook (1 January)

This Hong Kong crime comedy written and directed by Felix Chong and Alan Mak creates an alliance of people from opposite sides of the law. Sammi Cheng plays a police officer who has to investigate the kidnapping of the son of a corrupt red diesel kingpin, and a common enemy brings about the unlikely partnership of cops and criminals.

Cast: Sammi Cheng, Eason Chan

3. Ong Bak 2 (8 January)

Starring Tony Jaa who plays a young man out for revenge against a rival tribe after he is saved from slavery, Ong Bak 2 may carry the same leading star and title as the first Ong Bak movie, but features a completely different story. Set in a semi-fictional ancient Thailand, Tony Jaa’s character is trained to unify the different styles of martial arts before going on a murderous spree.

Cast: Tony Jaa, Pongpat Wachirabunjong, Nirut Sirichanya, Janista Choochuaisuwan, Patthama Panthong

4. Red Cliff 2 (9 January)

Directed by action veteran John Woo, this second part of Red Cliff, or The Battle Of Red Cliff, is an epic war film based on events during the end of the Han Dynasty and prior to the period of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China.

Cast: Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Chang Chen, Lin Chiling

5. Chandni Chowk To China (15 January)

This Bollywood action-comedy is about a simple cook from Chandni Chowk mistaken for the reincarnation of an ancient peasant warrior Liu Shengh by residents of an oppressed Chinese village. This is also Bollywood’s first movie to be set in China.

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Chia Hui Liu, Deepika Padukone, Mithun Chakraborty, Roger Yuan

6. Hello Schoolgirl (12 February)

A South Korean romance comedy adapted from a popular webcomic by Kang Full explores the relationship between two couples who have a wide age gap.

Cast: Ji-Tae Yu, Yeon-Hee Lee, Jeong-An Chae, Kang In

7. Look For A Star (12 February)

Starring Andy Lau as a millionaire who falls in love with a casino dealer played by Shu Qi, who also happens to be a full-time cabaret dancer. This Hong Kong romance comedy was shot at  MGM Grand Macau.

Cast: Andy Lau, Shu Qi

8. K-20 (12 February)
Set in an alternate world where ninety percent of Japan’s wealth is controlled by a small sliver of the aristocracy, the Fiend is a sort of Robin Hood figure who steals from the rich. Kaneshiro plays a circus acrobat falsely set up as the Fiend who must escape from jail and track down the real thief to clear his name with the help of a beautiful police detective who is being targeted by the real thief.

Cast: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Takako Matsu, Tôru Nakamura, Kyusaku Shimada

(First published at InCinemas)

Movie Review: Ong Bak 2

LOL u screwed.

Oh boy, just how do you review pornography? A fight pornography, that is. Let’s get straight to the point, shall we? Truth be told, it’s not like anyone is expecting Jaa’s latest martial arts offering to be any brain fodder. Not unless you count your mind struggling to get around the movie’s 245389 moves, which… woooah. But before you continue reading, ye be warned that there will be spoilers from this point onwards.

Believe me, not even the most highbrow of critics would dare take a potshot at Jaa’s (and just about everyone else’s) moves. You just don’t put it past the Thais to making treadmills out of stampeding elephants, or have crocodile wrestling as a sport. I feel embarrassed for the Roman gladiators already.

As with “No animals were harmed during the filming of this movie”? A middle finger to you, PETA suckers. Ong Bak 2 is martial arts going batshit insane, where a more appropriate disclaimer ought to be, “No humans were harmed during the filming of this movie.”

But just what exactly can you expect? Simple, this. You can expect blood, lots of it, and an assortment of martial art styles including but not stopping at: Kung-fu, drunken Kung-fu, Wing Chun (and I admit I only know this from watching Ip Man), Muay Boran, Krabi Kabrong and Silat. Ong Bak 2 also boasts gorgeous sets and costume designs, and… well, now you know where all the money went to before production went to a stand-still after it ran into monetary problems. Was it worth it at all? You bet. The effort put into style is apparent, and I don’t doubt this as one of Thailand’s most expensive movie ever filmed.

Just a little glitch to note about the fighting: the promise of lack of wires, stunt doubles and CGI seem a little forgotten in the hurry to make this the explosive production it is. There are a few scenes in which Jaa is put fist to fist with magically-enhanced villains, and while Thailand is famous for its horror stories and black magic, this superhuman mix with martial arts does take away some of the realness associated with Tony Jaa films. Remember Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo? Yup, that’s what I’m talking about. Also, a few scenes can go quite over-the-top, which means they turn out ridiculous, drawn out, and unintentionally funny. Luckily for us, most of them just look cool.

Then there’s the fail. (Major spoilers up ahead!)

Remember me saying that the least to worry about in a martial arts movie is the plot? Well, this one has one, except it kind of got disfigured in the editing room. We all know you don’t steal stuff from Tony Jaa, certainly not highly prized artifacts like Buddha heads and cute baby elephants, so being the victim of slavery sparkles like a shiny new toy as the plot here. Then it all gets old again, when Jaa’s character begins on a revenge rampage after his parents are “stolen”, or kept away from him. (Okay, fine, he’s the kid who got kidnapped by a rival tribe to be used as a slave.) I’ll even forgive this wafer thin plot despite it being done twice before, but the editing was as terrible as the fights were awesome. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the movie ends with a huge question mark, without revealing the fate of the lead. “Hey man, we don’t know if an Ong Bak 3 would be green-lit since Jaa did run off into the jungle halfway while filming this, destroying his credibility in the process, so uh, hang on to this “ending” while we go persuade the studios. KTHXBAI!”

While spectacular in many ways, Ong Bak 3 falls short of expectations given its long production and enormous budget (in baht). A huge ego stroking session for Jaa nonetheless (not that we mind, though), Ong Bak 3 is your reminder that there are still artistes nowadays who do it the hardcore, die-hard way.

(First published at InCinemas)