5 Things To Love About Magic Crystal

Here's five reasons why you should love Wong Jing's sci-fi action comedy Magic Crystal

Number Five: Goof-ball Special Effects

Hong Kong films of this type were known for their creative if not unsophisticated special effects and Magic Crystal falls very comfortably in that category. Still, there are some very bizarre and creepy moments such as when you realize the crystal, which has fallen into the hands of the child Pin-Pin played by Ben Siu, actually has a mouth and can eat. It's as goofy as it sounds and I love it when a film uses practical as opposed to CG effects regardless of the end result.

Number Four: Chaplin Would Be Proud

One of the major attributes of Magic Crystal are the absolutely tremendous action scenes choreographed by Tony Leung Siu-Hung. One stand out sequence which takes place early in the film sees Andy go against a knife wielding thug armed with an umbrella which leads to some Chaplin inspired moves. Absolutely fantastic.

Number Three: She'll Cook You Dinner Then Kick Your Teeth In

Another great highlight is the role of Ben's mother played by Wong Mei Mei. A Shaw Brothers contract player through the late 70s and early 80s, Wong gets to really strut her stuff in the film and goes up against villain Richard Norton in an excellent throwdown. Sadly, this was her last screen role but you have to wonder how someone of Wong's talents would have faired working with someone like Sammo Hung or Jackie Chan. My guess would be fantastically well.

Number Two: Richard Norton, The Greatest Bond Villain That Never Was

Australian martial arts expert Richard Norton plays the main villain of the film and he has get his hands on the crystal by any means necessary. There's vague references made to world domination as to why he needs the crystal. This is compounded by the fact Richard has a desk with the world map on it and you just know that every bad guy ever with aspirations for taking over the world has one of these. Though, it's never made clear as to how exactly the crystal will help him achieve this.

Number One: Three Way Dance

I already mentioned this film has some brilliant action. The best is most definitely saved for last which sees Andy Lau and Cynthia Rothrock take on Richard Norton. The film really surprised me by just how fantastic the fighting was. I would even go so far as to say this is right up there with anything Sammo and Jackie were doing at the time, it's that good. Also of all the films Richard made in Hong Kong during this time, this has to be the best of them all.

That's my 5 Things To Love About Magic Crystal. Be sure to return to the blog tomorrow which will see the beginning of the Mao March Marathon!

Alien Vs Ninja (2010)

What's this? a new review by me? no, gentle readers you aren't having a brain aneurysm, I have indeed dusted my reviewing hat off (Yes, I own a reviewing hat, picture a dear stalker with viking horns) and I'm going to dive head first back into the fray and do I have a treat for you!

"I can scarcely believe it!"

Neither can I over-excited random fifties woman. Where to start? well, some time ago I stumbled across a trailer on Youtube. A trailer for a movie idea so awesome that it almost made my head explode just from the sheer crazy factor of it. It was a trailer for the movie ALIEN VS NINJA!

When I saw that, I went nuts. It was like a fevered cheese dream had been made real and put onto film. Of course, it was a while before the movie finally saw it's overseas release but the moment that baby hit store shelves, I grabbed my copy and ran home like a hyper-active fat kid chasing after a chocolate cake. Well, not so much ran but caught the bus but anyway, Moving onto the film itself.

Set in ancient Japan (Yet the Ninja have quite modern weapons and armor) the film opens with ninjas doing what ninjas do best, blowing stuff up then getting the hell out of dodge. A small group from the Iga clan are fleeing back to their home after the successful mission where they witness a meteor crashing to the ground. Since the ninja are simple folk they don't concern themselves with it and continue on home. However, the meteor contains a deadly alien creature that's hell bent on destroying everything in their path.

During their trip home we're introduced to the characters, which are pretty much every stock Japanese movie character you can think of. The hot head leader, the stoic best friend, the tom boy female and the annoying tubby one. If you're familiar with a lot of Japanese action movies then you've met these characters many times before. Yet it's all very trivial. After all, you don't watch a film called Alien Vs Ninja expecting to see a deep character study about a group of individuals who've dedicated themselves to what is essentially a nihilistic ideal. 

You watch it to see some good ol' fashioned ass kicking and this movie delivers that in spades. The next day our heroes are training when they stumble upon an injured young man. He tells them of a demon which has wiped out his entire village and upon further investigation of the boy's ramblings they are set upon by the alien. I won't go any further with the plot as that's pretty much the set up but from that point on this film goes from average Japanese action movie to a complete balls out, screw loose acid trip of an experience. Despite the film's obvious low budget, they did a whole lot given what they had. The practical effects are not perfect, the Alien resembles the ones from the well know Hollywood only it looks like it was done a third of the budget.

Still, it just adds to the whole over the top grindhouse vibe it gives off. Of course being an action movie it contains liberals helpings of ninja on extra-terrestrial fighting. The choreography while not all that stylised is fast, slick , practical and competently edited and it's definitely worth checking out. This is a film that has to be seen to be believed and if you've been sitting on the fence about this then jump off that fence, into your neighbor's pool then set fire to his lawn because you really need to give this one a try. 

So that's all I'm gonna say on this one folks. Feels good to be writing again and I hope you found the new style more easy on the eyes. Having read some of my past reviews I've decided to be a little more concise and breaks things up a bit with images and videos to make my posts a little easier to digest rather then posting walls of text. I'll probably write in more detail depending on the film but for now I'm just trying things out.

Stay tuned folks for more reviews (And I mean it this time!)

The One (2001)

Jet Li. Now there's an action star. Having started a career in the motion picture industry in his native China, Li had become a bankable star to rival even the mighty Jackie Chan himself and like Chan, Li made the leap across the pond to work in Hollywood pictures. Since then they've ranged from pretty darn awful stuff like Cradle 2 The Grave to enjoyable and nicely crafted action films like The One, which I've decided to review today.

The One is essentially Highlander with a Sci-Fi twist. Li plays Gabe Law, a police officer who becomes the target of his doppelgänger Yu Law from another dimension, who is hopping from one reality to the next offing his counterparts in hoping he can become the titular One. A very basic premise but one that makes for quite a fun film and one (I feel I'm going to over-using that word through out this review) which all parties involved should be very proud of. The One doesn't try to be high art, it doesn't try and re-invent the Sci-Fi genre or take itself way too seriously like other hybrid films (See The Matrix trilogy) it's play very much to it's own strengths and those are Jet Li himself and the breezy, easy to watch pace it goes with.

Li has always made for a decent leading man, his straight faced demeanour and blistering martial skill made him a house hold name in his native china with the Once Upon A Time In China series and other films such as Fist of Legend. Here he takes that persona and tweeks it a little bit so to make his character Gabe one which you can root for. He plays well off his co-stars such as Carla Gugino, who plays the role of his wife and two share some nice chemistry (Something Jackie Chan seems to struggle with when he acts opposite a female lead) and I would have liked to have seen that explored more. Besides being the good guy we're also treated to him also playing the film's villain, Li tries his best to look mean and intimidating but his friendly face just makes it difficult to really make it all that convincing, not that he doesn't try of course but I think the writers should have tried a little harder to make the characters of Gabe and Yu complete opposites.

Having said that, it would appear when putting together the action scenes, Corey Yuen came up with the rather clever idea of giving both characters different fighting styles. Rather then giving them both generic martial arts styles, Gabe uses Baguazhang (The Eight Trigram Palms) which uses subtle circular movements while Yu Law chooses Xingyiquan (The Shape-Will Fist) which has more aggressive linear movements. Of course, as you'd expect Li pulls off both styles expertly and you can see he put a lot of effort into trying to separate the two characters, even if it didn't fully pay off. The fight scenes are great certainly not the best he's ever done but a definite step up from the likes of Romeo Must Die. Li makes it all look too easy as he throws kick after punch after kick and Corey Yuen's choreography always has that simplistic yet nicely timed aspect to it that I enjoy thoroughly and is a great addition to the many films he's been involved with. With it being a sci-fi film it does throw in a lot of effects and wire work but adds to the really fun comic book feel the film does really well in conveying.

A lot of people dismiss the film as taking itself way too seriously but it honestly doesn't. You can see director James Wong really wanted to make a kick-ass sci-fi action movie that fans of both genres could enjoy and while it does play a little fast and loose with the sci-fi aspect, that's to be expected as the spectacle of seeing Jet Li go toe to toe with himself is the main draw here. It's evident the cast also got what the movie was all about. Just listen to Jason Statham growl his dialogue and grit his teeth as he plays the hard boiled cop tracking down Yu Law, just watch the finale as both super strong Laws literally tear the house down as they go at it. All these things mix together to make a really underrated and unappreciated film that really deserves more credit then it's been given.

The One will never be held in high regard as Li's other films like Fearless but you know what? I'm totally okay with that . What we've been given is a great sci-fi action film that people should really sit back and enjoy and that's what movies are for, right? I thought so.