MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL (2011)

MyRating: YYYY

Director: Brad Bird

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Samuli Edelmann, Léa Seydoux, Josh Holloway, Anil Kapoor , Tom Wilkinson

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is another action movie that will stun you with its high-octane and adrenaline-rush action sequences, after the highly entertaining and full-speed adrenaline-pumping Fast Five this year. Some of the scenes may make you hold your breath (and maybe open your mouth) due to its unbelievably crazy actions and stunts. Tom Cruise seems to be enjoying and addicted to jumping from high-rise buildings. After the bungee jump he did from the top of Bank of China Tower building in Shanghai in Mission: Impossible III (2006), now he is climbing the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, a building with 829.84 m (2,723 feet) height and 160 floors. Our world really needs to build more taller skycrapers for him to jump in his next movies.

Being accused of involving in a fatal terrorist bombing attack in Russia, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his new team members are left alone to take the blame, as the U.S. government activates "Ghost Protocol" that shuts down the entire IMF (Impossible Missions Force) organization. Hunted by the Russians and disbanded by their own government, Ethan and his team must move fast in a mission to stop the enemy mastermind from jeopardizing the world with a nuclear war threat, and to clear their organization's name, as well as theirs.

Fast-paced, and full with gripping and intense actions, Brad Bird (the director of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille), who directed his live action movie for the first time, has successfully made another great fun Mission: Impossible movie that will put this franchise in the high level of pride and expectations, after the good things that J.J. Abrams brought and did in Mission: Impossible III. This fourth installment of the series has a highly enjoyable storyline with Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible big screen version and style of 'IMF team in a dangerous mission', which showcasing their use of sophisticated high-tech gadgets, and of course, full-blown actions.

This movie has beautiful sceneries of many exotic places, from Budapest to Moscow (into the heart of The Kremlin), and from Dubai to Mumbai. As I watched this in a normal theater, I can only imagine how great this film will look like in the IMAX theater (the movie was partially shot using IMAX cameras), especially the Burj Khalifa building climbing scene that will put your vertigo level at test. The dialogs between the characters were well written and the movie also gave enough room for other main characters to shine.

The cast was solid. I always like Tom Cruise, as I think he is one of the great actors Hollywood ever has, who never seems to lose his energy. And as Ethan Hunt, he seemed to channel all of his energy perfectly with running and fighting and jumping and doing other unbelievable action stunts by his own, including hanging and swinging in the heights of Burj Khalifa building. I think I saw more Tom Cruise rather than Ethan Hunt here (as his big name, personality and ego are much bigger than his character), but we can also see how he was really committed in all that he did in this movie and gave all that he could in bringing us a high class and a top-notch action movie. And he has the charms as a megastar leading actor. He always does.

The addition of Jeremy Renner, one of the hottest comodity in Hollywood nowadays and a two-times Academy Award nominees in two years in a row with The Hurt Locker and The Town, was a smart choice from the producer. He played an IMF analyst William Brandt, who possesses extra skills that other normal analysts don't possess, but with his own secret and past. He was cool here, and it was interesting to see him being paired up with Tom Cruise as a team. Renner has his own moment when in one scene he has to jump into a ventilating shaft with a horizontal flying body position, that reminding us with the same famous style that Tom Cruise did in the first movie.

After also appearing in Mission: Impossible III, Simon Pegg has a bigger role and screen time here as agent Benji Dunn, who just got promoted as a field agent. He has the expertise with computers and hacking into security systems. His character was funny and a smile teaser of this movie, with many of his funny lines that will definitely make you smile. I think Pegg did shine in his own way in this film. And as the only woman in the team, Paula Patton also gave a good and enjoyable performance as agent Jane Carter, a one-tough-chick who kicks ass and has a revenge to make.

Top cast, exotic places, awesome action concept and sequences, supported with a good script, what else do you need in order to make a real thrilling action movie? It has the complete package, with lots of explosions, dangerous stunts, car chase, bare hand fightings and dust storm, including an explosion that threw a car and landed just inches from the running Tom Cruise. The prison breakout scene in the beginning of the movie, and the intense final fighting scene in the car assembly warehouse, began and ended the movie with full punches.

Tom Cruise's memorable and spectacular Burj Khalifa building scene, which is the highlight of this movie and will be remembered for years to come, may be a bit over-the-top. But that is what you pay to see in a Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible movie. And as the scene was very well shot and directed, and well acted, that made it looked believable and thrilled you at your seat, at the end you will not mind if some of the things you see are not making sense at all.

It has been a good long journey for Tom Cruise and his 'Mission Impossible'. I hated and didn't enjoy the first Mission: Impossible (1996, directed by Brian De Palma) at all. The second Mission: Impossible II (2000) was okay, with John Woo turned it into a Hong Kong style action movie. The third one by J.J. Abrams, Mission: Impossible III (2006), was surprisingly great and highly entertaining, and without a doubt the best of the three. And this latest sequel, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), was another good example of a great action movie that knows how to deliver rock-solid action scenes. Be prepared for adrenaline-rush, as this is the movie that will surely satisfy the adrenaline junkies. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (2011)

MyRating: YYYY

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Bryan Greenberg , Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson

MPAA: Rated R for some violent content and brief sexuality

Romantic comedy is a genre that is so easy to be loved or to be hated. As cliché as it might be, as usually a romantic love story is actually a cliché, but with the right portion and formula, some romcom may become a gem, especially if you can blend the perfect cast with the sweet and smart storytelling. However, if you mix it the wrong way, then you may get trash instead. And each year, there are so many other romcom that fall safety just in between, to be forgotten as sour and mediocre romantic comedies. I might not call Friends With Benefits as a gem, but this movie surely falls into the first category of a perfect blend of lovely cast and clever storytelling, which resulting into a love potion that is sweet enough to make you fall in love.

 

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis were a delight to watch as their screen appearances sparkled in this R-rated romantic comedy about two opposite sex people, who find the pleasure of turning their physical attractions towards each other into physical satisfactions. To become a sex friend that may benefit one another without any commitment involved.

Dylan (Timberlake) has to move from Los Angeles to New York City after being convinced by an Executive Head Hunter, Jamie (Kunis), to accept a new job with GQ magazine. As he starts his new life in The Big Apple and not knowing anyone else in the new place, Dylan spends a lot of time with Jamie, who introduces him to many fun sides of the city. As they develop a frienship, they quickly discover that they are attracted with each other physically and come into an agreement to have mutual sex, but both also agree to put aside all emotional romanticisms that may complicate their relationship. But as their sexual adventure slowly binds them emotionally, the complication and the commitment that they avoid at the beginning finally catch them unguard. The only thing now is whether they have to trust their feelings, or to deny them.

Will Gluck again delivered us another romantic comedy to be talked and cherished about, after last year turning Emma Stone into a 'pretending' bitch and becoming the talk of her campus in Easy A (2010), the movie that also turned Stone to become a new hot commodity in Hollywood. I think this young director has a good touch and know how to direct a good romcom. With the smart screenplay (also co-written by Gluck), he was able to turn this flick into a very enjoyable movie.

Now, the true stars of this movie were the two main cast. Justin Timberlake, even though he will always have that 'boyband' or 'singer turned-into actor' image, he played his part quite well as the lead actor. Yes, he could have played some of his scenes better (and I think he sang a bit too much in this movie), but he surely has his own charms. And what can I say about Mila Kunis. She was hot. Her stunning and exotic beauty has stolen my heart. She has stolen many people's hearts. She has that natural talent to become a great actress, and I believe she will. Her appearance in this movie was just overflowing the screen with her charming and lovable personality, with a combination of headstrong and sassy character. And her acting was great, as lively as her big beautiful eyes. She may be the one who made this movie extra fun to watch.

The chemistry between Timberlake and Kunis was shining like a diamond in the sky. They just look so perfect together on screen. You may expect a lot of kissing and hugging and cuddling, and seeing both of them under the bed sheet. And there were plenty enough, believe me. The scene where they were dancing with the crowds, even though not original, was a good one. And I liked when they put another one near the end of the movie at the Grand Central Station, it just like a confirmation of love.

Besides the main characters that made us care about them, the supporting characters were also interesting to watch, such as Patricia Clarkson as a mom who has a very moderate mind towards sex, with her silly and comical character, and Woody Harrelson as a classy gay co-worker who owns a boat. The relationship between Timberlake and his father who suffered Alzheimer's disease, played by Richard Jenkins, was also heartwarming and emotionally touching at times. Again, all thanks to the well written script that cleverly catched the important moments and gave this movie a satisfying ending. Also watch for Emma Stone as the cameo in the beginning of the movie. This is a very romantic movie. Funny, sweet and well... romantic. A perfect date movie with your love one. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED (2009)

MyRating: YYYY

Director: J Blakeson

Cast: Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston, Eddie Marsan

MPAA: Rated R for violent content, pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity

Two ex-convicts, Vic (Eddie Marsan) and Danny (Martin Compston), kidnap Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton) and ask for ransom money from her affluent family. They plan everything carefully before the abduction, from preparing the kidnapping car, soundproofing and reinforcing an apartment walls, and setting up a bed for the victim. But what they didn't prepare was the unexpected turnouts and bends towards their scenario after the kidnapping.

This is a small but effective independent British crime thriller that will make you stay at your seat to find out what will happen next. A smart written script from the director J Blakeson, with more than one unexpected twist along the story. The twists may possibly not make you jump on your seat, or you may say that "I've seen something like this before", but the fact that this movie has such a simple story and the twists were cleverly and neatly bound to the plot, so as you realize about the twist when it's coming, the suspense in the story has brought your attention to move forward.

The (only) three actors in this movie also gave their effective performances and acted pretty well. Eddie Marsan looks dangerous and fierce as the leader, a control freak who always full of suspicious. On the other hand, Martin Compston is a young man who seems doubtful of what they've done, thinking a bit too much as a criminal on what may happen to their crime, but at the same time has his own plan in head. The different nature between the two helped create the conflicts and increased the tensions of the story. While as the girl being kidnapped, Gemma Arterton also gave a believable performance. Not a weak victim. She is tough, resourceful and not easily giving up to the situation. This movie was her work in between her earlier noticeable appearance as one of the Bond girls in Quantum of Solace (2008) and a good year for her last year in Clash of the Titans (2010) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010). Fall for her ever since her appearance as the sassy princess in Prince of Persia. I believe this actress will have a bright future ahead.

There were some nudity scenes of Arterton in this movie that may become a guilty pleasure to watch. But the film did not fall into the cheap trap of a sexual thriller. The story certainly did not lose its focus. Every action has its purpose and reason behind, and consequences afterwards. The suspense was well built, some scenes may make you hold your breath as you care of what could happen to the characters. This is a satisfying little thriller, very enjoyable to watch and it will stay in your head after watching it. The next time you plan a kidnapping, be sure to keep in mind that a well-planned scenario is never enough. (MJ)

MYMOVIE CRITIC - REVIEWING MOVIES FROM THE AUDIENCE'S STANDPOINT

WU XIA (SWORDSMAN a.k.a. DRAGON) (2011)

MyRating: YYYY

Director: Peter Chan Ho-sun

Writer: Aubrey Lam
Cast: Donnie Yen, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tang Wei, Jimmy Wang Yu, Kara Hui

Donnie Yen is back with another martial arts movie Wu Xia (in Chinese meaning "martial arts chivalry" or "martial arts heroes" or "swordsmen"), directed by Peter Chan (The Warlords), the movie which many people would have been waiting for. The story was inspired from John Wagner & Vince Locke's A History of Violence, which has also been adapted into movie by David Cronenberg starring Viggo Mortensen in 2005, about a common guy who suddenly turns into a hero after taken down a couple of criminals through an act of violence. It's the Chinese martial arts version set in 1917 China, mixed with the detective story of Sherlock Holmes-like investigation.

 

Liu Jin-xi (Donnie Yen) is a common village man who earns a living as a papermaker. He enjoys a quiet and peaceful life with his wife Ayu (Tang Wei) and their two sons, until his world suddenly turns upside down when one day, at the wrong time and the wrong place, he witnesses two bandits trying to rob a local general store. Unavoidably, he gets into a fight with the bandits with his seemingly amateurish fight back, partly just to defend himself, but luckily he successfully thwarts their robbery attempt.

As Liu suddenly rises to become a local hero and as the words spreading about his act of bravery, it quickly draws the attention of an investigator named Xu Bai-jiu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to visit the crime scene in his small town. But when Xu goes further into his investigation, he finds out that the two bandits defeated by Liu were actually seasoned criminals, associated with the clan of 72 demons, an evil clan which is infamous for killing, raping and plundering. Xu doubts how a common man like Liu could win over these two cruel criminals. He also starts to convince that Liu is not just a simple ordinary man that people think he is. And the facts that Xu finds may link Liu to his dark pasts. But as the investigation goes deeper, it also eventually attracts the 72 demons clan, lead by their Master (Jimmy Wang Yu), to pay visit to their town. And the town that once peaceful may now be endangered, as well as Liu's family.

This is a smartly written martial arts movie with an intriguing story (thanks to the script by Aubrey Lam, who also wrote The Warlords), which focused more on the drama side than on the martial arts itself. The first half of the movie (from the running time of almost 2 hours), after the brutal fight in the store, was filled with the aura of a detective movie, as Xu Bai-jiu investigated the case. For some, the story may feel flow a bit slow as the plot developed. But it was an interesting and clever investigation, as we followed what Xu imagined and pictured in his mind on the actual things happened in the crime scene with CSI approach, piece by piece, and then arranged the puzzles to match with what was reported that has happened. It was also interesting to learn about the Chinese accupuncture pivotal points that was used in Xu's investigation, on how a certain blow to a critical point in the human body could stop the heart from functioning. And the peeks inside of the human body were depicted frequently in the film, whether in Xu's investigation or in the fights, showing how outside hits may affect the body inside, which blood arteries or nerve systems that were broken. And they were shown in a stylistic way.

The characters development were depicted well by Peter Chan. He is a talented filmmaker, good in setting the right tone for the movie and driving the paths on which way the story will go, as he took his time to develop the story as well as the characters. And he did bring the best out of his casts, as I must say that all the actors were performing very well here. Donnie Yen gave a fine dramatic performance as a loving father and husband, who will fight for the safety of his beloved family while struggling to keep his past a secret, a common and innocent guy at a glance, but mysterious inside. His interaction with his family was a warm thing to watch.

But the best acting I must give to Takeshi Kaneshiro who gave a very good performance as the quirky detective, starting from his slightly different look with moustache, wearing glasses and a hat, that showed him as a smart investigator who will pursue for every detail, up to his strange accent that sounded funny but consistent throughout the movie. I think he successfully played his 'Sherlock Holmes' role with his sharp instinct and analysis, persistent and headstrong, but at the same time must endure his sickness, as well as showing realistic fears when he found his life was in danger. His 'cat and mouse' game with Donnie Yen was interesting to watch.

Tang Wei (the Chinese actress who appeared brave with Tony Leung in her first movie in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution back in 2007) was also very good in depicting the emotions and worrisome of the wife, who was afraid of losing her husband as well as the happiness of her family. With her meek and submissive look, sometimes sad, she showed deep emotions that will make us feel sorry for her. She is a good and natural actress.

Another interesting appearance came from Jimmy Wang Yu, the legendary martial arts actor who was very popular with his role in Chang Cheh's One-Armed Swordsman, the movie that launched him to super stardom in 1967. This senior actor gave a very solid acting here as the Chief of 72 demons clan, appeared bald and convincingly scary, as well as very evil. The last scene where he sit together with Donnie Yen and his whole family at the dining table was a thrilling moment, with Wang's provocative acting.

This movie was not lack of actions. It has enough portion of action sequences besides the drama, especially in the second half, even though not as much as the usual Donnie Yen's movies. But once it started, it was a lot of fun to watch, including the exciting fight between Yen, Kara Hui and another bad guy in the town, and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Yen also acted as the Action Director here, who choreographed some interesting martial arts sequences. And believe me, he did not disappoint. It always exciting to see Yen fighting with his bare fists. If you want to see a smart and slightly different feel but stylistic martial arts movie, with Donnie Yen's greatness inside, then I highly recommend this. This movie was premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. (MJ).

INSIDIOUS (2011)

MyRating: YYYY

Director: James Wan

Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for thematic material, violence, terror and frightening images, and brief strong language

What's so excited in watching a horror movie? One of the reasons I must say is to be scared. My parents used to tell me a metaphor about watching movies, that 'the filmmakers are crazy, but the moviegoers are stupid'. Why? Because the filmmakers can do whatever they want in showing you all the craziness and absurdity in the movies, and the moviegoers are still 'stupid' enough to believe and carried away with what they see. You cried, you laughed, and you got terrified. And if the so-called 'stupid' moviegoers do exist, then the horror movie fans maybe are the 'stupidest' of them all. Because the horror fanatics are always excited and feeling the rush to see every new horror movie come out at the theater, getting scared while watching them (some even have to peek behind their fingers), and at the end of the day, you come out of the theater and tell everyone, "This movie scared me to death, you have to watch it. It was very fun!" Now, what is the rationale of people who are getting excited to see a movie that will scare them to death, while still entertained by it, and then they tell everybody that it's fun? Probably that's the act of 'stupidity'. Don't be mad at me. You know what I'm telling you was just a metaphor, like my parents did. As you might have known, I am a horror fan myself, who always find the excitements in thrills and amused while being scared by these kind of movies. But of course, I will never want to be considered as a 'stupid' moviegoer.

Insidious is one of those good old school horror movies that will give you a real frightening time while watching it and may haunt you with nightmares afterwards. The theme was of those of the traditional horror movie themes, a combination of haunted house, demonic possession and exorcism. It was scary. It was terrifying. Refresing at the same time. And it was fun. Now I said it. I really appreciate what James Wan (the creator of Saw) did with this movie, a small budgeted horror movie (US$ 1.5 million in production budget) with the script written by Leigh Whannell (also the writer of Saw), but the result is a great and original horror movie, that will be remembered and considered as a classic for years to come.

A couple, Josh and Renai Lambert (Patrick Wilson & Rose Byrne) moves into a new house with their three young children, just to realize that the house might be haunted. When their oldest son, Dalton (Ty Simpkins), has an accident in the attic and comes into a mysterious coma, they decide to move out from the house. But it is not long before they are being disturbed again by seems to be the same evil spirit in their new place, which makes them come into a conclusion that maybe it is not the house that is haunted, but it is something that follows them. And before it is too late, the couple has to invite a paranormal in order to help them solve their problems and find the truth about what is happening to their son. However, they may not be ready to hear what they are about to know, as it is something beyond their thoughts and imaginations. Besides, the devil may never let them go.

This movie has the right elements and ingredients to become a genuinely scary ghost movie. Eerie atmosphere, haunting camera moves, and daunting score and sounds, added to the already creepy house and situations. The tensions were slowly built, to more and more getting in your nerves. You knew something will appear outside the window, or behind that door, or in the corner of the room. And when it suddenly appeared together with a loud noise, it will still make you jump at your seat and catch you with a gasp. The thing is, it was not only happened at night, but also in daylight, when suddenly 'someone not from the living' crossing by a character in an unexpected moment. When the character held a deep breath and still shocked with what was just happened, you also realized that you were doing exactly the same thing, with your brain still anxiously thinking. "What was that? What was just passing by? What was that?"

But this movie also has its humor side. When things are becoming too tense, it will loosen you up with some humorous moments, so that you can catch some breaths. If you ask me if this movie is really-really scary. I will answer yes, especially for a Hollywood horror standard, even though if we compare it with Asian horrors (which usually gave you real hard times while watching them due to the extremely deep-to-the-bones scares), this movie may not be as scary as those Asian's. Still, it was scary enough and definitely one class above many average and generic Hollywood horror movies. The actors did well in bringing out the believable horror moments, especially Rose Byrne and the psychic woman (Lin Shaye). For the ghosts themselves, some are real scary, and some are touched with a slightly comical approach. As the screenwriter, Leigh Whannell also appeared as the psychic's assistant.

What I like the most about this movie is the smart and inventive story, with some interesting twists. The theme about astral projection is also something fresh and told in a different way than what you may have heard or seen before, that made this movie to become respectably original. The final act of this movie, when things have to be resolved and where the story pushed a character to step into an unthinkable world, was the real scares and culmination of the movie, and I think it ended well. Thumbs up for James Wan who executed this movie in a beautiful crafted way that made it a standout movie. He is a very promising and talented new generation of horror filmmaker, which new movies I will always watch out for. This is not a horror movie where you will see blood spilling all over the place with hard-core gore, like Saw, but it rather will terrorize you phychologically inside. If you are a horror fan, then this is a definite MUST SEE. It will scare you in an enjoyable and entertaining way, and will satisfy your hunger for a good horror movie out there. And it was a real fun. Damn, I said it again! (MJ)

LIMITLESS (2011)

MyRating: YYYY

Director: Neil Burger
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro, Andrew Howard, Anna Friel, Johnny Whitworth
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving a drug, violence including disturbing images, sexuality and language

What if you can step outside your limit and use 100% of your brain capacity, instead of 20% used by the average people? What if you can unlock all your hidden potentials and do the unthinkable things that the average people can only dream they do, and only sky is your limit? This is what happened to Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper), a writter with hazy future, who has just been dumped by his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish). He suddenly discovers his self-awakening after taking a mysterious experimental pill, which makes him never the same again. Upon taking the drug, everything becomes clearer and brighter. His mind becomes smarter, focus and as sharp as knife, as he can easily grab and organize everything he has seen, read and heard, put them all into the right perspectives and use them for his benefits. He also can finish things faster as he can see and plan several steps ahead that makes him become very effective, which at the end makes him a better man.

Able to finish writing his book in a short period of time and stunned his editor, Eddie realizes that there are many other things that he can achieve with the pills. And when he gets access to more of the drugs, as each pill only has a short-time effect before he returns back to his normal state of mind, Eddie starts to enter the financial world and quickly rises to become the talk of the market. His overnight success draws the attention of Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), a powerful business mogul, who believes that hiring Eddie will bring more billions to his wealth. But everything has its price, as the drugs start to show harmful side effects on Eddie physically, which causes a setback to what he has achieved. To make things worse, he also suddenly becomes the target of hit men, as other parties also want to possess the pills. So, he needs to keep staying focus in order to stay alive, while consuming the drugs is slowly killing him.

This movie gets better and better as the plot moves. And once Eddie takes the pill, there is no turning back. An intriguing premise that was well executed on screen. The flash-forward scene in the beginning of the movie showing Eddie standing at the brink of the balcony of a high rise building, just one step away from falling down to the pavement below, was an effective start, before the story got a flash-back. And every action that Eddie takes, whenever he drinks the pills, will eventually lead him to that very critical moment of life and dead. On every great thing that he has achieved, it will finally cost him, big time, the only thing is he just doesn't know it yet. It's like signing an agreement with the devil.

The movie also has a good suspense that gets messier and messier as the story flows. And the plot smoothly brings us to the end fate of Eddie that is already waiting for him, while we follow his journey to unlock the mystery behind the drug, and at the same time he has to find a way out of his crisis and stay alive. The director offered unique visuals whenever Eddie takes the pills, to differentiate that the 'new' Eddie is in a different state of his mind, as his surroundings become brighter and colorful, as if changing to a brighter light bulb, and he can see and feel with all his senses, including words jumping up in the air while he reads.

As a man suddenly transformed from 'nothing' to become maybe the smartest guy on earth, Bradley Cooper gave a good performance that made the movie to become so enjoyable to watch, adding to the already interesting storyline. His strugglings between the 'old' Eddie and the 'new' Eddie and all his crisis were very well portrayed by him. As one of the most rising young actors nowadays, Cooper has what it needs to become an exciting leading man, not only because he has a good looking appearance, or a chaming smile, but also he has good acting capabilities that will make him shine even brighter in his future career. Besides that, he also has that 'relax' appearance, with a good sense of humors, that makes him always look comfortable on screen. While as the supporting actor, Robert De Niro added the weight to the cast as the slick and no nonsense businessman. This kind of role always fitted this senior actor well, who played it convincingly. It was nice to see a good collaboration between De Niro and Cooper, two actors from different generations.

The ending of this movie is the type of 'you guess it yourself', as it will add another mystery and question to be answered in your mind on the final turn-out. This is a great and highly entertaining movie. The story and the actors made it work well. For the closing, I will quote what Carl Van Loon said to Eddie Morra, "Your powers are a gift from God or whoever the hell wrote your life script." (MJ)

THE LOST BLADESMAN (GUAN YUN CHANG) (2011)

MyRating: YYYY1/2
Written and Directed by: Alan Mak & Felix Chong
Cast: Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Sun Li, Andy On, Chin Siu-ho, Alex Fong, Wang Po-chieh, Wang Xuebing

Romance of the Three Kingdoms (San Guo Yan Yi), the popular Chinese historical epic novel written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, besides Water Margin (Shui Hu Zhuan), Journey to the West (Xi You Ji) and Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong Lou Meng). As a hugely influential and widely read novel, based on the historical events (part fiction and myth) in the turbulent years at the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era, where tyrants and warlords battling each others for power and lands (169-280 AD), the book consists of 120 chapters with hundreds and hundreds of characters. The story of the Three Kingdoms has been told many times through long TV series as well as in movies. The recent ones are the critically acclaimed John Woo's Red Cliff (2008) with Tony Leung as Zhou Yu & Takeshi Kaneshiro as Zhuge Liang, and the not so good Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon (2008) with Andy Lau as Zhou Yun, which both movies focused on different main characters and events.

The Lost Bladesman focused on one of the most popular characters in the Three Kingdoms story, Guan Yu or Guan Yunchang (one of the most iconic characters besides Cao Cao, Liu Bei & Zhuge Liang). The film was adapted from the story of Guan Yu 'crossing five passes and slaying six generals'. The casting of Donnie Yen as Guan Yu was an interesting choice, even though may have raised many eyebrows, since he is not physically perfect as the great General Guan Yu. Guan Yu is always depicted as a big tall guy with long beard, while Yen is rather small in posture. However, since his recent superstardom and success through the Ip Man series, Donnie Yen has now become a household name and is on top of his game, and he is becoming the 'perfect' choice from every producer for the commercial success guarantee of their movies.

Since Ip Man (2008) & Ip Man 2 (2010), I am exciting to wait for every new movie of Donnie Yen. Not only he is always amazing at martial arts in his movies (he knows the real wushu), but also he is actually a pretty good actor too who can act very well (even the sharp side look of his eyes could kill). A bit disappointed with his last movie Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010), but to see him next as Guan Yu seemed to be very enticing. I have to admit, I began to have some doubts about this movie after seeing the relatively low rating this movie has received in some movie sites. However, after finally watching the movie myself, I have to say that my feeling and pre-judgement were totally wrong. This is a great epic martial arts film about the legendary Guan Yu and one small part of the events in the Three Kingdoms story, disregard the disputes that it might create among the audiences due to the different interpretation of Guan Yu's figure this movie has depicted. Anyway, a good movie is a good movie, and I will tell you why I like this movie.

The Lost Bladesman offered a pretty good and solid story. Being separated from his sworn brothers Liu Bei (Alex Fong) and Zhang Fei, Guan Yu (Yen) temporarily had to serve under Cao Cao (Jiang Wen) and Emperor Xian (Wang Po-chieh) of Han Dynasty. With the big name and reputation that Guan Yu had in the battlefields, Cao Cao had always wanted to have him on his side. But despite many precious gifts that Cao Cao had offered to Guan Yu, including recommended an honorary rank promotion from the Emperor after Guan Yu won a battle for Cao Cao against Yuan Shao, Cao Cao still could not buy Guan Yu's loyalty towards Liu Bei.

When Guan Yu decided that it was time to leave Cao Cao and bring Qilan (Betty Sun Li), Liu Bei's beautiful concubine who was captived in Cao Cao territory, back to Liu Bei, Cao Cao knew that he had to let him go. But Cao Cao's followers were uneasy and believed that they were actually realising a 'tiger' back to his master, who would become a dangerous threat to Cao Cao in the future. So on their journey back, Guan Yu and Qilan had to face some generals and their bands of soldiers, who were ordered to kill Guan Yu, in the passes that they were going through. And Guan Yu fought many magnificent fights against the generals. Not only he had to stay alive, but also he had to protect Qilan, his brother's woman, whom at the same time he secretly falled in love with, but he tried hard to resist. The great Guan Yu will never afraid of his enemies, but will the love of a woman become the weakness of him?

The script written (and also directed) by Alan Mak (Infernal Affairs)& Felix Chong, even though not the best ever written about the Three Kingdoms events, was engaging and never lost its grips from the beginning till the end. I think the story was actually simple and it did not try to complicate itself, by focusing on Guan Yu and his task to bring Qilan back to Liu Bei, while at the other hand showing the 'situational' friendship bound between Guan Yu and Cao Cao, which is very interesting to watch. The forbidden love attraction between Guan Yu and Qilan did spice up the plot, as the audiences may feel sympathy and 'secretly' wish that Guan Yu, after all the sacrifices and the never ending battles that he has to fight along their journey, will finally win not only her heart, but also win Qilan in person as a whole, with the hope of blessing from Liu Bei to reward for his loyalty. Or not? If you are seeing Guan Yu as a man of honor and dignity, who will never betray his brother for whatsoever reasons. This issue will provoke the acceptance sensess from the audiences, since never before we see Guan Yu so 'human', as he is always being pictured as a tough man and a god-like hero.

The martial arts sequences were dazzling and top notch, giving credits to Donnie Yen as the Action Director himself. Except the big battle scene in the beginning of the movie, you may not see many fights of Guan Yu in the big open battlefields, instead you will see Guan Yu fighting some generals and their small groups of soldiers along his journey back to Liu Bei, some were 'one-on-one' fight scenes. The most marvelous one was the 1-on-1 fight scene in the narrow town alley between Guan Yu and Kong Xiu (Andy On), the general defending Dongling pass. It was an amazing acrobatic showcase of Guan Yu's famous Green Dragon crescent-moon blade weapon against Kong Xiu's long spear. An excellent heart-pumping martial arts choreography by Yen. The fight scene when Guan Yu and Qilan were being ambushed in Luoyang by Han Fu and his sworn brother Meng Tan and their bunch of soldiers in a house at night was also a dramatic one, where Guan Yu was poisoned while he has to give a great fight and kept himself from being fainted. Another memorable scene was the uneven 1-on-1 fight between Guan Yu and Wang Zhi (Wang Xuebing), a good official in charge of Xingyang, in an empty town near the end of the movie. If you like martial arts movie, there are plenty of terrific action scenes that will keep you amazed on your seat.

The other thing that I liked about this movie was the very good and smart written dialogues, with many Chinese aphorisms and wise sayings. The old Chinese wise sayings are arguably the best wise sayings in the world literature with very deep meaning behind every sayings, sometimes in a very poetic way. Watching a Chinese movie with rich Chinese wise-sayings does give intellectual challenges and satisfactions, as if you are a Chinese scholar yourself. And I consider the dialogues in this movie as one of those that will enrich and satisfy us intellectually.

And finally, the casting. It was, without a doubt, a great cast. Not only Donnie Yen, but also Jiang Wen (Let the Bullets Fly), one of the most versatile Chinese actor nowadays (also a director/writer/producer). As Cao Cao, who in history was known for his cunningness, Jiang Wen gave a solid performance that also colored the character of Cao Cao to become more 'human', but at the same time, a more complex character. In this movie, Cao Cao was not shown one-side as a totally bad guy, but he has heart, and definitely the brain. His dialogues with Guan Yu were always interesting ones, with his wide-range mimics. Jiang Wen is indeed a very good actor. While as Guan Yu, again even though not matched physically, Donnie Yen also gave a pretty good performance. A different Guan Yu, but I didn't mind at all. Pick another actor that fit the physical characteristics of Guan Yu, and you may not get the same excitements as you get with Donnie Yen in it. In a story dominated by males, Sun Li was thrown in to sweeten the screen with her beauty as Qilan, and complicate the story. 

Standout casts, enjoyable storyline and spectacular martial arts. What more could you expect? And I know that I loved this movie more than I expected. Very entertaining and a must see. While I was writing this, I found out that The Lost Bladesman has made a very successful debut at the box office in China, which earned around 110 million yuan (US$ 17 million) in the first week in China itself, since its opening date on April 26, 2011. Seems to be a pretty solid hit.

Nowadays, Guan Yu is still popularly worshipped and paid respect by the Chinese people. Being referred as Guan Gong or 'Lord Guan' or 'Saintly Emperor Guan', Guan Yu is often considered as the God of War due to his status as the 'great general' and the many military successes in the history. Guan is also worshipped as an alternative 'god of wealth', as he is perceived to bless people (as well as their homes and businesses) and protect people from the wicked. (MJ)