December 2009 Archives

This movie's chief weakness is in the plot. The Karate Kid, Part II is just as compelling as the original in many respects, but the story just isn't as moving as its counterpart.

Having won the karate tournament, Daniel celebrates his victory. His opponent is reamed out by his 'Sensei', who breaks his 2nd place trophy. Mr. Miyagi confronts John Kreese, - the raging karate master - and engages him in combat, knocking him out cold. News from Japan sends Mr. Miyagi reeling. His father is on his deathbed. Daniel accompanies Mr. Miyagi to Okinawa, thus conveniently writing his former girlfriend and mother out of the plot (Daniel mentions something about Ali falling for a football player). The rest of the story plays out in Okinawa, where Mr. Miyagi must confront his past, and Daniel finds a new love interest, of course.

In this movie, there is no tournament to be won (although there is a final battle when all is said and done). Although Daniel's training does continue in some small ways, it is not the main focus of the movie. Daniel's new adversary is the nephew of Miyagi's immortal rival, Sato. As it turns out, Miyagi left Japan because of a disagreement over a woman who was arranged to be married to Sato. Sato holds Miyagi as the object of his dishonor, thus making them enemies.

Daniel continually finds himself bullied by Sato's nephew and his goons. Daniel seems a little too powerless in his ability to fight back, despite having won the karate tournament just months earlier. The final showdown between Daniel and Sato's nephew is a very memorable scene. Although not as epic as the original Karate Kid, this scene still solidifies this movie as a worthwhile watch.

Mr. Miyagi never has a final confrontation with Sato, as they come to a mutual understanding. Sato realizes that he was being unreasonable with Miyagi, and thus turns his back on his old ways of exploiting the village.

Much like the original, this movie holds authenticity in high regard. Many of the actors who play Japanese characters are indeed Japanese, maintaining a sense of believability. And again, much like the original, the movie is not stifled by obvious plot holes and unrealism.

The pacing of the movie is maybe a little "slow" by today's standards, but is nevertheless entertaining.

I know that I've sung high praises for Rocky before, but I must say that when it comes to underdog stories, I much prefer The Karate Kid. Perhaps my partiality has something to do with the fact that I grew up watching this movie a lot, but as far as East-meets-West movies go, this is one of the better ones from the 80s. In fact, it's hard to find a movie that's quite as authentic to Japanese culture and Karate mythology from this era.

This is probably why this movie was mimicked so much. Although the movie does not have as many quotable moments as the Holy Grail or Wayne's World, who doesn't remember "wax on, wax off"?

Additionally, the movie is not stifled by countless plot holes and unreality as many movies of the time were (remember 3 Ninjas?). Suspension of disbelief isn't really an issue for this picture. All in all, it's a well-crafted movie.

The rest comes down to personal preference. Daniel could very well come across as a whiny and adolescent character, but then he is supposed to be in High School so this doesn't make him any less believable. Although he encounters a great deal of adversity, he overcomes these challenges with the help of the wise Mr. Miyagi.

Speaking of which, Pat Morita shines as the immortal Mr. Miyagi, the sage and master of Daniel. This role is played to perfection, and there isn't anything bad I can say about it. He is both humorous and serious, a man with a lot of heart, much like the movie itself.

One could be nitpicky about this film, but for me I don't see anything wrong with it. It's a story of overcoming obstacles, and not giving up in the face of adversity. Although it has been parodied many times, that only goes to show that it has true merit.

Before I get into this, I should mention that I am not entirely familiar with the original Sherlock Holmes story. However, I am acquainted with a myriad of its permutations, parodies, and references.

Most of the time it goes something like this: Holmes, a master detective, accompanied by his trusty sidekick Watson, solves impossible mysteries. This movie is no exception.

I think many people thought that this would turn out to be more of a James Bond film. I had also expressed similar concerns when going to see it. While there is a good deal of action throughout this film, it's not as campy as 007. In fact, I thought that the action was a necessary part of the picture. The audience would have been bored to death after 2-and-a-half hours of dialogue and mystery solving.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Holmes, a madman who performs seemingly pointless experiments and plays violin in his spare time. This makes for a rather engaging character, seemingly graceless but nevertheless sharp and calculated in combat and in solving mysteries.

All in all, I was very pleased with the casting choices. Everyone pulls their weight, and the main characters are all interesting. I also liked the fact that the movie doesn't try to play down to the lowest common denominator. The dialogue is fast-paced and witty, and not the least bit condescending.

I like how the mysteries unravel as well. Seemingly unfeasible mysteries are all revealed towards the end of the movie, and the payoff is sweet.

For the most part, I really liked this movie. However, there is something stopping it from becoming an instant classic in my mind. Although the characters were stimulating, the plot left something to be desired. Much like the sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean, it felt a little scattered. I could be wrong; maybe it was just the mood I was in. Still, I think it 's worth a watch and I look forward to the sequels.

Perhaps you remember the late 80s and early 90s when people would go to see a movie simply because the title had the word "ninja" in it. While I can see some merit in the Ninja Turtles movies, pictures like the 3 Ninjas were campy and cheesy, merely there to capitalize on an emerging trend.

I think you know what I'm trying to get at: Ninja Assassin came out two decades too late. The movie is lacking in originality and humor, reducing it to a CG gore-fest, unlike its campy counterparts. The script feels dated rather than timeless (but more on that later).

You may think that I'm missing the point, but I don't think I am. I realize that this movie is supposed to carry a serious tone. The problem is that the plot is far from compelling, and I'm pretty sure we've done better.

Ninja Assassin is essentially a story about revenge. Our vengeful protagonist, Raizo, questions his master's ways and his training. His love interest is killed at the direction of his master, having tried to escape from the ninja camp. Raizo finds himself at odds with his past and becomes a lone-wolf resistor. What follows is a kaleidoscope of ninja slaughter.

If I'm not mistaken, about 40% of the movie is made up of flashbacks. That may have worked for Titanic, but they feel more like an interruption with this film. Raizo's past isn't half as interesting as you may think it to be. The other 60% is roughly 10% dialogue and 50% action. Oh, and did I mention that this movie is gory?

I was seriously underwhelmed by this movie. I have nothing against serious plots. In fact, I think I would enjoy a good ninja movie with a serious tone. Let's just say that Ninja Asssassin isn't it. What's with the title anyway? Isn't it a little redundant?

For me, there's another area where this movie falls short. Most of the actors are not Japanese. While I'm not implying that ninjas have to be Japanese, the movie would have had a far more authentic feel if they had made a point of using more Japanese actors. The Rise of Cobra suffers from the same problem (seriously, did you think I wouldn't notice when supposedly Japanese characters are speaking Chinese?).

If they had made a B movie out of this, it would have been far more entertaining than what they ended up with.

Today I finished Final Fantasy XII. Or, more accurately, I hopped on the Strahl and headed for the final confrontation without mucking about. You see, I had already put over 100 hours into this game, trying to collect all the gear, finishing the side quests, and completing various other tasks. I was not aware that I was that close to finishing the main storyline, but I had the suspicion that I was getting pretty close.

I may go back and attempt to complete more of the side quests (the hunts, at least), but honestly the Giruvegan Great Crystal was starting to get on my nerves (more on that later). Since the game had long sat on my "to be completed" list, I decided to go ahead and finish it off. Not to mention, my characters were starting to get a little OP'D.

Anyway, I know I've talked about this game a fair bit already, so here's my final review. I would much prefer to sit in front of a camera and talk about it (like Spoony does), but since I don't have a video camera yet that's a moot point.

I was simply amazed by the vastness of this game. It's mind boggling. Even so, you are not obliged to explore all of it. If you simply followed the main storyline, you could probably finish the game without seeing anywhere from 30 to 50 % of all areas. It just goes to show you how much depth there is to the side quests. However, if you did finish the game without messing around with all the extras, you might have a little trouble with The Undying (although I wouldn't be surprised if there were people who defeated him with one character at level 20 or something ridiculous like that).

This brings me to the side quests. I liked the fact that you could get started on the hunts right away. Some of the most difficult battles in the game are with these monsters as opposed to boss battles. I liked this side quest because it was pretty straightforward. And then there's the trophy hunts. It's not enough for FFXII to have one major side quest involving grueling battles. Noooooo... OK, so I probably sound a bit cynical but I'm still scratching my head at this side quest. I understand the reward of it; I just don't understand why it had to involve more monotonous grinding.

Speaking of grinding, what were they thinking with the Great Crystal? I mean, is there a good reason why they couldn't give you a map? This is just poor planning. It's prolonging the game artificially. What benefit is there in forcing players to go online looking for a map? You're going to need it anyway. It's not possible to navigate the place in your head, unless you go to all the trouble of diagramming every detail. You will get disoriented. It takes way too long to get around even with a map.

Even so, I did like the battle system. To a large degree, you can automate most of the combat (sometimes you can even walk away and go to the bathroom while your characters finish off the enemies). I know some people that didn't really like this system, but I don't have anything bad to say about it. If anything, it makes things a little too easy.

I wasn't crazy about the storyline. Even if you missed half of the dialogue (like I did) you could still piece together the major plot points without much trouble. The game tries to be smart by citing geographical locations and technical jargon akin to the FF universe, but in large part there's nothing compelling about the storyline. And before you pummel me with your FFXII game case, allow me to explain. First of all, the characters don't really evolve or develop in any way (with the possible exception of Ashe). Secondly, the storyline is too straightforward. There really aren't any turns or twists to speak of. I don't like to make comparisons, but Final Fantasy VI had a fabulous storyline by contrast. Each character had a back story, there were some awesome plot twists, and Kefka is by far one of the best villains the series has seen (oh, and the music was way better too).

Speaking of music, I did enjoy the musical score offered by XII. In a way, though, it feels too polished. The music took a serious dive with FFVIII, and started to improve with subsequent releases in the series, but I feel the music is a little too linear and repetitive by comparison. Again, it's good, but I would love to hear more electric guitars and synthesizers in there.

As for the final battle, I was rather surprised. Most of the time, final dungeons in the FF series are rather involved, taking an extremely long time to complete. FFXII is the rare exception. The final dungeon is more of an air station, and it only takes a little under an hour (maybe even less) to navigate. The final battle is a little disappointing as well. We really don't know Vayne as a character when we encounter him. At various points his menace was hinted at, but we never really got to see it in action. All in all, the world in FFXII feels a little too peaceful to be at turmoil.

One thing that the game does have going for it is the cinematics. Not that one would expect any less, but the cut scenes are definitely a pleasure to watch. The graphics are also quite pleasant.

The game is definitely not without its flaws, but it's still worth checking out if you like the FF series. The characters were a little too one-dimensional for my liking, but it's a pretty cool game. And it's definitely more of a game than it is an experience.