I knew this was the sad one. The classy, sensual, classic Donnie Yen + sad one.

There's a lot of blue. There's a little Léon The Professional inspiration with the elevator scene maybe. There's red too. There's flashy gunfighting, and speedy running, but unfortunately bad aiming, and the 'I don't miss' mantra quickly loses authenticity as the movie progresses.

The romance keeps it strong though.

Without that it'd be just another half-assed romantic action movie, fierce and smoky or no, but when they start talking of the injustices of the world and all, and share their final moments on the steps of the glass factory... well, you know, it's not bad after all. Just sad.

The hitman scene was a highlight too, and I wonder if the black dude was the same guy as in Tiger Cage 1/2, but overall it wasn't as amazing as I remembered it... I thought there'd be a bit more sensual stuff too. Maybe a good thing there wasn't though. Kept it classy. Somewhat.

I gotta give it a careful four anyway. It is what it is. A classic. Ballistic Kiss.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Here's a documentary-styled fictional venture into the uncharted and dangerous forests of a (presumably) parallel future - where beasts as such they discover there really do exist, with a slightly annoying cameraman doing most of the narration and occasional reaction.

It's a little like the Blair Which Project mixed up with a little Jurassic Park.

And it wasn't as bad as I was expecting a few minutes in. It feels real. The camera shakes a bit too much occasionally, but for the most part it feels sloppy in a realistic kind of way. Expressions. Camera motions. Lack of make-up in the morning. The little things.

It feels spontaneous to the point it might have either been choreographed masterfully or most of all real. Which is what they're going for, of course.

We also see a nice snake, and a few bugs, a nice dinosaur prop and a desperate farewell but... it doesn't feel 100%. And with this type of movie it feels like it has to, to really go all the way.

Props on the reverse psychology with the 'no they'll probably think it's just a hoax' though, even if it rhymes badly with the more cliche ending. Retour. Sequel potential. Ominous road trip again.

It really wasn't bad though.

If you really immerse yourself it just might jump a rating.

 rated 3/5: not bad

Jaws might've tried to instill a fear of sharks into people, but this? It seems to be trying to dispel that bad mojo instead.

Come to think of it it might've been the same with the first Deep Blue Sea, made twenty years prior. One of the first things they did was to clarify that sharks aren't actually interested in humans... an exception being the scientifically engineered murder sharks of the movie of course.

It was the 'great white' that time; now it's bull sharks. All the more monstrous already; all the more murderous!

It starts gritty. And beautiful. What an intro. The music's perfect. The South African duo are bad-ass and the ambient swim after that's an appreciative break. It shows promise! And then it all goes to hell.

Not just script-wise.

You move to a lecture, and immediately realize the script's finna be a bad one this time around. It gets worse. The conversations are all unreasonably provocative. The reactions exaggerated. The drone instead of the helicopter. The limited research facility budget and breadth. Too much God Complex talk. Too much flashy lighting instead of actual cinematographic detail. Too much special effects. Somewhat boxed in audio too if you don't listen via headphones.

I did learn a bit more about sharks, Danielle Savre does have a wonderful cleavage, and the war of man against AI compared to that of carnal prehistoric beasts feels all the more relevant in our time, but otherwise this wasn't the comeback I hoped it'd be.

The first movie was so good. Not actors (with certain exception - the first two were great) nor location is a match here, and the dialog often feels superficial and lacking weight; authenticity; punchline. The characters make up for it with overly aggressive demeanor instead.

Sad to say this couldn't compare to the first one after all. But still, there's a third one too; I think I'll see that one next...

 rated 3/5: not bad

Why do all Chinese movies have to be so sad?!

It's a tale of the revolution this time, with Donnie Yen in a sacrificial but honorable role, along with a big Shaolin monk and a prodigal martial kind of master, who all do their best to aid the revolution, laying their lives on the line just to get a prominent man - Doctor Sun - to a meeting.

It's a flashified variant of a probably real set of trials people went through in the stages of revolution that finally overthrew the Qing dynasty... but for what? Did China become the land of promise they hoped? Are they looking down and smiling now - happy that their country is in the hands of the noble caretakers they hoped would take over?

I don't mean to get all cynical, but the philosophy of blood paving the way for revolution feels so unnecessary here, honorable or no.

Then again maybe this historical glimpse was a subliminal call to action yet again. And if so I understand. Revolutions may be required. Regimes may need to be toppled. So that their aims may change and they may be noble once again. Who knows. If that is the intention here then bravo.

Either way it's a well-made movie. Sad but true, as they say. Well-placed. Well-filmed. Well... everything but the ending... but only the ending before the one to come when all is said and done.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

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So strange to see the twin towers standing tall. And so rare to get a glimpse of office windows so close by in a movie that you can almost see the people behind them, and to get as intimate a street-side view of the city as you do here. Of New York. HQ of the land of the free, but not really.

Rare with Country music in both intro and outro too, like this was more a Western than a Crime movie.

It's a movie from the time bad guys couldn't win, I thought. But maybe it was just a time when black guys still couldn't be the heroes.

It turned into an unexpectedly good movie nevertheless! The views. The grit. Robert Ginty out for vengeance, as a Charles Bronson-type vigilante, with mercury bullets and burner. It feels pretty real! The beheading at the start of the film took me by surprise too. The burnt-out corpse as well. Some bits seem stereotypical but some surprise you.

Hope all went well, in the end, but as a trademark of a good movie you don't know for sure...

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

Judge a movie by its catchphrase maybe? This one: Fast, Furious and Fatal.

It's a TV movie. A story about a ghost car, two racers - rivals, and one unfortunate crash...

It's not a bad movie, though it starts better than it ends. I get reeled in then. The gore looks real. The characters feel real. The little town seems like a real place. The conversations get serious. But it goes on a little too long, the twists become predictable, Cutter's threat level sinks and I'm left... somewhat satisfied but not entirely.

Reminds me of that other movie with the real ghost car that really was really good (Knight Rider?)! And I wouldn't mind more made on this same theme, but this... hmm. It was alright.

 rated 3/5: not bad