Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon review

 Number 401 on the top 1000 films of all time is Ang Lee's 2000 wuxia film 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.'

Set in Qing Dynasty China, Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat) is a renowned swordsman who owns the legendary 'Green Destiny' sword. One of his closest friends Yu Shu Lien(Michelle Yeoh) is a similarly talented warrior who is tasked with delivering the sword to Li's benefactor Sir Te. But the sword is stolen in the night by a masked thief. Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu work to recover the sword while working through their previously unrealised feelings for each other.

I found 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' to be a confused film uncertain of its own identity. At times, it seemed like it wanted to be a classic wuxia film with physics-breaking, brilliantly-choregraphed martial art sequences. But at others it tried to be a Western love story focussing on Mu-Bai and Shu-Lien. Shu-Lien was previously engaged to Mu-Bai's friend Meng Sizhao before his untimely death. Out of respect, the two hide their feelings for one another.

This film was made specifically for a Western audience, so perhaps that was the reason for the cloying love story that was never ever fully realised. If it had been made with an Eastern audience in mind, then I think this love story could have been better portrayed. Instead, we were left with great martial art sequences punctuated with verbose, hammy dialogue. I watched this film with subtitles, so I can't even say this was a bad translations, as Ang Lee oversaw the subtitling himself, as he wanted to get the most accurate interpretation possible.

Also, the identity of the masked thief was obvious from the start. If you didn't figure it out in the first five minutes, I won't spoil it here, but that definitely hurt the dramatic tension.

Reportedly, Ang Lee described the film as Sense & Sensibility with martial arts. He also directed this film, which may explain why I wasn't a fan of either.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within review

 Number 206 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Brazilian crime-drama 'Elite Squad: the Enemy Within.'

Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Nascimento (Wagner Mourra) is in charge of quelling a riot at the notorious Bangu prison. However, when his efforts to regain control end in disaster. The rioters die, and he is at risk of losing his job. But when the state secretary of Rio De Janeiro realises that Nascimento has become a folk-hero to the public, he instead promotes him to become a high-ranking intelligence officer. But there Nascimento quickly discovers the true corruption of the justice system.

Elite Squad was penned by Braulio Mantovani who also wrote City of God. And the similarities are apparent from the stark, gritty depiction of violence to the engrossing narration to a shared cast: Seu Jorge appeared as the prison-gang leader here and as Knockout Ned in City of God. In this sense, Elite Squad is just as good as City of God, and many of my readers know this is one of my favourite films ever.

Elite Squad has also been compared with HBO's hit TV series 'The Wire.' The comparison is easy to see. Whereas the first Elite Squad focussed on drug dealers and the gangs themselves, its sequel instead concentrated on the corrupt justice system that governs over these gangs. Or rather how it's supposed to govern over these gangs, but instead feeds the self-serving, corrupt politicians. It peels back another layer of an inherently flawed system.

The characters are great with returning favourites from its predecessor like Nascimento's former protege Mathias and the morally corrupt Fabio, but also morally-depraved officers like Major Rocha who soon forms a militia extorting the residents of the Favela. He was a truly despicable character, but, sadly, there are many power-hungry men like this in the world.

However, this film wasn't quite as cohesive as its predecessor. There is a four-year time jump that is quite disjointed - in this time, it is implied that Nascimento has divorced from his wife who has gone onto marry the liberal, human-rights activist and legislator Varga. This relationship was rushed and could have used more grounding.

My second criticism, which also applied to its predecessor, was that Mourra was criminally under-used. Sure, he narrates the film with his trade-mark charisma, but he doesn't appear on screen enough. This is only diluted by how he has been removed from the front lines and relegated to an office. The film seemed more interested on focussing on Varga and the corrupt officials governing Rio. Sadly, and this was of no fault of Mourra, but Nascimento largely faded into the background, when he should have been the star.

That notwithstanding, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within was still a terrific if uncomfortable watch.

Roman Holiday review

 Number 230 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1953 romantic-comedy Roman Holiday.

Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) is just completing her European tour in Rome. Sick of her diplomatic assignments she runs away for a night of fun. Enter hard-nosed journalist Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) who has been tasked with getting an exclusive interview with the princess but ends up falling in love with her.

Some have labelled Roman Holiday as one of the most romantic films of all time. I did enjoy it a lot, but I wouldn't go that far. I don't think there was enough conflict or tension running through the film. We see Ann and Joe scootering around Rome in a love-filled daze until it inevitably comes crashing down at the film's conclusion. But it might have been nice to see more worry and doubt throughout the film. We certainly saw the highs, but we also should have seen the lows. We needed that contrast.

Character-driven films like these rely on the strength of their two leads. And Hepburn and Peck were both good considering this was Hepburn's breakout role and Peck's first foray into comedy. He did very well with the comedy especially the physical comedy. At times the comedy descended into farce and incredulity, particularly the fight scene on the boat. Although perhaps I am unfairly judging it from my modern-standard. 

But there were still plenty of great supporting characters like Bradley's photographer friend Irving, Bradley's boss and all the small Italian roles especially the taxi driver at the film's beginning.

Is Roman Holiday an entertaining, fun romantic comedy? Yes. Is it one of the best romances of all time? No.

The Pursuit of Happyness review

Number 394 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2006 biographical drama 'The Pursuit of Happyness.'

Based on the true story, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) is a down-on-his-luck salesman. Seeing an opportunity to save himself and his son Christopher (Jaden Smith) from homelessness, he enrolls in a stock-broking internship. But the journey proves a lot harder than he ever thought it would be.

I must have first watched this film over ten years ago before revisiting it for this challenge. And it still remains absolutely brilliant. It is inspirational, but heart-breaking. It is poignant, but never overly-sentimental or cheesy. In many ways, it is the American Dream in action. Chris Gardener starts at rock-bottom, but through determination and hard work, he makes a true success of himself. For some, the American Dream is purely just that, but for Gardener this dream became reality.

Will Smith was absolutely fantastic. This was the first time that I really took notice of him as a dramatic actor, and he was well-deserving of the Best Actor nomination. After he and his son are evicted from their motel, they spend a night in a public bathroom with the door barricaded shut. When a cleaner tries entering, Christopher locks the door and silently breaks down. Ten years later, this scene still brought tears to my eyes. I don't cry often at films, but this was a true exception. Beyond that, Smith turned Gardener into a well-rounded and passionate character. To succeed as a stock-broker, Gardener is told that he needs to be good with numbers and good people. And Gardener is certainly a charismatic character.

Jaden Smith, Will Smith's real-life son, was also very impressive. He was only five-years-old, but he brought a different element. We saw the stresses of poverty through the eyes of a child. Christopher Jr doesn't understand why he can't go back into the motel room after being evicted. He doesn't understand why he has to sleep in a homeless shelter. 

And this confusion and pain was equally heart-breaking to watch. But Jaden also provided so much humour to what could have been such depressing and hard-going film. He was just as charismatic as his father. And the two of them had great chemistry, which wouldn't be surprising considering they are father and son. However, the two of them have appeared together in subsequent films which have been less than well-received.

I've been speaking a lot about the men, but I cannot forget Thandie Newton who plays Chris's over-worked wife Linda. She has to work two jobs to cover Chris' lack of income. This stress eventually leads to her breaking down and leaving her family. Although I wasn't entirely clear on why her son had to stay with Chris, and not go with her, Thandie Newton also excelled in this role. She was one of the most sympathetic characters in this film; constantly trying to fix an inherently broken marriage that cannot be fixed.

The Pursuit of Happyness was such a great watch. In one second it will be knocking you to the ground, but the next it will be picking you back up. And just remember what Chris Gardener tells his son: "don't ever let anybody tell you that you can't do something."

Beverly Hills Cop review

 Number 996 on the top 1000 films of all time is the buddy cop action drama 'Beverly Hills Cop.'

Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is a street-smart Detroit cop whose childhood best friend is mysteriously killed. Aiming to uncover the mystery, Foley travels to Beverly Hills where he comes up against formidable art gallery owner Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff.)

Eddie Murphy was a great comedy actor. He really carried this film and made it something more than your average buddy cop film. He easily displayed his versatility through his physical and verbal comedy. Axel Foley was a likeable and charismatic protagonist. A smart-talking cop is hardly a new trope, but Murphy kept the role nice and fresh. This was a fun and a light-hearted watch.

But Eddie Murphy wasn't the only actor in this, as the rest of the cast were also great. While in Beverly Hills, he receives help from police detective Billy (Judge Reinhold) and police sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton.) These two actors worked well together helping to provide a lot of the film's humour, but also a lot of heart. Initially, they begin as adversaries of Axel, with instructions from their superiors to keep him out of the way, but eventually they become allies. Both of them receive strict dressing-downs from their lieutenant, but this doesn't stop them from doing the right thing.

And Steven Berkoff as the villainous Victor Maitland also shone. He was very convincing as the villain. As I guess would be the standard of the buddy cop films of the time, this was definitely a bit of a boy's film. Consequently some of the female characters like Jenny (Lisa Eilbacher) - another old friend of Axel's - felt very short-changed.

Finally, we have to mention the film's brilliant soundtrack. Populated with the best of eighties music, it deservingly won the Grammy for best score. Of course, it also featured the Axel F song itself which went onto become one of the most annoyingly catchy songs of the 2000's.

This film appears very far down on the list. It was definitely good for what it was - a heartfelt, but very funny buddy cop drama with a great score, but I can understand why it was so low-placed. Beverly Hills Cop might have laid the groundwork, but I think it's been surpassed by many other films.

The Talented Mr Ripley review

Number 985 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1999 psychological thriller 'The Talented Mr Ripley.'

Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is sent from New York to Italy to bring the spoiled playboy Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) back home. However, this seemingly simple task proves to be much more difficult than originally foretold, and soon takes a dark turn. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Greenleaf's girlfriend Marge Sherwood and Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Greenleaf's best friend Freddie Miles.

This was a very convincing thriller. It was tense, gripping and had high suspense throughout. But it was also marked by such a great subtext. Although it wasn't directly addressed, I wonder, in Ripley's attempts to convince Greenleaf to return home, he starts to fall in love with him. Greenleaf is your run-of-the-mill playboy - charismatic, playful, but incredibly spoiled. Jude Law brought a brilliant chaotic energy to the role. 

Matt Damon was equally good as Ripley. This film came out in '99, so this was before Damon had really made a name for himself. But you could see his potential. This subtext gave the film a completely different layer. Maybe I'm reading too much into it - I don't know whether this was intentional or not, but it really worked.

Damon played Ripley very well. I think it would be overly-simplistic to describe Ripley as a psychopathic serial killer. He is a far more nuanced character than that. And Damon brought this nuance to the fore. I don't think Ripley necessarily causes bad situations to happen, but, rather, he positions himself to best take advantage of these situations. And that's what made him such an interesting character.

I also very much enjoyed Philip Seymour Hoffman. He is good in everything he does, and this film was no exception. Freddie Miles absolutely despises Tom Ripley and Hoffman plays this contempt with aplomb. He is sleazy, arrogant and nasty. RIP Hoffman. He was an actor taken from us far too soon.

The Talented Mr Ripley was a great thriller with some convincing performances. Hoffman might have just been playing a supporting character, but he surely stole the show.

Kung Fu Panda 2 review

 Number 962 on the top 1000 films of all time is John Stevenson's sequel to the original 2008 animated wuxia film Kung Fu Panda.

Po (Jack Black) now a respected Kung Fu master is called upon to defeat the peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman.) Lord Shen aims to dominate ancient China by using the newly-discovered gunpowder as a weapon. This could spell the end of Kung Fu. Meanwhile, Po starts to learn more about this mysterious past.

What can I say about this film which I haven't said about its predecessor? The animation was gorgeous. And the score was superior. Po remained a goofy yet sympathetic protagonist thanks to Jack Black's performance. James Hong, who plays Po's adoptive father Goose, was also great. As Po's adoptive father, he is very protective of his son. And he is naturally worried when Po goes off on his adventures. This concern was touching to see. One heart-twinging moment was when Po, just about to leave to defeat Lord Shen, reassures Goose that he'll be back before he can say noodles. As Po is leaving, Goose mumbles 'noodles' to himself. I'm not ashamed to say that I nearly cried.

Gar Oldman was also great as Lord Shen. He helped to bring the peacock to life with his borderline over-the-top performance, reminiscent of his villainous role in Leon the Professional. He made Lord Shen a far more memorable villain than Tai Hung.

John Stevenson also changed direction in this film choosing instead to take a darker tone. Nowhere is this more evident than when we learn more about Po's past of which I won't spoil here. Yet he also stayed close to the roots of kung fu films. From the wuxia films that I have seen, I have observed that they always champion the art and prowess behind kung fu. It is a source of national pride. Having this pride threatened with the invention of gunpowder, the tension and stakes went right through the roof.

Unfortunately, Kung Fu Panda 2 shares the same failures as its predecessor in its under-utilisation of its considerable cast. Despite starring in major kung fu films, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh were majorly neglected.

That notwithstanding, I did enjoy Kung Fu Panda 2. It holds the rare title of being just as good as its predecessor.