Rob-B-Hood (2006) - Director: Benny Chan

A highlight of my recent time in Cambodia was visiting Cambodian DVD outlets. Every movie is pirated, but these are not your crappy, home-burnt DVDs with ink-jet printed covers. Cambodian DVDs come factory-pressed in fantastic packaging, often looking far better than the legit releases available in the UK. Not only that, but the average price for a movie is US$2.

Yep, two bucks for the latest movies on factory-pressed DVD. That's about one English pound.

So I bought one or two...

One of which was the latest Jackie Chan movie, Rob-B-Hood, a uniquely Cambodian DVD which incorporates the image from the Mainland China DVD release (Mandarin dub, no English subs) but also offers a Cantonese soundtrack (recorded in a cinema! You can hear the audience laughing at the jokes!) and the option of English subtitles.

The subtitles are the worst "Chinglish" I have ever read, and actually disappear for several sections of the film, but still... at least they tried.

Okay, so Rob-B-Hood is all about a group of small-time crooks who are persuaded to kidnap a baby on behalf of some kind of rich, amusement park-owning(!) crime lord. The crooks are Jackie Chan (looking increasingly strange), Louis Koo and Michael Hui (looking his age). It seems pretty clear that these roles were originally intended to be played by Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung, and it's a shame this didn't happen. Still, Yuen Biao turns up a supporting role and still looks fit and able, so here's hoping a reunion of the three might still happen.

There's some good comedy in this film. It's refreshing to see Jackie Chan make a proper Hong Kong movie, aimed squarly at the local audience, instead of boring us to death with his would-be epics or international globe-trotting extravaganzas. His performance here is so much more natural and convincing than the overwrought wailings of New Police Story, and he seems to be in better shape physically too. The film is not as action-packed as some viewers might hope, but the final fight scene shows Jackie in good form with none of the stodgy movements or floaty wire-assisted jumps that have become the norm in his last few movies. There's even a sly nod to the original Police Story at one point.

Having said that, the choreography overall is not up to Jackie's usual standard, and he seems to be operating slightly on autopilot.

Overall, this is a film that hardcore Jackie fans who remember his stuff from the 80's will get the most out of. Those up you who can happily slog through Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars in order to get to the magic of the fight scenes will find Rob-B-Hood very entertaining.

Casino Royale (2006) - Director: Martin Campbell

We all know and love those spoof Orange mobile phone adverts that play in cinemas. You know the ones - a bunch of mobile phone-obsessed film producers suggest ridiculous ways in which phones can be inserted into the movie scripts that celebrities pitch to them.

Well in Casino Royale, we actually get to see what would happen if these people made a Bond flick.

Nigh on EVERY plot point involves somebody calling, texting or e-mailing by mobile phone, in glorious close-up, repeatedly. And when Bond isn't texting people, he's using the in-built sat nav on his mobile in order to find his hotel (how did Roger Moore et al survive without one?).

The nauseating product-placement continues with Sony Viao laptops also used in every other scene. The only saving grace is that, despite the lingering close-ups, I came away still not sure what make of mobile phone was being shilled. So screw you, phone shillers.

This gripe aside, Casino Royale is indeed a good movie, though not as awe-inspiring as some seem to insist. The action scenes are good but overlong, and I seem to be alone in the opinion that the finale is limp and mis-judged. I hate films that don't have a proper ending, it all seems like yet more desperation to squeeze cash from the viewers by forcing us to see the sequel whether we wanted to or not (see also: Pirates Of The Caribbean 2).

Daniel Craig is good, far, far, far, FAR better than Brosnan ever had any hope of being. Poor old Brosnan tried in vain to get the producers to bring more emotional weight to the role of James Bond, sadly never realising that he is simply a lightweight actor and never could have brought to the role what Daniel Craig does. Craig is excellent, though it's annoying that amidst all the great reviews he is getting, everyone forgets that Timothy Dalton also brought a convincing, icy coolness to Bond which everyone hated at the time.

The other actors are all convincing, the stunts are good (no awful CGI here) and I even quite liked the song and opening titles, which others seem to feel were a low point.

So all-in-all, product placement: bad, most other things: good. And good riddance to Brosnan and the awful, vacuous Bond films that surrounded him. At least Roger Moore had charisma.

Soul Searcher (2005) - Director: Neil Oseman

If every low budget DV movie looked and sounded like this, the world of low budget DV movie reviewing would be a richer place. This film is simply an incredible achievement, and an indication of what a little money, a lot of imagination, and a huge amount of tenacity can achieve.

Although saying that, there's nothing quite as entertaining in it as the "sliding down the hill on bits of cardboard" scene from Neil's previous film, The Beacon, which is frankly a work of genius. The SCENE, not the FILM.

Fortunately Neil's storytelling skills have come on in leaps and bounds since his last feature, and though whilst Soul Searcher is occasionally confusing and illogical, the characters win over the story and keep things bubbling along nicely. The actors are all very appealing, though occasionally I find the performances slightly lacking in energy (probably scenes that were filmed at 4am after the cast and crew had been awake for 48 continuous hours!).

The special effects are magnificent. I share Neil's passion for the fantasy movies of the 1980's and his desire to avoid CGI effects at all costs, and I enjoyed his featurette on how the effects were achieved probably more than the film itself, reminding me as it did of the fascinating "making of" programmes I used to lap up in the 80's. The only shame is that a lot of the effects actually do LOOK like they are computer generated, despite the fact that they aren't!

The orchestral score is superb, although mixed just a tad too loud in my opinion. I'm not keen on the choice of songs though, this is a visually beautiful and occasionally romantic movie, and the last thing I want to hear in these circumstances is some off-key punk songs (and certainly not this many of them!).

I recommend anyone with an interest in film-making to check out Soul Searcher immediately. It's a reminder to us all that just because a film is low-budget and shot on mini-DV cameras, it doesn't have to look and sound like it if you are prepared to make the effort.  

Star Wars Episode 3 - Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

It's been a while since any new movie release has motivated me to write a review here. I felt The Medallion was unjustly mauled by the critics (okay, it wasn't brilliant, but it seems it was the last time we'll see Jackie Chan fighting with anything like the speed of his younger years), and I feel the reverse is true of the latest Star Wars release.

I am truly amazed by the number of critics who hailed it "a return to form" for George Lucas, or at least "the best of the prequels", which isn't saying much, but also isn't true. So bad was Revenge Of The Sith, it had me yearning for the good old days of The Phantom Menace, which at least had one decent lightsaber fight going for it.

By any standards, this film is just bad. The script is poor and badly paced, the acting is in many scenes atrocious, with actors sounding like they are literally reading the lines off a card without any idea what they mean, and the constant barrage of CG special effects is simply tedious.

The first two hours seem to pass with nothing of any note happening, except for a horrific scene in which Natalie Portman appears looking positively skeletal, despite the obvious best efforts of the make-up department. Couldn't old George have CGI'd some flesh onto her bones? Obi Wan chases around after pointless CGI bad guy General Grevious, who doesn't seem to really do anything at all before being shot and killed, and Anakin wavers about whether or not to turn to the Dark Side (he finally makes the decision to go bad in the space of ten seconds and for no reason at all).

Then in the final ten minutes or so, some stuff actually happens which leads us to where the first proper Star Wars film begins, but I was nodding off by this point and didn't care too much. I must admit, the final shot of Tatooine and its two suns/moons/whatever they are did bring a lump to my throat, but it was more a yearning to go and watch the original trilogy in its unadulterated form, which thanks to Lucas, I can't do.

Anyone out there got a DVD boot of the original laserdisc release?

The Medallion (2003)     Director: Gordon Chan     Cast: Jackie Chan, Lee Evans

No amount of horrible reviews will stop me from catching the latest Jackie Chan film on its opening night, and The Medallion was no exception. I couldn't believe it could be truly deserving of all the scorn that has been heaped upon it, and to a certain degree I think I was right.

The first ten minutes or so of The Medallion are great; I sat transfixed, wondering what everyone was complaining about, as Chan leaped around as athletically as ever whilst Evans and his team of British cops humorously bungled a raid on a temple. The movie looked slick and expensive, the camera-work was fantastic, the action was spectacular (and Jude Poyer, good friend of Phoenix-i Productions, is very visible as one of the main fighting henchmen).

The next set-piece took place on a ship, and again the action was fantastic, but here the dialogue had clearly been dubbed into English (presumably at the behest of the American distributors, despite the fact that it was only a couple of very short lines and subtitles would have looked much less tacky).

But sadly tackiness then becomes the order of the day, as the film changes locale to Dublin and the direction goes completely out of the window. For the next few scenes we are treated to a selection of bizarre sub-Carry On gags, with Lee Evans suddenly hamming it up in a manner that makes Kenneth Williams look restrained, and Jackie Chan looking uncomfortable and even nervous during his scenes with Claire Forlani.

The stand-out action scene has Chan running through the streets of Dublin in chase of a cockney villain (there seem to be no actual Irish people in this part of Dublin), pausing every few seconds to glide effortlessly into the air and over the top of obstacles such as walls, cars and even buses. I think it is this scene that has prompted many critics to announce that Chan is over the hill, as he blatently uses wires for every single stunt, including several basic tasks like running along a wall or hopping over a bicycle. I hated this scene, but I don't think it signifies the end of Chan's stunt performing days. I rather think that the use of wires here was a stylistic decision.

Jackie Chan and his stunt team are experts in the art of using wires to assist their action scenes, and many times in the past wires have been used invisibly to add an extra zing to a movement. In The Medallion (and just to clarify, in this scene Chan's character has not yet acquired super-human powers from the Medallion) Chan flies into the air and glides back down to earth in a most unconvincing manner, and I cannot believe that his stunt team were incapable of making these wire-assisted leaps look more realistic, had they wanted to.

The action goes steadily downhill from there, culminating in a final fight scene that lasts all of three seconds (Claire Forlani's character actually has a longer end fight than Chan!), but action scenes and clumsy comedy aside, the film isn't a total disaster zone. Quite a few sequences work very well, and the whole thing moves so quickly that just as you are groaning from one lame gag, two genuinely funny ones have already put the smile back on your face. Also, as with any proper Jackie Chan film (i.e. one that is produced in Hong Kong) there are plenty of magic moments involving Chan pulling off one of his trademark moves, like squeezing through an impossibly small gap or running up a sheer wall.

The Medallion has received virtually nill publicity for its UK release, so the only people likely to see it in cinemas will be die-hard Jackie Chan fans. I place myself in that category, and despite all its weaknesses, I kind of enjoyed The Medallion. I'd put it about on a par with Chan's Mr Nice Guy, one of his weaker efforts from the 90's. Despite a total absence of plot and a terrible ending, Mr Nice Guy had its moments, and the same can be said of The Medallion.