Director: Gareth Evans
Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian
Country: Indonesia
Rating: R
Run Time: 112 min
Before Gareth Evans exploded onto the martial arts movie scene with 2011's The Raid, he actually made his arrival with 2009's under seen Merantau, a fairly solid martial arts drama that began his partnership with actor/star Iko Uwais. Merantau is more or less an origin tale of Evans and Uwais' dominance of the action genre. It showcases Evans' ability to direct and shoot affective and bone crunching action scenes on a low budget as well as Uwais' ability to perform Silat, an Indonesian martial arts style. Unfortunately, as with lots of low budget or debut pictures, the story fails to draw the viewer in and loads of heavy handed emotions plague an other wise hard hitting martial arts fest. Still, if you bleed for martial arts the way I do, you'd be cheating yourself if you ignored Evans and Uwais' first true action film, even if its leaps and bounds away from the masterpieces that are The Raid pictures.
Merantau makes darn sure you know what "merantau" means within the first five or so minutes. In Minangabau culture, an Indigenous group within Indonesia, young men must undergo a tradition in which they leave their families in order to go out into the world to become "men." Yuda (Iko Uwais), is the young man of the story who does exactly this, going into the big city in order to become a man and teach Silat style to the people of Indonesia. However, he quickly becomes involved in a human trafficking scheme when he rescues a girl from some gangsters, only to earn the entire gang's chagrin and hatred. Before he knows it, Yuda must go full blown "merantau" and use his trusty Silat fighting moves in order to fight off hordes of henchmen and gangsters in order to free a group of imprisoned women.
The plot of Evans' debut film is a well worn trope of modern Eastern martial arts cinema, as seen most notably within 2003's Ong Bak, Ton Jaa's Thai breakout success. Whereas Ong Bak introduced viewers to the Muay Thai fighting style, Merantau exposes Silat, which in my opinion, is an even more brutal and impressive style. Both films are extremely similar to one another, as each tells the story of a country boy who goes into the big city only to fight off gangsters and thugs on their way to manhood and maturity. It's a reliable plot to base an action film around, as it allows the viewer to root for the under dog as they undergo a mission to fight for honor and manhood. Everybody loves to root for the little guy after all.
 |
| Uwais brings the pain with a pair of steel poles. |
However, the narrative fails to draw the viewer in because it quickly settles into a groove as soon as Uwais goes full "merantau", as I like to refer to it, on his enemies. It's unfortunate that Evans wasn't able to shake up the story a tad more than this, because Uwais simply goes from scene to scene beating up people. There are some slightly affective scenes of honor amongst men amidst the plot, most notably in the conclusion to fight between Uwais and other breakout star Yayan Ruhian, but Merantau never amounts to being more than a one note picture. Even The Raid, which has an equally basic plot, is far more engaging due to how visceral and affective its action scenes are, especially when tossed in with the film's claustrophobic atmosphere and themes of brotherhood.
Other flaws that hold the picture back include Evans' failure to move the film along at a steady pace, as nearly every scene runs for longer than necessary. He constantly finds himself treading over the same thematic ground to the point where it feels obnoxious. Yuda's parents love him, we get it. Human trafficking is bad, we get it. Also, Evans seems only able to conjure heavy handed emotions in most of his scenes, which results in a painfully melodramatic film lacking any kind of subtlety or nuance. This over the top nature can be seen strongly within the film's main villain, who could easily take the award for the most over the top villain performance of all time. In fact, many of Evan's villains, including the ones found within the Raid films, tend to be unrealistic and bombastic beyond belief. On a side note, all of his heroes, who are all played by Uwais, are soft spoken do-gooders. Go figure.
Thankfully, Merantau establishes the brutal knee kicking and arm snapping action that Evans and Uwais have come to perfect. While practically every fight is impressive from a technical stand point, especially given the low budget nature of the film, there's very little variety here. Uwais is constantly punching and kicking his way through guys, and that's about it. Beyond that, there aren't very many unique set ups, besides the roof top chase which leads to a crazy bamboo pole stunt and an on the ground motorcycle chase that results in a cool towel clothesline. However, I can't deny how awesome Uwais' fight is against a group of gangsters atop a steel container. It's so brutal and packed with numerous beat downs and kills that it will make any action fan cringe and holler. The very final fight, while far from great, is fun to watch because it pits Uwais against two white guys, which should remind martial arts fans of the kind of opponents Jackie Chan or Donnie Yen went up against in the 80s. Overall though, the film showcases Evans' knack to build music to the dramatic climax of his fights, a stylistic choice that has remained consistent with his composers throughout his films.
After only three pictures in together, Evans and Uwais have proven themselves to be the greatest director/actor duo currently working in action cinema, next to Wilson Yip/Donnie Yen (Ip Man Trilogy) and Isaac Florentine/Scott Adkins (Undisputed DTV sequels). While a far cry from the greatness that is the Raid films, Merantau is a very solid, albeit evidently flawed martial arts picture that matches Ong Bak and other Eastern martial arts films beat for beat and punch for punch. Whereas the very similar Ong Bak may have a slightly better story, Merantau excels due to Evans' skill as a director. At the end of the day, I appreciate Merantau and felt happy for Iko Uwais and Yuyan Ruhian simply because there is no way the two of them could have thought that they would go from this small independent film all the way to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Anyways, enjoy the film as an introduction to a group of storytellers and entertainers who have only gotten better with time.
Rating: 5/10 - Lays the groundwork for better work from two of martial arts greatest voices. Also notable for introducing viewers to Yayan Ruhian, the other lynchpin of Evan's filmography.
Director: Tom Dey
Cast: Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Lucy Liu, Xander Berkely
Country: United States / Hong Kong
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 110 min
When most people think of Jackie Chan and his American film career, the Rush Hour series is always the one that pops up. The films were hugely successful in confirming martial arts as a mainstream American entertainment and stand as Chan's most successful films, with Rush Hour 2 still standing as the most financially successful martial arts film of all time. It also established Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as one of the greatest buddy pairings in all of cinema. However, Chan starred in a pair of other fairly successful and well received martial arts comedies, the Shanghai films, which were released around the same time and were more or less the same thing as the Rush Hour films, but set in the American West. The first film, Shanghai Noon, was released two years after the first Rush Hour and at the dawn of the new century. In a nut shell, the film offers up nothing more than a lesser story, lesser buddy pairing, lesser jokes, and new action scenes in comparison to the much greater Rush Hour. That being said, Shanghai Noon is still solid early 2000s action entertainment, especially with Chan at the top of his game and comedian Owen Wilson firing on all cylinders.
Shanghai Noon throws together a serviceable enough plot in order to pair up two unlikely people of different nationalities and backgrounds in order to offer up both laughs and thrills. Chon Wang (Jackie Chan), a Chinese Imperial Guard, accompanies his Uncle from China to the American West in order to retrieve the captive Chinese Princess Pei-Pei (Lucy Liu). As the men travel by train, a group of bandits led by the dashing Roy O'Bannon (Owen Wilson) board the train to steal everyone's money. Amongst all of the mayhem, one of O'Bannon's men murders Wang's uncle, prompting all kinds of madness. Wang than sets out to avenge his uncle (sort of) and rescue the princess (sort of) with the help of the lost and troublesome O'Bannon. The two certainly aren't Carter and Lee, but Wang and O'Bannon are a fun pair indeed.
As someone who was born in 1992, it's worth mentioning that Shanghai Noon, and its sequel, were some of my favorite movies to watch repeatedly as a child on DVD. In fact, I watched the exact same DVD's that I watched as a kid for this review. Both Shanghai films, along with the Indiana Jones films and Martin Campbell's Mark of Zorro were hugely important in establishing my love for action cinema and even high adventure. Shanghai Noon was also important in that it was my very first exposure to both martial arts and Jackie Chan. I can't imagine my life without either of those things, as Chan and his signature martial arts style that conveys comedy through props and unbelievable stunt work is one of the greatest pleasures that one can discover within their life time. It's honestly perfect that Shanghai Noon was my first introduction to martial arts, as the film is already an East meets West story where martial arts collides with familiar Western tropes and stereotypes. Therefore, let me tip my hat to Jackie Chan for making my childhood that much more interesting and exciting.
 |
| Wang and O'Bannon, a suitable replacement to Rush Hour's Carter and Lee. |
Unfortunately, Shanghai Noon doesn't hold up as well as my childhood would remember it. After a fun and exciting start set upon a train, the film slows to an unfortunate halt for the entire second act, as poorly written jokes take over the picture and Owen Wilson vanishes for a long period of time, nearly depriving the film of its buddy pairing for far too long. The second act is occupied by nothing but obstacles, ranging from semi-helpful Native Americans to even skirmishes with corrupt law men. However, it never feels as if the story is progressing or if the characters are making progress on their way to rescuing the princess, whose own captive situation never feels fully explained. Even O'Bannon's involvement in the entire ordeal doesn't feel justified or explained well enough, as if he pairs along only because their has to be a buddy pairing.
However, the film's humor is what really adds insult to injury. Unlike the Rush Hour series, which develops much of its humor from the relationship and interaction between Chan and Tucker, Shanghai Noon relies heavily upon cheap jokes based around inter textual references, stereotypes, and cliches. For example, take a look at Jackie Chan's character name, Chon Wang. Ya know, like John Wayne. Oh boy. Even the main law man villain played by Taken's Xander Berkeley is named Nathan Van Cleef. Van Cleef? Come on guys! However, the very final joke of the picture is the one that feels the laziest, as Roy reveals that his real name is in fact Wyatt Earp, to which Chon replies, "That's a terrible name!" These jokes are so obvious and poorly written that they actually hurt when you hear them. It is for lame jokes like these, along with all of the racist and offensive Native American jokes, that bring Shanghai Noon several notches down the action rating scale.
Thankfully, all of the action in the film is uniformly solid, with somewhat exciting choreography and consistent framing. In the DVD bonus features, one can clearly see Chan take full control of the action scenes, from both a choreography and directing stand point. Even the film's main director, Tom Dey, stands to the side and lets Chan take over, proving that Chan is arguably one of the most filmmaker focused actors to grace the silver screen. Memorable action set pieces range from an exciting foot chase upon a train, to a classic bar room brawl, to a martial arts smack down inside of a church. The inciting incident set upon the train is arguably the most exciting, dramatic, and thrilling of all of the film's set pieces. It's also filled with several impressive action shots which were clearly done with practical effects, such as a great shot in which an actual bank vault is blown out the side of a moving train and into a river. Unfortunately, none of the rest of the film's action can match the highs established here, even though it's all fun and games from start to finish despite my criticism.
All in all though, Shanghai Noon is a fun and very watchable nostalgic picture that will remind viewers of the time when Hollywood threw martial arts a bone and based many of their pictures around said stars and genre conventions. It's also a fun reminder of the mid-budget picture, something that has nearly vanished into today's day and age of massive budget blockbusters. Both Chan and Wilson are thoroughly entertaining to watch throughout too. It's just a shame that they have to work with this script and throwaway director Tom Dey. If these two were assigned to a better script or even a tighter director, Shanghai Noon easily could have matched Rush Hour step for step.
Rating: 6/10 - An undeniably fun and competent martial arts comedy plagued by cheap jokes and a weak second act. Redeemed by a fun soundtrack and Chan's ever lovable presence.
Director: David Dobkin
Cast: Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, Aiden Gillen, Donnie Yen, Aaron Johnson
Country: United States / United Kingdom
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 114 min
Whereas Shanghai Noon took place in the American West, the second one, aptly titled Shanghai Knights, takes place in late 1800s England. Therefore, that means lots of jokes about British people and action sequences orchestrated around British locales, such as Big Ben. In all honesty, Shanghai Knights is very much the same as the original. It was made for around the same budget and offers up the same kind of laughs and thrills. However, what makes the sequel that much better than the original is how much more magnetic its dual villains are and how inventive and dramatic some of its action sequences are. There's still loads of poorly written humor, an all around lack of a narrative through line, and some odd character decisions, but where Shanghai Knights fails narratively it makes up for in spectacle and high adventure.
The film's plot kicks off when Chon Wang's dad is killed by Lord Rathbone (Aiden Gillen), a member of British Royalty, in order to obtain the Chinese Imperial Seal and to transfer it to Wu Chow (Donnie Yen), a man who hopes to unite China's enemies with the Seal. In return, Wu Chow will murder all of Britain's royalty in order to place Rathbone at the top of the throne. I don't know about you guys, but I love a pair of delightfully motivated villains like these with a clear plan in mind. By the way, poor Chon Wang's life sucks. First his Uncle dies, and now his dad! Oh well. Anyways, Wang re-teams up with O'Bannon once again, and for a lesser reason than the last time, in order to go to England in order to retrieve the Imperial Seal.
Although I did not mention it in my review for Shanghai Noon, I absolutely adore the sweeping score by Randy Edelman for these films. It's adventurous, heroic, epic, a tad menacing, and lots of fun. Highlights include the Western influenced main theme for the picture itself, but also the small guitar centric theme that represents Wang and O'Bannon's friendship itself. I also love the highly dramatic music at the end of Wang and Rathbone's fight. All in all, despite Shanghai Knights shortcomings, its score is one of its saving graces and greatest assets.
 |
| They're back! And this time with Wang's sister. |
As I stated before, Shanghai Knights offers up just about the same experience as the original film. It still suffers from the same flaws unfortunately, such as a short attention span (the film is constantly jumping from scene to scene), weak humor (Charlie Chaplin? Sherlock Holmes? Oh boy), and an all around sense of repetitiveness. You've been here and done this before, just not in England and with this plot exactly. However, Shanghai Knights makes up for its flaws thanks to a greater variety of action scenes and two absolutely diabolical villains who make the film far more watchable than it deserves to be. Although there is an all around higher sense of energy to be found in the action, it unfortunately falters due to some cartoonish sound effects that undercut the action's effectiveness and makes them more overtly comedic than necessary.
Still, even though the action fails to reach the heights of Chan's Hong Kong work, there are a few fights and moments that represent why Chan is truly the greatest screen fighter, especially within the final fight against Aiden Gillen's character where Chan repeatedly has his ass handed to him, only to win through his perseverance and persistence. The entire final climax is absolutely thrilling and even a little dramatic too. Gillen, or possibly his stunt double, showcases some incredible swordsmanship in this scene, proving to be one of Chan's most formidable foes in all of his American work.
And how about Gillen's performance, as well as co-villain Wu Chow portrayed by Ip Man's own Donnie Yen? Without these two titans of performance, Shanghai Knights would be simply as watchable as Shanghai Noon. And yet, Gillens' scenery chewing and full commitment paired with Yen's legendary martial arts abilities makes them two compulsively watchable villains, which thereby results in a far more watchable film. Besides, Shanghai Noon's villains were wet blankets in comparison to these two guys. The film also offers up one of the most anticipated match ups of all time, Jackie Chan versus Donnie Yen, although the fight fails to be as impressive as it should have been. These are two of the all time greatest Hong Kong martial arts performers, and here they meet for the first time within an American production? Quite odd. Anyways, Gillen and Yen form a bad ass pair of villains, sort of the way how The Expendables 2's villains, portrayed by Jean-Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins, made that film all the more watchable.
In conclusion, Shanghai Knights is Shanghai Noon done all over again but set within a different country and with a different pair of villains. Although simply more of the same, the sequel has a slight edge over its predecessor. You've most likely seen this sequel already if you've already seen Shanghai Noon, but if not, I recommend watching both of them, especially on a sick day when you don't want to use your brain at all, challenge yourself, or are tired of watching the Rush Hour movies.
Rating: 7/10 - I may be nostalgically biased, but Shanghai Knights is a fun filled time for an American martial arts film, thanks mostly to its stellar action scenes and a fantastic pair of villains.
No comments:
Post a Comment