The real “winner of the day” was saved for last. One of the many joys of attending film festivals is that you can see films you've never heard of, experiencing something with fresh minds that can awaken your enthusiasm. This was the case with Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, which had its world premiere last night in Austin. The sequel to 2009's Ninja picks up where the first film left off. Casey (Scott Adkins) is now married to Namiko and living a happy life in Japan. Together they run the dojo, she's pregnant, he's carefree, it's clear that nothing bad will ever happen (okay, stop laughing). Of course, something goes wrong, and soon Namiko is brutally murdered in their own apartment, after which Casey sets out on a path of revenge that takes him to various places in Japan, Thailand and Burma. More to the point: Casey's attempts at revenge are simply an excuse so that Scott Adkins can "pummel" countless villains. (One of them, by the way, was played by the same actor who played Ryan Gosling's fierce adversary in the film God Forgives. Let's just say he had an easier time with Gosling.)
You might be guessing from the title that Ninja: Shadow of a Tear will be a middling movie with the typical B-movie holeiness of Dutch Gouda cheese. (Or Italian Provolone. Or... you know what? You can choose any brand of cheese you like.) Luckily for the film, this only increases the level of tension and interest. Before the session began, director Isaac Florentine emphasized that Ninja: Shadow of a Tear was done without the use of CGI or cables, and in this case, he did the right thing. Everything that happens in this film is most likely a high-quality production, but everything looks very realistic. Every blow struck, every blow taken, every throw is felt viscerally on an intuitive level, echoing through the speakers. In addition, Florentine refrains from doing something that most action directors overdo: minor cuts in editing. No, there are not so many long takes here, but all the fights are staged effectively, the viewer clearly sees everything that happens on the screen. This ensures that each fight (despite the total length of 95 minutes) that Casey gets involved in not only feels different, but also has an impact on the viewer. I'll admit, while I do roll my eyes a little when audiences applaud during movies (even when the director and lead actor are present), the applause that followed every fight scene in Ninja: Shadow of a Tear was entirely deserved. If you like action, if you like martial arts, or if you like anything in between, you'll want to watch Ninja: Shadow of a Tear as soon as possible.
You can watch this film and others on the website: kinotorz.com
Posted by Josh Spiegel
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Tags: Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear, Isaac Florentine, Scott Adkins
Tags: Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear, Isaac Florentine, Scott Adkins
I watched "Ninja 2". I expected more. Not much better than the first part. The main character as a character is extremely flat, clumsy, straightforward as a tram and sometimes stupid. He walks around the entire movie with the same wet face. The script, without any special frills, is, I repeat, no better than the first part. The fights are, well, a little better than in the first part. Everything we have seen a hundred times already. A couple of good fragments from Tim Man, a couple from Kosugi, a couple from Adkins (inadvertently stolen from Johnny Nguyen). Scott doesn’t look any better than the others, and in some places he even gets lost compared to the same Mana (which is surprising) or Kosugi, who was also not particularly developed as a fighter. Basically, you don’t get involved, everything is somehow superficial, “earthly” and standard for the Adkins-Florentine tandem. This is of course my IMHO from a boring, snickering viewer.
From December 17th the film will be available for download from iTunes.
And Adkins fights under the plywood)
Well... let's hope for the best :)
Director of the second cast of the film crew. ;) There were old films in which there were more than ten such compositions. Just “Tender May” in the heyday.
Well, Scott plays there too) someone could recommend someone.
I agree with this. I would like to see him as a director of action scenes (especially when it comes to fights) in big budget films =)
By the way, Isaac directed some of the action scenes in Gringo (the scene with the trap on the police in the desert and the shootout in the city in the middle of the film). To be honest... these two scenes (although the editing is torn) actually save the film, which the creators flushed down the toilet (who doesn’t know, as soon as filming began, the script was greatly changed... they cut out most of the action and humor)
+ Isaac worked as a second unit director at Hercules with Kellan Lutz, McIntyre and Adkins. ACCORDING TO RUMOR: helped Harlin in staging and filming action scenes. Budget 70 million. =)
I posted the entire interview, read it.
Someone has already posted it, I haven't yet.
Рђ РїРѕРїСЂРѕР ± РѕРІР ° ть?
Okay, wait.
I rewatched Savatt recently. Still looks good. And REBEL for me personally is the best with Gary Daniels! In every way!
As for Isaac personally, he needs to use martial arts as a decoration for the film, but not as an end in itself. The main character is an ordinary person who finds himself in incredible situations. That's the whole formula for success. And he has either a prison or special forces. This means losing a larger audience. BUT again, maybe Isaac has other goals...who knows. Although I completely agree with Ravenside on the “framework” issue. But he himself created these frameworks, limiting himself to the world of martial arts. And maybe you don’t need more?
Maybe post it? (there are also ready ones with Ross, Frank and Tim)
Certainly! :)
Apparently I missed them, or haven't they been posted yet?
PS There are a couple of large interviews on the Internet about TYAG2, two of them are in Thai :( But you can still understand something :) using Google translator.
Post it, of course.
Here I sit and periodically write reviews of my top films, as promised, but Savat won’t get around to it for a long time, apparently.
By the way, since we're talking about Isaac. I have a short interview with him ready here. Maybe post it? (there are also ready ones with Ross, Frank and Tim)
We need to reconsider Savat. I watched it as a child. I don't remember the movie at all. Thanks for the tip :)
I agree about the music. As for the rest, there is always room to grow.
Me too. It seems to me that I could be wrong, of course, but it seems to me that Isaac clearly sees his niche, his audience and does not want to leave it.. he does not want or cannot, or there is no opportunity, or there is pressure from the outside, or he is so comfortable. Who knows. In short, he is very much within the framework of some. And somehow it doesn’t bother me, I just feel it. But from time to time something interesting pops up from him. Let's say, in "Savata" there are very cool characters, especially the main villain played by Mark Singer. In "Rebel" it's also very good. cool villain played by Brian Jeanness, one of my favorite fighting game actors of the 90s. The music in both of these films is good, real clear soundtracks, I still remember them, it is part of the film, it is professional work, of a very high level. In “Undisputed,” of course, there is also Mark Ivanir, but I can’t listen to the same music, for example, all this hip-hop and so on.
Ravenside is probably capable of great things, and this can be seen in the difference in direction between Undisputed 2 and 3. Hopefully there will be a similar difference between Ninja 1 and 2.
I watch Florentine's "Savat" for the film.
Ilya, he’s great, no doubt about it. Overall a gem. But I just expect more from him.
You will laugh, but I watch Undisputed 3 every time not for the fights (!), but for the direction (!!!) and dialogues (!!!), although usually everything is exactly the opposite. So I personally would like to continue to see Isaac in the director's chair.
Celpaso, yes, I understand that perfectly. If Isaac had not existed, God knows when and in what form we would have seen Adkins. But in “Unisol”, Adkins flew into one ear of mine and flew out of the other, somehow I wasn’t particularly interested in what he was doing there. And Florentine, he’s a professional and smart director, what can we say, he’s just a bit of a craftsman. There are not enough stars from the sky. This is according to my feelings. I would say that he needs to be purely a director. Don’t direct the entire film, but focus only on the fights, maybe even with some kind of assistant. Imagine, for example, the film is directed by someone like Michael Mann or John McTiernan, and the fights performed by Adkins are choreographed by Florentine. Well, this is, of course, a dream.
There's no point in talking about Isaac. It would seem that these are Asians... Sammo and Jackie... Creatively advanced individuals. And Scott was not allowed to turn around in the MEDALLION.
I think we'll see over time. I'd take a look at that too. =)
About Florentine: even though they criticize Isaac with his “one” film from film to film, the reality is... that only Isaac (and that doesn’t always work out because of third parties) allows Scott to develop to the fullest (+ well, Hyams in Unisol) in terms of fights, while other directors do not use even half of what Scott is able to show. Let me make a small analogy: if you call Isaac “evil”, then he is the LEAST evil that Scott is able to choose in his career =D
He is an experienced person, perhaps he will bring something of his own and interesting to the production, and not just to the performance. We are accustomed to seeing it most often in the format in which Florentine presents it to us. Or maybe Adkins himself wants to do something in a completely different style, who knows.
He at one time spoke about the desire to have more influence on the process of filming and staging action scenes. So, most likely, he is interested in this =)
I watched making of wolwerine.
You understood what I wanted to say. I meant, not just “contribute.” Unless, of course, Scott is interested in it and has time for it.
Q.E.D...:)
Fanat, here you need to understand that Scott contributed to ALL the fights in the films where he starred. He is a very experienced person in this regard and it would not be entirely reasonable to NOT take his opinion into account AT ALL. So Loco, Larnell, Tim, and Isaac...they choreographed and filmed the fights together.
if you carefully look at the making of wolverine, you can see that J.J. Perry paired the fight with Jackman with Scott, in consultation with him... a small contribution from Scott)))
I could be wrong, BUT I have a feeling that the "fights" in Mile High were choreographed by Scott. I don’t have any EXACT information, but I don’t think that on the set of this series there were people more professional in staging action scenes (although...it’s difficult to call these scenes fights, but they’ll pass for an attempt =) than Scott. So the creators could easily ask Scott to direct these scenes.
youtube.com/watch?v=htZFTyGpIdc
youtube.com/watch?v=DvwlwsaEhpM
PS Judging by the feedback on Twitter and reviews, the audience was pleased with the work of Tim Man as a choreographer
Scott needs to start choreographing (or trying to choreograph) himself.
he's got everything down - he grasps everything on the fly.
excerpt from Mann's quote about Scott:
"Everyone knows Scott. He's very talented. He can do everything. I just showed him my vision of fighting and he understood me. He doesn't even need hard training - he did everything right. He's very easy and pleasant to work with."
[img]http://www.outlawvern.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/500x332xtimman2.jpg.pagespeed.ic.Kdae5R0oaU.jpg[/img]
interview with the film's choreographer Tim Mann...
http://www.outlawvern.com/2013/09/25/interview-with-tim-man-stunt-choreographer-on-ninja-2-by-david-j-moore/