And so, friends, we begin to analyze the winners in our summing up of action films for 2017. We will start with two categories: "Martial Arts Movie" и "Best Blockbuster".
Martial arts movie 2017
Undisputed 4 (dir. Todor Chapkanov, 2016) (38%)
Well, everything is clear with the winner. Bojka storms all the peaks, melts the ice in the hearts of fans, crushes jaws at the film ring, turning them into coarse bone flakes. And the film, it would seem, does not really go out of its comfort zone and repeats all the developments of the previous parts, only increasing the number of fights and bringing into the ring a freak main villain, the size of a dump truck. But we expected that the story of Boyka in the wild would be more diverse and eventful, but the hero was again dressed in shorts and driven into the underground ring, putting him in almost the same conditions as before. Yes, he becomes “more positive”, but this is not enough. Choreographer Tim Man shows unprecedented performance, but not only does he copy past parts, he also copies himself, which is why the fights merge into one big party of tattooed men in shorts. But, despite everything, fans do not sleep and vote.
It must be honestly noted that Boyka as a character Adkins The overall result is colorful and characteristic; this approach to the action hero has one foot in deep retro. This is definitely Scott’s best role, and the transformation of the hero from negative to positive is a credit to the writers. This trick turned out to be more than successful; the creators looked into the distance and went to the root. Now Yuri Boyka - a common noun, material for memes and archetype models, so he must be taken into account. How many more parts will be filmed is unknown, but there is a feeling that they can be filmed for a long time, like the same films with Wolverine, if the directors and screenwriters really develop the character of this Russian fighter and draw his tattoos better.
Bruce Lee: Birth of the Dragon (dir. George Nolfi, 2016) (16%)
More than forty years have passed since the passing of the legendary master, but his figure is still a stable source of myths, stories and fables. The generation of new facts about his life and death does not stop to this day. Principle: “in any unclear situation, make a film about Bruce Lee» – works flawlessly. «Bruce Lee: Birth of the Dragon" - a painting telling the story of Bruce's fight with the monk Wong Jack Manom. Information about this fight is very contradictory and unclear, so there is a lot of room for imagination on this topic, which is what the director demonstrated George Nolfi and his team.
The figure of Bruce is shown as expressive, arrogant and slightly exaggerated, while the figure of the monk, on the contrary, is restrained, full of dignity. All this, for unknown reasons, is presented through the eyes of a certain Steve McKee, who, in fact, is the main character of the film.
McKee solves his amorous problems, Bruce tries to assert himself and prove to everyone that his kung fu is longer, and Wong Jack Man tries to understand himself and atone for his sins by washing dishes in a restaurant. In the end, all these stories are intertwined, and the heroes defeat the villains in a single impulse.
The film is bright and colorful, filled with mysticism, pathos, flight and heroism, and Bruce Lee performed by Philipa Ng looks more like a pop hero than a fighter. However, the legacy of the real Bruce is unusually great, and his contribution to combat cinema is truly revolutionary, so 2nd place in this nomination is not only a high audience rating for the film, but also a tribute to the great Dragon.
Villainess (dir. Jung Byung-gil, 2017) (13%)
"Villain" burst into the world of action films and immediately captivated audiences. The picture is filled to the brim with all the achievements of South Korean action cinema. Swiftness, rigidity, unexpected turns of events, a specific approach to drama, a bright and stylish picture, high-quality sound - everything is there. Well, the fight scenes, filmed in long takes without cuts, are a separate conversation, which, by the way, we already had. The scale and intense pace of battles, the scope of locations, a large number of stunt tricks and sophisticated camera work set, perhaps, a new bar in the genre.
The Koreans have once again shown us that they can easily compete with both Europe and the United States in terms of action cinema. Some may be embarrassed by some sagging in the drama, a large number of on-screen sobs, some illogicality in the actions of the characters, but the film still returns the viewer to the right track and does not leave a single chance to be distracted from watching.
Best Blockbuster
Logan (dir. James Mangold, 2017) (32%)
We've all been waiting for a long time for Wolverine with an age rating of 18+. Not in the sense Hugh Jackman without pants, and the real Logan with blood on his claws. "X-Men" - a very strong franchise with well-written characters and a rich universe, but the central character in its film incarnation was James "Logan" Howlett. Perhaps Jackman's Wolverine is the best implementation of a comic book hero in the cinema of the 2000s, and only recently has he been joined by chastener by Jon Bernthal. The only negative that bothered the fans (and maybe just us) was a certain glamor of all the films in the series, despite the fact that the original comics about heroic mutants are actually quite brutal. But everything changed when it came out on screen "Deadpool" rated 18+, which turned out to be very successful at the box office. And here is the director James Mangold Having heard the pleas of the audience and looking at his successful brother, he reports that the new Wolverine will not lose face, but will hit him in the face with his claw. The only thing is that Wolverine will be new, but not new, but on the contrary – old in the literal sense of the word. Additional hype came from the words of Jackman, who announced that this Wolverine would be his last, and then he would retire. Having had enough of the film's warm background, the audience poured into the cinema.
"Logan"is a dystopian road movie, steppe and dusty, led by an aging, white-haired Wolverine, an even aging Xavier, and severed enemy limbs all around. They are accompanied by an improved model of Logan in the person of a little girl.
The picture is bright, but it seems that everything was shot in sepia tones. There are few dialogues, even less superhero pathos and a very lack of script, but a lot of wasteland, Wolverine's senile gout and action. This time, if the main characters hit someone, they always hit them in the head, leaving holes in it that fill the entire screen. Got it! We've waited!
There is even too much gore in the film, there are many questions about the plot, the motivation of the characters (from the main ones to the secondary ones), there are rather sluggish villains everywhere, but still there is a qualitative difference between “Logan” and the previous films in the series and the obvious maturation of the character and the X-Men universe as a whole can't help but notice. Serious job.
War of the Wolves 2 (dir. Jackie Wu, 2017) (13%)
Jackie Wu turned out to be a very brave and ambitious helmsman. If it happens that he has to give up his career as a screen fighter, and we know that he still has serious problems with his knees, then it’s definitely worth continuing his directorial activities.
His third project "War of the Wolves 2" uneven but vibrant, and a film that's hard to ignore. It starts with a beautiful underwater fight, shot in one take, which sets the mood really well. The main character, as in the first part, is strong, brave and extremely motivated, although he does a lot of idiotic things, for example, spectacularly driving a car into the hospital. It looked beautiful on the screen, but from the point of view of the safety of the hostages it was more than stupid. But he makes funny jokes about the American army and scores a soccer goal into the top corner.
A large number of not very high-quality special effects, drawn holes, bullets, explosions and even body parts are striking, but this is compensated by an impressive variety of action: tons of shootouts, chases, explosions, an interesting scene with copters, full-fledged tank battles, hand-to-hand combat.
The plot is striking in its scale and severity, if not cruelty, although it is made in a modern Chinese style, fantastic and ultra-patriotic. The action is filled with so many guilty and innocent victims that your head inevitably begins to spin. There is no question when it is needed for drama, but at times this human mower produces borscht.
Separately, it is necessary to note the villains performed by Frank Grillo, Heidi Moneymaker and Oleg Prudius - all are quite diverse and each in its place, although the battle with the same Heidi could have been made more thorough and varied, since there is something to show.
PS: There is a post-credits scene in the film, which is probably a set-up for the third part.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (dir. Matthew Vaughn, 2017) (10%)
If First part was distinguished by self-irony, courage, humor on the verge of a foul, which, by the way, scared off some spectators, and an enchanting massacre in the church performed by Colin Firth, then the second part tried not to lower the temperature, but it turned out to be more academic and cautious, although the humor in the film is still controversial. Another thing is that the casting has intensified Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum and even Elton John, and all this clearly enriched the film, although Bridges or John will have little more screen time here than for a good cameo.
Colin Firth is still elegant and restrained, like the epitome of English polish, and Taron Egerton, although he loses to his older comrade in charisma, he still tries to look decent, and his on-screen character does not waste time and messes with the princess saved in the first part (sorry for my English).
The film is packed to capacity with action scenes, good special effects, beautiful locations and, of course, concentrated violence and trash. Not a bad film, although the first part was still brighter.
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Tags: Birth of the Dragon, Boyka: Undisputed, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Villainess, Wolf warrior 2, James Mangold, Jackie Wu, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, results of action cinema 2017, Colin Firth, Oleg Prudius, Scott Adkins, Tim Man, Taron Egerton, Philip Ng, Frank Grillo, Heidi Moneymaker, Hugh Jackman, Channing Tatum
Tags: Birth of the Dragon, Boyka: Undisputed, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Villainess, Wolf warrior 2, James Mangold, Jackie Wu, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, results of action cinema 2017, Colin Firth, Oleg Prudius, Scott Adkins, Tim Man, Taron Egerton, Philip Ng, Frank Grillo, Heidi Moneymaker, Hugh Jackman, Channing Tatum
The successes of “Boyka” and Scott Adkins are more than obvious; today he has no competitors in the genre. But the rating of "Bruce Lee" surprised me. Tailored for an American audience, it's a passable "exploitation" film. I was sure that the topic had exhausted itself, if not in the 1970s, then certainly in the 1980s.
Dmitriy,
For me, “The Legend of Bruce Lee” in 2010 was quite good - it’s quite a good biopic, I don’t know how much truth there is, but everything was done very cool, you can’t tear yourself away from the screen for 3 hours, maybe because there’s Ray Park, Dacascos , Daniels (the fights there are staged perfectly), or maybe Danny Chan fits perfectly into the image of Bruce Lee. In short, what am I talking about, after watching it, I still avoid the film with Philip Ng (it’s kind of healthy, and I don’t like it in terms of pathos)
Dmitriy,
It turned out that it was not exhausted. Bruce Lee, as always, is a win-win.
The villainess is a little low, perhaps. And I would donate money just for Ong-Bak to win in all categories every year, but I don’t have that much money :D
Denis Letov,
Fight-films is not for sale))
If anything, let me know in advance, I’ll send you the card number where the money can be transferred)
Ravenside,
Well, it started, and I was already thinking)))
Excellent, decent results, not bought. Happy for all the winners
Alex Ship,
Was it possible? *.*
Danil Chupakhin,
Just kidding, the most honest site, respect)