So, friends. We present to your attention the final block of summing up the results of martial arts cinema 2017, in which we will discuss an independent film with martial arts and a short film with martial arts.
Independent martial arts film 2017
Boone: Bounty Hungter (dir. Robert Querbuson, 2017) 19%
Stylized as a movie from the early 90s, "Boone" is an unobtrusive and self-ironic "bashka". A completely frivolous movie, hectic and stupid in a good way, made on the knees and “for our own people.” There is no need to expect any heights from the action, despite the fact that there were Lateef Crowder и TJ Storm. But there is a lot of it and it is different: fights (male and female), parkour from John Hennigan, shooting and explosions. The filming is average in terms of editing and camera work, but in its own way, it’s fun.
Brawl in Block 99 (dir. S. Craig Zahler, 2017) 19%
It has something of Western and samurai cinema, something of 70s grindhouse, 90s action films and classic prison films. The film is not ideal, it is a parable, a little formal, with a minimum of dialogue and almost no music, filmed as if you were watching the life story of the main character, being next to him. His backstory is revealed minimally, but he is understandable and acts absolutely linearly. There is no gloss or gloss, the hero is picture-perfectly unkillable, and the cruelty is exaggerated in the grindhouse style.
"Fight in Block 99" It's definitely not for everyone, and it's not because of the low budget or the violence. It's a matter of the temperament of the screen action. Even the fights here are phlegmatic, slow and clumsy, and the characters are pointedly waiting for their opponent's every move. In a word, silent cinema. And it’s not clear whether this is an idea, or ineptitude, but everything has its own peculiarity, its own raisin. AND Vince Vaughn with an unexpectedly brutal face and an unblinking gaze with a slight Eastwood squint.
Killer Karate (dir. Kurando Mitsutake, 2017) 16%
"Killer Karate" - a movie also with an obvious retro tint. The simplest plot, a lot of trash and elements of computer games in the "Beat 'em up" genre, the hero travels through locations in search of his sister, fighting with different opponents. The budget is small, the locations are cheap, but the cast includes David Sakurai и Masaya Kato.
The choreography is similar: there are a lot of fights, but they are, as they say, for the poor, not particularly memorable, without any revolutionary ideas, although there are several interesting angles. But the film looks interesting, there is an intrigue that makes you watch to the end.
Final Judgment (dir. Martin Christopher Bode, 2017) 12%
We must admit that this is not at all what we expected, although the casting allowed us to work, if not miracles, then at least above average. The attempt to twist the plot intrigue did not justify itself, the budget was small, the picture was dull, half of the cast was either leaked or used to a minimum. Landwehr past, Dacascos Almost the entire screen time he walks around with a tragic face and gives orders, waving his leg a couple of times, Hughes looks great, but it’s used like a log, but it’s an indecent amount Möller with techniques one in one of his past films. It's a shame, it could have been better, but thanks for the casting.
Martial Arts Short Film 2017
Guardians of Martial Arts (GSD) (dir. Wen Zhang) 33%
A bright short film, beautiful and expensive, which became a leader not so much thanks to the amazing fighting game, but thanks to the most stellar casting and noble atmosphere. Tony JAA, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Jackie Wu.... lacks Jackie Chan and briefly resurrect the old man Bruce. A feeling of coolness and Eastern wisdom in one 23-minute video.
Major Grom (dir. Vladimir Besedin) 23%
It is clear that money, time and effort have been spent, work and brain activity are visible. Variety of characters and great locations. Overall, the work is clearly above average, with ambition, polished and bright. True, there are a lot of clichés and borrowings, but let’s hope that with experience originality will come. There is a slight imbalance in aesthetics: eccentricity, deliberate overacting, but unnecessary cruelty, savory blows to the face of everyone, from women to men, tears from the eyes from an electric shock to the neck. There is a feeling that the creators themselves did not fully understand what they wanted to film and in the end chose to simply demonstrate their capabilities. Plus a lot of exaggerated “joker” yelling performed by the robbers. The main character is brutal, but a little clumsy, who, by the way, chose the most moronic of all the options calculated in his head, and the remaining bandit was simply a miracle of the scriptwriter’s pen and did not shoot all the hostages.
But, if you close your eyes to the little things, it turned out well and worthy, guys, don’t stop.
Supreme Art of War (dir. Andy Le) 13%
Short film in style Jackie Chan. Authentic music and sound acting, an attempt to maintain aesthetics, script moves and combat gags. Somewhere there was not enough humor, somewhere there was not enough speed and drama of the battle. In the dialogues they overacted in places, but in battle, on the contrary, they often underacted. So, it turned out not one hundred percent “in Jackie’s style,” but only with elements, because the initial bar was very high, and since they were called milk mushrooms, they had to match the basket. But there is a long and sweeping battle, filmed from decent angles and with good editing. Strong and clear, but it’s time to do something original, you can’t pay tribute to the classics endlessly.
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Tags: Boone the Bounty Hungter, Brawl In Cell Block 99, Karate Kill, Supreme Art of War, Ultimate Justice, Vince Vaughn, Vladimir Besedin, Wen Zhang, Jackie Wu, Jet Li, John Hennigan, Donnie Yen, David Sakurai, results of action cinema 2017, Lateef Crowder, Mike Moeller, Major Thunder, Mark Dacascos, Martin Christopher Bode, Masaya Kato, Mathis Landwehr, Matthias Hughes, TJ Storm, Tony JAA, Andy Le
Tags: Boone the Bounty Hungter, Brawl In Cell Block 99, Karate Kill, Supreme Art of War, Ultimate Justice, Vince Vaughn, Vladimir Besedin, Wen Zhang, Jackie Wu, Jet Li, John Hennigan, Donnie Yen, David Sakurai, results of action cinema 2017, Lateef Crowder, Mike Moeller, Major Thunder, Mark Dacascos, Martin Christopher Bode, Masaya Kato, Mathis Landwehr, Matthias Hughes, TJ Storm, Tony JAA, Andy Le
By the way BIG NEWS "Scott Adkins has officially joined Donnie Yen in Ip Man 4"In a future vote Best fighting game 2019 и Best action actors 2019 please book)))
Alex Ship,
Of course, I understand that even despite joining the mainland, Hong Kong has always squeezed out every last penny from the topic that played once. Now, apparently, the mainland has also decided that money has no smell. The second series was already on the verge and I liked the spin-off with Anthony Wong more than the third film. It is clear that in modern China (Hong Kong + Mainland) there is no cooler than Donnie Yen, the old people, with all due respect, are already barely breathing, and Jet Li is forced to work by two wives and four daughters, but I don’t understand why young people are not growing up. Promising Andy On, Jackie Wu, the same Philip NG, no one appears. And even pop stars. There were Nicholas Tse, whom Jackie Chan himself appointed as his successor, and a bunch of people. Who now? Huang Xiaomi and all. But this is a topic for a separate article.
Dmitriy,
Receiver? A receiver of space signals? ;-))
Ravenside,
I'm sorry, fair point. I’m writing from my phone and usually on the go; Skynet has apparently already begun to prepare the ground. I'll be careful in future. Autocorrect is crazy.
Dmitriy,
Come on, don’t worry, this is not a remark in any way, it’s just a pun that asked for itself, but I couldn’t stand it)) Everything is fine, we don’t have a philology department here.
Well, I’m glad for the Brawl in block 99, thanks to Ravenside for the review) Well, Vince Vaughn turned out cool, I really didn’t expect it) As for the short films, I miss Jacobus, where he fights blindly)
Alex Ship,
No one nominated Jacobus from the readers this time.
Well, in general, I will join. I actually discovered the world of short films only thanks to this site
To be honest, I didn’t understand the excitement about “Major Thunder,” although I even looked at everything I could find on YouTube. I'll try to explain why. First of all, I didn’t feel sincerity in “Thunder”. Take Tarantino. It is clear that he is trying his best to become another classic. And the authors of "Thunder" make films to be like Tarantino. The author tells a story. The author can be inspired. I’m not even against plagiarism when, for example, Indians take “Pay Another” and from this “Victory” with Salman is born. I’m not against plagiarism of episodes, cinema is an illusion, and what’s even important is not that in Russia there are no banks like those on the Riviera and no robbers like those from Guy Ricci’s films. In "Major Thunder" there is no main thing, the desire to tell a story, show heroes, there is no life, but there is a desire to become the second, Russian Tarantino. This is not creativity or cinema. This is not "Bodyguard from Beijing" but photoshop. IKEA sells photocopies of classics.
Dmitriy,
“Take Tarantino. It’s obvious that he’s trying his best to become another classic.”
- And in my opinion, he does it completely naturally, without going out of his way. The only thing he goes out of his way to do is the quality of his product. But it’s unlikely to become a “classic”. He is one of those who become classics naturally - simply by shooting according to the principle “I am an artist, this is how I see it.”
“In “Major Thunder” there is no main thing, the desire to tell a story, show heroes, there is no life, but there is a desire to become the second, Russian Tarantino.”
- Everything is much simpler. The film is based on the actual comics published by Bubble, with the appropriate comic style. It's just a genre. But to expect depth and individuality from comics... well, I don’t know...
This short film was shot as a primer before the release of the full-length film, the trailer of which has been online for a long time.
Jury,
By the way, I didn’t see any kind of Tarantino-ism. There is simply a clear general vector to make a product “like theirs”, in style, in pictures, in soundtrack, in editing, in costumes and locations. They grabbed it from everywhere at once. Like, since this is a comic book story, let it be authentic and even somewhat canonical. But this is both a plus and a minus.
Dmitriy,
Personally, I think that "Thunder" is something of a showreel. Like, we can do this and that. There are no strong enthusiasms, but what the real pros and cons are, why people voted and supported the domestic manufacturer can be understood.
If this is a completely personal opinion, then in my opinion all three short films are quite average. The best thing I've seen from a short film lately remains "Rope a dope" by Jacobus.
Ravenside,
And this, perhaps, will be the most accurate description, even though in order to find out the meaning of the term “shiuril” I had to go to Google. But again, this is the educational mission of the site, which is always cool. But we must not forget that those who sow knowledge multiply sorrow. This was of course a joke)))
Dmitriy,
Believe me, there are enough sorrows...)
Thank you for your tremendous work! Very interesting to read. :)
Alexander,
Thank you for your rating, we try our best)