Well, friends, it’s time to start directly summing up the results of action films for 2018. Even the Oscar ceremony has already passed, and we still can’t get around to analytics. Well, you understand everything... However, our small editorial team believes that visitors to the FFI website are waiting for our articles summing up the voting results.
Let's start with the nominations "Best Historical, Fantasy or Wuxia Film" and "Best Asian Action Film".
Historical, fantasy or wuxia film 2018
Films from South Korea, China, Japan, Ireland and even (again) Russia competed in this category. There were also enough subgenres in the nomination: here you have historical films with intimate events, and vice versa - large-scale canvases, and classic wuxia cinema, and urban and historical fantasy, even one film adaptation of a computer game was included, but only one vote was given for it. But the winner was...
Skif (dir. Rustam Mosafir, 2018) (33%)
Last year, the Russian historical action film "The Legend of Kolovrat" took second place in this nomination as part of our project on summing up the results of combat cinema, and we carefully assumed that at that time it was already in theaters "Scythian" will also take a prize. But we could not even think that the film Rustam Mosafir will win such a landslide victory in the nomination.
But the result, as they say, is obvious. 29 votes in a not-so-popular category indicate that fans of combat films appreciated “Skif.” Moreover, there is something to profit from here: a picturesque setting reminiscent of either ancient Rus' or a post-apocalyptic wasteland; living characters that are truly interesting to watch; cool dialogues, as if taken from spaghetti westerns or samurai jidaigeki; and, of course, action. It is sane, beautiful, modern and at the same time contains suspense, which, by the way, allowed the title fight from this film to be nominated for best screen fight of 2018.
Yes, there are questions about the history and script of “Skif”. Yes, the beautiful action still seems to be not fully “tested”. But this is a completely deserved victory. And if you suddenly haven’t watched Mosafir’s film, then we and the 29 who voted for “Skif” recommend it for viewing. Perhaps they can help you with this review to the film and interview with action director Fedor Starykh. Gold and that's it!
The Great Battle (dir. Kim Gwang-shik, 2018) (15%)
Second place with 13 votes goes to a hit from South Korea called "The Great Battle". Director's film Kim Gwang-shik is a complete historical canvas, where the creators relied on massive battles and a tactical component. Almost Japanese movie "Battle of Sekigahara", which received only two votes, but is deeper, more interesting and of better quality. Compared to Japanese cinema, “Battle” is more like historical paintings Akira Kurosawa.
Even the plot of the film, despite its historical nature, gives it a reference to old films about mass battles: a certain general Yang Man-chung holds back an army of Chinese invaders several times superior in the small fortress of Ansi - the last point before Pyongyang. Tactics, military ingenuity, self-sacrifice and heroic spirit are the main advantages of the film. If we talk about the faces of the “Battle”, then, of course, this is the central image, superbly performed Cho In-sung.
In general, the film is really worth not only watching, but also its silver medal, which it receives without a shadow of a doubt.
Detective Dee: Four Heavenly Kings (dir. Tsui Hark, 2018) (14%)
We don’t know about you, but we are interested in comparing the voting results of different years. For example, summing up results for 2016, we analyzed the top three winners exclusively from wuxia films, and in results of 2017 there was no wuxia at all. However, the results of 2018 seem to restore some balance. In addition to the Slavic fantasy and historical film, the top three included... well, if not a classic wuxia film, then quite a good Chinese "fairy tale".
We are, of course, talking about the final film in the trilogy. Tsui Harka about the adventures of a famous character in Chinese literature - a detective at the royal court named Di. It seems to us "Four Heavenly Kings" are the weakest of the trilogy, but, apparently, Hark had no competition. And we, of course, will say: how did this not happen? And amazing and beautiful "Shadow" Zhang Yimou? But we are unlikely to be heard. A vote is a vote, and Detective Dee performs Mark Chao even through a weak script and frankly bad computer effects, it captured the viewer's attention.
Hand on heart, we have to admit that the new “Detective Dee” has everything for an entertaining effect: a mysterious plot, beautiful costumes, flights of imagination of the authors, good “usyashny” action, palace intrigue, situational humor, a patriotic message and a strong overacting William Fan (cross out). In general, strong bronze!
Asian Action 2018
It would seem that so many interesting action films are released in Asian countries every year, but, and I want to believe this, only the best make it to our project to sum up the results of action films. And even though it seems to us that there could be more candidates, and that closer attention should be paid to South Korean cinema, the top three turned out to be (almost!) expected.
The Night Follows Us (dir. Timo Tjahjanto, 2018) (39%)
In 2017, Indonesian director Timo Tiajanto was a bronze medalist in the same category as part of our project with "Bullet in the Head". But a year later he famously made up for lost time. Well, honestly: how could there be any doubts regarding the golden pedestal in the nomination "Best Asian Action Film of 2018"?
The most uncompromising movie with the most simplified plot. "Night is coming for us" - this is a kind of quintessence of the ideas of too many directors. Watching this film, the names of such mastodons of the crime genre as Quentin Tarantino, Takeshi Kitano, John Woo и Park Chan-wook. It seems that Tjahjanto bows to them in an Asian way every 10 minutes of screen time, while simultaneously curtseying Gareth Evans with his "Raids".
But all this would be minor if not for the film's action scenes, which thoroughly enjoy the R rating. The stars of "Raids" and "Bullets in the Head" get into bloody fights where there is no room for compassion. And they do it beautifully, damn it! Two fights from this film immediately went to win the nomination "Best Screen Fight". And this says a lot. And if the main character of a thriller is performed Joe Taslima doesn't show anything new in terms of acting (not to be confused with the action scenes - Joe is good there), then for another star of "Raids" Iko Uwaisa The role in “Night” has become a kind of marker that can mark the Indonesian silat master as an actor. His main villain turned out to be interesting, tragic and extremely dangerous. Overall, a landslide victory with 38 votes!
Rebirth (dir. Yuji Shimomura, 2017) (18%)
Think about what is iconic for an actor in Japanese action cinema Taka Sakaguchi film "Rebirth" won’t be among the top three winners, we couldn’t. We really thought that Tak would be the first in the nomination "Comeback 2018", but it didn’t work out. So: what’s good about an action movie? Yuji Shimomura, which forced Sakaguchi to give up his "resignations"?
In fact, everything is simple to the point of banality. "Rebirth" is a typical action movie with a Japanese flavor that hasn't been seen on air for perhaps ten years. And we’re not talking about samurai films or endless crafts in the spirit of showdowns between Japanese street gangs. In fact, Shimomura filmed his own "Death Trance" (2005) with the same Tak in the title role, only in modern realities and on the theme of universal murderers on the payroll of the state.
The film is not without its flaws. Perhaps his main problem is that he cannot decide on his own genre. Here it is a direct hand-to-hand action movie about super-special forces, but here it contemplates itself like some kind of crime drama Takeshi Kitano. Sakaguchi, of course, is great: he has returned to form and looks very convincing on screen as an unkillable professional. But it seemed to us that the film simply could have been better and more significant. However, "Rebirth", apparently, was liked by visitors to our site. And we understand why. 18 votes and a silver medal!
Operation Red Sea (dir. Dante Lam, 2018) (15%)
Rђ RІRѕS, "Operation" turned out to be the “surprise” for the FFI editors that no one suspected. Don't get it wrong: a military action movie Dante Lama cool enough to take bronze, but we thought the choice would fall on one of the South Korean hits of 2018: "Witch" or "Wolf Brigade". In the end, action films about special forces are not very frequent guests in our “results”.
You say: “Well, in 2017 I won "War of the Wolves 2" Jackie Woo" and you will, of course, be right. But, unlike Dante Lam's epic, "Wolves" is not a genre movie. It featured not only surface-to-air missiles, not only tanks and shootouts, but also hand-to-hand combat and even humor. "Operation in the Red Sea" - this is pure military drama, in which the emphasis is on action.
Think about it: the cast of the film includes a wushu champion Jiang Luxia and she has a tete-a-tete with the big villain in the film, but we don’t get any “craft” in the fight. The fact is that “Operation” is an extremely realistic (if you don’t consider the Chinese special forces soldiers incredibly lucky) movie, where they are not modest and present everything as it is in the combat zone. Some moments of the film are so frank that you remember some "Saving Private Ryan" Steven Spielberg. Sprinkle it all with Chinese patriotism and voila: third place in this category.
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Tags: Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings, Operation Red Sea, Re:Born, The Great Battle, The Night Comes for Us, Dante Lam, Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, results of action cinema 2018, Kim Gwang-sik, Mark Chao, Rustam Mosafir, Skif, So Sakaguchi, Timo Tiajanto, Jiang Luxia, Tsui Hark, Cho In-seo, Yuji Shimomura
Tags: Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings, Operation Red Sea, Re:Born, The Great Battle, The Night Comes for Us, Dante Lam, Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, results of action cinema 2018, Kim Gwang-sik, Mark Chao, Rustam Mosafir, Skif, So Sakaguchi, Timo Tiajanto, Jiang Luxia, Tsui Hark, Cho In-seo, Yuji Shimomura
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