Today the FFI editors will consider the winners in the nominations “Martial Arts Movie 2021” и “Comeback 2021”. Interestingly, we have already analyzed many of the films presented in past articles, so in this publication we will try to look at them from a different perspective. Let's go!
Martial arts movie 2021
Crossfire (dir. Benny Chan) (21%, 35 votes)
Victory "Crossfire" in nomination “Martial arts movie” carries more paradoxes than patterns. Let's start with the fact that there are essentially only two battle scenes in the film, well, or at a stretch two and a half, if there is a mass fight Donnie Yen with the bandits in the hut and the subsequent battle against Ben Lama count as two independent fights.
The second paradox follows from the first, and is that the fight Donnie VS Lam, and this is a plot-intermediate fight that diluted the 1,5 hour boring face of Donnie in a tie, in some places looks dramatically more interesting and cheerful than the final fight of Ian vs. Nicholas Tse. How's that, guys?
And like this. Definitely, after a long epic with "Ip Man", the audience finally waited for Donnie to put on civilian clothes (or, more precisely, police clothes) again and give everyone a hard time in his once classic role. And to hell with the number of fighting games, the main thing is to have a dramatic Donnie in a bulletproof vest, with a folding baton, mixing techniques and doing double jumping kicks.
And all this is in the film, although not in abundance and not as bright as it was in “SPL Stars of Destiny” (2005) or “Hot spot” (2007), but a nostalgic and reverent shiver should run through the audience’s backs, plus don’t forget to make allowances for the fight choreography, because Donny is no longer young, and many of his peers go to physical therapy and electrophoresis as if it were their own home.
Separately, it must be admitted that Donnie was always lucky with combat opponents and, conditionally, he never fought with “I don’t understand who.” In this regard Ben Lam keeps the bar quite high, and Nicholas Tse can confidently be put on a par with Jackie Wu и Colin Chow, at least in terms of acting for sure. His predatory aristocratic face and cynical grins are worth a lot - he is an excellent villain.
It is clear that "Crossfire" didn’t live up to expectations, and Donnie is more like a shadow of himself, and okay, at least it’s not a ghost, but, thank God, it’s not “Enter the Fat Dragon 2” or something like that.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (dir. Destin Daniel Cretton) (16%, 26 Votes)
For those who haven't seen podcast our editorial office, where, among other things, we discussed the blockbuster "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings“We recommend you take a look. It was about the fact that big, big-budget Hollywood had finally turned its attention to martial arts, making them the central theme of its film, and a film from the Marvel franchise.
Of course, current cinematic universes have greatly stepped forward, or rather even restructured under the influence of time, and the same Captain America or Batman have long been fighting on camera at the highest level, but this is largely a craft side. When do we talk about films like “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, then we mean a change in concept, where the philosophy of martial arts and the skill of the characters become plot-forming. Now the main characters and their opponents do not fly in the skies, fighting each other and endless monsters who want to enslave the planet for the hundredth time, but show us the wonders of kung fu, paying tribute to classic films. Well, if they fly, then not in 90% of the combat screen time.
Fighting from the deceased Bradley James Allan perfectly adapted to the aesthetics of superhero cinema and the age rating: it is exciting and not boring, fairly neutral and bloodless, but at the same time dramatic.
The main character performed by Sim Liu A little lacking in eggs and charisma, but quite enough in combat skills. And if the frame needs to be drawn out with humor or acting, then he bursts into the frame Aquafina.
Of course, the creators endured for a long time and, as if unable to resist, finally released pictures of a computer dragon and flying men, but here the universe obliges.
It is worth mentioning separately about the older generation of actors: Tony Leung и Michelle Yeoh cope with all their tasks brilliantly, and in the cameo Yuen Wa It's just nice to watch.
The result is a cheerful movie with good potential for a sequel, provided that the main cast remains and an adequate replacement is found Bradley Allan, and this is not so easy to do. Much more difficult than defeating another Dweller of Darkness.
Psycho (dir. Kanishk Varma) (15%, 25 Votes)
Indian "Toughie" crossed with “Coolly cooked” - this can be called "Psycho" с Vidyut Jamwal starring. Of course, John McClane did not do somersaults and spinners, but in general the plot vector is the same.
The creators did not have an assortment of locations during the pandemic, so they made do with one hospital, but do you know what the trick is? The fact is that roughly 20 years ago “Die Hard from the Indians” could only be a naive parody with songs and dances, for which bloggers would shoot trash reviews. And now Indian action films are appearing more and more often in our news and summing up the results of the year, which may indicate two trends: on the one hand, the level of Indian cinema is growing very rapidly, and on the other, the level of, for example, Chinese combat cinema continues If you don’t fall, then stand still. And Bollywood continues to develop and absorb the best world achievements, while certainly maintaining its traditional features. Yes, we talked about this more than once in last year’s results, but now it is clear that this is not an accident.
In the sense of a fighting game "Psycho" is not ideal and sags in places, first of all, because the main character does not always correspond to the declared level - in the plot, Jamval plays an MMA trainer, while he looks and behaves like a dancer who accidentally found himself in the proposed circumstances, therefore, in battles, the characters often jump around and around and don’t start fighting tightly and seriously. But the hero manages to shoot from a machine gun quite accurately. Where does everything come from?
On the other hand, choreography Andy Long, who is responsible for hand-to-hand combat in the film, has the main ace up his sleeve - undisguised love for Jackie Chan, which is understandable, since he is a member of his stunt team. And these bows to Jackie are sometimes unexpected, sometimes inappropriate, but sometimes very accurate in concept and execution. It is noticeable that effort was put into the choreography.
Perhaps the film also lacks a bright villain. Antagonist performed Chandana Roy Sanyal - an overly reflective humanist who, although he commits villainous acts, does not cause enough hostility among the audience.
Despite this, "Psycho" looks 100% like a classic action movie, with all the plot moves, textbook twists and genre traditions. There is a feeling that Jamwal should go beyond Indian cinema and try himself in international projects.
Comeback 2021
Hiroyuki Sanada (Mortal Kombat, Army of the Dead) (23%, 35 Votes)
Despite the fact that two films participated in the voting, consider Hiroyuki Sanadu in terms of a comeback, only one of them makes sense and this, of course, "Mortal Kombat".
And here we see not just a full-fledged comeback, but perhaps one of the best examples of an actor returning to his native role in the entire history of our voting.
Now Hiroyuki Sanada - a respectable and respected dramatic actor, whose successful career, although not always smooth, is beyond doubt. At times he took up a sword (which is almost inevitable for any Japanese actor in Hollywood), at times he flew in space, but all within the confines of popular broad genres.
What is the comeback? And the fact is that being a student at school Sonny Tiba, Sanada began as an on-screen fighter, starring in several dozen fighting games. Moreover, he realized himself as a universal fighter, capable of both dashingly chopping off ninja heads with a samurai katana, and performing acrobatic acts mixed with hand-to-hand (and foot-to-hand) at a high level. But at a certain stage of his career, Sanada retrained as a dramatic actor, and with age he even changed his type somewhat, since the Japanese grew up and aged in a truly cinematic way, which is not given to everyone.
Many years later, Sanada was supposed to show off his classical skills in the third part "John Wick", but the role was given by force majeure Mark Dacascos, and the audience did not feel particularly sad about Sanada’s absence.
And suddenly, in an incomprehensible way, our hero was carried into "Mortal Kombat" for the role of Scorpio, and many thought that he was completely unsuitable for this universe, and in general, why take the aging Sanada, who, as they say, is “from a completely different opera,” when crowds of on-screen fighters would have cut their throats out for this role and were filming for food. In addition, there was a danger that Hiroyuki would simply get lost next to Joe Taslim or Lewis Tan .
As a result, the medal turned completely different side and Hiroyuki Sanada simply carried the entire film both in terms of acting, the energy and dramatic fullness of his character, and in terms of fight choreography. We say this without exaggeration and eloquence - the most sane fighting game and the highest level of drama is given to us by Sanada. Both of his fights are against Joe Taslima show what great shape he is in and at 60 years old he does almost all the work without an understudy, without getting lost for a second against the background of his young colleague.
Absolutely deserved gold in this category.
Jason Statham (Wrath of Man) (18%, 27 Votes)
It must be admitted that the stern Briton did not disappear from the screens all this time and did not stop starring in action films. The decline of his career did not and does not shine for him, although he shot at the same target for many years.
Comparing his career with the career of the same Sanada, speaking of any comeback, seems completely inappropriate. However, there are two important points that distinguish the picture "The Wrath of Man" from other films Jason Statham the last ten years.
Let's start with the fact that the last full-fledged leading he had a role in an action movie 5 years ago in the film “Mechanic: Resurrection”. In subsequent works, he was either in supporting roles, sharing screen time with some other main character, for example, Dwayne Johnson, which noticeably drew attention and importance from the character, or fought with sharks. Apparently, Jason had no fear that this fish would pull the blanket over itself, and it was smaller in size than the Rock.
But the second point is that "The Wrath of Man" - this is the return to the screens of the “Richie-Statem” tandem after a fifteen-year pause. And the audience, as it turned out, was tired of waiting. Did the picture live up to expectations? For those who were waiting for an updated Statham or vice versa, the “old” Statham, mischievous and wild, most likely does not exist. Anyone who was waiting for any Statham, as long as it was under the control of Richie, would be all right.
Jason has no more hair on his head, his facial expression has not changed, the number of lines the character has is still minimal, his brutality and unmistakable actions stick out from all his pants.
Despite the fact that the film is a remake of the French “Collector”, it is very different from the original and is generally quite collective, and the final batch generally has a little in common with another remake - “Assault on the 13th Precinct”С Ethan Hawke и Laurence Fishburne.
Among the advantages of the film, it should be noted that there are good shootouts and supporting actors: Josh Harnett, Holt McCallany и Scott Eastwood, which has progressed noticeably.
In general, this is not a hooligan and psychedelic Statham, but Statham “as usual,” but Guy Ritchie as if he was just playing along with him. But no sharks.
Sean Patrick Flanery (Born of a Champion, Attack on the Veterans Hospital, Person of Interest) (14%, 21 Votes)
A long time ago Sean Patrick Flanery was a promising young star, starring in completely different genre projects. Around the beginning of the 2000s, his career began to decline, and all this time something incomprehensible, but definitely unsuccessful, was happening to it.
The other side of his life consisted of practicing and teaching jiu-jitsu, in which he achieved high results, receiving a black belt at the Gracie school.
At the same time, Flanery was never a full-fledged action actor, and acted in action films only from time to time.
But suddenly, out of a low-budget heap of paintings, like a flower in a landfill, a “Born a Champion” - a sincere and luminous movie about the winding fate of a talented grappler. The film is not at all about fights and on-screen fight choreography, but more about drama and acting, and martial arts are just a red thread here. Let it go Sean Patrick Flannery He is no longer handsome and a favorite of women, but he is still an excellent actor and has not lost his charm. As a result, the film took a well-deserved silver in the category “Sports Drama” on our website.
With the same set of qualities, Sean pulls out “Attack on Veterans Hospital”, in which, except for the main character, there is nothing else to look at in the cardboard locations (White and Dacascos included).
"In sight" It also can’t boast of an abundance of merits, and Sean plays the main villain there, a little ridiculous, but in principle convincing, although the final fight could have been better.
As a result, three action films in a row, in each of which our hero has three significant roles. Yes, these are not top projects, but at least some glimmer in Flanery’s career, which, it seems to us, is legitimately worthy of a comeback.
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Tags: Assault On VA-33, Born a champion, Insight, Mortal Kombat, Raging Fire, Sanak: Hope Under Siege, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wrath of Men, Ben Lam, Benny Chan, Bradley James Allan, Vidyut Jamwal, Guy Ritchie, Jason Statham, Donnie Yen, results of action cinema 2021, Nicholas Tse, Summing up the fight cinema, Sim Liu, Hiroyuki Sanada, Sean Patrick Flanery
Tags: Assault On VA-33, Born a champion, Insight, Mortal Kombat, Raging Fire, Sanak: Hope Under Siege, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wrath of Men, Ben Lam, Benny Chan, Bradley James Allan, Vidyut Jamwal, Guy Ritchie, Jason Statham, Donnie Yen, results of action cinema 2021, Nicholas Tse, Summing up the fight cinema, Sim Liu, Hiroyuki Sanada, Sean Patrick Flanery
As for Nicholas Tse, back in the late 1990s Jackie Chan called him the next main action star in Hong Kong, but the dude unfortunately got into a porn scandal with his wife and boyfriend.
Dmitriy, uh?!
I don't agree with Crossfire. There's plenty of "action" there. For some reason, everyone forgets the cool staged scene when Tse rode a motorcycle. The film, of course, is for the “old leaders”, but very nostalgic and in the old traditions of Hong Kong action films of the 1980/90s. But the strange thing is that in modern China/Hong Kong, for some reason, besides Donnie Yen, there is essentially no one left in the martial arts, despite the fact that in the same 1980s there were ten races in every film.
Dmitriy,
We are considering the film in the BI film category. Motorcycles don't really fit here)
Ravenside,
I understand, but there are very few pure martial arts now, and by this criterion, if there were only fights, I don’t even know what film would be suitable.
Dmitriy,
That’s why we have 3 nominations - best action film, best Asian action film (where “Crossfire” goes and you’re gone) and best film with BI, where there should be films with an emphasis on BI, but take “Crossfire” here too hit it. Well, here we are.