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+--- Thread: Animal World (/showthread.php?tid=4634)
Animal World - Drunk Monk - 09-28-2018
I've been looking forward to this one since I saw the trailer. I shared that on the Movie Trailers thread and cf replied:
(04-10-2018, 12:56 PM)cranefly Wrote: Re: Animal World
Hot diggidy dig!
I have been waiting my whole life for a movie version of rock, paper, scissors!
Well, that trailer was off some Chinese site and it expired or I'd link it here, so to refresh your memories:
It finally came to Netflix as I foretold in my magazine column, thankfully while that issue is still on the newsstands (so hard to time that stuff out nowadays). And I was amused for sure, but not overwhelmed. The first half hour plus of the film totally lives up to the trailer with its freeze frame vision, its hyperkinetic ultravi and its hallucinogenic quick cuts, but when it gets to the rock paper scissors game, it gets bogged down. That whole device is rather absurd - keep in mind this is based on some manga, and I could see it working better in the medium than with a film like this. Honestly, there's too much math (the crux of the game is card counting) and not enough action to keep the pace of the first part. Card games never quite worked for me as a tension driving device since Bond owned Baccarat, and rock paper scissors, well, it's not that complex of a game to build much intrigue, and all the calculations on stacking the deck and such, plus the obvious inevitable double-crossing, just grew tiresome. And the resolution was rather anticlimactic. But wait, there's a scene after the credits - also predictable - that teases the sequel with a fat 'to be continued'. That being said, it had its moments. The style and cinematography was engaging, especially that first part. Some of those initial clown chopping up monsters hallucinations were awesome. And there's a good car chase that goes a lot of colorful places. It owes a lot of its vision to Deadpool.
I'd recommend it with the caveat that it'll lose momentum right when it should pick up the pace, so maybe just watch the first part attentively, and then watch the rock paper scissors part while you surf the web or wash dishes or something. I petted the cat and fiddled with my phone. Even though it's Chinese with subtitles, Michael Douglas delivers all his lines in English and he's not the only one. Not sure if the filmmakers were really trying to cross the Pacific with this - actually I'm not sure who the audience was intended to be - fans of the original manga maybe? For recent Chinese cinema, it is delightfully odd, at least the beginning portion.
cf, you should give it at gander because it gets very rock paper scissors and the cards of the game are super cool looking.
RE: Animal World - cranefly - 09-28-2018
I need a couple days to stretch out my hands, maximize their speed and flexibility, before tackling this.
Because I intend to play along!
RE: Animal World - Drunk Monk - 09-28-2018
Hate to disappoint you but they use cards with hand symbols on them. They are really cool looking cards and I was enjoying the way they were designed but know that I think about it, that’s kinda dumb.