01-08-2012, 11:50 AM
My next applenetflixtv excursion was this. It's a Finnish kung fu flick. Yea, that's right. Finnish. It's been on my radar for some time now.
I enjoyed it, but as you all know, I'm easily amused as long as there's a sword fight. It was innovative as kung fu flicks go, somewhat Euro-artsy, somewhat homage to the genre, definitely a refreshing twist. The freaky thing was that it starred the same actress that was in Aftershock - Zhang Jingchu - who is now on my radar as an intriguing Chinese actress just based on these two roles.
It claims to be a confluence between Finnish & Chinese myth. I don't know anything about Finnish myth, so that could have been just made up. They kept citing some legend, kalamata or something (that's not it tho; that's an olive) but maybe it would have made more sense if I knew more about that. Maybe it was just made up for the sake of the film. Don't know, don't really care. As much as I love myth, I'm not going to go chasing down Fin legend just on account of this. As for the Chinese myth, well, there really wasn't anything referenced.
The film plays two story arcs, one in modern Finland and another in ancient China. There's a bit of the ol' Kwai Chang issue with a Fin in ancient China but we won't dwell on that. The interwoven story arcs are complex, yet I'm sure there was some dangling loose ends, but in the end, you don't really feel the need to sort them. It wraps up almost completely satisfactorily, except the lingering issue of WTF it was all about. Kalamata olives and the apocalypse. Eh, that didn't matter so much. The protagonist is tossed into this hallucinogenic myth, and it was more fun to share his 'WTF is going on here?' perspective.
The fights were a lot of wire work and CGI - very comic book - and enjoyable. Yes, there's a sword fight - sword vs. chopsticks even! There's also a switch fight. Most important, there's a sledgehammer fight. I love sledgehammer fights. Those are way up there, like chainsaw fights.
This is almost DOOM worthy, although the Euro-art aspect is a little ponderous (like WTF was up with that rubber duck?!?) I don't think it would draw the shocked guffaws we so crave at a DOOM gathering. It's not quite over-the-top, although almost.... If interested, I'd recommend you check it out on your own, just because it's got some delightful weirdness.
I enjoyed it, but as you all know, I'm easily amused as long as there's a sword fight. It was innovative as kung fu flicks go, somewhat Euro-artsy, somewhat homage to the genre, definitely a refreshing twist. The freaky thing was that it starred the same actress that was in Aftershock - Zhang Jingchu - who is now on my radar as an intriguing Chinese actress just based on these two roles.
It claims to be a confluence between Finnish & Chinese myth. I don't know anything about Finnish myth, so that could have been just made up. They kept citing some legend, kalamata or something (that's not it tho; that's an olive) but maybe it would have made more sense if I knew more about that. Maybe it was just made up for the sake of the film. Don't know, don't really care. As much as I love myth, I'm not going to go chasing down Fin legend just on account of this. As for the Chinese myth, well, there really wasn't anything referenced.
The film plays two story arcs, one in modern Finland and another in ancient China. There's a bit of the ol' Kwai Chang issue with a Fin in ancient China but we won't dwell on that. The interwoven story arcs are complex, yet I'm sure there was some dangling loose ends, but in the end, you don't really feel the need to sort them. It wraps up almost completely satisfactorily, except the lingering issue of WTF it was all about. Kalamata olives and the apocalypse. Eh, that didn't matter so much. The protagonist is tossed into this hallucinogenic myth, and it was more fun to share his 'WTF is going on here?' perspective.
The fights were a lot of wire work and CGI - very comic book - and enjoyable. Yes, there's a sword fight - sword vs. chopsticks even! There's also a switch fight. Most important, there's a sledgehammer fight. I love sledgehammer fights. Those are way up there, like chainsaw fights.
This is almost DOOM worthy, although the Euro-art aspect is a little ponderous (like WTF was up with that rubber duck?!?) I don't think it would draw the shocked guffaws we so crave at a DOOM gathering. It's not quite over-the-top, although almost.... If interested, I'd recommend you check it out on your own, just because it's got some delightful weirdness.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse