06-20-2018, 10:21 AM
Hong Kong's take on Taken.
This is the third installment of Sha Po Lang (aka SPL aka Kill Zone see http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...hp?tid=189). It came out last year. It's an HK cop (Louis Koo) who's daughter disappears in Pattaya, Thailand. I have a daughter and I've been to Pattaya. I don't really care for taken-daughter films anymore - as much as I respect the Taken franchise, I get this visceral reaction to this genre and I'm already super paranoid about my kid's safety. Stacy and I went to Pattaya when we backpacked Asia in search of some long lost ex-pat relative. He died before we got there, and then we were stuck in this horrid port town, sleezy with old Euro ex-pat retired men into katooies (thai ladyboys). Nasty. So Paradox had a lot of things against it and I've had it for a few months but just hadn't gotten around to cracking the cellophane on the DVD. But this is choreographed by Sammo and stars Tony Jaa and Ken Lo, plus I like Louis, so it's a must see.
Louis won a bunch of Asian best actor awards for this and rightly so. He embodies the frustration and rage, that attempt be in control which fails with an explosion of violence. The ultimate reason why his daughter is kidnapped is a bit absurd (it's not to be a sex slave) and the white villain (Chris Collins) is over-the-top caricature. It's ponderous and gritty, with lots of tense painful scenes that go on for a bit too long for my taste - I mean I get the point already, moving on. But where this shines is the action. AWESOME action. Sammo has delivered again. It's high-flying dumb physics, and yet brutal, sanguineous, high-impact stuff. There aren't too many long complex takes, except for some amazing chase scenes. The fight choreography is quick, only a few moves per shot, but it's tight like only Sammo can be. It's a brilliant fusion of HK & Thai action. There are two major fight scenes and both are such a pleasure to watch. Tony Jaa is kind of a background character until his fight, and that's so worth it. And SPOILER ALERT the final fight is in an abbatoir. Perfect, right? Not only is it carnal, lying about everywhere, there are meat hooks and butcher knives (which look more like machetes, which means SWORD FIGHTS!) END SPOILER.
Again, I'm not entirely clear how this fits in the greater SPL storyline, but who cares? SPL has become a franchise about extreme fights and must be respected on that level at least. These action scenes are masterpieces. True ultravi. Soooooo good.
Total DOOM flick.
This is the third installment of Sha Po Lang (aka SPL aka Kill Zone see http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...hp?tid=189). It came out last year. It's an HK cop (Louis Koo) who's daughter disappears in Pattaya, Thailand. I have a daughter and I've been to Pattaya. I don't really care for taken-daughter films anymore - as much as I respect the Taken franchise, I get this visceral reaction to this genre and I'm already super paranoid about my kid's safety. Stacy and I went to Pattaya when we backpacked Asia in search of some long lost ex-pat relative. He died before we got there, and then we were stuck in this horrid port town, sleezy with old Euro ex-pat retired men into katooies (thai ladyboys). Nasty. So Paradox had a lot of things against it and I've had it for a few months but just hadn't gotten around to cracking the cellophane on the DVD. But this is choreographed by Sammo and stars Tony Jaa and Ken Lo, plus I like Louis, so it's a must see.
Louis won a bunch of Asian best actor awards for this and rightly so. He embodies the frustration and rage, that attempt be in control which fails with an explosion of violence. The ultimate reason why his daughter is kidnapped is a bit absurd (it's not to be a sex slave) and the white villain (Chris Collins) is over-the-top caricature. It's ponderous and gritty, with lots of tense painful scenes that go on for a bit too long for my taste - I mean I get the point already, moving on. But where this shines is the action. AWESOME action. Sammo has delivered again. It's high-flying dumb physics, and yet brutal, sanguineous, high-impact stuff. There aren't too many long complex takes, except for some amazing chase scenes. The fight choreography is quick, only a few moves per shot, but it's tight like only Sammo can be. It's a brilliant fusion of HK & Thai action. There are two major fight scenes and both are such a pleasure to watch. Tony Jaa is kind of a background character until his fight, and that's so worth it. And SPOILER ALERT the final fight is in an abbatoir. Perfect, right? Not only is it carnal, lying about everywhere, there are meat hooks and butcher knives (which look more like machetes, which means SWORD FIGHTS!) END SPOILER.
Again, I'm not entirely clear how this fits in the greater SPL storyline, but who cares? SPL has become a franchise about extreme fights and must be respected on that level at least. These action scenes are masterpieces. True ultravi. Soooooo good.
Total DOOM flick.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse