Movie Review: The One (2001)

"Oi, this is me new iPhone? Roight, Raymond. Bloody children's toy, it is.
On your bike, mate."

The One is an unassailable algorithm; it's mathematical martial arts aesthetics. Everything here, in all of its breezy 80 minutes, appeals to the senses, unfiltered. In an admirable conflation of the sci-fi and kung fu genres, The One mixes equal parts wushu, special effects, slow-mo, wirework, laser blasters, muddled Nietzschian philosophy, Jason Statham. This is how the story goes: instead of a single universe, there's a "multiverse," comprised of mirror worlds and mirror selves, and wouldn't you know it, an evil Jet Li named Yu Law, finds out that killing his mostly wholesome multiverse counterparts increases his strength. We join the story in progress as Evil Jet murders another of his counterparts, leaving only Gabe Law, a duty-minded police officer played by Jet, as the penultimate Jet. Two multiverse agents, one played by the inimitable Jason Statham, are then tasked with preventing Yu Law from completing his mission. There's plenty of gratuitous special effects on display here, but unlike some other martial arts films, they augment the physical abilities of Li instead of replacing them. Smartly, Li gives his Yu/Gabe Law characters divergent fighting styles to match their respective moral outlooks, and this becomes important during the climatic sequence. Most importantly, it's a visual extension of the thematic content, embodied rather than merely spoken, and the fights gain so much in legibility and genre specificity because of this. The action sequences are clean, and the purely physical stunts are well-integrated with the CGI. As previously mentioned, the final fight sequence between the dueling Jets is a wonderful conflation of traditional wushu choreography and special effects. Other highlights include a superb late-90s/early aughts soundtrack, including many of my pubescent favorites like Papa Roach. It's also worth noting that this was something of an early milestone in the career of Jason Statham; indeed, this was most likely our proper introduction to him. He's unquestionably foregrounded in this film, particularly near the end, and he lays out nearly all his quirks rather quickly. For many reasons, including purely personal, purely nostalgic ones, The One has earned a rightful place in the Code Redd Net canon.

Book Review: Memoirs of a Geisha (1997)

Chicken Man goes on a "books about Asian women" binge. First is Memoirs of a Geisha. Prepare yourself for more.
Note: In recent years it has been fairly rare that I take the time to read fiction. This is because reading tends to be a time-intensive process and I demand to come away with something (most often new knowledge about some subject of interest). Perhaps unjustly, I have taken modern fiction to largely be for purposes of entertainment and without the benefit of learning much of anything. Film seems to be a superior substitute if only for the benefit of taking less time to enjoy. Hence it is rare that I would recommend a novel to someone. Please take that for what it's worth.

What truly struck me about Arthur Golden's novel is the sheer amount of detail the reader experiences through the eyes of the heroine, Sayuri (who is called Chiyo as a child). She is able to weave a tapestry of similies and metaphors as if her words can create nature as well as Bob Ross' brush. It's almost as if her ability to do so alone makes Memoirs of a Geisha worth reading; Mr. Golden is like a poet in his creation of the thoughts of Sayuri. It is more than that, though the way it is written may be its most attractive feature. Another part of the appeal is stepping into the kimono of a rural Japanese girl of the 1930s who is essentially forced into human trafficking, albeit the most glamorous portrayal of human trafficking that I know of. That is not to say "glamorized" though, for the plight of little Chiyo is one in which it is hard not to sympathize. A recurring them throughout my "books about Asian women" binge is that of the lower status of women in many Asian cultures, and hopefully by the end the reader will realize why the phenomenon of seeing little old Asian ladies at the gym is so prevalent: they are tough! And so it is with Sayuri, who loses her only friend early in the story and has to grow up without another. This is one feature of the story that seems difficult to believe: nearly everyone Chiyo encounters goes out of her way to make her life hell. Such lack of sympathy raises questions about human nature. As such, one cannot help but cheer Sayuri on and take her cause as one's own. Memoirs of a Geisha is a joy to read and, for the most part, reasonably well-paced. It does get a bit long in passing the 500 page mark but it doesn't feel as though much filler was used (which seems to plague too much fiction). Without a doubt, it is one of the most refreshing novels of recent memory and I cannot say that I regret having read it.

Thoughts On Scene It? 007 Edition

In lieu of a more traditional review of this DVD board game, I've decided to share with you a few quick notes on Scene It? 007 Edition. I was quite pleased to finally find this thing, and for the most part, it didn't disappoint. Here's a few thoughts on the game, based on my familiarity with the subject matter and the mechanics of Scene It?:

• First of all, 007 fans should only pick this up under the assumption that you anticipate finding willing and capable opponents to play against. Admittedly, it's fun for a while to run roughshod over the other players because you've seen every film in the series, but this soon becomes boring and there's no way to turn up the difficulty on your friends.

• As for the difficulty of the trivia, there's a good balance between questions drawn from inside and outside the films: that is, questions about the films' characters and plots are offset by questions about actors, directors, and theme songs. Furthermore, these questions range from the textually obvious (i.e. who played who in what film) to minute details which require considerable familiarity with the film. As such, it becomes obvious throughout the course of several games which films your friends/family members are more familiar with; for instance, I was swift in answering detailed queries on the plot of The World is Not Enough (or anything starring Pierce Brosnan), but struggled to recall the principle players of The Living Daylights, besides star Timothy Dalton. Still, the game is careful not to overwhelm casual viewers of the series with minutia, while at the same time keeping obsessed fans interested. It's a sufficient balance to insure broad appeal at your next party.

• Obviously, 007 Edition features clips from all official films in the series, from Dr. No to Die Another Day. They vary somewhat in length, but in general they are carefully selected and fun to watch or re-watch, as the case may be. My biggest problem with the clips is the volatile nature of the questions which follow them: too often these questions have little or nothing to do with the preceding clip. After watching a clip from TWINE, in which Bond and Christmas Jones escape from the exploding blast pit, I was asked, "Who played Electra King in this film?" Points for sticking with the same film, I guess, but minus several million for totally ignoring the content of the clip. On the other hand, these clips are sometimes followed by questions which only necessitate a player's attentiveness to seemingly arbitrary detail, such as the color of Bond's shirt in For Your Eyes Only. Rarely do the clips justify themselves within the game; instead, they only seem to be there for the purpose of visual distraction, and this is a complaint I often lodge regarding the various Scene It?s.

Nonetheless, if you have a cadre of pals willing and able to challenge your exquisite knowledge of 007, this edition of Scene It? is worthwhile. Daniel Craig was nowhere to be found in my somewhat dated version, but there's a Casino Royale Collector's Edition that brings things a little bit up-to-date.

Movie Review: The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

I feel the same way.

Unfortunately, The Forbidden Kingdom was released 10 years too late, at best; in both physical capabilities and star power, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have noticeably deteriorated in the interim. What comes out of their first onscreen pairing then is a mediocre kung fu epic, a celebrity all-star game, built upon a rickety foundation of reputation in which the name value lent by the masters is more important than their former abilities. Too bad, because a Jackie/Jet rumble in the 90s was the stuff of our grade school daydreams. Kingdom's got an inane premise, sure, and though that's a virtual prerequisite for the martial arts genre, it's not even inane enough to set up some spectacular fights. See, this kid named Jason loves Hong Kong action cinema, and on his latest trip to a mysterious pawn shop, he runs afoul with a band of malcontents his age. They rough him up so bad that he is magically whisked away to feudal times where he now has to hone his skills, at the behest of Jackie and Jet, so that he can return a staff to its proper place, fulfilling a destiny, you get it. There's many problems with this story, not the least of which is the shoehorning in of a white guy to be our unnecessary, emotional Orientalist tour guide, but the principle sin is unquestionably the all-too-brief fight between Jackie and Jet. It's fine for what it is, but it's not fine because of what it could've been. Technically, the choreography is clean, the cinematography is unobtrusive, and even the editing is a-ok, but there's little interesting about the whole thing and there should be when the team-up involves these two. Instead, Kingdom's stars are simply there to give the rub to others, most notably our intrepid white boy hero, and his acting is awful even by kung fu film standards. All Kingdom can do is send us back to our other DVDs.

Finest Fights: Police Story (1985)

Still bringing you the best fight scenes available on YouTube, only now, we bring 'em intermittently.

Aha, so today we have one of Jackie Chan's finest, the mall brawl from Police Story. You should know, Police Story is going to be featured in an upcoming countdown here at Code Redd Net, where we revisit ten of Jackie's best films. Consider this an early preview:

And, as an added bonus, enjoy the "making of" Jackie Chan: Stuntmaster for PS1:

 

Sadly, Stuntmaster was never released for the Game Gear. Danny had to convince himself otherwise :(

 

XBOX 360 Review: Red Dead Redemption (2010)

 

I have always been a fan of the mythical Old West. As early as I can remember, my toy collection included the necessary little plastic "Cowboys and Indians." Certainly, many people shared my enthusiasm for the spirit and characters of this genre. Thus, it is quite a wonder why video games took so long to catch up with our boyhood fantasies and imaginations. Besides gems like the arcade game, Sunset Riders, or the click-and-shoot cinematic Mad Dog Mcree, I hadn't experienced many Westerns in the video game format. This is Wikipedia's list of what I've been missing. But without a doubt, Red Dead Redemption is by far the most engrossing, encapsulating, and thorough electronic Western experience that gaming has to offer. It is definitely more than just being "Grand Theft Horse", but it does offer the open world experience people expect from Rockstar. There is plenty to do, from hunting to card playing to breaking in horses to treasure hunting to playing horseshoes. It is amazing in how it transports players to a different time, when life was tougher but most people were friendlier due to their greater independence on each other for survival. (Of course, being a video game, not everyone is very friendly. But for an historical account of the real Old West, see The Not So Wild, Wild West.) I was impressed with how characters didn't simply act like people today transported to a by-gone era; rather, they seemed authentic. The main character, John Marston, is a person to whom one can easily become emotionally attached (a phenomenon demonstrated, for example, by ones who carry a sign that reads, "Frodo lives!" or wear a T-shirt with "Save Marla Singer" written with a Sharpie). He deserves to be in the cowboy hall of fame, perhaps under (but only just under) John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Steve McQueen. As fantastic as these movie stars were and charming as the films in which they appeared, Red Dead reminds us of why we find video games so appealing: they transport some place hard or impossible to get to and allow us to do things we cannot do in our physical coils. Need I say more? Red Dead is a jewel of a game and an indisputable must-have for fans of Westerns, adventure games, third-person shooters, and/or free roaming games who have access to hardware capable of running it.

Sad Day For Sam Fisher

I alluded to my disappointment with what I saw in the E3 trailer of Splinter Cell: Blacklist during our time of highlights. I would like to elaborate on such in the present. As you can see from the above "Fifth Freedom" trailer, Sam is quite different from what he used to be. Now, I'm not only talking about the unforgivable fact that he is not voiced by Michael Ironside or that he seems to have gotten younger. In fact, nearly everything that lead me to become a fan has been altered or eradicated.

Most obvious is the gameplay itself. The tagline of Splinter Cell originally was "Stealth Action Redefined." With Blacklist (though the trend already began with Conviction) they are going to have to redefine "stealth" if they still want to label the series as such. Hitler agrees.
But beyond the gameplay, one of the things that really led me to appreciate the legend of Sam Fisher was seeing his evolution as a character. From the beginning, he always seemed to have an irreverent attitude towards his superiors and the military chain of command, especially when it was contradictory with his own moral vision. For example, in Chaos Theory while in Seoul to recover the data of a downed spy plane, the player is given the option of putting himself in danger of turrets in order to rescue the unconscious pilots. If he does so, he is not only warned, but discouraged, by Colonel Lambert, being told, "You won't get a medal for this, Fisher. You don't exist." Yet Sam does it anyway, citing his desire to sleep at night, demonstrating that whilst military brass give a higher priority to personal ambitions than to the lives of those under their command, Sam plays the role of the honey badger when it comes to his career. Even more telling is in Pandora Tomorrow when Fisher is told to shoot an unarmed woman who has been helping him because she is a double agent. If the player chooses to do so, Fisher expresses his anger at Lambert, claiming that his actions seem indistinguishable from those of the terrorists he is fighting. This is highly relevant to the "Fifth Freedom" trailer, which I will discuss below. As a final example of how Sam grew both as a character and in his independence from US intelligence agencies, Double Agent leaves him divorced from Third Echelon entirely, Conviction showing him to be now fighting it directly. Personally, as one who has become disillusioned with the military-industrial complex and intelligence agencies' all out assault on civil liberties, Sam was elevated beyond the status of legend, displaying a level of heroism rarely seen on any video game. Fisher had seen the State for the corrupt entity that it is and took it on. Simply awesome.

You can imagine the crushing blow that Blacklist is to me. Rather than further taking on the State, Sam has once again become enlisted in its ranks, only this time in a far more nefarious role. The words spoken in the trailer, beyond being trite and utterly predictable ("Saving lives...by taking them."), show just how far Sam has fallen. In our actual world, the US executive has has declared himself to be above the law, all in the name of upholding "American values and freedoms". He claims the right to imprison without trial, torture, steal anything he deems to be of value in national defense, and assassinate anyone he decides is a threat. Likewise, the fictional president in Blacklist also claims the right to bypass the law, Fisher being her tool for doing so. We can see Sam using the same weapons, i.e. predator drones, that have killed untold numbers of civilians in Pakistan and elsewhere in recent years. We also hear Fisher engage in Orwellian newspeak, as mentioned above.

In one fell swoop, it seems, Sam Fisher has fallen from grace; his beyond legendary status exchanged for becoming a mainstream shooter look-alike. As Tyler Durden says, "Putting feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken." Likewise, putting on night vision goggles does not make you Sam Fisher. Whatever Blacklist is, it does not deserve to have "Splinter Cell" in the title.

Spy Hunter for PS Vita, AKA Nowhere to Run II?

This time, There Really is Nowhere to Run, and thank goodness for that. Embedded below is the trailer for the new PS Vita version of Spy Hunter. And quite unlike Spy Hunter 2 and Nowhere to Run, this one looks enjoyable. In particular, I'm intrigued by all the customizable options for the Interceptor.

If you have a Vita and want to take a crack at reviewing this one for us, by all means, leave us a comment below or shoot us an email: codereddnet@hotmail.com.

Hot Piano Chick approved.