Wilpuri Reviews

Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (2002)

Strange ride...

[1 October 2003]

What kind of movie is this? Ummm.. well it's... weird. It's VERY weird actually... It's like someone wanted to make mixture of Fallen Angels, Nowhere to Hide, Avalon, Matrix, Unreal Tournament, Rainbow Six and... Little Matchgirl!

I have to say that I liked this movie. It was beautiful, strange and full of humor and spectacular action. The actors were good and the effects were mostly brilliant.

I'm not going to tell you anything about the plot, because... it's so strange, twisted and complicated and you don't really need to know it before you see the movie.

I think that the weirdest thing in this movie is that they used NYLON BEAT'S song in the movie! It was quite surrealistic to watch a South-Korean movie and listen to a FINNISH popmusic! I have to say that I HATE Nylon Beat, but somewhy their music worked in this movie... and actually all music in this movie was quite good.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes to watch original an different movies..... this definitely is a DIFFERENT movie...

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Mixed bag.....

[19 September 2003]

I think that the first Matrix was a very good movie. It wasn't as original as many people say and the fighting scenes were rather boring if you compare them to actionscenes in movies like DAO - the Blade, Iron Monkey, Once Upon a Time in China or Red Wolf, but still it was an entertaining movie.

This Reloaded-thingy isn't as good as the first one. It's special effects are worse (I just HATE that scene where there's plenty of CGI Mr. Smiths fighting against CGI Neo... It just couldn't look any worse!), it's plot is worse and it's fighting scenes are even more boring than in the first one. The story tries to be very "deep", but actually it's just cheesy sci-fi nonsense... quite entertaining nonsense, but still pure nonsense.

One of the worst things in the movie is the very beginning. It's just horrible. Trinity rides a motorcycle -- Trinity destroys a building -- Trinity falls trough a window of some other building and shoots some agent. It's senseless, boring and the "bullet-time" just doesn't work in here like it worked in the first Matrix.

On the positive side, I really liked the "highway scene". It was fast and stylish. I also liked the interesting ending of the movie. I even liked the rave scene (which seems to be the most hated part of the movie), but those good points in this movie couldn't cover it's weaknesses.

If you want to see good martial arts action, look elsewhere. If you want to see interesting sci-fi movie, look elsewhere. If you want to see good Matrix-material, watch Animatrix. If you want to see entertaining mixture of sci-fi, Action, Real-Life-Anime and Monica Bellucci(!), you should give this movie a try.

(Three Stars) * * *

The Princess Blade (2001)

Good.

[15 August 2003]

This movie is just great! It has good actors, great action scenes and fantastic camerawork! This movie is not for those who just like to watch old-school kung fu movies, beacause there's plenty of cuts and "strange" camera-angles.....

Princess Blade is not a non-stop action flick, and there's actually quite long drama-section in the middle of this movie, so if you're looking for a plain brains-off action... this might not be the best choise.

I would recommend this movie for... anyone (over 16) who enjoys watching good looking wome... er... action scenes but doesn't get bored if there isn't action goin' on ALL the time.

Zu Warriors (2001)

This movie is SOOOO...

[15 August 2003]

... fantastic. This movie contains great actors, good CGI and beautiful cinematography! The special effects aren't as realistic as in most Hollywood movies, but they're far more original and stylish. And you just have to love the voice of Insomnia (the BAD dude of this movie)!!! It's great! I also liked the fairy played by gorgeous Kelly Lin.

There's just so much great things in this movie! It's far from perfect, but a LOT better than Hollywood special effect -movies such as The Mummy or Tomb Raider... actually I think it's even better (at least more original) than The Matrix.

I haven't seen the old ZU yet (I just bought it), but I guess it would be useless to compare the movies anyway. I guess this new version is VERY different from the old Zu warriors.

If you can handle a bit complicated and weird story and like over-the-top superhero/fantasy -action, then this movie is FOR you!

Five reasons to watch this:

1. Great special effects 2. Tsui Hark 3. Cecilia Cheung, Sammo Hung, Ekin Cheng and co. 4. Tsui Hark 5. The great music.

Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002)

OUCH!

[13 August 2003]

Tsui Hark is the director of the greatest action movie ever made. That movie is DAO - The Blade. Black Mask 2 must be Tsui Hark's worst movie... well actually I haven't seen his VanDamme movies so maybe this isn't the WORST after all... but it is A CRAP compared to movies like Once Upon a Time in China, Time and Tide or DAO - The Blade!

But even this piece of garbage has some good in it... for example the whole mutant thing was hilarious! I loved those cheesy looking creatures! It reminded me of the time when I used to watch Turtles from TV!

Unfortunately Yuen Wo Pings Choreographies are even worse than in the Matrix (Matrix has very boring action choreographies) and the visual effects are mostly horrible...

It seems that the Asian directors should stay in there and continue making GOOD movies... and stop doing these westernized "action movies"...

2000 AD (2000)

Great fun!

[13 August 2003]

I've never been a big fan of Aaron Kwok, but he's actually really good in this movie. Much better than in China Strike Force or Storm Riders.

Gordon Chan is one of the best Hong Kong -action directors, and he really knows how to combine drama and fastpaced action. The gunfights in this movie are very good and the kung fu scenes are pretty well made too. The fighting is mostly quite realistic (at least compared to movies like New Dragon Gate Inn, Iron Monkey or other high-flying action flicks) and all the characters aren't great kung fu masters.

Recommended for... anyone who likes GOOD action movies.

Avalon (2001)

Great movie!

[12 August 2003]

Beautiful, peaceful and unique movie. This movie must be one of the best Sci-fi movies ever. People always complain, that this movie is "empty". This movie is supposed to be EMPTY!!!! It's intentional! The lives of the characters in this movie are empty. All they think or talk about is the game. This movie is about the effects of technology to social life of human beings...

Other people often compare this movie to The Matrix... It's really, really annoying. Okay... there's definitely some similarities, but they're not stolen from The Matrix. Actually The Matrix stole many elements from Mamoru Oshiis (director of this movie) Ghost in the Shell (but somewhy nobody's saying that The Matrix is ripping-off Ghost In The Shell). Avalon is calm and beautiful movie and The Matrix is fast paced actionmovie with John Woo/Johnnie To/Tsui Hark type fighting/shooting scenes, so don't try to compare these movies. They're both good movies, but DIFFERENT!

Watch this movie. Don't think about The Matrix while watching. Just WATCH the movie and ENJOY (And be blown away by the awesome musics by Kawai)!

Returner (2002)

Matrix???

[8 August 2003]

Why is everyone saying that this is just a rip-off of The Matrix? Have you guys seen any anime? This movie is like anime with real actors. Matrix (don't get me wrong, it's very entertaining movie) is actually just a collection of ideas and styles invented by others. It's story is stolen from Terminator, Dark City and Ghost in the Shell. It's visual style is borrowed from Hong Kong action and anime.

Of course Returner has borrowed lots of elements from E.T, ID4, Leon and many other movies, but it certainly isn't a rip-off. It's very entertaining and fun movie, which doesn't take itself too seriously. The western actors in this movie are just horrible and some CGI looks a bit cheesy (but nothing as cheesy as the awful looking Burly Brawl scene in Matrix Reloaded), but the movie is still very well made and most of the time it really looks like a big budget movie.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is cool (didn't really surprise me), the main villain of the movie is fantastic (reminds me of Gary Oldman in Leon) and Ms. Suzuki is quite good too. Recommended for fans of anime or stylish action movies.