lu_morning Reviews

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)

Surprisingly Pretty Good!

[9/10 · 18 June 2009]

This was a pretty good movie. Wonderful music, good action scenes, decent story plot as much as you can based on the video game, and hot eye candy Kristin in it too. What more do you people want? What's with all the negative reviews? This movie was picturesque with very nice scenery of cities, landscapes, night scenes. Had a touch of humanistic side and good unfolding and pace. The acting was very good from Kristin and did I mention she was smoking hot? The other cast were decent enough. The only one that I felt was lacking was her father. But with that minor distraction aside, the movie was done fabulously and I enjoyed it very much. I think Kristin brought out a more dramatic aspect to a video game action hero run of the mill action movies. She showed very nice intensity and seriousness to the action fights. She sets a darker, yearning tone throughout the movie and in those moments when she smiles, she lights up the screen. Did I mention she was lovely in the movie? She really was. Neal as Bison, Robin as Gen and Michael as Balrog were fitting supporting cast. Chris and Moon provided a distraction to the main story flow in a good way. I enjoyed it and cast my thumbs up to all you negative reviewers. In fact, I enjoyed the movie much more than most of the recent action movies I have seen,especially this boring Dark Knight. I threw that in because of all the high review for that movie on this site. Anyhow, I'm going on a tangent. It's a good movie, have open mind and enjoy it for what it is, a very nice movie based on a video game. I wasn't disappointed. Oh, Kristin rocks.

The Game Plan (2007)

This movie Rocks!

[9/10 · 24 December 2008]

This movie was quite good. The Rock's best acting so far I think. I've seen a couple of his movies in the past. This is a very good story plot with many laughs and touching moments as well. Good story, entertaining story line, poignant moments to boot. The musical was pretty good as well. Let's see, manly man, football, self discovery, ballet, Elvis, and love, what more do you want? This is enjoyable family film and for adults. I really appreciated this movie. It is very formulaic movie. It reminds me of Pretty Woman and Disney classics combined into one in terms of cast playing their parts and the two main characters acting quite well and in the end find themselves in love with each other father and daughter. Great movie.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Overrated and a let down

[5/10 · 5 November 2008]

Batman Begin was and still is the best in the series. I was disappointed in this sequel to begin. The whole movie was pretty dark and depressing. The joker character is kind of weak. I just can't see how batman have such a weak nemesis. It's a movie that tries to provide insight into a mind that is free from the emotional shackle and control of modern society and test the endurance of human character but fell short of what it tried to achieve and in the end felt like the action/plot didn't flow like the previous with numerous boring scenes. I'm not even going to bother providing details as it's disappointing to watch the sequel. Now I have my fingers crossed for the Casino Royale sequel Quantum of Solace. Casino Royale was and is the best Bond yet. I hope Quantum will not disappoint like this one. I am so glad Daniel and Eva are back and I am a fan of Olga who was in the movie Hit-man.

Red Cliff (2008)

Epic in feel and delivers on story telling

[10/10 · 25 August 2008]

Why the negatives people? I love this movie so far. It's high class from the start. I think with the release of several similar movies in recent year, I must say this one stands out from the rest. I love the humanistic vibes to this movie. The battles and sceneries were all high class and it adds the human compassion to it all. Believe me, this movie has a lot of actions and fight scenes in it but it's really the human aspect and the story telling that drew me in. The two main characters in this movie Zhuge Liang(Takeshi) and Zhou Yu(Tony Leung) did a marvelous job of conveying pathos of war and peace. Pretty much all the cast actually did a very nice job. I love action scenes but I can pick on some fight scenes if I was picky but this movie is beyond reproach on some of these insignificant short falls. This is epic and I can't wait to see the 2nd part. This is really the prelude to the epic battle at red cliff but the build up was very nice. Reminds me of Lord of the Ring series in how it ended. Like the first part is the Two Tower and the second part is Return of the King. But unlike the Lord of the Ring, which I think has one flaw the parallel story telling of Frodo Gollum and the rest of the fellowship. Yes I know I might be sacrilegious to the book but I felt the mental struggle of Frodo and Gollum detracted from the movie. Yes those two are main arc of the book but I don't think it translate well in the movie. If I were to make LOTR an epic I would cut out most of the Frodo and Gollum scene and it would be one of the best epic story of all time. I feel this movie is of similar quality and I hope part 2 will live up to the part 1 and then some in terms of battle scope. Can't wait for it to come out. I am expecting Return of the King kind of battle. Thanks to all the cast and John Woo for such a good movie. I will buy when it goes on blue-ray. Bravo!!!

The Road Home (1999)

Just saw it...loved it

[10/10 · 23 November 2004]

OK, just saw it and read some reviews here. Thought I give a little input from my perspective. I came back from a good workout. Did some heavy bag training probably punched enough to knockout one hundred grown men. OK granted bags don't punch back or imply that I could last even one round against a pro but just to show that I'm no baby. I rarely cry if ever ;) Can't remember the last time I did at least. Well this night I cried like a little baby in this one. Can't put my hand around why either. Maybe it's the Oscar worthy performance from the beautiful actress Zhang Ziyi. Her performance pulled me in with her acting, her beautiful face, images of her braided pig tail hair flapping in the wind as she cutely trotted down the dirt path, her mandarin youthful voice and so on and so on. Or it could be what I think got to be the most stunning natural scenery I have ever seen captured in cinema. Spring, summer, fall, winter like the natural flow of life itself. Or it could be Zhang Ziyi IN the beautiful stunning scenic back drop that did it. Maybe it could be the music, the serene nostalgic music that strikes the chord in my heart. One reviewer put it Celtic like with Chinese flavor. But you guessed it, it's all the combination of the above weaved(pun intended for those who saw the movie) into such a simple, pure story of love and innocence. The story is simple yes but in the simplicity lies the complexity that is life. If I sit to examine the movie, I could write a thesis on lessons learned from watching this movie or more correctly lessons I already know from living but are brought out to the forefront from watching this movie. As a reviewer, I am opinionated and as such my view is always right unless shown otherwise. I'm a reasonable man after all. So for those who say it's too simple...idiots. You haven't reflected enough. For those who say the stories have been filmed time and time before and just a rehash...morons. Watch the movie again and talked to the idiots who have reflected enough. For those who thinks it's too slow or no action...schmuck get help for your ADD and then talk to the morons who talked to the idiots. OK don't take my criticism too seriously it's all in good humor. To each your own opinion. I care not to dive into the complexity of this movie. I neither have the time nor the motivation to write a long, long review. It's a very good movie to just enjoy and savor after getting bombarded with today's Hollywood pyrotechnics, special effect movies (titanic cough cough). And maybe you will be able to find complexity and truth in this simple little gem of a movie.

The New Legend of Shaolin (1994)

Awesome Martial Art Movie

[9/10 · 11 April 2004]

I watched the dvd dubbed version of the movie. It was 80 minutes of fun and entertainment. I'm a big Jet Li fan and have seen many of his films and I must say this is on the top 5 list he is in. The casts were a great mix. The movie kept a fast action, high octane flow from the beginning to the end. I was either excited by the awesome action scenes, laughing out loud on the humorous scenes, or just enjoying the beautiful sceneries. The music to the movie was awesome too. It was shear enjoyment. I'll definitely watch it again and again in the future. Jet Li played a martial art master skilled in the magic spear and in this movie you get to see his skill with spears and the amazing things he can do with it from the opening action scene.

It's short enough to be watched on some idle evening but believe me you are in for a treat...especially if you are into martial art and period movies. A happy fan.

The Classic (2003)

Heart Warming and Satisfying Love Story¡KA Classic!!!

[10/10 · 6 March 2004]

I just love this story. This is a beautiful picturesque movie about first love, a touching tale about love, sacrifice, and friendship crossing two generations. The movie begins with the story of the daughter. From the beginning, the movie showcases the stunning Korean scenery and beautiful camera angles. The movie unfolds with the telling of the daughter Chi-hye and her crush Sang-min a boyfriend of her friend Su-kyeong. The movie quickly dives into the heart of the movie when the daughter discovers her mother's diary about her first love. This, my fellow movie aficionado, is the start of the Classic. For sake of brevity and not giving away the plot, I will not go into detail about this wonderfully written and wonderfully acted movie. There are some flaw in the movie but even with that I am blown away by how emotionally gripping and satisfying the story and acting of the main actress Son Yeh-jin and Cho Seun-woo (who play's the mother's love interest). The musical scores and selections are awesome and very fitting to the mood of the story. The movie title suggests a classic Korean love story but in the end, I can't help but wish that I too could have experienced such level of love. For the romantic at heart and those who want to experience the full range of human emotion watch this movie, better yet own this movie.

Iron Monkey (1993)

Great Entertainment

[10/10 · 19 January 2004]

This is by far one of the top 10 martial art movies of all time.

This movie has beautiful scenery and atmosphere. It transport me back to a place long ago and far away where life is cruel and government officials are corrupt but all is not forsaken for heroes are out there with heart of pure goodness, body of iron armor, and spirit of courage and valor. This movie made me believe in this world where human can train their body and mind to do inhuman feats like leaping onto roof tops and shattering cement blocks two feet thick. It invoked memories of my childhood dream of becoming a martial art master able to kick butt but also the restraint and pathos for helping those less fortunate. Both Dr Yang and Wong Kei-Ying plays a martial art hero that possess these traits. They are well rounded individuals that posses other admirable skills. Dr Yang for example is a highly skilled doctor, a flashy cook, and a musician. I love one of the breath taking scenery in which he was playing this Chinese instrument out in the court yard on a golden autumn day. It's very nostalgic for me for some reason. Orchid, Dr Yang's assistant is wonderful in this movie as well. She brought beauty and depth to this movie. The young Wong Fei-hung character was great as well. These wonderful characters on top of the amazing fight sequences makes this movie transcend martial art movies and rival any movies genre ever produced in terms of sheer entertainment value. I have read review about the bad/simple plot or fake wire-fu in this movie. That's not the point, the mastery of mood and texture in this movie is sheer enjoyment. How much plot can one develop in a 90 minute martial art movie?...or any movie really...it's all about the human conditions some more complex than other often recycled over and over through the years and placed in a different setting and different context. Great movies capture the human imagination and touches a spectrum of human emotions. Great movies also flow smoothly and do not go into a lull. For me this movie did that and more. Hopefully you'll want to watch it again and again like I did.