Silver Emulsion Film Reviews

The Raid (2012)

The Raid [Serbuan maut] (2012)
AKA The Raid: Redemption

Starring Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Doni Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Ray Sahetapy, Tegar Satrya, Iang Darmawan

Directed by Gareth Evans

Expectations: Super high. So stoked for this movie.

Before I get into more specific feelings about The Raid, I want to say that I really enjoyed it overall. I liked Merantau a lot more, but I think The Raid is the better made film hands down. With that out of the way, let’s get down to business. Iko Uwais and Gareth Evans, hot off of the success of Merantau, are back to bring you a bone-crunching, kick-ass martial arts film. If you went into The Raid cold, you’d never guess this was the case from the opening half hour or so, as there is very little, if any, martial arts at all during this time. It’s all police squads and machine gun fire, and while automatic weapons are always pretty damn exciting and entertaining, I was there for the punchy-punch.

There’s not a whole lot of story being told in The Raid, but that’s to be expected. The basics of The Raid are this: There’s an evil fucker on the top floor of a fifteen-story building. He must be taken down, along with all the other evil fuckers that he has rented rooms to in the building, not to mention his two evil henchmen fuckers. As one of the cops says during the opening scene, “Let’s clean up this city.”

2 Years Old!

So yesterday was Silver Emulsion’s 2nd anniversary. I started it up on April 12, 2010 and have been going strong ever since. It’s more fun than ever and I have no plans of stopping any time soon. I have far too many ambitious ideas and projects to get through before that happens.

I don’t have anything witty, funny, or touching to say about the day, but I will say this: Thanks for stopping by and reading a review (or two, or three, etc.) I really appreciate it. I know there’s a shit-ton of movie review blogs out there, so I’m always happy when your search for “NUDE BARBARIAN MOVIES” or “DRY HUMPING GRANNIES” points you here.

Looking forward into Year 3:

I hope to be fairly close to finishing the long-running project of reviewing all of Empire International/Full Moon’s films. I haven’t counted but I think by this time next year I should only have a few left, plus any new arrivals.
The chronological Shaw Brothers project will also continue to be in full swing, as I make my way into the luscious 70s. Oh man, there is such a wealth of great martial arts films ahead of me there. I want to get those Clockwork Orange things to hold my eyes open and watch them all at once!
The off-and-on Sam Fuller project will continue as well, and if I can stick to it, perhaps I can rip through the rest of his movies this year. I just find that I want to savor his movies rather than devour them, so most likely I’ll only end up watching two or three.
I have many other projects I’d like to start (Godzilla, Jackie Chan, JCVD, Pedro Almodóvar, the list goes on) but I think they’ll have to wait till Year 4 unless I’m able to slowly sprinkle them in. We’ll see.

I can’t think of anything else to say, so thanks again! If you like the site, feel free to spread the word!

Merantau (2009)

Merantau (2009)
AKA Merantau Warrior

Starring Iko Uwais, Sisca Jessica, Christine Hakim, Mads Koudal, Yusuf Aulia, Alex Abbad, Yayan Ruhian, Laurent Buson, Doni Alamsyah, Ratna Galih

Directed by Gareth Evans

Expectations: High. Heard some great things. Also heard it’s bad. We’ll see.

Told simply, Merantau is one of the most impressive martial arts débuts of all time. Iko Uwais, a practitioner of Silat since childhood, busts out of nowhere in his first film and literally annihilates the competition. He’s no joke, and he’s easily the next big thing in martial arts cinema. Watching Merantau gave me the same feeling I had when I first saw Tony Jaa work his magic on-screen in Ong Bak. Uwais comes off as a combination of Jaa’s hard-hitting brutality and Jackie Chan’s playful, “grab your surroundings as weapons” style, and it’s a true joy to watch. He’s doesn’t seem as athletic as Jaa, or as inventive as Chan, but he is a great amalgamation of the two distinctly different styles. There’s nothing in the world like watching a master martial artist at work, and Merantau is filled with stunning, thrilling examples of just that.

The merantau referenced in the film’s title refers to our hero’s journey from his small village to Jakarta. It’s his merantau, or the time in his life when he must leave his village in search of enriching experiences and success. It is Yuda’s dream to teach Silat to others and he hopes to do just that when he hits Jakarta. He does teach some baddies just how badass and effective a martial art Silat is along the way, but somehow I don’t think that’s what he had in mind. In any case, not much info is given on what the merantau entails before it begins in the film, and not much is needed. From the opening scenes it is clear that it is a perilous journey, and one fraught with danger and intrigue. It is a journey that every man in the village must endure, and we as the viewer will undertake it without prior knowledge, the same as Yuda.

Stephen reviews: X (1996)

X (1996)
AKA X/1999, X: Their Destiny Was Foreordained 1999

Starring Tomokazu Seki, Ken Narita, Yūko Minaguchi, Atsuko Takahata, Junko Iwao, Tōru Furusawa, Masako Ikeda, Kazuhiko Inoue,Mami Koyama, Rica Matsumoto, Kotono Mitsuishi, Issei Miyazaki, Jōji Nakata, Yukana Nogami, Toshihiko Seki, Emi Shinohara, Hideyuki Tanaka, Kōichi Yamadera

Directed by Rintaro

No, the title X has nothing to do with the film’s rating. It is in fact rated R. There’s no sex anywhere, and the only nudity is in the incredibly creepy opening scene where the main character, Kamui, confronts his naked mother. Before Kamui can do much of anything, his mother rips open her own stomach with her bare hands and pulls out a massive sword, which she then stabs into Kamui’s stomach. And just to end the scene on a confusing note, because it wasn’t confusing enough apparently, Mommy dearest spontaneously explodes in a spray of blood and severed limbs. Things like this are why Japan has cornered the WTF market. It certainly grabs your attention, but even after watching the film I’m not sure whether that scene was a dream sequence, or literal event. It doesn’t matter much though, as there isn’t much difference between the two in this movie. People travel through dreams, and the film is filled with apocalyptic visions.

The movie is about the end of the world, and the two groups fighting over it: the Dragons of Heaven who want to preserve modern civilization, and the Dragons of Earth that want to return the world to its natural state. Each side has six members in addition to the two fortune-telling sisters that lead them, and that means there’s obviously going to be some limits on how well we get to know them. Many characters have a sort of “Hi! Bye!” feel to them, just getting enough time to show off their stuff before dying. This film is an adaptation of a comic book series, and the problem of condensing a longer story will always be present. Rintaro has learned a few things in the decade since he directed The Dagger of Kamui, though, and the pacing in X is smooth throughout the film, giving a balanced focus to as many characters as it could.

Meridian (1990)

Meridian (1990)
AKA Meridian: Kiss of the Beast, Phantoms

Starring Sherilyn Fenn, Malcolm Jamieson, Charlie Spradling, Hilary Mason, Phil Fondacaro, Vernon Dobtcheff, Alex Daniels, Vito Passeri, Angelo de Bianchi, Salem Badr

Directed by Charles Band

Expectations: Low. This one looks kinda cheesy.

On the general scale:

On the B-Movie scale:

I rarely know much about these films before watching them, in an effort to remain open-minded and free from pesky expectations. In the case of Meridian, I had only seen the poster. It gives off something of an erotic, Gothic vibe and surprisingly, that’s exactly what Meridian is. And it’s good! Imagine that. Meridian is something completely different for Charles Band and I for one welcomed the change readily. Too many times I’ve sat down to a Full Moon film devoid of plot, FX and entertainment for the sake of reviewing all of their films, but Meridian was actually quite enjoyable to watch.

Without giving too much away, Meridian is about a girl, a castle and a centuries-old mystery that surrounds them both. It’s more of a Gothic romance than a real horror film, but I think horror fans looking to branch out from the everyday slasher film might still enjoy it… I did. The story plays with conventions and expectations just enough to keep you guessing (to a degree), and it continued to surprise me up until the end. It definitely has its missteps and some of the characters/plot points are underused/unfulfilled, but for what it is Meridian was quite impressive. It’s an interesting Full Moon film that stands alone in terms of story and focus, and for that, it’s worth checking out.

7×7 Link Award

These are the sort of things I both wait for and despise. The inevitable linked meme with a set of questions to answer so everyone can know more about you. Ugh. This one is slightly different though, in that it’s completely ego-boosting as the majority of it is about the blog. Finally, I can talk freely about all those posts that I loved, but no one else gave a shit about. My dream has come true! Thanks to Rodney over at the always entertaining Fernby Films for linking me. He’s a good guy and runs a fun blog that, like mine, is best viewed at 1920×1280. (Editor’s Note: Shit, I finally got a chance to use that joke, and it looks like Rodney has removed the relevant disclaimer from his site. Woe is me. A better editor would have removed this joke entirely, but no one ever said I was an editor capable of killing his babies.)

OK, sorry for the sidetrack, here’s the info you’re craving.

The Rules:

1: Tell everyone something about yourself that nobody else knows.

2: Link to a post I think fits the following categories: The Most Beautiful Piece, Most Helpful Piece, Most Popular Piece, Most Controversial Piece, Most Surprisingly Successful Piece, Most Underrated Piece, Most Pride-worthy Piece.

3: Pass this on to 7 fellow bloggers.

OK, here goes.

Stephen reviews: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984)

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? [超時空要塞マクロス愛・おぼえていますか, Chōjikū Yōsai Makurosu: Ai Oboete Imasu ka] (1984)

AKA Macross: Do You Remember Love?, Super Dimension Fortress Macross the Movie, Macross: Clash of the Bionoids, Super Spacefortress Macross

Starring Mari Iijima, Arihiro Hase, Mika Doi, Akira Kamiya, Osamu Ichikawa, Eiji Kanie, Ryūnosuke Ōbayashi

Directed by Shōji Kawamori & Noboru Ishiguro

Here it is: Macross. The holy grail of sci-fi anime. It may not have as much mainstream recognition as some others, but within the industry, Macross is the preeminent giant robot anime. In America, it was turned into the first part of the Robotech series, one of the more popular cartoon shows of the ’80s. It even impacted the Transformers. The character Jetfire was created from a Macross toy, and while Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf have been using the Transformers franchise as their own personal commode lately, that Macross inspired character is still around today.

There is no Robotech version of this film, which is an adaptation of the original Macross TV series, but because of the various copyright conundrums, it never got a proper American release. It did get an English dub under the title Macross: Clash of the Bionoids, but one version going by that title was edited into oblivion. (If someone makes a list of the most confusingly published movies, this one better be on it.) I didn’t have much trouble getting a DVD of the original Do You Remember Love, but it is an all region disc, so I think it’s an international release that somehow sidestepped the copyright problems. Sadly, that “perfect edition” is far from perfect. While it does have some good quality video, the subtitles are abysmally timed. The worst part is the karaoke subtitles, which cannot be turned off under any circumstances. Maybe someday we’ll get a good remastered Blu-ray edition in America, but don’t hold your breath.