REVIEW: DVD Release: Tai-Chi Master

Film: Tai-Chi Master
Release date: 26th April 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 91 mins
Director: Yuen Woo-ping
Starring: Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Chin Siu-hou, Fennie Yuen, Yuen Cheung-Yan
Genre: Martial Arts/Comedy
Studio: Cine Asia
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong

Two of Asia’s more impressive acting let alone martial arts exports teaming up with a director whose credits include Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master and The Matrix surely couldn’t fail.

The orphaned Junbao (Jet Li) and Tianbao (Chin Siu-hou), who he befriended as a child, have grown up together as monks, getting themselves in many comical high jinks along the way. Whilst both are exceptionally talented martial artists, Junbao is far more carefree than the determined Tianbao who enters a competition for promotion within the Shaolin’s ranks.

Winning his final bout with ease, Tianbao grows enraged when his opponent cheats and tries to attack him with a concealed weapon. Despite being the innocent party, his subsequent actions are frowned upon, and when Junbao stands by his friend they are both expelled from the temple that has been their home for so many years.

Now on their own, the duo enter a poor village which is being terrorised by a corrupt governor and his army. The kind-hearted Junbao of course sides with the rebels who want to steal from the wrong doers and give back to the poor, whilst the ambitious Tianbao opts to join the military ranks, bringing the duo into direct conflict. You know the rest…


If there’s a familiarity to the synopsis, it’s understandable - the story has been recycled and adapted on countless occasions within this medium. Li’s character following his old master’s philosophies and training to do good, his close friend turning against those ideals out of greed to do bad - although the swift switch from competitive to cold-blooded and merciless tyrant is hardly given plausibility here. Still a familiar romp with unrealistic character shifts is not the be-all and end-all with a classic martial arts movie – it’s how well they deliver in the action stakes.

Unfortunately, that’s the film’s biggest failing. The fighting, no doubt impressive feats of physical endeavour, are overly excited; the speed and busyness rendering well executed moves unimpressive as you barely take in lightning speed feats amongst a plethora of bodies (Li taking on a whole army with a bamboo stick sounds a lot better on paper). It doesn’t help that the more impressive and better executed martial arts scenes are delivered early on, with Li and Chin turning their everyday chores into sparring bouts, and their expulsion from the Shaolin is not without first witnessing some fantastic pole assisted ass kicking, as the duo take on countless pupils (whose development has, of course, been dramatically impinged in comparison) within the temple’s confined space. However, whilst the film can never match yet surpass these early highlights, the lack of any bone-crunching impact coupled with the excessive and unrealistic use of wires (people are flown around the screen with minimal grace) does it no favours – even if augmenting the film’s intentional comedic aspect.

It’s not uncommon for Asian martial arts flicks to balance out the violence and forcefully delivered philosophical messages (Li also develops ridiculous ‘super powers’ through his understanding of Tai-Chi that eventually rebalances his mental state) with a deep running current of humour, but roping Jet Li in on the fun was a bad move. Massively miscast, the jokes fall flat, he looks visibly uneasy on screen, and it all adds to the mess. It doesn’t help that the filmmakers seem keen to make comment on some fairly serious subject matter – alcoholism, for one, mocked throughout.

Li is not only unable to display the intensity that’s made him a household name with both eastern and western audiences, he’s embarrassed. When the filmmakers decide to mock mental health problems (he goes insane after his old chum gives him a proper hiding), we have him stumbling around pretending to be a duck - it hits a real low point. This is not funny; it’s a dark subject matter that is made all the more depressing when delivered in such an unsubtle and dim-witted manner.

As mentioned, there is more than one actor here who has made their impression internationally, but Michelle Yeoh is woefully underused – and you have to question the merits for her inclusion in this story, given that her kidnap is swiftly remedied and is not used to crank up the tension or intensity as the film draws to a close. Thankfully, there is restraint, and no ill conceived romantic developments put the brakes on a film whose single credit is that it runs at a brisk enough pace to enjoy as mindless throwaway fodder – as you’ve just been privy, it’s not a good thing to think too hard about what you’ve witnessed.


Despite the pedigree of those involved, this is a disappointedly amateur offering, whose production was already dated by the time of its original release. You really will have to switch the lights off to enjoy the mayhem. DH

REVIEW: DVD Release: The Island

Film: The Island
Release date: 21st June 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 112 mins
Director: Pavel Lounguine
Starring: Pyotr Manonov, Viktor Sukhorukov, Dmitry Dyuzhev
Genre: Drama
Studio: Artificial Eye
Format: DVD
Country: Russia

Not to be confused with the terrible Ewan McGregor/Scarlett Johansson action film released around the same time, The Island comes to our shores with a host of awards from its native Russia, who, at their annual Golden Eagle Awards proclaimed it to be the best Russian film of 2006. A deeply religious film about the nature of faith, forgiveness and one man’s ability for miracles, it’s been praised by the Russian Orthodox Church leader Alexis II as being a wonderful love letter to the church.

The film opens during World War II, where sailor Anatoly and his captain, Tikhon, are apprehended aboard their ship by Nazi Germans. The leading Nazi officer offers the chance for Anatoly to live if he shoots and kills his captain. Begging for his life and trembling with fear, Anatoly reluctantly carries out the act, shooting his captain who falls overboard and into the sea. Moments later the Nazis blow up the ship with Anatoly still on board. The following morning Anatoly is discovered washed up on the shore by a group of Russian Orthodox monks who take him to their island monastery.

Thirty years pass and Anatoly is still living within the monastery, riddled with guilt over the events of the war, often praying in seclusion for forgiveness. With a seemingly miraculous gift (he’s got a knack for healing the sick and predicting the future), local towns people flock to Anatoly for cures or guidance, much to the confusion of the other monks.

A man arrives at the monastery with his possessed daughter. Anatoly performs a form of exorcism on the girl and rescues her soul. The girl’s father, it turns out, is his former captain, alive and well and not dead as Anatoly assumed. Will he be forgiven or will his former captain bear a grudge?


The film’s best moment comes early during the Nazi standoff aboard the ship. Tense and expertly acted, and reminiscent of Great War scenes before it, the scene leads to hopes that the rest of the film will follow in similar fashion, but that isn’t the kind of film The Island strives to be - it has far bigger ideas to contend with.

Director Pavel Lungin has created a contemplative fable within a very isolated atmosphere. He is competent enough behind the camera; it’s what’s in front of it that’s questionable. Set in a misty, snowy, windy island in remote Russia, it’s a film that certainly won’t win any tourism awards. You’ll find yourself often yearning for the sun to come out, and perhaps this is the kind of metaphor Lungin is trying to convey, as Anatoly fights with his inner conscience.

The film unwraps slowly, maybe too slowly, as Anatoly is revealed gently over the course of the two hours. Played remarkably well by ex rock star turned actor Pyotr Mamonov (a real-life orthodox Christian), he is onscreen for almost the entire film, creating a complex character who, despite falling into self-pity, at times, remains on the right side of likeable. He’s certainly a man of contradictions, prankster one minute, fervent worshipper the next, whose devotion is never in doubt. Bearded and gaunt, and always looking in need of a bath, he cuts a pained figure, looking much older than the actor’s 59 years.

Each of the monastery’s monks represents a sin - the human faults and material longings that hinder spiritual redemption - and Anatoly, desperate for forgiveness, challenges them all in his own complex and unique way. He feels forgiven by God, but seems to be struggling to forgive himself, thereby representing the challenge to find his inner peace, something many of us can possibly relate to.

The music complements the film nicely with moving choral singing, which fits perfectly during Anatoly’s spiritual examinations and thoughtful insights.

The Island is perhaps best watched when we are at our worst, or seeking repentance from our own sins. It deals with forgiveness and one man’s quest to find his own, but the film’s lack of colour and lightness of touch will presumably turn off a large portion of the audience. It’s a difficult film to sit through, purely because it’s extremely bleak and mildly depressing in its execution. Those that stay the course, much like Anatoly himself, may feel like taking a long rest afterwards.


The Island wants to be thought provoking, with its religious themes and complex characterisations, but whilst it should be moving, the unrelentingly cold makes it a dreary and tiresome watch. GY

REVIEW: DVD Release: Them

Film: Them
Release date: 25th August 2008
Certificate: 18
Running time: 73 mins
Director: David Moreau & Xavier Palud
Starring: Olivia Bonamy, Michaël Cohen, Adriana Mocca, Maria Roman, Camelia Maxim
Genre: Horror/Mystery/Thriller
Studio: In2Film
Format: DVD
Country: France/Romania

Them continues in the tradition of the recent wave of intense French horror that has included films such as Switchblade Romance and the excellent, if controversial Martyrs. All three films are intense and graphic in a manner that is rarely seen in mainstream popular cinema, and all three share a similar sense of realism, making them all the more disturbing. Unlike Switchblade and Martyrs, however, Them, as we are told at the beginning, is based on actual events and, rather surprisingly considering we live in the ‘torture porn’ era of horror filmmaking, the film contains almost no blood.

French couple Clementine (Olivia Bonamy) and Lucas (Michael Cohen) have recently relocated to Romania to begin a new life. Clementine is a French-language teacher, and Lucas, when not playing computer games on his laptop, is a stay at home writer. They are a normal couple living a normal existence in their large country house on the outskirts of Bucharest.

One evening at home, the couple hear strange noises from outside their home, and before they know it they are suddenly faced by an unseen force terrorising their home. The two try desperately to escape their tormentors, which leads them into the nearby woods where a fight for survival ensues…


If all this sounds a tad simple and familiar, it’s because it is. Them will never win an award for originality - home invasion films have been around for quite some time - however, a number of factors help to make the film at least succeed in being genuinely tense, and, at times, downright scary.

One of those factors, or two as the case is here, are the directors, David Moreau and Xavier Palud. They clearly know how to create and wring every ounce of tension from their screenplay, making sure that no palms are left dry. They set the tone early, with an opening scene that will have you watching behind your fingers. Their handheld shooting style creates a realistic and edgy atmosphere often making the tension unbearable, particularly during one scene in which our heroine hides from her tormentor in an upstairs hideaway filled with plastic sheets hanging from the ceiling.

The fantastic use of sound effects, from a genuinely unsettling rattling sound (which is explained in the final scene) to the simple sounds of rain falling, televisions blaring and a telephone ringing, contribute perfectly to the overall sense of impending doom.

Both lead actors are believable and suitably shaken in their roles, essential as they are the only two onscreen for the majority of the film. Running scared for the most part, they commit fully. It’s a shame then that the film refuses to tell us much about them. With the exception of a brief dinner scene, and some light-hearted conversations early on, we are given very little reason to care about their predicament, or the eventual outcome.

Once the resolution arrives, and we see clearly for the first time what our protagonists have been facing, it’s a bit of a letdown, but, on reflection, perhaps one that is more plausible than wild imaginations can muster. It’s also an ending that refuses to sugar coat, to admirable and shocking effect.

What really lets Them down is how bare the film feels. At just 77 minutes long, and with a very simple premise, the film teeters on being too simplistic for its own good. Perhaps this is justified by its ‘real events’ claim, but you can’t escape the feeling that there’s not enough substance.


Those looking for a strong story and proper character development will be left feeling a little short changed. Horror fans who revel in being on the edge of their seat will be more than satisfied, however. GY