YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

Archive for action movies - action dramas, trailers and adventure films

Asian and Hollywood action movie trailers, cast and information. Some posts are updated with short reviews and extra thoughts after I watched the films.

Kick-Ass 2 movie trailer

by

Trailer for action black comedy film Kick-Ass 2. Directed by Jeff Wadlow and starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz and Jim Carrey. In cinemas August 2013.

I watched its first instalment by chance on TV and it’s an interesting movie. It’s based on two comic book series, Kick-Ass and Hit Girl. The main plot is about a teenager aspiring to become a real life superhero, learn the hard lessons, and bring down a crime boss in the end.

Not an extraordinary plot but the screenplay and visual style are pretty unique and refreshing. This sequel seems to carry on the traits but doesn’t offer anything new to be frank. Probably still a fun movie though, plus they somehow managed to get Jim Carrey in a supporting role for this one.

Update – Jim Carrey decided not to endorse the film because of a change of conscience following the Sandy Hook shooting. He filmed Kick-Ass 2 before the tragedy but felt that he can no longer support that level of violence in movies. Respect the decision but can’t agree on that.

Entertainment products and real life are two different things. Even if there’s a link (no solid evidence thus far) between pop culture and hideous crimes I bet those criminals will find their source of “inspiration” elsewhere after we eliminate violence from movies and video games etc.

Unknown (2011) movie trailer

by

Trailer for Unknown, an American-German action thriller film. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and based on a French novel by Didier Van Cauwelaert. The movie stars Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz and Frank Langella. In cinemas in the United States in February 2011.

The movie follows Dr Harris who’s in a traffic accident in Berlin. He wakes up from his coma after four days only to find his wife with another man – who she says is her husband – and seems to have no memory about him. Harris tries to solve the mystery with the help of Gina, the taxi driver who was involved in the accident; and together they discover a twisted agenda and find themselves in deep water.

Interesting plot, and thankfully the trailer doesn’t reveal too much to spoil the suspense. I like the cast too, so I’ll probably watch this in cinema. The US release is around Chinese New Year though, I suspect Malaysia will get a later release because we usually focus on CNY themed movies during that period.

Update – Watched this in late March, we got a delayed release as expected. It’s a movie of two halves; the suspense is good at first but the story goes downhill after they solve the puzzle, it turns into just another action film after that. Overall it’s an average movie, perhaps just a bit better than average.

I also have doubts that the main character would change his belief just because of an accident. I get that there are post traumatic stress and other things but that don’t fit quite right in this case.

Invincible Korean movie trailer

by

Korean movie trailer for Invincible (무적자), starring Song Seung-hun, Joo Jin-mo, Kim Kang-woo and Jo Han-sun. The action thriller is a remake of Hong Kong blockbuster A Better Tomorrow, directed by John Woo in 1986.

The plot is about a former gang leader who wants to start a new life after serving his jail time; but things got complicated with his brother who works as a cop; a sidekick who remains loyal; and the current gang leader who murdered his father.

Besides the box office success, the original film – starring Chow Yun-Fat, Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung – has a huge cultural impact over Hong Kong film industry for the next decade or two. It’s going to be a tough task to emulate its legacy, but commercial wise the Korean remake might do well with its decent cast.

The Legend of Chun Li movie trailer

by

Trailer for American martial arts action movie Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. Kristin Kreuk stars as the title character; and the cast also includes Chris Klein, Neal McDonough, Robin Shou, Moon Bloodgood, Josie Ho, Taboo and Michael Clarke Duncan. In cinemas in Malaysia on February 26.

Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, the film follows the earlier life of Chun Li, a character from popular video game series Street Fighter. Most of the stories take place in Bangkok, and a bit in Hong Kong.

The trailer seems fine but there’s nothing much about Street Fighter. What’s the point of making a movie out of a popular video game when they are not using any of the elements? Could be much more interesting if it shows the origin of the iconic costume and features some famous fighting techniques etc.

Updates and thoughts – It’s a poor movie. The action is average, the cast does OK, and Kristin Kreuk looks cool. The plot is horrible though, it’s boring most of the time. And anyone who expected to see a Street Fighter adaptation would be disappointed because there’s hardly any game features in it.

Dragonball Evolution movie trailer

by

Movie trailer of “Dragonball Evolution”, a Hollywood live adaptation of the popular Japanese anime-manga which is going to premier in March 2009… [via Japanprobe]

From a neutral point of view, the trailer doesn’t look too bad for those who don’t have much clue about the original Dragon Ball… but the DB’s fans are likely to hate this trailer/movie; it just couldn’t reflect the essence of the original work.

Babylon A.D. movie trailer

by

Trailer for Babylon A.D., an English language science fiction action movie based on the novel Babylon Babies by French-born Canadian writer Maurice Georges Dantec. Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, the film is a joint production between France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The cast includes Vin Diesel, Melanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh, Lambert Wilson, Mark Strong, Jerome Le Banner, Charlotte Rampling and Gerard Depardieu. In cinemas in the US next month.

Official intro by 20th Century Fox… “Vin Diesel stars as a mercenary hired to deliver a package from the ravages of post apocalyptic Eastern Europe to a destination in the teeming megalopolis of New York City. The “package” is a mysterious young woman with a secret.”

The woman isn’t that secretive anymore after you watch the video; trailers reveal too much these days. It doesn’t impress me regardless; the actions and techs seem a bit ordinary for a scifi production and the actors look boring. Frankly, a movie is usually poor if the teaser is bad to begin with.

Michelle Yeoh fights again

The only reason I’m considering watching this is because of my fellow countrywoman Michelle Yeoh. She’s starring as a nun who’s also the guardian of Aurora, aka the mysterious woman. Not sure if it’s a good or bad thing but most of her roles are martial art related these days.

Michelle is also starring in another Hollywood film, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, which is hitting the theatres in the same month. And yes, looks like she’s a kungfu fighter yet again. On second though, it has to be a good thing to get these exposures in Hollywood regardless of the roles.

As part of a successful franchise, The Mummy – also starring Brendan Fraser, Jet Li and Maria Bello etc. – will probably fare better than Babylon in the box office. Good luck to both films.