Turning Japanese - 47 Ronin and Kick-Ass 2

Two films from my Amazon subscription. The first is the sequel to the popular Kiss-Ass. Bored with premature "retirement", David Lizewski a.k.a. Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Mindy Macready a.k.a. Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) join with other super-heroes while struggling with growing up and leading a normal life.

I must admit that I haven't read much of Mark Millar's work, in particular the Kick-Ass books, so I can't compare them to the original. The one book I have read, Wanted, was awful, and the film much better. The original Kick-Ass had a kind of naive violence, like Tom and Jerry, and the corresponding charm. This has the difficulty that the novelty has worn off, and the violence seems a little more serious and intense, as does the whole film. Jim Carrey (Colonel Stars and Stripes) plays the father figure that Nicolas Cage (Big Daddy) played in the first film, and the supporting cast is good enough, but it is an inferior sequel to a mediocre film.

The second film is 47 Ronin, based on a classic Japanese story. Kai (Keanu Reeves), a mixed-race woodsman in feudal Japan, is treated with suspicion and ill-disguised contempt by his master Lord Asano's (Tadanobu Asano) samurai retainers.

A visually stunning film, and worth watching for that alone, the cast, aside from Reeves (who isn't that bad, really), is excellent, headed by Hiroyuki Sanada as the lead samurai and the beautiful Ko Shibasaki as Kai's true love. Tadanobu Asano and Rinko Kikuchi are also suitably evil as Asano's nemesis and his sorceress.

It's problem, however, is that it adheres too closely to the original story for the Western audience (and is too conservative a film for the modern Japanese audience: Battle Royale is more typical) and yet is too Western for the Japanese audience, so it's no surprise (but a bit unfair) that it's the second most unsuccessful movie of all time, losing $20 million at the box office. You can imagine the effect on us if Hollywood decided to make a film about The Battle of Britain with Harrison Ford as Hugh Dowding, or The Dambusters with Nick Cage as Guy Gibson. Nah.. they wouldn't... would they?

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Yup, another Nick Cage film. Johnny Blaze is asked to guard a young boy who may be the key to removing the demon possessing him.

With a plot that must have taken all of twenty minutes to write, Nicolas Cage again gets acted off the set, this time by Ciarán Hinds and Idris Elba, and, to some extent, by himself as the demon. There's a fair abount of bangs and crashes and good stunt work, but there's the feeling that this could have been a much better film in the hands of, oh, I don't know, Johnny Depp? Still, it's better than watching Keanu Reeves trying to be Klaatu.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

This is another film with Nicolas Cage in it. Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel) finds himself apprenticed as a modern day Merlin.

Not a bad pizza film. Cage is acted off the set by both Alfred Molina and the special effects, which are rather good, probably because it's a Disney movie. Even the plot is quite good, mixing the "magic" of Tesla coils and high voltage electricity with the more traditional kind. There's even a live remake of the Mickey Mouse Fantasia scene, something to warm the heart of any who remember the original.

Season Of The Witch

Another Nicolas Cage movie. Two Crusader veterans (Cage and Ron Perlman) are given the task of escorting a woman accused of witchcraft to an isolated monastery for trial and judgement, little suspecting the horror about to enfold them.

The film is a little bit dull; the special effects are not as good as they could have been; and Cage is outclassed by Perlman, as you would expect by now. The plot is also a bit pedestrian. All in all, a poor pizza movie.

Reminds me of this, though:

Drive Angry and Winter's Bone

With having a subscription to LoveFilm, I get to watch the occasional movie on DVD. Upon Mr. Glitz's recommendation I got Drive Angry.



Although not quite as enthusiastic, I too thought it wasn't bad for something to watch over pizza on a Saturday evening. Notable was William Fichtner as the Accountant from Hell (literally) sent to bring back Nicolas Cage's character to the Underworld and also, typically understated, was David Morse as Cage's old friend. Either of these could act Cage off the screen without too much effort, and proceeded to do so, Fichtner especially. Maybe the Devil doesn't have all the best tunes, but his accountant certainly had all the best lines.

Contrasting with this is Winter's Bone.



This is a modern crime drama centered around a young woman in the Ozark's struggling to keep the house she lives in from being repossessed. There's not much to the film, a bit slight, but it has one of the scariest anti-hero's I've seen in a while in the form of Teardrop, the protagonist's uncle and self-appointed guardian angel. Played by John Hawkes, this is a performance that makes Nick Cage look like Doris Day. If there was an Academy Award for Supporting Actor in a Scary Meth-head Role, I know who my money would be on.