Mean Streets

When the Japanese controlled East Asia Company sends Japanese samurai and assassins to take care of Chens whole family and kidnap his fiancé, the film culminates in a marathon slugfest in which Chen must fight his way through hoards of collaborators and his own family members to save his girl and keep weapons materials out of Japanese hands. Fist of Vengeance has some of the most intense and realistic brutal beatings of them all.

With raging fight scenes and realistic violent beatings, Fist of Vengeance is far more intense than the other more fluidly choreographed martial arts action films of its day. Its gritty, 1970s no-nonsense beat-down style brawls make it unique among martial arts Asian action films.

AKA: n/a

Premise: In a future where emotion is suppressed, one elite warrior, a cleric trained in the art of "gun-kata" slowly regains his humanity and strikes back at the heart of this anti-utopian society.

Review: "Gunplay" or "gun-fu," an armed extension of martial prowess formerly the exclusive domain of Hong Kong purveyors of extreme action like John Woo and Ringo Lam has officially broken out into a whole new arena with Equilibrium. This film which quietly appeared and then slipped away late in 2002 with little marketing from Miramax is destined to be a sleeper hit that will be appreciated even more in the years to come. Director and writer Kurt Wimmer combines a thoughtful and genuinely frightening Orwellian future with an innovative concept towards gun battles that incorporates a strong martial aesthetic. The result is a heady and lean action film light on pretense and full of promise.

British actor Christian Bale (Reign of Fire) cements his status as a credible action star by playing John Preston, a super soldier known as a cleric, trained in the art of "gun-kata" and charged with the task of wiping out all traces of artistic or literary endeavor in a repressive future society. Angus MacFadyen (Braveheart) delivers an engaging performance in a crucial role as Bale's boss and main foil who represents the very essence of what this society has become. As Bale's partner, Taye Diggs is a bit too chipper and hollow for my liking. He replaces Sean Bean (Fellowship of the Ring) who initially plays Bale's partner and offers a smaller, but meatier character.

Initially, Preston is the state's model citizen soldier who wages a war against an underground movement of freedom fighters. His emotions along with the rest of society are kept under control by constant propaganda and a form of brainwashing sedative, rationalized as a means to eradicate hate and violence.  But several events trigger an emotional response in him and he stops taking his mandatory drug allotment. He also starts questioning the status quo which draws the attention of his ambitious partner, another cleric played by Taye Diggs. Preston is eventually recruited by the underground to assassinate "Father," the leader of this society.

While the film simplifies the concept of people under strict control, Kurt Wimmer hits the right chord in stirring up a genuine air of paranoia as Preston slowly emerges from the control of the drugs. Preston's young son seems about to turn on his own father at any time and this creates an unsettling and creepy feeling that really brings the state of this society to life. The story harkens back to the sort of vintage science fiction tales of the 1960's that often appeared in television series like The Twilight Zone. The success of these stories usually grew from parallels to real life fears. In the post-9/11 era, fears in a free society forced to tighten its security include the potential loss of some freedoms and anonymity. As we question the motivations that lead people to all sorts of violence, blame put on religion or media such as television and video games could lead to government policies that restrict or regulate free expression. As Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 did, Equilibrium compellingly explores these fears within the context of an innovative action film, thus proving that a film can be both visually entertaining and challenging at the same time.

Wimmer takes a decidedly unique approach to the action that on the surface could be confused with a simple Matrix-like facsimile. In reality, his concept of a complex martial arts approach to gun use is one of the most intriguing ideas to come across in action films in years. Basically, every possible movement when using a gun is reduced to calculations and counter-measures are taught to the clerics who act as enforcers. Standard opponents don't stand a chance despite having heavy firearms of their own, but one cleric facing another is another matter. The film's final fight turns into a close quarter kung fu battle as each opponent attempts to out-maneuver the other and get a clean shot off with their sidearm. The clerics are also trained in sword handling and this results in two very nicely choreographed fights; one a training session with batons and another, much more deadly confrontation between Bale and mass of swordsmen.

AKA: n/a

Synopsis: A special operations solider trained in survival, evasion, and a deadly knife fighting technique becomes a disturbed killer on the run with the man who trained him on his trail.

Review: William Friedkin, the director of the thriller The French Connection and the horror film The Exorcist brings his trademark semi-realism to a unique subject matter. Inspired by the life of survivalist, tracker, and military advisor Tom Brown, The Hunted depicts the ultimate confrontation between two master survivalists with lethal fighting skills. Kali knife fighting experts lend their expertise to give the film's combat sequences great detail and authenticity. The film's story and dialogue is purposely simplified and pared down in order to enhance the action. While not entirely successful, Friedkin crafts a lean actioner with more detail and reality in the action than the average Hollywood film.

Benicio Del Toro plays a special operations soldier named Aaron Hallam whose experiences in Kosovo surrounded by extreme violence warp his mind so that he unable to turn off his killing instinct. This results in the deaths of several hunters in the forests of the Northwest. The FBI recruits L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones), the elder man who trained Aaron in survival and knife fighting, in order to hunt him down. L.T. initially succeeds, but Aaron escapes. Teamed up with FBI agent Abby Durrell (Connie Nielson), L.T. begins an urban manhunt that leads them to Aaron's girlfriend, through city streets in a frantic chase that climaxes on a bridge, and ultimately at the base of a waterfall where master and disciple engage in a bloody and primal confrontation pitting their knife skills against each other.

Freidkin begins with a premise that could be mistaken for ripping off First Blood where Sylvester Stallone first played the infamous Rambo, a mentally disturbed Vietnam War veteran pushed to the edge. Friedkin's version has a similarly disturbed war veteran in Del Toro's character, but he's darker and has a more tragic relationship with his mentor as played by Jones. The casting is terrific with Del Toro capturing the menace of a remorseless killer. Critics could lay into Tommy Lee Jones for playing yet another Fugitive-type role. Yet he is convincing as an outdoorsman with survival skills and gives the character great presence. The rest of the cast is simply filler, neither adding anything to the film nor detracting.

Where the characters and the rest of the film go wrong is in the film's over-simplification of the story. Friedkin is obviously trying to keep the audience focused on the visceral action between his two leads, but he seems to have put blinders on to key elements. In addition, the film lacks enough subtlety, an element crucial to a film already stripped down. The opening sequence in Kosovo is a glaring example. An elaborate set is constructed with massive explosions and rubble everywhere as people rush about being killed or doing the killing. It all looks flashy, but staged and from a production standpoint doesn't match the rest of the film in look or feel. Del Toro navigates the environment and we see him killing with an unnatural zealousness. Later, he has flashbacks, but there is never a satisfactory connection made between his loss of sanity and the violence. In particular, what would cause him to snap where so many others having to endure even worse do not? The film never digs deep enough to answer this and similar questions. There is an interesting father-son relationship between the main characters that is further complicated by Bonham's guilt over having trained Aaron to kill. This caused him to ignore the younger man's pleas for help as he begins to lose sanity. But although the two meet on several occasions, there is never any effort made to reach an understanding on any level. Perhaps this is showing a fault in Jones' character, but it comes across as negligence by the filmmakers. After it's over, there is a sense that something is missing from the story beyond the actual six deleted scenes.

One thing that is not missing in The Hunted is details, details on FBI tactics from forensics to firearm usage, survival techniques, and knife fighting. The Malaysian form of Kali knife fighting takes center stage in the action sequences with expert instruction coming from technical advisors Rafael Kayanan and Thomas Kier. This is very much a martial arts form, but in a truly lethal way, rather than the performance-oriented martial arts styles used in Hong Kong films. The combat is fast, yet clearly shown and delivers tremendous impact and grizzly results. Del Toro's knife of choice in the film was designed by Tom Brown, another technical advisor to the film, as well as the director's inspiration for Jones' character. Thanks to him there is emphasis on tracking, evasion, and situational awareness in both the woods and urban environments. Although I am no expert on the subject, the film seems to take a few liberties with Jones' abilities to track Del Toro through the city. In addition, Del Toro seems a little too adept at creating booby traps in record time and in just the right places. While the circumstances may be exaggerated, the principles behind the survival and combat skills are sound and few films have bothered to depict them in any way resembling reality. For this reason, The Hunted scores points for offering a unique and fairly authentic look at very specialized abilities few people possess.