Hero

China has always been a big country with a lot of people and resources. Why then has it not, until recently, been more dominant among the world’s nations? Well, if this movie is any indicator, it’s because every action there has to be so formal, so subject to rules and norms, so profoundly hierarchical, that to get anything done there has always required enormous effort and time and consideration. Watching this movie makes you feel that way, too. It takes a lot of effort to tease out the full arc of this story, which starts out straightforward and direct and shows signs of being entertaining and even clever…but that then descends into recursiveness, repetition and odd motivations. Some of the characters are assassins, then they don’t want to be. Some of them love each other, then they’re fighting each other. Some die, then they’re not dead. It also helps not that, due to frequent scenes where everyone is wearing the same outfit and has the same hairstyle, it can sometimes get difficult to tell characters apart. One character in particular, Broken Sword, flips his position back and forth so many times it’s hard to be sympathetic for him by the end. (He also seems to die in sword fights numerous times; better name for the character: Pin Cushion.) Beyond narrative unsteadiness, we also are subjected to numerous examples of the famous flying fighting that permeates these martial arts epics—which look just as silly here as they do in other entries in the genre. The style is reminiscent of fights in anime, which are also silly; one can accurately think of a film like this as live action anime. Perhaps the trope is no sillier than the magic depicted in western fantasy movies, but that does not necessarily recommend it, either. (Recall too the metaphysical expectations of the insurgents in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion for an example of how this form of fantasy meets with hard reality off the screen.) The movie does deserve props for its visual flair; many of the shots display an impressive artistic eye and interesting composition. Ultimately, though, the confusing nature of the story—muddled and tangled in motivations—drops the assessment of this flick down from solid action story to only modestly satisfying work. Also, one cannot pass this movie by without noting that the story’s clearest aspects show a deep sympathy with the idea of the unification of China by the first emperor over the liberty of the predecessor kingdoms—a theme that surely found approval with the leadership in Beijing. So, propaganda, even if a muddled sort of propaganda. I know fans of the genre love this kind of film, but for me, storming this castle just wasn’t that much fun. 

Monkey Man

As someone once said, if you’re going to steal, steal from the best. The borrowings here are clear and right out on front street: heavy doses of John Wick, plus touches of Kill Bill and The Dark Knight Rises, to say nothing of their antecedents. Director and star Dev Patel uses all of the influences, filtered through a very subcontinental lens, to tell a tale that is interesting for its similarities to and differences from other entries in the action-revenge genre, while still being plainly and accessibly entertaining. And, seemingly just to show off, Patel also slips some pointed commentary about the current state of affairs, social and political, in India into his story. Pretty impressive for a debut work. The only caveat here is the usual warning for the wilting flowers about some scenes of truly gruesome violence. If you can handle that, then this movie is definitely worth a look.

Iron Monkey

Maybe I'm grading on a curve. It's not really spectacular, and there's some silliness in the characters and dubbed dialogue, but there are also well done action sequences and effective relationships among the main characters. So I'll give it a passing grade. You could do worse than this if you have an idle Saturday night and wish to kill some time.