Film Synopsis:
Directed and written by James Cameron, Avatar takes place on the lush alien planet of Pandora where a human corporation is trying to mine a valuable metal from the planet. However, standing in the way of the corporation are the indigenous creatures of Pandora, including the 3-meter-tall, sentient, blue humanoids called the Na’vi who live in harmony with nature. In order to communicate with the Na’vi, a team of scientist has created Na’vi-human hybrid bodies called avatars to be piloted by genetically matching humans, and paraplegic former Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is brought in to replace his deceased brother as an avatar pilot. Through a series of missions, Jake comes into contact with the Na’vi princess Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and starts learning about the Na’vi’s way of life. However, at the same time the corporation is plotting to force the Na’vi into submission, and Jake and Neytiri are caught up in the conflict.

Thoughts:
Avatar is of course all about the special effects. Featuring never-before-seen 3D and motion capture technology, Avatar truly delivers in the eye-candy department. The colors, the motions, and the explosion kept my eye glued to screen for the entire film. It’s hard to look away with everything that’s going on. Apart from just the technological advances and special effects, the planet of Pandora is beautifully designed with all sort of spectacular environments and interesting fauna and flora for audiences to look at. The 3D vision does enhance the experience, but it is not very noticeable during the action scenes. Instead, the stereo vision effect is more noticeable during the slower scenes, particularly in the scenes where the seeds from the sacred tree are floating in the foreground.

Among the technical advancements that were touted in Avatar, there was the facial-capture technology that enabled realistic facial expressions on the Na’vi characters. The expressions on Neytiri, Jake and the other Na’vi characters are better than those of any computer generated character I’ve seen, but they are still not quite on the same level as good human actors. Maybe I’m just not used to the Na’vi faces, but the really subtle expressions are not quite there yet. The technology is not really good enough to garner any acting awards, but it is better than anything else that came before it and will likely improve in the future.

Compared to all the technical marvels, the story of Avatar isn’t nearly as impressive, but it wasn’t bad either. There is a central plot that isn’t too ridiculous and there are clear themes about living in harmony with nature and respecting indigenous cultures. The only part of the plot I found to be peculiar was the corporation’s insistence on blasting the Na’vi into submission. It’s a good excuse for setting up the conflict, but it’s not really the logical way to do things. We are mostly watching Avatar for the special effects anyways, so as long the plot isn’t outrageously bad then there isn’t really much to complain about.

Overall, Avatar was definitely a film worth watching just for the special effects if not for anything else. The story wasn’t as spectacular, but the film in its complete package is enough to have your eyes glued to the screen. Unless you’re against colorful environments, spectacular action and lots of explosions, there is really no reason why you shouldn’t see this movie.

Other Note(s):
I watched the film in IMAX 3D, and I found the screen to be just the right size so that the whole screen filled my entire field of vision without me having to turn my head to the sides. It helps that I was sitting in the middle of the back, which is probably the best place in the theater since IMAX theaters don’t have many rows.

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The Dark Knight is the second installment of Christopher Nolan’s series of Batman films. In 2005, Nolan’s Batman Begins revived the caped crusader on the big screen, and The Dark Knight looks to build on the success of its predecessor. Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman, while the late Heath Ledger stars as the Joker. Most of the notables from Batman Begins reprise their characters; the only major cast change is Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. As the most anticipated movie of the summer, The Dark Knight delivers on both the action and dramatic fronts.

The Dark Knight continues where Batman Begins left off. After many nights of fighting crime, Bruce begins to feel conflicted about his role as Batman. He eventually comes to the conclusion that he should give up his secret identity and pass the role of Gotham’s crime fighter to the new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Meanwhile, the combined efforts of Batman, Dent, and the Gotham police have forced the mob to take desperate measures, and the organized crime syndicate decide to turn to the psychotic Joker for guidance. Now Batman must stop the Joker from sinking Gotham City into total chaos while at the same time trying to determine his place within the city.

Much of the buzz surrounding The Dark Knight is about Ledger’s performance as the Joker. The Joker in the film is a disturbed madman with a penchant for “carving a smile” into people’s faces with a knife, but at the same time he is extremely intelligent and has what can only be described as a creepy sense of humour. This is a very difficult role to perform correctly, but Ledger pulls it off. Through his delivery of the lines and body motion, Ledger brings an atmosphere of uneasiness, unpredictability, and madness whenever he appears on the screen. His performance keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, wondering what the psychotic criminal will do next. Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker is probably one of the most memorable movie villains in the last couple years, and the attention that his performance has received is well deserved.

Although most of the attention is focused on Heath Ledger’s Joker, Christian Bale manages to hold his own as the conflicted Bruce Wayne and the rest of cast also bring respectable performances to the film. The film is also paced very well and seamlessly switches between drama and action sequences. The action sequences in The Dark Knight are not ground-breaking, but they are pretty good and serve to compliment the plot. The main drives of The Dark Knight are the conflict between the Joker’s brand of anarchy against Batman’s brand of justice, and Batman’s internal struggle about how far he is willing to go and how much he is willing to sacrifice to protect his city. These two themes are presented very well in movie thanks to the action sequences and the acting performance of the cast, and this is the main reason why the Dark Knight is such an entertaining movie.

The only complaint I have for The Dark Knight is that it is sometimes hard to see what is going on. The film is darker and grittier than its predecessor and many of the action scenes take place in dimly lit areas. Unfortunately, the film is sometimes a little too dark and makes it hard to see what is happening on the screen, particularly during the hand-to-hand combat sequences. This is only a minor downside to what otherwise is a very good or even great film.

As I mentioned in the excerpt, The Dark Knight is also the first movie I have watched on IMAX. I went to see the movie four weeks after its release, and the IMAX showing was still had a high attendance. Because I went to the theatre a bit late, I had to settle for a seat in the front rows. This wasn’t the best arrangement because my field of vision can’t cover the entire screen from that distance. The IMAX theatre is known for its huge screen and its super-high resolution and vibrant colour. The Dark Knight probably wasn’t the best movie for demonstrating the image quality of IMAX, because much of the film takes place in dark areas. However, the film does take advantage of the big IMAX screen, particularly in the scenes where Batman is standing on top of tall skyscraper. As Batman leaps down towards the streets, the big screen makes me feel like that I’m falling into the streets with him. I might be the only one who feels this way though. Overall, watching The Dark Knight on IMAX was a pretty good experience, although there are probably other films (nature documentaries) that will take even better advantage of the IMAX’s capabilities.

The Dark Knight has already smashed various box office records and is poised to become one of the highest grossing films of all time. Yes, there was a lot of hype surrounding the film before its release, but the fact that the film is still going strong four weeks after it arrived in theatres is a testament to its excellence. If you don’t have any particular dislike for superhero movies, then The Dark Knight is the movie to watch this summer. If you still haven’t seen The Dark Knight and want to see it, I recommend going for the IMAX showings because it will give you the better cinematic experience. Thanks for reading this article.

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After almost a twenty year hiatus, Rambo is back. As with the well received Rocky Balboa in 2006, the new Rambo movie is the latest Sylvester Stallone effort to bring back the names that made him a star. The film sees Stallone reprise his role as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. He also directed and co-wrote the film. Unlike Rocky Balboa, Rambo doesn’t quite live up to its namesake and is more or less a film filled with nothing other than mindless action.

The story starts off showing our hero John Rambo (Stallone) making a living as a snake-catcher and boat operator in Thailand near the Burmese border. A group of missionaries, led by Michael Burnett (Paul Schulze) and Sarah Miller (Julie Benz), approaches Rambo to take them to a rebel-supported village in Burma for a humanitarian mission. Rambo initially refuses but eventually agrees to the request, and takes the missionaries to their destination. All goes well until the village is attacked by the ruthless Burmese army, who captures some of the missionaries and slaughters everyone else in the village. It is now up to Rambo and a group of mercenaries to go into the Burmese military base and rescue the imprisoned missionaries.

One of the few good things about Rambo is that the character John Rambo actually looks to be in pretty good shape and of the correct age. He might be a little older and more tired of the world, but thanks to clever use of camera angles and loose clothing, Stallone’s character still looks fit and up to the task of gunning down legions of enemy soldiers in order to save the day. Unfortunately that’s one of the few good things that stand out in this film.

The biggest downside of the new Rambo movie is the lack of a decent plot. The story is overly simplistic, very predictable, and more or less just an excuse for Rambo to open fire and rack up a huge number of kills (the body-count gets pretty high in this movie). There also isn’t much in terms of character development unlike some of the previous iterations of the series. John Rambo at the start of the film is more or less the same John Rambo at the end of the film, but I suppose the character is at the point where nothing really can be changed about him. The action in Rambo is decent and nicely paced, but there is nothing special about it and the climax sequence is a bit too long and monotonous. The film’s shortcomings added together mean that Rambo is nothing more than an average action flick, albeit one with a very high body-count.

So overall, the new Rambo movie isn’t going to win any awards any time soon. If you are a fan of the previous Rambo films or old-school American action movies, then Rambo is worth a look, for nostalgia if nothing else. Otherwise it is just an average action movie that provides nothing more than 90 minutes of mindless entertainment. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

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Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte de Loupes), directed by Christophe Gans, is a somewhat bizarre movie that contains elements from many different genres mixed together into a film that defies usual descriptions, other than the fact that it is a “B” movie. The film basically features a man-eating monster, a handsome hero, a kung-fu fighting sidekick, nice costumes, good-looking women, a secret society, plus a good serving of violence and nudity wrapped together in a plot that make very little sense. Overall, Brother of the Wolf is can be classified as an interesting curiosity, but not much more than that.

The basic story of the movie is actually based on true events in the 1760s, when a creature known as the Beast of Gevaudan killed many people in southern France. In this fictionalized film version, the king of France sends Sir Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) to investigate the killings and capture the beast, and following Sir Gregoire is his “Mohawk Iroquois” half-brother Mani (played by martial arts specialist Mark Dacascos). Along the way, they manage to get into several fights, meet a bunch of local aristocrats who all seem to be hiding something, pay several visits to the nearby brothel, and Fronsac falls in love with a pretty noblewoman (Emilie Dequenne) and gets involved with the mysterious prostitute Sylvia (Monica Bellucci). .

As I have said in the beginning paragraph, Brotherhood of the Wolf is a mishmash of different movie genres. In the very beginning, the film is presented as a horror movie, but as the story progresses the movie starts showing elements from the action (especially martial arts), adventure, and even the mystery genres. Through this infusion of material from different sources, Brotherhood of the Wolf manages to make itself stand out from the crowd of generic forgettable movies as I can’t think another movie that quite like this. The downside of being a mishmash is that the plot is all over the place and features a lot of unexplained events (for example the death and resurrection of the hero) and too many weird and unmemorable characters who don’t seem to serve much purpose.

Brotherhood of the Wolf also suffers from bad pacing, especially in the first hour of the movie, where it’s a lot of talking scenes sporadically filled with action sequences, and that makes for a boring viewing experience. Actually, that’s pretty good description of the entire movie, but at least there is more action near the end, and the subject monster is actually shown on the screen in the latter parts of the film. This brings me to another complaint, which is the fact that we, the audience, don’t see enough of the monster. Supposedly, this Beast is what the main plot revolves around, but it’s barely shown until the last one-third of the film and it wasn’t involved in the final showdown, which was a bit disappointing.

Despite the negatives, Brotherhood of the Wolf does have some things going for it. For one thing, the movie feature some pretty good action sequences and good cinematography during these action sequences, The martial arts fighting is nothing special for someone like me who has seen tons of Hong Kong kung fu movies, but they are more creative and better then what one can find in a typical action movie. The use of techniques such as momentary freeze frames also enhances the action during the fighting and monster-attack-people sequences. The marital arts and camera techniques gives the action sequences a look that’s slightly reminiscent of The Matrix, which is a good thing as most people like these types of cool action sequences.

With its fearsome monster, kung fu action, handsome cast, and crazy plot, Brotherhood of the Wolf feels like a tribute to all those “B” class horror, action, and adventure movies out there. The film has its ups and downs, but overall Brotherhood of the Wolf is an entertaining movie, though it isn’t anything great. If you are into martial arts action, computer generated monsters, movies that feature lots of stuff from different genres, or you just don’t have anything to do for 2 hours or so then you might want to give this movie a look.

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The Grudge is and English remake of the Japanese horror flick Ju-On, and is directed by Takashi Shimizu, who happens to be the director of the original Japanese film. The whole movie still takes place in Japan, but the lead character has been changed to an American, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar. The Grudge has the necessary elements to be a genuine horror film, but it brings nothing new to the table.

The Grudge takes place in Tokyo, where Karen (Gellar), an exchange student, and her boyfriend Doug are currently attending school. Karen volunteers at a local care centre and is sent to help an elderly American woman when the regular caretaker failed to show. When Karen arrives at the creepy-looking house, she finds the place in a total mess, the old woman in terrible condition, and a curse that threatens to kill anyone who has been in the house.

Japanese horror films seem to be good at inducing fear, and even this westernized version is no exception. The audience will get their fair share of real and false scares, and the film uses music and (sometimes ear-splitting) noises to build up the tension in order to amplify the emotional effects. All this is pretty standard horror movie fare. The movie is scary but there isn’t anything new in the style. I felt like a sort of seen this film before. For example, the long black hair and the “evil eye” in the Grudge are similar to the long black hair and the “evil eye” from The Ring. The idea of people becoming murderous ghosts after dying in a horrible way is also not a new concept, and after the first few scares, the film becomes a bit repetitive, as the scares are more or less than similar to one another.

There are also some parts of The Grudge that need slightly better explanations. For example, the ghosts are supposed to kill anyone who has been in the house, but certain characters like the real estate agent and most of the cops didn’t meet their demise, or if they did, it wasn’t shown on the screen. Another problem is that it’s not clear how the ghosts kill some of their victims, especially how the female ghost kills Doug near the climax. From what I saw, the ghost basically crawls on to Doug for a bit, and Doug somehow dies. A little bit more detail in the film would have helped clear up these confusions.

Overall, The Grudge is a pretty standard horror movie that does what it’s supposed to do. The movie is scary enough to give some people nightmares, but come to think of it, not even one person in the theatre screamed when I was watching the film, so either the film isn’t all that frightening or it’s so scary that people couldn’t make a sound. So for people who like horror movies or are looking for a decent scare, The Grudge is worth checking out.

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After years of absence from the big screen, Batman is finally back. Batman Begins (2005), directed by Chris Nolan and starring Christian Bale as the caped crusader, goes back to the beginning of the Batman series and tells the story of how a young Bruce Wayne became Batman. It’s clear that one of the main goals of this film is to revitalize the Batman movie franchise after several lackluster attempts, notably the disappointing Batman and Robin (1997). After watching this film, I believe that Batman Begins has what it takes to accomplish its goal to bring back the series.

Batman Begins, as the title indicates, is a prequel to all the other Batman movies. The film opens in a Chinese prison compound, where Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) takes on many of his fellow inmates in a huge brawl. Bruce, who is still deeply disturbed by his parents’ deaths, has been wandering around the world for years trying to understand the mind of criminals by becoming one of them. While in prison, Bruce is “discovered” by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who takes Bruce under his wing and teaches him ninja-style martial arts and how to conquer his fears. Henri is a member of The Shadow League, a secret group that has tried to purge evil for centuries. When Bruce learns that The Shadow League’s new plan is to destroy Gotham City in order to cleanse the corruption there, he must return to his hometown and save the city from destruction, while at the same time deliver his own brand of justice upon the local criminals.

The thing that stands out most in Batman Begins is the style of this film. As many people have pointed out, Batman Begins is much darker than all the other Batman movies. It is no longer campy or cartoonish like most comic book-based film and is one of the most “realistic” superhero movies ever. A “realistic superhero movie” may be an oxymoron, but the fact that this movie is somewhat more believable means that the general audience will enjoy and understand it a bit more. Through techniques such as dim lighting, sound effects and action sequences, the film creates a dark and brooding and most importantly, fearful atmosphere. The “fear” is one of the central themes of this movie, because Bruce Wayne uses his fear to turn himself into the symbol Batman in order to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. Therefore, establishing the correct atmosphere for this film goes a long way in making this film better and distinguishing it from all the other generic superhero movies out there.

Batman Begins also feature some superb performances from its cast and a high quality screenplay. Christian Bale is great as the young Bruce Wayne, who doesn’t show much emotion but always carries the look of a person who is suppressing painful memories due to a tragedy in his life. His anger and thirst for vengeance doesn’t really show through his face but those internal emotions are well established by the storytelling. Liam Neeson also delivers with his portrayal of Henri Ducard, a suave gentleman of a villain who is great as a foil to Bruce Wayne in the fact that while they both have the same ideals, Henri and Bruce choose different methods in order to make these ideals come true. Michael Caine is the best Alfred in the Batman movies, since Alfred has a much larger role in this installment and Caine has the correct expressions for an old butler who is both an assistant and a paternal figure to his young master. All of this is accompanied by a screenplay that has the right pacing and dialogue, which make this movie a very enjoyable experience.

There are some minor problems with Batman Begins, such as some abrupt transitions into and out of flashbacks in the beginning of the film that may be a little confusing and the fact there is a bunch of ninjas hiding in China doesn’t sound very plausible, but these problems are not enough the ruin the movie. Having seen all of the other Batman movies, I have to say that this is my favourite among the series of five films. Batman Begins is an summer blockbuster movie the everyone can enjoy, although it may be a bit too dark and scary for very young children. If Batman Begins is an indication of things to come for the Batman movie franchise, then fans have nothing to worry about, as Batman is back with a vengeance.

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Of Mice and Men (1992) is a film version of the class novel of the same title by John Steinbeck. The movie is directed by Gary Sinese, who also stars with John Malkovich as the two main characters in this tale about two drifters who share a dream. This version of Of Mice and Men follows the novel pretty closely, so it should be very recognizable for those who have read the novel itself. The film has some good points about it, but overall it is just an average movie.

Set in the early twentieth century, the film starts off as George (Gary Sinese) and Lennie (John Malkovich) run across a field and jump into a ditch to escape their pursuers, after Lennie did something bad. George and Lennie are an odd pair, with George being quick and wiry while Lennie is large and mentally underdeveloped. These two travel together from ranch to ranch doing back breaking work in order to fulfill their dream to own a plot of land. The pair arrives at a new ranch to start work and their dream seems to be closer to coming true, but there are people at the ranch who will make their goal more difficult to achieve, such as the boss’ son Curly, who happens to dislike Lennie at first sight, and his wife who seems to wander in and out of the ranch.

This film version of Of Mice and Men has most of the scenes and dialogue that are in the novel itself, but there are a few differences from the book and the movie. The most notable difference between the book and movie is the way Curly’s wife (played by Sherilyn Fenn) is portrayed. In the movie, there are some extra scenes with Curly’s wife that are not in the novel. The movie tries to portray Curly’s wife as more of a victim of spousal neglect and abuse in order to get some sympathy from the audience. Well, this change didn’t quite work because the message delivered by the new scenes are a bit too subtle and wasn’t quite enough to change the audience’s opinion of this character, especially for those who have read the novel. It seems like the director wasn’t quite sure which direction to go for, since Curly’s wife seems like a slut in one scene and a distressed victim in the next one.

The acting performances in this film are acceptable. Gary Sinese is believable as George but there’s nothing notable about his acting. John Malkovich delivers a memorable performance as Lennie, with the funny way of speaking and the body language to make himself seem like a man with the mind of a five-year-old. The effort by the actor was commendable but at certain points in the film, Malkovich seems to overact and the character becomes irritating. The voice becomes too high pitched and the body movement becomes an annoying fidgeting motion. The performances of the other cast members are okay, but there’s nothing special about any of them.

Overall, Of Mice and Men is a pretty good translation of the novel into motion picture, as the story is kept largely intact and most of the elements of setting and mood are present. Those who like the novel itself or are just fans of literatures in general should give this movie a look. This movie is a lot better than many of the movies out there, but it’s not especially great or even memorable.

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The Polar Express, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is one of the first holiday films of the year. The movie stars Tom Hanks as several characters within the story and it is based on a children’s book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg. This is an experimental film made entirely by using a more advanced version of motion capture technique like the one used in the Lord of the Rings films to bring Gollum to life. The result is a very good and realistic looking animated film, but the film lacks in the story department.

The Polar Express is about a young boy who, on Christmas Eve, starts to waiver in his beliefs of Santa. Just as he was about the fall asleep, a mysterious locomotive appears in front of his house and the conductor (Tom Hanks) convinces the boy to get on the train, which is carrying children to the North Pole to see You-Know-Who.

The best part about The Polar Express is definitely the graphics. This film is a showcase of how advanced technology can produce a beautiful looking movie. This film is full of eye candy and in some scenes the characters actually looked like real people, which is quite an achievement. The effects aren’t quite good enough for CGI/motion capture to replace real actors, but this film is sort of a peek into the future of 3D animation.

Because The Polar Express is based on a short children’s book, there isn’t enough story to actually make this film feature length. In order to so, a lot of scenes were tacked on or dragged out to lengthen the movie, and it’s pretty evident to the viewers. For example, there’s a long sequence in the movie involving the train going down several really steep slopes. It’s a good looking scene and it made me feel like that I was on a roller-coaster, but the scene felt like it was longer than it should be, since it lasted about 10 minutes (I may be exaggerating), and it didn’t really contribute to the story.

Overall, The Polar Express is a pretty entertaining film. It’s more geared towards the younger crowd, like preteen and under, but even older people such as teens and adults might find it enjoyable too, if not for the story, then just for the special effects. It’s a good film for parents to take their younger kids to watch, and hey, it’s in spirit for the holidays, so people will probably forgive some of its shortcomings and enjoy the film.

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Dead Presidents, made by the Hughes brothers, is a film depicting the life of a black person during the Vietnam War era. The movie stars Larenz Tate, who plays the central character who gets changed by all the events around him. Other notable cast members include Chris Tucker, Bokeem Woodbine, and Keith David. Dead Presidents is a film that tries to deliver many messages, but not all of them can be seen clearly.

The film opens in 1969, as Anthony (Larenz Tate) graduates from high school. For reasons unknown, Anthony refuses to go to college and becomes a Marine, fighting in the Vietnam War. During his two tours of duty, he sees people around him get killed or fall apart. Anthony eventually returns to his home in the Bronx, where he finds unemployment, disrespect, and problems with his girlfriend. Forced by the circumstances, Anthony and others are gradually lured into the life of crime. The title “Dead Presidents” refers to the pictures on the US currency, which is what Anthony is trying to get when he starts doing illegal things.

Dead Presidents has several stories within the film itself and each has its own message. For example, in the Vietnam sequence, Anthony experiences disillusionment of the war as people die or change around him. The scene also touches upon the issue of the role of African-American people in the Vietnam War. Back in the Bronx, there is the issue of unemployment, which leads to desperate people. There’s also a mention of the black power movement, but it was just left there dangling after one appearance. There are too many stories in this film for most viewers to recognize them all. Most people can’t take so much information at once, so points the filmmaker are trying to make may be missed.

I also think that there is too much violence and swearing in the film. The excess amount of violence and swearing bullies the viewers around. People didn’t need to see a crazy guy hacking a dead man’s head off or hear the F*** word every other minute to get the plot. The violence and swearing also draws the viewers’ attention away from the plot itself, since people are more likely to focus on something that instantly provokes the mind. So by putting so much vulgar scenes and languages in this film, people tend to miss other important things in the film. I don’t think Dead Presidents is about mindless violence or continuous swearing, so the excess amount of both takes away from the film.

Dead Presidents seems to be well-acted. The characters are believable and there’s no one in the film who performs below acceptable levels. The wardrobe also looks realistic, even though I’m not really qualified to comment on that, since I wasn’t even alive in the set time period that the film depicts.

Overall, Dead Presidents is an interesting film about how war, unemployment, and other stress factors can affect the life of an average fellow. The film tries its best to make several points about society at that time, but falls somewhat short of its goal. If you are into movies with lots of violence and swearing, or likes a film that examines the protagonist from start to end, go check this film out.

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Beautiful Boxer is a film shown in this year’s Vancouver film festival. It’s a movie from Thailand about kickboxing. In some ways, it’s like the Rocky films, where someone practices to ascend to the top, but Beautiful Boxer has a twist. The central character doesn’t want to gain glory by defeating opponents in the ring. He wants to ear enough money to get a sex change. Sounds ridiculous, right? This movie is actually based on a true story, so it’s not just a tall tale made by an imaginative writer.

Beautiful Boxer has pretty good fight scenes that take place throughout the film. The kickboxing in the movie does look like kickboxing. There are different offensive techniques that the viewers can make out and the fighters attempt to block and dodge blows. A hard hit to the head in the film will bring a person down, like in real world, as opposed to say… the Rocky films where people stand there and exchange punches to the head. The camera work during the fights is also good, ex. The camera slows down as a powerful hit is about to land.

There are also some technical issues with this film. Sometimes the scene cuts abruptly to another, like when the main character runs up the long stairs alone and hallucinates about a girl being there, and then suddenly, the guy is back in his room. I also didn’t like the camera work in the opening scenes, where the camera moves along a crowded corridor of shops. The images were blurred to the point that I started feel nauseous, and the movement didn’t serve a lot of purpose.

The story also gives the audience a weird feeling since not many people can actually identify with the main character and say “I want to have a sex change.” Most of the audience can’t really feel for the character since most people don’t know how guys who want to be girls actually feel. This takes away some emotional connection from the audience.

Beautiful Boxer is an okay movie, but other than the story with the twist, there is nothing new in the film.