June-Claude Van Damme: Wake Of Death (2004)

Having seen the best of Van Damme and the very worst of Van Damme, I have to nominate Wake Of Death as his dullest film. I had pretty much forgotten it all just after the end credits rolled, which made gathering my thoughts for a review tougher than it had been for any other Van Damme film.

Van Damme plays Ben Archer, a man who is set on a quest for revenge when his wife is killed in a Triad hit, and his child is taken away. This is all to do with a young woman named Kim (Valerie Tian), who happens to be an illegal Chinese immigrant with a powerful, dangerous father (Simon Yam).

Directed by Philippe Martinez, who does a competent job but nothing to make himself stand out as a great talent, the most amazing thing about Wake Of Death is that it also took four people to write it. Four people. That's not what you'd expect for a fairly straightforward revenge movie, but the film manages not to feel too muddled, even if nothing is done to give viewers a decent set-piece that can be taken away from the film when it's finished.

Van Damme gives another of his underwhelming performances, the norm from him at this time, and although Tian, Yam, Philip Tan, and Tony Schiena do alright, they don't give any standout performances to make up for the lack of presence from our leading man.

It's perhaps most interesting to look at the struggle of Van Damme at this time by looking at the topics he chose to explore while moving himself further and further away from the action movie idol role he used to occupy. In Hell gets much closer to the feeling of a proper prison movie than Death Warrant, this film uses illegal immigration as a starting point for the plot, Until Death is a surprisingly interesting look at a corrupt cop seeking a path to redemption, and 6 Bullets revolves around children being kidnapped into lives of sex slavery. Some of the themes resonate more than others, but it's admirable to see that Van Damme at least kept trying different things, even if he sometimes felt completely out of his depth.

Unfortunately, none of those thoughts, or admiration, make this particular film any better. It's not terrible but the dullness makes it a bit of a slog.

3/10

Here's the DVD.
Americans can get it here.

Election 2 AKA Triad Election (2006)

All of the main players return for this sequel to/continuation of Election, once again directed by Johnnie To and once again written by Nai-Hoi Yau and Tin-Shing Yip.

As if you couldn't guess from the title, it's time for the Wo Shing society (A Hong Kong Triad group) to hold another election. Lok (Simon Yam) has held his position well, but now starts to think of ways in which he can change the traditions and get himself a second term in the big chair. You know what they say about power corrupting. Lok doesn't have any major competition, at least not anyone that he can't have dealt with secretly, until smart businessman Jimmy Lee (Louis Koo) puts himself in the running. Jimmy Lee really didn't want to be dragged into the criminal world, but when he feels the pinch from the long arm of the law he realises that being chairman would allow himself to conduct his business without any such problems. Things quickly heat up as Lok and Jimmy both grow more determined to win the next election.

Election 2 can easily be viewed as a standalone movie, but it certainly benefits overall if being watched soon after the first film. However you decide to view it, this is the better of the two films anyway. Characters are given a bit more time here and a bit more to do, but they also continue on a natural path moving on from the previous movie. The script and pacing are both better this time around, To directs again with his neat and straightforward style and the occasional moments of gruesome violence are even nastier than anything in Election.

The cast, including Tian-lin Wang, Nick Cheung, Ka Tung Lam and Suet Lam, all do a fantastic job, but the scenes really crackle whenever the focus is on Simon Yam as Lok, a man now greedy and desperate to hold on to his power, or Louis Koo as Jimmy,  not really wanting the whole criminal lifestyle, but willing to do what needs done as a temporary measure. The two also have people around them that they don't want to see hurt and there's a real sense of tension while watching Lok dealing with his son or Jimmy looking after his wife.

This is a movie in which every repercussion, both emotionally and physically, can be felt. It may fit easily into the crime movie pigeonhole, but it develops into something that pushes far beyond those genre boundaries. Replace the Triads with any major organisation and replace the violence and death with the numerous other ways in which people can be hurt or betrayed and you'll see that this is, essentially, a film simply about people doing what they can to improve their lot in life and to make a prosperous and safe future for their loved ones.

Which is probably the thought process of all politicians.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Election-2-DVD-Louis-Koo/dp/B000KRNMTY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360016126&sr=8-1

Election (2005)

People have been telling me for some time now that I really should see some movies by Johnnie To. Well, I have responded at last. Election (and its sequel) are films often recommended as a good starting point and, through a fortunate turn of events (a film club nomination), I finally got to see what all the fuss was about.

Simon Yam plays Lam Lok and Tony Leung plays Big D, two men vying for the position of Chairman of Hong Kong's Triad society. Lok is a calm man who shows foresight and patience and will look after the elders while Big D is a quick-tempered and aggressive man who, nonetheless, could make a good leader with his fearless attitude and his blunt approach that so often gets results. After some discussion, the position goes to Lok. Big D isn't happy about that, not one little bit, and he starts to cause trouble, trouble that may very well lead to widespread in-fighting and division in the society. A chase is on for the special baton that is handed over to each chairman as a symbol of the power being passed along and, in the meantime, Lok also tries to come up with a solution that will placate Big D and keep everyone else happy too.

It's all about politics and traditions, but Triad politics and traditions are a damn sight more interesting than anything that may be happening in the Houses Of Parlaiment here in the UK (or on Capitol Hill, for my American friends . . . . . . did I get that right? Forgive me if I just showed off my ignorance once more).

The script by Nai-hoi Yau and Tin-Shing Yip is good at sketching out the characters and guiding the viewer into the Triad world before moving around amongst various factions, but it falls down during a middle section that spends far too much time putting more and more individuals onscreen just to have them chasing after that coveted baton.

The direction from To is very good, despite the dip in that middle section he never really lets things slow down to a standstill and he strikes a nice balance when showing some of the more violent moments onscreen. Viewers get to see what's being done, but nothing feels as if it's overly gratuitous. The other great thing, in terms of both the writing and direction, is how natural he motivations of the characters are. Nobody does anything that seems out of character and even any plot twists and turns make complete sense when considering the bigger political game being played.

The cast all do a great job, but it's really all about Yam and Leung, two men who are almost polar opposites and create a great crackle of static electricity between them. Chung Wang, Tian-lin Wang, Bing-Man Tam, Louis Koo, Nick Cheung and Ka Tung Lam are amongst the many other great actors all doing their bit to keep the Triad political wheels in motion and all deserve a mention here, which is why I have reeled off their names. There are more I could list, of course, but I think the names mentioned provide a great representative sample of the talent.

This may not be the very best that Johnnie To has to offer, but as a starting point . . . . . . . . . it gets my vote (sorry, pun intended).

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Election-DVD-Johnny/dp/B000FOPOA2/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1359755615&sr=1-2