For It Is Man's Number: sunny pang

Showing posts with label sunny pang. Show all posts

Sunday, 11 May 2025

Netflix And Chill: The Night Comes For Us (2018)

A film that you could easily mention in a dictionary to help illustrate the definition of the word “savage”, The Night Comes For Us is a fast and frantic run from one brutal action sequence to another. Writer-director Timo Tjahjanto knows how to deliver genuinely astonishing spectacle, helped by a cast more than capable of the physicality that’s required.

When he saves the life of a young girl (Reina, played by Asha Kenyeri Bermudez) after massacring the rest of her village to teach a harsh lesson about stealing Triad money, Ito (Joe Taslim) has a sudden attack of conscience. He no longer wants to be in the violent life that he once considered a natural fit. Nobody gets to just leave though, especially if they have killed other Triads to make their escape. Many people are then instructed to kill Ito and Reina, including Arian (Iko Uwais), a former gang member who was also once a close friend.

It's hard to single any one person out here, despite Taslim being the lead and Uwais arguably being the most recognisable of the main cast members nowadays, but those who get a decent amount of screentime deserve some recognition of how much they help to maintain the believability and steamrolling momentum of the central premise. Although some characters have different styles, sometimes helped by different weaponry they have to hand, everyone is motivated by sheer survival instinct, flailing around and aiming for a death blow as fists and feet and blades blur around them. Taslim doesn't try to paint himself as anyone who suddenly deserves our sympathy, but his one decision that changes things for everyone around him is enough to have us rooting for him as he does everything he can to ensure the safety of one young girl. Uwais is calm and cool, for the most part, but starts to fray at the edges when his character arc is about to be completed. Sunny Pang is a boss man who orders others into battle, Julie Estelle is very good as another cool and skilled killer (simply known as The Operator), Zack Lee gets to steal a couple of moments as a drug addict who finds some redemption in a fight that has him greatly outnumbered, and both Dian Sastrowardoyo and Hannah Al Rashid are a lot of fun as Alma and Elena, a very dangerous duo who work together to maintain the edge against those who often underestimate them.

I've generally enjoyed everything I have seen so far from Tjahjanto, although this is a reminder that I need to explore much more of his filmography. I think he generally does better with action than he does with horror (although many enjoyed Macabre much more than I did), and there are moments in most of his films that will have you wondering just how they were shot as you pick your jaw back up off the floor. He's a huge talent, undeniably so, but must also be helped by a very talented team around him.

Cinematographer Gunnar Nimpuno does well just to keep up with the action and bloodshed, editor Arifin Cu'unk shows a number of memorable moments without interrupting the flow of any major sequence, and composers Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal deliver an audio track worthy of running parallel to the visual spectacle. As for the makeup department, special effects, stunt team, etc . . . every single one of them delivers top notch work. Even the continuity department must have been kept on their toes as they kept track of the injuries and bloodstains.

A few of the early scenes don't work as well as they could, due to the story really coming together as various characters come into the storyline, but the majority of this is about as perfect as you want a full-on, full-blooded, action film to be.

9/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Sunday, 4 May 2025

Netflix And Chill: Havoc (2025)

It gives me no amount of pleasure to say that Havoc is quite awful. It's a bad movie, a disappointing action movie (one or two set-pieces aside), and easily the worst film yet from writer-director Gareth Evans.

The plot is quite simple. Tom Hardy is a cop, Walker, who ends up working to untangle a very bad situation when some young robbers are framed for the murder of a very powerful Triad gang leader. Hardy has a relatively new partner, Ellie (Jessie Mei Li), along for the ride. They want to get to the robbers while they're still breathing, but it's a situation complicated by the fact that Walker hasn't always been a clean and well-behaved cop, and he has some colleagues who would also benefit from the robbers being taken out of the picture.

Having unnecessarily transformed Cardiff into some non-specific American state, as far as I can tell, and then dealt with COVID delays and reshoots, I wonder if there was ever a point when Evans wondered if this was really worth all of the potential hassle. I would say that it wasn't. I've already seen comments from others who have loved it, but I would politely, yet strongly, disagree with all of them. There's nothing here that feels truly worth your time, especially when you can simply check out the past works from Evans, or even find better action films tucked away in the Netflix archives.

Hardy is fine in the lead role, delivering the awful dialogue with an accent and manner that is in line with the neo-noir shading. Li doesn't do as well, probably because the rookie partner is a much less interesting figure (and often there for one main purpose). Quelin Sepulveda and Justin Cornwell remain easy to root for, despite the fact that we first see them fleeing from cops in a sequence that ends with someone getting a large kitchen appliance wedged into them. Sunny Pang does well in a role that allows him to be manipulating those around him, Yeo Yann Yann is a vengeful mother, and Timothy Olyphant overcomes the weak material with his sheer Olyphant presence. Forest Whitaker is wasted in a small role, as are Luis Guzmán, Richard Harrington, and Michelle Waterson, the latter playing a skilled assassin who consistently proves to be the biggest threat to our lead.

I don't mind nonsense dialogue and plotting that is unoriginal and unexciting, as long as the rest of a film delivers. If you're not going to give me fleshed-out characters or a decent screenplay then at least ensure that the action is top-notch. The action here is not top-notch. There's a fantastic sequence at about the halfway point, an extended fight in a club, and that opening chase at least starts the whole thing off with an energy and sense of momentum that isn't maintained throughout, but that is it. As for the rest of it, the close combat is spoiled by a juddering camera effect, meant to add to the feeling of impactful hits, and poor editing choices (although, to be fair, Evans still shoots action far better than many others). And as for the shooting, let's just say that there were times when I wondered how many characters in this movie would have been more at home in a legion of Stormtroopers, that's how bad most of them aim.

I am happy for those who enjoyed this. I just wish that I could count myself among them. Havoc could have worked well if it only had one or two mis-steps to move around, but it ends up being an entire collage of poor decisions and miscalculations. It's not enough to turn me completely away from Evans, but I'll be hoping to see a major improvement in whatever his next feature is.

3/10