K.G. (Karate Girl) - Japan

          Director:  Yoshikatsu Kimura
          Year:  2011
          Plot:  "When she was a child, a mysterious group killed Ayaka’s father, kidnapped her sister Natsuki and stole a black belt passed down in her family for 200 years.  Years later when the group makes a reappearance, she decides to do whatever it takes to get Natsuki back."


          I am not sure why I decided to watch this one, but I guess it had to do with the almost 4 star rating on one of my sites.  After watching this movie, I wasn't quite sure on how to rate this one myself.  I did feel that the story line was decent though it wasn't anything really special.  Some of the major points didn't even seem to work themselves out.  I do not know if this fact was due to the horrible subtitles or an actual error in the plot.  I also was irritated with the replaying of scenes.  A fight scene looks great as a base scene but when you play a clip again right after you just seen it, it takes away from the movie.
          I am serious about the horrible subtitles.  They really ruined the movie a bit for me.  I watched it online, and tried a few different versions with the same result, so I do not know if is on the dvd or not.  The subtitles weren't so bad that I couldn't understand any of the movie, but it was quite bad.  There were parts where the kept saying he and him when they were talking about a girl, and in other parts the subtitles sentence structure was all out of order.  It is hard to get into a story when you are constantly trying to decipher subtitles.
          I did like part of this movie.  I liked that our main character is just a seemingly normal girl, she even seem to really downplay her abilities in the beginning.  I did wonder though why she went and got changed into a school uniform before heading over to the bad guy's lair, but I over looked that.  I really did enjoy when the sisters were working together.  It turned out quite well.
          I did find the resolution of this movie to be a little disappointing.  I did not understand exactly why they fought the one guy.  He was a bad guy, but it didn't really look like he was going to fight them, and they attacked him.  The only real good thing about the ending actually came in the credits.  I loved that they showed the girls practicing the stunts and all.  It really made the feeling of the movie slightly better.


         I did feel that this was an okay movie.  It isn't one that I would get excited over watching again but it used up my time decently.  I would suggest watching this only if you found one with decent subtitles as I think that would make this movie considerably better.

I'm a Cyborg, but that's Okay - Korea

          Director:  Chan-wook Park
          Year:  2006
          Plot:  "A girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics.  Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people's souls."


          Okay for starters, I have to admit that I watched this one just for Rain.  I can't help some slight fan-girl tendacies that I have.  n.n
          This was definitely a good movie.  It had some very funny moments, but that is in no way the highlight of the movie.  The best part in the whole movie really was the relationship between the two patients.  I simply loved Rain's character.  He was so weird, especially that hair, but I love the sneaky ways he finds to save her.  I also have to say that the last scene really is my favorite.
          It kind of sucks that I can't be spending my money for awhile, because I really want to own this movie. There really is a lot to love about this one.  It is interesting to see the different issues the various patients have, like the really polite one, and how they interact with someone like Rain's character.  Of course our Cyborg girl  seems the most elaborate of them all.  I absolutely love the batteries she uses through the movie.  She is definitely dedicated to her belief.
          Like I said, the movie is more about the relationship of the two main characters, and it is played out well in the movie.  First, he is just somebody with that ability that she thinks she needs and slowly he becomes somebody that she can trust.  Not to mention she can rely on in her delusions.


          This movie was well worth my time.  It kept me entertained from start to finish, and I even got a little attached to the characters.  If you watch this movie, which I hope you do, you have to pay close attention to the top of the thing they take outside at the end of the movie.  It makes the scene so much sweeter.  n.n

A Little thing Called Love - Thailand

           Director:  Puttipong Pormsaka Na-Sakonnakorn and Wasin Pokpong
           Year:  2010
           Plot:  "Nam is talented and funny, but with plain looks.  She falls in love with the older Shone, one of the best-looking guys in school.  Will she get her first love?"


          I have to say first off that this is one of the cutest movies I have watched.  I think it even rivals The Love of Siam, from the same country.  This one didn't have to work to hard to get me laughing in one scene and almost in tears in the next.  It really is a great movie, but I think I need to talk some details.
          The main point of this movie is a cute story about a young girls first love.  I love that it centers around first love, because that allows for so many opportunities.  I feel that they did take this movie to a good place.  It had its funny parts, but (like many Asian movies) they didn't take it to far.  The comedy really balanced out well with the rest of the story.
          Not only is the love part of the story important, but this movie also shows the importance of friendship. It was really sweet to see the four girls together all the time.  I did love the fact that they even had a little bit of a falling out.  It really does just make for a great plot.
          The changes the main character goes through are quite amazing.  She starts out as this rather, shall we say ugly girl.  As things progress, she slowly starts letting out the beauty she holds.  The thing is though did she really need to change?  That is a question that I have figured out is a no.  This is not because of some anti-barbie movement or anything, but because of something specific in the movie.  It has to do with a notebook and one little phrase "She looks the same".  Okay, I won't say anymore about it or I will gush too much.
          Now quickly about the ending.  I think this was a very cute way to end the movie.  I love the fact that people set it up to happen knowing how much it would mean.  I also love the fact that their is a moment where you are not sure about what is going to happen, a well place pause ensures that.  That one little pause makes the ending very sweet.


          The entire movie was really well done and I absolutely loved the characters progressions and their relationships.  This is one I intend to own and on that I am going to highly suggest to may friends and those who read this post.  n.n

The Restless - Korea

          Director:  Dong-oh Cho and Dong-oh Jo
          Year:  2006
          Plot:  "It is AD 924, at the end of the United Shilla Dynasty.  Evil forces are rampant and malicious demons roam the land.  A royal demon hunting squad exist known as the Chuh-yong-dae.  YI Kwak, born with the power to see spirits, excels as the most talented warrior of these demon hunters and one day drifts into Joongcheon, the world of the dead through a strange shrine."


          I found this movie to be a rather interesting watch.  The story is rather sweet as it mainly encompasses love transcending even death itself.  It is quite a romantic notion.  The fact is though that it also contains some vary interesting fight scenes.
          The fight scenes in this movie were interesting in a non-realistic sense.  Yes, there was much flying in this movie.  The flying isn't a problem for me, especially when you take the story line into account.  Nearly the entire movie takes place in a spirit world and most of the characters are in fact spirits.  To me that seems to justify most of the characters fighting styles.
          The only major problem I seen with the fighting or anything thing had to do with the female lead.  In one scene, her hips seemed to be jerked awkwardly.  The fact that the scene was slowed down just enhanced the odd pose.
           I really enjoyed the love story behind the fighting.  During the movie, you were given bits and pieces of the characters living love story.  The fact that he never gives up on his love for her is really sweet.  Even though people he cared about in the past stood in the way, he still chose to try for love.  Can't beat that.  n.n


          The story line is very well done and the characters are just as good.  I was a bit confused with the ending, but I decided not to let that drag down my rating.  With the rest of the well told love story, the ambiguous ending didn't seem to matter enough to change my rating.  n.n

Invisible Target - China

          Director:  Benny Chan
          Year:  2007
          Plot:  "Three cops team up to bring down a criminal gang of seven, who have their own hidden agenda."


          The plot sure seems rather boring as it stands, but it gets better when I tell you that those cops are none other than Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue, and Jaycee Chan (Jackie Chan's son) and that the main bad guy is Jacky Wu.  If that didn't make this movie sound better, let's just say all the movies I have watched with any of them in it turn out to be pretty good.
          As about the movie itself, it is a a rather big winner in my book.  The story line to it is very well done.  Each cop has there own reasons for wanting to catch the bad guys.  Not only does each cop have their own story, but the bad guys do as well.  This one doesn't have the irritating ultimate evil, you know the guys that are pure bad and nothing good about them, but that doesn't mean they aren't viable bad guys either.  It is the fact that they have some sliver of human in them that makes them very good characters.
          The stunts in this movie were great as well.  It was the director that requested that no stunt doubles be used in this movie.  That fact makes all the stunts even better.  I mean sure they tried to keep them as safe as possible, but it's really Jaycee landing in fire, and really Nicholas and Shawn getting fiery bits blown at them.  You can't get much better than knowing that the cast were in all the scenes they were supposed to be in and not some stunt guy pretending to be them.  For me it makes an action movie all the better.
          I really liked how this movie ended.  The final fights played out to the characters.  They really did work themselves out really well.  I also have to say I loved the final scene during the credits before the stunt parts came up.  I just felt that part was so nice and rather touching to see make it in there even if it was during the credits.  I am going on a bit much here, so I will end it.  n.n


          The action to this movie is really great, but the story line is just as superb.  This is just another one that needs to be added to my collection.

Sasori - Japan

          Director:  Joe Ma
          Year:  2008
          Plot:  "A ruthless pack of thugs force mild-mannered, caught-in-the-middle-of-something-bigger Nami to murder her fiance's sister, decidedly ruining her pending marriage and landing the poor girl in the most brutal women's prison. Here she decides to stop being a victim. She eventually escapes the prison and returns to the streets in order to make the thugs who ruined her life pay. By this time, Nami prefers to go by the name of Sasori (Scorpion)."

          Apparently, this is a remake of Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion, but I haven't seen them.  Generally I stay away from movies made in the 70's, but I might eventually watch those versions.  I say might, because I did enjoy this remake, to a point.  It is also based off the manga of the same name by Toru Shibohara.
          I felt that the plot of this movie was really good.  There was two little plot holes that I seen and was a little confused with the Hei Tai ending, but there weren't any major problems.  I do have to say that the fight scenes got a little weird even for me.  I mean usually I can ignore when the fights are fantastical, but parts of this one were just too much for me.  That didn't necessarily take away from the movie too much though.
          I did enjoy the character progression.  Nami really did start off as this timid little thing.  By the end of the movie, she is so drastically changed.  Though, like I said, I am confused with the ending of Hei Tai.  I am not quite sure what happened with him.  Usually this is not hard for me, but I am really confused.  >.<
          Someone said that they thought everything happened because he was involved with the death of his sister and that he was a bad cop.  That makes absolutely no sense though.  From what is shown, he is a good guy, and had nothing to do with the deaths.  The only part that he had with the thugs was going to a sort of therapy that the head person did for him.  That doesn't make him involved with his sisters death though.
          I must bring up something another person said in a review of this movie.  They said that the movie was too much work to enjoy.  This makes me think that they do not usually watch Asian movies, as they seem to feel this because they said it was hard to follow with the flashbacks.  I am of course a big fan of Asian movies and found this one to be generally easy to follow and a fun watch, despite the few points that I mentioned.

          This was a good movie despite a few flaws.  This is one of those movies that if you go into it not expecting perfection, you might be rather surprised at the quality of it.  I gave it leeway and found this movie to be quite good.  n.n