A few words: The Raid 2; Captain America: The Winter Solider

The next two weeks are gonna be pretty good to action fans: this Friday sees the release of the highly anticipated Indonesian martial arts actioner The Raid 2, and a week later, Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier is unleashed. Both films could not be more different, but I'd wager that they will each deliver enough to satisfy their respective fans.

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The Raid 2 picks up soon after the first one ends, and throughout the film, writer/director Gareth Evans finds ways to expand on its criminal underworld, introducing a bevy of new characters and subplots that make it more of a sprawling gangster saga than a straight all-out fight-fest. That said, once the action kicks in, you ain't seen nothing like this... The brutality is amplified, but better still, there's more variety in fight choreography, with ballsy usage of weaponry like baseball bats and hammers that's guaranteed to make you squirm in your seats. Plus there's one hell of a car chase that makes anything coming out of Hollywood pale immensely in comparison. The Raid 2 is one vicious, unrelenting movie, but if you can stomach it, I swear you'll be coming back for more. Don't miss it on the big screen!

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I'm far from a Marvel fanboy, and I generally tend to find all their films samey and disposable, but the first Captain America flick I really dug and find to be a somewhat underrated entry in their universe. As far as sequels go, The Winter Soldier ain't bad at all, and definitely contains the grittiest action set-pieces yet for Marvel. With a background largely fixed in comedy (Community, You, Me and Dupree), directors Anthony and Joe Russo seem like an odd choice to be handling this kind of fare, but they've done a fine job here; even though they succumb to all-too-frenetic staging at times, the grounded, punchy, battering-ram feel of the action is a nice change from Iron Man et al. Of course, the finale consists of mucho numbing gargantuan destructo-vision that's the norm for superhero films now, but otherwise it's a solid, entertaining sequel, and Steve Rogers continues to be one of Marvel's more likeable characters.

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We'll be giving away double passes to Captain America: The Winter Soldier later this week so keep your eyes out for that. Also, if you're feeling retro and want to catch the old '70s Captain America TV movies, we do have them, here and here.

The Raid 2 Obliterates Sundance Crowd

...and with those few eloquent words, you pretty much have the gist of overwhelmingly orgasmic reactions to Gareth Evan's The Raid 2 which premiered at Sundance yesterday.

Due here on March 28, the sequel to the 2011 bone-crunching Indonesian actioner has generated plenty of buzz among fans, and if the tweets last night are anything to go by, then Evans has really delivered the goods, and then some. Here's a sampling of those tweets:

Comparisons to Kubrick AND Kurosawa? Holy shit! There HAVE been a few more "balanced" reviews -- like this Indiewire one, and this dude who almost vomited -- and I still do have concerns over the film's 148-minute length. But damn, I'm so ready to be broken by this movie. Click below for the latest trailer: And if you haven't seen the first one, rent it here!

R.I.P. Sir Run Run Shaw

Legendary film producer/media giant Sir Run Run Shaw died on Tuesday at the incredible age of 106; I won't attempt a career-spanning obit right now but if you need a quick catch-up on who this guy was, the New York Times has a pretty good one, or try the AV Club. The long and short of it is, this man, and his brothers, who went under the production banner of Shaw Brothers, produced hundreds of kick-ass kung fu films in their lifetime.

But here's a little bit of recent history pertaining to the Shaws and DVD... Back when DVD was in its relative infancy, circa 2002, Celestial Pictures, the rights-holder to 760 Shaw Brothers films, announced that they would be digitally remastering them for the format. For film geeks everywhere, this was amazing news, since the majority of these films were extremely hard to see in any shape or form on home video. They would be subtitled in English and presented in their original aspect ratios. Although the martial arts films were Shaws' bread-and-butter, these releases also included a range of comedies, horrors, romances, musicals, thrillers, dramas and exploitation films.

A smattering of them made it here too, via now-defunct distributor Siren, and we picked up most, if not all of them for our library. So if you're remotely curious about Shaw Brothers movies or want to rewatch a few classics in memoriam, there's a bunch sitting on our shelves right now (the ones tagged with ** are essential):

All Men Are Brothers
The Assassin
Challenge of the Masters
Death Duel
Dragon Swamp
Duel of Fists
Heroes of the East** 
Heroes Two
The Heroic Ones
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan**
Invincible Shaolin
The Lizard
My Young Auntie
The One-Armed Swordsman**
The Shadow Boxing
The Shadow Whip
Shaolin Hand Lock
Shaolin Prince
The Spiritual Boxer
36th Chamber of Shaolin**
Trail of the Broken Blade
The Twelve Gold Medallions
The Water Margin
The Web of Death

Teaser Trailer: The Raid 2: Berandal

When The Raid came out last year, it knocked all our socks off here at Fatso. This Indonesian  actioner raised the martial arts genre to a whole new level of bone-breaking bad-assery, and made a star out of its lead Iko Uwais, a dazzling silat expert. Naturally, a sequel was announced not long after, with writer/director Gareth Evans promising the scale of the action to be much larger and more ambitious than before. Based on the teaser that's just gone online, I don't think we'll be disappointed. Although it's fairly brief, the flashes of action that we do see is enough to get us freakin' excited. Click below for a wall-punchingly intense glimpse of The Raid 2: Berandal:

Tony Jaa Joins Fast 7

While the "woah, didn't see that coming" movie news of last week may have belonged to the casting of Ben Affleck as the next Batman, I'm more excited at the announcement that Muay Thai ass-kicker Tony Jaa (Ong Bak) has signed up to join Fast and Furious 7. Jaa will be making his English-language debut, and though details of his role haven't been revealed -- it's likely he'll just end up being a token martial artist as Joe Taslim and Gina Carano were in Fast 6 -- it's encouraging to see him back working after seemingly abandoning acting altogether in 2010. Later this year Jaa has Tom Yum Goong 2 on the way -- check out the action-packed teaser trailer below:

Trailer: Man of Tai Chi

Last year we saw some promising behind-the-scenes footage from Keanu Reeve's directorial debut, the martial arts film Man of Tai Chi; now the international trailer's arrived, we can see what it actually looks IN the film, and I have to say, I'm a little less enthused about the other stuff. Seeing Reeves intone, "Let.. the show... begin" was a bit painful, as was imagining him as some sort of villainous mastermind who oversees his operation in front of a gazillion screens. We get snatches of Yuen Wo-ping's choreography, not long enough of anything to go wild about, but I'm sure it'll deliver in the fight department. Where's Iko Uwais??

Cult Classic Trailer: No Retreat, No Surrender

Junkies of cheesy '80s action movies will be pleased to know that Corey Yuen's 1986 martial arts flick No Retreat, No Surrender is getting re-released on DVD and Blu-ray from Vendetta Films on April 17. The film is probably best known for featuring the first big feature-starring role for Jean-Claude Van Damme (who plays a Russian baddie named Ivan Kraschinsky), and maybe more infamously, as the one where the main character, young karate champ wannabe Jason Swillwell (Kurt McKinney), trains from the ghost of Bruce Lee. Click on the youtube trailer below to soak up some '80s karate goodness:

Short Film: Iron Man vs. Bruce Lee

The talented guy behind that cute Dragon Baby short last year returns with a similarly fun action short pitting Bruce Lee against Iron Man. Why not? This will be the most entertaining 1 minute you'll have today.

Short Film: Dragon Baby

Simple concept (kung fu baby vs dragon), executed well = awesomeness, and awesome cuteness.

Keanu: Man of Renaissance?

Perhaps Keanu's time has come? We can now all stop laughing about his non-acting and look at what he's doing behind the camera! The dude, who's almost 50 (for anyone who's wondering), has a cool little doco called Side by Side playing at the NZFF, which I strongly recommend to anyone interested in the digital takeover of the celluloid as the primary means for shooting and exhibiting movies. Furthermore, his directorial debut, the martial arts flick Man of Tai Chi, is on the way, and it was recently reported that Iko Uwai, The Raid's chief bone-obliterator, has signed on for a role. According to Reeves, there will be about "40 minutes of fighting". I am excited yes. See the clip below for what to expect as he tests out some new tech for shooting the fights:

The Raid at Sundance

In case you haven't heard, Fatso will be giving away tickets to preview screenings of The Raid in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington really soon. To get you a little more excited here's a video reaction by two web film critics after its screening at the Sundance Film Festival in January. And here's the excellent poster that Madman's put together for its theatrical release on March 22nd:

Check your inbox for details on the giveaway sometime next week!

The Raid Will Knock Your Socks Off

The good folk at Madman held a preview screening of Gareth Evans' much-hyped Indonesian actioner The Raid a couple of nights ago and boy did it bring the house down. This isn't a review, just a few quick words, mostly to say... it delivers, and then some. The trailer is a good indication of what to expect, but it's a movie that actually surpasses the trailer in its promise. It's been a while since I've been so slammed into my seat by an action film; after watching The Raid you'll find anything coming out of Hollywood too limp-wristed in comparison. I'm pretty hard to please when it comes to action films so I'm not saying any of this lightly. The Raid is IN-SANE. Go see it and tell your friends. It'll be in theatres March 22nd. I'll be going for a second hit.

Trailer: The Raid

Wildly hyped for this one. Welsh-born director Gareth Evans' follow-up to his 2009 martial arts flick Merantau has been getting some high praise on the fest circuit, the general consensus being that it's one of the best action films to come out in a long, long time. Good news is that it will be coming to theatres and DVD early next year. Here's the Indonesian trailer in all its bloody, bad-ass, bone-snappin', groin-punchin' glory:

Cult Classic Trailer: They Call Her Cleopatra Wong

Holy shit. Maybe we should just call October "Filipino Action Comes to Fatso" Month! Not only is For Your Height Only/Impossible Kid and Machete Maidens Unleashed! coming from Vendetta Films, now we have Bobby A. Suarez's They Call Her Cleopatra Wong and The One-Armed Executioner due from Magna Pacific!! Both films were released last year as a double feature disc by Dark Sky Films in the US, but are coming out separately here, and what's interesting, and possible cause for excitement, is that Aussie retail site DVD Orchard lists Cleopatra Wong as being a "16x9 Enhanced Transfer"... the Dark Sky DVD used a full-screen master, and in all likelihood, the version we'll be getting will be the same one, but here's hoping someone's dug up a nice scope print for this and it's not just a data error on DVD Orchard's part. As for the film itself, I have a soft spot for it because (1) it sports one of the catchiest titles around, and (2) that poster art.... goddamn, it's one of the best ever. Plus there are nuns with shotguns in it, long before any of that post-modern nonsense like Machete and this.

Notes:

• There seems to be THREE Cleopatra Wong-related films: The Bionic Boy, They Call Her Cleopatra Wong, and Dynamite Johnson (aka Return of the Bionic Boy). The latter is a favourite of mine, and if memory serves me correctly was the first VHS Vortex column I wrote for Real Groove a few years ago. Sadly, both Bionic Boy films are still unavailable on DVD (at least not officially anyway).
•  A little background on Cleopatra Wong herself, Marrie Lee.

Trailer: The Grandmasters

It could be argued that we don't exactly need another a movie about Bruce Lee's mentor, Ip Man, what with no less than 3 Ip Man-related films released in the space of the last few years: Wilson Yip's Ip Man and Ip Man 2, and Herman Yau's Ip Man: The Legend is Born. But I'm still hanging out for The Grandmasters, Wong Kar-wai's take on the kung fu master. Wong's undeniable, distinctly stylish stamp could bring something fresh to the plate, if not narrative-wise, then at least visually and texturally. And things look damn promising in this clip featuring black-clad Tony Leung Chiu Wai dishing out some good ol' whoopass in the rain in gorgeous slow-mo...

Trailer: Bangkok Knockout

I won't lie to you, I don't have high hopes for Bangkok Knockout as a model of cinematic storytelling, but this trailer for the new film directed by Ong Bak's action choreographer Panna Rittikrai is packed with enough wild, did-they-just-do-that? stunts and fight scenes to command my interest. If you've seen Rittikrai's Born to Fight you'll know what to expect, but if you haven't, I recommend it just to witness some of the most irresponsible stunts you'll see in any action flick from the last decade or so. Bangkok Knockout is out in Thailand on December 16, hopefully CineAsia will get it for Event Cinemas around the same time too!

CineAsia Spotlight: Bodyguards & Assassins

Here's another big screen-worthy CineAsia title that almost slipped under my radar! It may be a bit late to plug this now - it appears its SkyCity Cinema run is coming to an end - but if you're an Asian cinema fan reading this, Bodyguards & Assassins is well-worth 2.5 hours of your time. It's a BIG-budget historical epic set in 1905 about a group of ragtag bodyguards assigned to escort the arrival of revolutionary leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen when he visits Hong Kong with plans to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Think Seven Samurai meets 16 Blocks. The star wattage on this production is off-the-charts, a practical who's-who of HK cinema - Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Leon Lai, Nicolas Tse, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Eric Tsang, Xueqi Wang, Philip Ng - and there's some brutal, hair-raising action in the second half of the film that'll get your heart pumpin' after a solid hour of character/plot build-up (no, it's not a straight-up kung fu movie a la Ip Man). Ok, so it's melodramatic and fist-pumpingly nationalistic (though not unexpectedly), but it's also entertaining, well-acted and emotionally involving, one of the better Chinese historical flicks of late. Here's the trailer:

Kung Fu Dream Team Soon to be a Reality

So it appears this guy...


...is going to star in a film with this guy...


...and also this guy...

I'm less enthused about the third guy, but otherwise, what can I say? BOOM. Bring it on. I was actually just thinking about this recently after watching Ong Bak 2. Tony Jaa and Donnie Yen staring each other down. Trading blows. Kicks. Elbows. Pummeling each other. It's every kung fu fan's dream movie. Twitch has reported that this Hong Kong production, called Vanguard, is to start shooting in April.

Take a look at these clips and imagine these two fighting together:





If that isn't the definition of "bad-assery" I don't know what is.

Trailer: Power Kids

Here's a fun little trailer for this somewhat slooow Friday afternoon... Power Kids looks like the next Muay Thai movie sensation from Prachya Pinkaew and Panna Rittikrai, the producers of Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong. This time round it's the kids who're doing all the kicking and knee-ing. It's currently playing at Montreal's FanTasia Film Festival, and the plot's being described as "Die Hard in a hospital". While the novelty of watching young kids beating the crap out of older bad guys has an undeniable draw, I'm skeptical as to whether the Muay Thai choreography - as seen in the trailer - will contribute anything new to the current pool of similar films. Still looks fun though.