A Piece of the Action
“Look busy- and honest!"
Sigh. It's been a good solid run of stories for a while. I suppose we were due a dud. I'll admit I know very little about the Green Hornet and Kato beyond what I've just read on Wikipedia- standard 1930s pulp protagonists, it seems, and most pertinently appearing on a contemporary TV series on the same channel- but not even Bruce Lee can save this dross, not even getting any decent fight scenes. Roger C. Carmel is splendid as the villainous Colonel Gumm, but the character he plays is rubbish. And what's this silly plot about stamp collecting? This is literally the first Batman episode I've struggled to follow. poor storytelling, then, and very little to be amused by.
Even the cliffhanger is absurd and rubbish, with the Duo not even under any serious threat. Dire.
Batman’s Satisfaction
“It's sure good you brought that empty alphabet soup Bat-container!"
Things don't improve in the second episode: the best thing in this is the window cameo by Edward G. Robinson. Even the silly secret identity farce at the end, admittedly quite funny, isn't enough to amuse me after sitting through this aimless, plotless dross with its two "visiting heroes" acting with a touch of plywood and poor Roger C. Carmel not even getting "special guest villain status.
We even get an odd sequence where Aunt Harriet's hairdryer stops the Batcomputer working and Robin has to encourage Batman not to give up. This is truly awful.Can we not have any more rubbish cliffhangers ever again please?
Showing posts with label Bruce Lee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bruce Lee. Show all posts
Thursday, 23 April 2020
Saturday, 30 November 2019
Enter the Dragon (1973)
“Boards don’t hit back.”
This film is surprisingly excellent- very Hollywood compared to the other Bruce Lee stuff I’ve seen but very, very good. It is, of course, absolutely a James Bond film though.
Consider the plot: a rebel Shaolin monk abandons the teachings of his temple to, er, but a private island and run a drug and sex slavery operation under cover of martial arts contests while surrounded by loads of henchman. Yep, that’s a Bond villain all right. Plus, our hero is hired by a mysterious British chap called Braithwaite to infiltrate said Bond villain’s lair as a kind of spy. Yep, all very Bond film so far.
This is, of course, sort of a martial arts film too, but there are times you’d forget it wasn’t a Bond film that happened to have lots of martial arts in it. So much so that Lee and Braithwaite remind us early on that guns are banned from the film... er, island, because “any bloody fool can pull a trigger”.
Bruce Lee is a charismatic star, and the fighting scenes are obviously impressive. But the film is so good, in spite of the differences from the generally historical tenor of Lee’s other work, precisely because it successfully takes on the template of a Bond film. There are other nice touches too- we emphasise with Williams after the racism he experiences from cops in LA, who get their just desserts. The direction is very good, and the early sequences show off Hong Kong very well. This is a genuinely impressive film, and far from the sort of kitsch martial arts film you’d often get at the time.
Consider the plot: a rebel Shaolin monk abandons the teachings of his temple to, er, but a private island and run a drug and sex slavery operation under cover of martial arts contests while surrounded by loads of henchman. Yep, that’s a Bond villain all right. Plus, our hero is hired by a mysterious British chap called Braithwaite to infiltrate said Bond villain’s lair as a kind of spy. Yep, all very Bond film so far.
This is, of course, sort of a martial arts film too, but there are times you’d forget it wasn’t a Bond film that happened to have lots of martial arts in it. So much so that Lee and Braithwaite remind us early on that guns are banned from the film... er, island, because “any bloody fool can pull a trigger”.
Bruce Lee is a charismatic star, and the fighting scenes are obviously impressive. But the film is so good, in spite of the differences from the generally historical tenor of Lee’s other work, precisely because it successfully takes on the template of a Bond film. There are other nice touches too- we emphasise with Williams after the racism he experiences from cops in LA, who get their just desserts. The direction is very good, and the early sequences show off Hong Kong very well. This is a genuinely impressive film, and far from the sort of kitsch martial arts film you’d often get at the time.
Wednesday, 4 October 2017
Fists of Fury (1972)
“We are not sick men!”
This is my first ever Bruce Lee film, and only my second martial arts film not directed by Quentin Tarantino, unless you count all those straight-to-video ninja films I saw as a kid in the ‘80s, so go easy on me!
I enjoyed the film, although it will never be one of my favourites; it’s a mildly entertaining revenge melodrama/tragedy with a token romantic subplot, but Hamlet this ain’t. The fight scenes are first class, but I’m not hugely engaged by fight scenes, much though I appreciate Bruce Lee’s skills, and he can act too.
What struck me was the surprising tone of Chinese nationalism; the film is set in, I think, 1910, during the Century of Humiliation with the Japanese as antagonists and constant emphasis of how the international city of Shanghai is no longer truly Chinese territory, although the brief shots of westerners with their very contemporary cars and clothes destroy the eff t somewhat. But this is nicely handled, the grievances of a “small” country, and does not come across as overly aggressive.
I’m not sure when, or if, I’ll try another film in this genre. But at least it’s light, easy viewing, just the thing for a knackering week like this.
I enjoyed the film, although it will never be one of my favourites; it’s a mildly entertaining revenge melodrama/tragedy with a token romantic subplot, but Hamlet this ain’t. The fight scenes are first class, but I’m not hugely engaged by fight scenes, much though I appreciate Bruce Lee’s skills, and he can act too.
What struck me was the surprising tone of Chinese nationalism; the film is set in, I think, 1910, during the Century of Humiliation with the Japanese as antagonists and constant emphasis of how the international city of Shanghai is no longer truly Chinese territory, although the brief shots of westerners with their very contemporary cars and clothes destroy the eff t somewhat. But this is nicely handled, the grievances of a “small” country, and does not come across as overly aggressive.
I’m not sure when, or if, I’ll try another film in this genre. But at least it’s light, easy viewing, just the thing for a knackering week like this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)