Asian Cinema Scene: 'Merantau,' 'Blood: The Last Vampire,' 'I Corrupt All Cops'
Filed under: Action, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Sony, Distribution, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
Indonesian Insanity. A young man from a small rural village goes to a big bad city, rescues a girl, and engages in serious butt-kicking. Ring any bells? The upcoming Merantau may sound like an Indonesian Ong Bak, but the success of any martial arts film depends entirely upon the execution. Judging from the official trailer, which arrived this weekend courtesy of Todd Brown at Twitch, I'd say that Merantau is an excellent contender for this year's action crown. Written and directed by Gareth Evans, the film stars Iko Uwais and showcases the silat discipline of martial arts. You can watch the gorgeous, high-def trailer and find much more information at Twitch.
Translated Japanese. Sony Pictures has acquired the rights to Blood: The Last Vampire, Chris Nahon's live-action adaptation of an anime series that I remember as pretty darn good. "Demons have infested the earth," says the official synopsis. "And only one warrior stands between the dark and the light: Saya (Gianna Jun), a half-human, half-vampire samurai." Nippon Cinema has the new trailer for the film, which is reportedly due in theaters this summer. The effects-heavy flick looks like it could be a cheesy disaster -- complete with the lead actress speaking English phonetically -- though I hope it meets the minimum standards of entertainment.
Hong Kong Corruption. The wildly prolific Wong Jing directs an all-star cast led by Eason Chan and Tony Leung Ka Fai in I Corrupt All Cops, which just opened this past weekend. Spanning nearly a decade, the "bent cop saga about the founding of the Independent Commission Against Corruption has lofty ambitions to be a crime epic," says James Marsh at BC Magazine, but "proves to be something of a missed opportunity." Still, the trailer is pretty sweet, so we've embedded it below.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-08-2009 @ 4:47PM
Tommy L. said...
Merantau looks to be a badass film, but some of the fight scenes don't look as fluid as others, or maybe it's because the trailer was a little choppy on my connection. I look forward to Blood, I remember it being a really cool anime and I've been in love with Gianna since My Sassy Girl. As for ICAC...it's Wong Jing so expectations should be set at decent at best, but worth a look given the strong cast I suppose. Thanks.
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