Shiri - Overrated?

[bruce h]

Well, I finally got around to watching Shiri last night and I have to say: What the hell was all the fuss about? It’s a well-made film, with good acting, pyrotechnics, etc, but there’s not really much of anything to set it apart from a well-made American action film, except it stars a bunch of Koreans. I didn’t particularly find the violence to be anything extraordinary (mostly gunshots, save for the opening and a nice exploding head later on), and the filming of the action scenes was absolutely infuriating with it’s overuse of handheld camera work that basically ruined any sort of excitement or suspense that could’ve been generated by the situation at hand. Again, it’s a competent piece of cinema, and the story is a bit more engaging than expected, but it’s nothing I would consider the “be all, end all” of Asian action. For a similar story without the “real movie” aspirations check out Black Cat.

I’m going to see Audition on the big screen tonight, I’m hoping the advance hype won’t make me feel let down once the end credits roll, like it did with Shiri.

[DylanDog]

I agree 100%, Bruce. Good movie, but left me thinking "That was all?"

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[Latte Thunder]

Still haven't seen this one. I'd gotten sucked into all the hype around it. Maybe it's just my thirst for good gun play movies since most of the Hong Kong guys were assimilated into the Hollywood machine. I don't know. I've been finding myself disappointed with a lot of Eastern action movies of late.

Another one, though, that I hope doesn't suck is Full Time Killer. From what I understand, Johnny To fills the void that John Woo left in Hong Kong.