Movie Review - Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong

Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (2015)

Starring Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg

Directed by Emily Ting

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

A simple two-hander in the vein of the Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight trilogy, Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong is a winning, effervescent dialog-driven piece about a thirty-five year-old investment banker named Josh (Bryan Greenberg) and a thirty year-old toy designer named Ruby (Jamie Chung) who meet one night when the latter asks the former for directions while at a bar in Hong Kong.  Discovering that she was new to the country, expat Josh walks Ruby to her destination, making small talk the whole time, both aware of the undeniable attraction and connection they are experiencing.  Some unforeseen circumstances occur and their evening comes to an abrupt end, but a year later, the two meet up again while aboard a river taxi and another night of conversation may change the course of their lives forever.

Chung and Greenberg have nice chemistry with one another (they recently married in real life) and I had a smile on my face nearly the entirety of the film watching them "meet cute" in the beautifully filmed city of Hong Kong, but the film lacks the pretension that runs through the aforementioned Before series.  While the lack of pretension should seem like a positive, here it creates moments of simplicity that give this film a slight lack of importance (and don't quite allow the actors to connect as instinctually as they should).  While I found myself rolling my eyes over the literary or artistic babble that Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy spout in writer-director Richard Linklater's series, in director-writer Emily Ting's debut film Hong Kong, our duo jabbers on about Seinfeld.  There's nothing wrong with that -- and it actually elicited less of an eye roll from me than the Sunset series -- but it makes the dialog lack a little bite or heft at times.  That said, it also makes it seem more natural to me.  Sure, I may have graduated with an English Lit degree, but I don't go around talking about how important Shakespeare or Chekhov are.  In that regard, I related to Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong moreso that Before Sunset, despite the fact that I recognize that the latter is perhaps a bit better written.  [The lack of cursing or crudeness also made this seem more like my life -- while not rated, I think it'd garner a simple PG-rating.]

It's perhaps entirely unfair to compare Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong to Richard Linklater's series, but Ms. Ting must've known that the similarities would elicit such a response from critics.  In the end, I think that Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong is actually a better film than Before Sunset (sacrilegious to say, I know).  Sure, Linklater's trilogy ends up winning overall because the director has since built two more movies that add depth to his already formulated characters.  But, the naturalness, simplicity, and charm of Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong make it a much more relatable piece to me.  Emily Ting has potential as a director and screenwriter, that's for sure, and her film is a rather joyous look at two people perhaps (or perhaps not) starting out on an unknown journey together.  As I said before, I was smiling nearly the entire time I watched this and, quite frankly, that's praise enough to recommend this, but should you need more of a push, it's also now garnering one of my better ratings of 2015.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Featuring the voice talents of Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, Alan Tudyk, Maya Rudolph, and James Cromwell 

Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams

Big Hero 6 is Walt Disney Animation's first collaboration with Marvel and while the film looks visually appealing and definitely has its successful moments, it falls into the same trap as most Marvel movies in that the film's final half abandons the importance of story and feels like action sequence atop action sequence.  Quite frankly, one of these days I'll get around to continuing my Disney Discussion and I think I'll save a more thorough summary until that point, however, the general gist of the plot is that young braniac Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter) becomes unlikely friends with a robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit) created by his brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney).  As the two bond, Hiro and Baymax uncover a plot by a sinister masked man to utilize some of Hiro's own robotic creations to commit dastardly deeds.

Eschewing the typical fairy tale stories or romances that usually inhabit Disney's animated fare, Big Hero 6 definitely has a different tone especially considering that the film's final half is completely one big battle between Hiro and his group of clever and humorous friends against the masked man whose reveal is supposed to be surprising but is completely obvious to anyone older than ten years old.  Unfortunately, the film isn't subtle in any aspect.  During the opening moments in which better written Disney movies would excel at exposition, Big Hero 6 very bluntly and laughably spells things out for us stating Hiro and Tadashi's back story.  While it sets a bad tone right off the bat, things perk up quite well during the remainder of the film's first and second acts.  Some nice voice acting from all parties -- the lack of "big name" stars is a definite plus -- and animation that is certainly a caliber above average aid Big Hero 6 in overcoming some of its denouement's problems, but it still falls into the 2014 animated credo of "We Must Have a Disappointing Finale" with nary a single release last year ending on a successful note.

I'll hold off on a more in depth analysis for now except to say that the fact that Big Hero 6 won the Best Animated feature Oscar really reveals what a disappointing year 2014 was for what is typically one of my favorite genres.  While I wouldn't hate another Marvel-Disney animated collaboration (and the film is certainly set up for multiple sequels), I hope that a better script creates a more subtle atmosphere for its cast of characters.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Premium Rush

Premium Rush (2012)

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, and Jamie Chung

Directed by David Koepp

Premium Rush is essentially an eighty-minute long chase sequence, and for a movie that's all about a race to the finish to be lacking in any drive or excitement that has to be considered a disappointment.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Wilee, a bicycle courier in New York City.  It's a somewhat dangerous profession navigating the busy streets of NYC, but Wilee thrives on the rush it gives him.  One afternoon, Wilee is dispatched to a local university to pick up an envelope from, as it turns out, his girlfriend's roommate Nima (Jamie Chung) and deliver it to a location in Chinatown.  Almost as soon as he gets the envelope, Wilee is confronted by a man who states he's Nima's boss demanding that Wilee return the delivery.  When Wilee refuses, the man (played by Michael Shannon) sets out to track Wilee down and do whatever is necessary in order to obtain the contents of that envelope.

Premium Rush knows it's pure fluff and pure fluff is fine sometimes, but something doesn't quite click here.  Michael Shannon is over-the-top (and not in a good way) as the neurotic man who demands the envelope be handed over to him.  As his character's secrets are revealed and Shannon chews more and more of the scenery around him, my eyes began to roll a bit in frustration.  Gordon-Levitt shows that he can ride a bike...but he isn't given much else to do except pedal and constantly look behind him to see if he's being tailed.

The film has some fun with jumping around in time and it certainly is a gimmick that makes a throwaway film like this a bit more enjoyable.  Unfortunately, as the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together, I didn't care much about the final product.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch (2011)

Starring Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Oscar Isaac, Scott Glenn, and Carla Gugino 

Directed by Zack Snyder

Zack Snyder is the King of Style over Substance.  From 300 to Watchmen, Snyder finds a way to make stories seem pointless while transporting viewers into video game-reminiscent settings complete with a pulsing soundtrack. [Note:  This is coming from someone who actually didn't mind Watchmen.]  Sucker Punch is really no exception to the above characteristics and his stylized direction has worn out its welcome (if it was ever welcome to begin with).

In his latest assault on the senses, Snyder introduces us to Baby Doll (Emily Browning) who finds herself being forced into a mental institution after she accidentally kills her younger sister while trying to save her from their evil sexually abusive stepfather.  Unfortunately, after the surprisingly promising and genuinely exciting opening moments, things fall apart.  While in the institution, Baby Doll dreams that she, her fellow inmates, and all of the doctors work at a brothel.  Mirroring her thoughts in the loony bin, Baby Doll tries to rally her fellow hookers into escaping the clutches of the evil owner Blue (Oscar Isaac).  In order to do that, Baby Doll performs some sultry, sexy dance (which we the viewer never see) that puts all men into some sort of trance, thus allowing Baby Doll and her friends to steal the necessary supplies to bolt.

But wait...that's not all.  Instead of seeing Baby Doll dance, we go into her mind and see what she is imagining while she shakes her moneymaker.  And what she sees apparently is a war going on between her ladyfriends and Nazis, dragons, and futuristic robots.  It's these moments in particular (which take up at least half the film) that grow ridiculously repetitive and ultimately wreck Sucker Punch.  While I completely understand that none of these epically shot fight sequences are supposed to seem "real" since they're all occurring within Baby Doll's imagination, I couldn't help but think that the video game commercials I saw on the Blu-Ray prior to the film starting had better aesthetics and graphics.  Everything in these sequences (and the whole movie for that matter) is so washed out and hued in grays and browns that nothing is pleasing to the eye.  [This is a consistent problem for Snyder...for a guy that loves visuals so much, he manages to create worlds that are completely devoid of luminosity and appeal.]

While all of the ladies in the flick are certainly attractive, some -- Abbie Cornish and Jena Malone -- fare better than others -- Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung -- in the acting department.  Rather oddly, as the film's main character, Emily Browning is given absolutely nothing to do with her role.  She barely speaks and finds herself being told to stare blankly at things more often than not.  And the less said about Carla Gugino forcing out some laughable German or Austrian accent the better.

Not that I was ever on the Zack Snyder bandwagon, but Sucker Punch certainly knocked me off of it.  This writer-director needs to shake things up a bit and actually create a story that's worth telling and craft visuals to go with it that don't look so cheap.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Sorority Row (2009)

Starring Briana Evigan, Margo Harshman, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Leah Pipes, and Carrie Fisher
Directed by Stewart Hendler

First off, how weird is the placement of the ladies in the poster to the left? They're kinda sorta laying atop one another...just strikes me as weird.

Secondly, let me list a few of the character "names" from the credits: Bra-Clad Sister, Trampoline Sister, Amazed Senior Guy, Over-It Sister, Thwarted Guy, Already Drunk Sister, Slutty Sister, Hot Guy, Sea Pig, Naive Girl #1, Naive Girl #2, Stoned Dude, Wasted Guy. I'm guessing Slutty Sister is the chick who showed her boobs, but with the creative names above, why not just call her "Chick with Unattractive Bosom"?

The story here is simple...five sorority sisters decide to pull a prank on a guy by pretending that the guy date-rape drugged one of their fellow sisters to death. They drag the guy and the "dead" sister out to some dump where the guy, in a state of panic, actually kills the sister who was pretending to be dead. Desperate to keep things under wraps in order to save face and maintain a happy life, they decide to ditch the body in a giant hole in the dump. This being a horror/slasher flick, someone finds out about the crime and enacts revenge.

And most of that revenge is via shoving objects into girls' mouths...every sorority girl that died did so because of something being shoved into her mouth. The phallic/oral sex symbolism of this is not lost on me...why nearly everyone needed to die this way, I don't know; it becomes mind-bogglingly boring. Sure, the first kill was actually pretty nifty, but after that it just got old. None of the murders were remotely surprising...you could see a bunch of them coming from a mile away. And the reasoning behind the killer's motivation for this was ridiculously stupid.

That being said, there's something to be said for not being bored here...at times, I appreciated the odd shots that the director set up and the funky lighting and the grainy look. Then, at other times, I was frustrated by these same things.

Plus (and this'll sound completely sexist and awful), if you've got a movie about sorority girls, is it wrong to expect it to contain hot girls who aren't afraid to show some skin?

The RyMickey Rating: D