Dragons Forever (1988)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Dragons Forever (1988) – S. Hung & C. Yuen

As Jackie Chan moved from Seventies Shlock to Worldwide Fame, he maintained close ties with other students from the China Drama School (aka Peking Opera) that he attended in his youth, principally Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen.  Known as the Three Brothers or Dragons, they starred in a series of action comedies (Project A, 1983; Wheels on Meals, 1984; My Lucky Stars, 1985; Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, 1985), mostly directed by Sammo (Fatty Dragon).  Dragons Forever was their final outing together, as Jackie’s Police Story and Armour of God franchises took off.  Jackie stars as a lawyer working for a criminal gang that own a chemical company (also serving as a front for narcotics production). When the owner of a neighbouring fish farm (Deanie Ip) sues the chemical company for polluting, Jackie takes the case. Jackie recruits Biao to help plant a bug in Deanie’s house to gather information, since her lawyer (and cousin), Pauline Yeung, also lives there. Sammo is a scammer who hopes to swindle Ip out of her fish farm but ends up falling in love with her.  Jackie also falls for Yeung, creating a conflict of interest for the case (resolved at the trial in a scene that is unfortunately marred by homophobic comments by the judge). If this all sounds rather cheesy, it is (in true Jackie fashion) -- but there is enough hand-to-hand combat from the three stars, old school style with chairs and furniture used for props, to keep those who came for the action engaged. (Benny Urquidez takes on the role of super-baddie in the final fight). The comedy is, as usual, hit or miss, but the Three Dragons are undeniably charismatic (even if cast somewhat against type here).   

 

 

They Live (1988)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

They Live (1988) – J. Carpenter

It takes a lot longer before Rowdy Roddy Piper puts on those sunglasses than I remembered.  Before that, this is a downbeat tale about homelessness in Reagan’s America, shot in a pretty rundown looking Los Angeles.  Roddy gets a job on a construction site and meets up with Frank (Keith David), another down-and-out but upright guy looking to keep his head above water (and support his family back in Detroit).  Soon, Roddy (the character’s name is apparently Nada) notices some activity in a nearby church that seems to be associated with a mysterious broadcast that over-rides the local TV signal, claiming that the rich and powerful are running society and keeping people down and pacified by consumerism.  When he sneaks into the church, all he finds are boxes of sunglasses.  Soon, the church is attacked by a SWAT team, which also destroys the tent city where the homeless are living as a supportive community.  Roddy finally puts on those sunglasses and then he’s on the run.  If you’ve seen the film, you know that it totally shifts gears at this point.  If you haven’t, you are in for a surprise.  But once the concept is out there in all its glory, this does turn into a bit of a generic action flick (with an epic fistfight between Roddy and Keith David, as he tries to get him to wear the sunglasses – hilarious).  Only at the very end, when they are trying to turn off the signal at the TV station does director John Carpenter really cash in on the sci-fi aspects of the premise. As a metaphor for a society where some are willing to sacrifice and use others to facilitate their own accumulation of wealth (and others complicitly allow them to do so), this film stands alone in its greatness (and sublimely great weirdness).  A plea for humanity!

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) – W. Craven

Bill Pullman is a Harvard anthropologist working for a drug company who goes to Haiti to find the origins of a powder that anesthesises people so well that they are presumed dead (and later return to life as “zombies”).  Cathy Tyson is the psychiatrist collaborator who leads him to a zombie and the man who crafts the powder.  Unfortunately, Zakes Mokae plays the head of the secret police (for Baby Doc Duvallier) and master of black magic who seeks to thwart their plans.  As directed by Wes Craven, the film unfolds via some creepy visions that Pullman has which foreshadow major plot turns. Although the film might not always feel like a horror film (given the political themes), Craven liberally throws in grotesque and spooky images.  By the end, in fact, the film gives way to a free-for-all between the evil forces and Pullman and becomes rather schlocky.  Let’s say it’s a solid B picture with some ambition to be greater.

 

Akira (1988)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Akira (1988) – K. Ôtomo

This was really a famous anime film back in the day, perhaps the first one to be a hit in America.  I didn’t watch it back then because I wasn’t really interested; but this was before I realised how good animation could be, before those annual animation short film festivals in the early ‘90s and before we knew about Miyazaki.  Of course, Akira is absolutely nothing like Miyazaki’s work and it definitely isn’t for kids.  Imdb summarizes the plot as follows:  “A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.”  So, there are heaps of explosions, fights, deaths, a rape scene, motorbike accidents, police, army, tanks, gangs, and yes, psychic kids.  The animation itself is impressive and often beautiful in that classic Japanese style that has become so familiar worldwide now.  It is hard to place this as a 1980s film, perhaps because it takes place in 2019 (where strangely Japan is preparing to host the Olympic games in Tokyo) and the futuristic city isn’t too different from today’s cities; in other words, it feels new and current.  Yet, a little of this also goes a long way and by the time we approached the end, I was dozing off (that third beer probably didn’t help).  I think I might only dip into anime now and again, and perhaps those short sweet versions are the best dosage.    

As Tears Go By (1988)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

As Tears Go By (1988) – K.-W. Wong

Wong Kar-Wai’s debut feature takes place in the well-known world of the Hong Kong triads (well known to those who enjoyed John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow, 1986, and scores of other similar HK gangster films).  So, the plot is largely familiar:  Big Brother Wah (Andy Lau) has trouble keeping his impulsive Little Brother Fly (Jacky Cheung) under control and they have conflict with Tony (Alex Man) a rival gang leader; meanwhile Wah is falling in love with his cousin Ngor (Maggie Cheung) but knows that he is wrong for her.  It all ends up in tears.  What is different here is Wong’s stylistic choices and chances (although John Woo was also no schlub in this department).  Not only does he throw in some unique shots (as many directors could or would) but he dares to film an entire fight scene in some sort of slo-mo rotoscoping.  Moreover, the use of colour (filters as well as art direction) is splendid and adds to the mood (as befits the director of In the Mood for Love, 2000).  Although Maggie Cheung has little to do, apparently this was her breakout dramatic role (after starring in lighter comedic roles, such as Jackie Chan’s Police Story films).  But in the end, this has got to be one for fans of the genre (and the macho ultra-violence it entails), as Wong’s style is laid on top of the plot (livening it up) rather than integrated well with it (as he was later to achieve, though still favouring style over substance).

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) – T. Gilliam

When Terry Gilliam could still be counted on for a (relatively) coherent cinema experience and one that was predictably visually cluttered and surreal, he made this version of the Munchausen tale (which had been filmed several times before).  The Baron is a possible spinner of tall tales, which see him riding on a cannonball, visiting the King and Queen of the Moon (Robin Williams and Valentina Cortese), engaging with Vulcan (Oliver Reed) and Venus (Uma Thurman), and defeating the Turkish army with just a few friends (Eric Idle, Charles McKeown, Jack Purvis, Winston Dennis – all with special powers, such as running fast, blowing a gale, super strength, long-distance vision), and so on.  The framing device is that we are in a town laid siege by the Turks at the end of the 18^th century and a troupe of actors is staging a version of the Munchausen adventures when in walks the Baron himself (John Neville).  He begins to regale the audience (including evil bureaucrat Jonathan Pryce) with his tales which Gilliam shows to us (leaving the stage to show us the full three dimensional experience).  But at some point things become blurred and young Sarah Polley, the daughter of the leader of the actors, joins the Baron on his adventures, which do end up freeing the city (and the actors) from the Turks (or perhaps Pryce’s pretense that they were really besieging the town).  Although the plot is (overly) complicated, Gilliam manages to retain a sense of childlike wonder for the proceedings and Neville is an excellent raconteur/guide/hero.  Perhaps there is slightly too much bombast and sameness throughout, but on the whole, an enjoyable affair.

Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

☆ ☆ ☆

Gorillas in the Mist (1988) – M. Apted

Watching this nearly 30-year-old conservation-focused movie now (for the first time) prompts immediate questions about the current status of the mountain gorilla.  Surprisingly, there is some good news: apparently a recovery is in progress – the population is around 880, up from 620 in 1989, according to the WWF. (But of course efforts need to continue to save them).  I also wondered where Dian Fossey (the gorillas’ champion and a folk hero for two decades) was today, only vaguely remembering that she was murdered in Rwanda in 1985, something that would have been more salient to audiences in 1988.  The movie does end with this event and its final 30 minutes set up her fate by showing a dramatic change from wide-eyed affection (toward gorillas) to wild-eyed hostility (toward poachers, the Rwandan government, her own assistants, etc.).  Sigourney Weaver is fine as Fossey but the gorillas are the main thing; the production used a combination of real gorillas in the wild (amazingly shot on location), chimpanzees in make-up, and gorilla suits designed by horror artiste Rick Baker.  The plot includes romance (with Bryan Brown), action (attacks by poachers), and a lot of oohing and ahhing by Weaver; in fact, the plot seems to detract from the focus on Dian Fossey and her character (as Roger Ebert pointed out), not letting us inside her head much at all.   The movie also feels dated, with 1980s style/fashion somehow intruding.  Perhaps it is ironic, then, that the director was Michael Apted, most famous for his involvement with the 7 Up series (with its next instalment 63 Up! due in 2019).  Thinking into the future, it’s hard not to imagine a world ravaged by climate change and many endangered animals wiped out. 

  

Scrooged (1988)

☆ ☆ ½

Scrooged (1988) – R. Donner

Loud and largely unfunny – I guess I was right to have skipped this back in the day.  Bill Murray doesn’t really do a convincing “mean” – his sense of humor is wryer and more smart-ass than the sub-Don Rickles insult comedy which he is asked to deliver here.  The script is a barrage of bad jokes and celebrity cameos flung at the wall with the hope that something will stick.  And since this is a version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, we need to believe that Murray is a bad man in need of transformation -- but he doesn’t go all the way in either direction (his previous film The Razor’s Edge should have taught him something). Nevertheless, the pay-off at the end (after being visited by scary David Johanssen and awkward Carol Kane plus a guy in a skeleton suit) does hold some rewards – we get a classic Murray improv riff, not exactly funny, but at least feeling authentic at last.  Or perhaps I’ve simply forgotten what Murray was like in the ‘80s now that he has matured into a very good and often subtle character actor.  No subtlety in this picture, however.  Oh and if you are wondering, the Scrooge character is a TV exec and there is a tacked on romance sub-plot (featuring Karen Allen) that Dickens didn’t cheapen his material with.  The “Tiny Tim” surrogate is a young Black fellow who hasn’t spoken a word since his father was killed – and, of course, miraculously does as everything comes together in the spirit of Christmas.  If only this sentimental ending were earned.   

Dead Ringers (1988)

☆ ☆ ☆

Dead Ringers (1988) – D. Cronenberg

It’s Jeremy Irons vs. Jeremy Irons and the winner is….Jeremy Irons!  The actor is mesmerizing playing identical twin gynaecologists who get involved with Genevieve Bujold, a nutty actress, and sink into drug addiction and despair.  With David Cronenberg at the helm, Irons is encouraged to go over the top and he does, but the gruesomeness is actually kept to a relative minimum (relative to other Cronenberg vehicles of the time -- this came chronologically between The Fly and Naked Lunch).  Yet, for much of the first half of the film, slow and stately as it may be, I felt on the edge of my seat, awaiting a shock moment of gore – or at least a weird prosthesis – that never quite arrived (OK, actually there was one in a brief dream sequence!).  As madness descends on the sensitive of the two twins (the other is more virile), things do get messier…and also somehow more boring and drawn out.  In the end, though strange, this film falls into the lesser half of Cronenberg’s output, saved only by the virtuosic performance(s) of Irons. 

  

Police Story 2 (1988)

☆ ☆ ☆

Police Story 2 (1988) – J. Chan

Almost anything would be a let-down after the exciting thrills of Jackie Chan’s Police Story (1985) but I have to admit that Police Story 2 is pretty lacklustre.  But never fear, because Police Story 3: Supercop (1992) would soon redeem the series with even more breathtaking stunts than before.  It is worth noting that Jackie was also making the Project A and Armour of God/Operation Condor series at the same time.  So, the fact that Police Story 2 contains proportionally less exciting stunts than other films from the same time doesn’t really reduce the Jackie Chan awesomeness quotient.  And if you only know Jackie from later efforts such as Rush Hour or beyond, then you are really missing out.  After starting in Bruce Lee’s shadow as an extra, Jackie worked his way up to the top of the Hong Kong industry, starting with gems like Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master (more or less straight kung fu) and then hitting his stride in the 1980s and early 1990s with the different series mentioned above that made him a true action star focused not just on fighting but on daring stunts which he always always performed himself (and put the accidents and mistakes into the end credits reel).  Here in Police Story 2, he is again taunted by evil bad guys Mr. Chu and John Ko, variously supported or fired by Uncle Bill and Raymond (his superiors on the force), and in danger of being dumped by lovely May (played by a young Maggie Cheung).  Of course, in the end, Jackie triumphs over all the obstacles – but he does get pretty beat up in the process.  The big stunt is a fireworks factory getting blown up!