Ichi (2008)

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Felix Vasquez

I guess you can refer to “Ichi” as part of the official Zatoichi canon since the story of Ichi is one the reflects the effect Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman had on the people of Japan during his travels. Though not a remake or a reboot of the Zatoichi series, “Ichi” is an unofficial spin off that takes from the film series and creates its own branch off of an epic story about a beautiful young Goze who is taking a journey to find her savior before finally lying down to die. Haruka Ayase is incredibly beautiful and fierce as the Goze Ichi who spends most of her life wandering around from village to village trying to survive one more day while on a search for something in her life that’s kept her motivated to fight ever since she was a child.

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Blind Fury (1989)

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Felix Vasquez

One of my first introductions to the Zatoichi series was through the 1989 samurai action film “Blind Fury” which established the blind samurai to American audiences through actor Rutger Hauer. Since Hauer was king back in the eighties, this is one of the rare instances where he plays not just a hero, but a hero with an immense ability for good who is unbelievably charming. ‘Blind Fury” is a modernized and altered adaptation of the seventeenth “Zatoichi” film entitled “Zatoichi Challenged” which is in many ways fixed for the eighties set pieces, but possesses some of the same moments from the original film series. Including the moment where Zatoichi’s young ward tries to pass off a rock as a piece of candy to Zatoichi who surprises him by spitting it back in his face.

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The Dead Pool (1988)

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Felix Vasquez

And it ends not with a bang, but with a thud. “The Dead Pool” is a truly anti-climactic end for a man who has spent all of his five films running around and blasting assholes with his hand cannon without remorse and finally finds that he’s really not chasing much of an enemy in the end. “The Dead Pool” has some considerable mystery to it but the villain that is supplied for Harry Callahan’s last romp is not only boring, but doesn’t have much to do for the entirety of the film.

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Sudden Impact (1983)

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Felix Vasquez

You can almost sense the series winding down as the writers almost seem to be running out of villains for Dirty Harry Callahan to face down. “Sudden Impact” is probably the weakest of the Dirty Harry series not because it suffers from a lack of villains but because it has too much going on. There are so many sub-plots thrown our way that it’s almost too much to keep up with at times. Dirty Harry is considered a dinosaur among a new generation of officers who don’t believe in excessive force as a means of justice and Harry almost always faces consequences for his rash violent behavior. It’s almost comical in “Sudden Impact” where Harry does something and the next scene involves some police official chewing Harry out.

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The Enforcer (1976)

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Felix Vasquez

Another day, another dead partner. By now Dirty Harry Callahan has learned that anyone and everyone who bothers to get remotely close to him will eventually turn up dead. And their deaths will be pretty painful. Harry is not a man concerned with self-pity and remorse as he spends most of the movie concerned with trying to stop an evil environmental terrorist organization rather than sulking about his latest partner who is brutally stabbed during a botched arrest of the vicious hippy terrorists. The villains in this piece aren’t as menacing as Scorpio of the vigilante cops in the first two films, and their presences are mainly forgettable for the most part. The real draw is watching Harry trying to find a lead in to the organization’s secret base. When they kidnap the mayor of the city and hold him for ransom, Harry finds he must step up his investigation.

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Felix Vasquez

Pardon the cynical thought process but I imagine “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is only the first in what Hollywood will soon turn in to a series of three, maybe four films. Which is a shame, because ideally I wish “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” would be a single entry prequel in a classic science fiction film series. I say that not because it’s a bad film but because the writing wraps the entire film in to one clever self-contained little cinematic entry that it’s just too good to see ruined with a follow-up. While “Rise” is essentially about the emergence of a primitive ruler in a cruel world, there are so many Easter eggs included within the narrative that includes foreshadowing, winks to the audience, and a pretty great nod to the original “Planet of the Apes,” all of which are so subtle only the most eagle eyed genre geek will catch on to what the film is leading in to.

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Thelma & Louise (1991)

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Felix Vasquez

I can fondly recall in 1991 when “Thelma and Louise” stormed theaters how beloved the film initially was and how influential it’s been ever since its release. As a film it’s one of the templates for many rip-offs and wannabes to come years after it won over mostly female audiences. After watching it finally after so many years of hype and unbridled love, I’m still pretty horrified to see “Thelma & Louise” as such a violent and disturbing film that defines the notion of double standards in popular culture.

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