{"id":22486,"date":"2008-09-17T19:37:55","date_gmt":"2008-09-17T23:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=22486"},"modified":"2016-09-26T19:50:56","modified_gmt":"2016-09-26T23:50:56","slug":"the-rapture-2007","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/17\/the-rapture-2007\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rapture (2007)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"rapture\"<\/a>Viewing<\/span> the screener DVD for director<\/span> Johnny K. Wu’s science<\/span> fiction<\/span> actioner, it’s pretty<\/span> clear<\/span> that the movie<\/span> is<\/span> a real<\/span> work<\/span> of love<\/span>. Wu<\/span> is<\/span> all about action<\/span> flicks<\/span> and making<\/span> the best<\/span> out of very<\/span> little<\/span>. \u201cThe Rapture\u201d is<\/span> a movie<\/span> that’s granted<\/span> care<\/span> and style<\/span> from Wu who goes<\/span> so<\/span> far to include<\/span> a \u201cSilence<\/span>\u201d warning<\/span> you find<\/span> in theaters<\/span>. \u201cThe Rapture\u201d is<\/span> no small<\/span> accomplishment<\/span>; it’s a sleek and really<\/span> good<\/span> take<\/span> on a pretty old<\/span> formula<\/span> with some of the best<\/span> special<\/span> effects<\/span> I’ve seen<\/span> in an indie film<\/span>. The man<\/span>‘s work<\/span> here<\/span> can not<\/span> be<\/span> dismissed<\/span> as he goes<\/span> through painstaking work<\/span> to feature<\/span> some incredible<\/span> aesthetics<\/span> like wings<\/span>, and force<\/span> fields<\/span>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I was<\/span> first<\/span> introduced<\/span> to Wu through his awfully<\/span> good<\/span> fan<\/span> film<\/span> \u201cA Joker’s Card\u201d and he implements<\/span> much<\/span> of the same<\/span> martial<\/span> arts<\/span> in to his original film<\/span>. “The Rapture” tells<\/span> the story<\/span> of two brothers<\/span> bio-engineered to be<\/span> super<\/span> humans<\/span> by the government<\/span>. When their \u201cmother\u201d grows<\/span> to love<\/span> them, she seeks<\/span> to free<\/span> them from living<\/span> as weapons<\/span>, but the duo<\/span> codenamed \u201cChimaera<\/span>\u201d follow different<\/span> paths<\/span> in life<\/span>. Now<\/span> the good<\/span> one known as Midael, granted<\/span> the power<\/span> of invincible<\/span> angel<\/span> wings<\/span> must stop<\/span> his brother<\/span> Job from committing<\/span> further<\/span> murders<\/span> with his spear like tail<\/span> and force<\/span> fields<\/span>. With \u201cThe Rapture\u201d there is<\/span> plenty<\/span> of back<\/span> story<\/span>, what with the government<\/span> experiments<\/span> and the presence<\/span> of superheroes and super<\/span> villains<\/span> using<\/span> Chimaera as a recruiting tool<\/span>. Wu<\/span> uses<\/span> this time<\/span> to provide<\/span> some unique<\/span> devices<\/span> including<\/span> some great<\/span> flashbacks and comic<\/span> book<\/span> stills<\/span> that keep<\/span> \u201cThe Rapture\u201d slightly<\/span> pressed<\/span> in the grindhouse arena<\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Rapture\u201d is<\/span> layered and keeps<\/span> the story<\/span> moving<\/span> at an even<\/span> pace<\/span> with some good<\/span> performances<\/span> by the principle<\/span> cast<\/span> who convincingly keep<\/span> these powers<\/span> as an asset<\/span> in their fight<\/span> against criminals<\/span> and government<\/span> agents<\/span>. Wu<\/span>‘s direction<\/span> is<\/span> keen<\/span> and stunning<\/span> with most of the choreography near seamless meshing<\/span> with the special<\/span> effects<\/span> near perfection<\/span>. There’s too<\/span> much time<\/span> (I repeat<\/span>: way<\/span> too<\/span> much<\/span> time<\/span>) spent explaining<\/span> the characters<\/span>, story<\/span>, and overall premise<\/span>. Some characters<\/span> just<\/span> sit down<\/span> to tell<\/span> us all of what’s going<\/span> on and explore the bigger<\/span> back<\/span> story<\/span> instead<\/span> of letting<\/span> us do<\/span> some of the work<\/span> and getting<\/span> along with some plot<\/span> progression<\/span>. It gets<\/span> very<\/span> tedious<\/span> if you’re unwilling to wait<\/span> for the fighting<\/span>. I kept<\/span> wondering<\/span> why Midael was<\/span> exploring<\/span> the deeper reasons<\/span> behind Job’s descent<\/span> in to darkness<\/span> rather<\/span> than just<\/span> going<\/span> out and looking<\/span> for a way<\/span> to solve<\/span> their problems<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile<\/span>, Wu seems<\/span> to be<\/span> incapable<\/span> of finding<\/span> something for villain<\/span> Job to do<\/span>, so<\/span> instead<\/span> we just<\/span> watch<\/span> him wandering<\/span> around and finding<\/span> random people<\/span> to terrorize<\/span> with this fading<\/span> hope<\/span> that it’s leading<\/span> to something. There were<\/span> also<\/span> some audio<\/span> problems<\/span> with some of the dialogue<\/span> sounding<\/span> canned<\/span> and distant<\/span> suddenly<\/span> switching<\/span> to a more echoed<\/span> voice<\/span> that was<\/span> more audible<\/span>. It was<\/span> distracting<\/span>. In spite<\/span> of inherent<\/span> flaws<\/span> here<\/span> and there, director<\/span> Wu’s \u201cThe Rapture\u201d is<\/span> a real<\/span> accomplishment<\/span> with great<\/span> special<\/span> effects<\/span>, an interesting story<\/span>, and some really<\/span> good<\/span> eye<\/span> catching<\/span> direction<\/span>. Keep<\/span> an open<\/span> mind<\/span> and you’ll really<\/span> enjoy<\/span> what type<\/span> of story<\/span> he has<\/span> to offer<\/span> for audiences<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Viewing the screener DVD for director Johnny K. Wu’s science fiction actioner, it’s pretty clear that the movie is a real work of love. Wu is all about action flicks and making the best out of very little. \u201cThe Rapture\u201d is a movie that’s granted care and style from Wu who goes so far to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[58,71,349,501,813,906,1087],"class_list":["post-22486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-indie","category-movie-reviews","tag-action","tag-adventure","tag-fantasy","tag-indie-film","tag-r","tag-science-fiction","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22488,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22486\/revisions\/22488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}