Sol naciente

Rising Sun was a decent enough movie. It was intelligent, it had big names, it didn't disappoint.

Have you ever watched a movie that was good but were so bothered by one part you couldn't shake it? Rising Sun had a scene that so annoyed me it overshadowed everything before it and after it.

John Connor (Sean Connery)--not to be confused with John Connor from Terminator--and Web Smith (Wesley Snipes) were pursuing a suspect in their murder case. They and about a dozen other tactically dressed officers busted into the home of their primary suspect. While chasing the suspect a nude escort/prostitute/side chick jumped on Web Smith's back and began assaulting and verbally abusing him.

Wait. What!?

Yeah, that's what my response to that was.

During the middle of a pursuit, guns are drawn, glass is being broken, foot soldiers are storming through and this daft woman decides now is a good time to what, defend her john? I can't think of a single instance where a hired woman would be willing to jump on the back of an armed police officer to prevent him from apprehending her john/employer/beau. I'm sure he pays her well but does he pay that well? Especially considering that nude woman number two was cowering and screaming.

It's not fair to boil Rising Sun down to that one scene because it was much more than that. It was actually a good movie. The crime had many layers and took time and ingenuity to unfold. Be that as it may, they cannot be forgiven for that atrocious scene.

This movie is not always easy to understand but if you give it a couple of looks, which it is worthy of doing, all the pieces finally fit and it's a good two hours of entertainment.

This modern-day crime movie may have a lack of action compared to others of its genre but it never loses your attention. Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes and Harvey Keitel star, along with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Kevin Anderson, Mako and Tia Carrere. This is a high-tech story (at least for 1993) as two cops try to figure out who murdered a woman. It's Japanese-big business-politics intrigue with surveillance cameras being the key to figuring out a murder.

Connery and Snipes complement each other as a "buddy" cop duo with Connery being mostly responsible for making this story interesting. The still-suave ex-James Bond plays the cool veteran and it's fun to watch him operate.

The only complaint I might have is the ending, a stupid romance-type story with Snipes and Carrere that was very post-climactic and not needed.

During a high level executive meeting between a Japanese corporation and an US weapons contractor a young woman is found murdered. Due to his connections Captain John Connor is sent to lead the investigation with Lt Web Smith. The investigation is immediately hindered by the Japanese culture, the shadowy business figures and political pressures, however before long Connor and Smith are presented with a cctv disk that shows the murder being carried out by a known suspect. When the suspect dies in a chase the investigation seems over but a closer investigation of the evidence shows that the case is far from closed.

Not being a real big fan of Michael Crichton, I wasn't sure how I'd like this film – I'm not a big traveler and don't buy my books in the airport when I do travel! It was apt then, that I wasn't overly taken by the plot here and felt that its pace was more responsible for it being an enjoyable thriller than any great skill in the writing. In its essence the glossy story takes in technology, big business, Japanese cool and political goings-on – all these and other things combining to mean that it moves well and is consistently busy. This is not to suggest that it all fits together because it doesn't; the plot has holes and lose strands within it that distract if you think too much about it – happily its pace and revelations did not give me too long to linger over these and I managed to enjoy it, the problems being forgotten in all the gloss.

On top of this gloss is piled a cast that is worth seeing no matter what they are doing together, and their presence and ability further cover for a plot that doesn't always serve its many characters as well as they deserve. Connery has fun in the sort of role he seems to greatly favour now – distinguished, wise men of age who can still dish it out if need be. He is easy to watch and only at times does he feel like he's forcing it (like when he suddenly shouts). Snipes does not look as confident but that may be because his 'look' has dated here and changed since 1993. However he is still good and has his moments despite being given a rather secondary role to Connery's. It the support cast that surprised me though – so many well known faces in supporting or minor roles. Keitel is very good, playing an interesting character that goes nowhere but is still interesting and well delivered; Tagawa is gifted a fuller role than he often gets and does well with it. Wise is OK but he forces it and didn't convince me as much as I would have liked – still did the job asked of him though. People like Mako, Carrere, von Bargen and Buscemi all add depth and make the film feel fuller than it is even with some small (and perhaps unnecessary?) characters.

Overall this is a slick and enjoyable film even if it is as much style and pace as it is substance. The plot doesn't totally fit together but its mix of techno-conspiracy, political plotting, sex and intrigue all keep it moving along enjoyably enough and the impressive and rather charismatic cast only help to make it feel all the slicker. Worth a watch even if some may find it a little inconsequential in regards some bits of plotting.

Scenes of cowboys on horseback, and Cole Porter's "Don't Fence Me In"... reassuring cultural markers which quickly dissolve as we find ourselves in the steely 19990's in a Los Angeles that has been snaffled by the Japanese. The western and the music are mere karaoke images. Americans had better learn how to bow, because their masters are moving in.

"Rising Sun" is a sophisticated thriller which flips neatly between fear of the sinister Japanese (electronic surveillance, big business buyouts, Yakuza) and a deep understanding of, and reverence for, Japanese culture. Wesley Snipes plays Web Smith, a lieutenant in the LAPD assigned to investigate a murder on the Los Angeles premises of a Japanese corporation. He has Captain John Connor attached to him (Sean Connery), an older man who is believed to have 'gone native' and sold his soul to the Japanese.

At every turn, American short-sightedness is losing out to the Japanese hardball players. One of the film's morals is, if we don't like the way they are buying up our assets, we have no business selling them in the first place. Japanese strength comes from the social discipline and immense intellectual vigour of their way of life. "We may come from a fragmented MTV-rap-video culture," says Conner, "but they do not."

Conner has studied the eastern way and is respected by the Japanese for his grace and learning. He guides Web Smith along the path of enlightenment in the course of solving the murder mystery. They adopt the traditional sampai-kohai relationship, the tutelage of a wise elder from which a worthy young man learns.

In this story of cutting-edge video fakery, the film exploits images intelligently. We see reflections of Web and Jingo on the TV monitor as they analyse the 'ghost'. Connor effects a clever 'look-back' on the lab's video camera, hinting at hidden permutations in the characters' relationships. Time after time, we are led persuasively down a line of reasoning, only to find that it is a chimera. As Connor says, "When something looks too good to be true, then it's not true."

There are some weaknesses in the film's structure. 'The Weasel', the journalist tracking Web, is badly misconceived. His place in the story is negligible and his dramatic possibilities are abandoned almost as soon as he is introduced. The reliance of Web on his old 'brothers' to intimidate the Japanese pursuers is lame and patronising, with its 'boyz'n'the hood' silliness. To describe these 'rough neighbourhoods' as 'America's last great advantage' is patent hogwash. The corrupt senator is the tired stock-in-trade of these thrillers, and fails to convince. The reaction of Morton's wife to the fax transmissions is utterly unrealistic and melodramatic. That two LAPD cops should beat up half a dozen Japanese thugs using karate is frankly insulting, even to Japanese thugs.

The performance of Sean Connery is very impressive. He plays Connor with the clear intelligence and the confidence in his own powers which such a man would surely possess. He alone understands both cultures, and therefore he alone can solve the riddle. Because Connery is convincing, the film is a success.

This adaptation of Crichton's novel of the same name is flawed, specially in some key casting (Snipes is wrong for the part) and tone choices (the main relationship is badly portrayed, some characters enter and leave without regard and the action scenes seem very off).

However, it makes the grade into the above-average category of high-tech thrillers for the excellent Sir Connery performance and the adherence, in about 80%, to the gripping and quite scary, economically speaking, original plot.

Crichton was never afraid to take a stand and the movie version, although clearly into a more action-driven-politically-correct approach, tried to present a more layered portrayal of the business war arena, without hiding the author's criticism of the American posture towards the velvet covered Japanese iron hand on such matters, which is refreshing.

The pace is lightning fast, the convoluted plot is presented in a very satisfactory fashion - the audience can understand what is going on and why - and the almost 2-hour movie passes by with grace.

The little disappointment goes for the last 20 minutes, that present a rather stupid conclusion (different from the book, I might add) and wastes the audience time with perfunctory developments that could, easily, have remained in the edit room floor.