amid77

Well, its not Cronenberg best film.

Somehow, this movie lacking real nerve impact, something horrible that will reach its ugly hand, grab my guts and squeeze it. And correct me if i'm wrong, but this is exactly what Cronenberg used to do in most of his previous films.

And now, the magic is gone.

Sure, we exposed to some nasty sides of quiet and peaceful American life, but hey, I refuse only to "see" the movie, I want to participate in this experience too.

I want to feel the edge of the knife, slowly cutting my nerves, or maybe to feel that bullet going through my head and blowing my brains out, I want to feel a punch and taste the blood, but all I get when watching this film, is to feel like a distant viewer, a voyeur that floating above the bubbling swamp without any ability to be swallowed. (Wow, what a metaphor! Sometimes I'm amazing even myself).

There is no real influence on the viewer, 'A History of Violence' is just a movie! And one thing I can't accept from Cronenberg, is "just a movie".

Anyway, this movie depicts a lot of interesting situations that very nice to watch and nice to think about, but don't try to analyze it too deep, let the associations run, but not too far. This movie is not so complicated and more simple then you think.

And if you want to see some really disturbing violence, I recommend "Funny Games" by Michael Haneke and his other films.

I like Ryuhei Kitamura movies. He makes a decent effort trying to be cool and I really appreciate it. There is something in his vision, in his artistic decisions, in his whole approach to cinema as art, that makes him ... I don't know ... more then just a film creator. No wonder he is already a cult phenomenon.

"Sky High" is a Ryuhei Kitamura film, alright. The cinematography is clean and aesthetic, art design is pretty impressive, and kind of alienated, the swords are long and fast, the blood is red and hot, and the Japanese women are beautiful and dangerous as hell. (Check out Kimika Yoshino as the White Witch, mmmm... sweet).

And the story, well, its really boring, stupid, and just not interesting enough.

Some supernatural and magical reality, some lame characters with immature behavior, some tedious fights that could make you fall asleep and some other totally unexciting piles of crap. So if you really want to see this film, if you feeling that you don't want to miss one of Ryuhei Kitamura experiences, watch it, but don't expect for masterpiece.

Don't bother yourself with this slow, melodramatic and infantile movie, with bad directing, really bad acting, awfully bad dialogs and with surprisingly bad ending.

** P.S: "Kung Fu Hustle" by Stephen Chow, is my favorite choice anyway.