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SPL II: A Time For Consequences (aka Killzone 2) (2015) - Wu Jing, Tony Jaa


DiP

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One Armed Boxer

I don't think I can view this movie subjectively anymore, as right now I'd take anything with Wu Jing just to wash away the memory of 'Wolf Warrior'....and I'm hoping this will do the trick.

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Actually, I am looking forward to this one.

I will be viewing this as an action movie and not as a Martial Arts movie. I know these guys cannot repeat their stuff of yesteryear as age/injury have limit them as well as changes in production team(s).

This should be an enjoyable movie viewing while eating hot dog & hamburger and drinking cranberry & pomegranate juices. Oh wait, that suppose to be while eating dim sum & drinking Singha & San Miguel. :tongue:

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James Marsh reviews the film, and gives this a thumb up. However, seeing Nicky Li (what happened to Dion Lam?) being credited for the action makes me skeptical now.

http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/spl2-a-time-for-consequences-review/5089188.article

I don't think that's necessarily cause for concern. I thought his choreography in Fatal Contact, Bad Blood, Invisible Target and even Gen X Cops was pretty good. Don't forget he was a Jackie Chan stunt team member. I reckon he can bring the goods if he's on his A game and it's a talented cast, word is good too, had a friend in HK who gave it the thumbs up.

*Actually looking back over his filmography there's some pretty decent work in there. The White Storm, Ip Man: Final Fight, Connected, there was a pretty good little throw down in Man from Macau too.

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Guess it's a matter of preference in quality.

Nicky Li's overall work as an action director has been decent but I find his style of fight choreography campy for the most part. There's no distinction in how he puts together fight scenes. Follows the conventional/traditional ways (years of learning from Jackie and being inspired by Sammo) of choreographing movements, and emphasizes fighting techniques, hits, blocks, pacing, wirework very plainly. And above all, he choreographs fight scenes exactly the same. It's like watching Jackie/Sammo fight scenes all over again in washed-up fashion. My interest ain't there.

Maybe it doesn't matter to some people whoever is responsible for staging fight scenes in MA action films. But it's something I'm always on the look-out for because each action director have their own knowledge and imagination of how to make action scenes successful and overall action film language. So action directors aren't staging and putting scenes together the same way. Now, the reason why I'm skeptical of the action of this film, and disappointed at Dion Lam's absence is because Nicky Li just doesn't impress me and Dion Lam has shown what he's made of when it comes to imaginative and memorable action scenes.

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Of course it matters to me who choreographs the action in a martial art film, I'm sure it does for most, just saying I don't think you should write it off yet. Maybe have your guard up, as like you say his choreography can be a bit generic sometimes.

I hope the wirework is kept to a minimum but that's pretty standard. I've heard good things :) Looking forward to seeing how they do Tony Jaa's fights as I always found his Thai work lacks the intimacy and speed of the HK style choreography. We shall see.

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One Armed Boxer

One of the first reviews I've seen....while it may not be a genre site, it's great to see things are looking positive -

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/spl-2-a-time-consequences-801496

Big Mike Leeder also passed comment after watching it over on his Facebook page -

"It's very good, delivers for Jaa and Jing on both the action and acting departments, Simon Yam in good form, Max Zhang rocks and Nicky Li did a great job with action."

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One of the first reviews I've seen....while it may not be a genre site, it's great to see things are looking positive -

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/spl-2-a-time-consequences-801496

Without more of this ladies martial arts movie reviews to read, it's hard to know if anything she saying is worth believing.

"It's very good, delivers for Jaa and Jing on both the action and acting departments, Simon Yam in good form, Max Zhang rocks and Nicky Li did a great job with action."

Let's hope Mike's comments are accurate!:smile:

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odioustrident

The reasons Nicky Li hasn't been involved with truly great work may have a lot to do with time constraints when shooting, how much the actors are getting paid, how "hands on" a director is, and finally the ideas that director may have. It's easy to say that AD's make most of the creative choices in fight scenes but this seems to vary a lot set to set. They have had less input since the beginning of the 2000's and this is pretty well documented. Donnie is an outlier... but many of the subtle choices in his fight scenes have to do with the quality and level of involvement he is getting out of the performers.

Nicky Li... on the other side of the spectrum... is the guy you go to when things need to be done efficiently at a certain level (but little more than that). I think the fact that SPL2 has so many action scenes indicates that it was a primary focus for the director and cast involved. Usually when you have this type of collaborative effort things will turn out pretty good. We will see wirework I'm sure but the trailers have shown very little compared to what has been described in reviews.

Bad Blood and Fatal Contact had a few good ideas but weren't groundbreaking. HK has generally hit a creative ceiling which makes it easier to criticize AD's working these days.

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HK has generally hit a creative ceiling which makes it easier to criticize AD's working these days.

There are exceptions, as always. Beside Donnie or beyond the HK style fight choreography spectrum, I think some Hong Kong ADs have and continues to produce spectacles in creating action set-pieces in general. Guys like Dion Lam, Chin-Kar-Lok, Jack Wong Wai-Leung, Yuen Bun, Yee Tin-Hung, Tung Wai, Wong Wai-Fai.

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I think some Hong Kong ADs have and continues to produce spectacles in creating action set-pieces in general. Guys like Dion Lam, Chin-Kar-Lok, Jack Wong Wai-Leung, Yuen Bun, Yee Tin-Hung, Tung Wai, Wong Wai-Fai.

Nah, their output is very hit or miss. Compared with them I find Nicky Li's work more steady and in general more satisfying. It's rarely groundbreaking, I admit that, but it very often delivers.

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Whatever satisfies you but your sentiment is the total opposite for me. Li's work is as diversified as those names I mentioned but he's more steady because his most notable works comes with fight choreography. But even that doesn't do much for me. He does better outside martial arts choreography imo, like gun fights and vehicle action.

Dion Lam... Genius when it comes to fresh ideas on action as well as surroundings and situations. Displayed what he's made of with The Saint of Gamblers, Exit Wounds, Spider-Man 2, Red Cliff and Overheard 2 (

). Give him more opportunities headlining films as action director completely, and he'll show his true capabilities. That's one of the reasons why I really looked forward to this film.
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I want to like this, but the wire-heavy trailer really irks me.. If there's that much in just the trailer, I can't imagine not being let down during the actual movie.

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solid movie and a lot of decent fights but the end fight just was way to floaty for my liking but there was still a lot to like, watch out for a dagger 8 style like villain in this one

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sifu iron perm
solid movie and a lot of decent fights but the end fight just was way to floaty for my liking but there was still a lot to like, watch out for a dagger 8 style like villain in this one

Forum board's don't hit back..

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ShaOW!linDude

Here's a quote from Eric Jacobus of the Stunt People on Facebook regarding the quality of the fights. He's currently in Beijing working an a project, so he took in a showing.

Everyone used wires. Jaa's stuff has better continuity and is less bullshitty, but Wu Jing floats all over the place, and Andy On is just Tarzan.

Is Andy On in this or could he be referring to Max Zhang?

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