War on Terror: KL Anarki (2023)

I dare say that most of the urban action thrillers on screen, the modern ones saw it’s birth in John McTiernan’s Die Hard (1989). Ever since then, there has been copies, variations, and inspired films like the recent Gerard Butler Fallen flicks.

That’s the root for this Malaysian action thriller, a well made venture that’s by the book and only beset by inconsistent onscreen performances, at least during the first act.

But by the second act, War on Terror: KL Anarki got me intrigued with the characters and their trials and tribulations, however trivial it may be.

Most appreciative are the action sequences which are pretty well shot. Sure, it’s not up to par with Hollywood outings but was credible enough especially the climax in Bukit Bintang.

There are some back stories and lead character’s personal woes that could have dragged the film, but it was necessary and did not bog down the proceeding. Other characters fill in well and dis not cry for attention, character study is not necessarily for a film of this genre, it would be awesome only it's well done and the actors are world class pedigree. The filmakera knew the limitations and worked around it.

Speaking of limitations, the pyrotechnics are quiet impressive as the shootouts are clearly picturised without the crazy editing that Hollywood itself is guilty of, where you don’t know what the hell is going on and where. The set pieces are carefully staged and let us get involved without us getting lost amidst the whizz-bang.

As mentioned the performances are inconsistent but at least not as poor as the weekly Drama Minggu Ini outings. The actors thrown themselves into the role but with by the number dialogues that at times makes the performances stiff. The baddies are caricatures and thankfully we don’t spend too much time with them.

It's a good entertaining number and worth the ticket price, and let me say this again: I’m impressed.

The Locksmith (2023)

I walked into the theatre to watch this without any clue what it is about. I just thought, “hey, why not?”. It’s post lunch, a great time to test how captivating a film can be. My favourite director, Martin Scorsese, recently failed this test when I snoozed off twice during the screening of Killers Of Flower Moon.

But this, I sat through completely involved. I haven’t watched any Chinese language(s) flick beyond some by Jackie Chan and Chow Yun Fatt for obvious reasons (Chow is one of the best onscreen performer of the Hong Kong film industry, period).

But whaddya know. Story about a former criminal having the past haunting him has been around since the cinema began most notably being the plot of many fine film noirs of the golden age of Hollywood.

Here, we stick close the locksmith protagonist, played with the perpetual haunted look by Philip Keung, as we start off with his day to day activities in Penang Island. Then, an old crime partner shows up and turns his world upside down.

The director of this Hong Kong) Malaysian production, Pei Ji, a Malaysian himself, stuck to mostly old school cinematography, never shying to show the beautiful and the gritty side of Penang, and stuck to few important characters so that we don’t get lost with the crowded backstories.

Only low point is the amateurish performances of some of the co-stars, though Keung stands out and sort of balances it out.

And towards the end, he hits you hard with that main character’s guilt. I am especially haunted myself by the little girl’s crying. Still stuck with me. But it’s important wrap up the film. Poignant, haunting, this film deserves more love than the lack of publicity it suffers from.

Jigarthanda XX (2023)

 

I haven’t seen the first Jigarthanda, already hailed as cult, like breaking into a wine bottle before it matures. I have only S.J. Surya to look forward to, him being the most original performer in that industry since Vijay Sethupathi, both whom would always bring something extra to the table.

But the leading role is Raghavendra Lawrence’s, him having another go at okayilead roles after stints as dance choreographer. He is much better here than the horrid, putrid Chandramukhi 2. Interesting that he is appearing in a sequels the second time without having been in the ounlike Chandramukhi though, he is fine here, convincing as  a chaotic illiterate tribal gangster in the middle of disputes and investigation by authority over some purported crime.

I have no clue as to why Clint Eastwood is in the middle of it all, the CGI rendering of him looks embarrassing, but if the fanboys can find some symbolism, well, so be it. I know that there’s some sort of tribute to spaghetti western is going on here, but to director Karthik Subburaj’s credit, he managed to create a world of his own.

And then there’s S.J. Suryah delivering uncharacteristically subtle performance with occasional trademark eccentricity showing up. He's supposed to be the sane voice amidst the madness that’s going on, and like the little camera he holds the entire film, somewhat posits him as the narrator.

Otherwise the film can be overlong for us to enjoy the supposed frolicking madness that ensues taking us from streets of Madurai to the luah forest where the characters colkyde with real and CGI elephants. Once the creatures are in – and here’s remembering the late producer Thevarwhois fond of casting animals in his flicks – you know that the messages are coming. There’s direct political satire at work here, as well as other messages on animal rights and tusks smuggling that has authorities dirty hands behind the nefarious activities.

It just gets messy. Balancing the sub plots with what could have been a bit of character-centric storytelling seemed not to be Tamil film directors’ forte, and Karthik Subburaj is not an exception. The performances of the lead duo has something going for it. I fine Santhosh Narayanan's background score a relief from the sonic assaults of Anirudh of recent. Also, there’s some important ambition somewhere in it, but I suppose I missed it.