“24 Hours with Gaspar”
A tense tale of revenge, “24 with Gaspar” by Indonesian director Yosep Anggi Noen features gripping choreography. Gaspar (Reza Rahadian) has been looking for years for his childhood best friend, Kirana (Shofia Shireen), who was kidnapped and sold by her father, a human trafficker, Wan Ali (Iswadi Pratama). To find answers, Detective Gaspar works with a fight club owner named Agnes (Shenina Cinnamon). This strategy works well until the device helping Gaspar’s heart is destroyed in an electrifying fight, eloquently lit to capture the silhouettes of agile bodies swaying to deadly effect. Now he only has 24 hours left to live.
The second half of Noen’s film is a heist film: Gaspar forms an unusual team to rob Wan Ali’s jewelry store, which is claimed to contain a legendary black box able to granting any wish. The film culminates in a fierce fight club brawl, cross-sectioned by Gaspar’s confrontation with Wan Ali, which is emblematic of the film’s existential poetics.
“Anti-drug operation”
Lasting 71 minutes, “Anti-Drug Operation” by Chinese director Yan Yuchao packs great power right into a small package. After the sudden murder of their mother, two young brothers part ways: one becomes a drug-dealing policeman, Captain Lin (Li Bin); the opposite, Lin Lang (Lang Feng), becomes a drug lord. The plot follows adult brothers as Captain Lin tries to save his siblings before the damaging gangster Zhong Hu (Xiao Mi) – the person who killed their mother – murders him.
Despite their different moral codes, the brothers share a bond that ultimately puts them each in peril, leading to a serious raid. Slowed down to the speed of molasses, a scene in a rural drug laboratory becomes a scene of great drama. Yan fires at diagonal angles that highlight the fighting power of Captain Lin and Lin Lang with devastating effect.
‘Dr. “Cheon and the Lost Talisman”
The murdered shaman’s grandson, Dr. Cheon (Gang Dong-won), has spent years looking for the evil sorcerer Beom-cheon (Huh Joon-ho), who not only took the lifetime of his grandfather, but additionally murdered Dr. Cheon’s brother. A magical spell keeps the assassin trapped in a cave, where his cult does his bidding. Together along with his assistant In-bae (Lee Dong-hwi), Dr. Cheon travels to a distant village to exorcise the younger sister of Yoo-kyung (Esom), a lady who can see ghosts. When it becomes clear that Beom-cheon is behind the possession, Dr. Cheon teams up with Yoo-kyung to finally get his revenge.
Korean director Kim Seong-sik’s “Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman is a gripping noir action film whose highly perceptive protagonist is an intriguing mix of Constantine and Sherlock Holmes. The action combines beautifully with elements of a ghost movie. The climax comes when Dr. Cheon battles Beom-cheon’s magic in a sword fight to a soaring electric guitar score that seems to defy the rules of gravity in the real world.
“One Percent Warrior”
I’m not sure I’ve seen an action film quite like Japanese writer/director Yudai Yamaguchi’s meta take on the genre. “One-Percent Warrior” tells the story of Toshiro Takuma (Tak Sakaguchi), a previously famous action star who announced 10 years ago that he would make the truest action movie in history. With his career now on life support, he sets off with his student Akira (Sho Aoyagi) to an abandoned zinc factory on a secluded island to finally make his film. There, he frees Maria (Rumika Fukuda), a girl held hostage by a gang searching for two tons of cocaine hidden by her late father.
For most people, this scenario would be a nightmare. But for Toshiro, it’s a dream come true. He can finally play the hero again by practicing his version of martial arts. In each scene, Yamaguchi trusts his actors to execute his choreography, relying on fluid movements, open compositions, and long shots that satisfy Toshiro’s desire for authentic action.
“The Pig, the Snake and the Dove”
Sometimes it’s good to root for the bad guy. For four years, feared hitman Chen Kui-lin (Ethan Juan) has been on the run after murdering an underworld boss. Two events force him back into the spotlight: the death of his grandmother and a terminal cancer diagnosis. At first he considers giving up. He then notes that he is only the third most wanted man in Taiwan. Wanting to be remembered forever, he sets out on a journey to murder the other two wanted men.
Chen is a thrilling killer, largely due to Juan’s kinetic play: with each kill, Juan’s eyes widen and his feral smile becomes more and more psychotic. This heightened anxiety makes Kui-lin’s desire for a peaceful life even more painful, and his rage at seeing his potential life dissipated more destructive. Even when he commits a bloody massacre, you really can’t blame him. He’s too broken to be despised.
