01-14-2020, 09:27 PM
This was one of the top 10 grossing films in PRC so it's been on my list for a while now - it was last year's Chinese New Year blockbuster. It's the 3rd of Ning Hao's 'Crazy' trilogy but I've not seen the others. It's based on a The Country Teacher by Liu Cixin. I should really read something by him.
It's like E.T. but instead of a cute alien, it's more like green CGI Gollum. And instead of falling in with cute kids, it lands with a performing monkey trainer loser and his loser friend who tries to sell liquor. There's this underlying Journey to the West theme that will go completely past the uninitiated, but is somewhat poetic in its homage. There's weird Kung Fu moments. Mr. Schuester from Glee is in it as the goofy selfie-taking gwailo astronaut. Been wondering what he's been up to. For some reason I couldn't discern, it's Armenikans for Americans. The Armenikan president resembles 45, but only a little physically and in attire (he's lifting weights in one scene which I could never imagine 45 doing). It's weird in that 'this is Chinese cinema now' way, and I'm not sure how much I enjoyed it in the end. It took a few turns that I didn't see coming, and there were some ideas that got me thinking, like good sci fi should, but it's really just an absurd comedy about losers getting their shot and totally flubbing it, then struggling to recover whatever they can in the aftermath. There was one moment that got a genuine laugh out loud from me, but that might just be my quirky sense of humor.
Not DOOM recommended, although cf might be amused. No sword fights but some Kung Fu.
It's like E.T. but instead of a cute alien, it's more like green CGI Gollum. And instead of falling in with cute kids, it lands with a performing monkey trainer loser and his loser friend who tries to sell liquor. There's this underlying Journey to the West theme that will go completely past the uninitiated, but is somewhat poetic in its homage. There's weird Kung Fu moments. Mr. Schuester from Glee is in it as the goofy selfie-taking gwailo astronaut. Been wondering what he's been up to. For some reason I couldn't discern, it's Armenikans for Americans. The Armenikan president resembles 45, but only a little physically and in attire (he's lifting weights in one scene which I could never imagine 45 doing). It's weird in that 'this is Chinese cinema now' way, and I'm not sure how much I enjoyed it in the end. It took a few turns that I didn't see coming, and there were some ideas that got me thinking, like good sci fi should, but it's really just an absurd comedy about losers getting their shot and totally flubbing it, then struggling to recover whatever they can in the aftermath. There was one moment that got a genuine laugh out loud from me, but that might just be my quirky sense of humor.
Not DOOM recommended, although cf might be amused. No sword fights but some Kung Fu.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse