Manhunt

[Drunk Monk]

Remember John Woo?  How could you forget?  Manhunt is his latest and proof that he hasn't progressed a single frame from what he was doing in his heyday, only now it feels really dated because he's been so often imitated.  This is almost an homage, or self parody, of Woo's former style.  There are all of his signature trappings: gratuitous slo-mo with billowy capes, balletic gunplay with two-fisted pistol action while sliding across the floor, sappy melodramatic musical interludes, homo-erotic undertones, and white doves - so many white doves - they hit you like bird poop in the eye - there's a great drinking game in taking a shot every time a white dove appears (the first white dove scene would put the best of us under the table).  That being said, this isn't un-entertaining.  It's just a bit of a throw-back, a postcard from films gone back, back when ultravi was just innocent sanguinosity.  It's a classic plotline - hotshot lawyer wakes up next to a dead hottie and the 'manhunt' ensues.  I will give massive props to the opening scene, which was quite the grabber and did catch me off guard - perhaps the only original concept in the film.  But I wouldn't really recommend this unless you are a die hard Woo fan.  He's doing what was tried and true for him, but he really needs to move on.  Netflixable.