MOVIE REVIEWS [Capsules] . Beerfest, Silver Hawk, Leave it to the Nurses

by Chris   ⋅   December 17, 2006   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

In an effort towards catching up, here are a few more capsule reviews. Note that we do have some full reviews in the queue, including Brick, Chiseen,The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai, and Stereo Future. On to the capsules:

Beerfest . Holy crap! A Broken Lizard film that’s actually funny! Okay, so Super Troopers had a few choice moments (“Afhanistanimation”), but Club Dread was absolute garbage and Dukes of Hazzard left quite a bit to be desired. What a nice surprise it was that Beerfest delivered laughs throughout. The tale of five American losers training to compete in Germany’s Beerfest (the super secret Beer Drinking X-Games just off the beaten path of Oktoberfest) brings to mind classic Albert Brooks (Real Life) as well as vintage National Lampoons (Animal House). It certainly has its share of stupid slapstick, but this time the Lizards have found their flow, balancing such scenes of silliness with some surprisingly smart jokes, and threading them throughout the film’s runtime, avoiding the standard second and third act exhaustion evidenced in many the modern comedy (see: Wedding Crashers). It may not be Borat, but it’s definitely in a class above most comedies this year (it certainly proved the adequate stress killer). Film fans keep an eye out for nods to 80’s comedy greats (An American Werewolf in London and more), as well as assorted pop culture heroes (Hot Dog killer Kobayashi).

Silver Hawk . Okay, so this one’s a bit old, but it’s still worth a look. Hong Kong has an admittedly spotty record when it comes to the super hero action film (see the Black Mask films), but Silver Hawk is pretty decent. The tale of a rich heiress who fights crime in her spare time has quite a bit in common with Batman, though without all the adolescent brooding and parental baggage. And, like Batman Begins, Silver Hawk features a villain threatening to take power through an impressive new technology. While Silver Hawk’s story may not as well fleshed out as Batman Begins’s, the technological threat of mass mind control actually makes some scientific sense (no microwaving water sources without microwaving humans), and could in fact harbor a slight anti-communist message.

With Silver Hawk Michelle Yeoh shows at 40 she is just as flexible as she was in her Heroic Trio days, and to tell the truth, she’s never looked better. In fact, Silver Hawk could be subtitled “The Michelle Yeoh Fashion Show” what with the wide array of outfits and hairstyles she sports over the course of the film. That said, the fights are the main draw for a Michelle Yeoh film, and while Silver Hawk’s are entertaining, they are not entirely memorable. Director Jingle Ma has an annoying habit of filming all altercations in close up (again a similarity with Batman Begins, and Ma’s own Tokyo Raiders), and tends to cut when he should be maintaining long takes. But, the film maintains a sense of fun comic bookishness that so many of the uber serious adaptations seem to lose sight of, and its super clean sci-fi visual style is nice to look at. All in all, a decent martial arts film, from one of Hong Kong’s greatest action stars.

Leave it to the Nurses . Pop starlet Arisa Mizuki stars in this tale of a spoiled young newlywed nurse at a Tokyo hospital, whose day of extravagant honeymoon planning is repeatedly spoiled by her sensible husband. And if being forced to confront the reality of realistic budgets for post marital celebrations wasn’t enough, the young nurse is faced with a sudden Die Hard situation, as a love struck patient turns irrational hostage-taker. Absurdity ensues. Straight up, Leave it to the Nurses is not a good film. Its attempts at wackiness seem forced, and its couples drama seems equally contrived. The leads are pleasant enough, but the material they have to work with is a complete waste. Tedious, nonsensical, unbalanced, and for the most part un-funny, Leave it to the Nurses is for pop-star gazers only.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since age six. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.