23:59 (2011) is definitely Asian Horror. This one is Chinese, set mostly back in 1983. Some young soldiers are finishing up what I guess is basic training? Anyway, these soldiers are basically hanging out in the barracks between running long distances wearing heavy packs, and completing various physical fitness regimens. The soldiers begin exchanging ghost stories, and we learn about the history of the island they are hanging out on. Essentially, there was a powerful psychic, who took care of a horribly disfigured mutant, and both seem to have passed on, and are haunting the island. Surprisingly, one of the soldiers is something of a psychic himself, and begins seeing things around the island, right around the time that the men in the barracks start disappearing. 23:59 is military time for 11:59 pm, or one minute before midnight. One minute before the soldiers start disappearing...
CREEPY, INNIT? Yea, not a bad beginning, really. I like Asian Horror because they aren't afraid to try new things, even if those things don't always work out very well. So after a rather disjointed beginning, where they bounce back and forth between 1983, 1980, and some years previous, we settle into the actual story, and shit gets spooky. There's bad feelings, creepy looking island girls, and lots and lots of dense jungle foliage! Most of the story centers around Tan, who ran into something in the woods on guard duty one night, and his friend, who is the psychic.
I guess the acting is pretty good here? It's hard to tell since everyone is new to me in this movie. Since everyone was sort of speaking English in this (I know, there are subtitles, but listen to the actual words, these are chinese guys speaking english), it's fairly easy to follow what's going on. There's a lot of Chinese military guys in this movie, not a lot of women (it's a military base, what do you want?), and no nudity. Not a lot of gore, a few good scares (the usual asian style kind), and a weird-ass ending that I didn't really like (a hug? really?), but meh. The rest of the movie wasn't bad.
I don't think I'll watch this one again, and the only reason I would, would be to try and figure out the little bits and pieces that add up to the whole that i wasn't paying attention to the first time around. Other than that, I'd say give this one a once-over, and then move along. Without any exceptional bits of gore, violence or nudity, this one doesn't stand out too much in my mind.
In other news, I've got quite adept at watching both sleepy hollow and scorpion at the same time on monday nights. I still think sleepy hollow needs something... Let's see, what does it need... OH right. Characters. Ichabod and Leftenant Wells really don't count as characters because, well, they aren't. Ichabod is this perfect old-style man who's more refined and effeminate than most metro-sexuals, and Wells is nothing more than a police officer doing her job. I'm not sure what movie I heard this in, but I think it goes... "We admire people for their talents, but we love them for their faults." I've yet to see any actual faults in Ichabod or Wells, so I can't really love them. They're too perfect to be real. I'm not talking physically, it's just that they don't seem to have any bad character traits that would make me even think they might be human. Sure, they're fighting a war against the tides of darkness and evil, and they can't afford faults... but so what? Men have fought wars against the tides of darkness and evil for years, and they've always had their own faults to overcome along the way. Hell, I've got a TON of faults, and I love the SHIT out of myself. Quite often. Several times a day, usually. Uh, my point is, they need more character in their characters, in Sleepy Hollow.
Scorpion isn't bad, but I think it's too focused on how mis-aligned the geniuses are. They are kind of one-dimensional. Sure, they solve problems well enough, but do they grow as people? Do their relationships get stronger? I know it's only been three or four episodes, but these are geniuses. if they can't self-diagnose, modify and repair their fractured psyches faster than normal folk, then this show is going to get boring fast.
As for Gotham, it's pretty dark, which is to be expected in a series about Batman, before he was Batman. Honestly, let Bruce Wayne go. He's a kid. Officer Gordon has so much shit to deal with in his every day job, and his life, that I'm wondering where the HELL he gets the time to pop in on young master Bruce and his trusty butler Alfred several times every episode to keep him in the loop. Really, just let the kid go become Batman. I never found Batman that interesting that I need to see every little nightmare he has on a daily basis. Honestly, I thought Batman was pretty lame as a DC hero. Come to think of it... I can't really recall any DC heroes that I didn't think were lame. Hmmm. Nope. Nothing offhand. But Gotham the series isn't bad. Everyone's flawed to shit in this series. I love how Detective Harvey is like the most corrupt, drunken excuse for a cop that ever graced the Gotham PD, and he still manages to come through time and again for Jim Gordon. Now that's a character! Hear, hear!
That's all for tonight. Catch you guys tomorrow night with another review.
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