Copper is a period drama and crime series set in New York City during the 1860′s, after the American Civil War. Its filmed in Toronto, Canada.
No conducting of electricity here. Okay, no more science jokes. It doesn’t exactly fail as a show, but is definitely more bland than gripping. Even with all the subplots and things going on in the background, the drama lacks full-on tension and comes off as dulling. There is quite a lot going on once you step back and take a look. You have an Irish immigrant cop acting more like an outlaw detective in the middle of New York’s aristocracy, his own Irish community and the African American population in the neighbourhood. The recipe for a great story is there but onscreen its like a whole lot of nothing is going on.
‘The Beast‘ is an action thriller and director Hwang Yu-Sik‘s debut film and co-screenplay. Its also actor Jung Suk-Won‘s debut film (he’s appeared in numerous Korean drama series). He comes from an action school background (stuntman) which enabled the constrained (low-budget) film to be shot in one month. It was also shot at night in dark places. So, the production value is absent but that’s not to say a small film like this can’t be entertaining. But.. it really isn’t. In-the-box action choreography with a weak and predictable plot are overbearing. So, instead it comes across as a very cheap rip-off of “The Man From Nowhere” and “Taken” which the director admits were an influence (AsianWiki):
Moderator – Before “The Beast” there were similar films like “The Man From Nowhere” and “Taken.” Did those movies influence “The Beast?”
Hwang Yu-Sik (director) – I won’t deny those movies had some influence, because when I planned the “Beast” those films were popular.
It’s about some elite special forces guy who goes AWOL to find and rescue his kidnapped sister who has is a victim of human trafficking into the underground market of online rape/porn. Full synopsis
‘An Assassin‘ (Asashin) is director Go Ohara‘s latest action film that can also be tagged as a Japanese film noir. With an underworld backdrop and a typical assassin plot (mistake, girl, destiny, survive) there is not much to be offered by the story. — Especially with what seems to be either an underdeveloped script or an attempt to show silence and brute force. The silence is mostly from weak dialogue with long pauses and long close-ups with extended facial expressions. This causes any emitted emotion from the scenes to simply wither away and make you wait, what seems like forever, til the next cut scene.
“Human drama that arises between a ‘Pitiless assassin’ and ‘One high school girl’. A fierce friendship with the one who risked his life.” (IMDb)
But with all that, there are still some redeeming qualities to the film. For example, I only realised when “France” was mentioned the second time why the score was French strings. There are other symbolic gestures throughout the film which give it a raw-noir feel instead of simply a low budget and small production feel. More so, the low budget and small production is a notable element of the film adding to the raw-noir feel (as I call it) because it was filmed entirely at night in Sendai Miyagia, a famous shrine grove. Even the overzealous gun play and frequent cigarette smoking grows on the viewer as the film progresses. I know we all want guns that don’t have to be reloaded..
