Assault Girls (2009)

Four mercenaries who are taking part in a virtual reality game called Avalon F must team up with each other to defeat a giant sandworm in order to advance in the game.

Visually Assault Girls looks stunning but there’s a lack of plot and character development in this movie. Hardly surprising considering it only runs for 70 mins. This is supposed to be the sequel to the 2001 movie Avalon. There are some great action sequences showing the 3 beautiful mercenary women hunting the giant sandworm with some cool weapons but also there’s a nod to the game Mortal Kombat in which 2 of the mercenaries square off against each other. I think the majority lured to watch this movie by the trailer will ultimately be disappointed – the introduction takes far too long and then there are sequences of the characters walking around desolated landscapes which is boring. The cast is good especially Meisa Kuroki but I think it’s Rinko Kikuchi as Lucifer that steals the show. Overall this movie is far from a classic and from what I’ve come to expect from Mamoru Oshii but that doesn’t mean it’s a complete failure. It’s still very watchable.

Sadako’s Rating: 3 out of 5

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One Piece 2 – Clockwork Island Adventure (2001)

Another fun adventure with Luffy and the crew of the Going Merry. When their ship is taken from them whilst they’re relaxing on a beach, the Straw Hat pirates bump into the Thief Brothers who lead them to the culprits behind the taking of the Going Merry – The Trump Pirates. Things go from bad to worse when Nami also ends up being kidnapped. Eventually the trail leads Luffy and his crew to Clockwork Island which is full of deadly traps. Will they able to save Nami who’s going to be forced to marry the Trump Pirates’ boss and get their ship back?

If you’ve seen the first One Piece movie then you’ll know what to expect from this one. It’s a rip roaring adventure with a good plot and full of comedy, excitement, thrills and spills. The animation is brilliant as always. I really enjoyed this anime movie and look forward to watching the 3rd One Piece movie very soon.

Sadako’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

No trailer for this movie either so got this trailer for Season 2 instead.

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Mother (2009)

A superb and enthralling Korean movie. A simple young man Do-joon (he’s not retarded) gets drunk and, as he goes back home to his worrying mother, he follows a young girl down a seedy path looking to have sex with her. She ignores him and he returns home, as planned…but on the following morning, the girl is found dead on a rooftop and an object placed at the scene of the crime leads to Do-joon. The police guesses he’s guilty, they present him with a document where he pleads guilty which the silly Do-joon signs in his naïveté. Having accepted the guilt for the crime, he’s imprisoned, much to the rage of his affable mother. She knows him better than anyone and is sure he’s not guilty, but the police won’t hear otherwise, and she has no money for a lawyer to thoroughly investigate the case. So, like any concerned mother, she starts playing detective around town trying to solve the mystery behind the girl’s death so she can acquit her son. But as truth after disturbing truth is uncovered, the mother will stop at nothing to save her son’s freedom.

Nominated for an Oscar last year, this is a story about a mother who does anything to make sure her son is released free from prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Played to perfection by Kim Hye-ja, she’s an over-protective, extremely affectionate woman who sells a variety of herbs and medicinal plants and who performs acupuncture to her rich customers in a South Korean city of no name. A good plot will have you guessing right until the very end. A great plot takes it one step further by taking you to the edge. I can’t say enough of how much I was blown away by the story. That’s not to say there aren’t some borrowed elements but they are not so cliché as to make this movie unoriginal. What’s also great is the near absence of music to create suspense and mood in this movie as you will find that it relies almost solely on the characters and events to set the tone of story. It has very simple camera work and doesn’t use fancy techniques or other distracting technical magic to make it work, it just does. This movie comes highly recommended. It won’t disappoint you.

Sadako’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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