1. PR7 Me and My Movies
The genre I’m mostaccustomedto is action/thriller.Ithinkwhatmakesme preferthisgenre to
othersisbecause of the swiftcuts andcarefullyeditedscenes,forexamplefightscenesandshoot
outs.I’m alsodrawnto the special effectsandrealismhatcanbe sometimesbetrayedinthe action
genre.
One of myfavourite filmsfromthisgenre The
Raid,a filmdirectedandwrittenbyGareth
Evans,it wasrealisedonthe 13 April 2012. The
filmisaboutRama and hisfightthrough30
floorsof an apparentbuildingfilledwithdrug
dealer’smurderersandasmall armyall loyal to
the drug lordat the top.
At the start of the movie youthinktheyare
there to stopthe drug lordbut as it progresses
youlearnthat Rama and One of the chief of
police are there fordifferentreasons.Rama
foundoutthat hisbrotherwas workingthere anddecidedtogetto himbefore anyone elsesohe
can save him,and the chief justwanted tomake moneyas he iscorrupt. Rama has to reachto top to
findhisbrother,andfighta lotof people,leadingtothe climax of the storyas he has to fightthe
mad dog.
Thisfilmhasgood use of CGI and the directingduringthe fightsceneswaswell done,there isuse of
fastjumpcuts and hand heldcamerasduringa rushto give the feelingthatyou’re someone whois
there,makingthe filmseemalmostmore real inasense. There are nomajorcelebritiesinthisfilm
or directorI have heardof before butInoticedthe filmbeingadvertisedatthe cinemasoI lookedup
the mainprotagonist IkoUwais (Rama) and he is actuallya masterinSilat.Due to my interestin
martial arts I decidedtowatchthe filmbecause of that,and since there wasn’taveryhighbudget
for the filmIthoughtit wouldbe interestingtosee whatitwouldactuallybe like.
Duringthe filmthere isa lotof intertextualitytoBruce Lee films,like enterthe dragon,duringthe
firstactuallyfightscene whenRamarunsout of ammo there issome movesandcamera anglesthat
lookedlike the Bruce Lee film.Itwouldonlymake sense thatafilminvolvedheavilywithfightingand
martial arts wouldpayhomage to one of the veryfirstfilmsthatbecame iconicforthese aspects.
The locationfor the filmisonthe city outskirtsina rundown flat. The buildingitselflooksvery
sinistersoIwas a good locationchoice forthe film, the locationis agood representationof the
brutal nature of the filmandisconventional settingforthe actiongenre.
The main character goesagainststereotypesforactionhero’sinmyopinionashe isonlythere for
hisbrotherand not foranythingelse were inyourmore conventional actionherotheyare tryingto
save people’s lives. Basicallyhe isinitfora personal gaininsteadof loyaltyorlove.Althoughhere
are some conventionsthatare similartootheractionfilms,suchas,he is a goodfighter,he isusually
outnumberedbutcomesoutontop.
2. AnotherFilmfromthisgenre thatI like is Elysium, afilmdirectedby
Neill Blomkamp andreleasedin2013. The filmissetinthe year2154,
were the verywealthylive onaman-made space station thatrests
outside of the earth’satmosphere while the restof the over
populated residesonaruinedEarth.A man takeson a missionthat
couldbringequalitytothe polarizedworlds. The movie consistsof
constanttensionasthere isa time limitonhislife andaninsane
sergeantandan arsenal of robots are tryingto hunt himdown.
Thisfilmhassome of the bestCGI up to date and usesridiculously
expensive scenesduringthe movie. The maincharactersMatt Damn
and Jodie Fosterare actors thatI wouldconsidericonictothisgenre
and are alsosome of my favourite actorswhichmade me wantto
watch the film.The locationsthatwere usedduringthe recordingwere perfectlyselectedasit
betrayedthe struggle thatwashappeningthoughoutthe filmandgave a great visual onwhatthe
situationisreallylikeforsome people.
Since the filmwasmade bythe personwhodirected district9it hasa lotof resemblanceandshots
similartoit,thiscouldalso be an influenceforpeopletowatchthe film. The firstplace I noticedthe
filmbeingadvertisedwasonTV.
The locationof the filmisinthe slums,althoughhardtotell were since alot of it iseditedwithCGI.
The locationwascarefullychosentodepicta brokendownfuture were the poorlive onearthina
constantstruggle andthe richlive inspace and a hightech space station.Assoonas the movie starts
there isan establishingshottoshowthe surroundings,andyougetthe impressionof adesolate
place,thisisalsoeffective atrepresentingthe struggle of the maincharacter.
The main character inthiscan alsobe seenasselfishduringthe mainpartof the film, thisisbecause
he is inthe situationof savinga younggirl or himself,and throughoutmostof the filmhe is only
concernedabouthimself,butatthe endof the filmhe sacrificeshimself tosave her,it’shardto
decide whetherhe isa typical actionheroor not because of bothof these things.
Lastlymy mostfavourite filmfromthisgenre isHitman, itwas
directedbyXavierGens.Thisfilmisabouta Hitmanwhofinds
himself entwinedinapolitical conspiracywhichlandshim
beinghuntedbyhisownorganisation,Interpol andRussian
forces.The movie takesplace thoughoutRussiaand Eastern
Europe. The filmcame out on the 21st
of November2007, its
maincharacter is TimothyOlyphant,OlgaKurylenko.
Thisfilmhasthe typical codesandconventionsforanaction
filmforexample the attractive secretagenttryingtosave an
attractive damsel.There wasn’tasmuchSGI as more recent
actionfilmsbutwhatlittle ithadwas of good quality.
Althoughinmyopinionitwas a good choice tokeepthe CGI at
a lowbecause itgave a more realisticvibe tothe movie.Ifirst
3. foundoutabout thisfilmwhenitwasbeingadvertisedatthe cinema,butdidn’twatchituntil it
came outon DVD.
What made me want to watch he filmwasanothertrailerIseenonT.V,after I watchedthe filmit
became one of my favouritesbecause of TimothyOlyphant’soriginalitywhenacting.Ialsoreally
enjoyedthe plotanditisfilmthatI could watchagain withoutfindingitrepetitive.
The locationof hitmanis setinthe city;thisisa verystereotypical place foranactionfilmto take
place. There isalsoa lot of scenesthat relate tootherfilmsforexample the trainfightscene,inalot
of fightfilmsIhave seenthere isatleastone fightscene ona train.The maincharacteris a typical
hitmanstyle person,hisappearance isasmuchas you wouldexpectanassassintobe ina movie and
hisguns are veryiconicfrom the game.
