Manohla Dargis on Unleashed
Submitted by jim on Fri, 05/13/2005 - 07:51
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I didn't see this coming. Manohla Dargis on the new Jet Li movie, Unleashed:
The infinitely silly, unconscionably entertaining action film "Unleashed" earns most of its juice from the martial-arts star Jet Li, the eminent martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo Ping and the fine British actor Bob Hoskins in full terrifying lather. But special mention too must be made of the film's excellent sound-effects team, which with a symphony of postsynchronous bone crunching and body thwacking has helped push the fight sequences to rare seat-jolting heights.
She likes it! Huh.
OK, I've read her review and I'm ready to comment.
She calls Mr. Li "flex[ing] his acting chops" a "load of hooey" because he doesn't "put across an emotionally charged scene". However, why doesn't "hurling his compact body through the air in complexly choreographed routines with breathtaking grace and false ease" qualify as "acting"?
I like how she calls Luc Besson an "action auteur".
It's a sign of cultural decay ;).
I've noticed a propensity for NY Times movie reviewers to refer to actors in films in a formal way, i.e. Jet Li becomes Mr. Li. Is that a NY Times style thing or something that the "high brow" critics do?
That's standard newspaper style; the first reference to an individual is first and last name, and each following reference is Mr., Ms., or Mrs. Last Name.
Some newspapers let the style rules slide for the entertainment sections, but most don't.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs (who has worked for too many newspapers in his life...)
I don't know; I hadn't really noticed. I'll try to keep an eye out.