August 28, 2025 • 43 mins
Explore Antoine Fuqua's directorial debut, "The Replacement Killers," as we discuss its homage to Hong Kong action cinema, the star-studded cast, and the challenges Fuqua faced as a first-time director. With insights into the film's nostalgic 90s vibe and its place in Fuqua's evolving career, this discussion is a must-listen for action movie enthusiasts and film buffs alike.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the ned Palty.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hello everybody at home, and welcome to House Lights, specifically
House of Fuqua and Twin Fuqua and this is what
a house this is. I am so excited to discuss
his filmography. We have actually reviewed one of his films before,
when we did Wing of King Arthur, and we did
all the King Arthur films because he did a King
(00:43):
Arthur film, the one with Mads Michelson and other people.
And but tonight we're doing his first film, his first film,
because he came from a line of commercials and he
came from a line of music videos a lot like
our man, David Fincher. And in the vein, in the
(01:06):
same vein of David Fincher, he had.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
A really rough time with the.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Studio making his first movie, The Replacement Killers from nineteen
ninety eight, starring Chow Yun Fat, Mira Sorvino, and Michael Rooker.
It's an homage to Hong Kong crime and action films
and it was even produced by John Wu And you
can really see the influence there, yea, And you see
the influence.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It's there.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
And before we start, I just want to say I
say this to you tonight. Let us not forget there
is hope.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yes, yes, there is.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Always line that we all quote all the time because
of this movie.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Yes every day.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, that's right, right man, You guys are giving me
nothing here. I thought I had a slam dunk with
the Crystal Method reference. I'm sure there are people in
their cars who are laughing saying, that's a good one, Tristan,
And yes, that is true. I am Tristan Radellan with
me as always is Darren Moser and John Mills, and
so I'm gonna get this right off the bat, right
off the bat. This was a Riddell family favorite because
I know you're wondering it's there.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
It's always one of the others. Trash fin Yep, there
you go.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
My my dad he loved this movie so much. He
he he. Sometimes he would put it like we had
it on VHS and he would We had an amazing
sound system in the basement. We had two subs, tons
of speakers. It was amazing, and so he put in
the VHS tape and sometimes before he even sometimes he
(02:33):
wouldn't even watch the whole movie. He would just watch
the opening scene with Keep Up Alive by Crystal Method
and him getting those drug dealers or gangbangers whatever whatever,
they were just shooting him down because he just he
loved the vibe of it. He loved the look, the feeling.
He would just crank it and it would just shake
the house. My mom would slam her foot on the
on the on the floor telling him to turn it down.
(02:54):
And so, like, I've seen this movie more than a
few times, but this is my first time watching the
extended edition, and that is the addition that we are
reviewing tonight. So you guys, Darren and John, had you
seen this before? Is this your first time talk amongst yourselves.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
I'd seen it before, but I didn't see it in
the theaters when it came out. This was one that
was sort of just flew by sort of thing. I remember,
the John Wu vibe was very much catching on in Hollywood,
and my reaction at the time most likely was, oh,
another one of these things, like it wouldn't have made
an impact on me, like, you know, oh Chow young fat. Yeah,
(03:32):
he was having his star was on the rise. Mi
Ra Sorvino everything like that. Although mimic anyway, the entire thing,
the entire vibe didn't necessarily appeal to me back then,
and I think this was podcast homework for something I
did with Shindler it somewhere along the way, so wound
up watching it for that reason or something. But you know,
(03:53):
it's it's interesting because this is definitely a product of
its time.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
There is that.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
I'd say that before we get into all of that, though,
since you said this is a Redell family favorite the
first time your father showed it to you, Tristan, did
he fast forward any part where Mira Sorvino was getting
changed in a bathroom or was scantily clad while doing
her illegal work.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I don't remember. I don't think so, because it honestly
isn't really that bad, Like.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
Well, she's she Listen the scene where she goes back
to get her stuff and leave, there's an unquestionable production
decision to be like, let's get a couple of close
up shots of underwear here.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Oh my gosh, there was zero point to that scene
other than showing Mira Sorvino in her underwear. It was insane,
What a pointless scene other than to show a flat
belly and nice other parts. But it was, Yeah, it's
it is. It is really funny though they like, maybe
maybe he did. I don't know, because it's not you
think it would be burned in my pubescent brain at
(05:00):
the time, but it wasn't, So maybe he did. But
like watching it now with adult eyes, like you're just
you're more like, okay, come on, folks, like like like
you're not only are you patting the run time, it's
kind of shameless what you're doing.
Speaker 5 (05:15):
Well, it's definitely because the thing is, you know, we've
already like addressed the whole thing where it's like you
can definitely see the John wu influence. I think there's
definitely a director sort of picking up on the Michael
Bay vibe with some of the camera moves and everything
like that, you know, some of the crane moves, some
of the zoom in's and stuff like that. Feels very
much like this movie comes across like just that world's
(05:36):
colliding of what can we rip off from Hong Kong
cinema while retaining what Michael Bay does, while also throwing
in a few music video montages because the kids are
going to love this soundtrack, Like this is just a
as the fancy people would say, this is a pastiche
of influences.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
This was, Oh my gosh, speaking of the soundtrack, holy crap,
like it was. Of course I remembered Crystal Methods Keep
Up Alive. But when I was like, when we got
to Daniel Jordan's She Makes Me Want to Die, I
had completely forgotten about that song. And as soon as
(06:15):
like you just you just hear the opening, it's just
that that woman's voice of she makes Me want to Die,
and then just the beat drops, my mind opened like
a third eye, and I was like, oh my gosh,
all this nostalgia is just wafting back. And I was like,
son of a bitch, I missed the nineties so.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Much, Darren.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
I can always presume you had the exact same reaction
that Tristan did.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Well. I mean, I had not seen this movie before,
so but I was still taken back to nineties action,
like this is a very nineties action movie. It made
me remember, like you know, Jackie Chan movies. Our family
we love watching Martial Law, which Samo hung. And this
(07:01):
was kind of the time when you were starting to
like interject you know, Asian action stars into American culture.
That was becoming a thing, and you put rock music
behind it, and they did cool spins, and they had
guns and sometimes it'd kick you. And so even though
I had not seen this movie, I felt like I
had seen this movie, like it was firing on all
(07:25):
of those cylinders and I was back in high school. Basically,
I felt that. So, yeah, if if that was the
goal of this movie was to transport me back to
the late nineties, it succeeded.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yeah, But I have to ask a question.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
You both have seen Taxi Driver, Yes, Martin Scorsese's classic
examination of a crazy man. What we're talking about all
these influences, but reportedly Fuqua stressed to his team that
this was to be a taxi driver for the nineteen nineties.
I'm curious, did you see Taxi Driver anywhere in this movie?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I might have.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I think I saw a taxi in the background once
or twice.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
That's about as far as it goes.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yes, it really really is, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
It's it's so fascinating to read something like that and
think to myself, I wish i'd never read that quote
because it makes me want to judge the movie.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
A little more harshly. I would say, so, no, no, well,
this is going to do this movie.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
The most unrealistic thing of this entire movie, because this
was set in La right, right, there's just so much rain.
Why is it raining so much? Really actually starting to
take me out of it because I was like, why
is it? Why is it always raining? We do not
get this much rain like ever. And it's just like
(08:47):
do they just want all the shots to look cool?
And they just decided we're just going to turn on
the rain machine for the rent time. Yeah, I mean
we're even in a car wash for a fight, which
also is kind of like rain inside the building. Yeah,
to train I'm almost gonna knock it down a star
at the end for the rain just it was. It
was ridiculous.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
I'm glad you mentioned the car wash too, because uh,
and this is looking at it with just curmudgeonly old
person eyes.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
But I'm looking at him like, no car wash functions
like this, like you're locked in a track.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
Like I'm sitting there like critiquing the car wash because
I'm like, have these people ever been in a car
wash before?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
It's it's when they backed up and he like slams
it in reverse and I'm like, there's no way you can't.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Back up at speed?
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Through a car wash and not crash your car. That's impossible,
because it's.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
More funny that you brought that up, because honestly, I
did the same exact thing. Like, as I'm watching this,
I'm just like, man, I'm old. This must be because
I'm getting older.
Speaker 5 (09:44):
Yeah, I think I've just been through so many car
washes by this point in my life.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I'm like, oh no, no.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Like, the best you can do in a car wash
is you're sitting there like, oh, it looks like they
loaded him up quicker. They didn't load him up too quick,
did he. He's not gonna he's not gonna rear end
me while I'm in the car washes. He that's about
his exciting as a car wash can get.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I was gonna say, that's the constant fear of a
car wash is like they he's getting kind of closed there.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
But yeah, So let's talk.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
About the action sequences. What did you guys think about
the action sequences? Because there was some critique like this
movie did not do particularly well. It wasn't received well
by critics. It didn't make that much money. Uh, they
decided to go up against Titanic. I don't know if
you've heard of it. It was kind of harm Yeah, yeah, yeah,
so it got I'm surprised it got second place to
(10:29):
Titanic when it came out, But.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I wouldn't say they're going after the same audiences, Like
I know, it's true. One it making sense. It's just
Titanic isn't just a romance movie that only you know,
women are going to watch. And no, it was actually
a good movie that people kept seeing. So it just
stomped on the competition.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Yeah, but by that by that point, like Titanic, the
Titanic momentum was just a thing. Everybody, anybody who like
opened within six months of Titanic was going up against Titanic.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
So like you can't really fault them for that.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Like February of ninety eight probably seemed pretty safe, and
February has always been before Black Panther came out, February
was always or actually I guess it was Deadpool was
the first one where It's like February was always considered
a dead space. You put movies there where it was
like they had the best shot of relatively speaking success,
specifically because there wasn't stiff competition in February. But I mean,
(11:26):
you know, you look at the metric and it's like
it fell forty nine percent weekend over weekend. Now everybody
would be arguing on social media about how that was
a good hold week over week, and that means the
movie really found its audiences. Was doing Really, I'm like, boy,
how times it changed my good gravy geez?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I wonder what you're referencing. So let's uh, the I
don't know the action sequence is some people will call them,
I how do I phrase it? It was something akin
to where it's just like then there's this action sequence,
then there's this action sequence, and then there's action sequence
where it's going to just kind of disconnected music videos. Darren,
(12:04):
what did you think of that? Like, were you invested
in the action? Did you think it was cool? Or
was it kind of vapid?
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I can see the critique of a string of action
sequences strung together with a plot like that does kind
of describe this movie, But they weren't bad. I think
at the end of the day, these are not the
action sequences I was expecting with this leading man. I
(12:34):
think they could have gone in a better direction. I
think it's almost anyone could have done these action sequences
so give us something special if you're putting this team together.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
That's kind of my vibe.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
I think it very much looks like somebody getting their
first feature film and they say, give us something that's
a vehicle for this new star chow yun fat and
and make it competently. And tell you what, kid, we'll
give you another job if you can get this one
out the door on time and on budget and make
at least make your money back. I've really this does
(13:10):
not have the sheene of something where they thought they
were going to have a blockbuster. This has the sheene
of let This is our calling card, this is our
establishing thing. Who can we get cheap? Hey, this kid
wants to break in, you know, fuuqua you want your shot?
And it's like he's like, okay, and yes, it is
just action sequences. Loosely, it's basically like a series of vignettes.
(13:35):
But it really feels like that's all they're going for.
It doesn't feel like they're going for anything deep at all,
which is why his whole comment about Taxi Driver is
puzzling to me, because I'm like, Taxi Driver is a
really deep movie man, like way deep. But I think
what's interesting is you get this flip where Chinese culture.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Is opening up in the in the late nineties.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Specifically because Hong Kong has flipped over to Chinese control,
and so there's this sudden opening of everything where it's like, hey,
we're willing to talk to the world. Hey, look at
these things that we do. This very much feels like
a John wu movie doesn't translate with American audiences at
this point. People are going to go watch a.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Subtitled three hour shoot him up movie called hard Boiled.
But we can do.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Something like it and see if people have a taste
for it. And that's what this movie feels like.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I mean, it's interesting. I just checked the dates, so
this is the same year ninety eight that Rush Hour
came out, which obviously is going for a very different
take as a comedy, you know, action buddy comedy, but
where that like I think, leaned into Chris Tucker and
his comedy abilities and Jackie Chan and his specific type
(14:48):
of martial art. You know, we've seen things that Chilean
fat does, and this was that this didn't bank on
his abilities, like you could put a gun in anyone's
hand and make him question being a Sniper. I know,
I'm sure, I feel like I know I've already made
this point, but then just circling around it again.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
No, that's that's interesting. That's interesting because my my dad
was a big chow young fat fan, Like I'm talking
like he was way cooler than I had ever been
when it cut like because he loved Crouching Tiger, A
Better Tomorrow, hard Boiled, you know, like you mentioned John
and The Replacement Killer, so like he was, he was,
(15:29):
like he knew about chow Yon Fat before most Americans, did,
you know, before he made his debut in The Replacement Killers.
And of course you know when he became a household
name with Hidden Dragon, Crushing Tiger, Hidden Dragon. My dad
even loved him in Bulletproof Monk, Like he freaking loved
that movie. Really, I've never seen it, Yeah, Sean William Scott,
and he was known as the Monk with No Name.
(15:52):
He it's it's so cheesy, it's beyond cheesy, but it's
it can be heartwarming, like it's it is very much
your parents favorite movie kind of material. And but you're
I think you're Darren, You're kind of right, like when
you when you look at what Chaw Yon Fat has
given Hong Kong action movies, and then what he's done
(16:15):
with Wusha, You're like, he's not really using that in
Replacement Killers, he is, He's just kind of a dude
with a gun, and like I think, I think, man,
you just kind of open that up for me, like
like the their scene at the end when I started,
because Okay, here's the thing. I'll be honest with you guys,
Like I was super jazzed about this movie seeing it
again because of the nostalgia, and as I'm watching it,
(16:37):
I'm like, man, I missed the nineties, And when we
get to the end of it, I'm like, you know what,
I don't miss the nineties that much. Uh where It's
just like we get to that scene when he's on
the car. It's raining, of course, or it's about to rain,
and they're in the alleyway and he's he like he
unloads like twenty rounds into the car, but he doesn't
point it out the main bad guy way and he
(16:59):
looks like he's shooting the steering wheel and then Way
gets out, but he's out of AMMO, of course, because
he wasted twenty rounds in the steering wheel. And then
way runs away. But then we have this upwards angle
on a Chow Young fat and all of a sudden
he's just blasting fools away left and right from above him.
(17:21):
And you have no idea where he is geographically. Nope,
you're just like, what's going on here? Where'd that guy
come from? Where'd that guy come from? Is basically you
don't even see it from his perspective. You have this
weird camera perspective where it's limited, like you're not omniscient,
being a voyeur or being the audience. You have this
very limited view of Chao Yung just pointing his pistol,
(17:43):
and then somebody falls pointing his pistol and somebody falls,
and it just this is a real freshman movie, yeah,
from Fuquah, and the studio knew that and felt that.
And that's one of the reasons why Fuqua had had
a huge problem with the studios because they actually sent
a producer to babysit him because they didn't feel like
(18:05):
they were getting their money's worth and and so like
he has a babysitter, he's not able to do it. Yeah,
he doesn't have he doesn't have final CRUs.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Not covering it's not happening, and then the producer has to.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
Come out, Yeah, well that he could have, uh, you know,
just related to Fincher that way too.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Hey, well that's what I was talking about.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
And I think Fuqua has gone on record saying that
Replacement Killers taught him a lot about the studio system,
about it being a business, and about what he wants
to do and what he doesn't want to do. He says,
Replacement Killers is what I don't want to do, and
he said it, of course much better than I did,
and much more eloquent. But I think that's being a
(18:50):
freshman director who clearly has talent but has a lot
of obstacles and also is learning. I mean, like we
can't just we can't just fault the studio every single time.
You know, Like as a freshman director, he's learning, he's
trying to figure out the business. He's trying to transition
from commercials and music videos, and it very much shows.
And even the writer was like Ken Sinzel, he said,
(19:13):
He's like, he's like, yeah, I really like what Fuquah
has done with the movie. It's not my movie. It's
not what I wrote. Yeah, but I'm glad people like it.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
I mean you can still fault the studio though, because
they gave this in specific to a freshman director and
it's like something with this scope and scale.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
The only thing you can hope for.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
Is that basically you get shots and the movie happens.
This is not like if you give this to somebody
who's got experienced, your budget triples immediately because they're gonna
look at the script and say, okay, there's only one
way I can do this, and they're gonna have the
poll and they're gonna be able to say I need
this money. Fuqua's not. He has no hand. They can
try to churn the out and you know, like you're saying,
(19:58):
where he learned that it was a business. They picked
him because they could make this movie as cheaply as possible,
because they're risk averse, And okay, that's fine. I'm not
dragging the studio for it.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
That's there. It's a business and that's what they're trying
to do.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
I just I think that it's an odd play because
the star power they bring in, you know, chow Yon
Fat he's a breakthrough, Mira Sorvino star is on the
rise as well. You got Michael Rooker always reliable. Everybody
loves seeing Rooker on screen.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Always, He's always shows up, he always knows what he
has to do.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
And then you have you have Jurgen proc Now show
up as a bad guy, and I'm like, that guy
walks in a room like it's it's sort of like
the Mad's Michelson effect where he like walks in a
room and you're like, oh geez, and we're hitting like,
you know, genocidal, dictator level evil walking in the room
at this point, because he just has that look, you know,
I'm I'm sure he's like the sweetest human being on
(20:55):
the planet, but like he knows how to look on
camera where you're like, oh, no, this is a problem.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
So Jenny trey Hoo, Denny trey Hoo's in there and
he has like four words, and Till Schweger, who was
huge in Germany overseas and I had zero lines. And
it's so funny because Denny Treyjo Until Schweger are the
titular characters. Yeah, and they have four words between the
(21:21):
two of them. Yeah, but yeah, and also they made
oh my gosh, like just it's like if you were
trying to describe them like Okay, imagine two hitmen walking
in an airport. Are you imagining it? That's what they
looked like. They look like two hitmen walking in an airport.
Like these were the worst hitmen I've ever seen. These
(21:43):
are the worst assassins ever.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Yeah, they weren't very low key. It was sort of like, yes,
if I was sitting somewhere, whether it was an airport
or I'm out getting lunch or something, and I see
these two guys walking down the street, I'm going to
gather my family and say, Okay, dinner's over.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
No, no, I'm s throwing fifty dollars on the table.
Come on, on, on on, we're leaving even.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Oh god, it's it's nineteen ninety eight. Oh god, we're
in trouble. We're in trouble, but we know what this
is happening.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
It gave me Diehard two vibes when they're that squad
is walking through the airport and you're just like, these
aren't regular people. This is obviously a commando tactical unit
and showed up at the airport today. They're all walking
with their presence and you're just like, no, this is
this is not true.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
That what Stern comic book.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
Look now, now, Tristan, I want to you know, not
to not to rewrite the movie, because we do that
sometimes but not often. You know, you mentioned the replacement killers.
These these aren't the replacement killers, like our main characters
aren't those people. Is this the kind of movie that
could use a shakeup like that where you lean more
(22:49):
into like Rooker and have him be more of the lead,
and you keep Chawian Fat as like the secondary killer
that has to come finish the job way more mysterious.
Is not necessarily the sympathetic hero that they're pushing the
entire time. But Rooker is, like I felt like everybody,
everybody brought power to it, but they weren't necessarily in
(23:13):
the right slots.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I think if you going by like what you mentioned,
like going by the title, like if you wanted to
lean into the meat of the title, the replacement Killers,
I think one way you could do it is you
have chow Yon Fat and he's going to either he's
going to assassinate Michael Rooker, like not the kid Michael Rooker,
(23:35):
and he can't do it, but Rooker somehow catches him
and he's he's honest with Rooker and He's like, listen,
I was hired to assassinate you. I can't do it,
you know, like I just like you're a family man.
I you know, like I got history. I can't do it.
But the thing is is that all I did was
buy you time by telling you this, and by not
(23:57):
doing it, They're gonna still come after you, and now
are going to come after me. We're going to have
to tackle this together. That's your movie.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Oh man, a buddy film of him and Rucker. That
would be amazing. Yeah, yes it would, Yes, it would.
I'm even surprising myself and and is barely wearing his
clothes for like half that scene. It's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
He's got every.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Super flat tummy. It's kind of weird. He's got some amazing.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
For like five minutes.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
You know.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
It's it's uh, it's it's interesting because I mean, at first, blush,
I look at this poster and I cast myself back
into time. One of the more surprising things in all
honesty is that he wasn't hired to kill Mira Sorvino,
like usually that's how these movies go. So I guess
points for it not being that question mark where's say
(24:49):
not that expected.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Do you know who Jason Statham would be.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
The star of that movie?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Yes, yes he would if that was the case, Yes
he would pick Yes, speaking of of mirro Sorvino. Now,
obviously we've joked about that bathroom scene, and but in
the same vein, did anybody else notice that she got
more and more cleavage as the movie went on? Where
(25:15):
at first they have say, John, you paid special attention,
so I know that you did notice.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
No, I'm just an observant human being, is what I'm saying.
I may have.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Noticed that her outfit altered somewhat through the film.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
At the beginning of the film, she's completely buttoned up.
She goes to the bathroom for some reason, she can't
button that top top two buttons.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
You know, she's a rush, she's in a rush.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
She's in a rush, and so her brazier is showing
a little bit. But she's in a rush. We completely
understand it. But then she's in a gunfight. Too bad,
those two buttons are gone. There's nothing she can do,
and so the third but close button is gone.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
The bullet whiz by and just took It would.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Happen to anybody, but then we in the middle of
the movie, we see her try to use a safety
pin to kind of close the shirt a little bit more.
It's it's too late. We've seen it all.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
You know it is too late.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
But but what's interesting, John Police, I'm not done. I
am not you're not then please go on towards the
end of the film. No buttons, Yeah, no buttons, left buttons,
but the shirt is still on, but there's no buttons.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
But see, here's where I can introduce you to some
interesting headcanon here. You know, you can write this story
in your own head is all the damage that his
suit should have been taking. She kept the selfless person
that she is sacrificing buttons from her outfit to keep
his suit immaculate through all of the action scenes, because
you know, he barely has any damage on his buttons.
(26:37):
So she's she's a very giving person. And so that's
that's that's what's going on.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Now, John, you're a big mirror Sorvino fan. I want
you to talk about her character in this How do
you think she came across What do you think about
what do you think about the character, What do you
think about Mira Sorvino's portrayal laid on me.
Speaker 5 (26:52):
Be honest, I think that Mira Sorvino is a very
talented actress. I do, And I think that the camera low,
you know, she's obviously she's you know, she's got a
great screen presence. But I don't think that Fuquah. And
I'm not laying it just on Fuquah. Any rookie director
by this point in her career, he doesn't know how
(27:14):
to direct her. In my opinion, she feels like she's
talking to somebody giving her prompts off screen half the time,
and it's not I'm not even blaming her for it.
I can tell that it's the director off camera saying
give it to me this way.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
No, say it this way.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
It's not as organic as I've seen her performances in
other movies, and so I have to lay the blame
at a director who you know, I mean, as we
go through, is Fuquah good at giving direction to women?
Is going to be a very interesting question to examine
through his career.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Nolan complex Yeah, to an extent.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
To an extent, I would argue some of the finer
points of that particular argument, But in terms of this
I look at this and I see a director that
isn't having the same trouble communicating with Chow Yung Fat
that he's having communicating with Sorvino and or even proc
now or anything like that. Like it just it seems
(28:19):
like he's communicating with his other actors better than he's
communicating with her. And I think that had I never
seen her in a different picture, I'm gonna rag on
her performance, but I have a body of work to
look at, and I can say this is a typical
What's the one thing that's different about her experience here,
and it's the director.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
I think that's right on the money, absolutely right on
the money. And I was hoping you would say something
like that because that's kind of how I felt too.
I've seen Sorvino give some amazing performances. She is a
good and talented actress whose career was curtailed by the
human fecal matter that shall not go named on this podcast,
but yeah, by it basically, yeah, And so it was strange.
(29:04):
It was a little jarring to kind of see that
stilted performance, But I think you're right it was from
a freshman director. But I think with like there's certain
freshman directors that you see where you're just like, I
don't know if they're going to get a sophomore attempt,
but obviously hindsight is twenty twenty. But thankfully, while watching this,
I didn't get that feeling where I wasn't like, Oh,
(29:25):
this is garbage, this is crap. It was just more
of a sense of this could have been so much more,
because I really loved the kind of the gritty neon,
you know, the stylized violence. I think you could see
his thumb print all over it. You could tell there
was a director who who cared about the material, cared
about the vision, and wanted to entertain you, but just
(29:48):
didn't have the experience to work with the studio and
get it there food couus direction. What did you think,
regardless of story in the script, what did you think
about the visual flair? Did you feel like he was
still trying to entertain you or did you feel like, oh,
it's going to be a stretch if this guy gets
another movie.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Now, I felt, like I said, or like we all
said at the beginning of this podcast, this felt like
a nineties action movie, and I think I give it
a little leeway with that because I'm not expecting some
of the advancements in how stories are telled and shown
(30:26):
and things like that. Nowadays, I'm okay with a little
bit of popcorn and they're doing spin tricks as they shoot,
like okay, Like is that kind of ridiculous? Yeah? Does
it detract from the story? Not necessarily, So I think
this doesn't surprise me as a freshman take from this director.
(30:52):
But something I kept thinking of when you were talking
about the studio is, at the end of the day,
they have to make a movie. They can't just be
like we have to wait till the right director and
the right film and everything is going to line up
for a billion dollars to roll into us. No, they
have to put something out constantly or they're not making money.
(31:13):
So even if they make a little bit of money,
it's better than nothing. So I think at the end,
this is a I'm glad that they put invested into
this director, you know, into Anton, and I think, you know,
we're going to just see where he goes from here.
So I'm glad this movie, you know, came out. Is
it the best movie? No, But I'm I'm glad for
(31:37):
you know, if I was back in the nineties and
spent three dollars on this ticket, I would be okay.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
John, I have a question for you. Yeah, so you
know we talked about it at the beginning. You know
this borrows a lot from Hong Kong cinema and John
Wick borrows a lot from Hong Kong cinema. How would
you compare Replacement Killers to John Wick? Now, obviously John
Wick has made a much bigger splash financially in the
(32:05):
zeitgeist in pop culture. There's four of them. There's a
spinoff movie, so obviously it's more successful. But how do
you think it compares two Hong Kong cinema. Do you
feel like John Wick did it better or just better
for American audiences?
Speaker 3 (32:20):
I think that's the right way to say it. Better
for American audiences.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
John Wick the first John Wick feels like and one
of the reasons I love it is it feels like
American cuisine. Where it is I have Chinese food here.
It's not food that people eat in China. I know this.
I'm comfortable with that fact and so is everybody else.
But when you say do you want Chinese food, I'm
(32:44):
not thinking about going and getting some authentic dish from
the Sechuan province. I'm thinking of General So's chicken. So
that's what I'm about.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
So cool. I like it, and that's what John is,
and I'm on board with it.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
I love that so much because it's unabashedly American. And
I say that without irony. I say that without irony
because it's so true that, like, we know, we know
we're eating Americanized Mexican food, we know we're eating americanized
you know, Chinese food. We know we're eating Americanized Indian food.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
We don't care, no, And then when you have some
that comes along that's like, hey, it's Korean and mexicanfusion,
We're like on board. I'll try it at least and
then if it's good, we're gonna get a chain of
these things.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
That's cool. I like it. Mix it all together, man.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
That's how we get John Wick. That is so that's
so apropois.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yes, yeah, John Wick is the americanized Hong Kong and yeah,
and you know, Replacement Killers was an homage to John Wu.
But it couldn't capture the essence of it.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
No, it couldn't. It was somebody that didn't understand how to.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Adapt it, is what I would say, And so it's
a victim of multiple influence is coming together and just
Fuquah wasn't there to do it.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
I mean the thing.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
And this is because we all know this is sort
of like my pet thing to sort of like fixate
on a little bit. But when I was looking at
it and Harry Gregson Williams did the score, oh no,
Like I felt so disappointed. Because Gregson Williams has done
some terrific scores, including Kingdom of Heaven. He's worked a
lot with Scott, He's going to work a lot with
(34:26):
Fuquah going forward. But this, I think the score is
just as evocative of what we're talking about, the vibe
we're talking about, where it's like this movie is so
just gristmill churned out nineties sort of thing, like this
is exactly the type of score I'd expect from a
forgettable action.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Movie in the nineties.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
And it hurts because Gregson Williams is so much more
talented than that. But I guess it's at the stage
in his career where he's like, what am I supposed
to be doing here?
Speaker 3 (34:55):
This okay? Should sound like this, Okay, cool, cool, cool cool,
And you.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Know it's it may sound like we're ragging on Fuqua
a lot at all, but that's the thing is that,
like I think, the only reason why we're being so
honest is because we know. Again, like I said earlier,
Heinstein is twenty twenty. We know how much of a
talent he is and what he can bring to the table.
And I'm so utterly excited to keep going in his filmography,
(35:21):
specifically for next week.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
Oh but not just specifically for next week, but put
a pin in this. This is a fascinating movie to
watch when you see later what he does with the Equalizer,
when you see a confident and established Fuquah return to
the action genre in a big way like this, Okay,
like you're gonna see you'll see this.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
This is gonna pay off. Trust me.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
I'm excited because I have missed the Equalizer films, and
I know, I know that they've made three of them,
and I'm a big Denzel fan, so I'm surprised that
I have missed these. But yeah, I'm excited to keep going.
But I do want to I do want to talk
about one thing before we wrap up, and that is,
and this was a surprise to me where apparently I
(36:07):
don't know how true this is. I know it's kind
of been established in the lore, but apparently test audiences
didn't like the idea of the bio racial romance between
chaw Yon Fat and Mira Sorvino, and so apparently fuquav
filmed it and then they cut it. But then we
have an extended version. But there's not really a romance there.
(36:28):
There's like a respect, there's a there's a I don't
know there. I don't want to say, what's the term
I'm looking for. There was an affection, there's a respect
and an affection. But I really enjoyed how they treated
their relationship because there was not that. There wasn't any
of that, will there there, won't there finally just kiss her,
you know, like there was none of that, which I
(36:50):
really appreciated because I can't stand the action films.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
There there was no rain soaked sex scene halfway through.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
And also like this kind of didn't need it. And
also there was zero sexual chemistry between chow Yon Fat and.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Mira, lesson zero.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
It Actually, if you took if you took somebody to
this as a date movie, you probably broke.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
Up afterward, like that's the thing. It didn't help you
out at all.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Chow Yon fat, very attractive, very charismatic, Mira Sorvino gorgeous
and just has this magnetic pull towards her, but yet together,
there was nothing there.
Speaker 5 (37:27):
And so I would make another on screen comparison, but
I might get in trouble for it.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
I kind of want to see I kind of want to.
Speaker 5 (37:34):
Know Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Far and Away.
These people are married, so.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
You know it's okay because they've been divorced for a
long time, that's sure. Yeah, And so it was interesting.
I was just like, you know, like was it It
makes you wonder, like do I believe that it could
have been Rachel? Of course the nineties were insane. Today
is insane, but the nineties, especially especially when it comes
to Asians. But part of me is just like, was
it racial or was it just because they had no
(38:03):
sexual chemistry?
Speaker 5 (38:06):
I would actually clock it as if they were trying
to force some sort of romantic thing. Yeah, I would
say it wouldn't. Maybe I'm being too generous, but I
would I would have looked at it and said, this
just isn't working, guys, Like it has nothing to do
with you know, you know, biracial anything. It has everything
to do with what you just said. There is absolutely
(38:29):
I do not believe that Chow Young Fat and Mira
Sorvino got along really well and there was you know,
a lot of fun off camera between the two of them.
This felt like two people who showed up to work,
shook hands and went home.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
So yeah, yeah, this is not Pam Anderson and Liam Neesen, folks,
this is this is not that marketing campaign.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
I'll tell you what.
Speaker 5 (38:47):
You roll this back to the nineties and you you
utter that phrase back then, like I'd love to go
back to me in the nineties like Pam Anderson and
Liam Neeson, and I would just I'd be like that
meme of that guy with a huh, like what.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
I have to say. I had no interest. I had
zero interest in the Naked Gun continuation, the revival movie,
whatever you want to call it. I had zero interest
in it. But then this huge marketing campaign of the
chemistry between Pam Anderson and Liam Neeson. I'm like, okay, guys, okay,
marketing boys, you got me, Like, I'm gonna watch this movie,
(39:23):
just because they are so freakin' adorable, you know, outside
of the movie. Yes, all right, all right, So Darren,
I love to pick on you, and whenever I host,
I make you go first. So how many bullets with
the Chinese symbol for death are you giving this movie?
Speaker 4 (39:41):
Yeah, I'm going to give it to bullets. I am
taking a star off of because of the rain. I
said I was gonna do it kind of jokingly, but
it's true. The rain is is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
I don't say that to.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Belittle the director.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
I think it's a very starting point, and I think,
I mean, we know where he's gonna go from this.
And I do also feel that I was maybe a
little harsh in how well he used Telli un Fat
because again, he has not done Crouching Tiger yet, he
has not done all these other things that we know of,
(40:20):
so I can't really judge him for his freshman outing
into American cinema. It has to start somewhere. So but overall, yeah,
two bullets, and they have a little carving on them,
so you know which bullets they are and who they're
intended for.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
All right, John, how many Mirosorvino shirt paper clips are you,
I should say, safety pins are you giving this movie?
Speaker 3 (40:47):
I'm gonna have to go ahead and agree with Darren. Two.
Speaker 5 (40:50):
This is not a movie that I want to revisit
in the future. Like it's that weird thing where it's like,
I'm glad I saw it for this journey because, like
I said, I'm gonna enjoy coming back to when Fuquah
gets a chance to like really shine in the action genre.
But this ain't it, and it's it's competently put together,
(41:10):
and I can understand what vestige of story they stretched
over these scenes.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
So I'll give it a too, all right, I am
giving it a nostalgic three. I am adding an extra
point for the rain you sell out and so I am.
I'm just like, no, it's baptismal, it's cleansing, it's beautiful,
even if it's La because actually when I was in
La it rained like three times when I lived there
for like six months. But any regardless, regardless, giving it
(41:38):
three stars, I know that's a lot for this movie.
I know that's a lot. I'm gonna give it a
two and a half. Actually I'm gonna change my mind here.
I wanted to give it a three if it was
the beginning of the movie. It was the first act
is a three. I think in my mind, I'm like,
this is this solid action work. It's a lot of fun.
It's nineties at its best. Actually, I should say the
(41:59):
beginning is forced, but then we just keep getting lower
as the movie goes on. There's not a lot of
meat on the bone. There's there's just not enough substance there,
and they try to give it substance. Actually, like looking
at the theatrical version, looking at the extended version, you
think the extended version would add some depth, and it
kind of does, but not really, Like it's the kind
(42:23):
of depth that makes you roll your eyes where I'm
just like, this isn't the movie for that. This don't
don't try to do something that's not appropriate for the
film itself. So I'm going to change my mind. It's
not a three, it's a two and a half. But
the thing is, I have I have such a soft
spot for this movie for obvious reasons, for what I
talked about the beginning. If it kept the vibe, it
kept the rhythm and the language of the first act,
(42:46):
I think this would be a much better film. But
it didn't say lav It's okay. We got tons of
other Hong Kong action films to talk about and review
and watch with chaw Yon Fat. But we're going to
continue on with Anti on Fuqua and uh, it's gonna
be crazy next week because Darren, what are we doing?
Speaker 4 (43:07):
Yes, that's right. As we're continuing this decade by decade
with Antine Fuqua, we're going with two thousand and one's
training Day here on House sites.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
Join the Revolution, Join the NED Party,
Welcome to the ned Palty.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hello everybody at home, and welcome to House Lights, specifically
House of Fuqua and Twin Fuqua and this is what
a house this is. I am so excited to discuss
his filmography. We have actually reviewed one of his films before,
when we did Wing of King Arthur, and we did
all the King Arthur films because he did a King
(00:43):
Arthur film, the one with Mads Michelson and other people.
And but tonight we're doing his first film, his first film,
because he came from a line of commercials and he
came from a line of music videos a lot like
our man, David Fincher. And in the vein, in the
(01:06):
same vein of David Fincher, he had.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
A really rough time with the.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Studio making his first movie, The Replacement Killers from nineteen
ninety eight, starring Chow Yun Fat, Mira Sorvino, and Michael Rooker.
It's an homage to Hong Kong crime and action films
and it was even produced by John Wu And you
can really see the influence there, yea, And you see
the influence.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It's there.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
And before we start, I just want to say I
say this to you tonight. Let us not forget there
is hope.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yes, yes, there is.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Always line that we all quote all the time because
of this movie.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Yes every day.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, that's right, right man, You guys are giving me
nothing here. I thought I had a slam dunk with
the Crystal Method reference. I'm sure there are people in
their cars who are laughing saying, that's a good one, Tristan,
And yes, that is true. I am Tristan Radellan with
me as always is Darren Moser and John Mills, and
so I'm gonna get this right off the bat, right
off the bat. This was a Riddell family favorite because
I know you're wondering it's there.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
It's always one of the others. Trash fin Yep, there
you go.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
My my dad he loved this movie so much. He
he he. Sometimes he would put it like we had
it on VHS and he would We had an amazing
sound system in the basement. We had two subs, tons
of speakers. It was amazing, and so he put in
the VHS tape and sometimes before he even sometimes he
(02:33):
wouldn't even watch the whole movie. He would just watch
the opening scene with Keep Up Alive by Crystal Method
and him getting those drug dealers or gangbangers whatever whatever,
they were just shooting him down because he just he
loved the vibe of it. He loved the look, the feeling.
He would just crank it and it would just shake
the house. My mom would slam her foot on the
on the on the floor telling him to turn it down.
(02:54):
And so, like, I've seen this movie more than a
few times, but this is my first time watching the
extended edition, and that is the addition that we are
reviewing tonight. So you guys, Darren and John, had you
seen this before? Is this your first time talk amongst yourselves.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
I'd seen it before, but I didn't see it in
the theaters when it came out. This was one that
was sort of just flew by sort of thing. I remember,
the John Wu vibe was very much catching on in Hollywood,
and my reaction at the time most likely was, oh,
another one of these things, like it wouldn't have made
an impact on me, like, you know, oh Chow young fat. Yeah,
(03:32):
he was having his star was on the rise. Mi
Ra Sorvino everything like that. Although mimic anyway, the entire thing,
the entire vibe didn't necessarily appeal to me back then,
and I think this was podcast homework for something I
did with Shindler it somewhere along the way, so wound
up watching it for that reason or something. But you know,
(03:53):
it's it's interesting because this is definitely a product of
its time.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
There is that.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
I'd say that before we get into all of that, though,
since you said this is a Redell family favorite the
first time your father showed it to you, Tristan, did
he fast forward any part where Mira Sorvino was getting
changed in a bathroom or was scantily clad while doing
her illegal work.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I don't remember. I don't think so, because it honestly
isn't really that bad, Like.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
Well, she's she Listen the scene where she goes back
to get her stuff and leave, there's an unquestionable production
decision to be like, let's get a couple of close
up shots of underwear here.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Oh my gosh, there was zero point to that scene
other than showing Mira Sorvino in her underwear. It was insane,
What a pointless scene other than to show a flat
belly and nice other parts. But it was, Yeah, it's
it is. It is really funny though they like, maybe
maybe he did. I don't know, because it's not you
think it would be burned in my pubescent brain at
(05:00):
the time, but it wasn't, So maybe he did. But
like watching it now with adult eyes, like you're just
you're more like, okay, come on, folks, like like like
you're not only are you patting the run time, it's
kind of shameless what you're doing.
Speaker 5 (05:15):
Well, it's definitely because the thing is, you know, we've
already like addressed the whole thing where it's like you
can definitely see the John wu influence. I think there's
definitely a director sort of picking up on the Michael
Bay vibe with some of the camera moves and everything
like that, you know, some of the crane moves, some
of the zoom in's and stuff like that. Feels very
much like this movie comes across like just that world's
(05:36):
colliding of what can we rip off from Hong Kong
cinema while retaining what Michael Bay does, while also throwing
in a few music video montages because the kids are
going to love this soundtrack, Like this is just a
as the fancy people would say, this is a pastiche
of influences.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
This was, Oh my gosh, speaking of the soundtrack, holy crap,
like it was. Of course I remembered Crystal Methods Keep
Up Alive. But when I was like, when we got
to Daniel Jordan's She Makes Me Want to Die, I
had completely forgotten about that song. And as soon as
(06:15):
like you just you just hear the opening, it's just
that that woman's voice of she makes Me want to Die,
and then just the beat drops, my mind opened like
a third eye, and I was like, oh my gosh,
all this nostalgia is just wafting back. And I was like,
son of a bitch, I missed the nineties so.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Much, Darren.
Speaker 5 (06:35):
I can always presume you had the exact same reaction
that Tristan did.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Well. I mean, I had not seen this movie before,
so but I was still taken back to nineties action,
like this is a very nineties action movie. It made
me remember, like you know, Jackie Chan movies. Our family
we love watching Martial Law, which Samo hung. And this
(07:01):
was kind of the time when you were starting to
like interject you know, Asian action stars into American culture.
That was becoming a thing, and you put rock music
behind it, and they did cool spins, and they had
guns and sometimes it'd kick you. And so even though
I had not seen this movie, I felt like I
had seen this movie, like it was firing on all
(07:25):
of those cylinders and I was back in high school. Basically,
I felt that. So, yeah, if if that was the
goal of this movie was to transport me back to
the late nineties, it succeeded.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Yeah, But I have to ask a question.
Speaker 5 (07:40):
You both have seen Taxi Driver, Yes, Martin Scorsese's classic
examination of a crazy man. What we're talking about all
these influences, but reportedly Fuqua stressed to his team that
this was to be a taxi driver for the nineteen nineties.
I'm curious, did you see Taxi Driver anywhere in this movie?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I might have.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I think I saw a taxi in the background once
or twice.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
That's about as far as it goes.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yes, it really really is, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
It's it's so fascinating to read something like that and
think to myself, I wish i'd never read that quote
because it makes me want to judge the movie.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
A little more harshly. I would say, so, no, no, well,
this is going to do this movie.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
The most unrealistic thing of this entire movie, because this
was set in La right, right, there's just so much rain.
Why is it raining so much? Really actually starting to
take me out of it because I was like, why
is it? Why is it always raining? We do not
get this much rain like ever. And it's just like
(08:47):
do they just want all the shots to look cool?
And they just decided we're just going to turn on
the rain machine for the rent time. Yeah, I mean
we're even in a car wash for a fight, which
also is kind of like rain inside the building. Yeah,
to train I'm almost gonna knock it down a star
at the end for the rain just it was. It
was ridiculous.
Speaker 5 (09:07):
I'm glad you mentioned the car wash too, because uh,
and this is looking at it with just curmudgeonly old
person eyes.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
But I'm looking at him like, no car wash functions
like this, like you're locked in a track.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
Like I'm sitting there like critiquing the car wash because
I'm like, have these people ever been in a car
wash before?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
It's it's when they backed up and he like slams
it in reverse and I'm like, there's no way you can't.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Back up at speed?
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Through a car wash and not crash your car. That's impossible,
because it's.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
More funny that you brought that up, because honestly, I
did the same exact thing. Like, as I'm watching this,
I'm just like, man, I'm old. This must be because
I'm getting older.
Speaker 5 (09:44):
Yeah, I think I've just been through so many car
washes by this point in my life.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I'm like, oh no, no.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
Like, the best you can do in a car wash
is you're sitting there like, oh, it looks like they
loaded him up quicker. They didn't load him up too quick,
did he. He's not gonna he's not gonna rear end
me while I'm in the car washes. He that's about
his exciting as a car wash can get.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I was gonna say, that's the constant fear of a
car wash is like they he's getting kind of closed there.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
But yeah, So let's talk.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
About the action sequences. What did you guys think about
the action sequences? Because there was some critique like this
movie did not do particularly well. It wasn't received well
by critics. It didn't make that much money. Uh, they
decided to go up against Titanic. I don't know if
you've heard of it. It was kind of harm Yeah, yeah, yeah,
so it got I'm surprised it got second place to
(10:29):
Titanic when it came out, But.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
I wouldn't say they're going after the same audiences, Like
I know, it's true. One it making sense. It's just
Titanic isn't just a romance movie that only you know,
women are going to watch. And no, it was actually
a good movie that people kept seeing. So it just
stomped on the competition.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Yeah, but by that by that point, like Titanic, the
Titanic momentum was just a thing. Everybody, anybody who like
opened within six months of Titanic was going up against Titanic.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
So like you can't really fault them for that.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Like February of ninety eight probably seemed pretty safe, and
February has always been before Black Panther came out, February
was always or actually I guess it was Deadpool was
the first one where It's like February was always considered
a dead space. You put movies there where it was
like they had the best shot of relatively speaking success,
specifically because there wasn't stiff competition in February. But I mean,
(11:26):
you know, you look at the metric and it's like
it fell forty nine percent weekend over weekend. Now everybody
would be arguing on social media about how that was
a good hold week over week, and that means the
movie really found its audiences. Was doing Really, I'm like, boy,
how times it changed my good gravy geez?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I wonder what you're referencing. So let's uh, the I
don't know the action sequence is some people will call them,
I how do I phrase it? It was something akin
to where it's just like then there's this action sequence,
then there's this action sequence, and then there's action sequence
where it's going to just kind of disconnected music videos. Darren,
(12:04):
what did you think of that? Like, were you invested
in the action? Did you think it was cool? Or
was it kind of vapid?
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I can see the critique of a string of action
sequences strung together with a plot like that does kind
of describe this movie, But they weren't bad. I think
at the end of the day, these are not the
action sequences I was expecting with this leading man. I
(12:34):
think they could have gone in a better direction. I
think it's almost anyone could have done these action sequences
so give us something special if you're putting this team together.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
That's kind of my vibe.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
I think it very much looks like somebody getting their
first feature film and they say, give us something that's
a vehicle for this new star chow yun fat and
and make it competently. And tell you what, kid, we'll
give you another job if you can get this one
out the door on time and on budget and make
at least make your money back. I've really this does
(13:10):
not have the sheene of something where they thought they
were going to have a blockbuster. This has the sheene
of let This is our calling card, this is our
establishing thing. Who can we get cheap? Hey, this kid
wants to break in, you know, fuuqua you want your shot?
And it's like he's like, okay, and yes, it is
just action sequences. Loosely, it's basically like a series of vignettes.
(13:35):
But it really feels like that's all they're going for.
It doesn't feel like they're going for anything deep at all,
which is why his whole comment about Taxi Driver is
puzzling to me, because I'm like, Taxi Driver is a
really deep movie man, like way deep. But I think
what's interesting is you get this flip where Chinese culture.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Is opening up in the in the late nineties.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Specifically because Hong Kong has flipped over to Chinese control,
and so there's this sudden opening of everything where it's like, hey,
we're willing to talk to the world. Hey, look at
these things that we do. This very much feels like
a John wu movie doesn't translate with American audiences at
this point. People are going to go watch a.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Subtitled three hour shoot him up movie called hard Boiled.
But we can do.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Something like it and see if people have a taste
for it. And that's what this movie feels like.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I mean, it's interesting. I just checked the dates, so
this is the same year ninety eight that Rush Hour
came out, which obviously is going for a very different
take as a comedy, you know, action buddy comedy, but
where that like I think, leaned into Chris Tucker and
his comedy abilities and Jackie Chan and his specific type
(14:48):
of martial art. You know, we've seen things that Chilean
fat does, and this was that this didn't bank on
his abilities, like you could put a gun in anyone's
hand and make him question being a Sniper. I know,
I'm sure, I feel like I know I've already made
this point, but then just circling around it again.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
No, that's that's interesting. That's interesting because my my dad
was a big chow young fat fan, Like I'm talking
like he was way cooler than I had ever been
when it cut like because he loved Crouching Tiger, A
Better Tomorrow, hard Boiled, you know, like you mentioned John
and The Replacement Killer, so like he was, he was,
(15:29):
like he knew about chow Yon Fat before most Americans, did,
you know, before he made his debut in The Replacement Killers.
And of course you know when he became a household
name with Hidden Dragon, Crushing Tiger, Hidden Dragon. My dad
even loved him in Bulletproof Monk, Like he freaking loved
that movie. Really, I've never seen it, Yeah, Sean William Scott,
and he was known as the Monk with No Name.
(15:52):
He it's it's so cheesy, it's beyond cheesy, but it's
it can be heartwarming, like it's it is very much
your parents favorite movie kind of material. And but you're
I think you're Darren, You're kind of right, like when
you when you look at what Chaw Yon Fat has
given Hong Kong action movies, and then what he's done
(16:15):
with Wusha, You're like, he's not really using that in
Replacement Killers, he is, He's just kind of a dude
with a gun, and like I think, I think, man,
you just kind of open that up for me, like
like the their scene at the end when I started,
because Okay, here's the thing. I'll be honest with you guys,
Like I was super jazzed about this movie seeing it
again because of the nostalgia, and as I'm watching it,
(16:37):
I'm like, man, I missed the nineties, And when we
get to the end of it, I'm like, you know what,
I don't miss the nineties that much. Uh where It's
just like we get to that scene when he's on
the car. It's raining, of course, or it's about to rain,
and they're in the alleyway and he's he like he
unloads like twenty rounds into the car, but he doesn't
point it out the main bad guy way and he
(16:59):
looks like he's shooting the steering wheel and then Way
gets out, but he's out of AMMO, of course, because
he wasted twenty rounds in the steering wheel. And then
way runs away. But then we have this upwards angle
on a Chow Young fat and all of a sudden
he's just blasting fools away left and right from above him.
(17:21):
And you have no idea where he is geographically. Nope,
you're just like, what's going on here? Where'd that guy
come from? Where'd that guy come from? Is basically you
don't even see it from his perspective. You have this
weird camera perspective where it's limited, like you're not omniscient,
being a voyeur or being the audience. You have this
very limited view of Chao Yung just pointing his pistol,
(17:43):
and then somebody falls pointing his pistol and somebody falls,
and it just this is a real freshman movie, yeah,
from Fuquah, and the studio knew that and felt that.
And that's one of the reasons why Fuqua had had
a huge problem with the studios because they actually sent
a producer to babysit him because they didn't feel like
(18:05):
they were getting their money's worth and and so like
he has a babysitter, he's not able to do it. Yeah,
he doesn't have he doesn't have final CRUs.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Not covering it's not happening, and then the producer has to.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
Come out, Yeah, well that he could have, uh, you know,
just related to Fincher that way too.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Hey, well that's what I was talking about.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
And I think Fuqua has gone on record saying that
Replacement Killers taught him a lot about the studio system,
about it being a business, and about what he wants
to do and what he doesn't want to do. He says,
Replacement Killers is what I don't want to do, and
he said it, of course much better than I did,
and much more eloquent. But I think that's being a
(18:50):
freshman director who clearly has talent but has a lot
of obstacles and also is learning. I mean, like we
can't just we can't just fault the studio every single time.
You know, Like as a freshman director, he's learning, he's
trying to figure out the business. He's trying to transition
from commercials and music videos, and it very much shows.
And even the writer was like Ken Sinzel, he said,
(19:13):
He's like, he's like, yeah, I really like what Fuquah
has done with the movie. It's not my movie. It's
not what I wrote. Yeah, but I'm glad people like it.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
I mean you can still fault the studio though, because
they gave this in specific to a freshman director and
it's like something with this scope and scale.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
The only thing you can hope for.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
Is that basically you get shots and the movie happens.
This is not like if you give this to somebody
who's got experienced, your budget triples immediately because they're gonna
look at the script and say, okay, there's only one
way I can do this, and they're gonna have the
poll and they're gonna be able to say I need
this money. Fuqua's not. He has no hand. They can
try to churn the out and you know, like you're saying,
(19:58):
where he learned that it was a business. They picked
him because they could make this movie as cheaply as possible,
because they're risk averse, And okay, that's fine. I'm not
dragging the studio for it.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
That's there. It's a business and that's what they're trying
to do.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
I just I think that it's an odd play because
the star power they bring in, you know, chow Yon
Fat he's a breakthrough, Mira Sorvino star is on the
rise as well. You got Michael Rooker always reliable. Everybody
loves seeing Rooker on screen.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Always, He's always shows up, he always knows what he
has to do.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
And then you have you have Jurgen proc Now show
up as a bad guy, and I'm like, that guy
walks in a room like it's it's sort of like
the Mad's Michelson effect where he like walks in a
room and you're like, oh geez, and we're hitting like,
you know, genocidal, dictator level evil walking in the room
at this point, because he just has that look, you know,
I'm I'm sure he's like the sweetest human being on
(20:55):
the planet, but like he knows how to look on
camera where you're like, oh, no, this is a problem.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
So Jenny trey Hoo, Denny trey Hoo's in there and
he has like four words, and Till Schweger, who was
huge in Germany overseas and I had zero lines. And
it's so funny because Denny Treyjo Until Schweger are the
titular characters. Yeah, and they have four words between the
(21:21):
two of them. Yeah, but yeah, and also they made
oh my gosh, like just it's like if you were
trying to describe them like Okay, imagine two hitmen walking
in an airport. Are you imagining it? That's what they
looked like. They look like two hitmen walking in an airport.
Like these were the worst hitmen I've ever seen. These
(21:43):
are the worst assassins ever.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Yeah, they weren't very low key. It was sort of like, yes,
if I was sitting somewhere, whether it was an airport
or I'm out getting lunch or something, and I see
these two guys walking down the street, I'm going to
gather my family and say, Okay, dinner's over.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
No, no, I'm s throwing fifty dollars on the table.
Come on, on, on on, we're leaving even.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Oh god, it's it's nineteen ninety eight. Oh god, we're
in trouble. We're in trouble, but we know what this
is happening.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
It gave me Diehard two vibes when they're that squad
is walking through the airport and you're just like, these
aren't regular people. This is obviously a commando tactical unit
and showed up at the airport today. They're all walking
with their presence and you're just like, no, this is
this is not true.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
That what Stern comic book.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
Look now, now, Tristan, I want to you know, not
to not to rewrite the movie, because we do that
sometimes but not often. You know, you mentioned the replacement killers.
These these aren't the replacement killers, like our main characters
aren't those people. Is this the kind of movie that
could use a shakeup like that where you lean more
(22:49):
into like Rooker and have him be more of the lead,
and you keep Chawian Fat as like the secondary killer
that has to come finish the job way more mysterious.
Is not necessarily the sympathetic hero that they're pushing the
entire time. But Rooker is, like I felt like everybody,
everybody brought power to it, but they weren't necessarily in
(23:13):
the right slots.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I think if you going by like what you mentioned,
like going by the title, like if you wanted to
lean into the meat of the title, the replacement Killers,
I think one way you could do it is you
have chow Yon Fat and he's going to either he's
going to assassinate Michael Rooker, like not the kid Michael Rooker,
(23:35):
and he can't do it, but Rooker somehow catches him
and he's he's honest with Rooker and He's like, listen,
I was hired to assassinate you. I can't do it,
you know, like I just like you're a family man.
I you know, like I got history. I can't do it.
But the thing is is that all I did was
buy you time by telling you this, and by not
(23:57):
doing it, They're gonna still come after you, and now
are going to come after me. We're going to have
to tackle this together. That's your movie.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Oh man, a buddy film of him and Rucker. That
would be amazing. Yeah, yes it would, Yes, it would.
I'm even surprising myself and and is barely wearing his
clothes for like half that scene. It's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (24:21):
He's got every.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Super flat tummy. It's kind of weird. He's got some amazing.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
For like five minutes.
Speaker 3 (24:28):
You know.
Speaker 5 (24:28):
It's it's uh, it's it's interesting because I mean, at first, blush,
I look at this poster and I cast myself back
into time. One of the more surprising things in all
honesty is that he wasn't hired to kill Mira Sorvino,
like usually that's how these movies go. So I guess
points for it not being that question mark where's say
(24:49):
not that expected.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Do you know who Jason Statham would be.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
The star of that movie?
Speaker 2 (24:54):
Yes, yes he would if that was the case, Yes
he would pick Yes, speaking of of mirro Sorvino. Now,
obviously we've joked about that bathroom scene, and but in
the same vein, did anybody else notice that she got
more and more cleavage as the movie went on? Where
(25:15):
at first they have say, John, you paid special attention,
so I know that you did notice.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
No, I'm just an observant human being, is what I'm saying.
I may have.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
Noticed that her outfit altered somewhat through the film.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
At the beginning of the film, she's completely buttoned up.
She goes to the bathroom for some reason, she can't
button that top top two buttons.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
You know, she's a rush, she's in a rush.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
She's in a rush, and so her brazier is showing
a little bit. But she's in a rush. We completely
understand it. But then she's in a gunfight. Too bad,
those two buttons are gone. There's nothing she can do,
and so the third but close button is gone.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
The bullet whiz by and just took It would.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Happen to anybody, but then we in the middle of
the movie, we see her try to use a safety
pin to kind of close the shirt a little bit more.
It's it's too late. We've seen it all.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
You know it is too late.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
But but what's interesting, John Police, I'm not done. I
am not you're not then please go on towards the
end of the film. No buttons, Yeah, no buttons, left buttons,
but the shirt is still on, but there's no buttons.
Speaker 5 (26:15):
But see, here's where I can introduce you to some
interesting headcanon here. You know, you can write this story
in your own head is all the damage that his
suit should have been taking. She kept the selfless person
that she is sacrificing buttons from her outfit to keep
his suit immaculate through all of the action scenes, because
you know, he barely has any damage on his buttons.
(26:37):
So she's she's a very giving person. And so that's
that's that's what's going on.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Now, John, you're a big mirror Sorvino fan. I want
you to talk about her character in this How do
you think she came across What do you think about
what do you think about the character, What do you
think about Mira Sorvino's portrayal laid on me.
Speaker 5 (26:52):
Be honest, I think that Mira Sorvino is a very
talented actress. I do, And I think that the camera low,
you know, she's obviously she's you know, she's got a
great screen presence. But I don't think that Fuquah. And
I'm not laying it just on Fuquah. Any rookie director
by this point in her career, he doesn't know how
(27:14):
to direct her. In my opinion, she feels like she's
talking to somebody giving her prompts off screen half the time,
and it's not I'm not even blaming her for it.
I can tell that it's the director off camera saying
give it to me this way.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
No, say it this way.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
It's not as organic as I've seen her performances in
other movies, and so I have to lay the blame
at a director who you know, I mean, as we
go through, is Fuquah good at giving direction to women?
Is going to be a very interesting question to examine
through his career.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Nolan complex Yeah, to an extent.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
To an extent, I would argue some of the finer
points of that particular argument, But in terms of this
I look at this and I see a director that
isn't having the same trouble communicating with Chow Yung Fat
that he's having communicating with Sorvino and or even proc
now or anything like that. Like it just it seems
(28:19):
like he's communicating with his other actors better than he's
communicating with her. And I think that had I never
seen her in a different picture, I'm gonna rag on
her performance, but I have a body of work to
look at, and I can say this is a typical
What's the one thing that's different about her experience here,
and it's the director.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
I think that's right on the money, absolutely right on
the money. And I was hoping you would say something
like that because that's kind of how I felt too.
I've seen Sorvino give some amazing performances. She is a
good and talented actress whose career was curtailed by the
human fecal matter that shall not go named on this podcast,
but yeah, by it basically, yeah, And so it was strange.
(29:04):
It was a little jarring to kind of see that
stilted performance, But I think you're right it was from
a freshman director. But I think with like there's certain
freshman directors that you see where you're just like, I
don't know if they're going to get a sophomore attempt,
but obviously hindsight is twenty twenty. But thankfully, while watching this,
I didn't get that feeling where I wasn't like, Oh,
(29:25):
this is garbage, this is crap. It was just more
of a sense of this could have been so much more,
because I really loved the kind of the gritty neon,
you know, the stylized violence. I think you could see
his thumb print all over it. You could tell there
was a director who who cared about the material, cared
about the vision, and wanted to entertain you, but just
(29:48):
didn't have the experience to work with the studio and
get it there food couus direction. What did you think,
regardless of story in the script, what did you think
about the visual flair? Did you feel like he was
still trying to entertain you or did you feel like, oh,
it's going to be a stretch if this guy gets
another movie.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Now, I felt, like I said, or like we all
said at the beginning of this podcast, this felt like
a nineties action movie, and I think I give it
a little leeway with that because I'm not expecting some
of the advancements in how stories are telled and shown
(30:26):
and things like that. Nowadays, I'm okay with a little
bit of popcorn and they're doing spin tricks as they shoot,
like okay, Like is that kind of ridiculous? Yeah? Does
it detract from the story? Not necessarily, So I think
this doesn't surprise me as a freshman take from this director.
(30:52):
But something I kept thinking of when you were talking
about the studio is, at the end of the day,
they have to make a movie. They can't just be
like we have to wait till the right director and
the right film and everything is going to line up
for a billion dollars to roll into us. No, they
have to put something out constantly or they're not making money.
(31:13):
So even if they make a little bit of money,
it's better than nothing. So I think at the end,
this is a I'm glad that they put invested into
this director, you know, into Anton, and I think, you know,
we're going to just see where he goes from here.
So I'm glad this movie, you know, came out. Is
it the best movie? No, But I'm I'm glad for
(31:37):
you know, if I was back in the nineties and
spent three dollars on this ticket, I would be okay.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
John, I have a question for you. Yeah, so you
know we talked about it at the beginning. You know
this borrows a lot from Hong Kong cinema and John
Wick borrows a lot from Hong Kong cinema. How would
you compare Replacement Killers to John Wick? Now, obviously John
Wick has made a much bigger splash financially in the
(32:05):
zeitgeist in pop culture. There's four of them. There's a
spinoff movie, so obviously it's more successful. But how do
you think it compares two Hong Kong cinema. Do you
feel like John Wick did it better or just better
for American audiences?
Speaker 3 (32:20):
I think that's the right way to say it. Better
for American audiences.
Speaker 5 (32:23):
John Wick the first John Wick feels like and one
of the reasons I love it is it feels like
American cuisine. Where it is I have Chinese food here.
It's not food that people eat in China. I know this.
I'm comfortable with that fact and so is everybody else.
But when you say do you want Chinese food, I'm
(32:44):
not thinking about going and getting some authentic dish from
the Sechuan province. I'm thinking of General So's chicken. So
that's what I'm about.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
So cool. I like it, and that's what John is,
and I'm on board with it.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
I love that so much because it's unabashedly American. And
I say that without irony. I say that without irony
because it's so true that, like, we know, we know
we're eating Americanized Mexican food, we know we're eating americanized
you know, Chinese food. We know we're eating Americanized Indian food.
Speaker 5 (33:19):
We don't care, no, And then when you have some
that comes along that's like, hey, it's Korean and mexicanfusion,
We're like on board. I'll try it at least and
then if it's good, we're gonna get a chain of
these things.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
That's cool. I like it. Mix it all together, man.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
That's how we get John Wick. That is so that's
so apropois.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
I love that. I love that.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yes, yeah, John Wick is the americanized Hong Kong and yeah,
and you know, Replacement Killers was an homage to John Wu.
But it couldn't capture the essence of it.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
No, it couldn't. It was somebody that didn't understand how to.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Adapt it, is what I would say, And so it's
a victim of multiple influence is coming together and just
Fuquah wasn't there to do it.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
I mean the thing.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
And this is because we all know this is sort
of like my pet thing to sort of like fixate
on a little bit. But when I was looking at
it and Harry Gregson Williams did the score, oh no,
Like I felt so disappointed. Because Gregson Williams has done
some terrific scores, including Kingdom of Heaven. He's worked a
lot with Scott, He's going to work a lot with
(34:26):
Fuquah going forward. But this, I think the score is
just as evocative of what we're talking about, the vibe
we're talking about, where it's like this movie is so
just gristmill churned out nineties sort of thing, like this
is exactly the type of score I'd expect from a
forgettable action.
Speaker 3 (34:45):
Movie in the nineties.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
And it hurts because Gregson Williams is so much more
talented than that. But I guess it's at the stage
in his career where he's like, what am I supposed
to be doing here?
Speaker 3 (34:55):
This okay? Should sound like this, Okay, cool, cool, cool cool,
And you.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Know it's it may sound like we're ragging on Fuqua
a lot at all, but that's the thing is that,
like I think, the only reason why we're being so
honest is because we know. Again, like I said earlier,
Heinstein is twenty twenty. We know how much of a
talent he is and what he can bring to the table.
And I'm so utterly excited to keep going in his filmography,
(35:21):
specifically for next week.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
Oh but not just specifically for next week, but put
a pin in this. This is a fascinating movie to
watch when you see later what he does with the Equalizer,
when you see a confident and established Fuquah return to
the action genre in a big way like this, Okay,
like you're gonna see you'll see this.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
This is gonna pay off. Trust me.
Speaker 2 (35:46):
I'm excited because I have missed the Equalizer films, and
I know, I know that they've made three of them,
and I'm a big Denzel fan, so I'm surprised that
I have missed these. But yeah, I'm excited to keep going.
But I do want to I do want to talk
about one thing before we wrap up, and that is,
and this was a surprise to me where apparently I
(36:07):
don't know how true this is. I know it's kind
of been established in the lore, but apparently test audiences
didn't like the idea of the bio racial romance between
chaw Yon Fat and Mira Sorvino, and so apparently fuquav
filmed it and then they cut it. But then we
have an extended version. But there's not really a romance there.
(36:28):
There's like a respect, there's a there's a I don't
know there. I don't want to say, what's the term
I'm looking for. There was an affection, there's a respect
and an affection. But I really enjoyed how they treated
their relationship because there was not that. There wasn't any
of that, will there there, won't there finally just kiss her,
you know, like there was none of that, which I
(36:50):
really appreciated because I can't stand the action films.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
There there was no rain soaked sex scene halfway through.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
And also like this kind of didn't need it. And
also there was zero sexual chemistry between chow Yon Fat and.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
Mira, lesson zero.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
It Actually, if you took if you took somebody to
this as a date movie, you probably broke.
Speaker 3 (37:12):
Up afterward, like that's the thing. It didn't help you
out at all.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Chow Yon fat, very attractive, very charismatic, Mira Sorvino gorgeous
and just has this magnetic pull towards her, but yet together,
there was nothing there.
Speaker 5 (37:27):
And so I would make another on screen comparison, but
I might get in trouble for it.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
I kind of want to see I kind of want to.
Speaker 5 (37:34):
Know Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Far and Away.
These people are married, so.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
You know it's okay because they've been divorced for a
long time, that's sure. Yeah, And so it was interesting.
I was just like, you know, like was it It
makes you wonder, like do I believe that it could
have been Rachel? Of course the nineties were insane. Today
is insane, but the nineties, especially especially when it comes
to Asians. But part of me is just like, was
it racial or was it just because they had no
(38:03):
sexual chemistry?
Speaker 5 (38:06):
I would actually clock it as if they were trying
to force some sort of romantic thing. Yeah, I would
say it wouldn't. Maybe I'm being too generous, but I
would I would have looked at it and said, this
just isn't working, guys, Like it has nothing to do
with you know, you know, biracial anything. It has everything
to do with what you just said. There is absolutely
(38:29):
I do not believe that Chow Young Fat and Mira
Sorvino got along really well and there was you know,
a lot of fun off camera between the two of them.
This felt like two people who showed up to work,
shook hands and went home.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
So yeah, yeah, this is not Pam Anderson and Liam Neesen, folks,
this is this is not that marketing campaign.
Speaker 3 (38:47):
I'll tell you what.
Speaker 5 (38:47):
You roll this back to the nineties and you you
utter that phrase back then, like I'd love to go
back to me in the nineties like Pam Anderson and
Liam Neeson, and I would just I'd be like that
meme of that guy with a huh, like what.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
I have to say. I had no interest. I had
zero interest in the Naked Gun continuation, the revival movie,
whatever you want to call it. I had zero interest
in it. But then this huge marketing campaign of the
chemistry between Pam Anderson and Liam Neeson. I'm like, okay, guys, okay,
marketing boys, you got me, Like, I'm gonna watch this movie,
(39:23):
just because they are so freakin' adorable, you know, outside
of the movie. Yes, all right, all right, So Darren,
I love to pick on you, and whenever I host,
I make you go first. So how many bullets with
the Chinese symbol for death are you giving this movie?
Speaker 4 (39:41):
Yeah, I'm going to give it to bullets. I am
taking a star off of because of the rain. I
said I was gonna do it kind of jokingly, but
it's true. The rain is is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (39:54):
I don't say that to.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Belittle the director.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
I think it's a very starting point, and I think,
I mean, we know where he's gonna go from this.
And I do also feel that I was maybe a
little harsh in how well he used Telli un Fat
because again, he has not done Crouching Tiger yet, he
has not done all these other things that we know of,
(40:20):
so I can't really judge him for his freshman outing
into American cinema. It has to start somewhere. So but overall, yeah,
two bullets, and they have a little carving on them,
so you know which bullets they are and who they're
intended for.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
All right, John, how many Mirosorvino shirt paper clips are you,
I should say, safety pins are you giving this movie?
Speaker 3 (40:47):
I'm gonna have to go ahead and agree with Darren. Two.
Speaker 5 (40:50):
This is not a movie that I want to revisit
in the future. Like it's that weird thing where it's like,
I'm glad I saw it for this journey because, like
I said, I'm gonna enjoy coming back to when Fuquah
gets a chance to like really shine in the action genre.
But this ain't it, and it's it's competently put together,
(41:10):
and I can understand what vestige of story they stretched
over these scenes.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
So I'll give it a too, all right, I am
giving it a nostalgic three. I am adding an extra
point for the rain you sell out and so I am.
I'm just like, no, it's baptismal, it's cleansing, it's beautiful,
even if it's La because actually when I was in
La it rained like three times when I lived there
for like six months. But any regardless, regardless, giving it
(41:38):
three stars, I know that's a lot for this movie.
I know that's a lot. I'm gonna give it a
two and a half. Actually I'm gonna change my mind here.
I wanted to give it a three if it was
the beginning of the movie. It was the first act
is a three. I think in my mind, I'm like,
this is this solid action work. It's a lot of fun.
It's nineties at its best. Actually, I should say the
(41:59):
beginning is forced, but then we just keep getting lower
as the movie goes on. There's not a lot of
meat on the bone. There's there's just not enough substance there,
and they try to give it substance. Actually, like looking
at the theatrical version, looking at the extended version, you
think the extended version would add some depth, and it
kind of does, but not really, Like it's the kind
(42:23):
of depth that makes you roll your eyes where I'm
just like, this isn't the movie for that. This don't
don't try to do something that's not appropriate for the
film itself. So I'm going to change my mind. It's
not a three, it's a two and a half. But
the thing is, I have I have such a soft
spot for this movie for obvious reasons, for what I
talked about the beginning. If it kept the vibe, it
kept the rhythm and the language of the first act,
(42:46):
I think this would be a much better film. But
it didn't say lav It's okay. We got tons of
other Hong Kong action films to talk about and review
and watch with chaw Yon Fat. But we're going to
continue on with Anti on Fuqua and uh, it's gonna
be crazy next week because Darren, what are we doing?
Speaker 4 (43:07):
Yes, that's right. As we're continuing this decade by decade
with Antine Fuqua, we're going with two thousand and one's
training Day here on House sites.
Speaker 1 (43:19):
Join the Revolution, Join the NED Party,
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