Those two jokers posing together are Trent Reznor and Gareth Evans – the brains behind Nine Inch Nails and The Raid, respectively. I dunno why they got together for this cool photo, but I don’t care. It’s just a great pic. Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Hetfield together would be cooler, but maybe another time.
The photo got me curious about whether Reznor would score The Raid 2: Berendal. Considering how chummy they clearly are, that Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park did the soundtrack on the first film, and after his Oscar-winning work with David Fincher the fact that Reznor has resurrected Nine Inch Nails and is singing all doomy gloomy stuff again – it could actually happen. But no, Evans recently tweeted he was starting work on the score with composers Fajar Yuskemal, Aria Prayogi and Joe Trapanese instead.
Evans recently showed off a clip of the recently wrapped Berandal at the UK’s awesome Frightfest. It focused on Hammer Girl, a major new character in the sequel, demonstrating her hari mau (‘tiger style’, the same technique Iko Uwais used in Merantau. Nothing to do with Wu-Tang Clan’s Nuthin ta Fuck With). Judging by the excited responses online, we’re in for a real treat with Hammer Girl, who has a lot to live up to after the first film’s awesome Mad Dog villain.
Evans apparently came close to dying while filming one of the vehicular action scenes in the film – the photo below catches the moment where we almost lost one of the most exciting forces in modern action movie entertainment:
Thank Christ he got out of the way. The confinement of The Raid‘s action to one building is a massive part of what made it such an amazing triumph, but I am particularly keen on seeing what Evans does with car chases, and the mental sounding fist fights that take place on and in moving vehicles.
Before I move on from The Raid‘s country of Indonesia, this awesome trailer also came out of it recently. Not a lot of plot is given away in this Guardian teaser, but it showcases a few hundred bullets, some car wrecks and a little hand-to-hand business.
There’s been a lot of awesome Scott Adkins news since my last blog. Firstly, the petition failed and he didn’t get the Batman role, it went instead to Gigli and Jersey Girl star Ben Affleck. But to make up for that, a trailer dropped for the Ninja sequel, now called Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear, and it was so fucking good I did my first ever all caps tweet about it. Yes, I’m ashamed of that, but the trailer is fucking amazing.
Our Andrew Todd is over at Fantastic Fest and I wish to hell I was with him, largely because he saw the premiere of Shadow Of A Tear with Adkins and director Isaac Florentine in attendance. His mini review basically says that it’s exactly what I wanted it to be, only put more eloquently:
“Shadow of a Tear is a lean, physical action movie in the ’80s revenge-action mould, with Adkins and the stunt team performing some truly astonishing fight sequences. Florentine shoots in long, dynamic takes, which gives the fights a visceral excitement that no amount of shaky-cam or fast editing could ever match. The story is bare-bones to the point of being almost comical, but it’s just a vehicle to deliver as much Adkins-powered ass-kicking as possible.”
Action filmed in long takes that let you appreciate choreography over editing is the best type of action, which is what sounds like it’s full of. That’s not so surprising, as it’s how Florentine rolls and a big part of what makes his films great. I was pleased to discover Renny Harlin is also right into it too – in a recent interview he described a scene in his Adkins movie Hercules 3D that also features a six minute one take battle. Mint.
Any Adkins fan worth his weight in flying kicks loves the movies Undisputed 2 and Undisputed III, both also directed by Florentine, and at Fantastic Fest the pair announced they’re working on a fourth film in that wonderful fight film franchise. Yup, Boyka is coming back.
Also in Scott Adkins news, a trailer has been released for Green Street Hooligans: Underground. It doesn’t show off too much exciting Adkins action, the focus being on boneheaded British thugs dishing out haymakers more than precise Boyka-style jump kicks, but it does feature Adkins saying “fuck” in an accent much closer to his actual one than his usual Russian and American imitations.
Adkins is also returning to sci-fi anthology series Métal Hurlant Chronicles, and he’s been doing some cool stuff on social media like publishing photos of himself doing flying kicks on the beach. Here’s one from Malibu (top) and one from Mykonos:
There’s been a truckload of movies based on Ip Man in recent years; the guy is pretty much the new Wong Fei-hung. But what’s this? A new Wong Fei-hung is on the way! The role has not been filled by Donnie Yen – who has already played both Ip Man and a third oft-portrayed Chinese folklore hero Chen Zen – but rather Taiwanese actor Eddie Peng, seen on the big screen here recently in MMA drama Unbeatable. He’s not a martial arts expert, but director Ray Chow has hit back at criticism of this saying he trained hard as a motherf… and was able to pull off all his Fei-hung Shadowless Kicks for real. He’s doing a pretty cool one in the debut poster:
I would’ve liked to have seen Donnie Yen in the role, for sure, but the trailer below for Special ID is much more exciting. It’s got Yen in full-on violent badass mode, dressed in cool jeans with a white singlet and occasionally a smart jacket, wasting modern day bad guys with vicious techniques.
According to Twitchfilm.com, Yen “is taking the fierce ‘Ultimate fighting’ style as previously shown in the Hong Kong contemporary crime thriller SPL and Flashpoint to the next level in Clarence Fok’s Special ID. For the action design, Yen continues to incorporate a variety of Mixed Martial Arts techniques, fusing not only stand-up striking but also Brazilian jiu-jitsu and grappling to choreograph the brutal street brawl.”
I’m also yet to enjoy Yen in Dragon which sounds like a must-see based on the Total Film review.
Here’s a couple of other recent Asian trailers that have tickled my fancy quite a bit. Andy Lau in big-budget, star-studded Hong Kongcrime flick Firestorm:
And Malaysia’s awesomely over-the-top looking KL Gangster 2:
It seems like Fast & Furious 6 has only just left our cinemas, but there’s been a heap of developments for its sequel and they’ve even started filming it. Ong Bak legend Tony Jaa is joining in the fun, presumably to have one single scene written into the film solely to showcase his skills, as was the case with The Raid‘s Joe Taslim in the last film. The final Tom Yum Goong 2 trailer is out, by the way. It looks pretty dope.
Other Fast & Furious 7 casting announcements were UFC star Ronda Rousey, Game of Thrones star Nathalie Emmanuel (she plays Daenerys’ mate Missandei) and action icon Kurt Russell. His role was a rumour rather than an announcement, but Vin Diesel has now posted a photo of them together on set with Paul Walker.
Diesel has posted a few other photos and updates and director James Wan tweeted a photo of a ridiculously huge blue screen they’re using.
I really can’t wait to see more of how Wan is moving this franchise forward. There’s a crazy amount of stars to juggle in it now and probably a lot of pressure to one-up the action last film, which one-upped Fast 5 to absolutely insane levels. But as exciting as the mind-blowing set-pieces are, force of nature Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson reprising his role as Agent Hobbs is something I’m really looking forward to just as much. Just before joining the production, Johnson wrapped Hercules: The Thracian Wars. The amazing physique he will be exhibiting in that film is the result of a strict exercise and dieting regime you or I would never have a hope of adhering to. I’ll leave you with these images of how the Great One celebrates such a regime coming to a close – 12 Pancakes, 4 double dough pizzas and 21 Brownies.
