Ronny Yu

  • Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

    Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On Cable TV, July 2016) Watching this movie without much knowledge or affection for either the Friday the 13th or the Nightmare on Elm Street series had me feeling as if I was attending a very strange party to which I hadn’t been invited. The concept of horror villain fandom baffles me—I had the impression that Freddy vs Jason was trying to get me to cheer for one mass murderers of children or another, which just seems wrong. It doesn’t help that Freddy vs Jason is, in most aspects, a thoroughly forgettable slasher: Here are a bunch of teenagers, there are the monsters, watch as they get picked off one by one until the final girl. Yawn. The film’s sole distinction is the amount of worship that Freddy vs Jason has for either Freddy Krueger (cackling one-liners) or Jason Voorhees (silent brute), which doesn’t translate into anything meaningful. Again: I’d like a horror movie that doesn’t make me feel like a psychopath, please. Some aspects of the film warrant mention due to imperfection: the CGI effects, in particular, look fake and dated. Some of Ronny Yu’s direction has some high-energy moments (with Robert Englund clearly having fun in a familiar role), even though the Crystal Lake third act feels far too long for its own good. I almost certainly could have gotten more out of Freddy vs Jason had I watched the interminable series that inspired it. But frankly, I have better things to do.

  • The 51st State aka Formula 51 (2001)

    The 51st State aka Formula 51 (2001)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theaters, October 2002) If “Samuel L. Jackson in a kilt” doesn’t raise your eyebrow and your interest, that’s fine, move along, nothing to see here… but for everyone else, Formula 51 is a fun little crime comedy. Dynamically directed by Hong Kong action maven Ronny Yu, this film follows the adventures of a very American chemist (Jackson, wearing a kilt throughout) stuck trying to make a drug deal in Liverpool, UK with the help of a reluctant sidekick (Robert Carlyle) while under the gun of a hired assassin (the unspeakably cute Emily Mortimer). Oh, there’s also Meat Loaf, as “The Lizard”. I’m not going to pretend that this is a classic for the ages, but there are quite a few fun moments here and there, from a dynamic opening credit sequence to a golf-club whuppin’ to a car chase (where both leads go “aaah!” at the same time, thereby fulfilling a basic requirement of buddy comedies) to plenty of double-crosses. It’s crunchy good fun, though there’s a bit too much spilt bodily fluids to be clean fun. There’s some amusing material on British/American differences, which is fitting for a Canada-Britain collaboration, I suppose. Younger fans of action/crime comedies should consider checking this one out. More mature viewers may wish to pass…