Clash (2009)

I picked out CLASH from the shelves on the strength of it being a Vietnamese martial arts thriller – and knowing the calibre of recent Thai fare in the same genre, I was hoping it would be up to the challenge. Sadly, it turns out to be a bit of a lacklustre effort, one that's hampered by a low budget and a lack of creativity and freedom in delivering the action.As soon as the central team are holed up in a dilapidated, run-down old country house as their base of operations, I knew this would be a shot-on-the-cheap kind of movie. And so it turns out to be. Strangely, the plot seems to be virtually copied from the Frankenheimer movie RONIN, right down to the hotel stakeout, the double cross, and the reveal of one character's background at the end. Needless to say, it doesn't hold a candle to that movie.Instead, this is the kind of predictable and slightly cheesy fare that appears to have been done on the cheap. The script is poor and the performances are nothing to write home about, which leaves us with the martial arts to contend with. I can report that the fights are pretty well staged, if not reaching the same level of greatness that we saw in ONG BAK, for example. Johnny Nguyen is a great fighter, but the camera doesn't love him like it loves him in WARRIOR KING and it's all just a little bit by rote. The same goes for Ngo Thanh Van – she's arresting, but only on a B-movie level.The result is a film that's average at best, and which feels a little bit stale and past it's sell by date. Nevertheless, I plan to check out a few more Vietnamese movies to see what they're capable of delivering.

I must say that Vietnam is actually making a good jab at the martial arts movie market, and "Clash" ("Bay Rong") is an enjoyable action/martial arts movie.The story is about a group of people who have to steal a laptop from a group of French people. But there is a traitor in the ranks and the laptop becomes an object that several groups of people come to chase after.The movie wasn't really a character-driven story, obviously, it was without a doubt driven by the sheer action and in-you-face martial arts. And that worked out well enough, so you shouldn't expect to see a lot of award-winning acting here though."Clash" had some nicely choreographed martial arts and it was well executed. I must say that Johnny Nguyen (playing Quan) is truly a rising Vietnamese martial arts start and I assume we will see much more of him in the future. I have seen him in 3 movies that I can remember, and have been impressed so far. But Veronica Ngo (playing Trinh) also did some nice martial arts in "Clash".I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the action and the martial arts in the movie. There were a couple of laughable moments though, such as where they were hiding behind a couch to protect themselves from the fires shot from an AK47, or using a wooden table for protection. That just wasn't very well thought through. But in overall, then the movie proved to be rather enjoyable. If you like martial arts movies with lots of action and adrenaline, then you should definitely sit down to watch "Clash". Especially the final showdown was enjoyable, lots of gunfire, kicking and throwing punches here.I had never heard about this movie prior to buying it from Amazon, and it was bought simply because it was a Vietnamese action movie and I wanted to see how well the Vietnamese would pull this off. And I must say that I am impressed.

Expectations for any martial arts action film are usually the same: be entertained by lots of great fight scenes. Johnny Nguyen's martial arts expertise doesn't disappoint in Clash, but the film fortunately goes deeper than just that which places it in an elite category of martial arts action films.Thanh Van "Veronica" Ngo plays Trinh/Phoenix and creates a beautiful, brutal, yet warm and caring lead character that is the centerpiece of the film. When she fights it is masterful, and when she breaks down over those she loves it is touching. Being able to believe in her diversity of actions and emotions shows her mastery of the character.Johnny Nguyen wrote the story and has created a role for himself, Quan/Tiger, which not only has him taking a back seat to Trinh, but has created a complex character who has secrets, who has emotions beyond being angry at the bad guys, and of course who can grace the scene with his amazing fight sequences. As the dutiful right hand man of Trinh he follows orders, yet does so with a protective eye at every turn. It is obvious as the film progresses that Tiger is developing feelings for Phoenix and at the moment they are finally alone and safe from the chaotic world outside he expresses how he feels by saying, "I don't wanna call you Phoenix anymore, I want to call you by your real name." A subtle way of expressing his feelings that is easily understood by Trinh who made it clear that Rule #1 is never use your real name so you remain an anonymous person. Their moment doesn't degrade into a cheesy roll in the hay but becomes a conversation about the complexity of their lives while acknowledging the mutual feelings and finally the love scene (aka "roll in the hay"). A beautifully conceived scene.And with the great acting and the complexity of the characters, there are some brief moments of genuine humor (not bad one liners), Christopher Wong's original adrenaline rush score and of course plenty of martial arts fight scenes that don't disappoint, in particular, raiding the house and fighting the "Frenchies." And all that leads to a conclusion that is not what you would predict (thankfully) and yet lends itself perfectly to the hard truth about the complexity that will continue to be their lives beyond this one mission.If there is a downside to the film, it is the "briefcase." The item that everyone wants is never defined as to it's importance both in it's content and what it has the capability of doing in the wrong hands. From the beginning of the film the depth of the mission is unclear and the briefcase becomes just a prop with no tangible value. However, when you only expect action from a martial arts film and you get so much more with the development of the characters, who cares about the briefcase!

Attended the first screening of Clash at the Tribeca film Festival. It was billed as the "international premiere". The place was packed, the director was in attendance and there was an expectation of seeing something special. By the end of the film things had turned less happy.The plot of the film has a woman code named Phoenix assembling a team of men to help her steal a lap top from a group of French men. She has to complete several missions in order to win freedom for herself and her daughter who is being held hostage. But things don't go right from the start and only get more complicated as people die and traitors appear.I've just over sold the film. Its nowhere near as exciting as I make that out to be. Actually there isn't much of anything until we get to the action sequences that punctuate the film. The action is very good, with a couple of nice small twists, but it is not at all ground breaking nor does it match the description in the film festival write up (and one has to wonder about any film where you have to draw attention to its box office take).The trouble in the film comes in major three places.First the film is terribly soapy. There are longing looks and measured breaths and any number of soap opera like touches that are used to heighten the dramatic parts. Frankly by the end of the film the audience was laughing at the over cooked nature of the longing looks. Its dull and boring and people around me were snoring.Secondly the film insists it has style and attitude. It has an amped up soundtrack like many Hollywood films. It is often filmed in a style that apes the many better, and worse, Asian films floating around. Those films pull off the attitude by actually backing the material up with a grittiness lacking here. Yes, the action has what it takes, but the rest feels like dress up.The last problem, and its a killer, the film makes no sense. Nothing or very little is explained. Things just happen. There is an exchange early on where our heroine insists that no one ask questions. She might as well have been talking to the audience as events transpire with out rhyme or reason. For example we get part of a talk about a raid on the French men's house and what plan to use and then suddenly they are in motion on a plan set up by a guy who never said anything. (Forgive me I want to give a second example of the nonsense of the plot but find that none of it makes any sense in the details) The action is worth seeing but wait for a point where you can borrow a copy from a friend.