In this week’s low-profile VOD releases, Jackie Chan and Richard Dreyfuss make dubious additions to their creative legacies, British military veterans apply their combat skills to an action movie, and a Spanish auteur displays his fetishes onscreen.
La Pietà (VOD and Film Movement Plus January 17): There’s nothing pious about Spanish writer-director Eduardo Casanova’s demented film, named after a famous piece of Christian iconography. Casanova delights in the perversity of his story about the disturbingly close relationship between a mother and son, which is thrown into chaos when the son is diagnosed with brain cancer. That sounds a lot more serious than what Casanova delivers, drawing equally from Pedro Almodóvar and David Cronenberg. Mateo (Manel Llunell) may be an adult, but his mother Libertad (Ángela Molina) treats him like a helpless infant, and she’s just as dependent on his constant presence. Casanova’s version of 2011 Spain is a surreal dystopia, decorated mostly in muted grays and whites, aside from the sickly-pale pink of Mateo and Libertad’s nightmarish home. The allegorical interludes about North Korean defectors are a bit heavy-handed, and some of the extreme gross-out moments go too far, but most of La Pietà is mysterious and disquieting, a glimpse into a horrific but perversely loving familial dynamic. Grade: B
A Legend (VOD and DVD/Blu-ray January 21): A theatrical flop in China this past summer, Jackie Chan’s newest late-career debacle bypasses U.S. theaters for release directly into the homes of only his most hardcore fans. Frequent Chan collaborator Stanley Tong writes and directs this bloated multiple-timeline slog starring Chan in dual roles. In the present, archaeologist Professor Fang (Chan) discovers a jade pendant that connects back to the ancient battles between the Han dynasty and the invading Huns, and he starts having visions of himself and his assistant (Lay Zhang) as generals in those battles. The bulk of the movie focuses on the wuxia-lite historical action, featuring an awkwardly de-aged Chan (and/or his stunt double) as a young warrior. The pacing is lumbering and disjointed, the modern-day comedy is clumsy and frequently sexist, and the digital effects are hideous. When the actual 70-year-old Chan finally cuts loose with his signature moves in the climax, it’s still entertaining to watch — although it mostly serves as a reminder of how much better he could do. Grade: C
Creep Box (VOD January 24): It’s not surprising that writer-director Patrick Biesemans adapted this moody sci-fi thriller from a short film, because it has one slightly intriguing idea and a bit of eerie atmosphere, but not nearly enough plot or character development to fill out 95 minutes. The opening scene establishes the somber tone, as glum scientist Franklin Caul (Geoffrey Cantor) demonstrates his invention, a computer that simulates the consciousness of the deceased via neurological patterns pulled directly from their brains after death. Caul and his boss are adamant that his process is not AI, and the concerns raised in Creep Box are more metaphysical than technological. Either way, they’re only mildly interesting, and Biesemans spends far too much time teasing out the obvious reason that Caul is obsessed with perfecting his device. Cantor delivers his entire performance in the same dull, subdued register, which matches the droning music on the soundtrack. That can be haunting enough for 10 minutes, but it becomes monotonous without any further layers to explore. Grade: C
Sunray: Fallen Soldier (VOD and select theaters January 24): The former British Royal Marines Commandos who created and star in this movie may be interested in raising awareness about PTSD, but they’re much better at staging exciting action sequences. The performances are solid, but the scenes involving the characters processing their emotions mostly feel like filler, dragging out what should be a lean, propulsive thriller for nearly two hours. Still, the action is so impressive that it’s worth waiting out the ponderous melancholy to get to the brutal confrontations. The story is a basic revenge thriller, as traumatized veteran Andy (Tip Cullen) recruits his ex-teammates to help him take down the many people he holds responsible for his daughter’s drug-overdose death. There’s some slight moral complexity in the question of who’s actually to blame for the death of Andy’s daughter, but Sunray works best when it doesn’t get too introspective. Directors/co-writers/editors/cinematographers James Clarke and Daniel Shepherd demonstrate considerable skill in most of those areas, distinguishing themselves as promising new voices in DTV action cinema. Grade: B-
Into the Deep (VOD and select theaters January 24): Putting Richard Dreyfuss in your shark-attack movie serves only to highlight how inferior it is to Jaws — which is true even for the best of modern sharksploitation. Into the Deep is definitely not among the best of modern sharksploitation, although it has comparatively high production values, and director Christian Sesma gets a semi-engaged performance out of Dreyfuss as the protagonist’s wise marine biologist grandfather. He stays far away from the action, as Cassidy (Scout Taylor-Compton) and her husband Gregg (Callum McGowan) go diving for sunken treasure, only to encounter both great white sharks and a crew of drug smugglers. The smugglers, led by a man-bunned Jon Seda, get more screen time than the sharks, and they’re equally nonthreatening. The scenes between Cassidy and her grandfather emphasize her need to recover from the trauma of seeing her father killed by a shark when she was a kid, but her emotional journey is as unconvincing as the shoddy CGI. Grade: C-