Normally, I prefer not to get involved with the bashing of a movie, as I feel it is of little sense to try and prevent someone from liking something. Or to rate opinions. Tastes differ and we all accept that, aye!?
In the case of Wasabi, I can see that it could appeal to many people, for many differing reasons...Like the characters, that type of humor or the overall style of the movie.
But personally I am a little shocked that the movie is considered by some as "the best of its kind".
The humor and acting felt like aimed at children, as it was mostly the kind of humor you would see in a "Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill"-movie. And in that same manner it did not seriously build any tension. Why would you feel worried about someone who is, by tenor of this movie, obviously invincible? At best you could feel excited about who Jean Reno's next victim may be, and in what absurd clownlike-manner he might neutralize him!
I liked such things when I was young, and some of them I still like, so, I do not criticize anyone for finding joy in it!
A problem is, though, that the movie does not seem very suitable for children. Many of the subjects just felt a little too mentally twisted, with a rather adult orientation, as most characters were just a little too far over the edge, and the violence brutally exceeded that of a Bud Spencer movie.
The relationship between Jean Reno's character and his daughter is another weak point. Threatcondelta (who opened this thread) said the story is tugging on sentimental heartstrings which are highly overused in movies, and I have to agree. This is a plotdevice that could only work with a very inexperienced movieaudience, or with overly sentimental people.
Of course, it is a neccessity that there are still movies made for those groups!
And maybe the movie feels like the best of its kind to them.
To me, the movie was highly boring, even though I was in a relaxed mood and could have done with the tiniest elements of entertainment. But the movie did not even try to be slightly creative. It was like watching a very old movie in its hundredth new guise. It did not even make me smile once. Sometimes I winced in pain about the sloppy way in which humor was attempted.
Especially the main characters felt unbearable to watch.
Overused stereotypes of that kind are only intriguing when you successfully add an unpredictable depth to them.
If you cannot do that, they are better usable in cynical black-humored scenarioes that make the audience feel pity for how deranged they are. Scenarioes where the suffering of the anti-heroes goes so far that you eventually start feeling pity for them, even though you initially welcomed their punishment.
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