MovieChat Forums > Fireball (2009) Discussion > my biggest problem with the movie

my biggest problem with the movie

posted 14 years ago by moviefiend-1
3 replies | jump to latest

this is the kind of film i should love. just a ridiculous concept of sports/fighting/action, and whilst there are elements of the film i liked, the one key area which let it down the most was the most important one: the fights.

part of a review from den of geek sums it up better than i could:

A mixture of over-the-top swirly camera moves mixed with annoyingly rapid fire editing (think Michael Bay with ADD) quickly grate. As does Pongsuwan's habit for framing most of the action in medium shots, waist up. It means we're robbed of the splendour of watching the athleticism on show. There are snippets here and there of tremendous leaps and flying elbows, but never to the jaw-dropping extent of Ong-Bak.

hard not to agree with that. The choreography is annoyingly close up it's like you miss half of what's going on.

ruined a great idea.

[–] moviefiend-1 14 years ago

a second review actually compliments the choreography:

- and, with that being the case, there really isn't any need to shoot wide out to give a clear view. Pongsuwan wants us to feel the impact more than see or appreciate it and on that level he absolutely succeeds.

i aint sure i agree, but i kinda see what that guy is saying. It aint to say i found it very annoying.

where do you stand on this?

[–] petra-59 13 years ago

I've got use to the fact that if you get hit in the face with a brick it doesn't hurt.
But I do like to see the fights. And all I got was so much close up photography and obvious editing that I really couldn't see what was going on.
There are much better "fight" films than this one.
The average vote of 5 is fairly generous.

[–] landgabriel 12 years ago

'The Raid' suffers from same problem: too many mid-shots waist up. Even showing arm movements this is too close because it cuts out footwork.

Long shot reins supreme with action choreography as Chan and HK in the 80's and Rittikrai/Pinkaew and BK in the 00's have proven.