Daniel Day Lewis goes oil-mad in Texas and tears up the screen while action dudes Jet Li and Jason Statham get their kicks (and chops and punches) in San Fransciso.
> There Will Be Blood
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier, Kevin J. O'Connor, David Willis, Hans Howes, Ciaran Hinds
Rating: (R13)
•••• 1 /2
By MARK ORTON
Could this be a case of deja vu? In the space of a couple of weeks, we are blessed with two gritty and quite brilliant films with uncanny similarity.
There Will Be Blood turns the clock back 60-odd years on No Country for Old Men and in the process adds a few more shades of black to the tarnished American Dream.
Inspired by Upton Sinclair's novel Oil, director P.T. Anderson (Magnolia / Punch Drunk Love) uses every millimetre of the vast widescreen to bring alive a sparse but incredibly resonant landscape.
The centrepiece of Anderson's vision and most definitely his biggest coup is the performance of Daniel Day Lewis, as oilman Daniel Plainview.
Plainview is the archetypal man alone. As he prospects alone for silver, we are given an intense introduction to his persona, then watch as he stumbles upon the black gold that will transform his life.
With adopted son H.W. in tow, Plainview masks his greed and contempt for others by marketing himself as a ‘‘family-oriented'' entrepreneur.
Huge fortunes generated through the thirst for oil are his for the taking. Though Plainview hasn't factored religion and the curious persona of hick clergyman Eli (Paul Dano) into his grand plans.
Dano's curious faith-healing preacher provides an interesting foil to Plainview's naked ambition, but for all his slightly over-the-top mannerisms, this is most definitely Day Lewis' show.
Plainview's distrust of human relationships and gradual disintegration has distinct parallels with Orson Welles' Charles Foster Kane.
Scared by a fractured family history, the ruthless pursuit of wealth is no panacea for his deep-seated emotional void. It's hard to imagine any other actor performing as well as Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview.
From his gentle enunciation to an awkward limp, the whole package is quite mesmerising.
There Will Be Blood pulls no punches in exposing an ocean of evil coursing below the crust of American soil.
Highly likely to polarise viewers, it is one film that will definitely reward those who don't develop anxiety waiting for something to happen.
Certain shots are held for what seems like eons, but once you get on board with the pacing and let the wonderfully eerie score - courtesy of Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood - settle in, it is hard to shake the intense imagery of There Will Be Blood.
> Rogue Assassin
Director: Philip G. Atwell Starring: Jet Li, Jason Statham, Terry Chen, Ryo Ishibashi, John Lone, Devon Aoki, Luis Guzman Andrea Roth, Saul Rubinek Rating: (R16)
•• 1 /2
By CHRISTINE POWLEY
There is this guy called Rogue Assassin (Hoyts) and no-one really knows if he exists.
He is a myth, a fantasy to tell stories about. Recruited by the CIA to work undercover in the Chinese triads, he turned on his handlers, killed five agents and went to the Japanese yakuza.
Every time the law gets too close to him he has his face rebuilt so no-one knows what he looks like.
My guess would be he looks a lot like Michael Jackson but this is a movie, so at the moment he looks like Jet Li.
The FBI got close to him once and for revenge he came back and killed an agent. Naturally, the agent's partner, John Crawford (Jason Statham) becomes obsessed with catching him.
Three years later, there is a nasty shoot-up in a San Francisco yakuza club and John knows Rogue is back. What follows is full-scale war between the yakuza and triads and Rogue seems to be behind it all.
For most of the film you are confused by just what Rogue is up to. John is not the brightest of cops, so luckily Rogue is equally obsessed by him and often phones in to give tips.
It is all very mysterious and pays off with a twist that actually surprises, which is just as well as Rogue Assassin is a flabby exercise in every other way.
No-one expects the numerous Asian junior gangsters who are the cannon fodder for Rogue's war to be great actors, but some grimace and snarl with such fierceness it becomes funny.
Statham does have acting chops and he is wise enough not to overdo it but it is never explained why a FBI agent would so clearly be a cockney geezer. The female roles are an embarrassment
Most criminal of all, martial arts whizz Jet Li does no martial arts.
