Ashby captures this tension in a brilliant
sequence near the end of the film, when Copee, who is threatening Elgar with an axe after learning that his wife is carrying Elgar's child, stops and slowly lowers his weapon.
Not exact matches
And seriously, what kind
of a
film has tons
of repetitive driving / chase / race
sequences only to
end with another one that's not anywhere
near as ambitious as some
of the ones before it?
References to older
films of the genre, witty dialogue (including a monologue delivered by Carradine
near the
end that is probably the best thing Tarantino has ever written), extreme violence, a soundtrack filled with all kinds
of extraordinary pop songs; even an entire backstory
sequence completely done in Anime.
Marginalized in the initial
sequences was Reeves, the lone actor well - known in the U.S. Universal opted to reshoot a major fight scene
near the
end of the
film, as well as a few other scenes to sharpen the focus on Reeves» character Kai.
Save for one
sequence near the
end, all
of the violence in the
film remains off - screen.
The cinematography was amazing, especially
near the
end of the
film during a mirror
sequence very reminiscent to Bruce Lee's Game
of Death.
Because almost every scene or
sequence tells an individual story and the one overriding constant is something understandable to damn
near anyone (really wanting something for Christmas), the
film becomes a kind
of endless Moebius strip, an eternal December that can begin and
end at any point but always returns to Ralphie peering in that store window and always concludes with the boy lying in bed, cradling his gun.