Filed under: Action , Foreign Language , Independent , DVD Reviews , New on DVD , The Weinstein Co. , Home Entertainment , Cinematical Indie Imagine Spider-Man murdering a young boy. The Rebel isn't a revisionist superhero movie, but it does star Johnny Nguyen , who was the masked stunt double for Spider-Man and Green Goblin in two of Sam Raimi's web-spinning adventures. Here Nguyen plays Cuong, an enforcer for the French exploiters in 1920s Vietnam. Anti-colonial protests have been gaining force and exerting pressure upon the ruling French, and Cuong is expected to help put them down. Caught up in his violent duties, Cuong kills a boy almost without realizing what he's done. He feels instant, piercing regret, as though the guilt for all his sins has come crashing down upon him. His remorse becomes a galvanizing force that pushes him to stop shedding the blood of his own people. To begin, he tries to help a young rebel escape torture and certain death. The beautiful Thuy ( Veronica Ngo , AKA Ngo Thanh Van ) is important to both sides: her father is leader of the anti-government movement. She is understandably wary about Cuong's true intentions. Just as he's making headway in convincing her of his sincerity, his cynical, ambitious overlord Sy ( Dustin Nguyen , of 21 Jump Street fame, who's never been better) appears. Sy is less interested in Cuong's allegiance than in the possibility that he can lead him to Thuy's father. While th ...
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Filed under: Action , Foreign Language , Independent , DVD Reviews , New on DVD , The Weinstein Co. , Home Entertainment , Cinematical Indie Imagine Spider-Man murdering a young boy. The Rebel isn't a revisionist superhero movie, but it does star Johnny Nguyen , who was the masked stunt double for Spider-Man and Green Goblin in two of Sam Raimi's web-spinning adventures. Here Nguyen plays Cuong, an enforcer for the French exploiters in 1920s Vietnam. Anti-colonial protests have been gaining force and exerting pressure upon the ruling French, and Cuong is expected to help put them down. Caught up in his violent duties, Cuong kills a boy almost without realizing what he's done. He feels instant, piercing regret, as though the guilt for all his sins has come crashing down upon him. His remorse becomes a galvanizing force that pushes him to stop shedding the blood of his own people. To begin, he tries to help a young rebel escape torture and certain death. The beautiful Thuy ( Veronica Ngo , AKA Ngo Thanh Van ) is important to both sides: her father is leader of the anti-government movement. She is understandably wary about Cuong's true intentions. Just as he's making headway in convincing her of his sincerity, his cynical, ambitious overlord Sy ( Dustin Nguyen , of 21 Jump Street fame, who's never been better) appears. Sy is less interested in Cuong's allegiance than in the possibility that he can lead him to Thuy's father. While th ...