In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.

Q: a movie like mortal kombat : annihilation works ( and must be reviewed on ) multiple levels .
first , there 's the rampant usage of randian subtext that pervades the entire movie .
but occasionaly , almost as if making an ironic , self - depreciating remark , the movie tosses in clearly marxist imagery .
no no . . .
just kidding .
had you going there for a moment , did n't i ?
in all seriousness however , and to be fair to the movie , it * is * necessary to provide two viewpoints : that of a movie watcher unfamiliar ( or only marginally familiar ) with the whole mortal kombat phenomenon , and that of a fan of the first movie and/or a fan of the games .
the first movie ( mortal kombat ( 1995 ) ) concerned itself with a martial arts tournament that would decide the fate of earth ( and it 's 5 billion inhabitants ) .
the mortals won , and in theory this should have prevented the emperor shao khan from taking over the earth .
unfortunately , shao khan was a poor loser , and the very final scene in mortal kombat showed him arriving anyway , ready to take over the planet , as our heroes assumed a fighting stance .
the first movie was extraordinarily entertaining for those ( like myself ) who are fans of the game .
i 'd even go so far as to say that many folks who did n't know about the game probably enjoyed the movie .
the writers and directors knew the limitations of both their cast and of the basic story itself , and they did n't try to overachieve .
there were a lot of really cool fight scenes ( with really cool accompanying music ) , intersperesed with some distracting ( but ultimately non - intrusive ) bits of fluff passing itself off as a plot .
and , as we know , the movie was a smashing success at the box office .
mortal kombat :
annihilation picks up precisely where that movie left off , with some introductory exposition to clue in those who may not have seen the first movie .
shao khan has decided that he 's going to take over the earth
* anyways * , and to hell with some silly rule about mortals winning the tournament .
thereafter follows approximately 85 minutes of film that alternates between being confused , being trite , being silly , and being just plain stupid .
one gets the general impression that the producers of the movie thought " hey , that last movie was such a success that we can get more money and make a * real * movie now . " too bad they did n't simply stick with the formula from the first movie .
i could write volumes about the things that are wrong with this picture , but here are the high points :
* the acting is truly bad .
sandra hess ( playing the sonya blade character ) is particularly execrable , especially in scenes where she tries to convince us that she loved johnny cage ( a character from the first movie who gets greased at the beginning of this movie ) .
* in one of the worst pieces of mis - casting
i think i 've * ever * seen , james remar plays raiden , the god of thunder .
in the first movie , christopher lambert played raiden and played his character as though he was in on the joke :
a french actor playing a japanese thunder god being revered by chinese mystics .
i generally like it when actors are cast against type ( tim " tiny " lister , jr . being cast as the president of the u . s .
in the fifth element , for example ) , and remar has always been one of my favorite " utility " actors but he 's so totally wrong for this part that he does n't even have the luxury of amused self - awareness .
*
there are too many characters that are introduced as being potentially important , but then never seen again .
* there are a number of completely meaningless story sidetracks , including a muddled scene where liu kang ( robin shou ) seeks out nightwolf ( litefoot ) , has a mystical hallucination , and then wanders off with jade ( irina pantaeva ) .
for these reasons ( and many others ) , i can only give the movie a 2 . . . . . . unless you 're a huge fan of the games and/or the first movie .
in that case , the following critiques also apply : * sandra hess , while being an even worse actress than bridgette wilson ( who played sonya blade in the first movie ) , is much more convincing as a fighter .
wilson looked like she was simply mimicing some movements taught to her by the fight choreographer .
hess looks like she actually knows some martial arts , and puts together a much more believable fight scene .
* in the fights , each of the characters does at least * one * thing they do in the game ( and often more ) .
sonya does her " kiss of death , " jax does his " earthquake , " liu kang does his " animality , " and so on .
a big bonus for those of us who were looking for similar moves in the first movie and found them only rarely .
*
there are n't as many fight scenes in this movie as there were in the first , because the folks making the movie mistakenly try to hang a more robust plot in between .
silly , silly folks .
and the lamest fight involved two of the women in what turns into a mud - wrestling match .
lame and so obviously sexist
even i ( politically incorrect , for the most part ) noticed and remarked upon it .
* the special effects are generally better , except for the final fight scene between the emporer and liu kang in which both perform their " animalities .
" motaro and sheeva are both more convincing and lifelike than goro was in the first movie .
for folks like myself who loved the first movie and enjoy the games , i give this a 5 .
you 'll probably like it , but not nearly as much as you liked the first one .

A: N
****
Q: "
i would appreciate it if you did n't do that again .
" starring jet li , bridget fonda , tch ?
ky karyo
, burt kwouk .
directed by chris nahon .
rated r .
it 's no secret that martial arts film often use their plot simply to get from one action sequence to another .
when the fight scenes are enough to justify paying admission , there is no problem with this , as in most jackie chan projects and a lot of the hong kong actioners .
when they are n't , well , we 're in bad shape .
kiss of the dragon , jet li 's second consecutive american misfire , plays like one big miscalculation , and fails even as the most rudimentary entertainment .
now before i start getting e - mails angrily touting the genius of jet li , let me explain myself .
li is as spectacular as ever here , and i do n't think anyone would ever dare call his martial - arts - star skills into question .
the problem is n't with him , it 's with the movie 's tone .
the much touted fight - scenes here are filmed with such unflinching , unrelenting brutality that they are unpleasant to watch .
they 're joyless , perfuctory ; li 's rogue chinese detective is more of a killing machine than a hero , a terminator with a black belt instead of a metal skeleton .
but even the terminator in judgement day had a sympathetic side .
the plot is n't relevant , but if you 're curious ,
it 's some nonsense about a chinese law enforcement officer ( li ) sent to paris to investigate a possible drug ring and encounter a corrupt chief of police ( tcheky karyo ) , who kills people and does sinister things with no motivation whatsoever .
oh yeah ,
and li 's character is also an acupuncture expert who is able to ease pain and/or kill at the touch of a needle .
" kiss of the dragon " is the name of an acupuncture maneuver , in which you stick a needle in a precise location on the back of the victim 's neck , somehow redirecting all of the body 's bloodflow to the brain and killing the poor sap more or less immediately .
there 's a vague attempt to humanize li by having him fall in love with a downtrodden prostitute , whose daughter is being held hostage , for some reason , by the villain .
this is one of the worst love stories i have ever seen on screen , even worse than the one in pearl harbor .
there 's no conviction whatsoever as the movie barely pays lip service to it ; it 's only here because someone apparently thought there should be some kind of boy - meets - girl subplot .
kiss of the dragon was written by luc besson , whose screenplay the messenger : the story of joan of arc , for all of that film 's flaws , was at least thoughtful .
i do n't know why the guy got himself involved in this train wreck
,
but perhaps he wanted to so something more mainstream after the neverending weirdness of the fifth element and the aforementioned stylized biopic .
i suppose you could call this mainstream , but i 'll choose the bizarre any time of the day .
if action scenes in a movie are going to be brutal instead of dazzling , you need a story to justify watching them .
the filmmakers behind kiss of the dragon should have rethought their strategy .
no one will walk out of this misbegotten project smiling , but i hear rush hour 2 is coming in just a few weeks .

A: N
****
Q: niagara niagara ( r ) bob gosse 's niagara niagara follows a blueprint not unlike a lot of young - lovers - on - the - road movies .
wild marcy ( robin tunney ) and calm seth ( henry thomas )
meet cute , literally running into each other while shoplifting at a local store .
a mere couple of scenes later , the two embark on a journey to toronto from their small , unnamed american town in pursuit of a rare doll that marcy desperately wants . along the way , true love inevitably blossoms .
what sets niagara niagara apart , though , is that marcy is afflicted with tourette 's syndrome , a neurological disorder that causes sudden muscle and vocal tics .
tunney , displaying an acting range
not hinted at in the teenage witch thriller the craft , delivers an astonishing performance that won her the best actress prize at last year 's venice film festival .
to term her work
a tour - de - force is not to imply that she attacks the scenery ; tunney 's effectiveness lies in her modulation and vulnerability , which makes her depiction of marcy 's illness -- which often causes her to act violently -- that much more convincing and tragic .
she and the nicely subtle thomas develop a sweetly innocent and beguilingly off - kilter chemistry .
their journey hits a few rough spots creatively along the way , mostly the fault of writer matthew weiss .
a detour involving a kindly widower ( michael parks ) who takes the couple in brings the story to a screeching halt , and the key character of a trigger - happy pharmacist ( stephen lang ) is highly unbelievable .
but these missteps do not blunt the power of tunney 's bravura turn , which carries niagara niagara to a level of poignance it would not have otherwise achieved .
( opens march 20 )
"
i did n't know what to expect .
it 's like something you chase for so long , but then you do n't know how to react when you get it .
i still do n't know how to react .
"
--michael
jordan ,
on winning his first nba championship in 1991 .
..
or , my thoughts after meeting him on november 21 , 1997

A:
P
****