Rogue Agent “Dark Suit” (Alexander Hashioka-Oatfield) is
finally tracked down by Rookie Agent “Light Suit” (Jessie Bayani). The game appears to be up as “Dark Suit” has
his hands up against a wall and is being frisked by “Light Suit.” “Dark Suit” suddenly gets the drop on his
less experienced counterpart, disarming him.
A pitched battle ensues in the tiny space as “Light Suit” struggles to
regain the upper hand over his prey. In
the end, only one agent will walk away from this alive.
Magnetic is a
single fight scene freed from the albatross of story and character. It’s not part of a larger whole, and doesn’t
really use the fisticuffs to tell a story or make a statement. Yet, it still makes for compelling viewing. LBP Stunts Chicago infuses the proceedings
with emotion. They also have inventiveness to spare.
A good example of LBP’s ingenuity takes place at the 1:00
mark, were director Emmanuel Manzanares indulges his inner Sergio Leone a
bit. During a brief pause while “Dark
Suit” recovers from a low blow, both combatants realize that “Light Suit’s”
semi-automatic pistol is lying on the floor just behind him. The clock ticks as both men inch slowly
towards it (though “Light Suit” clearly has the advantage). In semi-Leone fashion, the scene milks the resulting
suspense for all it’s worth. All that’s
missing are the super-extreme close-ups and the Ennio Morricone music. The brooding track by Trent Reznor and
Atticus Ross resembles Brad Fiedel’s score for The Terminator films.
Things take a bloody turn when “Light Suit” brutally gains
the upper hand at the 2:25 second mark. When
he delivers the finishing move at the three minute mark, the moment is reminiscent
of a similar one from Bloodsport. Jessie Bayani has an evil grimace on his face
similar to that of Bolo Yeung’s villainous character Chong Li. That little touch adds a bit of ambiguity to the
proceedings. Looking at the names of the characters, one might
assume that Emmanuel Manzanares is following the “White Hat/Black Hat”
dichotomy found in the American Western.
Bayani might be wearing the proverbial White Hat, but would a good guy
relish in finishing off a downed opponent in such a vicious manner? Magnetic
offers no context as to why “Dark Suit” became a rogue agent, so there’s no way
to know if he actually deserves the horrible fate that befalls him.
There’s a school of thought that says action is both boring
and meaningless when it isn’t driven by story and character. These little vignettes from LBP Stunts
Chicago go a long way in disproving that theory. They actually make one curious to find out
just what transpired between these two to bring them to this point. Magnetic
is yet another spunky little vignette from LBP. I swear I could watch a feature length DVD
compilation of these and never get bored, though an actual story tying them all
together would be nice.
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