Are you toxic?

Happy Together is another continuation of Wong Kar Wai’s fascination with the many types and experiences of love.

And in this film he follows the theme of toxic love. When two people who are always arguing and getting into fights fall in love because of those destructive moments.

We follow Fai and Ho as they both become accustomed to their temporary lives in Argentina.

But as is normal for them, after being together for a period of time, Ho asks Fai to go their separate ways and take a break in their relationship.

Something they do quite a bit.

As they both go their separate ways Fai takes different jobs to save up so that he can go back to Hong Kong whilst Ho goes around with other men getting drunk and having sex.

But after one night when he gets into a fight, Fai takes Ho back to his apartment so that he can rest and recover from his injuries.

And once again their love for each other quickly rekindles but as the fiery passion of love shines bright, it also burns out as fast and again they begin to argue.

Leaving them both going their separate ways at the end.

Wong Kar Wai’s fourth feature film Fallen Angels can only be described as the naughty younger brother to Chungking Express.

A surprising sequel that I didn't see coming. It was originally supposed to be part of Chungking Express but was carved out and expanded on to form its own movie.

And what it does is something interesting and unexpected which was to tell a more negative view on love and heartbreak.

This is a movie that takes the whimsical nature of Chungking Express and adds a realism that a lot of people don’t know how to handle such emotions.

Because it’s about how not to move on. The characters in this film obsess over people that they love but those people don’t love them back.

And instead of a happy ending, there is only sadness and realisation that people who want that movie ending, where they get that fairy tale story, often don't.

And because of that they don’t know how to deal with such emotions that a lot of people in the heat of the moment make rash decisions that put them and others in harm.

Chungking Express is Wong Kar Wai’s third feature film.

Following the characters of Ho Chi Moo, Cop 663, and Faye. These three have one connecting theme and that is love.

Both Ho Chi Moo and Cop 663 are heartbroken by recently being dumped by their girlfriends, whilst Faye falls in love but doesn’t know how to deal with that kind of emotion.

It’s a film that deconstructs the cycle of love. From starting with the grief of losing someone you once thought will stay by your side forever to the magical moment of finding another person to love again.

It is a story about the complications of one simple emotion.

An emotion that affects every single one of us. And an emotion that can get very confusing to understand.

And that concept is shown through our three characters that all have ways in coping with the loss of love to falling in love again.

Which makes this film such an interesting watch as we delve in the power that love can hold on people.

Everyone has a different experience on what love does to them.

And through the story telling of Wong Kar Wai, it is shown to be a whimsical yet frustrating emotion to have.

Through the characters of Ho Chi Moo and Cop 663, they both get dumped by the people that they thought loved them back.

But what’s interesting about the two stories is how they are told. And through that Wong Kar Wai shows us a different perspective of what a heartbreak can look like.

Already one of 2022’s biggest films, The Batman for many has toppled The Dark Knight and others to be crowned the best comic book movie of all time and to some, this film has become their overall greatest film of all time.

And there is some merit for why people would consider those two options because even though I have a couple problems with this film, what Matt Reeves and his creative team did on this movie is a technical masterpiece.

Directing, cinematography, and score. This movie is made by people at the highest level in their craft.

And when I first watched The Batman, I did enjoy the movie. I liked the casting of Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano and so many more.

But if there is no one then there comes a point in this 2 hour 50 minute movie, where I ask the question, why should I continue to care?

And that was the problem I had with the story of The Batman. Why should I care for any of the characters if there aren't any emotions I can attach myself to?

This was a question that was on my mind after the first time I watched The Batman.

Then I watched it a second time. About a week later.

And I figured out why this movie felt so cold and detached from the audience and essentially soulless.

The reason is the character of the Riddler.