芋虫

　　故事发生在1952年，越南局势紧张，动乱和战争一触即发。艾登（布兰登·费舍 Brendan Fraser 饰）是由美国援助组织派往越南的工作人员，目睹了越南发生的种种，艾登满腹热忱，希望自己能够在这里大干一番，之后，艾登结识了名叫托马斯（迈克尔·凯恩 Michael Caine 饰）的男子，他是伦敦时报的特派员，十分了解当地的情况。
　　一次偶然中，艾登见到了托马斯的越南情妇凤（杜海严 饰），很快，艾登就被凤身上所散发出来的神秘气息所吸引，他不可自持地爱上了凤。就这样，艾登、托马斯和凤之间交织出了一段充满了激情而又摇摇欲坠的三角关系，一场凶杀案的发生让这段关系慢慢地濒临崩塌的边缘。

　　明朝年间，皇帝年老多病，太子位迟迟未立。
　　老皇帝在弥留之际想要传位于二皇子民礼。不料大皇子民泰先下手为强，弑父夺位，并安排黑衣人血洗皇宫，民礼在锦衣卫韩棠的保护下仓惶逃离，被安上了弑君谋逆之罪。
　　民礼逃亡来到丘城破庙，碰见了靠捉拿朝廷通缉犯领取赏金过活的盖三猛兄妹。民礼与韩棠遭遇东厂追杀，三猛兄妹受牵连，无奈反击。三猛痛恨朝廷，又念在民礼着实善良，出手相救，并将其带回了风铃村。风铃村的村民全是当年被东厂迫害的忠臣之后，这里祥和安逸，是隐匿于世间的桃花源。飞来横祸，原来韩棠是陈桂安排在民礼身边的奸细。最终，陈桂兵至风铃村，全村悉数屠杀杀殆尽，只留下了三猛兄妹二人。
　　二人遵照村长遗命，汇聚武林群豪，在陈桂回京路上，截杀陈桂。帮助民礼夺回政权，还天下太平盛世。

　　Stuart Gordon, considered a master of the horror genre thanks to classics like Re-Animator and Dagon, decides to do a different move in this strange trip to human morals.
　　
　　"King of the Ants" is about a regular guy, Sean Crawley(newcomer Chris McKenna), a man without any aspiration who just live in his apartment doing the necessary job to live to the next day. In one of his jobs he meets Duke(Gearge Wendt), who introduces Sean to his boss, Ray Matthews(played by Daniel Baldwin). Ray hires Sean as a spy, and orders him to follow Eric Gatlin(Roy Livingstone), an accountant who has been investigating Ray's company. Problems start when Ray, while drunk, orders Sean to kill Eric. And he does it. Things go wrong when Ray decides to make Sean disappear destroying his mind with violent punishment and humiliation.
　　
　　From the point where Sean kills Eric, we go in the same boat with him, as he goes through a downward spiral of human degradation, traveling from guilt, to confusion and finally to his rebirth, in a state where humanity, morals and values are not important anymore. Chris McKenna acting is very important because he manages to be likable even when he is part of gruesome acts, both as victim and/or criminal. He has that look of innocence that hides a dark side and he manages to carry the film.
　　
　　The support cast also includes Kari Wuhrer, as Eric's widow who also becomes a central part of Sean's trip to hell. She gives a fine performance, although it's obvious that Sean is the main character. He is the most developed of all and McKenna's performance is up to the challenge.
　　
　　The film has very disturbing images of violence, and while it may not be as graphic as "Kill Bill" for example, the strength of the violence is in the lack of humanity that the character manifest. He is more than an ant in this world. He is the king.
　　
　　Stuart Gordon has managed to create a film that, while maybe it's not one of his best efforts; it's very well done, has a VERY interesting story to tell, and manages to capture the attention every second of it.