FAMILIAR FANTASY

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance

2012-02-20T17:40:00.000+08:00

Year: 2012
Directors: Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Ciaran Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba, Johnny Whitworth, Christopher Lambert

Plot: Johnny Blaze is sought out by a monk named Moreau to help save a boy whom the devil is planning to use to be reborn again.

Review: With such a kick-ass trailer, I had high hopes for this film. But I was let down, and I should have known because the directors are the same two guys that made Gamer. Now, Gamer was a good concept, just poorly executed. I think this Ghost Rider film is just like that too.

Neveldine & Taylor aren't your average film directors for sure. They have their own style, which includes quick cuts, strange camera angles and fast forward/slow-mo style filming techniques. For GR, they added another thing: comicbook visuals, which unfortunately comes together with a hammed up Nicolas Cage narration. It actually worked the first time, but then the duo resorted to the same technique again and again, and by then it just got weird.

The action scenes are between good and average. The initial GR attack on Carrigan and his goons was poorly handled, as GR spent a good time just standing there waiting for them to make their move, and they just look confused. Why didn't they just shoot him over and over? It doesn't make much sense if they did, but it makes more sense than just standing there. The final chase sequence was nice, but not enough to save the film, and a little too late.

Cage hams it up a lot here as Blaze aka Ghost Rider. It was mostly weird to watch him do that, but the one scene where he threatens a thug while desperately keeping the demon inside him from coming out was hilarious, which I think was the right intention from the filmmakers. Violante Placido is the token damsel here, who incidentally is good with a rifle, while Elba puts on a bad French accent as Moreau. Ciaran Hinds actually makes an interesting Devil, but doesn't have a heck of a lot to do. Johnny Whitworth is okay as bad guy Carrigan, who gets an interesting ability in the second half of the film. The legendary Christopher Lambert is wasted in a small role as a monk. Bummer.

I really wanted to like GR: SOV. I really did. With a better polished script, better action sequences and less cheesy lines, it would have been truly something. But as it stands, it's just not much better than the original. (2.5/5)

Safe House

2012-02-19T11:40:00.000+08:00

Year: 2012
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Cast: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard, Nora Arnezeder

Plot: Rogue CIA agent Tobin Frost surrenders himself to the American Embassy in Cape Town and is subsequently transferred to a safe house run by low level agent Matt Weston. When the safe house is attacked, Weston is forced to take Frost on the run, evading their attackers while trying to figure out how the house was compromised. But Frost isn't the kind that wants to play along.

Review: I like films that pulls no punches with its grittiness and violence, and Safe House is that kind of film. Director Daniel Espinosa keeps Safe House running at a smooth pace, not allowing the film to dwell too much on time wasting scenes. The grainy shades of the film also helps in reflecting the sunnier and sometimes darker scenes in the film, giving it an extra edge.

Denzel hasn't given a bad performance in my memory, and here he is just as good as the mysterious Tobin Frost. Whether he's a good guy or a bad guy, we'll only know at the end, but Denzel makes it work thanks to his great screen presence. However the film is mostly taken from Ryan Reynolds' point of view. As Weston, Reynolds plays the rookie agent who finally gets the opportunity he's been waiting for to shine, though he never expected it to be this hard. It's nice to see him playing it dead serious here, because Reynolds tends to take characters with one liner comedy chops. Depending on the next roles he takes, Reynolds is gonna be a big star someday, if he isn't yet.

The other supporting stars do their jobs well, but it's Denzel and Ryan that we focus on most of the time, as we watch them fight, shoot and take part in car chases throughout the film. Ryan in particular gets a brutal fist fight with another agent in the film's climax, which was very convincing and painful to behold.

The film is not without its flaws though. The last act becomes quite predictable for the most part. The proverbial snake in the grass is easy to guess, and the final few scenes are rather familiar, I've seen them being used in other films. But on the whole, Safe House is a lot of fun to watch, thanks to its two leads and the unflinching violence on display.

Note: Loved the Kanye-Jay Z rap song during the film's credits. It's called No Church In The Wild. (4/5)

War Horse

2012-02-12T18:07:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Kross, Celine Buckens, Niels Arestrup, Toby Kebbell

Plot: A story centering on a horse named Joey, and his relationship with his owner, a young lad called Albert. Joey's adventure takes him through World War I as he is passed on to different owners, including a British captain, a young German soldier and a little French girl.

Review: It's been a while since I've seen a Spielberg film. I skipped The Adventures Of Tintin because I wasn't a fan of the material. But I am glad that I caught War Horse, as it is a return to form for Spielberg after the atrocious Indiana Jones 4.

War Horse reminds me of the animated film Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, where the protagonist is a horse. But unlike that film, where Matt Damon narrates the horse's thoughts, Joey the horse here leads us through the handful of people he comes across from the time of his birth until his eventual return home, without a human voice.

The other protagonist is Albert Narracott, who watched Joey being born and eventually becomes his owner, thanks to his drunk father purchasing him out of spite for their landlord. Albert trains Joey to become useful on their farm, but the arrival of World War I forces Albert's father to sell Joey to a British captain, who leads Joey into war. And from there, death after death leads Joey from place to place, always in the middle of danger, but he remains defiant and stays alive till he can find his way home.

Spielberg directs a beautiful film which is based on a book and subsequent stage play, and it's just riveting and a sight to behold. Not only is Spielberg successful in milking the right emotions from the audience throughout the film, he also has favourite cameraman Janusz Kaminski give us some of the best cinematography I've ever seen. This is most apparent during the war scenes and the wide shots of the hills and farms, and the final sunset at the film's end is just gorgeous.

Spielberg is also blessed to have Jeremy Irvine, a brand new actor playing Albert. Irvine may be new, but he's very talented and truly convincing in the lead role. Emily Watson and Peter Mullan lend some nice support as Albert's parents. Notable also are Tom Hiddleston (Thor), David Kross (The Reader), Niels Arestrup and Celine Buckens as the British captain, the young German soldier, the old man and his granddaughter Emilie respectively, who take care of Joey throughout his journey.

Keep in mind that although War Horse is set during World War I, we won't get any Saving Private Ryan type battle scenes here, except one part where the British march across a field of barbed wire while the Germans fire on them. The most memorable scene is when a British soldier and a German soldier work together to save Joey, which provides some good humour and feelgood emotions for the audience. Not to be forgotten of course is Albert's poignant relationship with his horse, which is the glue that holds the film together.

War Horse is a fitting nominee for the Oscar's Best Picture award, for it is a truly beautiful film in every sense of the word. Recommended. (4/5)

Man On A Ledge

2012-02-11T23:09:00.000+08:00

Year: 2012
Director: Asger Leth
Cast: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Genesis Rodriguez, Edward Burns, Anthony Mackie, Titus Welliver, Ed Harris, Kyra Sedgwick, William Sadler

Plot: An escaped convict steps out onto a ledge of a hotel 21 floors up. The act is merely a distraction so that a robbery can take place at an adjacent building, and not all is what it seems.

Review: The cast for this film is rather impressive. We have the dependable Sam Worthington, the talented Jamie Bell, the great Ed Harris and a handful of great supporting actors that you've seen somewhere before. However the end result is a tad below par.

Worthington plays Nick Cassidy, a cop who went to prison after being framed for a diamond heist. After he escapes from prison, he steps out of the window of a hotel 21 floors up, asking for a specific detective, Lydia Mercer, to see him. When she arrives, she quickly learns that he isn't up there to take his own life, and she has to trust him if she wants to know what's going on. Meanwhile, Nick's brother executes a robbery at a nearby building, which is all part of the plan. Then the proverbial shit hits the fan, and you know the rest. Or do you?

Director Asger Leth takes the reins of the kind of film that's meant to keep you guessing. However the execution isn't as smooth as it ought to be. We learn the details of the plot fairly quick, and basically Mercer is made to look rather weak as she tries to figure out what's going on. This situation is similar to The Negotiator, except that in that film, Kevin Spacey was on top of his game even when he didn't have all the facts. Here, Mercer pulls off a few smart moves as she progresses, but even then it's Cassidy that puts everything together in the end, and her role in this gets less and less crucial. The movie's climax also requires some suspension of disbelief, despite the fact that it's fast paced and thrilling. When it was over, the absence of logic was rather glaring.

Worthington is all right as Cassidy, but Elizabeth Banks is inconsistent as Mercer. I noticed that whenever she tries to look serious, her acting isn't convincing. Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez play Cassidy's brother and girlfriend, and they make a funny couple, providing some much needed humour as they execute the robbery. Edward Burns is also funny as Mercer's colleague, while Ed Harris plays the antagonist role well (I hated his hairdo though). Not to be left out are Kyra Sedgwick and William Sadler in minor roles, I do wish they had more screentime.

To be fair, the film is entertaining for the most part, and provides a good share of thrills and smart humour when required. However it needs some tighter direction especially at the end when things get a bit messy, and a bit more work on Banks' character would help too. In short: good but not great. (3/5)

The Grey

2012-02-07T11:00:00.000+08:00

Year: 2012
Director: Joe Carnahan
Cast: Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Nonso Anozie, Joe Anderson

Plot: A group of men are trapped in the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash, and are forced to survive the extreme weather and a pack of vicious wolves.

Review: I live in a country where censorship is a must, for whatever it is that the powers that be deem too sensitive for viewing. In the case of The Grey, they edited out 23 minutes of footage, and from what I hear, the reasons are not the usual "too violent, too much profanity" type. If I'm right, these cuts have taken away a great deal of emotional impact the film would have had on me and the rest of us Malaysian viewers. I have no idea why it happened, but yeah, that sucks. (I caught a scene on Youtube that I did not get to see in my initial screening, and I still had no idea why it didn't pass the censors)

But anyway, I can tell you that The Grey is a well made survival thriller in the same vein as The Edge, except instead of a bear, we have wolves, and the plot here is far more straightforward. And yet, The Grey shines thanks to the realism that Carnahan brings to the table, from the harsh Alaskan winter to the gore and carnage the wolves cause when they attack.

Liam Neeson is brilliant as Ottway, the sniper assigned to protect these men as they carry out their duty drilling oil in Alaska, but has to improvise after the crash as he has no weapon. His survival skills and leadership sense come into play as he does his best keeping the survivors alive. Ottway isn't just a sniper, he's a man with a sad past, and it plays a part when the climax approaches. Neeson is well supported by Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts and the unrecognisable Dermot Mulroney, among others as the rest of the survivors.

The wolves themselves are certainly scary, a far cry from the ones we saw in Frozen. You could say that the ones in The Grey are like devils in the snow, and they show no mercy once they attack. Thankfully, the censors spared most of the violence and profanity here, but the reason behind the huge cut (I'm told it was the men's backstory and personal lives) still baffles me.

And then there's the ending, which may work for some people and not for others. Personally I wished there was more to it than what Carnahan gave us, but I'm guessing he chose emotional impact over a visual one.

Overall, The Grey is a solid man vs nature thriller. If you can help it, pick up the DVD when it comes out, I know I will. Watch this outside of Malaysia if possible. (3.5/5)

P.S.: Wait till the credits finish rolling, and look closely.

Chronicle

2012-02-06T17:41:00.001+08:00

Year: 2012
Director: Josh Trank
Cast: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Ashley Hinshaw

Plot: Three high school boys obtain telekinetic abilities after venturing into a mysterious hole. Their exploits are viewed from the camera lens of Andrew, one of the boys whose problems at home and school causes him to lose control and inflict severe damage.

Review: Chronicle is a combination of two genres: superheroes and found footage. Even so, it is unlike any superhero or found footage film I've ever seen. Firstly, most superheroes take responsibility for their abilities. Secondly, found footage films have dates and statements and such. Chronicle does not have these, and it works to their advantage.

The film is made up of camera footage taken by Andrew, a boy who has a sick mother and an abusive father, and is constantly picked on by bullies at school. The other two boys are Matt and Steve, the former being Andrew's wiser cousin, and the latter being the most popular kid at school, who is running for student president. We see how the three kids climb into a dark hole in the woods, find something strange inside and are subsequently given telekinetic powers. They then begin testing their newfound gifts, first for fun, then for pranks. Then as things in Andrew's life take a turn for the worst, he starts using his powers abusively, and the proverbial shit hits the fan.

Director Josh Trank and writer Max Landis do a great job in coming up with a story that is realistic and fascinating in its execution. The two actually pulled this off with a minimal budget, so it is impressive to see the visual effects at work, as the kids move things from baseballs to cars, and eventually fly too.

Trank not only uses Andrew's camera to document the happenings, he also uses cameras from a supporting character, Casey (Matt's girlfriend) as well as security cameras in public places, which is an ingenious move as it better explains how we get to see all this footage rather than rely on just one camera as in other films of its kin.

The three boys are played by relatively unknown actors, and Dane DeHaan is excellent as the troubled Andrew. By the time he switches to Carrie mode at the film's climax, he is truly scary. Alex Russell and Michael B. Jordan are also good as Matt and Steve respectively, though to be honest, all three characters are typical kids you've seen in other films.

The last 20 minutes of the film is the best part, when Matt attempts to stop Andrew from hurting others, and the audience is put right in the middle of something that feels like a disaster flick, and it's just awesome. Perhaps my only gripe is that the film plays out just the way you'd expect it to. But overall Chronicle is a fun ride and a solid addition to found footage films. (3.5/5)

Haywire

2012-02-05T01:16:00.000+08:00

Year: 2012
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Bill Paxton, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Michael Angarano

Plot: A black ops agent seeks revenge on the people who double crossed her.

Review: Steven Soderbergh is probably the last person you'd expect to helm an action film. That being said, Haywire isn't a typical slam bang action fest, rather it is more of a quieter, less flashy version of a Jason Bourne film.

That being the case, you won't see huge stunts or explosions here. What you will get however are realistic, bone crunching fights courtesy of real life MMA fighter Gina Carano, who makes her acting debut here. Carano is a natural at physical combat, so her altercations with her much more illustrious male co-stars are the main dish here, so to speak.

Carano, whose voice has been altered for this film (no idea why), is decent enough as our heroine. Granted, her first acting gig isn't phenomenal, after all she's a better fighter, but she fills the role well enough. The rest of the male cast are believable enough in their roles, especially Bill Paxton as her father and Michael Fassbender as an agent she tussles with. Carano's fight with Fassbender in a hotel room is probably the best action sequence in the film. Ewan McGregor isn't convincing enough as her evil boss though, maybe I'm too used to seeing him as a nice guy.

The thing is, I felt like this film relied mostly on Carano's ability as an action heroine. While I have no doubt that she will be a good one as time goes by, Haywire is just too lightweight for my taste. Soderbergh doesn't have much to offer here other than Carano beating people up and lots of conversations that are pedestrian in their execution. Even the quietest of action thrillers ought to have some suspense, but there is barely any here. When he's not getting Carano to beat someone up, Soderbergh lets things play out in a dull manner. The best example of this is the ending. Pretty anti-climactic.

However, I'll give Soderbergh some credit for trying, he just needs to try harder. (3/5)

Underworld: Awakening

2012-01-26T00:19:00.000+08:00

Year: 2012
Directors: Mans Marlind & Bjorn Stein
Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, India Eisley, Michael Ealy, Theo James, Charles Dance

Plot: Humans discover the existence of vampires and lycans, and proceed to purge them from the planet. Selene is captured and cryogenically frozen. When she awakens 12 years later, she discovers that she has a daughter, who is being experimented on by a corporation. Selene must now protect her at all costs.

Review: I got two words for this film: Hell Yeah!

Kate Beckinsale is finally back doing what she does best in the Underworld films: kick ass and take names. And from the looks of it, she hasn't lost her touch one bit.

Initially everything about this film sounded like a disaster. Len Wiseman stepping down as director, most of the cast not returning for this round, the uninspiring trailer etc. But I'm happy to report that this fourth instalment of the franchise is exciting and just awesome to behold.

Wiseman chooses to become screenwriter and producer this time around and lets Swedish directors Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein to take over, and they do one hell of a job here. As usual, the film is mostly in a blue shade, but the duo add a few more things, like excellent cinematography from the long shots to the fight scenes that are not too close so we can see who's moving where. They also borrow the first person camera view used in REC at the start of the film, and utilise it very well here.

But the film wouldn't be astounding as it is if it didn't retain the thing that made the franchise so successful, and I'm not just talking about Beckinsale. I'm referring to the violence. We get beheadings, impalings, throat rippings, point blank gunshots to the head, explosions, you name it. It's brutal, unflinching, in-your-face action, and I loved every bit of it.

As for Beckinsale, well she just owns the film. She's hot and deadly, and arguably one of the best vampire characters ever created. Without her, Awakening wouldn't be awesome. Stephen Rea gets a nice turn as the scientist with a secret, and India Eisley plays Selene's hybrid daughter Eve perfectly, who is vulnerable in human form, but most dangerous when she transforms into something else.

Sure, this film would be regarded by most as equivalent to junk food, but heck, I had a ball of a time with it. At 88 minutes, it doesn't overstay its welcome. Perhaps the only complaint I have is the absence of Scott Speedman as Michael, who is played by a double and shown vaguely here. But as long as Beckinsale is around, with her husband Len Wiseman coming up with ideas, the franchise can survive. From the looks of it, we'll definitely have part 5. I can't wait. (4/5)

Contraband

2012-01-22T23:08:00.000+08:00

Year: 2012
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, Giovanni Ribisi, Caleb Landry Jones, J.K. Simmons

Plot: An ex-smuggler is forced to do one more job smuggling counterfeit bills to help his brother in-law pay off a gangster.

Review: Contraband is actually a remake of the Icelandic film Reykjavik-Rotterdam, and directed by Reykjavik's lead actor Baltasar Kormakur. I had never seen the original, but I can say that on the surface, Contraband is kinda like Gone In 60 Seconds, except that instead of seeing Nicolas Cage stealing cars to save his brother, we have Mark Wahlberg smuggling counterfeit money to save his brother in-law. In comparison, Contraband is a bit more dramatic and grittier in its execution, unlike the flashier Cage vehicle.

I have to hand it to Kormakur for doing a great job on nearly every aspect of Contraband. The film takes place in New Orleans, which is from what I can tell, a city full of blue collar workers trying to make a living. Kormakur is wise to focus his camera on the things that make the film stand out, like the shipyard, rundown neighborhoods, construction sites and nightlife at the bars, to capture the grittiness of the city. For music, he uses blues and jazz, which fits the city in question. He also paces the film well, it rarely drags as the story moves along, except for the final stretch, where I felt he took a bit too long to resolve things.

For the cast, we have Mark Wahlberg, who is a shoo-in for portraying blue collar type characters. His Chris Farraday is like combining The Italian Job's Charlie Croker and The Departed's Dignam: smart, capable and tough, and not afraid to cuss. He shares good rapport with Kate Beckinsale, who plays his wife Kate. Beckinsale plays the damsel in distress for the most part here, so no Underworld theatrics unfortunately. Ben Foster is Wahlberg's best friend Sebastian, and unlike his previous roles, he plays it more subtly this time around. Giovanni Ribisi plays the gangster Tim Briggs, and I liked his performance here. It's not a role he usually gets to play, so it was fun seeing him being the antagonist in this film.

Contraband does suffer from predictability however. There is a plot twist halfway through the film, which I saw coming long before it was revealed. The fate of one of the characters at the end was also predictable, but I suppose I can overlook that. These things, and the aforementioned draggy bit at the climax is all I have to complain about.

On the whole, Contraband is entertaining for the most part. It's not sublime or perfect, but it's worth at least one watch. (3.5/5)

The Darkest Hour

2012-01-18T22:44:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Chris Gorak
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor

Plot: A group of Americans in Moscow are caught in the middle of an alien invasion.

Review: The most obvious thing that separates The Darkest Hour from other alien invasion stories is the location. We're not in New York, Washington or any place in the U.S. where these things usually happen. This time it's Moscow, which is a refreshing change.

Unfortunately, the film is terribly mediocre. Alien invasion films ought to be either action packed or suspenseful, or both if possible. The Darkest Hour is neither.

The film starts off fairly quickly with the invasion happening within the first 15 minutes. The initial attack was pretty good actually, seeing people getting vaporised into dust was cool. But then director Chris Gorak makes the mistake of not spending time on his characters, choosing instead to move them along from one alien encounter to the next. He shifts from one scene to another using a fade to black style, which makes it feel like you're watching a made for TV movie, and that's bad.

And because Gorak doesn't give his characters a chance to develop, we don't feel anything when they get killed. The cast try hard to make the film work, but they're let down half the time by the script's corny lines. Hirsch and Thirlby have some chemistry together, but they're not memorable here. The Russians on the other hand are far more interesting, like the weird science guy played by Dato Bakhtadze (he's The Butcher from Wanted, note: director Timur Bekmambetov is the producer here), the Russian teenage girl Vika (Veronika Ozerova) and the futuristic punk army dressed up in metal and foil with car doors as shields and AK47s as weapons. They add a fascinating dimension to the proceedings, but they can only do so much.

The visual effects are fairly good, especially when the aliens, who are invisible, vaporise any human that touches them. The effects take a dive however when the aliens become visible, then they start to look like characters from a cheap video game.

On the whole, The Darkest Hour feels like a half attempt at making an alien invasion movie. It feels uninspired and unexciting. It's by no means bad, it's just not good enough. (2.5/5)

The Beaver

2012-01-11T22:25:00.002+08:00

Year: 2011

Director: Jodie Foster
Cast: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence

Plot: A man suffering from depression uses a puppet beaver to communicate with people.

Review: On the surface, the premise of The Beaver might be a hard sell. One would wonder, just how long can a story about someone talking through his hand be interesting?

Thankfully, Jodie Foster, who directs and acts, manages to keep the film going without a dull moment in sight. It's funny when it needs to be and sad when it calls for it. The idea of depression isn't an easy one to handle, but due to Foster's direction and Mel Gibson's solid performance, this film works well if you let it.

Gibson is Walter Black, the boss of a toy company who has somewhat died inside and is lost on how to handle it. This puts him at odds with his wife and two sons, particularly the older one, Porter (Yelchin) who is trying his best not to be like him. Everything changes when Walter finds the beaver and talks through him with a Ray Winstone like voice complete with an accent. It works at first, as he was rarely able to speak to anyone with enthusiasm before this. But just how long does this last?

Gibson does a good job being the guy who practically needs a puppet to relate to people. It's kinda like having two personalities, except Walter is in beaver mode the majority of the time. Gibson for one portrays a depressed man very convincingly. Foster, who is good friends with Gibson in real life, has no problems playing his spouse, who wants Walter to go back to normal again. Yelchin is also solid as the rebellious son who refuses to acknowledge the beaver. There is a subplot concerning Yelchin and Jennifer Lawrence's character Norah, about him being hired by Norah to write her graduation speech, which leads to personal revelations for each other. This actually takes up a lot of the film, but in a way, it's meant to elaborate Porter's motivations towards the end.

However, Foster does not quite explain how Walter came to be depressed in the first place, or how Walter suddenly became inspired to put on the puppet and talk to it. I mean, to find it is one thing, but why put it on?

It's a solid drama overall, though I wish Foster spent a bit more time on the backstory. (3.5/5)

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

2012-01-02T12:38:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Rachel McAdams

Plot: Sherlock Holmes and his trusty best friend Dr Watson team up to stop Professor Moriarty from starting a war in Europe.

Review: Guy Ritchie successfully updated Sherlock Holmes for the new generation two years back. What he lacked in a good plot, he made up for in great action sequences and a believable bromance between Downey Jr and Law.

For this sequel, it's pretty much the same thing. Holmes' great adversary, Professor Moriarty plans to start a war in Europe for his own benefit, so the great detective and his partner, the long suffering but loyal Watson have to do all they can to stop him.

Ritchie knows what worked in the last film and uses it again here: the pre-fight calculation of moves before Holmes beats his opponents, the quick flashback sequences to explain current sequences, slow mo action sequences etc. All here and accounted for. It may seem like repetition, but these are the things that actually make the film entertaining.

Of course, we also have the great chemistry between Downey Jr and Law, who are still as fun as ever to watch. Downey is still incorrigible and Law is still reluctantly supportive of his best friend's manic behavior, even as it threatens their personal lives. Noomi Rapace plays the gypsy Simza, who is pertinent to the central plot, but overall does not get to do much. Rapace is mostly overshadowed by her two leading men, which is a pity. Jared Harris looks devious enough as the villain Moriarty, but isn't quite intimidating enough to be a real threat. Stephen Fry adds some much needed colour as Holmes' eccentric brother Mycroft and provides a measure of humour whenever he appears. Thank goodness Rachel McAdams gets limited screentime here, as I didn't think she ever added any value to the first film to begin with.

As fun as this sequel is, like I said before, it lacks a strong plot, and the execution of it is poor. In the midst of all the action unfolding, don't be surprised if you suddenly forget why the characters are doing what they're doing. I felt that Ritchie is stringing all the action together just to move from one set piece to the next, without any clear reason as to how it relates to the plot.

It's an entertaining 2 hours and 9 minutes, but I'm not sure if I'm interested enough to go back and see this again. (3.5/5)

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

2011-12-26T12:45:00.001+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Brad Bird
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov

Plot: The President disavows the IMF after a botched mission results in the destruction of the Kremlin. Ethan Hunt and his team have to find the man responsible and clear their organization's name.

Review: Who would have thought that Brad Bird, director of animated films like The Incredibles and The Iron Giant, could be capable of helming such an adrenalin pumping M:I instalment? Believe it or not, he does so with great skill.

Every M:I film always manages to trump the previous one in terms of elaborate stunts and action set pieces. For this film, Bird ups the ante with some extremely well choreographed action sequences. We have a chase sequence in a sandstorm, a prison break, a fight within a moving car park (my favorite one of all) and a breathtaking climb outside the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world (which no doubt you have seen in the trailers).

But that's just the action sequences. Bird includes some more new nifty gadgets (which is the trademark of these films as you know) like a car with a computer map on its windshield, a contact lens that identifies faces and an invisible wall. I gotta tell ya, Bird spared no expense or effort for this instalment and it shows.

The cast perform splendidly, Cruise being his usual heroic daredevil self. Patton and Pegg provide good support, the former as the sex appeal and the latter as the comic relief. Jeremy Renner makes his presence felt as the analyst with a secret, and it is nice to know that it is he, and not Cruise, that is tasked with the personal baggage this time around. J.J. Abrams piled all of that on Cruise in the third film, and I always hated that. Another good thing is Cruise not making this film HIS show in its climax, which is what he usually did previously.

Michael Nyqvist plays the villain here, and he is rather low key compared to the previous films' villains, which actually works in his favour as it makes him more mysterious. Lost's Josh Holloway has a minor role, it's unfortunate that his screen time is very limited. I think he would have been great for this franchise.

My only complaint would be the fact that some characters seem impervious to injury, especially after being thrown around, falling from a high place or being in a car crash etc. I know it's Mission: Impossible, but some realism would be appreciated here.

In conclusion, Brad Bird has done the impossible (no pun intended) by cutting out the flab and making the franchise exciting again. Ghost Protocol might be running long at 133 minutes, but you don't feel it at all. It's nonstop action all the way here, and an excellent way to end 2011. (4.5/5)

Puss In Boots

2011-12-25T23:49:00.003+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Chris Miller
Voice cast: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis

Plot: Shrek's feline friend Puss in Boots finally gets his own adventure, where he teams up with female cat Kitty Soft Paws and former best friend Humpty Dumpty to steal the famed magic beans on a quest for the giant castle in the clouds.

Review: Puss In Boots is easily one of the best things about the Shrek movies. Whenever Shrek stopped being funny, Puss would steal the limelight. Antonio Banderas' low voice is just perfect, especially with his Spanish accent, giving the cat a sexy personality.

In this film, Puss runs into his former best pal Humpty Dumpty, who offers him a chance to redeem himself after their last encounter went south. With a potential love interest in Kitty Soft Paws, who is every bit as skilled as Puss is, they set off to find the magic beans (made famous by Jack from the Beanstalk tale) which is currently in the possession of Jack & Jill, a Bonnie and Clyde type of couple. From there, they head to the giant castle in the clouds, to find the goose that lays golden eggs.

Director Chris Miller wisely puts in a lot of action sequences to keep things moving briskly. Puss, Humpty and Kitty get themselves into a lot of trouble, which is usually followed by an escape sequence of sorts. The scene where they battle Jack & Jill while riding on dueling horse carriages is exhilarating, followed by an elaborate escape sequence from the giant castle. Kudos to the animation peeps for creating such marvelous scenes.

There's also some nice comedy and well written drama put in, with Puss revealing how his friendship with Humpty went bad, and you know this will come into play before the film is over. As Puss, Banderas is excellent, he evokes the right kind of emotion every time he's on screen. The same can't be said though for Humpty, as he starts to get on your nerves by the time the film hits the halfway mark. A talking egg can only get you so far, even if he is voiced by Zach Galifianakis.

Another thing I wasn't cool with is the number of dance sequences. The first one was awesome actually, especially with the way it was set up. But by the time they got to the last one at the film's closing, I had enough. I mean, it's just one too many, even if looks good.

It's nice family entertainment, even if you have never seen the Shrek films. Good to finally have a Puss film with no sign of the green ogre. (3.5/5)

The Muppets

2011-12-18T18:38:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: James Bobin
Cast: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Jack Black, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and the entire Muppet gang

Plot: Three Muppet fans: Gary, his girlfriend Mary and his puppet brother Walter, enlist the help of Kermit the Frog to round up the entire Muppet gang to put on a show in order to raise money to save their beloved Muppet Theater from being demolished by an evil oil tycoon.

Review: I didn't quite grow up with The Muppets when I was little, but I did see Kermit and Miss Piggy on Sesame Street many times. That said, I was wary going in to see this, knowing that in order to enjoy this, I'd have to remember what it's like being a kid again.

Thankfully, director James Bobin and star Jason Segel make it very easy for the audience. Segel is a huge Muppet fan, as he pulls triple duty as star, co-writer and executive producer for this film. He and Nicholas Stoller do a great job in keeping things lively and entertaining throughout without a single dull moment, and know when to slow down when the dramatic moments come in.

Of course, this being Disney and all, you'll have to suspend your disbelief a bit, like how a man can have a puppet as his brother, but it's easy to forget this once the film gets rolling. The film is filled with song and dance sequences, and though I am not a fan of stuff like this, I didn't mind it too much. The Muppets do their best in keeping things light. Heck, a few times they even acknowledge that they're in a movie. It's hilarious.

Segel is great as Gary, you can see the wide eyed excitement on his face throughout the film. It may seem out of place had this been a role that he'd have to play it straight, but it's The Muppets, so it works. Amy Adams makes a great match for Segel. We all know she can sing and dance, and she proves it again here. But of course, the real stars of the film are the title characters. Kermit and Miss Piggy still make a great couple, through all their bickering and lovey-dovey moments. Other Muppets like Fozzie, Gonzo and Animal are fun to watch too. Then there's Jack Black, who does his best becoming the target of the Muppets' jokes. Watch out also for cameo appearances from Alan Arkin, Mickey Rooney, Selena Gomez, Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Patrick Harris and get this...Dave Grohl. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him. Ha! Oh but wait, lest I forget, Chris Cooper hams it up as the villainous Tex Richman, who even gets to break into song at one point. Epic.

All I can say is I had a blast with The Muppets, and that surprised me a bit. If you love musicals and still remember what it feels like being a kid, go see this. (4/5)

P.S.: Look out for the Toy Story short before the film plays, it's awesome.

50/50

2011-12-11T16:34:00.001+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Jonathan Levine
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Angelica Huston

Plot: A young man discovers he has a rare form of cancer. With the help of his best friend and a rookie therapist, he attempts to survive it and deal with the emotional baggage that comes with it.

Review: To most people, cancer is a bad word, and even a death sentence. Someone close to me has it, so I know very well how it feels to have that weighing over your head if you're suffering from it. That said, I didn't think it was possible to make a comedy out of it, and I initially wanted to stay away from this film.

But guess what, 50/50 turned out to be a pleasant surprise. What's surprising also is the fact that this film is directed by Jonathan Levine, the same guy who helmed All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, which I thought was horrible.

The film is written by Will Reiser, a friend of Seth Rogen who had cancer and survived it. As far as the story goes, it's pretty realistic. The fear of the disease, the emotional wreck that one becomes when they realise they have it, the reactions of the people around you, the stuff the patient goes through, all come off very authentically here. I have to give credit to Levine for pacing the film quite well and ensuring that every character on screen feels real and relatable.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a good job of being the regular guy who wakes up one day and realises his life just changed for the worst. He also shows his fear and eventual courage to face the cancer. It'll be easy for the audience to sympathise with him and root for him too. Rogen is spot on as the best friend who although uses his friend's condition to score chicks and one night stands, isn't really as bad as some people make him out to be. Anna Kendrick once again brings her dorky charm she displayed in Up In The Air here as the therapist who helps Joseph deal with his disease. She is obviously inexperienced but is a very good listener who genuinely cares about her client. Kendrick comes off as very likeable here.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Joseph's girlfriend who can't quite deal with the situation, and I wished her character was written better, as the way her story plays out was a tad too simple. Howard is good, but her character needs more depth. Angelica Huston shines in the limited screentime she has here as Joseph's mother, who worries about him constantly. Special mention must be made for Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer as two fellow patients who sit in the chemotherapy room with Joseph. They're funny and believable.

All I can say is that 50/50 is a great dramedy about a subject matter that most people would consider as taboo. Thanks to Gordon-Levitt and the hilarious Rogen, this film is a solid watch. (3.5/5)

Breaking Dawn Part 1

2011-12-04T12:39:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Bill Condon
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed

Plot: The Twilight saga continues. Bella and Edward get married. However, her unexpected motherhood bring huge complications between the Cullens and Jacob's pack.

Review: I know a lot of people have buried the Twilight films over the years, for good reasons. Personally I thought it had its own potential to be entertaining, and even then I wished they had stopped adapting the novels after Eclipse. Eclipse had a perfect ending to a saga that has seen a lot of happenings.

But Hollywood won't turn away from an opportunity to make more money, so here we go with Breaking Dawn, the first of two parts. Storywise, Breaking Dawn is much weaker than its predecessors, since there is a lack of villains here, any good ones anyway. Bill Condon however deserves credit for making the film flow smoothly and not dwelling on the love factor too much, which has always been the worst thing about the Twilight films.

But the lack of villains means a lack of action, which this film sorely needs to be entertaining. Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg thus has to resort to making the script entertaining and funny, which only works about half the time. The cheesy lines are still there, though like I mentioned earlier, thankfully kept to a minimum.

The cast perform just about average as always. Stewart is a lot less dramatic this time around thankfully, leaving the emotional moments to her two suitors, Pattinson and Lautner. Lautner especially has to do a lot of drama here, and to me he still needs a bit more work on his acting. Billy Burke shines again as Bella's dad, getting the best lines in the film.

Sadly, the local censors took out a lot from this film, probably to make sure it gets the PG13 rating the film needs to draw its teen fans over. (Isn't it sad that our PG13 rating is more strict than the US PG13?) Thus we Malaysians don't get to see the much talked about birth scene, which I hear has made people puke due to red and white lights flashing. What the heck?

To sum it up, Breaking Dawn Part 1 isn't necessary to adapt to celluloid because it is now bordering on ridiculousness. But who knows, Part 2 might make up for its shortcomings, especially with a very welcome epilogue featuring the Volturi. (3/5)

Seeking Justice

2011-11-28T17:55:00.001+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Roger Donaldson
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Guy Pearce, January Jones, Harold Perrineau, Xander Berkeley, Jennifer Carpenter

Plot: After Will Gerard's wife Laura is assaulted, a man named Simon approaches him, telling him that he represents a vigilante group and offers to take care of the problem. Will agrees, but after that he realizes too late that Simon's price for his services is too high.

Review: Roger Donaldson, who has made diverse films ranging from Cocktail to The Recruit, manages to craft a steady thriller out of Seeking Justice. It is by no means perfect though, as the film becomes quite predictable and lots of plot holes are visible throughout.

Donaldson makes up for it by keeping things moving fairly well. The first half is smooth, and then the plot slows down as Will tries to outrun Simon and his men while trying to get to the bottom of things. But the pace picks up at the climax, and though it can only end one way, the journey there is thrilling enough.

Cage as Will is one of his better roles in the past year. I know he gets a lot of crap for taking all sorts of roles and further driving his once great career down the toilet, but as Will, Cage goes back to playing what he does best, being the everyman. Jones is merely here to support Cage's character, but it's nice to see her doing some real acting for once. Guy Pearce is pretty good as the villainous Simon, and manages to lift the film above average.

There is talk during the film that New Orleans, the city where this takes place, is going to ruin, and I think Donaldson should have tried harder to depict that. All he manages to show the audience is a few graffiti stained walls, some crime reports and an unfinished mall. He can certainly do better than that if he wants to justify a vigilante group's existence.

A decent thriller overall, a watchable film for Cage fans. (3.5/5)

Immortals

2011-11-13T20:34:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Tarsem Singh
Cast: Henry Cavill, Luke Evans, Stephen Dorff, Freida Pinto, Isabel Lucas, Mickey Rourke

Plot: King Hyperion seeks a mystical bow that can help him release the Titans from their prison. Zeus refuses to interfere in the affairs of men and chooses instead to rely on a peasant named Theseus, whose mother Hyperion killed, to stop him.

Review: From the trailer, this film indeed looks promising. A sword and sandal epic is guaranteed to be bloody and violent, which would be fun if done right.

However, much to my chagrin, the local censors removed many bits that were deemed too gory for our senses. I'm used to watching films that are censored, but whoever did the job for Immortals did so badly, as the cuts disrupted the flow of the final cut that I watched. Damn you.

But anyway, I shall try to tell you my opinion regardless. Tarsem seems to rely a lot on CGI blood and CGI sets, as the rock cliff home of Theseus seems too good to be real (I could be wrong though). He focused so much on sets that there are virtually no scenes of travelling from one location to another, which made no sense to me. It felt like one moment the characters were in a place, the next moment they were elsewhere. This sure as hell threw the plot into a big mess for me.

Acting wise, Henry Cavill is a pretty good hero as Theseus. He reminds me of Sam Worthington in Clash Of The Titans, only Worthington was better. Mickey Rourke uses his similar sleepy villain style as Hyperion, sometimes it works, sometimes it's just annoying. Stephen Dorff makes a good sidekick for Cavill, but I wished they had focused more on his friendship with Theseus. Luke Evans makes an outstanding Zeus, and Isabel Lucas is just gorgeous as Athena. Another thing I wished for was more time with the gods and less with the humans, alas we don't get that. Freida Pinto was boring to watch unfortunately, she has no chemistry with Cavill.

Overall, Immortals was only so-so for me. They gave a lot of running time for the film, but most of it was spent on Theseus' journey, and not enough on the gods or the supporting characters. If I had a chance to see the violence they removed, maybe I'll like this film more. But for now, it's below my expectations. (3/5)

In Time

2011-11-07T17:42:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Andrew Niccol
Cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Alex Pettyfer, Vincent Kartheiser, Olivia Wilde

Plot: In a world where everyone has been genetically engineered to stop aging at 25 and live for one more year, time has become the currency. Those who have years on their clock are the rich who live forever, while the poor live by scraping enough time to last the next day. Will Salas is a man from the ghetto who inherits a century from someone, and while being pursued by the authorities, attempts to make things right in the distribution of time.

Review: The moment I learned the plot from In Time and heard it was Andrew Niccol directing, it literally rang "Gattaca" in my head. The similarities are uncanny: it's set in the future, underprivileged man gets to live a life of privilege thanks to a kind man with the means, man falls for a girl from the upper class, someone suspects his ruse and investigates him. It's all there.

I have to admit though, In Time has an intriguing premise despite its familiarity. In this world, we don't carry cash, we carry time on our wrists. We can pass the time to another person as easily as passing money from hand to hand. The difference is, if you have no time, you're dead. From a logical standpoint, I still don't know how you pass time to another person by touch, but there you go.

Niccol's version of the future is kinda like Gattaca: it's sleek, inorganic and very formal. Kudos to Niccol and company for the great set design, as well as the stark change in transportation, where cars look like they run on electricity and even hum differently. Cars look very retro but at the same time, exude a futuristic image.

I like how the disparity between the two social classes are shown here, by using time zones that separate the wealthy from the poor. I also like the appearance of the Minutemen, thugs who steal other people's time by force, and the police force that are called Timekeepers. In a world like this, it's very relevant.

However, Niccol squanders a good opportunity to turn this into a good thriller by the time the film hits the halfway mark. At this point, Will and his love interest Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried), who's wealthy, decide to become a Bonnie & Clyde pair and steal time from time banks, and then distribute them to the needy. This is where the story seemingly grinds to a halt, because Niccol stays on this plot to the end, and worst of all, doesn't even give it a satisfactory finale. In this part of the film, it feels as if he can't decide how to move the plot along or how to end it.

I've never been a fan of Timberlake's acting, and after this I'm not changing my mind. He's not awful, but inconsistent in his portrayal of Will. Amanda Seyfried isn't much better, she's basically following Timberlake's lead here. Definitely not one of her better roles. Cillian Murphy does what he can as the Timekeeper on Will's trail, but you get the feeling he's a tad miscast. Alex Pettyfer plays against type as the Minutemen's leader, but doesn't have a heck of a lot to do.

In the end, In Time is a a film with a lot of wasted potential. A real pity. Don't rush out to see this. (3/5)

Real Steel

2011-11-06T16:22:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie

Plot: In a future where robot boxing has replaced human boxing, a washed up fighter and his estranged son attempt to bring their underdog robot named Atom all the way to the World Robot Boxing championship.

Review: I remember seeing the trailer to this film many times in the last several months. The more I saw it, the more I thought it was gonna be a stinker. But the reviews were positive, and I love Hugh Jackman, so I gave it a shot.

To be honest, Real Steel isn't perfect, but these days when can you ever ask for perfection when it comes to movies? Real Steel, at its heart, is an underdog story, which is heavily inspired it seems, by Rocky, judging by the similarities.

Jackman is Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who tries his best to make ends meet by getting a robot that can help him win a fight. He is down on his luck, until his estranged son Max finds a sparring robot named Atom at the junkyard, and convinces his father to teach him some moves. Along the way, Charlie learns a thing or two about fatherhood and fighting for the people that you love. And of course, the underdog robot triumphs in his own way.

Director Shawn Levy successfully crafts a heartwarming story that will appeal to most people, even though it seems very familiar. It helps that Jackman and Dakota Goyo have great chemistry as father and son, and it holds the story together well enough. The real appeal however are the robot fights, that are very realistic indeed. You'd think that the effects would be choppy for a family film like this, but no! The robots look and sound real, every punch, swing and impact feel authentic, which make all the robot fights very exciting to behold.

My only gripe is that the film took a little too long to finish, but other than that, Real Steel is knockout entertainment. I'll admit, this isn't Jackman's best work, I still love seeing him as Wolverine. But if you love underdog stories and great action, Real Steel is a solid choice. (3.5/5)

The Thing

2011-10-23T11:15:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr
Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen

Plot: A group of Norwegian and American scientists discover a spaceship and an alien life form encased in ice down in Antarctica, and soon find themselves being picked off one by one by the alien, that has the ability to replicate anyone it kills.

Review: I only have a few vague memories of John Carpenter's version back in 1982, thus I may have a slight advantage over everyone else who have made comparisons between the two versions. Even then, this version is supposedly a prequel and not a remake (premake?) of Carpenter's film, which itself is a remake.

The new Thing is directed by first time director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr, who directed commercials back in his home country. As far as set design and visual effects go, he's got it mostly right. The vast snow and icy landscape of Antarctica look really gorgeous and scary at the same time here. The visual effects actually look pretty good too, even though I've heard critics complain about it being choppy. The transformation from human to Thing once its ruse has been discovered is awesome, and quite gross too, which really helps the film a lot.

However, that's just about all the good things I can say about this film. Overall, the film needs a lot more than that. The horror of being trapped in the middle of nowhere with an enemy hiding amongst people you know and likely trust, isn't present. There ought to be tension everytime you look at the person next to you, and as a viewer, I didn't sense any tension whatsoever. I can see that the cast is trying to create the tension on screen, but it just doesn't happen. The main reason for that is the predictability. It's easy to guess which human the alien has copied, I guessed all of them correctly. On top of that, the 'test' that they use here to separate the humans from the impostors is pretty lame and not to mention flawed, compared to the one in Carpenter's version. The dialogue is rather dull and uninspiring too, with an absence of good one-liners and no guy with funny lines to quip (though the film does open with a guy telling quite a funny joke).

I'm also not happy with the choice of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the lead heroine Kate Lloyd. Yes, she can act, but I have trouble buying her as someone capable of leading this story. I would have preferred a more seasoned actress to play this role. Winstead gets to be Ellen Ripley in the second half of the film, but seriously, who can be Ripley besides Sigourney Weaver? The focus on Winstead's character makes her mostly male supporting cast seem insignificant, including the talented Joel Edgerton as Carter the helicopter pilot. The actors playing the Norwegians seem interesting though, too bad they mostly end up being alien victims.

In essence, this is a gallant attempt at remaking a classic horror film, but it is severely flawed. if you've seen the original, you'd probably want to go back to it. If like me, you don't remember much of the original, or you haven't seen it at all, you'd want to find it instead. (3/5)

P.S.: A final scene during the closing credits leads straight into Carpenter's film opening.

The Three Musketeers

2011-10-16T13:23:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Milla Jovovich, Christoph Waltz, Orlando Bloom, Mads Mikkelsen

Plot: Young D'Artagnan (Lerman), who aspires to be a musketeer, travels to Paris and meets the famed Three Musketeers (Macfadyen, Evans & Stevenson). Together they attempt to stop Cardinal Richelieu (Waltz), the advisor to the naive King of France, from starting a war with England. Standing in their way are Richelieu's double agent Milady (Jovovich) and her 'other' employer, The Duke of Buckingham (Bloom).

Review: From the trailers, The Three Musketeers looks like fun. On paper, it might have worked. Some nice action sequences with swordfights, explosions and bullets flying everywhere would almost guarantee a fun time at the movies, even if the plot isn't much to behold. But sadly, the film doesn't quite live up to expectations.

Paul W.S. Anderson, who has made a career out of making the Resident Evil films with his wife Milla Jovovich, can definitely film action, no doubt about that. He's one of the few guys that can film close quarter combats without making it seem blurry, and use slow motion at just the right moments. So to his credit, all the swordfights in this film are well shot, especially the climactic duel between Lerman and Mads Mikkelsen (as Rochefort, the Cardinal's Captain of the guards). He also throws in some good action set pieces, like an airship battle (which is reminiscent of the ship battles in the Pirates films, except it's in the air here) and a creative raid on a stronghold in the film's opening sequence.

However, Anderson isn't strong on substance, which is where the film falters. The plot on how Richelieu plans to start a war between England and France is a tad juvenile and poorly executed. But what's even worse is the acting by a select few of the cast.

Orlando Bloom as the Duke of Buckingham is one of the worst examples of casting I've ever seen. Bloom has yet to mature as an actor obviously, as he hams up the role terribly and looks totally out of place. Some people can actually ham up a role and make it look good (Kevin Bacon in X-Men First Class for instance), but Bloom is a failure. He might as well stick to being a sidekick for his next few projects. Jovovich is unexpectedly annoying at times, and I say unexpected because she isn't a terrible actress. Anyone who has seen her in Joan of Arc can understand where I'm coming from. Here, her acting is inconsistent at best.

Macfadyen, Evans and Stevenson fare much better as Athos, Aramis and Porthos respectively, though it is Lerman who gets more screen time here. Lerman does okay as the impulsive D'Artagnan, and with a little more work, he just might become a leading man someday.

In the end, The Three Musketeers doesn't take itself seriously enough to make it enjoyable. While I enjoyed the humour that it handed out, it just needed a bit more meat to work. There was some potential for drama as Athos and Milady have a history with each other, but there wasn't enough drama everywhere else, and too much focus was on the immature King and his Queen, who are at the centre of Richelieu's plan.

Judging by the way it ended, a sequel is afoot. But Anderson has a lot of work to do to improve on this. (3/5)

Killer Elite

2011-10-05T23:21:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Gary McKendry
Cast: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Yvonne Strahovski, Dominic Purcell, Aden Young

Plot: In order to save his mentor, a retired hitman is forced to take one last job. The task: kill three SAS officers who are connected to the British war with Oman. His mission however puts him in the crosshairs of an ex SAS officer tasked with protecting his comrades.

Review: Jason Statham has proven that he is a bankable action star. He may not be much of an actor, but he can kick ass like no one else can. While Death Race and The Transporter films are pretty much straightforward action flicks, Killer Elite is a bit different. For one thing, Statham doesn't end up doing ridiculous car stunts or fight off ten guys at once. And the plot is slightly deeper than the average Statham vehicle. And he shares nearly equal screentime with Clive Owen.

Supposedly based on a true story, Statham plays Danny Bryce, a hitman who yearns for a normal life with his girlfriend (played by Yvonne Strahovski). However, he gets dragged back into the game when an oil tycoon from Oman holds Danny's mentor Hunter (De Niro) captive, and forces Danny to kill three men in exchange for his freedom. It isn't easy though, since not only are the three men SAS soldiers, they are being watched over by Spike (Owen), a disgruntled ex SAS soldier who doesn't like the idea of his superiors not telling him the truth about these men.

Eventually Danny and Spike cross paths, and bad things happen, and people wind up dead. What's interesting is that the true story behind this film is being denied by the British, after Ranulph Fiennes releases a book about his government's war with Oman. It gives director Gary McKendry ample room to work a good plot around the action, rather than let the action drive the film. That doesn't mean that Killer Elite is boring though. There are still plenty of action sequences to behold, mostly fistfights, shootouts and car chases that aren't too bombastic.

Statham is still Statham here, doing what he does best with a grin, but he's mostly serious this time around. Clive Owen is dead serious as always, and manages to keep up with Statham for the most part. Robert De Niro brings his usual screen presence to the fore and it's always welcome. Strahovski, who constantly kicks ass on TV's Chuck, unfortunately does not do that here and merely looks gorgeous. Prison Break's Dominic Purcell gets the best lines playing one of Danny's comrades.

In the end, Killer Elite isn't quite what you'd expect from Jason Statham, but as an action movie, it still works. (4/5)

Fright Night

2011-10-02T22:44:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Toni Collette

Plot: Charley Brewster discovers that his next door neighbor Jerry is a vampire who's feeding off people in the neighborhood. He turns to magician cum vampire expert Peter Vincent for help.

Review: I vaguely remember the original Fright Night many years ago. I can only recall a bit of the vampire played by Chris Sarandon (who makes a cameo here) and Roddy McDowall as the vampire killer.

Director Craig Gillespie successfully merges horror and comedy in his remake by creating lots of light hearted moments courtesy of the smart dialogue and good comic timing. Admittedly, some of the lines seem a tad cheesy, but overall it works.

You can also expect a lot of blood spatter, as what is a horror flick without the blood and gore? Gillespie pulls no punches or claws as the blood flies everywhere everytime someone gets fangs sunk into them.

Anton Yelchin isn't quite ready to be leading man material, but he pulls off the former nerd turned cool kid well enough, and warms up to the Charley Brewster role by the time the film gets to its climax. Colin Farrell uses his always present dark charm to his advantage as Jerry the vampire, and becomes a somewhat intimidating, but not too scary monster. Some of his lines are pretty corny, but hey, it's a comedy. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is rather annoying as Charley's best friend Ed, while Imogen Poots is nice to look at as Charley's squeeze. David Tennant however scores major points as Peter Vincent, whom many have accurately described as a cross between Russell Brand and Criss Angel. He is a hoot to watch and steals nearly every scene he's in.

Personally, I'd prefer a horror film that takes itself seriously than one that doesn't, which is why Fright Night wouldn't be one of my favourites. But I gotta say I enjoyed this film more than I thought I would, and it's a nice way to spend 2 hours.

Note: Hugo's version of Jay-Z's 99 Problems that plays during the end credits is a killer song. It's just perfect for this. (3.5/5)

Warrior

2011-09-28T23:03:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Gavin O'Connor
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo, Kevin Dunn

Plot: Two brothers; Brendan, a schoolteacher trying to make ends meet, and Tommy, a former Marine haunted by the war he left behind, participate in a mixed martial arts tournament with a $5 million prize at stake. In between them is their estranged father Paddy, a former alcoholic who is trying his best to reconcile with his two sons.

Review: I'm not a fan of mixed martial arts (MMA), but the good thing about Warrior is that you don't have to be a fan to enjoy it.

The MMA element is in fact a background to the bigger story at hand: an emotional drama about family. In Warrior, we have two brothers who are as different from each other as night and day, both driven by different reasons and even fight differently in the ring.

Younger brother Tommy is resentful of his father, but chooses him to help him train for the tournament, as long as they only talk about the training and nothing else. You can see the darkness in Tommy's eyes, like there's a rage in him, and it shows when he beats down his opponents in the ring brutally. And yet, Tommy isn't a bad person really, he does have some good in him, as you'll see in some of the poignant moments of the film.

Older brother Brendan on the other hand, is a family man whose house is about to be foreclosed by the bank unless he pays up. Despite objections from his wife Tess, who worries for his safety, Brendan signs up for the tournament and ends up becoming a big underdog. Unlike Tommy, Brendan is an affable man and very easy to like.

Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton are superb in their respective roles. Hardy put on several pounds of muscle to become an intimidating fighter, and the way he beats up his opponents swiftly and violently is just brutal yet fun to watch. But more than that, Hardy puts in a great performance as a man evading his dark past while trying to ignore the big family issues in front of him. Edgerton is also great as the likable Brendan, who loves his family and would do anything for them, even if it means getting hurt badly. You would probably have a hard time choosing which brother to root for.

But the show stealer has to be Nick Nolte as their father Paddy. Paddy had walked out on the family a long time ago, and now has turned over a new leaf. But he has a hard time convincing his boys that he's a changed man. In one scene, when he succumbs to his past addiction, Nolte is just unbelievably real in the character. He's just awesome to watch and deserves an Oscar nomination for this.

As for the fight scenes itself, it's quite cool to watch. However it's slightly marred by the close up shots that don't allow us to see who's kicking who or doing what at times. However, director Gavin O'Connor (who cameos as the tournament's promoter) and cameraman Masanobu Takayanagi make up for it by using different lighting to differentiate the two brothers' scenes. With Tommy, it's dark and grainy shades while Brendan's scenes are bright and colourful. Very ingenious.

Warrior is a great film that everyone should check out. I had been looking all year for a film that scores in nearly every aspect. Warrior may very well be that film. Highly recommended. (4.5/5)

Colombiana

2011-09-17T13:26:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Olivier Megaton
Cast: Zoe Saldana, Jordi Molla, Lennie James, Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis

Plot: A female assassin seeks revenge against the men who killed her parents.

Review: I wasn't initially keen on seeing Colombiana, mainly because I had trouble in buying the idea of Zoe Saldana being a woman that kicks ass. I didn't watch The Losers so really, I wouldn't know. And now that I've seen this film, I can say she is pretty decent in that department.

Colombiana is supposedly a follow up to La Femme Nikita for Luc Besson, who is producing this film and having Transporter 3 director Olivier Megaton calling the action. It's the same premise more or less: sexy female that kills with ease. The fact that Saldana doesn't look like she's strong enough to be deadly actually works in her favour.

One of the best scenes in the film is when she infiltrates a police lockup just so that she can get close to her target. She eliminates him without the police even knowing she was in his cell. It's good, even though it seemed too perfect. Megaton and Besson repeatedly try to show how smooth she is by getting herself out of trouble without breaking a sweat, when the best part is actually the climax when she invades the villains' mansion for the final showdown.

The problem with Colombiana is the gaping plotholes, like how she does her job and escapes perfectly without a snag every time. I know she's good at what she does and plans for every contingency, but at the end of the day, she's still a human being, and she ought to screw up somewhere to make things interesting. The zero room for error that Besson presents here makes her look unstoppable, which isn't realistic. Then there's the relationship she has with Michael Vartan's artist character, which seems superbly underdeveloped, since he neglects to get to know her until after he sleeps with her a few times. Really? Come on. And the opening scene of the film just screams of overacting.

But to Saldana's credit, she successfully carries the film as best she can, doing a good job in the fight scenes and emoting when necessary (promo posters over here included a tagline saying she's a stone cold killer....no she's not. The T-1000 is a stone cold killer). Cliff Curtis provides some solid support as her uncle who trains her in her craft. Lennie James gets the lawman role here, but Michael Rooker did it better in The Replacement Killers, and that's not saying much.

All in all, a decent action film. But it could have been better. (3.5/5)

Contagion

2011-09-11T09:49:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow

Plot: A deadly virus that has no vaccine or cure starts killing people across the globe. The pandemic is seen from several angles: a man trying to protect his daughter from the disease, a CDC official and his doctors trying their best to handle the situation, a WHO official being kept captive by a desperate man and his village, and a blogger exploiting the situation and causing extreme panic.

Review: I can only think of two other films that touch on killer diseases, Carriers and Outbreak. The former focuses more on the aftermath of a pandemic, while the latter is an action thriller that pits Dustin Hoffman against his evil military superiors who plan on wiping out an infected town.

Contagion however is different. The multiple angle look is reminiscent of Syriana's take on the global oil industry. Steven Soderbergh presents a very real situation: what happens when a global pandemic starts killing people? What would you do? What would the authorities do? What would it be like when people start getting desperate to save themselves? Doubling as director of photography, Soderbergh effectively shows us the world under severe threat of a virus that multiplies quickly, kills quickly and can't be controlled. He knows when to zoom in on eventual victims as well as pull away to see either empty public places or looting and rioting happening at pharmacies and supermarkets. He also manages to hold the story together despite having many angles to deal with, and by keeping things at a brisk pace, Contagion is never boring at any point.

Having an all star cast certainly helps a lot too. Matt Damon stands out as the guy whose wife, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, suddenly dies and the doctors can't tell him why. It eventually leads to him learning some things he isn't ready to know, and then quickly goes to him attempting to keep his daughter safe from the outbreak. Damon is excellent here, no doubt about it. Laurence Fishburne gets the role of the unsung hero, the head of the CDC trying his best to cope with the problem and backing up his team to find a cure. Fishburne's cool acting style really suits him here and helps his role a lot. Jude Law, usually accustomed to playing the hero, plays against type here as the blogger who is self serving and couldn't care less about the panic that he is causing with the information that he is putting out, and he actually is good in this role.

Marion Cotillard and Kate Winslet don't have a lot to do here unfortunately, but having them onboard certainly doesn't hurt. Cotillard in particular, could have been excluded from the film and the plot would have still worked. Other supporting actors stand out, like Jennifer Ehle as Fishburne's subordinate who works hard to find a vaccine for the disease. Special mention also for John Hawkes, who although only gets a minor role as a janitor at the CDC building, makes a real connection with his scenes with Fishburne. Hawkes always excels in whatever character he becomes, and hopefully he will get an Oscar someday.

Ultimately, Soderbergh's skilled direction is what makes Contagion a riveting watch. By pacing the film well (which includes using day numbers to track time) and covering all aspects to make it as authentic as it can be, he has successfully carved a real fear in his audience. At the end of it, you will realise that this is all very plausible, and you'll think twice the next time you touch someone or something in public.

A great watch, recommended. (4/5)

Cars 2

2011-09-04T19:05:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: John Lasseter and Brad Lewis
Voice cast: Owen Wilson, Larry The Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer

Plot: Lightning McQueen is invited to participate in the World Grand Prix, where he will go head to head with the best racecars in the world, including the well known F1 car Francesco Bernoulli. Mater, who tags along for the ride, finds himself caught up in international espionage when two British spy cars mistake him for an American spy.

Review: I know most people do not rank Cars as their favourite Pixar film. It's by no means bad, but it simply does not compare to the Toy Story films, Up and Finding Nemo.

But Cars is good on its own, as John Lasseter presents Michael J. Fox's Doc Hollywood storyline in the form of animation, and it works. It may not have the amount of heart the Toy Story films have, but it's still fun to watch.

In Cars 2, Lasseter opts to up the ante on the action. His opinion: why stop at car racing when you can go around the world and do all sorts of action stuff? The result: a nonstop action animation film that takes many cues from James Bond.

What I loved about Cars 2 is the view of the world outside of Radiator Springs. Japan and Italy just look magnificent here. Lasseter is smart to humanise the cars world by making things such as Kabuki cars, sumo cars, toilets for cars etc. The race tracks look great too, especially in Italy, where the waterfront view from the tracks is just beautifully rendered. As far as animation goes, Lasseter has it well covered, even if it's mostly made up of talking cars.

However, Lasseter unwisely chooses to put Mater in the centre of the story this time, relegating Lightning McQueen to a supporting role. If Mater wasn't your favourite car back then, him being the lead car now isn't going to change your mind. Mater starts to get annoying after a while because of his ignorant attitude, though he wisens up at the film's climax, but it's not enough to endear him to the audience.

However, Michael Caine's Finn McMissile, the British spy car, is great. Like a real James Bond car, he has grappling hooks and machine guns to use, and he even becomes a submarine at one point. That's pretty cool. John Turturro is hilarious as McQueen's rival Bernoulli, and his banter with Owen Wilson is good for some laughs.

Other than Mater, the other thing that bugged me a bit was the further lack of a heartwarming story here. Lasseter puts in a lot of action sequences, but no heart and emotion to go with it. There's a subplot about McQueen and Mater's friendship being on the rocks, but it's just that, a subplot. In the first Cars, we at least watched how McQueen learned his lesson about winning a race not being the most important thing. But here, we get no such lesson, thereby making this sequel emotionally hollow.

But is Cars 2 bad? Nah. Not bad. It's rather fun actually. Funny in parts, and rarely boring. It's worth one watch at least. Even if you just want to see the Toy Story short film at the start, stay on for the film and you might enjoy it a bit. (3.5/5)

Conan The Barbarian

2011-08-28T19:29:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Marcus Nispel
Cast: Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang, Rose McGowan

Plot: As a young boy, Conan watched helplessly as a ruthless warlord named Khalar Zym killed his father and burned his entire village. Twenty years later, Conan seeks revenge as Zym plans to sacrifice a beautiful young woman to obtain godlike powers.

Review: I remember watching Arnold Schwarzenegger's version of Conan The Barbarian once many years ago, and not much comes to mind. I did recall that it was quite dull. But Arnie always brings his indomitable screen presence to his films, so that's one thing that film had going for it.

As for this one, director Marcus Nispel keeps things going at a quick pace, and piles on the action and blood continuously. The battle scenes between Conan and the bad guys are all well shot and because of the furious bloodletting on screen, it's quite fun to watch.

However, the film doesn't quite manage to stand out when compared to other films that have come before it. What you see is what you get, you don't walk into this film and expect something brilliant the likes of Lord Of The Rings. No. What you will get is a bloody sword epic with all the prerequisite cheesy lines included.

Jason Momoa may not have the screen presence of Arnie (who does, anyway?), but he has enough charisma to fill the shoes of Conan here. Rachel Nichols does all right as the love interest while Stephen Lang snarls his way through the film as Khalar Zym. Rose McGowan plays Zym's cruel daughter Marique well, but again, like the entire film, none of these actors stand out in their respective roles. They're somewhere between average and momentarily cool.

But there are a few sparks here and there. Ron Perlman makes good with his role as Conan's father, and everything that happens on screen between the beginning and up to his character's death is rather interesting. It's also interesting to note that this film's plot is a lot closer to Conan The Destroyer than Conan The Barbarian, but with less bombastic monster effects.

In the end, this Conan is fun in parts, but rather bland overall. I'll give them points for trying though. (3/5)

Cowboys & Aliens

2011-08-21T22:40:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Jon Favreau
Cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Clancy Brown

Plot: Set in the Old West, a man wakes up in the middle of nowhere with no memory of how he got there, his own name, or why there is a strange metal bracelet on his wrist. He makes it to the town of Absolution, where he gets arrested promptly. But before anything else happens, the town is invaded by alien spaceships and several people are abducted. The stranger has to team up with the townsfolk, including a ruthless cattle baron and a mysterious woman, to get them back.

Review: Most people think that sci-fi and westerns don't mix. After the disasters that were Wild Wild West and Jonah Hex, who could blame them? But thankfully Jon Favreau succeeds where those two have failed.

Favreau, to his credit, spares no effort in making his film look awesome. The CGI is great, the aliens look menacing enough and their spaceships look good too, even though one might think that they're just borrowed props from Star Wars. The battle scenes are also well shot, and the aliens are just brutal and scary at times, proving that they're more than a match for the cowboys, making the fights seem real and fun to watch at the same time. Visually, Favreau scores here.

Daniel Craig makes a great action hero, but coming from James Bond himself, why wouldn't he? The thing is, Craig can't seem to shake the silent, steely eyed hero he's well known for, therefore watching him here is like watching Bond in a hat. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I was hoping for some variety. Harrison Ford gets to play the anti hero here, though he's much more believable as a grumbling old warrior than a ruthless colonel. Case in point: when he is interrogating a man while torturing him at the beginning of the film, he doesn't sound intimidating one bit. A guy like Sam Shepard could do this, but Ford? Nah. Olivia Wilde looks good here as the mysterious Ella, and judging by the amount of work she's getting away from House, things are looking up for her.

I'm very impressed with the supporting cast that Favreau has managed to procure for this film. Sam Rockwell, Paul Dano, Clancy Brown, Nacho Libre's Ana de la Reguera, Windtalkers' Adam Beach, even Keith Carradine from Deadwood is here. Heck, the very charismatic Walton Goggins is here too. Awesome. The Last Airbender's Noah Ringer also has a role here, but he looks clueless most of the time. Other than Ringer, everyone fills their roles pretty good.

My main gripe is that this film only scratches the surface as far as being a western is concerned. It's not because of the sci-fi elements, it just feels a bit lean. You can call it a lite-western, ignoring the fact that it has aliens in it. But then again, they don't make westerns like they used to, so I'm cool with that. For one thing, Cowboys & Aliens is never boring throughout its two hour runtime, and it's more hit than miss for me.

I don't know why US audiences would rather watch The Smurfs than this. I say, leave The Smurfs for the kids. If you're an adult who wants to have fun at the movies, this film will do the trick. (4/5)

The Warrior's Way

2011-08-14T19:38:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Lee Sng Moo
Cast: Jang Dong Gun, Kate Bosworth, Geoffrey Rush, Danny Huston, Tony Cox, Ti Lung

Plot: After refusing his master's orders to kill an infant girl, he flees with the girl to the west, where he starts a new life with a group of carnies in a dusty western town. However, he's forced to pick up his sword again when a ruthless colonel comes to terrorise the town.

Review: Before watching Cowboys & Aliens, I thought about watching this, it's also a merger of two genres, but cowboys and ninjas instead of, you know. Despite the overwhelming negative reviews on it, the concept intrigued me.

Director Lee Sng Moo certainly has a flair for visual style. You'll notice a lot of green screen was used here to create the backgrounds, from desert nights to snowy whites to beautiful red sunsets, which makes the film have a comic book feel to it. The action is also stylish, done in a quick cut, slow mo and spinning camera style. It's almost like Zack Snyder's 300, but not as detailed. And there is where the problem lies.

Lee decides to film his action sequences in a comic style way, instead of an in your face, blow for blow, Donnie Yen style. As a result, most of the swordfights lack substance. You'll see Jang Dong Gun run through his opponents, sword in hand, and cut them all down before they even do anything, which takes all the fun out. There's a lot of blood spatter, but what we really want is some exchange of moves, not just blood.

As for acting, Jang is passable as the assassin with a few words, but I just wish there was more to his character than just that. Kate Bosworth tries too hard to inject some excitement into her character as the knife thrower with a grudge on the Colonel, but comes off as annoying most of the time. To make matters worse, she has no chemistry with Jang at all, so the romantic subplot between them should have been canned. Geoffrey Rush is all right as the town drunk who is good with a rifle, and should have been given more to do. Danny Huston is quite memorable as the cruel Colonel, while the legendary Ti Lung, who's looking like he's past 70, doesn't have much to do here as Jang's master. Someone told me his lines were dubbed, if so that is a real pity. He deserves better.

Overall, the film just gets an okay grade from me. I like the style, but in the hands of a more skilled director, and a better fight choreographer, The Warrior's Way would have been a lot more fun. (3/5)

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

2011-08-07T12:25:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Cast: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, Andy Serkis, David Hewlett

Plot: This film is an origin story to the Planet Of The Apes franchise, which focuses on Caesar, a chimpanzee raised by Will Rodman, a scientist experimenting on apes to find a cure for Alzheimer's. Caesar's superior intelligence eventually enables him to become the leader of an uprising of the apes against their human oppressors.

Review: I don't know why most people hated Tim Burton's remake of Planet Of The Apes, I thought it was cool. Sure, the social commentary of Burton's version is weaker compared to the 1968 original, but the cast did well, especially Tim Roth, who is still very unrecognizable under General Thade's chimp makeup.

Rupert Wyatt's film though, is a prequel of sorts. We don't start in the future, but in the present, as we see Will Rodman desperately try to find a cure for Alzheimer's in order to save his father, whose condition is deteriorating rapidly. This premise is a lot similar to Deep Blue Sea, except in that film, instead of apes, we have sharks, and that film was an action thriller whereas Rise is a sci-fi drama.

But sci-fi films normally gets dull unless you throw in some excitement, and this comes in the form of apes engaging humans in some fisticuffs. We've always viewed apes as animals, and because of that, they can be seen as unpredictable and dangerous, and Wyatt does a splendid job presenting that. The apes here, despite being mostly CGI motion capture by human actors, are very realistic, fascinating and scary at the same time. You could almost feel like they can snap at any given moment and beat the crap out of you. All the shit finally hits the fan in the film's climax when Caesar leads an army of apes against the police. The sequence on the Golden Gate bridge is awesomely shot and executed, in particular.

James Franco gets the role of Will Rodman, but any hope of him recapturing the same brilliance he showed in 127 Hours here is slim. Franco's performance is inconsistent at best, but then again his role is pretty much by the numbers, you can predict how his character will play out to the end. Freida Pinto is severely wasted here, and serves to be nothing more than Will's love interest. John Lithgow however is impressive as Will's Alzheimer's stricken father, and really succeeds in gaining the audience's sympathy for him. Tom Felton plays a primate facility guard who's even meaner than Draco Malfoy, and even gets to say the classic Charlton Heston line, but the line wasn't even necessary, and overall I don't think he brought anything outstanding to the role. Then again, it's not his fault, the villains in this story are rather two dimensional.

The real star of the film is Andy Serkis, who does the motion capture acting for Caesar, and as a result, Caesar looks very impressive on screen. You'll love him and be afraid of him at the same time, and eventually you'll be rooting for him towards the end of the film. Thumbs up to Serkis for a job well done.

Overall, Rise is a valiant attempt to make its own stand amongst the Planet Of The Apes films, but it still pales in comparison to the original. I do hope they will make more instalments after this one, judging by the post credits scene. (3.5/5)

P.S.: See how many nods to the original you can spot throughout the film.

Captain America: The First Avenger

2011-07-31T14:12:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Joe Johnston
Cast: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci

Plot: This is the origin story of Steve Rogers, a frail young man who is deemed unfit to join the military during WW2, but gets his chance when he is chosen to participate in a top secret project that turns him into the super soldier known as Captain America.

Review: After two Iron Man films, The Incredible Hulk and Thor, this film is the last piece of the puzzle before The Avengers assemble on screen next summer. That being said, Captain America has the biggest burden of being a success story, especially if Marvel wants The Avengers to work. And thankfully, it delivers.

I am happy to report that Captain America isn't just a filler film so that we'll know who Chris Evans is playing once The Avengers rolls in. No, this is one very entertaining and fun-filled movie, from beginning to end.

Director Joe Johnston, who is inconsistent throughout his career, manages to deliver a well made film that covers almost everything there is to know about the Sentinel of Liberty, from his origins as a weakling with big dreams and a courage to match, to becoming a soldier that would readily risk his life to save as many of his comrades as he can. To that end, Johnston creates a WW2 era that is very authentic, from set design to costume and the overall feel of it. Even the soundtrack, led by a 40s type number The Star Spangled Man, is retro, and it doesn't feel out of place in our time. At the same time, there are developments in technology here which wouldn't make sense had this been a real story, but since it's a comicbook film, it really fits and there isn't anything on display that defies logic. You'd really feel that it was all plausible when you see it.

Chris Evans does a wonderful job as Steve Rogers. I had my doubts about him, because he's the same guy that became the irresponsible Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four films. But here, Evans shows a lot of maturity as the unlikely hero that steps up to become the man he was meant to be. I always knew Evans had potential, if you've seen him in Sunshine, you'll know what I mean. Hayley Atwell is also great as Peggy Carter, Rogers' love interest who holds her own in combat. Atwell is not only good looking, she looks like she was born in that era, making her a perfect fit. Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci provide some good and humorous support as Col. Phillips, Rogers' skeptical commander and Dr Erskine, creator of the super soldier program, respectively. Hugo Weaving plays Johann Schmidt aka Red Skull, Captain America's nemesis with evil glee, but his German accent isn't very convincing though.

There are also other interesting supporting characters like Dum Dum Dugan, Bucky Barnes (Cap's sidekick) and Dr Arnim Zola, but they do not get much screen time, which is a pity. I have a gut feeling though, that Bucky will reappear in the future, but that's just me.

I also particularly liked how the film begins and ends, the latter part being related to the aforementioned Avengers. It was well written and executed, just the way I hoped it would be. It's safe to say that Captain America is a perfect prelude to what is to come, and if you've been waiting for it, you shouldn't miss this. (4/5)

P.S.: Look out for the customary Stan Lee cameo, and wait till the credits end, you won't regret it.

Hanna

2011-07-24T15:21:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander, Jason Flemyng, Olivia Williams

Plot: After being raised as a ruthless assassin by her father, a former CIA operative, 16 year old Hanna is sent on a mission to kill her father's former handler Marissa Weigler, before Weigler finds them first.

Review: I hadn't watched any of Joe Wright's films before, I wasn't a fan of his period dramas Pride And Prejudice or Atonement. But the prospect of seeing Saoirse Ronan in an action role was too good to pass up.

The film is part drama, part adventure and part Jason Bourne type action cinema, minus the car chases. Hanna may be a teenage girl cum assassin, but she's still a girl. She has a lot to learn about the world after being kept from it by her father Erik, so much that when she ventures out, she finds it peculiar to see things we take for granted now, like electricity, music or television. Then when the bad guys come calling, she dispatches them with deadly precision.

All this is possible thanks to Saoirse Ronan, who is just amazing as Hanna. Ronan has that exotic quality that reflects off her pretty face, a quality that showcases her innocence and at the same time something dangerous lurking underneath. Best of all, Ronan does her own fighting here, which makes it even more outstanding. She is ably supported by Eric Bana, who plays her father. Bana grounds the story and as the story progresses, you'll realise that he has as much to hide from Hanna as the villain does. The villain is Marissa, played by Cate Blanchett. Initially I hated the idea of Cate playing a villain because the last time she did that, it didn't work. But here, she's much better, displaying no emotion as she goes out of her way tying up all loose ends that might come back to haunt her. Tom Hollander adds some colour to the proceedings as Marissa's flamboyant hired hand.

Joe Wright may not have much experience in action films, but he does quite all right here. The fight scenes are well filmed and the camerawork is pretty good too. There is a scene where Bana arrives at the bus station and walks to the subway where he is surrounded by four agents. The camera follows him from the station to the subway in one long continuous shot. It might sound simple, but it's little things like that that make this film stand out.

However, Hanna does suffer from having to end with some questions unanswered. I don't know if there's a sequel planned, but if there isn't, then you may have to live with some things not fully explained. But this, and a few pacing issues, are just minor flaws.

If you're looking for something different amidst all the summer blockbusters out there, Hanna is a good choice. (3.5/5)

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

2011-07-17T00:01:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: David Yates
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, Matthew Lewis, Maggie Smith

Plot: Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of Hogwarts' students and teachers make their final stand against Voldemort and his army.

Review: After 10 years, 7 books, 8 films and over six billion dollars, it's finally time to say goodbye to the boy wizard. My anticipation had been high leading up to this last film, but the result is a bit underwhelming. I'll get to that in a bit.

First, I'll say that a few supporting characters finally get the spotlight they deserve, starting with Neville Longbottom. Matthew Lewis has always played him as a bumbling student, but here he finally gets to show what Neville is really made of, as he becomes a hero more than once in the final fight. I liked how his character turned out overall.

Then there's Maggie Smith as Professor McGonagall, who had been sidelined in the last few films, finally getting some screentime, and she does wonderfully here. Over the years, McGonagall was usually the nice and fair teacher, but here she gets to become a general, so to speak. And Smith pulls it off splendidly.

But the real star supporting actor would have to be Alan Rickman, who brings Professor Snape full circle in this instalment. Now you'll find out the motivation to his character in the last ten years of Harry Potter, why he did what he did, and the reasons behind his disdain for Potter. Rickman brings the perfect amount of emotion and believability to his role, and you really couldn't ask for a better actor to do this.

As for the leads, I'll say that Daniel Radcliffe is the one who truly owns this film. The entire franchise has always been about him, I know. But it's in this film where it's most obvious. Kudos to Radcliffe for capably leading this film to where it ought to be. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson also shine in their roles, though this time around they take a backseat more than usual to Radcliffe. This being the final film, Ralph Fiennes gets the most screentime than he's ever had as Voldemort, and he is still great as the maniacal Dark Lord.

Now for the underwhelming part. I didn't like the epilogue Yates included in the end. It wasn't convincing to me, especially since his attempt to show the amount of time that had passed was poor. I felt that the film would end better without it. Yates also isn't very good at filming battle scenes, as the battle for Hogwarts was badly executed. We get minor glimpses of people and monsters fighting, then we cut back and forth to scenes of Harry, which distorts the flow overall. A bit more time spent on one-on-one duels would be nice too. I thought that Molly Weasley's duel with Bellatrix Lestrange was shorter than it ought to be, there's a good chance some of it was edited out. That's a shame indeed. And then there's a plot turn concerning Harry that wasn't explained after it happened (I can't mention it without giving it away), which makes it either confusing or silly. I guess if I read the book, I'd understand why, but as an audience member I'd prefer it being explained to me.

But in the end, I had a good time with this final picture. Not being a Potter fan, the emotional effect on me is much lower than people who are fans. But I will miss Harry a bit. My fondest memories of him will be mostly from the first film and not this one though. All in all, it's been an awesome decade. Goodbye Mr Potter. (3.5/5)

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon

2011-07-10T19:40:00.001+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Michael Bay
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Dempsey, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, John Turturro, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich

Plot: When the Autobots learn that the Apollo 11 moon mission was to investigate a crashed Cybertronian spaceship, they race there to retrieve its cargo before the Decepticons do.

Review: Just about everyone remembers how bad Revenge Of the Fallen was, though personally I thought it was cool, save for a handful of very annoying characters and scenes. Michael Bay remembers it too, which is why he sought to make this Transformers instalment better than the last one. To some extent he succeeds.

Firstly, he dispenses with Sam Witwicky's annoying friend as well as the two Autobots Mudflap and Skids. Then he reduces the screentime for Sam's overbearing parents. Then he gets the screenwriter to pen a better plot, which has a couple of neat twists thrown in. All this, added to some really awesome battle scenes, make Dark Of The Moon quite watchable.

But Bay loses one of his best assets: Megan Fox. Admit it, if you're a straight male, you'd want her back, and thanks to Spielberg, we won't get to see her here. In her place is newcomer Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who does a decent job as Sam's new girl Carly. Granted, she doesn't get to do much other than run and scream, but her performance here will do just fine.

LaBeouf, Duhamel and Gibson all do their respective roles as good as they did before, though LaBeouf still has to maintain his sometimes super intense, sometimes manic personality, which can be really grating after a while. Patrick Dempsey acquits himself well here as Carly's boss, and plays an important role when the third act kicks in. John Turturro plays Simmons a little more low key this time thankfully, and shares some good rapport with Frances McDormand, who steps into the role of the unsympathetic government officer.

However, Dark Of The Moon still has its fair share of stupid human comedy, and it comes in the form of John Malkovich and Ken Jeong. The former wasn't too annoying, but Jeong.....will someone please tell him to go screw someone else's franchise? Last but not least, Alan Tudyk gets some nice humour in as Simmons' assistant.

Actionwise, this film has plenty. It takes a while before you actually feel the film shifting into a higher gear, and it's when the plot turns in the last third, but it's well worth the wait. The final scene takes place in Chicago, which pretty much looks like a warzone at the end. You've got huge robots going at it, from old ones like Optimus Prime, Bumblebee and Megatron to new ones like Sentinel Prime and Shockwave. In the last 45 minutes, it's just slam bang action nonstop which, as many critics have said, is easier to discern compared to Revenge Of The Fallen.

I had a great time with Dark Of The Moon, as I have with the last two Transformers films. I certainly hope the rumours of Jason Statham taking over future instalments aren't true, I'd hate that. (4/5)

Attack The Block

2011-07-03T17:38:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Joe Cornish
Cast: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard, Leeon Jones, Luke Treadaway, Nick Frost

Plot: A group of South London teenagers team up with a nurse they just mugged to defend their apartment block from invading aliens.

Review: Amongst all the loud slam bang summer blockbusters coming in your face this year, in slips this low key comedy thriller about aliens invading your backyard.

Attack The Block can be considered low key due to its minimal use of special effects and a cast made up of mostly unknown actors. Thankfully, director and screenwriter Joe Cornish makes it work well. The premise is reminiscent of Aliens but it's actually a lot closer to Guillermo del Toro's Mimic, with plenty of light-hearted moments.

Probably to achieve some realism, Cornish gets these kids to speak a South London accent, from the sounds of it, they really are from there (if I'm wrong about this, please correct me). It's quite fascinating and funny at the same time to listen to it, which can be somewhat confusing sometimes, yet hilarious anyway.

All five of the kids are very believable as the teenage gang of muggers thinking they're really tough, until they face an enemy they're not prepared for. But to their credit, they manage to step up when needed to, and show they're not to be messed with. John Boyega makes a good leader of the gang in Moses, showing his mettle in the face of danger, and is really the bravest of the lot. He shares some good rapport with Jodie Whittaker, who plays Sam, the nurse he and his gang mugged just before the aliens land. Sam is forced to team up with him and his friends when things get out of hand, and makes herself useful in a scene or two. The other kids lend some great support as well, especially Alex Esmail, who plays Pest, the one with the best lines of the lot. Not to be forgotten are Luke Treadaway as a drug addict who was unlucky enough to be in the block, and Nick Frost as the drug dealer he was buying weed from. The two of them also put in some pretty funny moments here.

Because of its low budget, the CGI for the aliens isn't very convincing, they look like black cotton swabs with flourescent teeth. Plus some suspension of disbelief is needed to really enjoy it, as some lapses of logic do occur from time to time. But if you are looking for an alien invasion film that doesn't take itself too seriously, then Attack The Block is for you.

Overall, it's worth checking out if you're looking for something different in the alien genre. (3.5/5)

Super 8

2011-06-30T22:48:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Riley Griffiths, Noah Emmerich

Plot: In 1979, in the small fictional town of Lillian, Ohio, a group of teenage friends attempting to make a zombie film witness a horrifying train crash. A deadly creature escapes from one of the cars and sets the kids on an adventure they'll never forget.

Review: Honestly, I thought I wasn't going to like Super 8 as much as I thought before going in to the cinema, but I was proven wrong. Super 8 is super, and a fine way to spend time at the movies.

J.J. Abrams teams up with Steven Spielberg to make a movie that is reminiscent of previous 80s kids adventures like The Goonies, Stand By Me and E.T. If you must know, this was the reason I thought I wouldn't like this film, because I felt that those aforementioned films were a bit too old fashioned. I certainly thought I had outgrown them.

But in the end, Super 8 truly delivers. With a handful of fine young actors, a good plot and a bit of CGI, Abrams weaves his magic and gives us a film we can connect with and have fun at the same time. The most memorable moment had to be the train crash itself, which is astounding and mind blowing to see. This, along with other heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking moments make Super 8 very enjoyable.

Out of the kid actors, two of them stand out: Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning, who are the main protagonists of the story. Courtney and Fanning play Joe Lamb and Alice Dainard respectively, two friends who share a good deal of admiration for one another, but are restrained by their respective fathers, who in contrast hate each other due to Joe's mother's death, an incident Joe's father blames Alice's father for causing. Courtney and Fanning successfully reel the audience in with their superb performances, making us believe and even feel the pain they experience, and the occasional funny moments they encounter as well. I think these two kids will be great as their acting career progresses.

Not to be outdone are Kyle Chandler and Ron Eldard as Joe and Alice's fathers respectively, Chandler as the town's deputy sheriff who is trapped between trying and failing to understand his son, and dealing with the aftermath of the crash; Eldard as the alcoholic who is emotionally abusive to his daughter. Like Kung Fu Panda 2, this is yet another film that could be a Father's Day entry.

But there's more to Super 8 than just drama. A creature comes forth from the train, and its needs are simple, but it will do whatever it takes to achieve them. Its connection to the military that shows up to contain the crash eventually presents itself, and the battle that ensues is well played out. This is where elements of Cloverfield, Abrams' well known produced film start to show, and Abrams is wise to not show us the creature's appearance till the final third of the film.

Summing it up, I had tons of fun with Super 8, as we see it from the point of view of a bunch of kids who are aspiring filmmakers witnessing a very real adventure unfold before them. Stay tuned during the closing credits to see their finished zombie film, which kinda reminds us why we love the movies so much. (4/5)

Green Lantern

2011-06-24T23:26:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins

Plot: Based on the DC comicbook, Green Lantern focuses on Hal Jordan, a rebellious test pilot who is bequeathed a power ring by a dying alien and subsequently recruited into an intergalactic peacekeeping force called the Green Lantern Corps. His first test is protecting earth from Parallax, an alien entity that feeds on fear and has infected a scientist, Hector Hammond, giving him telekinetic powers.

Review: So I read a lot of reviews on this film and most of them were less than stellar. That added to the corny trailer certainly didn't help boost my confidence going in to the cinema for this. But I've read the books, so I had to know for myself if this movie hit the mark or not.

As it turns out, Green Lantern does not suck, not by a long shot. Granted, it's no Dark Knight, but it is rather entertaining. Since this premise involves extraterrestrial adventures, a Star Wars type universe has to be presented, and Martin Campbell does a great job showing it. A lot of CGI was needed to present the Lanterns' training planet Oa as well as their creators, the Guardians of the universe, and other aliens in different shapes and sizes as Lanterns. I'm glad that it all looked very convincing on screen. Also impressive is the CGI used to create the Green Lantern's ring powers, where anything they conjure from their imagination is created by the ring. For GL fans, watching all this is certainly a treat.

Like many heroes, they must endure some self doubt before embracing their destiny, and for this, Ryan Reynolds pulls it off well as Hal Jordan. Hal is basically an irresponsible guy still scarred from a traumatic event in his past, now having a great responsibility thrust upon him, and must overcome his fear to accept it. Reynolds is the right guy indeed for the role, I guess you can say that he was born to play a costumed hero. Blake Lively is a good match for him as Carol Ferris, Hal's love interest. They share great chemistry together, as evidenced in their many hilarious and sometimes poignant conversations.

Peter Sarsgaard is wonderful as Hector Hammond, whose daddy issues become a catalyst for his villainous actions. The role of Hal's mentor Sinestro falls to Mark Strong, and I felt he was perfect to a tee. Sinestro plays a huge role in the history of Hal Jordan, and not only does Strong look the part, he is very much like him in essence. Unfortunately he doesn't get much screentime here, but I do hope he gets more if they make a sequel.

As entertaining as Green Lantern is, the film still suffers from some corniness, like in the scenes you've caught from the trailer, which they could have left out in the final cut. The Lantern's oath especially was the most corny, I wish they didn't include it despite the fact that it is part and parcel of the character. And even when the film only ran for 105 minutes, it actually felt longer than that due to its slow middle third portion. Thankfully the action picks up in the final third of the film.

That being said, why did so many people dislike it? Perhaps Green Lantern is a hard sell compared to his more illustrious brethren like Batman and Superman, and his story a tad more complicated. But I think you ought to give this film a try, as it is quite fun for a summer flick.

Note: Stay during the closing credits for one last scene. GL fans will love it the most, as it sets the tone for the sequel, if it happens. (3.5/5)

Kung Fu Panda 2

2011-06-18T23:48:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Jennifer Yuh-Nelson
Voice cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, James Hong

Plot: Shen, an evil peacock plans to conquer China with a secret weapon that can destroy kung fu. Po and the Furious Five set out to stop him. However, the tubby panda soon discovers that the stakes are higher for him, as Shen is connected to his forgotten past.

Review: Kung Fu Panda was such a huge success that a sequel was inevitable. The story of Po the Panda and his misadventures in the world of kung fu was both thrilling and hilarious, and in my opinion, is better than Dreamworks' other animated franchise about a cranky ogre.

Director Jennifer Yuh and company carve up a story that is two parts dramatic, two parts action and one part comedy. The focus is on Po's past, as to how he was adopted by his father Mr Ping the goose, and his life before that, and how he must come to terms with it. The villain Shen also gets some spotlight as we see how he's connected to Po, and the motivation behind his plans. To sum it up, the plot is about family, particularly fathers, and on a Father's Day weekend like now, I guess I watched this at the perfect time.

The action comes hard and fast, and it's cool to see Po fight more capably this time, now that he's learned kung fu, though he's still clumsy as ever and not a match for Tigress. It's also cool to see the Furious Five get some screentime to execute plenty of the action sequences here, though Po still becomes the hero in the end of course. All this comes at the expense of Master Shifu getting less time, but that's okay with me. Shen in particular is an interesting villain, as his peacock form allows him to be graceful and deadly simultaneously, using his feathers, claws and a spear as weapons. Gary Oldman voices him well, but I preferred Ian McShane's Tai Lung from the previous film a bit more.

The downside here is the laughs, which is considerably less than the first film. Yuh chooses to spend more time dispensing drama over humour, and though it gives the film more heart, it also makes it a tad more serious. Don't get me wrong, Po is still funny, I just wished there was more comedy to be enjoyed here. I do hope that will be rectified in the next Kung Fu Panda flick, as there is a huge hint of another sequel in this film's ending.

Verdict: A worthy addition to what promises to be a successful film franchise. (3.5/5)

X-Men: First Class

2011-06-12T16:22:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones, Kevin Bacon

Plot: An origin story that focuses on the pasts of Professor X and Magneto, a time when they were just Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr. They join forces to stop Sebastian Shaw, another mutant who plans on starting World War III and then dominate the planet after the fallout.

Review: Let me get a few things out of the way first. I've been a fan of the X-Men for a very long time. I've read the comicbooks for more than half my life, so you can imagine my excitement the first time I saw the first trailer to X-Men back in 2000. It gave me goosebumps just seeing Magneto lift the police cars off the ground and Wolverine going 'SNIKT!' at the end of it.

Needless to say, the film was awesome, and its sequel X2, to this day, remains my ultimate pick for best comicbook adaptation ever. No amount of Dark Knight, Iron Man or Spider-Man films can change that. And then, Brett Ratner went and ruined X3. Wolverine was okay, but critics still hated it.

So they needed X-Men: First Class to work. They needed it to save the franchise. Initial buzz about the film was mixed, it was the good choice of director vs bad marketing strategies and poor character choices. But in the end, I'm happy to report that First Class is indeed a first class film.

Matthew Vaughn, who directed Kick Ass, succeeds in bringing back what audiences loved about the X films: humour, drama, action and perfect acting to go with it. Bryan Singer, who co-wrote and produced this film, also deserves some credit in making First Class an exciting and interesting watch from beginning to end. Vaughn, Singer and company set Charles and Erik's friendship during the 60s, specifically during the Cuban missile crisis, which is truly a smart move. The friendship between the two men was well written and fleshed out, and the two actors playing them did a marvelous job in complimenting each other in their scenes.

Initially I had my doubts about James McAvoy becoming Charles Xavier, but he put those doubts to rest. McAvoy plays Charles as a ladies man who uses his telepathy as an instrument to pick up women, then later as a way to communicate with others who doubt him and also in dangerous situations. By the end, you can believe he has become the man that Patrick Stewart embodies in the previous films. Michael Fassbender is a gem of his own too, as he convincingly presents Erik Lensherr's torn emotions, between doing what's right and doing what his heart wants. Fassbender's Erik is fearless, firm and intelligent, and not the bad man that everyone fears he will become someday. But of course, this is a far more innocent time, before Ian McKellen made Magneto an unflinching villain, and Fassbender has us rooting for him, at least until the moment he and Charles no longer see eye to eye. Fassbender is the man to watch for the future.

Kevin Bacon is deliciously evil as Sebastian Shaw, and an impressive choice as the antagonist here, I must say. January Jones is suitably icy as Shaw's associate Emma Frost, though Jones doesn't get a lot to do here other than look sexy. Jennifer Lawrence holds her own as the young Mystique and Nicholas Hoult has the interesting role as Hank McCoy aka Beast. These two characters explore the challenges of a mutant wanting to look normal, and the end result is convincing enough. Watch out for a couple of cameos that are quite hilarious too (you'll know what I mean when you see it).

If First Class has any flaws, its the continuity. There are a few things here that do not follow the storyline from the original trilogy, and that bugs me a bit. Some characters are added here just because of the filmmakers' wish to present new powers that hadn't been done before, which is kinda like how X3 and Wolverine were made, thereby ignoring comicbook history. But still, First Class is a lot of fun. It's still not as good as X2, but I sure wouldn't mind seeing First Class a few more times.

There's word that X4 may be over the horizon. With quality instalments like X-Men: First Class in the bag, I hope it turns out just as good. (4/5)

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

2011-06-05T16:23:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Rob Marshall
Cast: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush

Plot: Captain Jack Sparrow is back. This time he is forced by his former lover Angelica to join her father Blackbeard on a quest for the Fountain of Youth, while being pursued by Jack's former nemesis Barbossa, who has an axe to grind with Blackbeard.

Review: I had read numerous reviews before going into this film, most of them saying that the Pirates series is tiresome and Jack Sparrow is done and boring to watch. I'll admit that I didn't like the idea of them making a fourth film after the super bloated At World's End, thinking that the ship has sailed and we ought to just quit while we're ahead.

But thankfully, On Stranger Tides turned out to be better than I thought. We have Jack, we have Barbossa, we have a great villain in Ian McShane and some nice new additions to the series, like zombie crewmen, black magic, and best of all: mermaids.

Director Rob Marshall takes over from Gore Verbinski and pretty much follows the same formula: put Jack in a sticky situation and watch him lie and dance and fight his way out of it. Scriptwriters Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio improve on their script this time around by not making it too complicated and let the characters drive the story forward, thereby making the experience less of a headache for the audience.

Depp is once again in his element as the charming Jack Sparrow, looking like he hasn't missed a beat, while Geoffrey Rush is still as sinister as ever in the role of Barbossa. Depp and Rush still have their camaraderie from the previous films intact, which is always good. Penelope Cruz makes a good foil for Jack as Angelica, sharing some nice chemistry with Depp and manages to hold her own. McShane as always is perfect as the villain Blackbeard, looking like he can do this role in his sleep. Also cool to see is the returning Kevin R. McNally as Jack's first mate, Gibbs.

However, this film still suffers from being a tad too long, like the previous instalments. Plus, the subplot featuring a young clergyman on Blackbeard's ship falling in love with one of the mermaids wasn't really necessary. But overall I loved this film, not just because of Jack, but also because of Marshall's successful retention of the Pirates films' vibe and feel. The mermaids were pretty cool to watch, them being gorgeous and deadly simultaneously. Hans Zimmer's familiar theme is still fun to listen to as the closing credits start running. What can I say, I had a blast.

I do think that Curse Of The Black Pearl is still more fun, but On Stranger Tides is very much a worthy addition to the franchise. (4/5)

P.S: Stay till the end credits finish rolling for one last scene.

Insidious

2011-05-29T17:56:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: James Wan
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey

Plot: After a couple's eldest son falls into a coma, strange paranormal incidents start to occur in their house. When moving to another house does not help, they turn to a paranormal investigator who tells them that these incidents are connected to their comatose son.

Review: Anyone who remembers Paranormal Activity will acknowledge the creepiness associated with things going bump around the house. More often than not, this style of horror is far more effective in generating scares than blood and gore.

Saw director James Wan reteams with longtime writing partner Leigh Whannell and rope in Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli as producer to bring in their version of the haunted house horror flick. I must say, Insidious is quite scary on the whole. I noticed myself hanging on the edge of my seat waiting for the next scare, even when a lot of times, I could predict the exact moment it would come. It's just the way Wan filmed it, using dim lighting and unique camerawork to create a slow burning and claustrophobic atmosphere that you can see, hear and even feel as you watch the film unfold. The fact that Insidious cost below $2 million to make is amazing, considering how much it costs to make other more bombastic horror films.

For casting, we have Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, essentially B actors but they both turn in excellent performances here. Byrne is more effective as Renai, the distraught mother who carries the burden of worrying for her comatose son and being frustrated by her husband's skepticism over the paranormal occurrences. Wilson plays Renai's husband Josh in a low key way for a majority of the film, but manages to project the right emotion at the right moment. Lin Shaye puts in an interesting performance as Elise, the paranormal investigator. She really looks the part and acts it well. Whannell himself appears as Elise's assistant and manages to generate some funny moments in the film.

Insidious is not without flaws though. The evil spirits that come a calling range between looking like Darth Maul and having porcelain makeup on. The latter is very reminiscent of Wan and Whannell's previous work Dead Silence. Then there's the large title at the beginning and end of the film which reminds me of Drag Me To Hell, which is a bit too old school for me. Plus, some of the stuff explained by Elise need to be taken with a pinch of salt, which is the film's main weakness, as Whannell shouldn't try too hard to explain things until they become a tad ludicrous. But other than that, I had a great scare going through this from start to finish.

If you like the kind of horror flick that creeps under your skin and then jolts you right out of it, Insidious is for you. (3.5/5)

Fast Five

2011-05-22T16:48:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster

Plot: Beginning where Fast And Furious left off, Brian and Mia break Dom free during his prison transport and flee to Rio de Janeiro. While there, they take on a job that eventually goes south, putting them in the crosshairs of Hernan Reyes, the local mobster and Hobbs, the government agent sent to hunt them down and bring them back across the border.

Review: When they first began, the Fast & Furious series was more about fast cars and faster women. But now, they've evolved beyond that. Sure, we still have fast and sleek vehicles flanked by really hot women, but in the hands of Justin Lin, we have superb stunts, explosions and hard hitting action.

It doesn't matter that the plot seems shallow at times, the acting varying between average and wooden, or logic seems to be abandoned more often than not, the fact is, we have an awesome time watching it unfold on screen. To that end, Lin has to be praised for pulling off Fast Five in the best way possible. How? He gets cast members from the previous instalments to show up. He plans for gravity defying car stunts to be executed. Then he adds Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to it. So how could it not be fun?

But, like its predecessors, Fast Five has its own flaws, firstly the acting. Over the last decade, Diesel and Walker's acting have not improved much. Diesel is still a one note stoic hero and Walker is the bland sidekick trying too hard to emote. Jordana Brewster is slightly better, as is The Rock, who initially appeared way too one dimensional, but gets better as the story progresses. The other cast members i.e. the crew assembled by Dom and Brian to assist them, turn out to be the more interesting ones. Tyrese Gibson shines as Brian's friend Roman Pearce and gets the best lines here, much better than the ones he used in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Tego Calderon and Don Omar reprise their roles as the two bickering Latinos from Fast 4, and provide some laughs as well. The gorgeous Gal Gadot is also back and is probably the new babe here now that Brewster's age is showing, and Sung Kang is back as Han, the token Asian. Also welcome is Matt Schulze from Fast 1, whose past with Walker's character gives some dramatic potential, though it's predictable in a way.

It's not just the bad acting that becomes obvious. There are also large plotholes big enough for a car to drive through, and the aforementioned logic deviations, and the fact that the film is a tad too long. With some tighter editing, I would have enjoyed this film a bit more.

But to its credit, Fast Five is well shot, with some nice action set pieces and an insane car chase at the film's climax which is probably only rivaled by that crazy highway chase sequence in Bad Boys 2. Plus, we get to see Diesel and Johnson go mano a mano in intense and violent fashion. But I am a bit disappointed to see that Lin decided that this is Diesel's picture after all, if you know what I mean.

At 130 minutes, Fast Five can be a bit mind numbing and tiring, but it isn't for nothing. It's loads and loads of fun. Check out the post-credits sequence to see where the next instalment will go. (4/5)

Priest

2011-05-15T00:00:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Scott Stewart
Cast: Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Lily Collins, Christopher Plummer

Plot: After a decades long war between humans and vampires, the Church protects the people in huge walled cities while vampires are sent away to reservations. Priests, warriors ordered by the Church to win the war for them, are reintegrated into a society that no longer needs them. One such priest finds himself having to break his vows and go back to fighting vampires when they kidnap his niece. Joining him are a young sheriff and a former priestess.

Review: If you've seen the film Legion and thought it sucked, I wouldn't blame you if you walked into Priest thinking it would suck too. Director Scott Stewart and Paul Bettany team up again to take on another action horror film. I'm quite glad to report that it is a step up from Legion.

See, the reason Legion wasn't good was the ridiculousness that hit the film in the second half. It had plenty of potential but squandered it altogether before the finish. Priest is by no means perfect, but it is certainly better executed than Legion. It starts with a pretty cool animation sequence explaining the human-vampire history before bringing us to the present time, which is visually authentic. It's a post apocalyptic type future, where cities are run by the church, authoritarian and not very people friendly. They even have electronic confession booths in place of real men of the cloth.

Outside the cities, it's a barren wasteland where only small pockets of humans survive. Vampires, who are presented as hideous creatures with no eyes here, live in caves. Kudos to the set designers who manage to create everything realistically, from the cities to the deserts and the vampires' hives. The cinematography is also well done, evidently during scenes where Priest is out in the desert riding his bike. Like Legion, Stewart excels in the visual department, giving us some nice visual effects to accompany the good camerawork and set designs.

However, despite all this, Priest certainly doesn't come off being very original. The vampires are quite similar in design to the ones in I Am Legend, the walled cities are reminiscent of Judge Dredd, and the priests are a lot like the warrior vampires from Underworld i.e. sleek and deadly. A lot of the dialogue here is very cheesy too, which gives the film a very B-grade feel. It might not necessarily be a bad thing, but some of these lines have been used so often in other films, you'd just wish they came up with something better to say.

Paul Bettany has certainly found a good genre to be in. We all know that he can be a serious dramatic actor, but now it's clear he can do action very well too. As the stoic Priest, he excels at being good at what he does and at the same time, trying to show some feelings he had long abandoned. Cam Gigandet, playing the role of the sidekick, is brash and a bit cocky as the young sheriff, which is expected. He doesn't have much chemistry with Bettany, but manages to hold his own at times (though it's still Bettany's show, in the end). Karl Urban, as the villain Black Hat, a former priest turned vampire, gets the worst lines in the film, and ends up being a bit of a caricature. Maggie Q does what she does best as Priestess, kicking ass as usual. Lily Collins, daughter of singer Phil Collins, gets the damsel in distress role, and is real easy on the eye.

The film gets a few extra points for having some good subplots. Priest has some history with Priestess as well as Black Hat. There is another subplot between him and his brother Owen (played by True Blood actor Stephen Moyer) and Owen's wife Shannon (Madchen Amick) which makes things interesting. There is also the part about the Church's ignorant governance of the cities and their view of the vampire situation, which seems to be not explored fully here and pushed possibly to a sequel, but who knows if that sequel would ever come.

At a lean 87 minutes, Priest is quite entertaining for an action horror flick. It's not particularly memorable or special, but it's a lot of fun while it lasts. (3.5/5)

Water For Elephants

2011-05-12T19:08:00.001+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Hal Holbrook

Plot: Set in 1931, Water For Elephants focuses on young Jacob Jankowski, an aspiring animal vet whose parents suddenly die in a car accident and now finds himself homeless when the bank forecloses his house. He hitches a ride onboard a train belonging to a travelling circus and gets a job as their animal vet, and subsequently falls in love with the circus' top star, the beautiful Marlena. However this puts him at odds with Marlena's cruel and dictatorial husband August, the circus' owner.

Review: Most people would balk at watching Robert Pattinson in yet another love story, after getting an overdose of his lovesick puppy looks in the Twilight films. But Water For Elephants is directed by Francis Lawrence, known for action horror flicks like I Am Legend and Constantine, so I was curious about this.

Thankfully, as far as love stories go, this isn't half bad. Lawrence manages to pace the film well and not dwell too much on romantic drama drivel we're so accustomed to in this genre. Water For Elephants isn't just a love story between two people, or in this case, three, but it's also a love story between people and the circus. I loved the fact that Lawrence went out of his way to make his film authentic, as everything on screen looks straight out of the Depression era, and the hardship endured by the circus employees, who'd do anything to avoid getting thrown off the train by August when times are hard, is very convincingly presented.

Reese Witherspoon hasn't had a hit lately, but it sure doesn't stop her from working, and I'm glad she took the role of Marlena, as Reese looks right at home here, looking like she belongs in the 1930s. Although I'm certain that body doubles were used during Marlena's performances with the animals and her acrobatic moves, Reese nevertheless makes her presence felt. Robert Pattinson on the other hand, looks a tad out of place, he simply doesn't look like someone from the era. But to his credit, Pattinson gets to display some of his acting chops here, and more often than not, he doesn't look like Edward Cullen at all. Christoph Waltz is great as the mean August, he's a lot like Col Hans Landa of course, but here he's a bit more human. Watch the scene where he feels remorseful after doing a cruel thing to an animal. Hal Holbrook plays the older Jacob retelling the story to another circus owner, but in my opinion, he should have got a bigger role.

Of course, I can't neglect to mention the other star of the film, Tai the elephant, called Rosie on screen. Her chemistry with Pattinson and Reese was well translated to the audience. However, Reese and Pattinson do not have much chemistry with each other, which is a real pity.

In summary, Water For Elephants is worth at least one view, simply because the Depression era is quite fascinating to look at, and the film manages to snare your interest in the circus, even if you're someone who isn't a fan of it initially. (3.5/5)

Thor

2011-05-01T23:45:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Colm Feore

Plot: Thor, the God of Thunder, is banished from Asgard by his father Odin, due to his recklessness and arrogant actions that results in reigniting an ancient feud. On Earth, he meets Jane Foster, a scientist who takes an interest in him and a romance begins. Meanwhile, Thor's stepbrother Loki usurps the throne and conspires with the enemy in an attempt to become King of Asgard.

Review: Marvel based films usually kickstart the summer blockbuster season, and this year it's Thor's turn to debut. It's obvious that Thor is yet another film to come out of Marvel's stable that is a prelude to next year's The Avengers, and as a popcorn flick, it does not disappoint.

Kenneth Branagh, who happens to be a Thor fan, seems to be the perfect man to direct this film, and it shows. The realm of Asgard is just a sight to behold, looking mostly golden and shiny, like a palace in heaven. In contrast, Jotunheim, the home of the Frost Giants, enemies of Asgard, is dark and icy. The Asgardian costumes, especially the battle armors are damn impressive. So as far as set design and costumes go, Branagh has that well covered.

The visual effects are also very well done. All the battle scenes requiring CGI were well executed, the one that stood out the most is the one between Thor, Loki and his friends versus the Frost Giants. It kinda reminded me of Lord Of The Rings in the way it was pulled off, and I loved it.

However, it is the performances of the cast that must matter the most, and thankfully Chris Hemsworth is perfect for the role of Thor. Initially starting off as brash and stubborn, he eventually softens up and learns some humility while on Earth, thanks to the lovely Jane Foster, played by Oscar winner Natalie Portman. Now, as much as I adore her, I felt that she was quite miscast here. Not only is her romance with Thor a bit unconvincing, she doesn't quite pass off as a scientist either. But for me, Natalie isn't someone who gives anything less than 100% in any role she takes, so for the most part, she is decent enough in her role.

Tom Hiddleston gets the villainous role of Loki, and he seems like someone who'd you sympathise with at first. Loki is revealed to be an adopted child halfway through the film, which reinforces his desire to prove himself worthy of the throne, and to that end he is willing to do anything, even betray his family and lie to his brother. Hiddleston pulls off that part well, but I do wish he had shown some more of his dark side at the film's climax, because he came off as a tad pathetic at that moment. As for Anthony Hopkins, well...you couldn't pick a better actor than him to be Thor's father. Hopkins always has great screen presence and he brings it here.

The film benefits also from a talented supporting cast, some who hit the mark, and some who don't. Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings play Jane Foster's colleagues, the former as the serious mentor, while the latter as the comic relief. Both are effective enough. Clark Gregg resumes his role as Agent Coulson from SHIELD, which is always appreciated. Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano and Josh Dallas play Thor's friends The Warriors Three, who unfortunately don't get enough screentime, but I do love Jaimie Alexander as Sif, she sure is gorgeous to look at. Idris Elba is rather disappointing as Asgardian gatekeeper Heimdall, while poor Rene Russo is underused as Thor's stepmother Frigga. Colm Feore is near unrecognisable as Laufey, King of the Frost Giants, but manages to make quite a lasting impression.

Other than a slow middle third portion of the film, and Portman's miscasting, I can't think of anything that I dislike about Thor. It may not be as entertaining as Iron Man or the action packed The Incredible Hulk, but to his credit, Branagh has successfully created a superhero film that is more Shakespearian than slam bang. Whether you're looking forward to The Avengers next year or you're simply someone who wants to have a good time at the movies, you can't go wrong with Thor. (4/5)

A few things to take note of:
1. Look out for the customary Stan Lee cameo
2. A future member of The Avengers makes a quick appearance here.
3. Stay till the credits finish rolling for one final scene.

Winter's Bone

2011-04-24T19:37:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Debra Granik
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes

Plot: 17 year old Ree Dolly lives in the Ozark Mountain caring for her two younger siblings and her mentally unwell mother. When her good for nothing father jumps bail, she is forced to find him before his court date is up or risk losing their house.

Review: I chanced upon the DVD of this film as I visited the DVD store yesterday, and just had to pick this up. Simply because, out of the ten Best Picture nominees at the recent Oscars, Winter's Bone was one of two film nominees I hadn't seen yet.

I find it odd that this film is being marketed as a thriller, when it has very few to no thrills in it. Sure, there is an underlying sense of dread, some danger here and there, and the film is a dark and gritty view of small town life away from the big cities, but thrills? No. I wouldn't call this a thriller, but instead a well made drama.

Director Debra Granik does a great job in keeping the audience interested in the story. The pace is slow but the runtime isn't too long, so you wouldn't feel bored. Granik lets the audience see the story through Ree's eyes as the camera follows her around all the way, so we learn everything the same time she does. The cinematography is also excellent as cameraman Michael McDonough points his lens at the vast landscapes of forests, hills and trees. Occasionally he'll set his camera on dead objects like tree stumps, wooden tables and a trampoline outside Ree's house, to further capture the silence of life in these parts. One thing that did stick out like a sore thumb was a short black and white sequence of a squirrel about halfway through the picture. I had no idea why that was there.

Jennifer Lawrence is great as Ree, showing her courage and determination to find her father, even if she has to get herself into situations that would put her life in danger. She may be new to the film industry, but she is more than capable of carrying herself in the lead role. John Hawkes is excellent as her drug snorting uncle Teardrop, who initially comes off as a pretty mean and scary guy, but in the second half of the film becomes more accomodating to Ree. Hawkes is a revelation here for me, because I'm used to seeing him excel in bit supporting roles in films like From Dusk Till Dawn and Identity, where he usually plays a nervous guy. But here, he's downright intimidating, and would have nailed the Oscar he was nominated for if not for Christian Bale being nominated in the same year.

If there's one thing I found very interesting about Winter's Bone, is the fact that even in small towns that run on cattle, firewood and the like, there still exists and underworld society, in this case, one that is fueled by drugs. Even in this world, away from the big city, there is a mob boss, and asking the wrong questions could get you killed. You'd never expect that if you're a city guy like me.

Overall, Winter's Bone is a nice way to spend 100 minutes if you like good cinematography and great performances. (3.5/5)

Source Code

2011-04-17T23:13:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Duncan Jones
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

Plot: Captain Colter Stevens, a US helicopter pilot, wakes up inside a body of another man onboard a train that subsequently blows up. He then learns that he is part of a program called Source Code, which allows him to relive the last eight minutes of that man's life. He is tasked to find out who planted the bomb on the train so that the military can prevent another disaster. And he has to keep on reliving the same eight minutes until he is successful.

Review: Source Code seemed like a great idea for a sci-fi thriller. It's a marriage of Groundhog Day and the famous 80s TV series Quantum Leap. In fact, Quantum Leap star Scott Bakula lends his voice here as Colter's father when they speak on the phone, and it is a fitting nod to the TV show I grew up watching.

I remembered watching Duncan Jones' first effort Moon, and I didn't quite get it at first, but then I realized that it was not just a sci-fi flick, it was a character study. Source Code is nowhere near as deep or complex as Moon, but it is just as fascinating. Jones certainly has a great eye for science fiction as he is capable of connecting with the audience despite using a lot of technical jargon. He skilfully balances the drama with the science fiction side of the film, thereby grounding the story and making it more than just another Starship Troopers or a bad episode of Star Trek.

If you've seen Groundhog Day, or episodes of TV sci-fi shows where the same thing happens repeatedly in the same space of time, then you'll be familiar with what happens here, as Colter keeps seeing the same things over and over. But thankfully, you'll never get tired of it, which is the beauty of the film. As he takes different approaches to the task, different things happen, and in turn we root for him to succeed all the way.

The film moves at a smooth pace and at a short 93 minutes, does not overstay its welcome, and yet manages to deliver a story that is mind blowing and heart breaking at the same time. Kudos to Jones for doing that.

Jake Gyllenhaal is a perfect choice for Colter Stevens as he convincingly conveys his character's varying emotions, from confusion to frustration to sadness and at the end, determination. Big things are in store for him in the near future. Michelle Monaghan plays off of Gyllenhaal well as the love interest who is a passenger on the ill-fated train. Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright round up the cast nicely as the Source Code operators, the former being the sympathetic one and the latter as the one who isn't.

Overall, I had fun with this film, and I wonder what Duncan Jones, the son of the famous David Bowie, will do next. (4/5)

Sucker Punch

2011-04-10T12:07:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Scott Glenn

Plot: Set in the 1960s, the film focuses on a young girl, recently orphaned, who is sent to a mental hospital by her wicked stepfather. There, she befriends four other girls, and as they plan their escape, she imagines a parallel world where they become warriors on a handful of missions, which coincide with the escape plan.

Review: That plot summary was not easy to write. But then again, Sucker Punch isn't just a film. It's part guilty pleasure, part music video, part video game, and if you stay till the end credits roll, it's part Broadway too.

Zack Snyder has always been a master of visual style, and here he shows us why yet again. For every action sequence, there's a musical number, and a lot of slow mo is used, combined with some neat camera tricks that takes the audience up, over, upside down and pretty much everywhere else. Snyder also deserves credit for filming the fight sequences properly, which means no close up shots that blur the moves.

As for the CGI used to depict the fantasy worlds, it is nothing short of spectacular. We have WWI trenches filled with zombie Germans, a castle with a dragon, a Japanese fort with demon samurais and a train with robot warriors. It all looks damn awesome, even though you know that the girls are really fighting nothing during filming, you sure don't feel or notice it on screen.

Emily Browning, who plays the lead girl Baby Doll, excels in the fight sequences but her acting is a bit bland. However, she makes up for it by contributing her voice to a few songs used in the film. The standout number would be Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) which is played at the beginning of the film. I must say, Browning has good vocals. Abbie Cornish and Jena Malone, who play sisters Sweet Pea and Rocket, are the best ones in the acting department here. Their conflict on whether or not to escape is well executed. Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung don't get to do much here, but fill their roles as best they can. Carla Gugino lends some good support as the girls' instructor, Mdm Gorski, while Oscar Isaac makes a pretty good villain as their pimp in the fantasy world. Poor Scott Glenn however, gets the Yoda like role of the Wise Man, their guide in the fantasy missions, who has the corniest lines ever heard on film.

Despite all the outstanding visuals, Sucker Punch is still a bit of a mess plotwise. Sure, I can dig the parallel fantasy/reality universe thing, but compared to Snyder's previous work on 300 and Watchmen, it's rather flimsy. In fact, Sucker Punch is rather an acquired taste. Either you like it (or at least get it), or you hate it and call it crap. A few patrons walked out of the theatre when I saw this yesterday, so I'm guessing they're of the latter group.

In summary, Sucker Punch is a visual feast and more likely a favourite amongst men who love seeing sexy women fight with guns and swords, but if you want something meatier, this probably isn't your cup of tea. (3.5/5)

The Eagle

2011-04-04T12:33:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong

Plot: Set in 140 AD, twenty years after the Roman empire's Ninth Legion disappears in Scotland, along with their eagle standard, young centurion Marcus Aquila, son of the commander of the Ninth Legion, sets out across Hadrian's Wall along with his British slave Esca, to find the eagle and restore his father's honour.

Review: There aren't many medieval epic films out there worth remembering, other than Braveheart or Gladiator. The Eagle isn't close to sharing the same accolades as those two films, but the setting does remind me of King Arthur, starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightley. Except in The Eagle, there are no female love interests.

Kevin Macdonald, who directed the wonderful The Last King Of Scotland, manages to balance the drama and action well here, though the fight scenes aren't much to shout about. He was wise to hire Anthony Dod Mantle (127 Hours) as his cameraman, as we are treated to the vast and beautiful landscape of valleys, hills and mountainsides during Marcus and Esca's journey to the north.

The story actually focuses more on honour and respect than anything else. Marcus seeks to regain the honour that was lost when his father and the Ninth Legion disappeared without a trace, and is willing to do what no other Roman dares to do. Esca, despite his hatred for Marcus and his kind, for invading his country and killing his family, shows a sense of honour of his own by staying with Marcus when it matters. The two men's relationship drives the film, though I sensed that more could have been done to establish their eventual mutual respect for one another.

Channing Tatum is well known for being a wooden actor, but I'm happy to report that he has improved a lot here. Sure, he's a long way from being exceptionally good, but to his credit, he makes his character more believable than any other character he's played before. Jamie Bell fares better of course, with his Esca telling so much from his facial expressions alone. Bell and Tatum play off each other well here, and it is much appreciated, for The Eagle relies heavily on that.

Overall, The Eagle may not be as memorable as other films of the same mould, but it's worth a watch if you have 2 hours to spare. Some decent acting, good cinematography and a well told story never hurt anyone. (3.5/5)

Rango

2011-04-01T22:23:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Gore Verbinski
Voice cast: Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Ned Beatty, Abigail Breslin, Harry Dean Stanton, Bill Nighy, Stephen Root, Timothy Olyphant, Alfred Molina

Plot: A pet chameleon falls out of his terrarium and onto a desert highway, and eventually winds up in Dirt, a small town in the west that needs a new sheriff.

Review: The most interesting thing about Rango is the fact that it leans more towards a western than being an animated feature. Sure, it is animation, but the western element of it is most prevalent. Despite it being co-produced by Nickelodeon, I suspect Rango wouldn't be popular amongst anyone aged below ten, evidenced by the somewhat impatient kids in the audience when I went to see this. Westerns after all can be slow at times.

But is Rango any good? By golly, it is. Gore Verbinski, who directed Johnny Depp in all three Pirates Of The Caribbean films, directs him again here, except you only hear Depp's voice and not see him, though Rango looks a lot like Depp even as a chameleon. Under Verbinski's direction, the film is solid entertainment for 107 minutes as we watch Rango and other desert animals like lizards, turtles, frogs and mice interact as if we were watching Tombstone. The animation is also top notch, with every scale and hair looking very real.

The story begins, hilariously enough, with a quartet of owls in a Mariachi band telling Rango's story, and from time to time they pop up with a short musical number and some narration, which is brilliant. Rango, we learn, is a chameleon living in his own world in a glass jar, until he winds up in the desert next to the highway in spectacular fashion. On the advice of an armadillo, he heads for Dirt, and learns that they have a water problem. Rango accidentally becomes a hero after an encounter with a hawk, and becomes their sheriff.

However, when he attempts to solve their water crisis, he goes head to head with Dirt's conniving Mayor, voiced by Ned Beatty, who already did a great job playing the villain in Toy Story 3 last year, and does even better here. We also get the distinctive voice of Bill Nighy as a rattlesnake gunslinger and Timothy Olyphant gets to channel Clint Eastwood as the Spirit of the West. Depp is of course, charismatic even as a chameleon, and he owns nearly every scene he's in.

Overall, I enjoyed Rango, even when it was a tad slow at times. If you love westerns, you can't miss this. Of course, it's still more of an homage to westerns instead of actually being a western, but it works nonetheless. Good stuff. (4/5)

Battle: Los Angeles

2011-03-30T22:25:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ramon Rodriguez, Michael Pena, Ne-Yo

Plot: Aliens have invaded the earth, and cities worldwide fall one by one. In Los Angeles, soon-to-be-retired Marine Staff Sgt Nantz leads his men into a suicide mission to rescue civilians as the aliens attack.

Review: One reviewer said that Battle: Los Angeles is Black Hawk Down meets Independence Day. I think he hit the nail right on the head. Battle L.A. is essentially a combination of the best things you remember about those two films i.e. nonstop chaos and wanton destruction. Along with it, you also get the cliched characters and familiar American gung ho-ism that were very obvious in those two films as well.

But if you think for one second that this movie isn't worth a watch, think again. There are times when one just wants to have balls out fun and not think too much about plot, subplots and logic, and in that regard, Battle L.A. serves it straight up. If you're looking for something intelligent like District 9, you won't get it here. But Jonathan Liebesman is smart enough to focus on the human characters instead, and how their determination to survive is imperative in this situation.

Character wise, they're all too familiar. Marine with a wife and a child on the way. Marine with a dead brother he wants to live up to. Marine with the jokes. Marine with the bravado etc. You already know they'll perish later on, so none of them really stand out. Except of course, Aaron Eckhart's Staff Sgt Nantz. He is basically the glue that holds the film together. Eckhart proved himself in The Dark Knight and he does it again here. Nantz is a leader who led his men to their deaths in his last tour, and the guilt weighs heavily on him. Now he is entrusted with a new group of men, some who knew of his last tour, and are torn between trusting him, or not. Eckhart successfully brings out the best and worst of Nantz's emotions throughout the film.

Michelle Rodriguez is well.....Michelle Rodriguez. Ramon Rodriguez, the annoying guy from Transformers 2 gets to be serious this time around, and he's not too shabby here. Moynahan and Pena are quite wasted as the civilians the Marines rescue, not getting enough screen time.

The CGI on display leans more towards District 9 than Independence Day, and is reminiscent of the climax of the former, where lots of explosions and gun battles take place. But overall, it bloody works. Liebesman keeps the film at a quick pace, not allowing the film to stall too long, giving the audience sequence after sequence of destruction, which thankfully isn't as mind-numbing as Black Hawk Down, and a lot more fun to watch.

As far as alien invasion films go, this isn't the best one out there. But after the awful Skyline, Battle: L.A. is just what we need to satiate our appetite for alien movies. At least till Super 8 comes out later. (4/5)

Unknown

2011-03-27T20:05:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Bruno Ganz, Aidan Quinn, Frank Langella

Plot: Dr Martin Harris and his wife Liz arrive in Berlin where the former will be attending a biotechnology summit. He gets into a car accident and wakes up in the hospital four days later, with no memory of where his wife is. When he finally finds her, she seems to not recognize him, and another man has assumed his identity. With the help of Gina, the cab driver whose cab Martin was in during the accident, and Jurgen, a private investigator, Martin sets out to find the truth.

Review: Liam Neeson is one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood right now, appearing in so many films in the last one year, and this despite the death of his wife Natasha Richardson during that time. Neeson is a wonderful actor, that is without doubt. Unknown is reminiscent of his last action film Taken, where he totally kicked ass as a CIA agent tearing down Paris to rescue his daughter from human traffickers.

However, Unknown is a bit different. Taken is very straightforward, Unknown takes many twists and turns to get to the finish line. It's an action thriller with a mystery thrown in, and for the most part it works. Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed the underrated Orphan, smoothly makes the transition to the action genre, giving us a film that isn't boring or pedestrian at all. He gives the audience one question after another, keeping us guessing as to whom Martin Harris can trust, and the reason all this is happening to him. I also noticed that the credits featured many crew members from Germany, indicating that Collet-Serra filmed this on location, which is a splendid idea, as Berlin seems like a perfectly cold and grey city to reflect a thriller like this.

However, Collet-Serra makes the mistake that many directors make in filming fight sequences: filming them up close. This makes it difficult for the audience to register what is happening on screen, and before you know it, we have one dead body on the ground. Directors need to know that backing the camera up a bit will do wonders for their picture.

Neeson is, needless to say, awesome to watch. He plays a desperate, vulnerable hero here, and it's very believable indeed. Diane Kruger gets the token good samaritan role as Gina, but successfully makes her character likeable enough to have the audience root for her just as much as they root for Neeson. January Jones looks stunning as Liz, but not only is she given too little to do, her acting is just too wooden. Bruno Ganz is impressive as the investigator Jurgen, managing to ellicit a laugh or two in some of his scenes. Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella are a bit wasted in their roles though.

Now, naturally for a thriller like this, there is a revelation in the third act, and like Orphan, it is plausible enough. But still, Unknown is predictable in certain parts, which luckily enough, doesn't quite ruin the enjoyment. It's a solid action thriller, which makes for good entertainment despite not being in the same league as Taken.

A worthy addition to Taken, and other flicks of the same genre. (4/5)

127 Hours

2011-03-25T22:59:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn

Four out of the ten Best Picture candidates for this year's Oscars are either true stories or loosely based on a true story. 127 Hours is one of them.

This film tells the story of real life mountain climber Aron Ralston who went to Utah to explore the many canyons and narrow valleys there. He sets out in the wee hours of the morning without telling anyone about his destination.

While climbing down a narrow crevice at the canyon, he slips and falls down 65 feet and subsequently a boulder falls along and traps his right arm against the wall. From this moment on, Aron's harrowing ordeal begins.

He tries at first to dislodge the boulder, but to no avail. All he has with him are a cheap knife, a small flashlight, a camera, some food, rope and a small flask of water. With every failed attempt Aron makes to free himself, almost every ounce of hope of him surviving this disaster dissipates. In the end, he has to make a difficult decision: cut the trapped limb.

Don't worry if that sounded like a spoiler to you. The fact is, if you've heard about this film or read Aron's book regarding the experience, you'd already know what happened. And the film isn't really about what he does to escape, it's about the entire process of being trapped, how it feels and how the will to live is so important. To this end, director Danny Boyle does a splendid job in portraying Aron's 5 day ordeal being stuck in the canyon, with nowhere to go and no one to call for help. Cinematographers Anthony Dod Mantle, who worked with Boyle on Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later, and Enrique Chediak (28 Weeks Later, Repo Men) also deserve praise for their wonderful work. They beautifully capture the vast canyon with aerial shots and more importantly, give us an up close view of Aron as he is stuck down there, thereby giving viewers the same feeling of being right there with him.

But all this wouldn't have worked so well if not for the awesome performance of James Franco, who as Aron, gives a career defining effort here. Through Franco, we see Aron's physical torture, as well as his emotional state and the occasional hallucinations he experiences while being pinned in the hole. Among others, he thinks of his parents, his ex girlfriend, his friends, the two hikers he met prior to the accident, played by Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn, and imagines a young boy watching him. A couple of times he imagines escaping the boulder as well. From time to time, Aron makes video logs of himself, chronicling the entire episode. All this is done by Franco in a very realistic manner, and as you feel for him, you will root for him to finally succeed in escaping. Franco rightfully earns his Oscar nomination for the role.

Boyle got A.R. Rahman (Slumdog) to provide the music score, and he does so brilliantly, using upbeat music and alternating with quieter tunes to suit the scene. Boyle himself was smart enough to keep the film at a lean 94 minutes, thus making sure it didn't overstay its welcome, and it does justice to the true story that inspired it.

An inspiring real life event that will scare you as much as it will make you cheer. (But be warned, if you're queasy around blood, you may not want to see the cutting scene.) (4/5)

The Fighter

2011-03-23T22:46:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: David O.Russell
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, Jack McGee

Boxing films, more often than not, have received critical acclaim and award recognitions over the years. Films like Raging Bull, Rocky, Million Dollar Baby and Cinderella Man are usually champs at awards season and favourite picks of movie critics. After all, everyone loves a story about a man overcoming the odds (in Million's case, a woman) to become a world champion inside the squared circle.

So now we add The Fighter to that esteemed list.

The Fighter is a true story set in the 90s and focuses on 'Irish' Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a struggling boxer who hasn't had a win for a while now, and is mainly used as a stepping stone for other boxers. Micky is trained by his half brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) and managed by their mother Alice (Melissa Leo).

Though Dicky and Alice care a lot about Micky's career, they don't seem to know the right way to help him. Dicky, a former boxer himself, is a cocaine addict who can't seem to keep himself out of trouble. Alice on the other hand is stubborn and too proud to see her own flaws. When Micky loses another fight thanks to Dicky and Alice's bad advice, Micky decides to listen to his new girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) and find a new trainer.

This move results in Micky finally picking up some victories in the ring. But as the old saying goes, blood is thicker than water, and Dicky, who has always been Micky's best friend, in and out of the ring, eventually re-enters the picture. And sparks fly.

I have to give credit to director David O.Russell and Wahlberg who also produces the film, for coming up with a story that is a bit different from the usual boxing movie. Yes, we still have the same tale of a boxer working from the bottom and eventually becoming champion, but The Fighter focuses on his family's influence, how it shapes him and damn nearly destroys him. The drama isn't in the road to the top, it's in the many situations Micky's family get themselves into. The family is severely flawed, everyone except Micky thinks they know what is best for him, but they don't. And when you add Charlene the bartender girlfriend into the mix, it just gets better and better.

Wahlberg successfully grounds the film by being the humble hero Micky Ward. But it's Bale that steals the show as Dicky. I gotta tell ya, Bale has finally been given the recognition he deserves with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He's always been a great actor, but here he's phenomenal. For probably the third time, Bale loses considerable weight to play a junkie, but that's not what's great about him. Bale puts in an excellent performance to convincingly play Dicky, a washed out boxer who cares a lot for his brother, but has trouble turning over a new leaf for his sake. Bale really disappears into the role, and it's just awesome.

Amy Adams also puts in great effort as Charlene, which is a total about turn from her previous roles. The princess in Enchanted? The nun in Doubt? Gone. What we have here is an expletive slinging bartender who isn't afraid to take on her boyfriend's family head on. Her Oscar nomination is well earned. Melissa Leo is the actress that wins the Best Supporting Actress Oscar over Adams, and I must say she is just as good with her role as Alice, the matriarch of the family. For the better part of the story, Alice seems kinda cruel, but once you get to the end, you'll realise she's just a tad misguided, and she just doesn't know what's best for her son. Special mention goes out to Jack McGee as George Ward, the long suffering patriarch of the family.

Credit must be given to the production design for the very authentic look of 90s Lowell, Massachusetts, a small town with blue collar type society. The cinematography also has its moments of genius, with the fight scenes being filmed with a grainy look matching an old TV set transmission.

Overall I really enjoyed The Fighter. It has chockful of great performances and the script is brilliant. I'm not a boxing fan, yet I liked it very much. Recommended. (4/5)

I Am Number Four

2011-03-19T23:07:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: D.J. Caruso
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron, Teresa Palmer, Callan McAuliffe, Kevin Durand

On paper, I Am Number Four seemed pretty interesting. So even when the mixed reviews started pouring in, I wanted to know for myself if it was any good.

The film tells the story of nine children from the planet Lorien, who are sent to earth after their race had been decimated by another alien race called Mogadorians. Each child is given a guardian during their time on earth. The Mogadorians come to earth and as we begin, we see them successfully terminate the third of these children. They have to be killed in sequence apparently.

And now, Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) is next. He and his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant) have been moving from town to town, keeping a low profile. They arrive in Paradise, Ohio where Number Four assumes the name John Smith and enrols himself at the local high school.

At the school he meets Sarah (Dianna Agron), a young girl who enjoys photography and is a loner just like him. They become close before long and mutually fall in love. However John gets into trouble with the school bully, who not only resents him for dating his ex, but also for hanging out with Sam (Callan McAuliffe), a kid the bully loves picking on.

But all this pales in comparison to the trouble that the Mogadorians bring when they finally track John and Henri down in Paradise.

More than one critic has compared this to the Twilight films, and after seeing this, I can concur. It's obviously catered to young adults, featuring good looking tweens and they all spout corny lines. But thankfully, unlike Twilight, the corny lines aren't so prevalent here. D.J. Caruso directs I Am Number Four, and I ought to be grateful he didn't use Shia LaBeouf for this film because it would have been a severe miscast. To his credit, he manages to make this action fantasy movie quite believable, even when it is rather flawed.

Pettyfer, who's probably known for being in Operation Stormbreaker and not much else, doesn't do too badly as the hero. As Number Four aka John, he's not only required to show tenacity and strength in the fight scenes, but also be able to act in the film's quieter, dramatic moments. He won't win an award, but he's believable enough. Olyphant provides some nice support as Henri, and he gets the lion's share of the funny dialogue. Agron, well known for playing Quinn Fabray on Glee, sadly seems more comfortable in that role than being Sarah here. She has very little chemistry with Pettyfer, which is odd considering that the both of them are dating off screen.

The first half of the film is a bit pedestrian as they spend some time establishing John's character. The fun only really kicks in when Teresa Palmer arrives to save the day in the film's final battle scene as Number Six. Palmer gets to keep her Australian accent intact for her character, who seems more dangerous than John. But her screen time is much too little unfortunately.

I Am Number Four unfortunately suffers from a few things that I feel could have been avoided. Like, for instance, the stereotypical school kids you see in stories like this. Then there's the aforementioned corny dialogue. A few scenes didn't make sense when they played out too. But the one that disappointed me the most was the way the Mogadorians are depicted on screen. Did Pittacus Lore, the writer of the book that this film is based on, describe them like that? Bald men with tattoos on their scalps, wearing trenchcoats, having gills on their faces and fish like eyes? Really? Come on. And their commander, played by Kevin Durand, speaks like he has an I.Q. of a low rate cartoon villain. I find the Mogadorians too laughable to take seriously.

In the end, I Am Number Four fell short of being memorable. It's by no means a bad film, but there's a good chance you can find something better to watch than this. (3/5)

True Grit

2011-03-15T15:33:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper

Finally, I have found a Coen brothers film that I can actually understand.

It's not that I hated No Country For Old Men, but for me, it had one of the weakest endings ever. And then there was Burn After Reading, which I couldn't take anything away from, except Brad Pitt's hilarious performance. I hadn't watched their earlier films, so I really wasn't a fan of theirs. But True Grit seemed good on paper, and it's been a while since I saw a western, so I had to see this.

True Grit begins with 14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) getting her recently murdered father's body being delivered back home. Mattie's father was killed by a small time crook called Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and Mattie wants to find him so that justice may be served.

To facilitate this, she hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a US Marshal who's slightly drunk, old and not to mention cranky, but someone who is tough and resilient enough to get the job done. Hiring Cogburn took a bit of effort, but eventually the old man agrees, even though he dislikes the idea of Mattie coming along for the hunt. They are joined by LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), a Texas ranger who has a bounty on Chaney for a murder in Texas.

Cogburn and LaBoeuf constantly get into arguments because of their pride, and at many instances, it almost seems Mattie will never get the justice she seeks. That is until, she stumbles on Chaney along the way, and the true grit of the two men and Mattie are put to the test.

This film is actually a remake of the 1969 film starring John Wayne, which won Wayne his only acting Oscar. But now as you already know, it didn't do the same for Bridges. However, that's not to say that he didn't do a great job. Bridges has tremendous screen presence, and what's best about playing Rooster Cogburn is the fact that the Coens' script gives plenty of room for Bridges to exercise some comedy chops, which augments his performance as the drunk but determined lawman. Damon successfully supports Bridges as LaBoeuf, who initially seems like someone who doesn't walk the walk, but redeems himself in the end.

But the best thing about True Grit is 14 year old Hailee Steinfeld, who puts in an awesome performance as the spunky Mattie Ross. She gives Mattie the much needed charm and streetwise attitude required to stand up to the two men she follows on the hunt for Chaney. Her Oscar nomination is truly deserved. Brolin is severely underused as Chaney, and is somewhat outshined by Barry Pepper, who is almost unrecognisable as Lucky Ned Pepper, Chaney's gang leader.

I have to give credit to the Coens for finally coming up with a film that is not only NOT boring and overstaying its welcome, but also one that is truly entertaining. The western genre is hard to create a hit film from, because if not done right, it can turn out to be quite dull and uneventful. True Grit garnered 10 Oscar nominations, but unfortunately took home none. I think it ought to have won a few, instead of letting films like Inception and The King's Speech take one or two that they didn't quite deserve. But that's just me.

My verdict is, you should watch True Grit, even if you're not a fan of westerns. (4/5)

Drive Angry

2011-03-13T10:06:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Patrick Lussier
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke, David Morse

Every now and then, along comes a film that is totally insane, violent and filled with cheesy dialogue. Drive Angry is one such film.

Nicolas Cage stars as Milton, a man who escapes from Hell with a purpose: to hunt down Jonah King (Billy Burke). King is a satanic cult leader who had murdered Milton's daughter and kidnapped her baby girl, and plans to sacrifice her in a couple of days. Milton has to find King and save his granddaughter before it's too late.

Along the way, he meets Piper (Amber Heard), a gorgeous waitress and subsequently rescues her from her no good boyfriend. Together they pursue King, but the mission isn't easy at all when King is constantly surrounded by his supporters. To top it all off, a bounty hunter from Hell called The Accountant (William Fichtner) is on earth and very determined to bring Milton back.

Patrick Lussier, who directed the similarly bloody My Bloody Valentine, and also shot it in 3D, directs Drive Angry, except this time he trades horror for action. And unlike the former, the latter has a much better cast. Drive Angry is filled with lots of R rated elements like sex, nudity, coarse language and over the top violence, most of which were censored by the local board here. Sigh. It seems only Americans have all the fun.

Cage, who seems to be in almost every film nowadays, plays Milton as the unforgiving badass he should be, with the same Cage drawl we're all accustomed to. But at least it works, and he is never boring to watch. Heard, whom I'm not a fan of, but looks good in all of her scenes, overacts a bit as Piper, but still manages to bring a lot of energy to her role which could have been forgettable. Billy Burke, whom everyone knows as Bella Swan's father in the Twilight films, successfully plays against type here as the villain King, and he is just awesome to watch. Gone are the squeaky clean police uniform, boring moustache and unenthusiastic tone, now it's long hair, sideburns and a Southern accent. Ha. But the real show stealer is Fichtner as The Accountant, who is reminiscent of the detective role he had in What's The Worst That Could Happen? except not as flamboyant. But he's still a riot to watch, oozing with charisma and an equal dose of deadliness.

The fact is, Drive Angry could have been a very fun film, but I felt that even if it had not been censored so badly, it would still have had continuity problems. Certain characters pop in and out for no reason, others are there for the sake of being there only. Plus some of the lines uttered are downright corny and quite laughable, but I suppose if you can suspend your disbelief long enough, you might like that.

Overall, it's a semi-fun way to spend 2 hours, but don't expect anything meaty. If you like Grindhouse type flicks, this is right up your alley. (3.5/5)

The King's Speech

2011-03-10T23:13:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce

As you know by now, The King's Speech was a big winner at the recent Academy Awards, winning Best Picture, Director and Actor for Colin Firth. I had a chance to catch this film last week.

The movie follows how the Duke of York, who is essentially the second son of the royal family, became King of England. Our protagonist happens to suffer from a serious case of stammering, which makes him incapable of partaking in public speaking.

The Duke has met with many speech therapists, but none have been successful in curing him. His wife Elizabeth then finds a man named Lionel Logue, an Australian living in a tiny loft, who has unorthodox methods in curing speech impediments and asks for his help.

Lionel chooses to treat the Duke as an equal rather than as royalty, for example by calling him 'Bertie' and insisting that he follow Lionel's rules in his office. This doesn't sit well with the Duke at first, but as time passes they learn more about each other and Lionel even becomes a confidante of the Duke. When the Duke's older brother, Prince Edward chooses to give away the throne so that he may marry someone that the church disapproves of, the Duke suddenly finds himself the next in line for the crown. Thus begins the Duke's immense preparation to ascend the throne and overcome his condition.

I'm pretty sure that this film is a champion for people who have speech disorders, or anyone who had suffered a disease that they were embarrassed about, for it certainly helps them find a way to overcome it. More importantly, this film isn't just about overcoming adversity, it's also about friendship, and a meaningful one at that. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush have great chemistry together as the Duke and Lionel respectively, as two men who are at first, patient and specialist who slowly become friends and equals. Their friendship brings about plenty of touching scenes as well as hilarious moments.

Helena Bonham Carter finally gets to play herself after being the screeching Bellatrix in Harry Potter for too long, and lends good support as the Duchess of York, while Guy Pearce plays Prince Edward with just the right amount of nonchalance.

Director Tom Hooper has done a good job in bringing out the best from his cast, though I wouldn't have given him the Best Director Oscar (it should go to David Fincher). And similarly I wouldn't give The King's Speech the Best Picture Oscar. But that certainly doesn't mean this isn't a great film. It is, it does take a bit of time to warm up to, but it is ultimately inspiring to all. Go see it. (3.5/5)

Black Swan

2011-02-25T23:10:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder

It's finally here!

After being disappointed with the absence of The Town, I had my doubts that Black Swan would make it here. Thankfully my prayers were answered, and I was truly delighted to see this film which is regarded highly among critics and is a frontrunner for Oscar night.

Black Swan centres around Nina (Natalie Portman), a young ballerina who puts in a lot of effort in perfecting her craft and is regarded as one of her company's best dancers. For her company's next production of Swan Lake, their artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) plans on presenting something different, and for that he requires a ballerina who can play both the pure and innocent White Swan and her evil and wild twin, the Black Swan.

Nina's excellent ballet skills makes her a shoo in for the White Swan, but Thomas isn't convinced that she can play the Black Swan, complaining that she's too rigid, but eventually gives her the role. At Thomas' brutal and sometimes sexually invasive direction, Nina pushes herself day after day to embrace both roles to perfection. However, it soon begins to affect her mind and body as she starts to experience hallucinations and self-inflicted injuries. Worse still, she keeps thinking that a new ballerina named Lily (Mila Kunis) is after her role, even though Lily treats her like a best friend and encourages her to live a little. To top it all off, Nina's mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) constantly worries about her well-being, which puts even more pressure on the poor girl.

Let me get this out of the way first. I know very little about Darren Aronofsky, other than word of mouth that he is one of the best directors working today. Films like Requiem For A Dream and The Wrestler made him famous. But this reviewer caught only one of his films, which is The Fountain. I found it too taxing and difficult to enjoy, even when Hugh Jackman, one of my favourite actors is in the lead.

But I knew I had to see this, not just because of Natalie Portman, but because it had great reviews all over. And I'm glad I did. If I wasn't convinced Aronofsky was a genius then, I am now. I mean, you'd think that ballet isn't something you can make a movie out of and make it fascinating, but damn, Aronofsky pulled it off perfectly. Black Swan presents the world of ballet from the eyes of its dancers, showing the brutal and punishing methods they use to perform so well on stage. But more than that, the film is a psychological thriller that takes you through the eventual breakdown of a perfectionist, trying so hard to rise beyond her limits but succumbs to her darker side.

What can I say about Portman? This is HER moment. I always thought she never found the right role that suited her talent. Prior to this, I thought her best role was a small supporting character opposite Jude Law in Cold Mountain, because she seemed so believable in it. Now I believe she has finally found her defining role here. Portman is a tour de force as Nina, who from the beginning is viewed as a girl who has literally built her world around ballet, so much that she has never quite grown up and enjoyed life like other people. Her obsession in making her performance flawless drives her over the edge, and the entire process Portman puts us through is so intoxicating.

Vincent Cassel plays his familiar asshole character here, but it's quite fitting actually. Mila Kunis provides good support as Lily, who might seem like Nina's evil twin while Barbara Hershey has some good chemistry with Portman as Nina's overbearing mother. Even Winona Ryder does well as Beth, the spiteful retiring dancer, despite not getting much screentime.

The cast performances aren't the only good thing about Black Swan. Kudos must be given to production design and set design for presenting the world of ballet in the film in mostly black and white colours, with mirrors everywhere you turn, creating a somewhat claustrophobic and creepy feel. Cameraman Matthew Libatique also deserves credit for his near perfect camerawork. Last but not least, Clint Mansell is awesome in composing a haunting score for the film. Even if you're not a classical music fan, you'll love it.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Black Swan. Yes, it's tragic, sometimes horrific and uncomfortable to watch in certain parts. But Aronofsky has done the impossible: he has taken a story about ballet and turned it into a masterpiece. Recommended. (4/5)

The Green Hornet

2011-02-15T17:11:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011

Director: Michel Gondry

Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Edward James Olmos

The 1960s TV series The Green Hornet is known to be the show that launched Bruce Lee's Hollywood career. Like most TV shows these days, it gets made into a film, and here it is.

Seth Rogen plays Britt Reid, son of newspaper owner James Reid (Tom Wilkinson). Britt is a playboy who enjoys partying and isn't like his dad at all. Then one day, his dad dies and Britt inherits the paper.

At first, Britt doesn't quite know what to do, that is until he meets Kato (Jay Chou), a mechanic that works for his father. Together they discover that they both dislike his old man for the same reasons and decide to do something about it. In the process of doing so, Britt learns that Kato is an expert in martial arts, and with his help, they successfully rescue a couple from being mugged.

Britt then comes up with an idea: he and Kato will put on costumes and pretend to be bad guys as they fight crime and run from the cops at the same time. Using the newspaper to spread the word on their activities, Britt dubs himself The Green Hornet and takes Kato all over town causing havoc amongst the gangs. This attracts the attention of Chudnovsky (Christoph Waltz), the Russian crime lord who is determined to take control of the city's crime empire.

The first thing you'll notice about this film is director Michel Gondry's visual style. He loves retro and it shows here. The closing credits is an homage to retroness and the old TV show. It's a refreshing change from people who have come to expect superheroes in tights. In The Green Hornet, our heroes wear suits and hats even if this isn't 1960. Gondry as well as producers Rogen and Evan Goldberg also chose to make this an action comedy instead of an all out serious superhero flick, which sort of works, but since it's Seth Rogen we're talking about, it's only fitting.

Rogen plays to his strengths here as a comedian, utilising his comic timing to good effect. However it's Jay Chou that steals the show as Kato. His English isn't all that good, but he manages to bring a certain charisma to the role. He also excels in the fight scenes, though I wished Gondry didn't use CGI to either speed up or slow down his moves as it became a tad cartoonish after a while.

Christoph Waltz of Inglourious Basterds fame hams it up as the villain, and he's even more ridiculous than Col Hans Landa. But he is funny here, I'll give him that. I did not like Cameron Diaz being cast as Britt's assistant Lenore Case though. Diaz is just playing her usual self here. Someone with a little less popularity than her would have been more suitable.

Overall the plot isn't great and some parts lack continuity. However Gondry almost makes up for it by staging an absolutely insane action sequence in the last 15 minutes of the film. I didn't expect that from Gondry, which is nice.

To sum it up, The Green Hornet is like popcorn. It's fun to digest, but you won't remember it later. (3.5/5)

The Way Back

2011-01-28T23:53:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan

I knew very little about The Way Back when it suddenly popped up at cinemas here. I read one online review that gave it a lot of credit, so I knew I had to give it a shot.

The Way Back is set during World War II, where Poland has been invaded by Hitler on the west side and Stalin on the east side. We are introduced to a man named Janusz (Jim Sturgess), who is imprisoned by the Russians after refusing to sign a statement that confesses he was a spy.

He is sent to Siberia, an unforgiving prison where the guards and barbed fences aren't the real enemy, but the cold weather and endless forests beyond it are. Once there, he meets a few prisoners of interest: Mr Smith (Ed Harris), an American and Valka (Colin Farrell), a Russian who is in prison for murder.

With the encouragement of fellow prisoner Khabarov (Mark Strong), Janusz makes a plan to escape. He takes Smith, Valka and four other men past the perimeter and through the unforgiving blizzard. They plan on heading to a country that isn't rife with communism, so they decide to go south. Along the way, they meet Irena (Saoirse Ronan), a young Polish girl also running from the Russians.

This story, which is supposedly based on real events, depicts their escape and eventual long and arduous walk from Siberia, across the Gobi desert, through the Himalayas and finally arriving in India. And yes, it is a long journey, but well worth it even for us viewers.

Peter Weir is known for making critically acclaimed films like Dead Poets Society, Witness and Master & Commander, and here he does it again. The Way Back takes a realistic look at the harrowing journey of these survivors across the worst of terrains, with very little food and water and the most extreme of weather conditions. It makes your heart break watching them suffer, and Weir deserves plenty of credit for his direction. Credit must also be given to Russell Boyd for his great camerawork. The shots of the vast landscape that appears to have no end, the scorching desert, the wide Lake Baikal that they have to walk past and the forests they tread through...all excellently done.

Jim Sturgess, who hasn't been in a real hit film since he began, does splendidly as Janusz here. He is very believable as the unlikely guide to lead the survivors to freedom, even as he himself suffered so much. Ed Harris lends his screen presence effectively too as the hardened Smith. Colin Farrell does a good job as the ruthless Valka, and though I can't quite accept him as a Russian (probably because I've seen him play normal English speaking characters too many times), he can do no wrong here. Saoirse Ronan is also effective as Irena, and though she may seem precocious at times, her character will grow on you. Not to be forgotten are Dragos Bucur, Alexandru Potocean and Gustaf Skarsgard who play three of the other survivors, Zoran, Tomasz and Voss.

Overall, this film is truly fascinating and at the same time emotionally draining, but worth the journey. It may seem a bit too long for my taste at times, but the fine performances and great execution by Weir makes this a winner. (3.5/5)

Faster

2011-01-22T23:37:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: George Tillman Jr
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Carla Gugino, Maggie Grace, Moon Bloodgood

As some of you might know, Dwayne Johnson a.k.a. The Rock is my favourite wrestler. When he first started his Hollywood career, he starred in some decent action films like The Scorpion King and The Rundown. But then he had to go do those below average kiddie comedies like Race To Witch Mountain and The Tooth Fairy.

So I was rather excited that he was finally going back to do something serious with Faster. No more little cute kids, just more ass-kicking.

Now, on the poster it may look like a film starring Dwayne Johnson, but Faster is actually a film that focuses on three men: Driver (Johnson), Cop (Billy Bob Thornton) and Killer (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). Notice how the protagonists are named by description instead of an actual name?

Anyway, we begin with Driver, who is released from prison after serving ten years. Before he was jailed, he was part of a bank heist with his brother. Unfortunately another gang ambushed them, killed his brother and left Driver for dead. Now he wants some payback, and he starts gunning the gang members down one by one.

The first attack by Driver gets the attention of Cop, who investigates the case with his partner Cicero (Carla Gugino). Cop happens to be a drug addict who has marital problems, but is determined to make things right with his wife and son.

Then we are introduced to Killer, a guy who takes a lot of pride in what he does, and at the same time seeks to settle down with his girlfriend Lily (Maggie Grace). He gets a call from a client who wants Driver dead, so he decides to take one last job before retiring.

Director George Tillman Jr has made a film that I would say is unique. It's not necessarily great, but unique. It's unique because first of all, as mentioned earlier, the three main characters are referred to by description and not by name. All three of them are given equal time, and it's not until you get to the last third of the film when you realise that they're connected in some way. This connection is the twist in this story, which isn't too surprising, but to some extent it works.

Tillman hasn't quite got the pace of the film to my taste, but the one thing I did like is the music. Throughout the film we are given a nice dose of blues and rock numbers, which suit the tone of the film well. This is a revenge flick after all, and blues and rock is the right way to go here.

Johnson is a somewhat perfect fit for Driver, though I must say his character is a tad two dimensional. He doesn't deviate from his quest for vengeance from start to finish, other than one minor detour he takes to see his former girlfriend played by Jennifer Carpenter. That being said, Driver isn't much of a stretch for Johnson, but at least he's starting to take serious roles again, so that's a good sign.

Thornton certainly looks the part of Cop, except he has messier hair instead of none. The script's attempt to gain the audience's sympathy for him by revealing his sob story doesn't really work, especially when they try a bit too hard at times. But Thornton always has great screen presence, so it's always good to have him around.

Jackson-Cohen, on the other hand, gets the rather hilarious role as Killer. I say hilarious because, well....he isn't like most killers I've seen on film. Sure, he has the good looks, the precision, the pride, he even has the cold blooded look in his eyes down pat. But the way his character was written is rather strange. For a man who takes tremendous pride in his work, it's odd to note that he is more human than most of his peers that I've watched over the years. Most killers who yearn for a normal life usually take no joy in what they do, even if they're very good at it. But Killer? He has an ego, which suffers from some serious bruising after his first encounter with Driver, and the more the script tries to humanise him, the less believable it gets. I like him, but he's still an odd element in this film.

Gugino provides some nice support here as Cop's partner while Maggie Grace looks impossibly gorgeous here, even if she doesn't have a heck of a lot to do.

As for drawbacks, I have to mention that there are major plotholes involving logic, like why the cops can't catch Driver when he shoots people in broad daylight and there are witnesses around. As an action film, it kinda works. It's not The Rock's best film obviously, but it's a start, and I'm keen to see what he does next.

Verdict: a decent way to spend two hours if you like revenge tales. (3.5/5)

Season Of The Witch

2011-01-16T23:06:00.000+08:00

Year: 2011
Director: Dominic Sena
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Claire Foy, Stephen Campbell Moore, Robert Sheehan, Stephen Graham, Ulrich Thomsen, Christopher Lee

Nicolas Cage has had a colourful career, with as many good films as there are bad ones. He was brilliant in Face/Off, Con Air and 8MM, but there also have been major stinkers in his resume like The Wicker Man, Next and Bangkok Dangerous. Then there are also the middle ground films like Ghost Rider, Windtalkers and Knowing.

It's safe to say that Cage has tried all kinds of roles. But this time, as a 14th century knight? How does that turn out?

Season Of The Witch begins in the 13th century, with the execution of three women believed to be witches by the church. As a priest reads an incantation from his book, one of the corpses attacks and kills him.

A century later, we are introduced to two men, Behmen (Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman), knights who are part of the Crusade. After years of warfare, they grow tired of the killing, especially when innocent women and children end up on the receiving end. Behmen and Felson desert the army and return home to England, where they discover that a pestilence known as The Black Plague has fallen upon the land, causing thousands to die.

The local cardinal (Christopher Lee) believes that the plague was caused by a witch, and wishes to send her to another town to be executed. Behmen and Felson are revealed as deserters and sentenced to prison unless they agree to escort the witch there. Behmen agrees reluctantly, on the condition that she is given a fair trial after they send her.

So the two men gather the witch (Claire Foy) and bring along four other men; Debelzaq (Stephen Campbell Moore), a priest who believes the witch is guilty, Eckhart (Ulrich Thomsen), a knight who lost his family to the plague, Hagamar (Stephen Graham), a con man who knows the way to the town and Kay (Robert Sheehan), an aspiring knight. The journey is wrought with one disaster after another, and one by one the men fall as Behmen begins to question the witch's guilt or innocence.

Dominic Sena, who directed Cage in Gone In 60 Seconds, takes the helm here. Sena's work has been rather inconsistent, like he was good in making Kalifornia and Swordfish, but didn't do so well with Whiteout. Overall, I wouldn't say that Season Of The Witch is a return to form for either Sena or Cage, but it's actually better than I expected. Considering the fact that the release date was pushed back, and landing in January (which most critics would call the dumping ground for bad films), you'd think it would suck. But guess what? It doesn't.

Cage is actually slightly more than decent here, even if he forgoes an English accent to play Behmen. Ron Perlman also ditched the accent in his role as Felson, and to their credit, Behmen and Felson's camaraderie successfully glue the film together. Cage and Perlman definitely have good chemistry here, and they ought to work together again someday. Special mention must also be made for Claire Foy, who plays the witch. On the surface, she seems innocent enough, but a slight smile or glint in her eye, and she can suddenly turn completely around and seem so evil. Foy is perfect for the role.

Basically, the film is like an episode of Supernatural combined with an LOTR like journey set in medieval times. The action sequences are decent and the horror elements are well shot, although there's a bit of bad CGI at the end, but I'm not complaining. Overall it's not one of Cage's best work, but it's fun for what it is.

Verdict: good enough to watch if nothing else is showing, and if you like action combined with horror, this is for you. (3.5/5)

TRON: Legacy

2011-01-14T23:03:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen, James Frain

I am one of the unfortunate people who hadn't watched the original TRON released in 1982. That groundbreaking film starred Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a hacker who gets zapped into a computer and forced to participate in gladiatorial games in order to escape. 28 years later, we have a sequel, and the question is, will non-TRON fans be able to embrace this?

TRON: Legacy begins with Kevin telling his son Sam about the world of TRON, and promising to take him to the arcade the next day. He never came home after that.

Twenty years later, Sam is now the largest shareholder of his father's company. But he isn't interested in running the business, preferring to pull pranks on the company's directors instead.

Alan Bradley, Kevin's old friend, meets up with Sam and tells him he was paged by his father, from a number that had been disconnected for 20 years. Sam goes to the source, which is his father's old arcade, and finds a basement with a unique computer in there. After some tinkering, Sam himself gets zapped into the same computer world his father talked about.

Once there, he is captured by other programs and forced to fight gladiator style using a disc attached to his back. He subsequently learns that Clu, a program created by his father and resembles him as well, has taken over this world and plans to enter Sam's own. With a bit of help from a program called Quorra, Sam escapes and reunites with his father, who has been trapped in this world all this time. But the reunion isn't a happy one for long, as both father and son must find a way to stop Clu from entering the real world.

You know, I wish I could tell you more about TRON and the entire epic story that revolves around the world of The Grid, but as it stands, I did not watch the original. I would if I could. Now, as a standalone story, Legacy may work to a certain extent. But I still felt that there were too many things that only fans of the original would be able to fathom. Disney ought to have made DVDs of the original available prior to the release of Legacy, but I heard they did not want to do so in fear of the sequel getting less attention that they had hoped for. Too bad for us.

Anyway, first time director Joseph Kosinski doesn't do too bad of a job here. He makes sure all the bases are covered, from visual effects to camerawork to hiring Daft Punk for the music score. Despite some slow moments in the second half of the film, overall Legacy is quite entertaining indeed. And speaking of the visual effects, they are truly awesome to behold. I especially loved the lightcycle races and the air battle at the film's climax. However their attempt to create a younger Kevin Flynn and Clu didn't quite score points with me. He just looked strange, like a slightly better version of Robert Zemeckis' 3D images.

Jeff Bridges brings his undeniable screen presence here, though it is clearly Garrett Hedlund's show throughout as Sam Flynn. Hedlund isn't totally convincing in the role, but I think he isn't entirely to blame for that. Some of his lines just sounded weird. Olivia Wilde is fascinating as the brave but slightly kid-like Quorra, and Bruce Boxleitner makes good of his little screen time as Alan Bradley. I also liked Michael Sheen's performance as Zuse, a virtual world club owner who looks like David Bowie.

Some people have compared this to Avatar, and I can see why. The only real difference is the scale, but they share similar qualities aplenty. Legacy is good entertainment, but not necessarily for everyone. If possible, I recommend that you try watching the original TRON first, just so you know what you're getting yourself into. But if you don't, it's okay to watch this anyway. (3.5/5)

Fair Game

2011-01-09T19:49:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Doug Liman
Cast: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Michael Kelly, Bruce McGill, Noah Emmerich, David Andrews

Not to be confused with a similarly named film from 1995 starring Cindy Crawford and William Baldwin, Fair Game is based on a true story about Valerie Plame, a CIA operative who worked during the Bush administration.

Valerie is an agent with many contacts worldwide, who carries out assignments to expose terrorist cells, which has become more prominent since 9/11. She is married to Joe Wilson, a former ambassador who now runs his own business. They have two children.

One day, Valerie's superiors seek her help to 'send' Joe on an assignment to Africa, where it is suspected that Saddam Hussein is attempting to purchase materials to make nuclear weapons. Joe was chosen because he has experience and knowledge of the country Niger, where the supposed transaction is taking place. Once there, Joe does not discover any conclusive evidence that such a transaction took place.

However, the Vice President's staff, led by Scooter Libby, is not entirely convinced. By pulling some strings and manipulating statements, Libby makes it seem that Saddam truly is acquiring the materials, thus giving President Bush the excuse he needs to invade Iraq.

Joe is downright unhappy that the truth had been twisted, and proceeds to write an article for the media, stating that he had found no such evidence and that the White House had been misled. This sets off major repercussions as Libby leaks Valerie's identity as a CIA agent to the press. As a result, her employers suspend her and all her assignments, thus preventing her from keeping her word to anyone she had promised to help. The Wilsons' friends question them on Valerie's double life while the media follow them everywhere looking to either dig for more dirt or publicly scathe them. The entire fiasco puts a major toll on Valerie and Joe's marriage.

Doug Liman, who directed The Bourne Identity, once again brings his gritty style to the fore. There are no action sequences here, but his camerawork successfully makes the film look very real. The lack of bright colours throughout the movie also helped. I couldn't help but notice that Liman had filmed in Kuala Lumpur, so it was pretty cool seeing the Twin Towers at the start of the film.

Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, whom I last saw together in the phenomenal 21 Grams, have a great chemistry as Valerie and Joe respectively. Watts shows her toughness and vulnerability at the same time, despite not doing anything most CIA agents featured in Hollywood films do i.e. kicking ass. Penn compliments her perfectly as the man who fights for the truth, even if it costs him everything he loves.

Overall, Fair Game does not have the great storytelling skills it ought to have, for the first half of the film at least. But its two main leads do a great job in fleshing out their characters, thereby making it a fascinating view on the machinations of the White House. (3.5/5)

Gulliver's Travels

2010-12-31T23:15:00.008+08:00

Year: 2010

Director: Rob Letterman

Cast: Jack Black, Amanda Peet, Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Billy Connolly, Chris O'Dowd

Remember the story Gulliver's Travels about an adventurer who winds up on an island filled with tiny people? Hollywood finally decided to make a movie out of it.

Jack Black plays Lemuel Gulliver, a laidback mail room clerk who has a major crush on Darcy Silverman (Amanda Peet), who writes for a travel column. In an attempt to impress her, Gulliver takes up an assignment to write about his extensive travelling experience, even when he actually does not have any.

So he plagiarises other travel columns to write a nice article for her, and Darcy is so impressed that she sends him on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle. Gulliver goes there by boat on his own, when he is suddenly sucked up into a waterspout. When he awakens, he finds himself being taken prisoner by an army of little people no taller than six inches!

Soon he learns he is on the island of Lilliput, and is now regarded as a beast because of his size. He befriends fellow inmate Horatio (Jason Segel), who is imprisoned because of attempting to court Princess Mary (Emily Blunt). One day, Gulliver succeeds in preventing a kidnapping attempt on the princess by invading forces and is subsequently declared a hero by her father King Theodore (Billy Connolly). Gulliver, who now enjoys accolades he had never received in his life before, makes up a bunch of stories about his identity in order to impress the Lilliputians.

However, the head of the Lilliputian army, General Edward (Chris O'Dowd) is furious over being replaced by Gulliver as the island's hero, and hatches a plan to eliminate him.

The one thing that impressed me first about Gulliver's Travels is the special effects. They successfully made it look like Jack Black is communicating with little people, physically manhandling them or being manhandled in return etc. And since it's Jack Black we're talking about, you know what kind of comedy to expect. The crass, occasionally low brow and mostly spontaneous humour. Black still manages to pull it off here, even though he's been way better in previous films.

However, despite all that, the film comes off as very mediocre. Black is fun to watch, but he doesn't have the best material to work with here. The script makes the film look more suited for children, leaving very little for adults to have fun with. Perhaps that's what director Rob Letterman was aiming for, to entertain the young ones. But it would have been nice if the older audience members have something to laugh at here.

On a brighter note, Emily Blunt does a good job hamming things up as Princess Mary, while Billy Connolly is a tad underused as King Theodore. Chris O'Dowd makes a good villain as General Edward, and Jason Segel is spot on as Gulliver's sidekick Horatio.

An average Jack Black vehicle to end the year with. I should have watched Tron Legacy already. (By the way, you might want to leave the hall when Jack Black starts to sing Edwin Starr's War at the end, it was really cheesy.) (3/5)

Due Date

2010-12-26T13:02:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx

There was an old comedy called Planes, Trains & Automobiles where Steve Martin and John Candy played two mismatched guys stuck with each other as they made their way home. I never saw that film, but Due Date is said to be a lot like that.

In this film, Robert Downey Jr plays Peter Highman, a father-to-be on his way home from Atlanta to Los Angeles to make it for his child's birth. At the airport, he bumps into Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), an aspiring actor, and they subsequently get their luggage mixed up. Things get worse when on the plane, Ethan inadvertently gets himself and Peter thrown out because of a misunderstanding with the air marshal.

Now being put on the No Fly List, Peter has no other way home, except to hitch a ride with Ethan in a rented car. With Ethan being a weed smoker, carrying a bulldog and add Ethan's annoying attitude, Peter is gonna have one long trip ahead of him, and one full of mishaps too.

Director Todd Phillips was at the helm of The Hangover, last year's hit comedy which also starred Galifianakis. I plan on seeing that on cable soon. Here in Due Date, the usual jokes come forth: slapstick, low brow and a lot of accidental injuries. Most of them only made me snigger, and not because they were badly executed, but because it's nothing new. There were a few good ones, like the one where Peter punches a kid in the gut for yanking on his tie, which I know would be rather controversial as to whether it's funny or outrageous, but I think Downey pulled that one off well without making it look bad.

Speaking of Downey, he does a good job here as Peter. He sounds a lot like Tony Stark, except he's not very nice. In fact, Peter is a very unlikable guy who is prone to losing his temper and insulting people without flinching, which kinda makes it tough for us to sympathise with him. But at the very least, Downey manages to show Peter's caring side when the scene calls for it. He is balanced off perfectly by Galifianakis, who gives Ethan a certain air of lovable quality, even though he isn't the smartest of people. The best way to describe Ethan is to picture that guy you sit next to on a bus or train, and he goes on and on about himself, being very earnest but not knowing if we want to hear him talk that much. THAT'S the guy Ethan is. The duo's budding friendship as the story progresses, through every painful and embarrassing situation is the driving force of the picture.

Jamie Foxx and Juliette Lewis make short appearances as Peter's best friend and a drug dealer respectively, and they're not too shabby. But I didn't like the inclusion of Danny McBride as the disgruntled Western Union employee that beats Peter up. That attempt at humour is rather overused in films like these, it just didn't work for me.

Overall, it's a decent attempt at comedy about a mismatched duo, just don't expect much else. (3.5/5)

The Next Three Days

2010-12-20T15:52:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Paul Haggis
Cast: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Liam Neeson

If you've seen the hit TV show Prison Break, then you'll get an idea of what The Next Three Days is essentially about, though it is not nearly as complicated.

The Next Three Days is about John Brennan, a university lecturer who is also a loving husband and father. His perfect world comes crashing down one day when the police barge into his home and arrest his wife Lara for murder.

Naturally John believes she is innocent, but the evidence says she isn't, and she goes to jail. As time passes, the couple's young son grows distant from her, and she loses appeal after appeal in court. When Lara attempts suicide and fails, John realizes that he has only one choice to save his family: break Lara out of prison.

Paul Haggis, who directed the Oscar winning Crash, brings to us a very interesting conundrum, and succeeds in making us relate to the protagonist's situation. Unlike Prison Break, where you'd have to suspend disbelief many times to enjoy it fully, The Next Three Days feels very real. A majority of the film is spent on John's efforts in learning how to break someone out of prison, which he starts by consulting a man who has written books on escaping prisons, played by Liam Neeson. From there, John begins planning, knowing what to do and when, how to get the necessary resources, how fast he must go from point to point, the dos and don'ts etc. All this contributes to the realism of the story at hand. And yes, it is not without flaws of its own, there were times when some things didn't seem plausible, but it is all right to ignore them.

Russell Crowe once again excels in becoming the driving force of this film. As John, he gets our sympathy as a desperate man who would do whatever it takes to save his wife, knowing the consequences if he fails. Unlike Wentworth Miller in Prison Break, John is a regular guy, a teacher, who has to learn from scratch on doing the seemingly impossible, and muster the courage to see it through to the end. Crowe is very convincing in delivering that side of John.

Elizabeth Banks isn't as convincing as Crowe here, but she does shine in some of her scenes as Lara. Although only getting one scene, Neeson puts in a great performance as Damon Pennington, the expert on prison breaking. Special mention must also be made for Brian Dennehy as John's father. His age is definitely showing, but his presence is very welcome here, as he shows plenty of emotion even when he says nothing. Home Alone's Daniel Stern also gets a nice turn as John's lawyer, something you'd never expect from him.

It's a well made thriller with a lot of good drama thrown in. Based on the support its getting, I think it's seriously underrated, and if any of you are reading this, you should go see it. (4/5)

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2010-12-17T22:18:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: David Yates
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Bill Nighy, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman, David Thewlis

The Harry Potter films stopped being fun the day Cedric Diggory died.

But it's not because Cedric was such a well loved character. His death simply meant that things were going to get ugly, and it was not going to stop until either Harry or Voldermort dies. Cedric unfortunately was merely the first in a long line of characters in the adventures of Harry Potter that will bite the dust.

In my opinion, only real Potter fans, that is, those who read the books, would really feel anything when these characters meet their demise. For people like me, the regular movie fan, and many others who love it for the epicness, we just wonder when it will end, and how. So when I sat down to watch The Deathly Hallows, the only thing I felt was a small measure of relief that it would soon end at last. Not that it hasn't been fun. It has. It's just that I want to take something significant away from these films besides seeing everyone either grow up or die.

So Deathly Hallows begins with Harry and his two friends, Ron and Hermione, prepare for the hard days to come. Voldermort and his forces grow stronger now that Prof. Dumbledore is dead, thanks to Prof. Snape. Harry, Ron and Hermione attempt to locate Voldermort's horcruxes, objects which contain pieces of his soul. If they can find all of them and destroy them, they can defeat him.

Through their journey and a subsequent meeting with Luna Lovegood's father Xenophilius, the trio learn of the Deathly Hallows; three magical things that would make its owner the master of death. They also learn that Voldermort is after the same things.

David Yates takes the helm again after doing the last two instalments, and once again the mood is dark and grey. And like before, Yates is very thorough in his approach. I assume this is to please the fans so that all the important points in the book are covered, which is why there are two parts to this final chapter, the second one scheduled for next year.

However, I must question Yates' decision to film certain scenes that I thought wasn't crucial. In the middle third of the film, the story drags as Harry, Ron and Hermione teleport from place to place, camping and doing nothing much other than sulking over their fate. Harry and Hermione even have time to engage in a dance sequence, which I know was an attempt to ease the tension between them. But all this did not serve the story and should have been edited out.

The other thing I hate relates to something I should point at J.K. Rowling to address. Why would she kill off good guys only? She kills Cedric, then Sirius Black, then Dumbledore, and two more here. But bad guys? Nuh uh! The Malfoys live, the annoying Bellatrix Lestrange still hangs around, and if any bad guys got killed in this film, they weren't important enough to put in here anyway. So Ms Rowling, why would you write like that? Gosh. I guess that's my flaw for not being a fan of the books.

But what is good about the film is the fact that the kids are all grown up. Radcliffe, Grint and Watson have now comfortably fit into their roles and do a splendid job indeed. In this film, they go through grief, anger and sadness, and they all deliver. Two particular scenes stand out: the first is something Hermione does at the start of the film, and the second at the end when Harry cries over a friend's death. Ron also gets some emotional drama midway and Grint does not disappoint.

Bill Nighy gets a small role here as the Minister of Magic but still manages to make his presence felt. Rhys Ifans is a perfect fit as the quirky Xenophilius Lovegood, much like Evanna Lynch who plays his daughter Luna. The other supporting cast only get a few scenes, and Prof. McGonagall is missing altogether, though I hear she'll be in part 2.

With a bit of tightening on the runtime, this would have been better. But I must say, I do want to see how this entire series comes to a close next summer when part 2 is released. Let's hope it ends with a bang. (3.5/5)

Machete

2010-12-05T19:35:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Directors: Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis
Cast: Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Jessica Alba, Robert DeNiro, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson

So I finally managed to get a copy of Machete, which is banned here due to its over-the-top violence and sexual content. For those of you who don't know, Machete was originally a fake trailer for Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse film, and it became so popular Rodriguez decided to make a full length film out of it.

The story begins with Machete (Danny Trejo), a Federale carrying out a rescue mission involving a girl, only to get double crossed by his superiors. His arch nemesis Torrez (Steven Seagal), who masterminded the double cross subsequently kills Machete's wife and daughter, and leaves him for dead.

Three years later, Machete is doing odd jobs near the border when he is approached by Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey), a businessman who offers him $150,000 to kill Senator McLaughlin (Robert DeNiro). The senator is a staunch supporter of preventing illegal immigrants from crossing the border, and Booth wants him silenced so that the flow of cheap labour will continue to bring him profits. Machete agrees, but when he attempts to shoot the man, he gets double crossed by Booth and is now a wanted man. It turns out that Booth works for McLaughlin, and the attempt was meant to swing support for the senator's campaign.

Machete is now on the run, but he gets assistance from Mexican vigilante Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), his brother turned priest Padre (Cheech Marin) and ICE agent Sartana Rivera (Jessica Alba). He eventually learns that Booth is in cahoots with Torrez, therefore an opportunity to get even emerges.

Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis, who has helped edit Rodriguez's films in the past, share directing credits here. Like Planet Terror, Machete has the old 70s feel to it, from the way it was shot, to the action choreography and the music as well.There is rarely a dull moment as Rodriguez piles on the action, gore and some funny moments too. Some of the lines here are downright corny, like it was a B-grade action flick, but it doesn't make you cringe, in fact it kinda suits the mood of the film and would easily make you chuckle.

The cast perform splendidly for the most part. Trejo gets a chance at last to be the lead hero, and though his age is showing, he has great screen presence here. Alba and Michelle Rodriguez make for good eye candy, while Seagal and Fahey are convincing as the slimy villains, especially the latter. DeNiro is also fun to watch as the slightly weasel-like senator. Cheech Marin is quite underused here but makes his short screen time memorable. Don Johnson is good as a menacing border vigilante, while Lindsay Lohan gets a thankless role as Booth's daughter, and she gets topless in a couple of scenes too.

What works against Machete however is the fact that there are too many characters to follow here. It does make things a tad complicated in the middle third of the film. Perhaps Rodriguez ought to condense his film a little bit, not in the running time aspect but in the plot and characters aspect.

Overall, it's quite fun to watch Machete. It doesn't make me want to look forward to the upcoming sequel Machete Kills though. (3.5/5)

Unstoppable

2010-11-28T13:27:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn

I gotta tell ya, the only thing Tony Scott loves more than trains is his leading man, Denzel Washington.

I mean, another train movie after The Taking Of Pelham 123? And Denzel again? Oh well, I guess it's true: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If working with Denzel brings in the goods, why change that?

Anyway, their new collaboration Unstoppable takes place in Pennsylvania, where Denzel's character Frank Barnes works as a train engineer. He meets Will Colson (Chris Pine), a rookie conductor who will join him today on his train. The two get off on the wrong foot initially, due to word spreading around that old guys like Frank are being let go in favor of younger guys like Will.

However, there's a bigger problem rearing its head today. A careless train conductor lets his train run off with no brakes and it's barreling down the tracks, destroying anything that comes in its way. Worst of all, it's carrying cars containing hazardous materials and it's headed for a highly populated area. Yardmaster Connie Hooper (Rosario Dawson) tries her best to organize efforts to stop the train but fails. When her suggestion to derail the train falls on the deaf ears of the train's owner (Kevin Dunn), Frank and Will decide to do what they can to stop it instead.

This is officially Scott's fifth collaboration with Denzel, with the latter once again playing the everyman that eventually turns heroic. This time around, Scott sets his film in the blue collar society and how they can get underappreciated by the higher ups, until things like this happen. Although Unstoppable is supposedly based on true events, I doubt it was as dramatic or thrilling as the film makes it out to be. Nevertheless, exaggeration can sometimes be a good thing in the name of entertainment.

As for Scott, he successfully makes this film as kinetic as it can be. It's kinda like Speed on a train, and comparatively, the possibilities are much less interesting. But to his credit, Scott makes it believable, that situations like this are possible in the real world.

Denzel once again brings his indomitable screen presence to the fore. It's almost effortless for this guy to be a likable everyman that saves the day. Chris Pine balances it well as the rookie Will Colson, and manages to hold his own against Denzel. Rosario Dawson also gives good support as Connie, whose verbal sparring with the train owner and her own staff makes for good entertainment.

If there is a drawback to Unstoppable, is the fact that it doesn't have a real villain other than the runaway train, which makes it less thrilling than Scott's other films. But all in all, it's still rather entertaining that will have you cheering for the heroes when the climax comes.

An A- train thriller that is well driven by its cast, Unstoppable is worth its 100 minute screen time. (3.5/5)

The Social Network

2010-11-21T23:48:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Joseph Mazzello, Rashida Jones

I love Facebook. In fact, I'd like to believe that everyone who enjoys surfing the net and keeping in touch with their friends and family online love Facebook. It's probably the greatest invention for the Internet currently in use.

And now we have a film that follows the birth of Facebook and the drama that ensued between its creators as the battle for its ownership and rights take place in court.

It begins with a Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg, who after breaking up with his girlfriend Erica, hacks into the university's webpages and steals pictures of the undergraduates to create a website for comparing girls. He subsequently gets punished by the board, but it's just the beginning.

A pair of twin brothers, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and their friend Divya Narendra, hear of this and hire Mark to create a website for them, which would be exclusive for Harvard students only. Mark on the other hand decides to take their idea, make the website and exclude them. He ropes in his best friend Eduardo Saverin, who pumps in some money to get the site started. And thus Facebook is born.

Before long, it becomes a big hit amongst the students. Mark and Eduardo become popular, much to the chagrin of the Winklevosses and Narendra, who contemplate on suing the duo. Then Sean Parker, the creator of Napster, hears about the new fad and arranges a meeting with Mark and Eduardo. Mark is keen on taking Sean's advice on how to get financial backing to expand the site, but Eduardo isn't. This is where things get ugly, after Sean inserts himself into the Facebook company and Eduardo becomes a victim.

Acclaimed director David Fincher successfully helms this interesting take on Facebook's history, but credit must also be given to screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who adapted the book The Accidental Billionaires for his script. What we get is a fast paced and fascinating insight into the creators of Facebook, what they did, how they did it, the trials and tribulations they faced and the legal battle that followed. When I say fast paced, I'm referring to the bullet speed dialogue that the cast throw at each other throughout the film, and amazingly enough the dramatic impact isn't lost at all. And I feel that it's because Fincher has chosen a top notch cast for his film.

Zombieland's Jesse Eisenberg is brilliant as Mark Zuckerberg. Mark is viewed in this story as someone who believes he isn't wrong, and that he doesn't owe anyone anything because he's the smart guy that made it happen. Mark isn't really a bad guy, just perceived as such by the people around him. Andrew Garfield is also equally awesome as Eduardo Saverin, Mark's best friend who helped him along the way and gets screwed over. Eduardo basically is a nice guy who deserved a little more than what he got, and Garfield successfully gets our sympathy here. And what of Justin Timberlake? Well, I'll say that he did a good job playing an asshole in Sean Parker, but I'm not so convinced on him being an actor just yet. He needs more exposure.

To be fair, I'd say that The Social Network isn't one of Fincher's more accessible films, like Se7en or Panic Room. This one falls into the less accessible stuff like Zodiac. But overall I liked this film, the way it was handled, crafted and presented to the audience. The fact that the real Mark Zuckerberg claimed that this film is more fiction than fact makes you even more curious as to what really happened back then.

So go see this, even if you're not a Facebook fan. You won't regret it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to post this review on my Facebook wall. (4/5)

Skyline

2010-11-19T22:54:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Directors: The Brothers Strause
Cast: Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, Donald Faison, David Zayas, Brittany Daniel, Crystal Reed

Cool poster huh? The trailer looked pretty neat too. Alien invasion films, if done right, can be immensely fun to watch. And this one kinda looked fun on the surface.

Skyline revolves around a group of friends spending the night at a penthouse of a large condominium who are awakened by a bright light outside their window. The bright light attracts people like moths to a flame, and before they know it, they'll be sucked right in....to an alien spacecraft!

The friends, made up of Jarrod, his girlfriend Elaine, his best friend Terry, Terry's girlfriend Candice and his assistant Denise attempt to escape the building. But time and time again they are thwarted by the aliens, who come in different shapes and sizes. And the body count or body vanishing acts rise.

Colin and Greg Strause, who directed the abysmal Alien vs Predator: Requiem funded this film all by themselves. They even used Greg's apartment for filming most of the scenes. Now, as far as visual effects go, it is pretty impressive. The scale of the invasion is a lot like what you've seen in Independence Day i.e. huge ships, big explosions, big lights, the works. They also have giant aliens walking around, which reminds me of Godzilla (hmm lots of Roland Emmerich tributes here) and flying aliens with tentacles that look like The Matrix sentinels. Doesn't sound particularly original, but quite awesome anyway.

Unfortunately, Skyline is far from cool overall. I should have known actually, since it's the AVPR directors we're talking about. Their first mistake was giving us a bunch of characters not worth rooting for. The second was writing a really bad script for the actors to read, and the fact that they aren't very good actors to begin with only made things worse. And why would they restrict the story to just around the apartment building for the majority of the screentime? This caused the middle third of the film to stall and feel like they had run out of ideas to push the story forward.

And then there's the ending, which firstly, leads to an obvious sequel, but more importantly makes me go "you gotta be kidding me!" It's quite ridiculous, and really not necessary.

It certainly pales in comparison to Independence Day or War Of The Worlds, where in the former, despite it being a cheesy salute to patriotism, gave us plenty of funny moments and characters to cheer for; as for the latter, it focuses on a father's efforts to keep his family safe, even if he has to cross the line, which provides good drama. In Skyline, we have none of these, at least not in convincing fashion.

It's a great visual feast, but not much else. Which is unfortunate, because it certainly had potential. (2.5/5)

Let Me In

2010-11-14T13:38:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Elias Koteas, Richard Jenkins

Let Me In was one of four films I have been looking forward to in this last quarter of 2010, the other three being Machete, Devil and The Town. One got banned, one got delayed and Devil was just so-so, if you've read my review on it. So now let's talk about Let Me In.

The film is set in 1983, where we are introduced to Owen, a 12 year old boy living with his mother in a small apartment building. He hardly connects with his mum as she is going through a bitter divorce with his dad. He gets bullied by the mean kid at school, which causes him to act out fantasies of retaliating against them when he's by himself.

Then he sees an old man and a young girl his age move in next door. The girl is Abby, whom Owen finds to be quite peculiar when they first meet. Even though they get off on the wrong foot at first, they eventually connect and become friends.

However, Abby has a secret: she's a vampire, and like all vampires we've known, she needs blood. The old man, presumably her father, has to find people in the neighborhood to kill and drain them of their blood to feed her. Things get out of hand when a policeman investigates the deaths and Owen eventually learns the truth about Abby.

Matt Reeves, the director of Cloverfield, adapts the original Swedish film Let The Right One In for his work here. And I have not seen the original, but as for this version, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and intriguing movie. The setting is a snowy little town, where most of the scenes takes place at night, creating an eerie and cold atmosphere which suits the subject matter perfectly. Reeves also succeeds in the photography department with a lot of nice shots of the goings on, especially in the scene of a car accident by putting the camera inside the car. Very ingenious.

The best part of Let Me In is the cast. Reeves is blessed to have two phenomenal child actors for his film. Kodi Smit-McPhee, last seen in The Road (I'm still looking for this film btw), is awesome as Owen, the troubled young boy who has no friends, and finally finds one in his mysterious neighbor. Owen sees in Abby a lot of similarities with himself, and in her he finds a kindred spirit that helps him forget and sometimes overcome his own problems. Chloe Grace Moretz, who was Hit Girl in Kick-Ass, matches Kodi well as Abby. Chloe is quite the opposite of Hit Girl here, but she is really effective. As Abby, she is so fascinating to observe, even when she says little or does not do much. It's like you can feel that there's something unusual about her. And when Abby turns to monster mode, Chloe can be equally intimidating. As a result, Owen and Abby's relationship is fleshed out tremendously well on screen, and it becomes the focus of the story.

Richard Jenkins makes good with his supporting role as Abby's guardian while Elias Koteas rounds up the cast as the detective, and is effective as well. I do have an issue about Owen's mother not in the focus at all throughout the movie, but it is a small one.

This film does suffer a little from its slow pace, so if you're watching this at a late hour, it can be taxing. However, don't let that deter you at all. Let Me In is a fine piece of work that features an unusual relationship between two young children, and it will warm your heart even as it is tragic and dark at times.

This is officially in the running for my top 10 of the year. Recommended. (4/5)

Red

2010-11-07T13:25:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Robert Schwentke
Cast: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary Louise Parker, Brian Cox, Karl Urban, Richard Dreyfuss

Red is an action comedy based on the graphic novel of the same name. The title is an acronym for 'Retired, extremely dangerous'.

The story begins with Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a retired CIA agent who now leads a dull existence by himself in a suburban neighborhood. His only pastime is having phone conversations with Sarah (Mary Louise Parker), a pension handler at the CIA office whom Frank takes a liking to.

Then one night, six armed men come knocking on his door and try to kill him. Frank easily disposes of them and proceeds to find out who would want him dead. Knowing that Sarah's life is in danger too due to their connection, Frank kidnaps her and forces her to tag along. He meets up with his old CIA friends, Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), Victoria (Helen Mirren) and former Russian agent Ivan (Brian Cox) and together, they follow up one lead after another to find the mastermind while being pursued by CIA agent William Cooper (Karl Urban), who has orders to kill Frank.

Many movie reviewers have compared Red to The Expendables due to the similar storyline of ageing heroes going back in action. The difference is, Red doesn't take itself too seriously, which works well in its favour. Director Robert Schwentke keeps viewers interested by letting his A-list cast play their parts equally. The witty dialogue and banter between them helps lighten the proceedings when things threaten to slow down. The action sequences are also well executed. Willis is of course an old hand at stuff like this, so it's no surprise. What is fun to watch is Mirren wielding a machine gun or a sniper rifle taking out the bad guys. What is even more fun is watching Malkovich hamming it up as the slightly insane Marvin. He had me in stitches the whole time.

However, Freeman sadly doesn't have much to do, though his screen presence is still there. Parker is a mere distraction at times and lacks chemistry with Willis. Urban plays it straight here and is probably the only character that has no funny line to read. The legendary Ernest Borgnine makes a welcome cameo as the CIA records keeper.

So basically, other than Parker, the cast work well together and successfully make it look like they have been friends for years. I have to say it again: Malkovich is awesome. He's paranoid with a capital P, but he's smart, capable and hilarious here.

It's a good action film that manages to entertain despite not having The Expendables' level of budget. (3.5/5)

Buried

2010-10-31T18:33:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Rodrigo Cortes
Cast: Ryan Reynolds

This film is by far one of the most unique pieces of work I've ever seen.

Buried begins in the dark confines of a coffin, where we find Paul Conroy, a truck driver working in Iraq who wakes up and finds himself in a box and several feet under the ground.

Naturally, he panics at first, but then slowly gathers his wits and frees himself. He has with him a lighter and a cellphone, which he uses to call for help. His attempts prove rather futile at first, and then things get worse when his kidnapper calls him and threatens to leave him in there unless a ransom is paid. But there is of course, the very obvious threat at hand, which is being stuck in a box with no way out.

Buried is without a doubt, a splendid attempt at visualising what it would be like if you woke up to what probably would be your worst nightmare: being buried alive. The darkness, the claustrophobia, the futility of being trapped where no one can hear you. In Paul Conroy's case, it is just twisted and edgy to watch. Paul is a very determined man, who tries time and time again to get himself out of the predicament he's in, and his biggest obstacle is actually bureaucracy. His several attempts to call for help on the cellphone are usually met with sceptical responses, or busy lines, or answering machines or being put on hold. Try picturing what that's like when you're desperate to get out of that box before your air runs out.

All this is possible thanks to director Rodrigo Cortes and his one man star, Ryan Reynolds. Cortes and cameraman Eduard Grau do a fantastic job in showing us the many angles they can get in a six by three box, yet never losing the feeling that it's a small compartment and Paul really can't do much in there. And Ryan Reynolds....he is just awesome in this. You'd think that Reynolds is more well known for being a pretty boy, much like Brad Pitt once was. With Buried, Reynolds will surely get more respect in Hollywood, and he will certainly go far after this. I can't wait to see him as Green Lantern next year.

Other than the glaring plothole of how Paul is able to survive in that box for quite a long time when air is limited, Buried is a knockout thriller that never lets up on the tension. Thankfully, Cortes manages to keep the film going and not let anything stall the goings on for more than a minute, so we never lose sight of Paul's situation and viewers will be compelled to stay every step of the way.

This is a must watch, take it from me. And mind you, for a film that manages to entertain while being in that box from start to finish (no kidding), is saying something. (4/5)

The Other Guys

2010-10-17T19:12:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Adam McKay
Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton, Ray Stevenson

After making fun of car racing, ice skating, soccer, basketball, step-brothers and newscasters, Will Ferrell now takes aim at the buddy cop genre.

Ferrell and longtime SNL collaborator Adam McKay team up to bring us The Other Guys, a parody on the buddy cop movies we have all grown to love over the years. In this story, there are two great cops, Danson and Highsmith, who always get their man and are hailed as heroes by their peers and the city.

But these guys aren't our protagonists. Nope. Our leads are two guys who don't have a decent shot at being heroes, at least when we begin. Allen Gamble is a forensic accountant who loves being a cop behind a desk typing away at his computer, away from danger. His partner Terry Hoitz has been ostracized by the force because he accidentally shot Derek Jeter, the baseball player. These two don't get along long enough to call themselves partners, so how will they work together?

Well, their chance finally arrives when Danson and Highsmith somehow get themselves killed in the line of duty (how it happens is hilarious actually), and Terry tries to get Allen to step up and take their place. Allen's investigation on a minor accounting misdemeanor leads them to David Ershon, a man who is trying to scam a company out of their money to cover the losses of his own company. Terry and Allen's attempts to get to the bottom of things keeps getting thwarted by a man named Wesley, whose job is to ensure Ershon's plan is finalised. The duo have to stop Ershon and Wesley, while putting up with each other, which is no easy task.

You know all those buddy cop films like Rush Hour, Lethal Weapon and 48 Hrs pair up two guys who are total opposites that end up becoming best friends by the time it's over? The Other Guys doesn't stray from that too much, except for the fact that they focus more on the comedy than the action. Despite the fact that Mark Wahlberg can clearly do action films well, he's not much of an action hero here. As Terry Hoitz, Wahlberg is totally over the top as a cop with huge mood swings. One minute he's yelling at Ferrell, the next he's being emotional. It works only half the time though, but it's a good attempt nonetheless at being funny.

Ferrell on the other hand plays Allen Gamble nearly the same way he plays most of his roles in the past, as in being clueless. Allen is basically a nerd of a cop, who has a very fascinating past (not to mention really funny). He also has a gorgeous wife played by Eva Mendes, and throughout the film, we see Terry being constantly surprised as to how a nerd like Allen gets such hot women chasing him. Ferrell and Wahlberg have great chemistry together thankfully, which is one of the best things of the film.

The supporting cast do their part well, but my favourite among them is Michael Keaton, who appears as the police chief Mauch. Keaton's age is showing, but he has great screen presence and great comic timing, and unlike the two leads, he can play it straight without sounding too corny. Also fun to watch are Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson in cameos as Danson and Highsmith, who totally ham up the supercop characters.

I do have a couple of gripes here, like the uneven pace and the way Ferrell's relationship with Wahlberg progresses is similar to Ferrell's relationships with his co-stars in other films like Step-Brothers and Blades Of Glory. But I have no doubt that Ferrell is hilarious to watch here, and that alone should be a reason to go check this out.

Verdict: another Will Ferrell comedy that is more hit than miss. (3.5/5)

The American

2010-10-10T19:24:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Anton Corbijn
Cast: George Clooney, Violante Placido, Thekla Reuten, Paolo Bonacelli, Johan Leysen

I was looking forward to watching Ben Affleck's The Town this week, when the film people over here decided to push it to December. Bummer! So I needed something to satisfy my movie fix this week, and I picked this film. It was either this or a Zac Efron tearjerker, or the Wall Street sequel, neither of which this reviewer is interested in.

The American stars George Clooney as Jack, a hitman who is both weary and paranoid over his job. At the beginning, we see him kill two men who try to kill him, and he also kills his female companion, who prior to this had no idea what he does for a living.

His employer sends him to a small town in Italy and tells him to lay low until his next assignment. Once there, he befriends two people: Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli), a friendly priest who is rather observant of Jack's past despite his attempts to hide it, and Clara (Violante Placido), a hooker whom Jack gets involved with.

Eventually, Jack's employer Pavel (Johan Leysen) hands him his assignment: to construct an assault rifle for a woman named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten). Using his skill with weapons and some parts that he is able to procure, he goes to the job at hand. But he soon notices that some people are shadowing him, the same kind of people who tried to kill him before, and it affects his judgment and emotions concerning the people around him.

I had not seen any of Anton Corbijn's work before, as I am not well educated on European arthouse flicks. But The American is without a doubt, a unique piece of work. As with most European films, this one is a quiet movie, where a lot of time is spent on wide cinematography and contemplative moments. Unlike most thrillers like the Bourne trilogy and the recent Salt, or even The Replacement Killers, The American takes its time in telling its story, which really isn't about slam bang action, but a character study. I have to say that this film is one of the quietest films I've ever seen. It almost has no music score, apart from some piano solos sparsely inserted here and there, and some obligatory music during the credits. So watching this in a cinema where there are plenty of fidgety kids or patrons who would rather converse with each other than seeing the movie might be a tad tough to do.

Clooney is incredible here, I must say. I think I can sum up his total dialogue in 2 pages. He doesn't have much to say here, so whatever acting he does is focused on his actions, like watching, observing, building the aforementioned weapon, working out etc. And he pulls it off well. His character Jack is a private man, hiding many secrets, who may be a violent person and yet is able to appreciate nicer things like butterflies. If you are the kind of viewer who has the patience to watch a character evolve, you'll be able to follow this.

Of the supporting cast, it's Bonacelli who stands out as the priest. His conversations with Jack, though simple and reserved for the most part, carry a lot of weight in itself. Where Clara is Jack's key to a potentially better life, Father Benedetto is Jack's anchor to being a good person. I enjoyed Bonacelli's performance here.

It's a pity that the local censors removed the juicy parts of the picture, or I would have enjoyed this a bit more. But all in all, I ended up liking The American more than I thought I would. It has gathered mixed reviews so far, but only because some people expected something else when they walked into the theatre.

My advice is this: if you're looking for an action film, don't watch this. If you like seeing George Clooney act in silence, go for this. (3.5/5)

Piranha

2010-09-26T18:33:00.001+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Alexandre Aja
Cast: Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Ving Rhames, Jerry O'Connell, Steven R. McQueen, Jessica Szohr, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss

Piranha is kinda like the extreme version of films like Bats and Anaconda. The plot isn't really important, there must always be pretty people involved and the body count has to be high. Piranha is extreme because it takes everything up a notch and has no shame in being what it is.

Basically, the plot is simple here: it's spring break and all the young ones are partying hard at Lake Victoria, having fun in the sun, wearing very little to nothing at all and throwing caution to the wind. A small earthquake opens up the lake bed and releases thousands of deadly piranhas supposedly trapped in the earth for 2 million years. And they're hungry.

It's up to a tough female sheriff, her deputy and a seismic scientist to save as many lives as they can when the fishes start chomping on the hapless partygoers, which unfortunately includes the sheriff's kids.

Director Alexandre Aja is no stranger to violence, as evidenced in films like Mirrors and The Hills Have Eyes. In Piranha, he pulls no punches and shows all the blood and flesh flying about when the piranhas hit, and boy is it fun to watch. Now don't take me for a sadist here, because it's all so over the top, there's no way you can look at it and say it's real. Even if you do, it'll give you a good scare for a while, which is still fun.

I had a blast watching victims lose their flesh, face, limbs, appendages, everything. It's too bad we didn't get this in 3D here, I heard audiences in the US had a ball seeing all this unfold in 3D, it must have been awesome. My other gripe is the censorship board removing all the nude scenes, but I get that.

Elisabeth Shue and Ving Rhames stand out as the sheriff and the deputy here, while Jerry O'Connell plays the token asshole required in films like this. The legendary Steve McQueen's grandson Steven also puts in a solid performance as the sheriff's eldest son, Jake. Christopher Lloyd gets to channel Doc Brown as the marine biologist while Richard Dreyfuss gets a cameo appearance as a homage to his Jaws character.

If there's one thing Aja did which I didn't like, it was ending the film abruptly, just so he can make a sequel. I totally understand that, I just wish it didn't end like THAT. But hey, I'm game for Piranha 2. Bring it on! (3.5/5)

Devil

2010-09-18T23:58:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Cast: Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O'Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Geoffrey Arend, Jacob Vargas, Matt Craven

M Night Shyamalan's name doesn't quite have the same impact like it used to. When The Sixth Sense came out, he was hailed a sensation. But ever since then, his work has slowly dropped in quality. Unbreakable and Signs were good, but The Village and The Happening were severe letdowns. Most people didn't appreciate Lady In The Water either, and despite the recent success at the box office for The Last Airbender, critics totally hated it. And I have to admit, Airbender doesn't seem all great, and I can tell you that even without seeing it.

So now when you attach M Night's name to a film, how would the impact be like? Well, for this new film Devil, he's just a producer and came up with the original idea for the story.

Devil begins with narration, on stories about the devil roaming the earth. On this particular day, five strangers will encounter him. At a high rise office building, five people: a guy in a jacket, a guy in a suit, a young woman, an old lady and a security guard take the elevator up, only for it to malfunction halfway and stop.

The building security tries to get them out, but to no avail. Then, strange things start to happen. Lights going off and on. People getting hurt both inside the elevator, and the ones outside trying to fix things. The five people start to get paranoid, anxious and all their worst traits come to the surface.

At the same time, a detective named Bowden comes into the picture. He works together with the security guards to get the passengers out while learning more about the situation. He's dealing with some personal demons too, which come forth as the film runs along.

My first complement goes to the camerawork. The film begins with the city skyline shown upside down as the opening credits roll and it goes straight into the building elevator. The footage shot inside the elevator itself is well done. It isn't a big space at all, yet everything is shown magnificently. Kudos to the cinematographer for a job well done.

The mostly unknown cast are also quite splendid in their roles. They all play their parts well, from the asshole of a guy in the suit, to the short tempered guy in the jacket, to the claustrophobic security guard etc. All typical characters of course, but still well acted out. Chris Messina, who plays Detective Bowden also deserves a mention for giving a convincing portrayal of the cop.

Now for what doesn't work. I think thrillers like this work better when the audience knows less about what's going on. And here we are told way too much. The narration on the devil through old tales, the superstitious security guard played by Jacob Vargas telling Bowden his knowledge on the subject. Was all this necessary? Vargas even gets a chance to go on one knee and recite a prayer in Spanish for the passengers! Man, that was weird.

Then there's the stuff that happens in the lift. When something bad happens, the lights go off, we hear struggling, the lights come on and someone's hurt or dead. If you watch WWE wrestling, this is very similar to how the wrestler called The Undertaker operates. It's kinda funny when I think about it, but I suppose this was the only way for them to keep things unexplained until the climax. And that brings me to my next point.

The twist is on which one of them is the devil. It's no real surprise actually. Chances are you can make three guesses on who it is and you'll get it right. If you've seen enough films with surprise endings, you'll know how this one ends. Speaking of endings, Devil ends on a rather whimpering note rather than one that chills. And it's not because of the predictable twist, it's more because of what M Night wanted the film to essentially be, which isn't what I wanted, of course.

Overall, it's a fascinating premise for a film that had an average execution. Mildly entertaining, but it won't scare you off taking elevators. (3.5/5)

Resident Evil: Afterlife

2010-09-11T15:23:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Boris Kodjoe

As far as film franchises go, Resident Evil is kinda like Saw. It's critic proof. No matter how many films they make about the same thing, it always sells. In this case, film fans never get tired of seeing Milla Jovovich kill hordes of the undead over and over again.

In this 4th instalment of the franchise based on the popular video game, Jovovich reprises her role as Alice, the former agent of the Umbrella Corporation who does her best killing thousands of dead people infected by the T-virus as she makes her way up Umbrella's powers that be. In the opening sequence, Alice and several of her clones taken from the 3rd film storm Umbrella's headquarters in Tokyo. Its chairman, Wesker manages to escape, but not before removing Alice's powers during a fight.

Six months later, Alice continues her search for Arcadia, the last place on earth rumored to be infection free. She heads to Alaska where she thinks Arcadia is located, but she finds it deserted. This is where she runs into her old ally, Claire Redfield, who has no memory of who she is. They then head for San Fransisco, where they meet up with a small band of survivors taking refuge in a building surrounded by the undead. With their help, Alice figures out where Arcadia is, and tries to help them get there.

Let's get one thing out of the way first. Why do you watch Resident Evil and all its sequels? If you say it's because you love having a good time seeing Milla kicking ass and spilling lots and lots of blood of the undead, then this is the film for you. Let's face it: you're not seeing this to watch a big Inception type plot unfold or James Bond type theatrics. You're here to see violent, stylish action. In that sense, Paul W.S. Anderson delivers just that. I don't know about all that talk about this film being super special because it used the James Cameron type Avatar 3D special effects, but I can say that it's pretty cool to see in 2D as well.

My minor gripe about it is the fact that Afterlife borrows a lot from The Matrix. You'll see plenty of slow mo action sequences, designed to make Alice and Claire look like superheroines, no doubt. The villain Wesker even looks like Agent Smith, complete with a similar voice and shades. However, if you try not to take it too seriously, you'll enjoy it every step of the way. I must also give credit to the awesome soundtrack for this film, it's just perfect.

Jovovich and Larter make a good team as the leading ladies of Afterlife, though it's seriously still Jovovich's show. Shawn Roberts, as stated above, channels Agent Smith as the villain. Prison Break's Wentworth Miller still sounds like Michael Scofield as Claire's brother Chris, except now he has guns and no tattoos.

Overall, despite Afterlife being very familiar and recycled, it still works because it doesn't pretend to be anything else but a fun ride from start to finish. The ending hints heavily for a sequel, so Mr Anderson, bring it on. (4/5)

Repo Men

2010-09-05T14:10:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Miguel Sapochnik
Cast: Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Liev Schreiber, Alice Braga

It took a while for this film to make it to my shores, so I'm rather grateful that it did, and even happier that it wasn't badly butchered by the local censors.

Repo Men takes place in the near future, where technology has become advanced enough that artificial organs of any kind can be manufactured. A company called The Union is one such manufacturer, and they are well known in producing these organs and selling them to needy patients for a price.

However, like most expensive things you own, like a car or a house, these organs can be repossessed by The Union if their clients don't pay up on time. They send people called repo men to find the client, stun them, cut them up and take the organ back. Pretty mean, eh?

Two such repo men are Remy and Jake, best friends since fourth grade and now always in friendly competition on who's the better repossessor. Although he enjoys doing his job, Remy is being pressured by his wife to give it up and transfer to the sales department so he may spend more time with her and his son. Jake on the other hand loves his job and loves doing it with Remy even more.

Then one day, during an attempt to repossess a client's artificial heart, a mishap occurs and Remy lands in a coma. When he wakes up, his boss Frank tells him that an artificial heart has been fitted into him, which makes Remy a client of the company now.

Sure, all Remy has to do is do his job well and he'll be able to pay for the organ. However, he realises that he can no longer be a repo man like before, his heart is no longer in it, so to speak. He meets Beth, a woman filled with artificial organs and on the run, and together they become fugitives as they seek a way out of their predicament.

Miguel Sapochnik, a relatively new director, takes the helm of Repo Men. For someone new to the job, he isn't half bad. He paces the film quite well, there are very few dull moments here as he fills the time with some well choreographed action scenes. And unlike Stallone in The Expendables, Sapochnik gets a good cinematographer that successfully captures all the action perfectly. Every bloody spurt, blow and slash is glorified for the audience.

Can Jude Law be an action hero? Sure he can, if you've seen Sherlock Holmes. Here, he plays Remy with the right balance of intelligence and brawn, with a good sense of dramatic awareness. Forest Whitaker provides great support as his best friend turned nemesis Jake. Liev Screiber is excellent as Frank, the corporate manager who is pretty entertaining to watch as he reads the same customer friendly lines to everyone without missing a beat. He is a perfect representation of the big company exec who couldn't care less about customer welfare. Alice Braga rounds up the cast as Beth, Remy's romantic interest and partner in crime.

It's fascinating to note that most reviews on this film have been negative. I think it's because they were all expecting something more cerebral. If you're thinking that Repo Men is a social commentary on failing health care, corporate viciousness or the impact of technology on our way of life, think again. This movie is quite a gorefest, it's violent and unflinching, but it's also very fun to watch. There's nothing wrong in seeing some glorified carnage every now and then, and Repo Men brings it all, and manages to surprise with a twist ending too.

If you want some balls out fun, give Repo Men a try. I'd never thought I'd say it, but this is more watchable than The Expendables. (4/5)

The Expendables

2010-08-29T12:14:00.001+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, David Zayas

What do you get when you put together the most well-known action stars in the last 20 years in the same film? You get The Expendables.

The hype surrounding Sylvester Stallone's huge action epic starring some of the biggest names in action flicks has been building for quite some time now, and I have been curious to see if it can deliver.

The story: a group of mercenaries called The Expendables, led by Barney Ross (Stallone) are hired to do a job, which involves overthrowing a dictator in the fictional island of Vilena. Ross and his right hand man Lee Christmas (Statham) fly over there to recon the island. But as soon as they land, they get themselves into a load of trouble and barely manage to escape.

They learn that the dictator, General Garza (Zayas) is merely a puppet whose strings are being pulled by James Monroe (Roberts), a rogue CIA agent. Initially, Ross decides against risking his life to save a woman he had left behind on that island, but eventually changes his mind. Christmas and the other team members (played by Li, Crews and Couture)follow suit.

First off, let's talk about what's good. The cast for starters. We get Stallone, Jason 'The Transporter' Statham, Asian kung fu star Jet Li, iconic villain and sometimes hero Dolph Lundgren, former WWE wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin, regular bad guy Eric Roberts, tough but aging macho man Mickey Rourke, MMA fighter Randy Couture and NFL star turned actor Terry Crews. Putting all these guys together is a feat in itself, so Stallone deserves plenty of credit for making it happen. Word is that Wesley Snipes, Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal would have made it too, but they backed out. How unfortunate. Ah, but that loss is made up by having Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger make cameo appearances! Now, for me, seeing those two and Stallone in the same scene was truly epic. Even Arnie's entrance was awesomely done. Too bad they didn't have bigger roles to play here.

It's an action film, so you can expect plenty of that. Like Rambo, Stallone pulls no punches and delivers numerous action sequences that are violent and bloody. Things get blown up, bullets and knives are flying all over the place and the fisticuffs hit hard. But I have to gripe about the camerawork here, especially in the physical fight sequences. Stallone's cinematographer made a mistake in filming them too close, so we can barely see who's punching who or where, and some of the lighting needs improvement, especially in the climax.

And then there's the editing. Despite it being a good move for Stallone to show some heart and drama behind his characters, in order to explain their motives, it drags on for too long at times. Rourke gets a scene where he reminisces his past, which is probably similar to his role in The Wrestler, and I think that although it was nicely done, it carried on a bit too long. Then there are too many pointless exchanges between the General and Monroe, and lots of other scenes that could have been cut out.

In the end, this film is mainly Stallone and Statham's show. Stallone is the star, and Statham becomes his best friend who gives him plenty of support. Their bro-mance is quite entertaining to watch. Li on the other hand becomes the comic relief, as does Crews. But seriously, Li should stick to being serious, he's better at that. Austin pretty much rehashes his Stone Cold persona here as Monroe's right hand man, while Rourke succeeds as The Expendables' mentor. Lundgren surprisingly delivers as Gunnar Jensen, a former team member with issues. I hope he comes back for the sequel.

Verdict: as an action film, it delivers. But with some tighter editing and better camerawork, it would have been phenomenal. (3.5/5)

Salt

2010-08-22T20:01:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Phillip Noyce
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski

Other than being a Hollywood star, Angelina Jolie is known for many things, like being Brad Pitt's other half, her large brood of children, daughter to Jon Voight, and her global charity work. Finally now, she's going back to one of her great roles: the action heroine.

In Salt, Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, a CIA agent who gets a visit from a Russian defector at her office. The defector, Orlov claims that a Russian sleeper agent, one of many who have been planted in the U.S. since the 70s, is going to kill the President of Russia, who will be in New York the following day.

The clincher is, Orlov names Salt as that very sleeper agent!

Salt promptly proclaims her innocence to her superiors, who are seeking the truth behind her identity. When the defector escapes custody, Salt does the same, trying her best to evade capture, while attempting to save her husband, whom she fears has become a target. Hot on her tail is her boss, Winter (Schreiber) and agent from CIA headquarters Peabody (Ejiofor).

Phillip Noyce, who has given us thrillers like Clear And Present Danger and The Bone Collector, keeps the pace taut and fast here. The action keeps piling up one after another as we watch Jolie jump, run, ride, shoot and basically kick ass all the way. Which is fine of course, since Jolie does all this so well.

But the problem is the plot. Noyce just keeps moving from one action sequence to another without giving much explanation as to why things are happening. Salt works on her own for the most part, much to the audience's disadvantage, because she doesn't have anyone to confide in and thus no one to explain to on her motivations or her next step. So we are forced to watch one jaw dropping action scene after another, some of which make no sense, like how she can walk away from a car crash in broad daylight right in the city without anyone noticing.

However, to her credit, Jolie successfully carries the film mostly by herself. She is the star of the show, and I think had it been anyone else in the role, it would not have worked. I still feel the film deserves a bit more runtime, as some characters aren't fully explored, or they ought to get more attention but may have ended up on the editing room floor. And the supposed surprise in the climax isn't a shock at all, it's quite predictable.

It's a good action film, reminiscent of Knight And Day, except Salt takes itself more seriously and is better executed. Overall, a so-so effort. (3.5/5)

Shanghai

2010-08-18T22:07:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Cast: John Cusack, Gong Li, Chow Yun Fat, Ken Watanabe, David Morse, Franka Potente, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Rinko Kikuchi

With all the big names being in this film, how could I possibly say no to seeing this? Currently Shanghai hasn't been released in the U.S., so we Asians have the honor of seeing John Cusack's latest film first.

It is the year 1941, just before the Pearl Harbor attack. Cusack plays Paul Soames, an American spy arriving in Shanghai to meet his best friend Connor (Morgan). At this time, Shanghai is the only Chinese city that hasn't been taken by the Japanese, and the guerrilla type wars between Chinese rebels and Japanese soldiers run rampant.

Unfortunately for Soames, Connor turns up dead before he could meet him. Connor's superior, Captain Astor (Morse) assigns Soames to find out who killed him. To do so, Soames goes undercover as a journalist for a British newspaper and follows up a lead on Anthony Lan Ting (Chow), the big triad boss in Shanghai. Soames finds himself drawn to Anthony's wife Anna (Gong), and learns she is hiding a secret, a secret so big that she has to hide it from her husband. Through Anthony, Soames meets with Captain Tanaka (Watanabe), a Japanese high ranking officer who has his own motives.

Soames peels off one layer after another to get to the truth behind Connor's death, and as a result he becomes deeply embroiled in something that may not be his concern.

Mikael Hafstrom, who also directed Cusack in the horror film 1408, does a splendid job in making the film look and feel authentic. He tried filming this in China, but permission was revoked by their government at the last second, so he had to rebuild Shanghai in London and Bangkok. And despite that, the film looks amazing. The sets, from indoors to outdoors look very realistic indeed. Hafstrom also succeeds in keeping the pace even and allowing things to unfold as they should. The story is narrated by Cusack, and a majority of the film is seen from Soames' point of view, thereby keeping things focused and grounded.

I've always liked Cusack, because he puts in good performances every time, even if the film isn't executed well. Here, he has a great responsibility of leading the film from start to finish, and he pulls it off. Gong Li provides strong support as Anna while Watanabe brings his familiar screen presence as Tanaka. Sadly, Chow Yun Fat doesn't have that much to do here, though he nearly redeems himself in the film's climax. Too bad, I was hoping for more of him, considering Chow is a legend of Hong Kong cinema for the last 20 years.

The plot gets a tad complicated halfway through when more characters are introduced, so it is a bit hard to keep track of it all. But overall, Shanghai is a fine example of a successful merger between eastern and western cinema. Worth a watch. (3.5/5)

Despicable Me

2010-07-31T20:44:00.002+08:00

Year: 2010
Directors: Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
Voice cast: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fisher

After How To Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3, we have yet another animated film to hit the big screen.

Despicable Me centres on Gru, a supervillain who lives in a large old house with a huge underground base filled with his loyal minions, little yellow men shaped like pills. His pride is wounded one day when someone steals the pyramids of Giza, and he vows to do better, by stealing the moon.

To do so, he requires a shrink ray, which he successfully steals but the ray is taken from him by his rival Vector, the one who stole the pyramids. When Gru is unable to get into Vector's fortress to take the ray back, he hatches a plan to use three orphan girls; Margo, Edith and Agnes to break into Vector's place and help him get it instead.

Upon adopting the three girls however, Gru slowly becomes less of the supervillain he was before.

To the writers and directors' credit, Despicable Me is highly entertaining. Gru is presented as a bad guy, but a very funny one at that. He, as one reviewer puts it, looks like a cross between The Penguin and Uncle Fester. Steve Carell gives Gru an Eastern European accent, and the result is truly hilarious. Jason Segel does a decent job voicing Vector, the villain who comes up with occasionally silly weapons like the squid gun while Russell Brand and Julie Andrews are memorably different as Dr Nefario, Gru's sidekick inventor and Gru's mother, respectively. Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher voice the three girls and successfully make them sound childish, loving and sweet at the same time. But the real stars of the film are the minions, who are quite adorable and fun to watch.

The part about Gru not really being a bad guy is quite predictable considering that he's the protagonist here, but the film is no less fun. There is nary a dull moment as directors Coffin and Renaud throw lots of fast paced action and slapstick comedy to keep you entertained. It also has plenty of heartwarming moments in the third act, which wouldn't rival a Toy Story film, but nevertheless enough to make you go awww.

If you have 95 minutes to spare, go check this out. (3.5/5)

Inception

2010-07-25T00:39:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine

You know, if Christopher Nolan wasn't such a great filmmaker, I'd hate the guy for being so consistently meticulous.

That being said, his latest project, Inception is a thriller unlike anything you've ever seen. Perhaps The Matrix is the closest comparison I can make to this, but even The Matrix was more accessible to audiences thanks to the far out action sequences it had.

Inception takes place in a world where corporate espionage is possible by someone entering someone else's dreams and stealing their secrets. One such person is Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a man who is known for being the best mind thief there is out there.

After Cobb fails to extract information from his target, Saito (Ken Watanabe), Saito offers him a job. A unique job that isn't about extracting information, but planting an idea in a target. Cobb initially refuses to take it, but Saito offers him a chance to return to the U.S., where he is a wanted man, to reunite with his kids again and all charges against him dropped. Cobb accepts, and learns that the job involves putting an idea in the mind of Saito's business rival's son, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). The idea: to dissolve his dying father's business.

To perform the job, called 'inception', Cobb and his associate Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) recruit a team of individuals: Ariadne (Ellen Page) as the architect to design the dream, Eames (Tom Hardy) as the forger to assume identities in the dream, and Yusuff (Dileep Rao) as the chemist to provide the required substances to put Fischer in the deep sleep necessary for it to work. The job is very complex and risky, and Arthur and Ariadne make their concerns obvious, but Cobb is driven to make it work. Ariadne in particular, knows that Cobb has issues in his past in relation to his late wife Mal (Marion Cotillard) and tries to help him along the way.

And as expected in a heist film, even one as unique as this, things go wrong and the fun begins.

Was all that too much information for you? Oh don't worry, you can know all of this and still enjoy it, trust me. I was very annoyed by statements made by movie fans prior to the film's release saying that they didn't want to know anything about the film for fear of ruining their enjoyment. Even some movie reviews steered clear from plot details. Well I say, screw that! You know what ruins movie enjoyment? HYPE! If you go in anticipating a classic, you risk yourself getting less than what you expected and that's when disappointment really sets in. That's not to say I did the opposite and tried to gather as much information as I could, but I certainly didn't drool over Inception and got so worked up about it.

Anyway, with all that said, Inception really is good. It's tricky, clever, complex and fascinating indeed. Plenty of credit goes out to Nolan for writing and directing such an intelligent piece of work. It's like The Italian Job meets The Matrix, with a lot more cerebral elements involved. I particularly loved the special effects used to create the dreamworlds, like the city 'folding' onto itself and buildings getting destroyed when the dream collapses. There's a scene where Arthur fights someone in a hotel corridor in zero gravity in a dream, and it is pretty neat to watch. Kudos also goes out to Nolan's favourite cameraman, Wally Pfister who does an excellent job shooting the film.

Almost everyone gives their best performance on screen here. Cotillard is a bit wasted with her one note performance, probably due to the way her character was written, but everyone else is splendid in their roles. DiCaprio leads the way as Cobb, a flawed and vulnerable man, yet brilliant enough to pull off what seems impossible. He is very believable as the man driven to do whatever it takes to return home to his kids. Gordon-Levitt and Page also stand out as Arthur and Ariadne respectively. Gordon-Levitt is funny, steadfast and reliable as Arthur while as Ariadne, Page becomes the heart of the team.

So are there any flaws? Well, when I think about it, Inception isn't nearly as accessible to audiences as I'd hope it would be. Sure, the film made a nice box office triumph in its opening week and film critics are still singing praises about it. But will it cater to everyone who sees it? All that mumbo jumbo about how a dream works and how to step inside it and be in control may confuse many people. Inception will no doubt be a hit amongst sci-fi fans, but for a person that goes to see this simply by word of mouth, he/she may end up being let down if they expected something easier to fathom.

But I am impressed with this film nonetheless. It may not be as amazing as The Prestige or Nolan's Batman films, but it is a fine piece of quality cinema. Recommended. (4/5)

Eclipse

2010-07-18T15:15:00.000+08:00

Year: 2010
Director: David Slade
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Bryce Dallas Howard, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Xavier Samuel, Dakota Fanning

The amount of attention, both good and bad, that the Twilight saga has received over the years really amuses me. At the recent MTV Movie Awards, New Moon swept pretty much all the awards it was nominated for. When Anna Kendrick won Best Newcomer for Up In The Air, most pundits claimed that the fans who voted for her never saw that film, they just voted because she was in Twilight. Haha. And ultimately, the awards show became the Twilight show.

The fact is, the story of Twilight really isn't all bad. It's just that serious moviegoers i.e. people who prefer intellectually challenging films that win Oscars over summer popcorn flicks, love scoffing at the supposedly shallow love story between a lovesick teenage girl and a sparkling vampire. Fortunately I'm the kind of guy that can sit on the fence long enough to give it a fair trial. But to be honest, Twilight was way better than the emotionally bloated New Moon.

Anyways, let me recap. In New Moon, we learn that Jacob Black, Bella Swan's best friend is a werewolf who is in love with her. But she loves Edward the vampire, and she wants to be turned into a bloodsucker like him. Edward won't have it, but thanks to the Volturi, the royal vampire rulers who now know about Bella and her knowledge of their kind, the decision of changing her or not looms closer.

Now in Eclipse, the love triangle between Bella and her two suitors continues. Jacob desperately wants Bella to be with him instead so that she won't have to be a vampire. Edward himself doesn't want her to do it either, but she is insistent.

And then there's Victoria, the vampire who is still vengeful over her lover James' death at the hands of Edward and his family. She attacks and turns Riley, a young man into a vampire and uses him to turn others into vampires, thereby creating an army of newborns, all to assist her in taking revenge. The Cullens now have to team up with Jacob's pack to fight back and protect Bella at all costs.

David Slade, the man who gave us the dark and violent vampire flick 30 Days Of Night, directs this instalment. Since this is the Twilight films we're talking about, you can't expect him to put lots of gore here, but at the very least he gives us some nice action sequences that were sorely missing in New Moon. We get to see the Cullens train with each other in preparation for the newborns, which is fun to watch. The battle between the newborns and the Cullens and wolves at the end was also well shot, though in my opinion the fight was quite one-sided. I particularly liked the opening scene of the movie, which made it look like you were watching a horror film. Nicely done.

But still, we have to put up with the emotional drivel from the love triangle since it is the essence of the entire story, and that's when it gets dull. Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner have to bounce all that sappy love hate lines that make you cringe yet again, but thankfully it isn't as much as the last film. Pattinson actually finally gets to stretch his acting a bit in the scene where he confronts Victoria, even for just a moment. Other than that he's always brooding and moody. Stewart is still Stewart while Lautner gets to show some more of his emotional range, which I know a lot of people still can't appreciate.

The supporting cast again manages to lift the film more than the leads. Billy Burke gets to put in some humorous touches as Bella's dad, while Jackson Rathbone and Nikki Reed manage to get some sympathy for their characters as they explain how Jasper and Rosalie became vampires in the first place. Rathbone in particular gets more screen time as he trains the Cullens and wolves on how to handle the newborns. Unfortunately Bryce Dallas Howard isn't quite the right choice to step into Victoria's shoes. Unlike Rachel Lefevre from the first two films, Howard is a bit too polished and neat to play the wild eyed Victoria. Dakota Fanning returns as the Volturi member Jane, and manages to make her five minute screen time memorable.

On the whole, this instalment is better than the previous one. It's got some fascinating elements in the story this time, like a history lesson on Jacob's ancestors' first encounter with vampires, Edward and Jacob facing off, the aforementioned Jasper and Rosalie backstory and a poignant scene between Bella and her mother, which I think is a hundred times better than any of the Bella and Edward scenes in the film.

Not as good as Twilight, but better than New Moon. (4/5)