Year: 2017
Director: Liam O'Donnell
Cast: Frank Grillo, Bojana Novakovic, Iko Uwais, Pamelyn Chee, Yayan Ruhian, Callan Mulvey, Antonio Fargas, Jonny Weston
Plot: A policeman and his son try to survive an alien invasion, and eventually team up with a motley crew of survivors to fight back.
Review: Does anyone remember Skyline, the alien invasion movie made by the Strause brothers that seemed promising until that ridiculous ending? Well, the brothers now serve as producers to this sequel directed by Liam O'Donnell, and not only have they made a much better film this time around, they even made better use of that stupid ending.
Just like the first film, this sequel's main strength is the visual effects. I recall being very impressed with the way the filmmakers depicted humans being sucked into the aliens' spaceship, and it's just as awesome to watch again here. Overall the CGI is pretty good, except for one of the final battle sequences where two huge aliens engage in a fight. This sequence looked quite bad on screen, but other than that, the visual effects are great.
As for the story, it's more engaging for sure. This time, we're not confined to one small apartment and the survivors are much smarter. They know when to run, and they're not afraid to fight back. I'll admit, a few of the deaths felt senseless, but I was able to ignore it and just go with the flow. The first half features Frank Grillo's cop character Mark trying to rescue his son after he gets abducted, and teams up with train driver Audrey and blind war veteran Sarge to do so.
Then the film changes scenery as our heroes wind up in Laos and runs into a couple of underground rebels led by The Raid star Iko Uwais. This part of the story slows down a bit as the audience learns more about the aliens, but picks up at the climax when Grillo, Uwais and his fellow The Raid star Yayan Ruhian team up to take on the aliens. All this adds up to a genuinely entertaining sci-fi action movie.
Most of the acting here is just average, though Grillo is surely the best one here, followed by Antonio Fargas, who steals the show as Sarge. Bojana Novakovic and Singaporean actress Pamelyn Chee provide some female kick ass action as Audrey and Uwais' sister respectively. Uwais gets to speak English for the first time on screen as Sua, though it's just passable. But who cares? He kicks alien ass, which is what matters here. Watch out for Callan Mulvey, known for playing physical bad guys take on a nerdy scientist role here, he's nearly unrecognisable.
Now, I won't lie, Beyond Skyline is still essentially a B movie overall. The acting is so-so and the camerawork during the fight sequences were quite shaky. But don't let it keep you from checking this out. Soemtimes we just go to the movies because we want to watch something silly and have fun, and this is it. If you ever wanted to know what it would be like if The Raid stars fought aliens from outer space, go check this out. (7/10)
Year: 2017
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Derek Jacobi, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Leslie Odom Jr.
Plot: When a murder takes place aboard the Orient Express, famed detective Hercule Poirot, who happened to be on the train, is recruited to investigate.
Review: Not being a fan of Agatha Christie's novels, I hadn't watched the original adaptation in 1974 nor read the book, so I shall review this with fresh eyes. I'll begin by saying it is a thoroughly enjoyable film.
Kenneth Branagh, who not only directs, but stars as Hercule Poirot, presents a classic whodunit story the best way possible; with intrigue, suspense and a touch of humour, with a quick pace to match. There is rarely a dull moment here as Branagh and his esteemed cast drive the plot together, and they work extremely well with each other on screen.
From a technical standpoint, the film is beautiful to watch. While some of the exterior shots were probably green screens, there were many real locations used here as well to showcase the gorgeous snowy mountains surrounding the train. Cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos not only excelled in capturing the exterior shots, but also the tight spaces of the train corridors and ingeniously shooting from the ceiling at times. Praise must also be given to set design, costume design and music, whose crew all perform to high expectations.
The cast are all up to the task in bringing their roles to life. While Branagh obviously gets the lion's share of the scenes, and owns each one too, the others such as Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley and even Josh Gad have their moment to shine. I must admit, I do feel Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp are quite underused here, but even so, they make their appearances count.
Not being familiar with the story, I was quite surprised by the final revelation, and Branagh executed it well. In reality it would seem rather far fetched, but this is a work of fiction, so I don't really have an issue with it.
Overall Murder On The Orient Express is a very entertaining piece of work. The purists have already criticised it, but I say just go see it for yourself and enjoy it. (8/10)
Year: 2017
Director: Jonathan Li
Cast: Zhang Jin, Shawn Yue, Wu Yue, Gordon Lam, Janice Man, Yasuaki Kurata
Plot: A renegade cop goes all out to apprehend a ruthless smuggler attempting to smuggle gold retrieved from a sunken ship.
Review: The Brink is director Jonathan Li's first feature film, serving mostly as assistant director prior to this. While the film isn't perfect, it shows some promise for sure.
Action star Zhang Jin plays Cheng Sai Gau, a cop who follows his own book when executing his duties. After being freed from suspension following his act of accidentally causing another cop's death, he and his partner A-De (Wu Yue) investigate a case of black market gold being smuggled out of a sunken ship by Jiang (Shawn Yue), whose greed is only matched by his ruthlessness. When Jiang kidnaps A-De, Cheng is forced to use his questionable tactics to stop the former, much to the chagrin of his superior, Chan (Gordon Lam).
As an action film, The Brink scores mostly high points. Li successfully executes and films a handful of creative and hard hitting fight sequences, some taking place in locations we don't normally think of, like an open air parking lot, a wet market and an unstable ship being rocked by a storm. Li's uncanny eye for camera movements during these sequences ought to be commended.
The cast perform competently for the most part. Zhang isn't a great actor but he is quite believable as the rebellious cop Cheng, and excels tremendously in the fight sequences. Yue turns in a cold performance as Jiang, which works well when he's trying to torment someone, but not otherwise. The ever reliable Gordon Lam once again does well as Chan, while his SPL Paradox co-star Wu Yue gets less screen time here as A-De, but still gets a few opportunities to show off his fighting skills. Legendary Japanese actor Yasuaki Kurata gets a supporting role as a gang boss but unfortunately doesn't get to fight here.
While The Brink has the right amount of action, violence and grittiness that is reminiscent of the SPL films, its story and characters deserve more exploration. Cheng's penchant for violence isn't properly explained, and his relationship with a young girl he adopted feels tacked on. Jiang's girlfriend, played by Janice Man, has an undying loyalty towards him, but it's not fully explored either. Even A-De's partnership with Cheng, which seems quite crucial considering the lengths the latter would go to to save him, isn't given the backstory it deserves. If Li had given all these more time, the film would be much improved.
All in all, The Brink is an entertaining action film that gives Zhang Jin an opportunity to be the leading man for the first time, but the story itself could be better overall. (7/10)
Year: 2017
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons, Amy Adams
Plot: Steppenwolf, an ancient being bent on conquest, seeks the three powerful Mother Boxes, which when combined, will enable him to enslave the planet. With Superman gone, Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince begin recruiting superpowered people to their ranks; the king of Atlantis, a cyborg, and the fastest man alive.
Review: There is a tremendous amount of pressure on Justice League to succeed. After all, it is supposed to be as big a deal as The Avengers, bringing together the greatest heroes of the DC universe in one film. While the DCEU has made a box office killing so far, it has not been a darling of the critics, save for Wonder Woman's recent solo adventure. While Justice League is nowhere near the train wreck Suicide Squad turned out to be, it isn't exactly the epic it could have been.
It starts off well enough; a rousing rendition of Leonard Cohen's Everybody Knows by Norwegian singer Sigrid as the opening credits roll, showing the aftermath of Superman's death. This is probably my favorite part of the whole film, which says a lot about what the rest of the film looks like. Bringing Joss Whedon onboard to finish Zack Snyder's work after he departed due to personal matters may have lightened the previously sombre tone felt in Batman Vs Superman, but personally I didn't care either way. Justice League has a few cool moments, such as Diana coming to the aid of a handful of hostages about to be blown up by a doomsday cult, a chase sequence between the Amazons and Steppenwolf, and a resurrected Superman (yes he returns, don't pretend you didn't know that was going to happen, it's no spoiler) getting into a mini fight with the League. The banter between the League members work for the most part, and Ezra Miller's Flash is actually quite funny, even more so than Tom Holland's Spider-Man or nearly every character in Thor: Ragnarok.
But Justice League falls a bit short on being the superhero epic it could have been. For starters, Aquaman, Cyborg and Flash deserve more time for their characters to develop. Cyborg honestly was the least affected by the lack of time, as his struggle to accept his new form after being resurrected by his father feels genuine. Flash is presented here as an underachiever, living as a petty thief while lamenting his father's wrongful incarceration for murder. I felt there was a lot more about him that Snyder / Whedon could have explored. And Aquaman is just a guy with a rock star attitude spending time saving people from shipwrecks and helping fishing villages, who has his own parental issues. Again, his story is not fully fleshed out.
The action sequences are mostly clunky and filled to the brim with CGI and green screen effects. While using CGI is pretty common in most superhero movies, it felt quite overused here, and it doesn't help that some of it looked weak, none more so than Steppenwolf. His look here is only a couple of notches above the bad CGI in The Scorpion King. Speaking of Steppenwolf, he's pretty much one of the weakest villains I've ever seen in a superhero movie. Unlike the charismatic Loki or the brilliant Joker, Steppenwolf feels like a prelude to a greater villain that will come later.
Acting wise, the cast are mostly spot on. Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot both bring a good amount of gravitas to their respective roles as Batman and Wonder Woman. Ezra Miller is perfect as the comedic Flash, though I wish he was given more to do, including the action sequences. Jason Momoa gives Aquaman plenty of attitude while Ray Fisher brings a subtle performance as Cyborg. Jeremy Irons has much less to do here as Alfred, and J.K Simmons has even less time than Irons playing Commissioner Gordon, sporting a horrible toupee while he's at it. Amy Adams is always welcome as the returning Lois Lane, while Henry Cavill does what he can as Superman, only appearing in the second half of the film. In fact, once he shows up, the rest of the League nearly gets upstaged by him.
In the end, Justice League is entertaining and coherent enough to not be bad, but considering that this should be the DCEU's crown jewel, it should have an epic feel and more "wow that's cool" moments. It's a good movie, but not a great one.
P.S. Stay till the credits finish for two post credit sequences. (7/10)
Year: 2017
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Taylor Kitsch, Jennifer Connelly, Jeff Bridges, James Badge Dale
Plot: Based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a team of firefighters who battle wildfires across the country, until tragedy befell them in Yarnell.
Review: Most true stories brought to the big screen would focus on a certain event at a specific time, but Only The Brave takes a different route by taking an in depth look at the men who make up the elite Granite Mountain Hotshots, their professional and personal trials, right up to the tragedy at Yarnell Hill.
The first half of the film focuses on team superintendent Eric Marsh trying to get his team certified by the government, as at the beginning, they were largely considered a trainee B team sent in to clean up the mess instead of being at the front line. The second half shows the team doing what they do best after receiving certification, until the fateful Yarnell incident. In between, we witness the team members' personal problems, ranging from unhappy spouses to fatherhood and women trouble etc.
Director Joseph Kosinski, who had directed sci-fi thriller Oblivion previously, paces the film quite well, never letting it stall too long while making sure the dramatic elements are played out perfectly. I am impressed with how Kosinski directs the firefighting sequences as they look very authentic. Director of photography Claudio Miranda deserves praise for capturing the wide skyline and billowing smoke beautifully; there's one scene in the film where he shoots the Hotshots walking in between burnt trees from a bird's eye view, which looks simply marvelous.
The acting is superb all across the board. While James Badge Dale (a popular choice for playing working class heroes) and Taylor Kitsch provide solid support as team captain Steed and senior member Mackenzie respectively, the film mostly belongs to Josh Brolin and Miles Teller. Brolin superbly plays Eric Marsh as a strict but fair man, who has dedicated his life to his job, which puts a strain on his marriage. In that regard, Jennifer Connelly matches Brolin as his wife Amanda, and their relationship comes off feeling very genuine. Teller plays McDonough, a former junkie rebuilding his life by signing up as a firefighter in order to provide for his newborn daughter. He's almost unrecognizable with blond hair, but pulls off the role effectively.
The film does feel less exciting when there's no fire to run towards, and Kitsch's women problems, along with a handful of other juvenile level humor feels more of a distraction than being authentic, but overall it isn't enough to ruin the whole experience. As a biography on courageous firefighters, Only The Brave scores mostly high marks, and ought to be checked out. (7.5/10)
