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CZ12 SINGAPORE PRESS CONFERENCEPosted on 18 Dec 2012 |
Genre: CG Animation
Director: Raja Gosnell
Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vegara, Hank Azaria, Brendan Gleeson, Katy Perry, Jonathan Winters, Christina Ricci, JB Smoove, George Lopez, Anton Yelchin, John Oliver
RunTime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Official Website: http://www.smurfhappens.com/
Opening Day: 7 August 2013
Synopsis: In this sequel to the hybrid live action/animated family blockbuster comedy The Smurfs, the evil wizard Gargamel creates a couple of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties that he hopes will let him harness the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. But when he discovers that only a real Smurf can give him what he wants, and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs, Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and brings her to Paris, where he has been winning the adoration of millions as the world's greatest sorcerer. There's no Paris landmark that Gargamel won't exploit in his quest, so it's up to Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity to return to our world, reunite with their human friends Patrick and Grace Winslow, and rescue Smurfette! Will Smurfette, who has always felt different from the other Smurfs, find a new connection with the Naughties Vexy and Hackus – or will the Smurfs convince her that their love for her is True Blue?
Movie Review:
If you’re not excited about seeing Belgian comic artist Peyo’s happy little blue creatures on the big screen, then this movie is quite obviously not for you. Indeed, this sequel is made for the audiences who powered the 2011 live-action/ CG hybrid to a $564mil family comedy smash for Sony, so you can understand why the studio has decided to reward them with more of the same shtick. Yes, this is exactly the sort of the movie that you have to be prepared to treat with exactly the right expectations, so if you’re looking for anything more than a frenetic diversion as innocuous for the kids as it is for adults, then look elsewhere.
Continuing his streak of family-friendly comedies that began with 2004’s ‘Scooby Doo’, Raja Gosnell returns with four of the original’s writers - plus one new addition - with the evil wizard Gargamel (a decidedly over-the-top Hank Azaria) plotting yet again to use the Smurfs in some dastardly scheme to rule the world. Unfolding a number of years after the former film, Gargamel has since become a magic-show sensation at the Paris Opera House, enchanting his audience of humans with his tricks born of Smurf essence. But that essence is running out, and the faux-Smurfs known as the ‘Naughties’ - made up of the grey-skinned Vexy (Christina Ricci) and Hackus (J.B. Smoove) - he created are not only not able to give him the essence he needs, they need it to stay alive.
So yet again, Gargamel is after the Smurfs, or more specifically, the only female of their species Smurfette (Katy Perry), who was in fact Gargamel’s evil creation until she was turned blue and good by Papa Smurf (Johnathan Winters in what became his final role). On the other hand, Smurfette is herself facing ‘blue’ (pun intended), mistakenly believing that the entire village had forgotten her birthday when in fact they had planned a surprise. But before they get to convince her otherwise, she is kidnapped across dimension by Vexy, with Papa, Clumsy (Anton Yelchin), Grouchy (George Lopez) and Vanity (John Oliver) in hot pursuit to rescue her.
Rather than look for new human companions for help, the quartet once again turn to Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris) and Grace (Jayma Mays), who promptly pack their bags in New York and head to Paris. The increasingly frenetic plot juggles a couple of parallel storylines - including Vexy’s attempt to get Smurfette to hand over the formula by playing family with her, Patrick’s daddy issues with his genial stepfather Victor (Brendan Gleeson) who gets unfortunately turned into a duck by Gargamel halfway through the movie, and of course the Smurfs’ race against time to get to Smurfette before she reverts to her former devilish ways.
As you can already tell, Papa-hood figures as one of the key themes in the movie, with Papa Smurf’s doubts about his parenting abilities following Smurf’s kidnapping mirrored by Patrick’s strained ties with Victor. Interestingly, instead of the normal parent-child relationship, both portrayed here are about that between stepfathers and their children, a somewhat interesting twist given the state of reconstituted families today. Besides that, the writers also squeeze in some moral about finding one’s own identity - though the message of ‘being who you choose to be, rather than minding where you came from’ is blander than the one they make about parentage.
And yet, the kids will hardly mind. Gosnell keeps the pace light and frothy with knockabout humour (including ample Smurf-puns) and continuous action setpieces, the latter in and around a gorgeously filmed Paris thanks to returning cinematographer Phil Meheux. Choreographed with the post-conversion into 3D in mind, the action deliberately thrusts its audience into the thick, whether flying about on seagulls around the Seine River or riding a runaway Ferris wheel, i.e. the Roue de Paris. It’s a visual cornucopia from start to finish, and once again the integration of live-action and animated elements is flawless to say the least.
Though such family fare often don’t demand too much from their human actors, it must be said that this one is better off with new cast addition Brendan Gleeson. We’re not too sure what led the dramatic actor to sign on, but Gleeson shows off amply his comic gifts playing the well-intentioned but misunderstood gregarious stepfather - which also includes lending his voice to a duck. He and Harris also share a nice vibe, and thankfully never make the predictable saccharine ending too heavy-handed.
Such are the little things to be grateful in a movie like this, which never gets ingratiating to adults even as it is clearly directed at a kiddie audience. It’s too much to expect this sequel to retain some of the old-school charm of the Saturday morning cartoon, which is another way of saying that this is firmly commercial family fare that Hollywood has made formula. Still, if you need a cinematic babysitter that doesn’t insult your intelligence, you’ll find ‘The Smurfs 2’ is right up your alley.
Movie Rating:
(It’s a cinematic babysitter that will entertain the kids while keeping the adults relatively engaged - consider that faint praise for a firmly commercial Hollywood family comedy like this)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Nadine Velazquez, Garcelle Beauvais, James Badge Dale, Tamara Tunie, Brian Geraghty, Alex Frost, Kwesi Boakye
RunTime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Rating: M18 (Nudity And Drug Use )
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.paramount.com/flight/
Opening Day: 21 February 2013
Synopsis: Garnering 2 Oscar nominations including Best Actor, Flight is an action-packed mystery thriller starring Washington as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot, who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane?
Movie Review:
Denzel Washington shines with his portrayal of Whip Whitaker. The two-time Acadamy Award winner charms the audience as he plays every last aspect of his character to perfection. His performace in this film is all-encompassing. The subtleties of his character capture who the man really is; someone riddled with the delusions that come with alcoholism, as well as the over-confidence of an experienced pilot and freshly-crowned disaster hero.
At first glance, Flight seems to have its climax at the beginning of the film when the plane-crash takes place. It seems like a lot for the audience to take in, especially at the set-up. One would expect for the ending to be overshadowed. However, as we progess through the film, it occurs that the plane crash is a mere adrenaline-rush while the actual climax before the resolution is a turbulant rollar-coaster ride of emotions in which we see a powerful example of conflict between man and himself.
Visually, this movie is a pleasure to watch, although audience members might find themselves getting dizzy with some of the camera movement during the plane crash scene. Still, it meant that the film held a sense of reality and gave the audience a sense of being an actual character in this film.
The soundtrack, which includes music by the Rolling Stones lightens the atmosphere of an otherwise dark film and is an entity in itself that reflects the state of the characters and the plot. The soundtrack once again brings up the fact that Flight is a film of modern times, telling a story that resonates particularly with people of this age.
Robert Zemeckis shows masterful direction in this film with his use of irony and sybmolism. When Whitaker and his lawyer, Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) have a conversation while overlooking the carnage of the plane, a broken church lies in the background, symbolic for how Washington’s character, essentially a good man, has become damaged due to his drinking habits.
Well-written, the script tells the story and moves the plot forward in a straight, no-nonsense manner. This is with the exception of the ending which progresses too-slowly. The characters however, are all distinctly different from one another and their interactions and thoughtful moments of self-reflection portray the quirks and struggles embedded in their personalities. This though, should be credited as much to the excellent performance given by each and every member of the cast, as it should be to the writers.
The scriptwriters show excellent knowledge of flight terms and about the American legal system, which in turn made the film true-to-life and believable. The dark humor that one will find in this film is a welcome change from the downright-depressing movies about substance abuse.
Flight tells us the true meaning of being a hero, as few films can. Few actors would also have been able to portray the anti-hero as well as Denzel Washington does. Watching Flight, one will feel as if they’re peering into a looking glass to see the downfalls of society staring back at them. A masterpiece of a movie that proves yet again that to lead the life of a hero is a matter of your actions and not who you are as a person.
Movie Rating:
(Flight is an all-American mystery thriller about substance abuse that doesn’t throw the theme in your face, but infuses it gracefully into a gripping plot that has as much emotional highs and lows as your typical alcoholic)
Review by Nishanthini Ganesan
Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Daniel Chan
Cast: Philip Ng, Him Law, Paul Wong, Oscar Leung, Jacquelin Ch’ng, Jazz Lam, Michelle Hu, Dominic Ho
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Rating: M18 (Mature Theme And Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 10 January 2013
Synopsis: On a dark Mongkok night, May, the cousin of Dai Tin-yee (Dominic Ho ), was gang-raped to death by Med King (Deep Ng ) and his men. The furious Tin-yee, together with his buddies, Ho-Nam(Him Law ), Chicken (Oscar Leung ), Pou-Pan (Jazz Lam ) tracked down Med King to revenge May’s death. As Med King was under the wing of Ugly Kwan (Sammy Sum ), a leader of the Hung Hing triad, Kwan gave orders to get rid of Ho-Nam by all means….
Movie Review:
Seventeen years is not nearly enough for one to forget what a genre classic Andrew Lau’s ‘Young and Dangerous’ was, so right from the start, this reboot of the classic franchise already has its odds stacked against it. The inevitable comparison yields one straightforward answer – greenhorn director Daniel Chan’s ‘Young and Dangerous: Reloaded’ isn’t anywhere near as good as Andrew Lau’s original – but expectations aside, the movie ultimately undoes itself with lazy plotting, clumsy direction and lacklustre performances.
Going back to basics, recurring screenwriter Manfred Wong (who was responsible for five of the six movies, with the exception of the fourth one) opts for a much less character-driven approach in charting the rise of Chan Ho-Nam and his buddies – Chicken, Pao Pei and Dai Tin Yee – within the powerful Hung Hing triad group. In its place is a much more straightforward narrative that pits Ho-Nam against the conniving Ugly Kwan (Sammy Shum), whom the former crosses after killing one of the latter’s men responsible for drugging, raping and murdering Tin Yee’s younger cousin.
As in the original, Ho-Nam allies himself with another of Hung Hing’s elders Brother Bee (Paul Wong) for protection – though that only further puts him and Kwan on a collision course when the latter murders Hung Hing’s leader Tin-sang (Pal Sinn) in a bid to usurp power and frames and kills Brother Bee for it. The outcome is a foregone conclusion, but what is really lost in this version is the sense of brotherhood between Ho-Nam and his buddies.
Hinted but never fully explored is the strong bond of friendship between Ho-Nam and Chicken, forged through their childhood and teenage days spent growing up in the same working-class neighbourhood. And because that bond is so feebly constructed, the plot pretty much forgoes any buildup of tension between Ho-Nam and Chicken – which was in fact one of the key twists in the original when the former is accused of sleeping with the latter’s girlfriend.
The lack of any meaningful character exploration means that most of them essentially remain one-note. Ho-Nam is the inscrutably righteous de facto leader, while Chicken is his free-wheeling associate who is supposed to be perpetually horny. If Ho-Nam and Chicken are already that dull, you can imagine how insipid Pao Pei and Tin Yee turn out to be – in fact, most of the time they are pretty much relegated to the background with few lines or purpose in the scene.
For that reason, you can perhaps forgive Jazz Lam and Dominic Ho – who play Pao Pei and Tin Yee - for their nondescript performances. Fans might recall that those two roles were played by Jan Lamb and Michael Tse respectively, and compared to their successors, Jan and Michael were a class act. Ditto for Oscar, who has none of Jordan Chan’s delightful self-deprecating charm as Chicken, and in fact plays his character as timidly as his character’s name suggests. Nevertheless, the biggest flaw here is Him Law, who is a terrible substitute for Ekin Cheng. Looking aloof and stoic throughout the entire movie, Him is wooden and devoid of charisma – and if this is what a manlier interpretation of Ho-Nam is supposed to look like according to producer Wong Jing, we’ll take Ekin over Him any day.
The shallow characterisation and unremarkable acting is compounded by Daniel Chan’s ham-fisted direction. There is absolutely zero buildup where the action scenes are concerned, and when the fight actually begins, awkward cinematography is used to disguise bad choreography (by Philip Ng, who also plays Brother Bee’s right hand man in the film called Big Head) and awful CGI-ed blood. Chan also fails to find rhythm in the film, stumbling from a romantic scene to a dramatic scene to a comedic one with little attempt to manage the change in tone. It must also be said that the editing leaves much to be desired, with some continuity errors so glaring it is almost embarrassing.
With a whole litany of flaws, you’d wonder why producers Wong Jing and Manfred Wong even bothered attempting a remake of the ‘Young and Dangerous’ series. It was a risky venture in the first place, given the iconic status of the previous films – but even without the burden of its predecessors, this triad movie is at best a forgettable B-movie that comes nowhere close to classic. That is truly a pity, for there is a rich Hong Kong flavour to the material that is not often seen these days with the encroachment of the Mainland film industry, and this is simply a terribly wasted opportunity at reviving the glory days of Hong Kong cinema.
Movie Rating:
(More juvenile and insipid than young and dangerous, this reboot of the classic franchise with its lazy plotting, bad acting and clumsy direction can only be a terrible disappointment to fans)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Stiles, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker, Jacki Weaver, Anupam Kher, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham, Dash Mihok
RunTime: 2 hrs
Rating: NC-16 (Coarse Language And Some Nudity)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://silverliningsplaybookmovie.com/
Opening Day: 10 January 2013
Synopsis: Life doesn't always go according to plan... Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything -- his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert DeNiro) after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet - and to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.
Movie Review:
“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” – Dr Seuss
No one in ‘The Silver Linings Playbook’ is completely right in the head – the lead character Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) suffers from bipolar disorder; his father Pat Sr (Robert De Niro) might have borderline obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); his closest friend is a buddy named Danny (Chris Tucker) he made during a brief eight-month stint in a mental institution; and last but not least, the woman who is supposed to help him get back on his feet is a young widow called Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), whose way of dealing with her grief was to sleep with every single person at her workplace.
Despite their idiosyncrasies, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more endearing bunch of people you’d wish you actually were in the company of – and the fact that this adult-centred comedy of mental illness, family drama, rugged romance and Philadelphia Eagles fandom is just about one of the most bracingly funny and heartwarmingly poignant movies you’ll see this year is truly writer-director David O’ Russell’s credit. Adapting from Matthew Quick’s novel of the same title, Russell injects intensity and passion into an engaging source material to make it dramatic, emotional and even heartbreaking.
Whilst other filmmakers might have tried to win your sympathy for the lot of dysfunctional characters, Russell is much more adroit in his technique; rather, he simply lets every single character be himself or herself – flaws, inadequacies, quirks and all – and then leaves it to you to embrace them one by one in exactly the irregular but utterly unique mould in which they come in. What he does consciously engineer though are fascinating moments of interaction between and among these characters, brought vividly to life with acerbic wit and inspired lunacy.
So despite knowing that it would likely be grating, Russell doesn’t dumb down Pat’s delusional positive beliefs of getting back with his estranged wife Nikki (Brea Bee) who has taken out a restraining order against him. Neither does he tone down Tiffany’s abrasiveness, her sharp-tongued honesty both refreshing and yet intimidating to watch – though admittedly, it does add to her character’s unlikely appeal. Nor does he avoid the uncomfortable scenes – a shouting match that turns physical between Pat and his parents in particular is discomforting to say the least, especially since it originates from something as juvenile as Pat’s singular obsession of trying to locate his wedding video at 3 am in the morning.
But amidst the crazy, there are laugh-out-loud moments – for instance, Pat’s late-night or rather early-morning rant about how absurd and ridiculous Ernest Hemingway’s ‘A Call to Arms’ ends; or his seemingly happily-married friend, Ronnie’s (John Ortiz), confessions of his frustrations about married life as if Pat were some marriage counsellor. And then there are the positively endearing moments as well, mostly revolving around the oddball connection that Pat and Tiffany form with each other, which begins as Tiffany agrees to help pass on a letter to Nikki if he were to be her partner at a dance contest.
Right from the beginning, you know that the relationship that will inevitably develop between Pat and Tiffany is likely to defy convention – their first conversation with each other consists of joking and comparing each other’s medication at the dinner table. Then in order to convince Pat to take up her bargain, she begins to stake him out on his daily jogs, appearing out of nowhere in running clothes and proving impossible to shake off despite his best efforts until he agrees to become her friend. Their volatile push-and-pull soon deepens beautifully as they begin rehearsing in the dance studio within the home she has built in her parent’s garage, and without consciously realising it, both become each other’s compass of sanity and – occasionally – serenity.
So winning is their chemistry that even fans of the book are unlikely to begrudge Russell for turning the book’s ballroom dance sequence that happens two-thirds into the narrative into the film’s crowdpleasing climax. Of course, the reason that their unlikely romance works is Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence’s terrific performances, both of which reveal a hidden depth to their acting that has hereto forth been unseen in their repertoire. Among the two, the more surprising revelation here is Cooper. Unlike his role in ‘The Hangover’ films where he often is called upon to simply look handsome and dapper, his character here demands that he walk a delicate balance between eccentricity and ferocity, and Cooper steps to the challenge with an intense and unwavering performance that is funny, touching and compelling.
In contrast, Lawrence, who is better known for her dramatic acting in ‘Winter’s Bone’ and even ‘The Hunger Games’, impresses with her gift for comedy. Her delivery of her character’s zingers is spot-on and just one aspect of a remarkably multifaceted performance that sees her go from rude to dirty to funny to foul-mouthed to sexy and to vulnerable. Though she plays a character well beyond her age, hers is a thoroughly mature delivery that perfectly captures Tiffany’s pain, confidence and stubborn determination. Cooper and Lawrence are simply electrifying together, and their back-and-forth banter unfolds with a snappy, energetic rhythm that makes for one of the best pairings we have ever seen.
The ensemble cast are just as outstanding. Much has been said about how Robert DeNiro could have a real shot at an Oscar after 21 years and the buzz is absolutely justified. The warmest and most astute we have seen him of late, DeNiro calibrates his supporting act of kooky and endearing expertly so as to let his younger leading stars take the spotlight. As his wife, Jacki Weaver is a beautiful complement, effusing motherly warmth and tenderness when Pat Sr is at a loss how to connect to his son. And after disappearing from the big screen for some time, Tucker pops up with a nicely tuned comic turn that has none of the irritating motor-mouthed wisecracking shtick he is known for.
Russell’s confident direction of his wonderfully assembled cast also deserves praise, nowhere more evident than in the chaotic football-watching scenes in Pat Sr's living room that are full of overlapping dialogue and high emotions. There is method to Russell’s onscreen madness, portraying varying forms of eccentricity with great finesse. Those familiar with Russell’s works will recognise his trademarks in the off-kilter family dynamics amidst working-class characters, and here those characteristics are assembled in a raw, edgy and compulsively watchable comedy that celebrates the dysfunctions within each one of us and in our families.
And even though Russell’s name is not typically associated with mainstream fare, this is as accessible as any Hollywood romantic comedy. The difference? The dialogue is smart and snappy, the emotions are real and poignant, and the acting and chemistry just crackling. This is not just a playbook with silver linings; it is one with gold trimmings, one that deserves ti be read and savoured over and over again.
Movie Rating:
(Punchy, poignant, and ultimately uplifting, David O’ Russell’s romantic dramedy packs witty dialogue, fascinating characters and brilliant acting to leave you smiling and emotionally dazzled)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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BOOK REVIEW #6: "RICHARD SCHICKEL'S STEVEN SPIELBERG: A RETROSPECTIVE"Posted on 22 Dec 2012 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Kelvin Sng
Cast: Mark Lee, Gurmit Singh, Jazreel Low, Gan Mei Yan, Lai Meng, Chua Jin Sen, Royston Ong
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Golden Village Pictures & Scorpio East Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 3 January 2013
Synopsis: Taxi! Taxi! is a social comedy set in the metropolitan city-state of Singapore, told through the encounters of two characters who are in what is widely perceived as the most sociable profession on the island – taxi drivers.
Inspired by famed blogger Dr Cai Mingjie’s real life accounts as a taxi driver in his bestseller “Diary of a Taxi Driver: True Stories From Singapore's Most Educated Cabdriver”, the movie follows the trials and tribulations of a retrenched microbiology scientist, Professor Chua, as he turns to taxi driving after several failed job attempts. Along the way, he befriends (although they didn’t quite start off as friends from the get-go) a veteran taxi driver, Ah Tau.
The two men, who appear to be polar opposites of each other in every aspect from educational levels, personalities, attitudes toward life and even the languages that they speak, eventually find themselves interdependent and influencing each other in ways that they probably had never imagined possible.
A fish out of water, Professor Chua gradually learns to move out of his comfort zone and sheltered life in the research lab, and adapt to the real world on the streets of Singapore. Yet, his biggest challenge of all, has to be: breaking the truth about his change of profession to his uninformed family – his social-conscious mother-in-law, his elitist son who idolizes his career as a scientist, and his wife whom he vowed to never let her have to worry about the bread and butter issues throughout their marriage. Can he hide it from them forever? And will they still respect him as head of the house if he reveals it to them?
Ah Tau, on the other hand, has problems of a different nature. His son, Jia Jia, believes that his absent mother is on a trip around the world, and he has to continuously find ingenious ways to keep the boy’s belief alive, so as not to shatter his hope of seeing her again. Also, badly influenced by his own street Singlish that he uses to communicate with his passengers, Jia Jia spouts Singlish like a typical taxi driver whenever he speaks, and his kindergarten teacher who promotes “Good English” is surely not impressed. A loving father but whose means are limited by his capabilities, can Ah Tau provide what’s best for his son?
Bugged by their own individual troubles and initial aversion to each other, the two unlikely buddies soon discover that they can actually help one another out, and show the other what he has never seen from his usual position all along. They finally realize that life’s dead ends can actually turn to passable roads, if you just approach them from a different angle and with a different attitude!
Movie Review:
You might recall a certain taxi driver by the name of Dr Cai Mingjie a few years back, who was a microbiology researcher prior to his change of profession and was hence dubbed ‘Singapore’s most educated taxi driver’. Through his blog chronicling his experiences as a taxi driver, he garnered a following that numbered a million, prompting offers of employment and also a published compilation of his stories back in April 2010 which became a top-selling book that year.
‘Taxi! Taxi!’ credits Dr Cai’s real-life story as inspiration, with Gurmit Singh’s character Professor Chua See Kiat modelled after him. Also a microbiology researcher, Prof Chua likewise makes the leap from lab to cab after being fired from his job and not having any success at subsequent corporate jobs or job interviews. For fear of losing face however, he keeps it a secret from his family, trying his best to keep up their existing lavish lifestyle - until of course one by one, wife (Jazreel Low), son (Royston Ong) and grandmother (Lai Meng) inadvertently find out the truth.
There is much potential for a tale of a highly qualified local professional who finds himself jobless after being replaced by the so-called “foreign talent” to be milked for social commentary – unfortunately, besides the tangential mention in one or two scenes, screenwriters Boris Boo, Lee Chee Tian and Violet Lai (with story credits going to Boo, Rebecca Leow, Chan Pui Yin and director Kelvin Sng) largely keep the movie politically correct. Instead, they fashion this as an uplifting story about perseverance and determination, reflected not just in Prof Chua’s life but also in Mark Lee’s character Ah Tau.
The pairing of Gurmit Singh and Mark Lee is something to watch in itself – after all, this is only the second time since ‘One Leg Kicking’ that the two most gifted comedians representing two ends of the language (and might we add, channel) spectrum in Singapore are working together. Shrewdly, the screenwriters tailor their characters to Gurmit and Mark’s strengths – such that while Gurmit gets to speak perfect English as the overqualified taxi driver who at the start regards his own profession with disdain, Mark Lee remains in firm ‘beng’ territory as the loutish Mandarin-speaking one who embraces his taxi driving job wholeheartedly and with pride.
It might have seemed a creative risk at the start fashioning Prof Chua and Ah Tau as “Odd Couple” buddies, but it is one that truly pays off tremendously. No matter that Mark Lee can almost play the brash dialect-spewing type with his eyes close, there is no one else that does it as hilariously as he does. Gurmit complements him perfectly as the mild-mannered opposite whom Mark Lee’s Ah Tau shows the ropes of taxi driving to, and some of their best scenes riff on misunderstandings as a result of the latter’s bad English as well as their differing attitudes towards their line of work.
In particular, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the movie is the unlikely friendship that develops between Prof Chua and Ah Tau. Making the most of his lead cast, first-time feature film director Kelvin Sng unfolds an amusing, entertaining and ultimately heartwarming portrait of two individuals from different rungs of the social ladder who are trying in their own respective lives to be better than their circumstances and encouraging each other along in the process.
The juxtaposition of Prof Chua – who has not only to first swallow his own pride at taking up a job which he clearly thinks is beneath him but also to win the trust and respect of his family members thereafter – with that of Ah Tau – who has to learn to become a more responsible father to his son (Youtube sensation Chua Jin Sen) – is interesting, though admittedly the film could benefit from a much less heavy-handed approach especially in the more dramatic scenes. In particular, a late twist that supposedly serves as an awakening for Ah Tau is simply too caricatured to be believable, and culminates in an equally far-fetched climax that would have been unbearable were it not for the well-played performances of Gurmit and Mark Lee.
Yes, besides their comedic talent and lively back-and-forth repartee, both actors also lend surprising depth to their roles. In this regard, Gurmit gets a hand from Mandarin-speaking actress Jazreel Low, who gives a dignified and heartfelt performance in the scenes she shares with Gurmit. Mark Lee and Jin Sen also make a comical father-and-son pair – especially in their ‘Kee Chiew’ scenes together – and prove to be unexpectedly poignant in the later half of the film when both finally confront the fact that they only have each other to depend on.
Like most local films, ‘Taxi! Taxi!’ boasts certain apparent flaws – such as ham-fisted melodrama, poor continuity and bad CGI (it must have been difficult mounting cameras on the taxi cabs and driving along the actual roads) - but despite its blemishes, there is a moving and inspirational story here about finding the courage to make a fresh new start in life, whether in terms of family or in employment. There is also an important lesson in according due respect to each and every profession – no matter the social stereotype – which pertains particularly to taxi drivers here. After all, you only need to think about how your Christmas shopping might be even more of a hassle were it not for these drivers on the road to realise their significance.
Movie Rating:
(Often hilarious and heartwarming thanks to the chemistry between two of Singapore’s best comedians, this is a surprisingly entertaining story of hope and perseverance in spite of life’s circumstances)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Director: Yasuhiro Kawamura
Cast: Haruka Ayase, Masaki Okada, Shosuke Tanihara, Kazue Fukiishi, Muga Tsukaji, Masako Motai, Takeshi Kaga, Teruyuki Kagawa, Riko Yoshida
Runtime: 2 hrs
Rating: PG
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website: http://www.encorefilms.com/akkochan
Opening Day: 10 January 2013
Synopsis: Atsuko Kagami - known as “Akkon Chan”- is a 10 years old girl in elementary school . One day, a spirit of minors appears before her and gives her a magical compact. Akko uses it to become a 22 years old , and has a blast wearing the makeup that she adores and fashionable outfits galore . And if that weren’t enough to make her wish she were really grown up , she even meets the man of her dreams ! Her crush is Naoto Hayase, an elite manager at a famous cosmetics company. But his company faces a corporate buyout and is about to be taken over. As he strives to turn his company around by developing an innovative new product , Akko comes up with totally unexpected ideas to take on the crisis . Will she be able to save the man she loves? And what will happen to their relationship?
Movie Review:
It shouldn't surprise you that Akko-chan is a movie adapted from a manga series. Live-action adaptation of manga is really big in Japan because manga is big in Japan and can bring in lots of money. The commercial success of manga adapted dramas/movies is not only restricted to Japan, they are also well received overseas. Although Japanese entertainment is not the most prominent player in the market, it has been slowly and surely gaining its crowd of followers. Considering all these, it is not hard to understand why movie makers would pick a ready narrative from the vast library of manga series.
That being said, not all manga adapted movies are well received. Recently, one that garnered rather positive responses at the ticket box office was Rurouni Kenshin (2012). It was reported to have done well at the Singapore ticket box office too. However, the more forgettable ones would be Kimi ni Todoke (From me to You, 2011), which is criticized for being boring and failed to bring out the essence of the manga narrative.
Other potential downside of a manga turned movie is the problem of having stories that are way too unrealistic and the characters being too 2-dimensional. Thankfully, both of these were absent in Akko-chan. The two main leads, namely Okada Masaki and Ayase Haruka both have experience in playing a character from a manga story. Ayase is probably best known as the cute and bubbly character from Hotaru no Hikari and Okada’s role in Space Brothers (or commonly known as Uchuu Kyoudai) was well received. Both of them were able to breathe life into the 2D character, engaging the audiences with their personalities and charm.
The story, albeit a tad too magical, was a really interesting one. The 11 year old girl, Akko-chan, holds a special mirror that can transform her into a person she desires. Having known the power of the mirror, she decides to skip cramp school one day and become an adult version of herself to shop at the cosmetic counter. What began from an act of mischief eventually led her to gain understanding of herself and the adult world.
As part of the story development, Akko-chan began working for a man who she met at the amusement park. He took interest of her opinions on his product line while she was shopping at the cosmetic counter. As a result, Akko-chan, the 11 year old stuck in a university student’s body, created a whole lot of drama and joke as she joined the workplace. Besides that, she also transformed herself into other characters to gain convenience, such as the former CEO of the cosmetic company and the first lady. It really evoked much laughter, having a grown-up man behave just like a little girl. Ayase was also a natural at her role, striking a balance between being childish and innocent.
So it turns out that Akko-chan is quite entertaining and enjoyable. Although the manga was released in the 60s, the story is one that is timeless and relevant, imparting some good morals and encouragement to the weary. However, there was nothing really ground breaking; well, it is not a movie that is made to contend for the academies. Also, the ending was really cliché, as of many Japanese movies. It’s as though it would be that unsettling if there is no closure to Akko-chan’s puppy love! (Oops, did someone just let the cat out of the bag?)
Movie Rating:
(A light-hearted critique on the adult world, reminding you of the little things that could have been lost and forgotten having all grown up)
Review by Tho Shu Ling
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: David Lam
Cast: Louis Koo, Kevin Cheng, Raymond Lam, Gordon Lam, Chrissie Chau, Patrick Tam, Louis Cheung, Julian Cheung
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 4 April 2019
Synopsis: Liu Yue Ping (Chrissie Chau) reports to the ICAC about a rich 2G Cao Yuen Yuen (Raymond Lam) who bribed officers of the Hong Kong Correctional Services (HKCS) from inside the prison. William Luk (Louis Koo) decides to infiltrate the prison as an inmate to conduct his investigation, while his partner Ching Tak Ming (Kevin Cheng) and Chief Inspector Lau Po Keung (Julian Cheung) back him up from the outside. Danger springs from all directions inside the prison. A fellow inmate, ex-Superintendent of Police Wong Man Ban is anxious to even the score with William Luk for putting him behind bars 5 years ago. The Superintendent of the prison, Sham Kwok Keung (Patrick Tam) is on the take from Cao Yuen Yuen and turns a blind eye to the constant gang fights, one of which landed William Luk in a custodian ward. With the help of a slick cell mate Wong Lam Luk (Louis Cheung), William Luk is determined to complete his mission...
Movie Review:
Not content that their anti-corruption ‘Storm’ series end on a scornful note (try keeping your face straight while saying ‘P Storm’ five times), director David Lam and producer Raymond Wong have already announced plans for a fifth instalment titled ‘G Storm’. That about describes how much they care whether you like this prison-based chapter or not, which while unlikely to win over new fans to the franchise, still packs just enough chaotic momentum and sheer star power to deliver a mildly engaging but utterly forgettable time in the cinema.
Those who have seen any of the previous movies will certainly be familiar with the strengths and shortcomings of Lam’s economical filmmaking. So as to distract his audience from the narrative deficiencies, Lam throws many moving parts at you at the same time, without caring so much if they even cohere. Neither for that matter does he bother to set up each scene properly, relying instead on the frenetic storytelling to sustain your interest. That these ‘Storm’ films have however turned out at least watchable is in large part credit to the solid cast he has assembled – including Louis Koo, Julian Cheung, Lam Ka Tung and Kevin Cheng – who make the best out of their often wholly under-developed roles.
Both for better and for worse, ‘P Storm’ boasts exactly those same traits. The plot is just as busy as its predecessors – chiefly, there is ICAC Principal Investigator William Luk’s (Koo) going undercover at Chek O Prison to investigate the corruption within, which the rich 2G Cao Yuen Yuen (Lam) is exploiting to carry on his dirty deeds from behind bars; then there is the enmity between William and former police superintendent Wong Man Bun (Lam), arising from the former apprehending the latter in the first movie (i.e. ‘Z Storm’); and there is also the bitter rivalry between Bun and Yuen Yuen, both of whom are vying to be the prison kingpin; and last but not least, there is a late addition involving Yuen’s wealthy parents, both of whom are under investigation by the Chinese authorities on suspicion of money laundering.
Given how much story the writers Wong Ho-wah and Ho Wen-long (who also wrote the last ‘L Storm’) have crammed into just a little over one-and-a-half hours, it is no wonder that the personalities are just as superficial. Besides those already mentioned, the other principal supporting roles include fellow ICAC investigator Ching Tak Ming (Cheng), the mildly sadistic prison superintendent Sham Kwok Keung (Patrick Tam), the Cao family’s crooked lawyer Yiu Kwan Ho (Liu Kai Chi), and William’s loyal prison buddy Lam Luk (Louis Cheung). You’ll probably also recognise notable Hong Kong actors such as Julian Cheung, Wei Ai, Lo Hoi Pang, Dada Chan, Shek Sau and Babyjohn Choi, though there is arguably little effort to make their presence count.
And once again, the pace is frantic from start to finish, flitting from scene to scene with little attention to build-up or continuity. One moment William is fighting off Wong and his men in the shower; the next William is out in the yard observing Yuen bribing one of the prison guards; and then the next, William is standing up for Yuen against Wong in a bid to get into the former’s good graces. Oh yes, it isn’t easy juggling so many subplots simultaneously, and Lam’s technique is simply to lurch from one to another in fits and starts, before culminating in a showdown that conveniently brings together all the various players together in one setting, so as to tie up whatever loose ends in one fell swoop.
But perhaps even more frustrating is Lam’s insistence on showing the obvious, rather than trusting his audience to make their own inferences or deductions. That tendency results in several brief and largely redundant scenes, whether of Ching meeting the Commissioner of Prisons (Shek Sau) to pass some information along, or of Ching being made to foot the bill of an expensive steamboat meal Luk had just before passing something along from William. The most annoying instance of this is at the climax, which sees what is supposed to be an intense shootout between Yuen’s gang and a group of ICAC officers within the confines of an ICAC safe house being interrupted by an unnecessary scene of how Yuen had coerced Sham earlier into letting him out of prison one day before his parole.
To Lam’s credit, the action in this instalment is a lot bolder than what we have seen in the last three movies. The showpiece is of course a mid-air helicopter fight between Ching and Yuen, which has also been featured prominently in the trailer. It’s no ‘Mission Impossible: Fallout’, but action director Tony Ling Chi Wai does a competent enough job for it to be a thrilling finish. The close-quarter prison brawls are also fairly well-choreographed, including the aforementioned one in the shower, and another where William comes to Yuen’s aid when he is ambushed by Wong and his men. Compliments too to the cast, with special mention to Koo, who had to brave through his cervical spine condition to pull off the more intense stunt work.
Measured against the earlier instalments, ‘P Storm’ ranks second-best to ‘L Storm’, which packed a tighter narrative and was therefore generally more exciting. Yet for fans who grew to embrace the franchise with ‘Z Storm’ and ‘S Storm’, this latest is still significantly better than those earlier chapters that Lam both wrote and directed, and by those standards would probably be deemed to be an enjoyable and entertaining enough entry. Make no mistake, it still is not much better than your average TVB drama, but at least unlike the first two ‘Storms’, you probably won’t dismiss it as being bad as P.
Movie Rating:
(As flawed and economically entertaining as the 'Storm' series has been, this fourth chapter ranks second-best in the franchise, powered less by good storytelling than star power and sheer chaotic momentum)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Fantasy/Action
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, Sasha Lane, Penelope Mitchell, Daniel Dae Kim
Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min
Rating: M18 (Violence and Gore)
Released By: Encore Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: https://hellboy.movie
Opening Day: 11 April 2019
Synopsis: Hellboy is back, and he’s on fire. From the pages of Mike Mignola’s seminal work, this action packed story sees the legendary half-demon superhero (David Harbour, “Stranger Things”) called to the English countryside to battle a trio of rampaging giants. There he discovers The Blood Queen, Nimue (Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil series), a resurrected ancient sorceress thirsting to avenge a past betrayal. Suddenly caught in a clash between the supernatural and the human, Hellboy is now hell-bent on stopping Nimue without triggering the end of the world.
Movie Review:
We loved the two del Toro ‘Hellboy’ movies, and we loved Ron Perlman as the grumpy anti-hero, but that doesn’t mean we were biased against any reboot in the first place; on the contrary, we were intrigued to see what Neil Marshall, released from the confines of Westeros, would do with Mike Mignola’s cult comic book creation, especially in keeping with its R-rated horror and fantasy conventions. Yet, as we quickly realised, it isn’t just sufficient to go into Marshall’s iteration with an open and curious disposition; oh no, even more crucially, you’ll need to be prepared to set aside all manner of taste and style in order to sit through a loud, garish and altogether mind-numbing two-hour monster bash-up, complete with plenty of gore, violence and profanity should you choose the more adult-skewing (read: M18) version.
How much you enjoy ‘Hellboy’ depends on how much you’d like to see our literal demon from hell eviscerate, flay and disembowel a delirious cavalcade of otherworldly creatures, including a vampire in disguise as a lucha libre wrestler, three man-eating English giants, a foul-mouthed Scottish were-boar demon, and a backwards-walking, one-eyed witch named Baba Yaga. That’s not the extent of its excess, which also involves cheetah werewolves, child-stealing fairies, Nazi occult rituals featuring cameos by both Rasputin and Leni Riefenstahl, and Sasha Lane as a psychic who vomits out Ian McShane in the form of a slimy, serpentine apparition. There’s a whole lot of wild and wacky within, though rendered in Marshall’s aesthetic priority of utter grotesqueness designed to test your limits of disgust.
Arguably, that in itself seems to have taken precedence over coherent storytelling, because the plotting is quite simply a mess. Between frenetically-paced CGI-enhanced set-pieces is a race against time to stop Nimue (Milla Jovovich) from unleashing hell on earth in a bid for world domination, she an ancient witch from King Arthur’s time (yes, that King Arthur) whose reign of terror was temporarily dismembered when her body was hacked into pieces and strewn all over Britain. Nimue wants Hellboy to unleash his birth nature as a spawn of the devil, which happen to coincide at a time when the latter is also trying to figure out his place on Earth, setting up a climax that isn’t so hard to guess just which side of good or evil Hellboy eventually chooses of his own accord.
As simple as that may seem, the story takes plenty of detours. There is a mythical secret society called the Osiris Club who recruits Hellboy to kill the aforementioned giants terrorising the English countryside, but then decides to try to assassinate him; there is also a reunion between Hellboy and Baba Yaga in her rococo chicken-legged hut that is otherwise superfluous if not for an end-credit scene which teases the appearance of Koshchei. But more significantly, the narrative takes pains to explain the backstories of Hellboy’s sidekicks: Alice Monaghan (Lane), an Irish woman whom Hellboy rescued from fairies as a baby and whom can speak with the dead as a result; and Ben Daimio (Daniel Dae Kim), a former soldier turned Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (B.R.P.D.) agent who can turn into a jaguar in anger or pain.
It is overstuffed all right, which in turn diminishes what should be a compelling character arc about Hellboy’s singular humanity. Just like del Toro’s first ‘Hellboy’, this one is also supposedly about our titular character’s true nature, being half-human and half-demon as he is. That dilemma is rooted as much in Nimue’s overtures to him to rule the world beside her as it is in Hellboy’s relationship with his father Professor Trevor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane), given how it was the latter who raised him and groomed him into becoming a BRPD agent. Unfortunately, what could have been a poignant father-son dynamic is reduced to platitudes that ring hollow, no thanks to unnecessary subplots which do little for the movie except clutter it with plenty of chaotic and enervating action.
There is also consequently little to appreciate about David Harbour’s performance, even if he tries to channel the same world-weary gravitas which Perlman did with absolute perfection in the earlier two films. As good as he is with delivering the sarcastic wisecracks in Andrew Cosby’s script, Harbour is ultimately underserved by Cosby’s writing that gives him far less time and room to breathe. McShane is equally wasted in the movie, seeing as how he pops up every now and then for no more than a glorified cameo, and how he and Harbour just do not have enough scenes together to make their characters’ relationship matter as much as it should. The relentless visual-effects onslaught also drowns Lane and Kim, while strangely giving Jovovich too little chance to demonstrate her fearsome powers.
Like we said at the beginning, we were not averse to a big-screen reinterpretation of Hellboy, even as we loved the del Toro films as much as his fanboys would. But there is little to like about this reboot, which in rushing from scene to scene and storyline to story line leaves it no more than a cacophonous muddle. Even with two memorable battle-filled ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes under his belt, Marshall struggles to make the spectacle visually remarkable, except for say occasional yucky details that underscore his gore-hound credentials. And by drowning out the drama, the film sacrifices Hellboy’s humanity, leaving us with no more than a tandoori-red monster hunter filled with angst and cynicism. To call sitting through it hell is a tad harsh, but let’s just say that it was indeed torturous.
Movie Rating:
(Loud, garish and altogether mind-numbing, this graceless and grotesque monster bash-up is a pointless reboot which sacrifices its character's humanity for frenetic CGI-enhanced set-pieces)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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