Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris, Luca Calvani
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: PG 13 (Brief Nudity and Some Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://manfromuncle.com

Opening Day: 3 September 2015

Synopsis: A fresh take on the hugely popular 1960s television series,“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” is set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” centers on CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo’s only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe.

Movie Review:

It is clear that The Man from U.N.C.L.E is another attempt by Hollywood to clean the dust off a television series of yore and spawn another movie franchise that would (hopefully) replicate the success of the Mission Impossible series.

Knowing that doesn’t make the movie less enjoyable though. While not as polished as the Mission Impossible series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E is delightfully fun in its own way.

Unlike the James Bond and Mission Impossible series which are now set in modern times, Lionel Wigam and Guy Ritchie chose to pay homage to the original series by having the movie stay firmly in the 1960s. The movie opens with a sequence set to 1960s jazz, evoking memories of spies of that decade, most notably James Bond (it so happens that Napoleon Solo, the American spy featured in The Man from U.N.C.L.E, was created by James Bond creator Ian Fleming). Given that 50 years have lapsed since then, Ritchie very wisely chose to have a opening sequence which highlights the Cold War and divided state of Germany rather than assume audiences all either lived through the issues or studied about them in history classes (and remembered those history lessons).

The plot is paper-thin. You get the feeling that Ritchie is setting this movie to be the first in a series and is using this to set the background and origins of the characters from The Man from U.N.C.L.E before the audience gets to ride along the protagonists for their first actual caper. Those hoping for an intelligent caper such as in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean Eleven will be sorely disappointed as they sit through lots of background stuff that explains how American secret agent Napoleon Solo and his Russian counterpart, Ilya Kurakin, gets teamed together and have to work together with East German mechanic Gaby Teller. Teller also happens to be the daughter of a Nazi nuclear scientist believed to be in the clutches of Italian fascists. Expectedly, it’s frenemies Solo and Kurakin who comes to the rescue of the world from Nazis and nuclear warheads.

Despite the lack of plot, the movie is entertaining as audiences get transported back to an era when spies/secret agents save the world from some villain threatening to destroy it due to some misguided notion and looks really good and have plenty of fun while doing it. The sequences are fun and well-paced complemented by a skilful and appropriate soundtrack. Watch out for the quasi-erotic) sequence between Gaby and Kurakin which is heightened by an ironically romantic number as they literally trash things out. Another sequence worth keeping an eye out is when Solo decides to have a picnic in a truck as Kurakin does his best to avoid falling into the clutches of the villains as an Italian ballad plays in the background.

The actors are decent in their roles. Armie Hammer and Henry Cavill could do with better chemistry but the way they play off each other is promising and you look forward to seeing them grow in sequels (of course there will be sequels). Alicia Vikander is passable as Gaby Teller although Gaby’s personality seems to be confused and her motivation uncertain. One moment she’s angry with Solo and Kurakin for putting her in a dangerous situation, the next she’s making eyes at Kurakin. One moment she’s all hung up over her father and in next moment, she is unaffected by whether he’s dead or alive. Sadly, the other main actress, Elizabeth Debecki, is also stuck with a forgettable role as the one-dimensional villainess. The strongest impression she made on me was how thick her makeup was. Amongst the three leads, Hammer does the best job. He puts on a decent Russian accent and he convinces you of his earnestness as a Russian spy who truly buys into the Soviet ideology. While Cavill manages to ooze just enough suaveness to not overstep the boundary into smarminess, I couldn’t help but be distracted by how he really reminds me of Clark Kent. The most delightful actor in this whole movie would have to be Hugh Grant, who, for once, doesn’t play a bumbling man-boy trying to figure out his way in life. Grant’s unassuming delivery of Waverly shows just how much can be achieved with subtle yet fine acting and is a much-need relief from the flashiness of the other actors.

Unlike the recent spy/secret agent movies which attempts to be clever by poking fun at spy movie clichés (as seen in Kingsman: The Secret Service), Ritchie embraces these clichés. Solo is the suave, manipulative charmer who never passes up a chance to bed every single girl while Kurakin is the brooding and intense hunk who can run fast enough to catch up with a speeding car and yank off its bonnet with his bare hands. Lest you think the two men are only good at these stereotypically masculine things, they also are experts when it comes to fashion. Watch them discuss Rabanne belts and Dior dresses as they dress Teller for her cover as an architect’s fiancée for a trip to Rome. The two are simply too well-dressed, well-built and handsome for us to take them seriously but then again, it’s clear that this movie is meant to be a light fluffy action movie.  

Movie Rating:

(What The Man from U.N.C.L.E lacks in substance, it makes up in style, making this slick production one which you would enjoy)

Review by Katrina Tee

Genre: Drama
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Scott Shepherd, Amy Ryan, Sebastian Koch, Alan Alda, Austin Stowell, Mikhail Gorevoy, Will Rogers
Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://bridgeofspies.com

Opening Day: 15 October 2015

Synopsis: Directed by Steven Spielberg, BRIDGE OF SPIES is a dramatic thriller which tells the story of James Donovan (played by Tom Hanks), a Brooklyn insurance claims lawyer who finds himself thrust into the center of the Cold War when the CIA sends him on the near-impossible task to negotiate the release of a captured American U-2 pilot.

Movie Review:

Steven Spielberg’s latest Cold War-era thriller begins with a near-wordless cat-and-mouse overture that reminds us how much of a craftsman he is. In that brilliant opening, we watch transfixed as FBI agents trail a suspected Soviet agent named Rudolf Abel through subways, sidewalks and parks of Brooklyn before finally raiding his apartment and arresting him on charges of treason and espionage. As much as you’d expect Spielberg to follow that up with screw-tightening suspense, he confounds that expectation just as quickly with a droll introduction to his lead protagonist named James Donovan, a New York insurance claims attorney arguing why the accident in which the client he is currently representing had hit a car with five people should not be referred to as “five things” but just “one thing”.

Sure enough, Spielberg doesn’t try to do a Tom Clancy with this real-life story of how Donovan came to be appointed by the Bar to represent Abel and subsequently negotiated a tricky exchange of Soviet and American spies; instead, working with a brilliantly written script by Joel and Ethan Coen with Matt Charman that adapts freely from the historical record, Spielberg mounts a handsomely old-fashioned story of righteous underdog triumph. It is a feel-good drama in every sense of the word, one that not only celebrates Donovan’s achievements but also honours the man for the principles of the U.S. Constitution for which he stood resolutely for, no matter how much others had already made up their mind about how the so-called American enemy should be treated.

Unfolding in two quite distinct halves, the first sees Donovan giving Abel a stout defence despite the CIA’s interference and presenting a compelling argument to the judge why his client should not be put to death, while setting up the circumstances by which Donovan will in fact be proven right. At what seems narratively the same time as the trial itself, the U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), selected as part of an elite group to take part in a top-secret mission to take highly detailed photographs of military installations within the Soviet Union, is captured by the Russians after his plane is shot down. It is not long after that the Berlin wall will be erected, which an American economics student named Richard Pryor (Will Rogers) finds himself on the wrong side of and detained by the East Germans.

And so, in the second half, Donovan is recruited by the CIA to cut a deal with the Soviets that will see the former trade Abel for Powers’ return – though Donovan decides on his own initiative to get two American men back for one Soviet spy. In contrast to the preceding half, this one is pretty much anchored through and through by Tom Hanks’ Donovan, who makes multiple trips by himself across the Berlin Wall to negotiate separate deals with a top KGB agent on the return of Powers as well as a very Western East German lawyer named Vogel (Sebastian Koch) on Pryor’s return. Donovan plays it cool in front of both the Soviets and the East Germans (what other choice does he have, really), but a scene where he is played by Vogel to be detained overnight by the East German police and another in which he watches East German refugees attempting to scale the wall being gunned down reinforces the peril within his lone-man mission as well as the complex geopolitical realities at play.

There is no secret whether Donovan manages to navigate the potentially treacherous waters (pun intended) to secure both Powers’ and Pryor’s releases – yes, the history books will already have you know that it all culminates at the Glienicke Bridge linking West Berlin with Potsdam, from which the movie takes its name. Rather than playing up the facts of the case, Spielberg opts instead to focus on the unlikely American hero with the modesty, high principles and simple fairness who would – as a post-script informs – be called upon to play yet another instrumental role in the subsequent negotiation with Fidel Castro for the ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion. Yet Spielberg doesn’t over-emphasise these ideals to make Donovan any sort of an icon; rather, Donovan just does the right thing from moment to moment, with an uncanny ability of “feeling” the person at the other end of the negotiation.

It is the sort of role that is perfectly suited for Hanks’ Everyman charm, and the actor, here in his fourth collaboration with Spielberg, gets it down pat. Removing any hint of sanctimoniousness, Hanks puts on, on top of a warm and generous performance, an extra air of humanity to play the rookie who, though way out of his depth in the rough and murky waters of espionage, follows a clear conscience and abiding values to emerge as an admirable hero. Hanks makes it all seem so natural, but lest we take it for granted, it does require a formidable actor to play the ordinary Capra-esque hero with a dry humour and much intellect to bear. And at least for a good third of the film, Hanks is well-matched with veteran stage actor Rylance, whose understated performance as Abel is a masterclass in itself.

Indeed, there is never any doubt at any point in the film that we are amongst seasoned pros – besides Hanks and Spielberg, the latter’s long-time collaborator Janusz Kaminski on camera who achieves a thick and luxurious atmosphere with his choice of shots and colour palette. This is as assured and confident Hollywood filmmaking as it gets, whether as a gripping fact-based docudrama or as a detailed character study or even as a sober lesson on tradecraft, political ideals and personal values. It is also Spielberg’s best film in years, one that should and would see some deserved Oscar attention come next year. 

Movie Rating:

(Easily one of Steven Spielberg’s best films in recent years, this Cold War-era feel-good drama is a masterclass in old-fashioned Hollywood craftsmanship, aided by a peerless performance from Tom Hanks)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Adventure/Thriller
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright, Sam Worthington, Emily Watson, Martin Henderson
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Rating: PG (Some Intense Sequences)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/EverestMovie

Opening Day: 24 September 2015

Synopsis: Inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, Everest documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind. Their mettle tested by the harshest elements found on the planet, the climbers will face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival.

Movie Review:

This reviewer may not have climbed Earth’s highest mountain (8848m), but in his 30 odd years of life, he has bravely attempted to ascend East Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu (4096m) and Sri Lanka’s Adam’s Peak (2243m). While the routes from the base to the summit of these two mountains are fairly safe, he would tell you that without a certain level of fitness or determination, the journey can be a mentally treacherous one. Of course, it didn’t help that this writer isn’t the healthiest individual, which made these two occasions somewhat exhausting.

And that is why he can understand the fear and trauma the characters in this Baltasar Kormakur directed drama thriller are going through on high altitude when Mother Nature shows her rough side. Based on true events of the 1996 Mount Everestdisaster (read more about the tragedy which killed eight climbers on the Internet), the thrills are given a large screen and 3D treatment to bring you face to face with the danger the mountaineers went through.

Two expedition groups, one led by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) and the other by Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), take on Mount Everest, not aware of the catastrophe that awaits them. Each climber has his or her own agenda to overcome the heights: there is the veteran who has been climbing for 10 years, there is the senior who is hoping to prove that an ordinary man can achieve an almost impossible dream, there is the woman who has climbed six of the Seven Summits and wants to become the oldest female to conquer Everest, and the journalist on assignment to do up a magazine article.

The thing about disaster movies based on real life events is, you know the outcome won’t be a pretty one. This particular adventure movie is particularly unsettling, as you read more about the tragedy and finding out what happened to them 19 years ago. What story is there left to tell then, you wonder. Filmmakers can always take on the approach of showing the great human spirit of those who have fallen, and relaying a cautionary tale of how humans shouldn’t mess around with the forces of nature.

While there are moments in this 121 minute movie when you’ll applaud the bravery of certain characters (especially Hall, who reportedly accompanied a climber to achieve his dream despite unwelcoming conditions), you also ponder whether such a tragedy could have been prevented. And if you were to really think about it, aren’t the unfortunate fates brought about by both untimely circumstances and, to a certain extent, mankind’s stubbornness?

The story plot plods along in a predictable manner, but the high production values make up for it. You’ll easily feel the panic and terror as the mountaineers try to make their way out of the blizzard. It’s exhilaratingly dizzying, and as far as the thrills department goes, this movie delivers.

The ensemble cast also includes Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Marin Henderson, Sam Worthington, as well as representatives from the female gender in the form of Emily Watson and Keira Knightley. Each actor does a decent job, and although it eventually becomes pointless to try to make out who’s who behind those thick mountain climbing outfits, you’ll give credits to them for the challenging production. It becomes almost impossible to fault this movie, as you hope that such ill fated events won’t happen to you or anyone you know.  

Movie Rating:

(There are enough thrills to leave you feeling unsettled about the real life tragedy that happened 19 years ago)

Review by John Li

Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Director: Breck Eisner
Cast: Vin Diesel, Michael Caine, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Rena Owen, Julie Engelbrecht
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://www.thelastwitchhunter.com

Opening Day: 22 October 2015

Synopsis: Tormented by the loss of his family and cursed with immortal life, the last witch hunter (Vin Diesel) is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history. The fate of the human race hangs in the balance when a queen witch rises from the dead, seeking revenge against the immortal warrior (Diesel) who slayed her centuries ago.

Movie Review:

Every studio wants a franchise with just about the hottest star in Hollywood right now, which explains why Sony is re-starting their ‘xXx’ series and Summit is spending close to $100 million on this modern-day fantasy actioner. Besides starring as the titular witch hunter Kaulder, Vin Diesel is also producing the movie through his One Race Films banner, which imagines the chrome-domed action star as a 14^th century grieving father who through hunting the queen witch responsible for the plague upon his village is gifted (or cursed) with immortality and is therefore able to live through the centuries to present-day New York.

As narrative convention would have it, Kaulder will do battle yet again with the Queen Witch (Julie Engelbrecht) at the final showdown, which also means the rest of the movie is pretty much about how she comes back to life. By a script from Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, that resurrection begins with the “death” of Kaulder’s friend and handler Dolan the 36^th (Michael Caine) on the very night he hands over responsibility to the 37^th Dolan (Elijah Wood), which leads him on a pursuit of a powerful witch named Belial (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) who had placed the senior Dolan under a dark magic spell and a race against time to not only save Father Dolan but also stop Belial from bringing back to life Kaulder’s accursed foe from whose apparent death he gained life forever.

Along the way, we are acquainted with the secret brotherhood known as the ‘Axe and Cross’ whom Kaulder does the dirty work of apprehending wayward witches for, as well as the fact that witches are not all bad, especially one with the power to enter people’s dreams (known as a ‘dream walker’) named Chloe (Rose Leslie) whom Kaulder will team up with eventually to defeat the Queen Witch. Except for a final plot twist that feels less organic than obligatory, most of the movie pretty much unfolds without any surprises, whether how Kaulder is in fact a key element for the Queen Witch’s return or how the former will be stripped of his immortality just before the climactic fight just to set the stakes higher.

Like most fantasy adventures, this one starts off intriguing before falling back to more pedestrian territory, notwithstanding its modern-day setting which uses Pittsburgh as a stand-in for the dark grimy alleys of New York City. Yes, as interesting as the passing of the baton from one Dolan to another or the Axe and Cross brotherhood may sound, both could do with a lot more texture in order to make them integral to the central narrative; as it stands, both are no more than curious sideshows that are somewhat forgotten once Kaulder starts chasing Belial’s tail, or for that matter once Kaulder’s quest gets not quite so lonely with Chloe tagging along for sport.

On his part, director Breck Eisner keeps the proceedings fairly brisk to distract his audience from the shortcomings of Goodman’s script, orchestrating one CGI-heavy setpiece after another to sustain what magic he has going in the first place. Few however are outstanding in and of themselves – the fact that most take place against dimly lit locations as is de rigueur for the genre doesn’t help, especially since d.p. Dean Semler has a penchant for moving his cameras as the action unfolds – such that the one which makes an impression is in fact the most brightly lit sequence of all set in a bar which Chloe owns that Kaulder visits in order to “remember [his] death”, according to a cryptic clue which Father Dolan leaves behind just before he is ambushed. 

Yet, if there is one thing that Eisner does get right, it is not to take the shenanigans too seriously. There is a more than a hint of cheese in the whole modern-day sorcery premise, but Eisner overcomes that with occasional doses of wry self-aware humour. Despite being centuries old, there is a nice irony in how Kaulder persuades Father Dolan to switch his leather-bound notebook for an iPad. Though they share only a couple of scenes together, Diesel and Caine share a warm rapport that is arguably more enjoyable than his interactions with Chloe. Kaulder’s scenes with the younger Dolan are also amusing in their own way, especially in how the former schools the latter on the tools and tricks of the witch-hunting trade.

But of course, front and centre in each and every one of the scenes is the 48-year-old Diesel, who is coming off a new career high with the runaway success of the recent ‘Fast and Furious’ movies. Diesel’s charisma here is unquestionable, and he brings attitude, poise and pizazz to a role that demands each of these characteristics. As a potential start to a franchise, ‘The Last Witch Hunter’ is entertaining enough without being groundbreaking or spectacular on its own; and yet insofar as it is meant to be a franchise vehicle for Diesel, it has at least succeeded by creating an appealing character built on the actor’s brawns and charm – which, for his fans, is likely to be more than enough. 

Movie Rating:

(Vin Diesel brings his trademark attitude, poise and pizazz to the titular role of a franchise starter that is good enough for an entertaining diversion but nothing much more)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Martial-Arts/Drama
Director: Chen Kaige
Cast: Wang Baoqiang, Aaron Kwok, Chang Chen, Chiling Lin, Fan Wei, Yuen Wah, Wang Xueqi, Vanness Wu, Chen Kwok Kuen, Lam Suet, Jaycee Chan
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 7 July 2015

Synopsis: An impoverished young monk, who has spent his entire life in a monastery located on top of a mountain, is forced to encounter the real world when he travels down the mountain for the first time. He encounters "Jianghu" (the world of various sects of martial arts), along with a series of bizarre events and extraordinary, larger-than-life characters. These occurrences bring him closer to understanding the meaning of life and the true essence of martial arts. He discovers that "Ruthlessness defines a champion, principle creates a hero," finally understanding the lesson his master was trying to impart.

Movie Review:

 Whereas it is often the world-weary individual who finds solace and enlightenment from his sins and other worldly burdens by journeying up the mountain, Chen Kaige’s latest sees his protagonist do quite the opposite. Raised as a baby in a monastery after he was found on its steps as a child, the ingenuous He Anxia (Wang Baoqiang) – so named after the abbot’s dilemma of “where to put” the child – is sent down the mountain after he wins a martial arts tournament that the abbot holds to determine who should leave in the wake of a food shortage. “You’ll meet good and bad people,” the abbot intones. “But a hero stays true to himself.” And with these words of wisdom, Anxia journeys to the city of Hangzhou in the 1930s to make his own livelihood.

As scripted by Chen and Zhang Ting from Xu Haofeng’s popular martial arts novel of the same name, Anxia’s rite of passage consists of three loosely related acts that depict life’s vicissitudes. The first act revolves around a surgeon named Tsui Daoning (Fan Wei) who becomes Anxia’s benefactor after he offers to give him shelter and employment at his clinic. Turns out that Daoning used to be a monk as well, but he left the monkhood in order to marry his porcelain-beauty wife Yuzhen (Lin Chiling), whom Anxia is shocked one day to catch cheating with Daoning’s no-good younger brother Daorong (Vanness Wu). Enraged at their betrayal and complicity in Daoning’s subsequent sudden death, Anxia takes matters into his own hands, which only plunges him further into despair.

But this will only be the first test of the strength of his character, and no sooner has he purged the guilt of his actions with the help of a Buddhist monk Rusong (Wang Xueqi) is he drawn into his next trial. While at Daoning’s clinic one day, Anxia meets Zhao Xinchuan (Danny Chan) who reveals that he wants to buy some medicine for his master Peng Qianwu (Yuen Wah) whom he will be duelling with that evening. Xinchuan wins the duel, but the manipulative Qianwu literally stabs his disciple from the back at the end, whose death in turns brings Qianwu’s son Qizi (Jaycee Chan) to Anxia’s clinic for answers. In what turns out to be more than just a coincidence, Qizi leads Anxia to raid Zhou Xinyu’s (Aaron Kwok) temple kitty, who happens to be a longtime rival of his father Qianwu.

Unlike with Daoning, Anxia is pretty much an observer to their longstanding feud, but even then he is just as distressed at the fate that ultimately befalls Xinyu. Thus begins the third act led by Boss Cha (Chang Chen), a Chinese opera doyen who is just as distraught to hear about Xinyu and who makes it his personal mission to avenge Xinyu. Yes, the two go way back, and if you’ve read the Chinese tabloids, you may have come across some referring to their relationship as bordering on homo-erotic (and really, who can blame them when you have two oh-so-good-looking leads oozing machismo at each other?). Besides Cha, this last act also adds Lam Suet’s corrupt police commissioner, whom Cha offends by cancelling his show on the very evening that the former books the entire theatre to celebrate his concubine’s birthday.

Kindness. Love. Lust. Betrayal. Vengeance. Hatred. Through Anxia’s encounters with these worldly characters, Chen invites his audience to ruminate on what we have come to accept as the natural order of life, where one thing leads to another for better and for worse. As Anxia witnesses these characters go about this order, he is forced – and we are similarly confronted – with the decision to simply accept this vicious cycle of anger and violence or to be courageous enough to break it. Indeed, everything unfolds as a series of cause and effect, which underlies the Buddhist concept of karma that Anxia will learn by the final showdown between Qianwu and Cha, as well as between Qizi and Anxia.

Chen’s films have always been known for their social undertones, but his latest reflects a sort of coming-of-age for the filmmaker, who uses his signature visual flair and epic storytelling for a much more introspective picture. Though Anxia starts off as an observer to the events around him, he quickly becomes an actor in his own right, whose actions in turn have repercussions on others around him. So it is for each one of the other characters, whose actions in turn are responsible for their own fates and that of those around them, and Anxia’s coming-of-age journey is in appreciating the way the world turns, in order to better appreciate how and why the Buddhist teachings that are meant to be antithesis to this worldly order.

Thankfully, Chen isn’t didactic; in fact, he keeps the tone light, graceful and even poetic. The same can also be said of Ko Huen Chiu’s action choreography, i.e. as poetry in motion, with some sumptuous set-pieces such as Xinyu’s one-on-one duel with Qianwu, Cha’s one-against-many with the commissioner’s henchmen, and of course the gorgeous finale that literally takes place on a different plane altogether. The execution is like a martial-arts graphic novel come alive, and quite spectacular to behold. Chen hasn’t let go of his touch for the fantastical from his last film ‘The Promise’, but the
CGI embellishments enhance, rather than detract, from the fable-like storytelling.

Chen also has his ensemble cast to thank for elevating the material. Fresh off his stint as a crazed serial murderer in ‘Kung Fu Killer’, Wang exhibits surprising depth as the titular monk way out of his depth. It isn’t the first time he’s playing the artless idiot, but Wang displays a much wider breath of emotions than we’ve ever seen him do in a single role. Kwok has proven himself an actor in his own right, and brings gravitas to the role of a world-weary Tai Chi master who has chosen seclusion away from the worries of the world. But among the supporting cast, it is Chang Chen who will leave the deepest impression, all charm, elegance and grit on his quest for justice and finally putting that kung fu training from ‘The Grandmasters’ to good use.

And oh for those curious to know just how much of a role Jaycee Chan is left with, we can safely say that he has survived it pretty much intact. It is a supporting part no doubt, but an unexpectedly pivotal one as the story unfolds. But ‘Monk Comes Down the Mountain’ deserves to be recognised for so much more than Jaycee’s (likely) last Mainland film in a while; it is, somewhat ironically, a meditation on the way of the world, the good, the bad and the downright ugly, and a poignant reminder that there is no escaping the viccissitudes of love, hate and desire. 

Movie Rating:

(Whimsical, elegant, gorgeous, and poetic, Chen Kaige’s meditation on the way of the world through the eyes of a guileless Taoist monk is a deeply moving coming-of-age story)

Review by Gabriel Chong 

Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi
Director: Colin Minihan
Cast: Brittany Allen, Freddie Stroma, Melanie Papalia, Anja Savcic, Gil Bellows, Sean Rogerson, Michael Ironside
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Violence) 
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 23 July 2015

Synopsis: Still reeling from her parents’ divorce, April (Daytime Emmy winner, Brittany Allen) is dragged back to the vacation cabin she spent fond summers at as a child accompanied by a group of friends. Her trip down memory lane takes a dramatic and terrifying turn when a fireball descends from the sky and explodes in the nearby woods. Lead by her boyfriend, played by Freddie Stroma (Harry Potter & The Half Blooded Prince, Pitch Perfect), the group venture out toward the crash site and discover the remnants of a ship from another planet along with footprints that suggest its alien occupants are still alive. The college friends soon find themselves caught in the middle of something bigger and more terrifying than anything they could ever imagine.

Movie Review:

You’ll be glad first and foremost to know that ‘Extraterrestrial’ isn’t a found-footage movie; indeed, if you’ve seen the equally low-budget ‘Alien Abduction’ last year, you’ll know why that is a huge relief. Notwithstanding that one of its characters does carry a camcorder in tow for his trip to the cabin in the woods, the writers-directors who go by the Vicious Brothers’, i.e. Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz, who in case you’re wondering aren’t actually siblings, only use footage from his p.o.v. sparingly, opting instead not to lose the big picture and thereby allowing their audience to see the UFOs in full naked glory.

Yes, as if you can’t already tell from the title, this concerns some unfortunate encounters of the otherworldly kind; the people ‘lucky’ enough to run into the aliens a quintet of close friends who have accompanied the central couple, April (Brittany Allen) and Kyle (Freddie Stroma), to the former’s country getaway where the latter has a surprise marriage proposal planned. Sadly for Kyle, April rejects him, but the evening only gets worse when they spot a fiery flying saucer crashing into the nearby woods, and end up killing its injured inhabitant. Suffice to say that its relatives aren’t quite so pleased, and the group soon find themselves hunted by a hostile species who has apparently been abducting humans in these parts of the woods for experimentation.

Every single trick in the UFO playbook is pretty much assembled here. There is a local quack (Michael Ironside) who just so happens to be the only authoritative figure about what is going on. There are the cattle mutilations which the small-town sheriff (Gil Bellows) suspects is more than just a string of coincidences. And of course, there are the aliens themselves, who happen to be tall thin beings with smooth gray skin and huge black eyes – and oh, did we mention that they are into rectal probes too? The fact that this isn’t some self-aware parody means that all these elements unfold with unyielding self-seriousness, but truth be told, neither do the Vicious-es seem to aspire for their sophomore feature to be anything more than a well-made shlocker.  

And in that regard, there is no denying that they have made a slick, pacey slasher thriller but with vengeful aliens. One of the early scenes where the first of them is taken up into their spaceship is surprisingly suspenseful, in particular when the rainstorm they were caught in just a minute ago stops abruptly over a circular patch of grass (hint: look up). Another with April and Kyle evading capture in the cabin by them aliens is gripping to say the least, but not quite so jaw-dropping as the final act that sees April stow away on board the alien ship in order to rescue Kyle and whatever is left of the rest of her friends. It’s a suitably thrilling finale to say the least, more audacious and inventive than you would expect of a low-budget B-movie of this nature.

Really, should you be expecting more from ‘Extraterrestrial’? Sure, many of its components feel familiar, but there is nothing wrong in a movie that intends to be no more than a well-done retread of the alien abduction genre. The cast do unremarkable work with their thinly written roles – except Ironside, whose appearance on its own will surely delight genre aficionados – but let’s face it, no one expects much more of them than to convince us of their fear if we were there in their predicament in the first place. There are plenty of sci-fi and horror clichés all right, but if you’re looking for the sort of guilty pleasure that you would find in a midnight movie on Saturday night cable, you’ll find this quite the enjoyable blend of thrills, gore and shocks.  

Movie Rating:

(A well-made B-movie of the alien abduction kind, this familiar yet nonetheless effective horror thriller should satiate genre fans looking for some guilty pleasure of the shlocky kind)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Horror/Adventure
Director: Rob Letterman
Cast: Jack Black, Odeya Rush, Amy Ryan, Dylan Minnette, Ryan Lee, Ken Marino, Halston Sage
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: PG (Frightening Scenes)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/GoosebumpsMovie

Opening Day: 29 October 2015

Synopsis: Upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach's comes when he learns that Hannah has a mysterious dad who is revealed to be R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series. It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange... he is a prisoner of his own imagination - the monsters that his books made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Zach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it's suddenly up to Stine, Zach, and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong.

Movie Review:

If you’ve ever wondered what a big-screen version of R.L. Stine’s best-selling kid-lit books would look like, ‘Goosebumps’ is as delightful an answer as any. Instead of taking one of the author’s 62 titles and bringing to life the abominable snowman of Pasadena or the werewolf from Fever Swamp or the gnomes from Mr McCall’s lawn or the ventriloquist’s puppet from ‘Night of the Living Dummy’, this feature adaptation decides to let all of Stine’s spooky creations descend on the sleepy suburban town of Madison, Delaware, on the same night. Oh yes, it does get crowded all right, but a firm tongue in cheek ensures that this blend of humour and horror never loses its entertainment value right down to a very, very busy finish.

At least its “more the merrier” philosophy isn’t a go-for-broke consequence, thanks to a surprisingly inventive premise that casts Jack Black as Stine himself. Using the familiar narrative trope of a teenage boy Zach (Dylan Minnette) and his mother (Amy Ryan) moving into a new town to build a new life, screenwriter Darren Lemke (working from a story credited to Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski) slowly unveils Stine as an eccentric recluse who has retreated from the public eye with his home-schooled daughter Hannah (Odeya Rush). Mr Stine forbids Zach from making contact with Hannah, but as such warnings go, Zach finds himself falling for the girl next door after a night out at an abandoned amusement park in the woods.

A little misunderstanding causes Zach to suspect Hannah’s life to be in danger, and so with his new BFF Champ (Ryan Lee), Zach breaks into the Stine residence and inadvertently opens up one of Mr Stine’s locked manuscripts to let loose none other than the abominable snowman. The catch here is that unlocking any one of Mr Stine’s titles which he keeps on the bookshelves in his living room immediately unleashes the creatures that he had wrought from his imagination, the worst of them being Stine’s Napoleonic alter-ego Slappy. Especially bitter for having been locked up all this while, Slappy proceeds to unleash the creatures from all the other stories –besides those already mentioned above, fans should have their eyes peeled for graveyard ghouls, a giant praying mantis, Annihilator 3000 robots and mutant plants.

All these monsters eventually converge upon Zach’s school where the students have gathered for the annual high-school dance, but the monster orgy is less delightful in and of itself than the ‘one-on-ones’ that precede it – that is, a terrifying game of hide-and-seek with the angry snowman, a kitchen brawl with the devilish garden gnomes and a ‘supermarket sweep’ with a snarling werewolf. Letterman is no stranger to the live-action CG genre (he also directed Black in the Fox family comedy ‘Gulliver’s Travels), choreographing the ensuing creature mayhem with panache and a healthy dose of wit – and like Stine’s own books, there are just the right amount of scares to keep a younger audience hooked without freaking them out.

Much of the charm derives from the meta conceit, most notably Black, who gets to channel his inner peculiarities playing the curmudgeonly author. Black remains goofy as ever during the ensuing creature chaos, but there is a nasty, distant and even angry side to him pulling double duty as Slappy that is genuinely refreshing to watch. His comic timing is as sharp as ever, especially when delivering amusing zingers about Stine’s popularity vis-à-vis that of a certain fellow author of the same genre that he refers to as “Steve King”. Few actors can crack a joke one second and turn in a subtle character beat the next, but the inimitable Black does just that in conveying Stine’s loneliness and melancholy in a poignant third-act twist – and Black also gets reliable support from his teenage co-stars, including the appealing Minnette as Zach and the scene-stealing Lee as his scaredy-cat cum dorky pal Champ.

Despite there being every reason to be cynical about yet another YA-lite series making its way to the big screen, ‘Goosebumps’ overcomes such cynicisms by achieving a crowd-pleasing blend of laughs and frights. Its genius lies in not taking things too literally (pun intended) and going instead for a neat trick that not only allows its makers to stuff about 25 monsters into the frenzied fray but also project a witty, tongue-in-cheek sensibility that demonstrates quite literally the power of fiction to come alive. The real-life author himself pops up in a cameo right at the end playing a drama teacher named Mr Black, and by that time, there is no doubt ‘Goosebumps’ is through and through a thrilling delight for audiences young and old. 

Movie Rating:

(Applying a clever meta- twist to bring a whole bevy of R.L. Stine’s spooky creations to life, this feature adaptation of his bestselling series with Jack Black playing the author is a thrilling, raucous delight)

Review by Gabriel Chong

KOREAN HEARTTHROB SIWON CHOI IN TOWN ON 5TH AUGUST Posted on 29 Jul 2015 Korean heartthrob Siwon Choi, together with acclaimed Hong Kong Director Dante Lam, will be in Singapore on 5th August to promote their latest sports-action blockbusterTO THE FORE.Promotional events include a mall appearance at PS! TO THE FORESingapore Gala Premiere Stage Event Date: 5thAugust 2015 (Wednesday) Tim ... more

Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
Director: Raman Hui
Cast: Bai Baihe, Jing Boran, Sandra Ng, Tang Wei, Eric Tsang, Wallace Chung, Jiang Wu, Yan Ni, Yao Chen, Tang Wei
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 23 July 2015

Synopsis: In a fantasy world far, far away, monsters ruled the land. Then came human’s all-out war in an attempt to seize the land. In its final days, they outwitted the monsters and succeeded in driving them into the dark mountains. Ever since, monsters were forbidden to step into the land again. If they were found, they would be captured and exterminated. For all these years, the two races have lived in their separate worlds, until the birth of a new monster king who would reshape the balance of power and bring in the new world order.

Movie Review: 

A long time ago in China, humans co-existed with monsters before, in typical human fashion, the humans decided to wage war to banish the monsters... Or so the film starts.

The reviewer admits that she is not a huge fan of films that combine live action and animation. These films, or those which were memorable anyway, tend to be filled with too-fake CGI, and horribly awkward acting, where the actors attempt to interact with something obviously not there. That said, Monster Hunt was strangely enjoyable, even for someone who usually shies away from such films.

The premise of the film is atypical but predictable - girl meets boy, girl saves boy from getting eaten by monsters, boy gets pregnant and gives birth to radish, before the both of them travel to a restaurant. Before the film even starts, the audience can sort of guess - girl and boy falls in love with each other, and they create a family unit with the radish. Which sort of happens, although thankfully not in an overly sentimental and corny way.

But first, the animation. Helmed by the co-director of Shrek the Third, and the supervising animator of Shrek and Shrek 2, Raman Hui, one would expect that the animation in the film would be a departure from the typical Chinese animation (think martial arts flicks from the 90s and early 2000s). Hui does not disappoint, blending the animated monsters with the live action elements impressively well - which was a huge relief, given the central position these monsters have in the movie. The transition from human to monster (as the monsters were literally hidden in human skin) was also done smoothly and, to a certain extent, believably, when other films typically over-dramatise the whole process. In all, the animation was a huge breath of fresh air in the Chinese animation scene, and ticks all the boxes in that area.

The story's protagonist, Tianying (Jing Boran), is the good-natured mayor of Yongning Village, After being saved from becoming food for fleeing monsters Zhu Gao and Pang Ying (played and voiced by Eric Tsang and Sandra Ng respectively), Tianying is forced to abandon his village while heavily pregnant, and travels with Xiaolan (Bai Baihe) towards Shuntian City.

Jing's comedic performance as the peaceable and naïve male protagonist with a Tragic Back Story does not win the hearts of the audience from the start. However, while acting out the standard scenarios of pregnancy and motherhood (eating absurdly sour food, breastfeeding, etc.), Jing somehow convinces and endears the audience with his waddling and maternal instincts. Which could have been easily overplayed as well, but was avoided by Jing. 

In contrast to the helpless Tianying, Xiaolan is independent and boyish (while also having a Tragic Back Story), with a tendency of biting off more than she can chew. Xiaolan is oddly likeable despite being a mercenary second-rate monster hunter, perhaps due to Bai's impish smirks and her portraying the character as a typical tsurundere, for a lack of a better word.

The gender subversion between Tianying and Xiaolan does come as a surprise due to the male-dominated Chinese society, and it comes to a sudden halt at a later part of the film, as Tianying becomes the hero of the hour while Xiaolan is reduced to a damsel in distress. It is a disappointment but A+ for effort while it lasted, I guess. 

Despite the good-looking and complementary main cast, and the many cameos from bigger stars, such as Tang Wei and Yao Chen, the highlight of the film no doubt does to the monster baby who Tianying gives birth to. Unexpectedly cute, the baby radish gets increasingly likeable as the story progresses, growing onto his surrogate parents and the audience despite looking distinctly unbaby-ish. The saddest sound, and scene, of the movie was probably the baby radish crying for the first time - which is almost sure to break any parent's heart.

The show does come full circle at the end, but leaves too many questions and storylines unexplored. Who exactly is Tianying's father? Is his grandmother senile for real? Can Tianying really become a monster hunter? Will we ever see the monster baby again? Thankfully, with the movie's strong showing in the Chinese and international box office, we can probably expect a sequel (or three, given that the main cast has been signed on for the next three movies), which hopefully provides more answers while maintaining the high quality of animation and avoiding the clichés which sequels tend to fall into.

Movie Rating:

 

(Monster Hunter is the perfect example of a predictable yet enjoyable film, with the breakout star a baby radish which stole our hearts from its first squeak)

Review by Goh Yan Hui

Genre: Drama/Adventure
Director: Boaz Yakin
Cast: Josh Wiggins, Thomas Haden Church, Lauren Graham, Robbie Amell, Jay Hernandez, Ian Gregg, Joseph Julian Soria, Owen Harn, Miles Mussenden, Dejon LaQuake
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros 
Official Website: http://max-themovie.com

Opening Day: 16 July 2015

Synopsis: From Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures comes "Max," a family action adventure from writer/director Boaz Yakin ("Remember the Titans," "Now You See Me").

A precision-trained military dog, Max serves on the frontlines in Afghanistan alongside his handler, U.S. Marine Kyle Wincott. But when things go terribly wrong on maneuvers, Kyle is mortally wounded and Max, traumatized by the loss of his best friend, is unable to remain in service. Shipped stateside, the only human he seems willing to connect with is Kyle's teenage brother, Justin, so Max is adopted by Kyle's family, essentially saving his life. But Justin has issues of his own, such as living up to his father's expectations for him; he isn't interested in taking responsibility for his brother's troubled dog. However, Max may be Justin's only chance to discover what really happened to his brother that day on the front, and with the help of a tough-talking young teen, Carmen, who has a way with dogs, Justin begins to appreciate his canine companion. Justin's growing trust in Max helps the four-legged veteran revert back to his heroic self, and as the pair race against time to unravel the mystery, they find more excitement-and danger-than they bargained for. But they each might also find an unlikely new best friend...in each other.

Movie Review:

If it already isn’t apparent, ‘Max’ is that sort of feel-good family-friendly film built upon man’s relationship with his loyal best friend. In this case, the titular canine happens to be a gorgeous, intelligent Belgian Malinois, one of 3,000-plus dogs that served in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are told at the start. After his handler, a marine named Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell), is killed in a firefight, the traumatized dog is sent back to the States and a pivotal scene where Max is brought to Kyle’s funeral and lies at the foot of the latter’s coffin expresses the dog’s anguish more poignantly than any words can say.

But this is as much Max’s redemptive story as it is Kyle’s brother’s, Justin (Josh Wiggins), whose family adopts the dog after seeing how Justin seems to be the only one who is able to connect with him. “The family takes care of its own,” declares Mom (Lauren Graham), who also hopes that the dog can help Justin to be a more responsible kid. Yes, immersed in his world of video games and extreme bike riding, Justin himself is on the rails, which especially irks his no-nonsense ex-Marine father (Thomas Haden Church) with whom he is pretty much engaged in a cold war with.

Also as a result, Max spends much of his time outside the home hanging out with his best friend Chuy (Dejon LaQuake) and his cousin Carmen (Mia Xitlali). The latter happens not only to be a brash tough-talking tomboy but also possesses some experience with dogs – and over the course of learning how to handle Max, a budding romance develops between them. It isn’t all peaches and roses however – the return of Kyle’s friend and fellow Marine Tyler (Luke Kleintank) from active duty brings a more sinister side to the story, which includes some illegal arms dealing involving Chuy’s thuggish cousin Emilio (Joseph Julian Soria), a corrupt sheriff’s deputy (Owen Harn) and a Mexican cartel-connected gangster.

It’s a somewhat overwrought plot all right, but that should probably not come as a surprise given the oeuvre of its director Boaz Yakin and his co-scripter Sheldon Lettich. Wearing the heart of the movie on its sleeve, Yakin makes no apologies for the heartstring-tugging premise or the many scenes specifically designed – with a patriotic score by Trevor Rabin no less – to celebrate the sacrifices of military dogs. Aside from the occasional hints about the post-traumatic after-effects of war, this is through and through as much a celebration of love for country as ‘American Sniper’, especially with the running themes of honour and integrity that are supposed to be sacrosanct for any self-respecting Marine.

Yet, even though it unabashedly pushes its emotional buttons, ‘Max’ turns out surprisingly tolerable because it doesn’t pretend to be more. Yes, there is an earnestness to both its purpose and storytelling that you’ll find hard to begrudge, in particular because Yakin smoothes over the rough edges of the narrative with polish and naked sentimentality. Yakin also has his cast to thank for that. Wiggins gives a restrained performance that balances snark with sensitivity, while Haden Church and Graham bring a warm groundedness to their roles as parents even when they are called to turn on the waterworks.

Equally impressive as the human stars are the canine actors who play Max at different points, and kudos to animal coordinator Mark Forbes for an impressive job wringing in the dog-on-dog combat sequences from his six Belgian Malinois and five Rottweilers. Whether as a coming-of-age story, and as an inspirational tale of a boy and his dog, and as a tribute to the unsung war heroes that venture courageously into enemy territory, ‘Max’ proves to be a perfectly palatable combination of all these elements. It is patriotic no doubt, sentimental yes, wholesome definitely, but that is also part of its uncomplicated charm, and we suspect why families looking for some schmaltzy fare will find that it hits just that right spot. 

Movie Rating:

(Unabashedly cloying and sentimental, this coming-of-age story is nevertheless surprisingly effective as wholesome family-friendly fare)

Review by Gabriel Chong