Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: John Woo
Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Song Hye-Kyo, Huang Xiaoming, Tong Dawei, Masami Nagasawa, Amanda Qin, Yu Feihong, Tony Yang, Qianyuan Wang, Bowie Lam
Runtime: 2 hrs 6 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 13 August 2015
Synopsis: After the "Taiping" docked in the harbor, people rushed on like a swarm of hornets. Extensive luggage and bundles of steel bars were hoisted onto the ship. Ze Kun (Takeshi Kaneshiro), Yu Zhen (Zhang Ziyi) and Da Qing (Tong Dawei) board the ship. January 27, 1949, "Taiping" set sail from the pier. Passengers were celebrating Lunar New Year on ship, a feeling of calm filled the ship. The drunken sailors in control room didn't notice that they put the ship onto a collision course. A huge shadow closed in and the moonlight revealed a name, "Jian Yuan". Passengers were violently awakened by the loud crashing. Frightened, people gathered on the starboard side of the ship, screaming and panicking as they saw "Jian Yuan" sinking rapidly. Sailors abandoned the ship and swam towards "Taiping" for help. Ze Kun realized that "Taiping" was also in danger... A John Woo's film that shows a turbulent period in modern history and shows how love can survive and overcome all difficulties.
Movie Review:
If ‘The Crossing 1’ was all build-up and no pay-off, we’re sad to say that ‘The Crossing 2’ is yet again too much build-up and hardly any pay-off. Meant as a single film but cut into two separate parts for no apparent reason than to maximise box-office revenue, John Woo’s passion project based on the sinking of the steamer Taiping is no more than an old-school sweeping war-time romance disguised as disaster spectacle that positioned it as the ‘Chinese Titanic’. Though shots of the Taiping bookended the first film, the vessel had not even left its berth in Shanghai for the fateful voyage at the end of two hours – and this concluding second part takes more than an hour to try just as futilely in justifying why we should care about any of its characters before casting them out to sea.
Woo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Su Chao-pin and Chen Ching-hui based upon an original script by ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and ‘Lust, Caution’s’ Wang Huiling, builds his narrative fibre on the intertwining fates of various characters, including the fiercely loyal Nationalist commander Lei Yifang (Huang Xiaoming) and his wife Yunfen (Song Hye-kyo), the Taiwanese doctor Yan Zekun (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who takes the place of his younger brother to serve in the Sino-Japanese War, and a volunteer nurse named Yuzhen (Zhang Ziyi) searching for her lover amidst the dead and wounded brought in from the frontlines. Given the tepid reception to the first movie, there is no reason to expect that audiences would be well acquainted with these characters, so a good hour is spent as much picking up from where its predecessor left off as re-treading old ground through flashbacks and what not.
Of the lot, only Zekun emerges as a more fully-fleshed character following the requisite exposition here, which balances the maudlin scenes of his Japanese lover Masako (Masami Nagasawa) with that between him and his brother Zeming (Tong Yang) caught in the throes of a Communist revolt. Turns out it was to plead with Zeming to return home to their grief-stricken mother that is why Zekun made the trip to Shanghai and back, the latter being the reason why he ended up on the Taiping on that ill-fated evening. Yuzhen is on that same voyage in the hopes of finding her lover in Taiwan where many Nationalists have fled in the face of the Communist uprising, and meets on the ship her sham husband Tong Daqing (Tong Dawei) whom she was engaged in a marriage of convenience. And if you must know, Yunfen isn’t on the boat; instead, she remains throughout the film in her countryside house in Taiwan, awaiting more definitive news of General Lei’s circumstances even as an official dispatch informs her of his death upon the decisive Huaihai battle in the winter of 1948.
Because not all the main characters are accorded equal treatment, Woo struggles to balance the principal actors’ screen time in order not to inadvertently neglect any one over another. Ziyi for instance appears as much as Takeshi does in the first hour, but her scenes seem padded and do not amount to anything substantial. Ditto for Hye-kyo, whose misfortune of getting bitten by a snake and subsequent treatment by Zekun is rehashed in full to give her character equivalent attention. Woo has said that part two is cut to exist as a standalone movie, but there is too little meat to both Ziyi and Hye-kyo’s characters here alone – and ironically too much of déjà vu for those who have seen the earlier movie. It is especially telling that the pace of the first half goes in stops and starts, mostly because what dramatic momentum is built up in Zekun’s arc is time and again deflated as the focus shifts back and forth to Yuzhen or Yunfen.
Indeed, it feels almost too long before Woo finally packs Zekun and Yuzhen on the Taiping’s final sail from Shanghai to Keelung – but even more disappointing is how quickly the steamer meets its watery end. Hints are dropped about the overloading of the ship, both in terms of passengers as well as cargo, but these amount to little as soon as it leaves the Shanghai harbour. Equally, the class divide among those on board is hinted at but never given any teeth, not even when the ship capsizes. And on that note, there is one shot of the Taiping slamming into the freight ship Chian Yuan that is impressive even by Hollywood standards, and another of the Taiping toppling over after taking in water from the hull, but on the whole, the choreography lacks scale and continuity to fully convey the gravity of the disaster.
That is perhaps the greatest disappointment, not least because Woo is supposedly at the helm and the director is no stranger to bold action set-pieces as evinced from the hugely superior ‘Red Cliff’ duology. Whether out of budgetary constraints or otherwise, the sequences lack the usual John Woo grandeur, and instead are largely concentrated on the bow where Zekun and Yuzhen (conveniently) find themselves when tragedy strikes. Too much time is also spent watching the passengers flounder and flail in the open water after the ship tips over, which is probably a befitting metaphor for how Woo’s film itself struggles to stay afloat.
And so what sounded promisingly as the next John Woo epic has sadly turned into his albatross, as the auteur fails to make good on what goodwill was left from part one to rescue his own waterlogged project. It isn’t a failure by titanic proportions, but ‘The Crossing’ is without a doubt a huge let-down – whether by the definition of an epic war-time romance as was intended in the first part or by that of a disaster movie in this continuation. Those looking for spectacle will most certainly be upset that the pivotal event is but an overdue and short-lived climax, whereas those looking for emotional pathos will find – without the benefit of part one – too many underwritten characters that pop up only to augment the melodrama. Were it one movie instead of two, ‘The Crossing’ could have been more compelling; as it stands, this drawn-out second part is yet another long tease that never offers sufficient payoff.
Movie Rating:
(More than an hour passes before the Taiping even sets sail for its ill-fated voyage, by which time poor narrative and character work has already doomed this second part of John Woo's passion project)
Review by Gabriel Chong
|
CHEW CHOR MENG AND WANG WEI LIANG TO STAR IN NEW LOCAL FILM 'LUCKY BOY'Posted on 14 Jul 2015 |
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Director: Ding Sheng
Cast: Andy Lau, Liu Ye, Wu Ruo Fu, Wang Qian Yuan
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw & Clover Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 1 October 2015
Synopsis: The story focuses on the abduction of Wu Ruofu, a Hong Kong film star, in 2004. Despite the cruelty of his abductors, Wu demonstrates an extraordinary calm that makes him more than just another kidnapping victim, aided by the brave actions of the police.
Movie Review:
The kidnapping of prominent TV star Wu Ruofu outside a bar in Beijing’s Sanlitun district may not have made much headlines here in Singapore, but it was big news back in the Mainland - not least because his kidnappers had identified themselves as police officers prior to snatching him, but also because it raised alarm about how safe the capital was. It isn’t surprising therefore that the real-life story would become the subject of a movie, one which writer-director Ding Sheng approaches with the utmost commitment to authenticity.
Yes, despite casting Andy Lau as Ruofu, Ding strips all vanity off the Hong Kong superstar by putting him in handcuffs and binding him in heavy iron chains most of the time. To top it off, a pivotal moment at the end has Andy Lau strangled by his kidnappers using a thick red plastic-insulated wire around his neck. It is harrowing to watch all right, and you can trust us when we say there is no doubt watching it unfold that it was re-enacted for real. Notwithstanding, the rest of Lau’s restrained performance – and we mean this both physically as well as metaphorically – is just as compelling, especially how he balances humility, dignity, selflessness and raw fear in equal measure.
As tempting as it may be to call this Andy Lau’s show, he is surprisingly upstaged by Mainland actor Wang Qianyuan, who plays the kidnapper Zhang Hua. Those familiar with the case itself will know that Zhang Hua was no less than the mastermind, and it was he who had rounded up a crew in search of their latest victim barely two weeks after he had similarly held the younger brother of a gang boss for ransom and assassinated the former after collecting the money. How much of a resemblance to the actual criminal of the same name is anybody’s guess, but Wang is mesmerising to watch as the cold-blooded sociopath who had run rings around the detectives in charge of the case and who displays no sign of compunction up till the very end.
The actor-character transformation is even more remarkable considering how this is the first time that Wang is playing a villain, whose television personas are diametrically different from his role here. Wang more than holds his own with Lau, especially at the start where both are testing each other’s limits while trying to achieve their own objectives – one to stay alive, and the other to keep the former alive just long enough to get his demands. Combining a keen cunning demeanour with disarming charm, Wang keeps his audience on edge guessing just what his unpredictable and increasingly unhinged character has up his sleeves. The way Ding structures his narrative also inevitably places the focus less on Lau than on Wang, which unfolds as a race against time to figure out where Ruofu is held before he is executed by Zhang Hua’s henchmen.
Though Ruofu’s kidnapping right after he leaves a nightclub at the end of a business meeting with a potential film investor kicks off the movie, Ding uses Zhang Hua’s questioning by lead investigators Xing Feng (Liu Ye) and Cao Gang (Wu Ruofu) as a frame to fill in the events that follow immediately after Ruofu is taken. The framing does make for an interesting juxtaposition, such that Ruofu’s physical predicament is mirrored against that of Zhang Hua’s, who is strapped tightly into a chair with iron rails around his body and feet chained to the floor in the police’s interrogation room. It is Zhang who fills in both the police – and us – with what went down in the 18 hours Ruofu is taken, and from whose point of view the story develops.
Adopting a non-linear narrative may be slightly disorientating at the start, but Ding’s choice not to simply follow chronology actually proves an inspired one to lend the story greater heft. Indeed, while Ruofu’s kidnap was more spontaneous than premeditated, what isn’t coincidental is his kidnapper’s felonious behavior, and Ding goes even further back than the night of Ruofu’s kidnapping to shed light on just who both Ruofu and the police are up against. Assuming editorial control as well, Ding keeps the pacing tight and gripping even as he goes back and forth between different time periods to fill in the chronological gaps.
Speaking of tension, those looking for the sort of bombastic action from the typical Hong Kong contemporary action flick should be warned that there is hardly any here; instead, much of that tension comes from a careful calibration of the dynamic between Ruofu and his kidnappers as well as that between Zhang Hao and the police, and which Ding manages to sustain pretty much from start to finish. Ding also keeps the mood taut by filming the proceedings on handheld cameras to bring his viewer up close with the actors, lending the whole picture a gritty and intimate feel especially since many of the scenes take place within closed quarters.
Coming off ‘Police Story 2013’, ‘Saving Mr Wu’ finds Ding Sheng at his creative best, fusing the instincts he had starting honing from his debut ‘The Underdog Knight’ with a fascinating real-life story to create a riveting crime thriller. We won’t speak for those familiar with the subject matter, but those with little knowledge of the ins and outs of the case will find this as engrossing an introduction as any, brought to vivid life by an assured directorial hand and outstanding performances from Andy Lau and Wang Qianyuan. In fact, we dare say it is probably one of the best Mainland films you’ll see this year, one that by both theme and genre also makes for a welcome change of pace from the usual crop of romance or war epics that we are frankly just exhausted of.
Movie Rating:
(Andy Lau sheds all vanity to play the titular Mr Wu, but it is Wang Qianyuan’s mesmerizing performance as his nemesis that shines in a taut, tense crime thriller)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Jared Hess
Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon, Ken Marino, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Leslie Jones
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/MastermindsMovie
Opening Day: 3 November 2016
Synopsis: David Ghantt discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. He is an uncomplicated man stuck in a monotonous life. Day in and day out he drives an armored vehicle, transporting millions of other people's money with no escape in sight. The only glimmer of excitement is his flirtatious work crush Kelly Campbell who soon lures him into the scheme of a lifetime. Along with a group of half-brained criminals led by Steve Chambers and an absurdly faulted heist plan, David manages the impossible and makes off with $17 million in cash...only problem is he foolishly hands the money over to this wild group of double crossers and has been set up to take the fall. With the bandits blowing the millions on lavish and ridiculous luxuries, they leave behind a glaring trail of evidence. Now on the lam and in over his head, David must dodge the authorities, evade a hilarious hit man, Mike McKinney, and try to turn the tables on the ones he trusted most.
Movie Review:
Let’s be honest. This is one of those SNL casting heist featuring that anti-hero with an unpronounceable name - Zach Galifianakis. With that out of the way, and in the great tradition of other awkward leading men before him such as Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Steve Carell, the hirsute Galifianakis drives this comedic vehicle through multiple misadventures, based on an actual 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery that happened in North Carolina.
Galifianakis is David Ghantt, an armored car driver for Loomis Fargo. How he got his job, we’ll never know. He’s bumbling, naive, and hardly intimidating. All is well, until his latest female co-worker crush Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) decides to rope him in, under direction by her friend, Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson), to commit America’s second largest cash robbery of $17M.
David manages to pull this off, pirouette and all, before passing on the loot to his two accomplices, seduced by the rich life with his new-found love, Kelly. Armed with $20K, David escapes to Mexico with the promise to be joined by her and a monthly remittance from Steven to live out their romantic lives in Rio. But of course this was just a ruse.
Steven, or “Geppetto” (ços he’s the puppet master, geddit?), never intended to hold up his promise and readily proceeds to throw David into the deep-end by getting the Interpol on him and for good measure, hiring hitman Mike McKinney (Jason Sudeikis) to finish him off. But we know these stories always have a happy ending, right? Director Jared Hess finishes it off with an explosive showdown at Steven’s gaudy mansion.
The comedic ensemble prepares you for a low-brow caricature, replete with fart jokes, slapstick fights and inane reasoning. Maybe because the original crime got that much attention for the fact that the perpetrators were regarded as “hillbillies”, the play-acting of the cast keeps things base.
Not that there’s no moments of clever stupidity (if you’re aware of that oxymoron, there’s tons in the movie). In one scene, David culturally applies himself to his Mexican friend at the bank when he attempts to withdraw his money. “Pour fay-ver,” he enunciates in earnest. In another, as he disguises himself for exit from the country, he shows up as an interdimensional white Nicki Minaj - cat’s eye and all - where he gets paused by a scrutinizing guard… before letting him through.
The highlight has got to be one early scene, where the expert Kate McKinnon plays up Jandice, David’s manic and repressed fiancee. As the betrothed couple pose for their wedding photos, it’s shot after shot of pure hilarity.
Wiig in comparison seems a little lost compared to McKinnon. Her role as the kind-hearted seductress has tones of Jennifer Aniston - yet without the goofy charm. As per one scene where she gets bulldozed by Galifianakis, her Kelly seems to serve as a character for him to land his punches. Sudeikis’s over-dramatic hitman had a promising start, but also falters at the end after revealing his soft spot. Wilson’s role also floats by, a rather nonchalant villain, that deserved more bravado.
That said, the movie is still a breezy, cheesy delight to watch. It’s got smatterings of true wit amidst the heavy dousing of body jokes, but sometimes, we just need to let out both a fart and guffaw. Throw out your minds for the plot, enjoy the whirlwind spin and brush up on your Mexican, gringo.
Movie Rating:
![](\"http://www.moviexclusive.com/image/mx%20star.gif\")
![](\"http://www.moviexclusive.com/image/half%20mx%20star.gif\")
(A true life heist gets overshadowed by flippant slapstick jokes and base humour. Bits of wit keep this ride a jaunty one so buckle up!)
Review by Morgan Awyong
|
ALAMAK! IT'S SHARKNADO 3!Posted on 17 Jul 2015 |
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Levi Miller, Garrett Hedlund, Hugh Jackman, Rooney Mara, Amanda Seyfried, Leni Zieglmeier, Adeel Akhtar, Cara Delevingne, Jack Charles, Na Tae Joo, Nonso Anozie, Kathy Burke, Kurt Egyiawan, Lewis MacDougall
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG (Some Frightening Scenes and Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://www.pan-movie.com
Opening Day: 8 October 2015
Synopsis: From director Joe Wright comes “Pan,” a live-action feature presenting a wholly original adventure about the beginnings of the beloved characters created by J.M. Barrie. Peter (Levi Miller) is a mischievous 12-year-old boy with an irrepressible rebellious streak, but in the bleak London orphanage where he has lived his whole life those qualities do not exactly fly. Then one incredible night, Peter is whisked away from the orphanage and spirited off to a fantastical world of pirates, warriors and fairies called Neverland. There, he finds amazing adventures and fights life-or-death battles while trying to uncover the secret of his mother, who left him at the orphanage so long ago, and his rightful place in this magical land. Teamed with the warrior Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) and a new friend named James Hook (Garrett Hedlund), Peter must defeat the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) to save Neverland and discover his true destiny—to become the hero who will forever be known as Peter Pan.
Movie Review:
Except for the part where Peter Pan learns of his ability to fly as he plummets to what seems like inevitable death, Pan is overall a family friendly movie with great visual effects that should sufficiently entertain the children without boring the parents too much.
And that exactly is its problem. Pan is not terrible. Neither is it fantastic. It’s simply insipid.
As a prequel and origins story to a much-loved and familiar fairy tale, Pan has a lot to live up to. To fulfil this tall order, it seems to have looked to and ripped off ideas from successful movie franchises. Neverland is a steampunk mining village where abducted boys are forced to dig for pixie dust for a pirate king, Blackbeard, who rules over them with an iron fist in the Mad Max: Fury Road vein. Stretching the resemblance to Immortan Joe further, Blackbeard’s “wife” was an abductee held against her wish who eventually escaped his evil clutches and rose up against him. Resembling a pre-Darth Vader Anakin Skywalker, Hook is a roguish charmer who is BFFs with Peter Pan and who is in love with tribal princess Tiger Lily.
Pan’s reliance on other stories is evident right from the beginning. Peter is reluctantly left in an orphanage by his loving mother and naturally this is an orphanage run by a cruel headmaster nun. The scene where Peter asks about food rations when he is given a pathetic serving of crummy porridge for breakfast triggers thoughts of Oliver Twist.
While it isn’t uncommon for storytellers to draw inspiration from other stories, Pan’s failing is in its inability to combine these elements to create a new story. Rather, it feels like a messy mash-up of these various stories. Where the plot doesn’t allow for the movie to borrow from others, its solution is to come up with illogical or lame developments. The movie never quite explains why or how the nuns at the orphanage got into the trade of selling boys to Blackbeard or why they seem to barely bat an eyelid at the prospect of a flying pirate ship. Blackbeard’s defeat by the fairies is premised on how the fairies suddenly realise that they can band together to overpower him and his motley crew after they witness Peter flying (seriously, it took them as well as the tribal people centuries to come to a conclusion that a twelve year-old Peter Pan drew in less than five minutes? You can’t help but wonder what’s wrong with their intellect).
Pan also depends heavily on audiences being fascinated with Blackbeard and Pan to keep them engaged. While Levi Miller puts in a decent performance as Peter Pan, his Peter inexplicably becomes courageous and lets go of his fear, leaving audiences a little befuddled. Unlike Immortan Joe, Hugh Jackman’s Blackbeard is unnecessarily flamboyant and loud rather than menacing despite being dressed in the dreary black clothes. Hook and Tiger Lily are thrown in for no reason other than because we need to have Hook in a Peter Pan movie and a customary love interest.
While the plot and character development fails quite badly, the visuals are amazing and befitting of a fantasy land. Kudos to the effect, costume design and set design teams for balancing the array of colours and making the transition from the gloomy mines and pirate ships to the colourful tribal areas where the natives don rainbow colours smooth. The imagining of outer space with its kaleidoscope of stars is also breath-taking. A particularly enjoyable 3D experience is that of seeing Peter float in space and then abruptly pulled down by gravity. That scene showcases the smoothness of the 3D treatment for this movie and is captivating. For once, I actually felt that the 3D treatment enhanced, rather than encumbered, the movie-going experience.
Movie Rating:
(If you are bringing your kids to watch this movie, do go for the 3D version to keep yourself entertained. And do your kids the favour of telling them the real story of Peter Pan after the show)
Review by Katrina Tee
Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Scott Speer
Cast: Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle, Quinn Shephard
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 5 April 2018
Synopsis: Sheltered since childhood, 17-year old KATIE (Bella Thorne) is confined to her house during the daylight hours by XP, a rare disease that is catalyzed by even smallest amount of sunlight which can trigger fast acting skin cancer resulting in death. Katie’s life revolves around JACK (Rob Riggle), her widowed father who gave up his promising career to stay home and take care of his daughter, MORGAN (Quinn Shephard), Katie’s best friend since childhood, and her guitar - the one thing provides catharsis and brings happiness to her lonely world. One night, unexpectedly, she meets CHARLIE (Patrick Schwarzenegger), her long-time secret crush whom she has watched walk to school every day. Charlie, an all-star swimmer who was once on track for a full ride scholarship at Stanford, has lost direction in life and is resigned to taking care of local’s boats. Against all odds, they embark on a romance that changes their lives and leads them to discover a love that will last forever.
Movie Review:
Here comes another addition to the teenage “sick lit” genre. Midnight Sun is about Katie Price (Bella Thorne), a girl suffering from a rare condition that renders her body unable to repair damage caused by ultraviolet light. This makes any sunlight exposure deadly for her. Katie is thus sadly confined to her house during the day and she can only go out at night. As a Xeroderma Pigmentosum “XP” sufferer whose body will break down earlier than most, every day is a gift.
Katie’s condition may be a mouthful, but the story is a simple one. Hanging out at home with her doting but protective single parent dad and best friend Morgan, Katie makes the best out of life, playing her guitar and getting home-schooled. Watching the street from her window, the years pass, and so does Charlie, a boy who skateboards past her home every day and becomes a crush she nurtures but does not even know she exists.
Until she turns 18, and boy meets girl. The turning point comes when it’s graduation time for the local high school (and Katie’s home school). She heads out that night to busk at the train station, a minor celebration of sorts, and who should come by and be captivated by her sweet voice and guitar-playing but Charlie, now all grown up and charming hunk. This is the first leading film role for Patrick Schwarzenegger—yes, son of Arnold, ex-Terminator, actor and one-time governor of California.
Both start dating by moonlight. Katie, against her father’s wishes, keeps her condition from Charlie and cites availability only during the night, not wanting to threaten this budding romance in any way. The all too predictable and only suspense in the film comes when Charlie takes Katie out on a trip out of town and she loses track of time, causing her some sun exposure after a mad scramble to make it back home. Soon after, whether due to this exposure or not, Katie’s brain starts to degenerate and her days are numbered.
Midnight Sun has no surprises where plot is concerned. The premise of such a film thus brings the focus on the acting two protagonists and how far it succeeds in being a tearjerker. It falls short on both accounts. Thorne and Schwarzenegger are likeable but stilted, with the former showing her singing chops performing the songs in the film, while the latter seems to have very limited expressions. However, that may be because the too-rapid decline of Katie never quite provides enough room for both to expand their range, and this reviewer, like most in the room, couldn’t shed a tear. For those who feel they need to seek their sobbing experience elsewhere—the film is a remake of a well-regarded 2006 weepie from Japan (the Japanese are strangely several times more vulnerable to XP than others),
Despite being prosaic, it may just be a hit with teenage moviegoers. Much of the film focuses on the excitement of first love, replete with mawkish sentimentality, curfews and eye-rolling pick-up lines. Schwarzenegger, if a little like his dad in his stiff niceness, has the golden charm that his swoonworthy star swimmer needs to. For the female viewer like yours truly at least, his Mr Nicest Guy suffices to carry the film to at least the level of pleasant watchability.
Movie Rating:
(A mildly engaging but predictable teenage romance film that falls short of being the tearjerker it tries to be. Watch it, as many will, for the eye candy.)
Review by Fen Chia
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Director: Joel Edgerton
Cast: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton, Busy Philipps, David Denman, Allison Tolman, Katie Aselton
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/GIFTmovie
Opening Day: 6 August 2015
Synopsis: When married couple Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) unexpectedly encounter Gordo (Joel Edgerton), an acquaintance from Simon's past, little do they know that their perfect lives will be thrown into a terrifying tailspin. At first, Simon doesn't recognize Gordo, but after a troubling series of uninvited encounters and mysterious gifts, a horrifying secret emerges. As Robyn learns what really happened between Simon and Gordo, she begins to question how well she knows her spouse.
Movie Review:
‘The Gift’ is ostensibly about an upper middle-class married couple – Simon (Jason Bateman) and Robyn (Rebecca Hall) – who are terrorised by a ex-classmate of Simon’s named Gordo (Joel Edgerton) looking to settle an old score after their move from Chicago back to the former’s Los Angeles’ East Side neighbourhood. And yet, Edgerton, who also wrote the screenplay, is not just content for his psychological thriller to be just another B-grade exercise; instead, there are more than a few nasty surprises in store for an audience jaded by such run-of-the-mill genre fare, and it is Edgerton’s emphasis on character rather than empty shlock that ultimately pays off in a slow-burn but nevertheless consistently gripping mystery.
As is typical with such narratives, Simon and Robyn start off as the picture of marital bliss who are looking to move on from an episode in the recent past. Simon is starting a new job at a high-profile digital security firm, and Robyn hopes to get back to her passion as a freelance designer – but the cracks are there, especially the relics of a miscarriage. Following a seemingly serendipitous run-at a downtown furniture store, Gordo leaves a housewarming gift at their doorstep, a generosity that Robyn feels obligated to repay by inviting him over for dinner. Thing is, the gifts keep coming, and while Robyn responds by letting him in out of politeness, Simon is slightly more wary of their overly hospitable guest. His displeasure comes to a head after Gordo makes a hasty and prolonged exit no sooner after they arrive at a surprisingly posh two-storey house upon the latter's dinner invitation.
Upon a stern warning to leave them alone, strange things start happening around the house. Robyn gets the nagging sense that Gordo is watching her in the day when she is alone at home, and even starts hallucinating that he is peeping at her in the shower. The disappearance of their family dog one day further cements Simon’s suspicion that Gordo hasn’t taken too kindly to his admonition. And yet throughout the ensuing unease, Gordo never does appear in person – except in Robyn’s daydreams – leaving us wondering if it is all a red herring. Then a letter in Gordo’s signature red envelope lands in their mailbox, with a cryptic send-off to Simon to “let bygones be bygones”. Simon downplays its significance, but Robyn is convinced that Simon is hiding something.
Whereas the first act was about Gordo playing the typical psycho stalker, Edgerton reserves the second act for unravelling just who Simon is – and as you may expect, the answers are less than savoury. Peeling back the affable charm on Simon’s surface, we are led to discover someone else altogether, so much so that we are forced to re-examine our sympathies for the man in the first place, and by extension, our contempt for Gordo’s apparent sociopathic behaviour. Edgerton tells the story from Robyn’s perspective, not only because she is as much in the dark about the man she married as us, but also for the fact that, as Simon’s façade falls apart, she alone becomes the emotional core of the story and the only one we end up rooting for.
Although Robyn’s neighbour and Simon’s colleagues do pop up for a couple of scenes here and there, this is pretty much a story that stands on just three characters, and Edgerton brings Gordo back in the last act to extract payback from the person whose arrogance and apathy many years ago had set his life on an irreversible downward spiral. There is a sharp lesson here on lies, misdirections and their consequences, and instead of settling for a comfortable ending, Edgerton opts for something much more unnerving that keeps you guessing just what Gordo’s motive is all this while. At no point does he settle for conventional thrills, so those expecting a mano-a-mano between Simon and Gordo are bound to be disappointed.
Yet those looking for a fine actors’ showcase will be pleasantly surprised, for Edgerton gives plenty of room for each one of his actors to shine – including, we may add, himself. Bateman subverts his Everyman likeability as he transforms from a nice guy to a sinister bully that has no qualms ruining other people’s lives, and the actor better known for his comedic roles turns in a fine dramatic performance with heft and gravitas. Hall is his perfect complement, playing the part of the kind and vulnerable wife with watchful intelligence and quiet empathy. Edgerton is in great form himself as the creepy loner sociopath, who earns our disgust and pity in equal measure as we discover how much of a sad sack he is and what led him there in the first place.
To use its very own metaphor, ‘The Gift’ is like a present within a present whose pleasure lies not just in finding out what it truly is but also in the process of unveiling it layer after layer. That may come off as a drag for less patient audiences or those looking for late-night cable movie thrills, but those willing to accept a slow-burn psychological thriller that unfolds at its own measured pace will find much to like about this well-crafted and well-acted package. It is as assured and auspicious a debut for a first-time filmmaker as any, and Edgerton proves to be both smart and savvy as actor-writer-director in getting the best out of his actors as much as getting under his audience's skin.
Movie Rating:
(Gripping and thought-provoking in equal measure, ‘The Gift’ is a well-crafted psychological thriller that also marks a fine filmmaking debut for Joel Edgerton)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Terry Jones
Cast: Simon Pegg, Robin Williams, Kate Beckinsale, Joanna Lumley, Terry Gilliam, Rob Riggle, John Cleese, Eddie Izzard, Terry Jones, Sanjeev Bhaskar
Runtime: 1 hr 26 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Brief Nudity and Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://madamebovarythemovie.com
Opening Day: 3 September 2015
Synopsis: ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING tells the tale of a disillusioned schoolteacher, Neil Clarke (Pegg), who is suddenly granted the ability to do anything he wishes. These powers are bestowed upon him by a group of aliens (voiced by Cleese, Gilliam, Jones, Palin and Idle), who are watching him from outer space. Unbeknown to Neil, how he employs his newfound powers will dictate the fate of mankind. One wrong move and the aliens will destroy Earth forever. While struggling with these miraculous powers, Neil is also bidding to win the heart of the girl who lives in the flat downstairs, Catherine (Beckinsale), and he calls upon his loyal canine companion Dennis (voiced by Robin Williams in his last-ever film role) to help him along the way. Catherine’s former boyfriend (Riggle), meanwhile, appears on the scene to prove an exacting nemesis. Will Neil do the right thing and use his powers properly? Will he get the girl of his dreams? And will Dennis help him achieve his dreams, or just dream about dog biscuits? The fate of the planet depends on Neil’s actions…
Movie Review:
‘Absolutely Anything’ is a perfect example of how a great idea doesn’t necessarily translate to a good movie. Based off a script that apparently has been knocking around for some years, ‘Monty Python’ vet Terry Jones’ first film as a director in over a decade boasts an appealing premise centred around a forty-something ordinary Joe who has been hand-picked by a group of aliens to be bestowed with the power to do just about anything. If that sounds too good to be true, it is; behind public-school English teacher Neil Clarke’s omnipotence is a test of whether mankind as a species has any worth (or conversely, if Earth deserves to be destroyed).
There is potential for a sharp, witty sci-fi satire no doubt, but instead this madcap comedy’s idea of humour is corny slapstick and broad caricatures. Upon realising his newfound powers, Neil starts by making his loyal dog Dennis regurgitate the notes from chapter three of his perpetually unfinished novel, waving the whiskey that he knocked over into the sink into the bottle, order Dennis’ poop to flush itself down the toilet bowl, and last but not least grant Dennis the gift of speech (courtesy of the late Robin Williams). At best, these sight gags are mildly amusing; at worst, they are cringe-worthy; there is but one chuckle-worthy joke when Neil’s wish for a penis that women find exciting comes in the form of a ‘coloured’ dick.
Anyone hoping for a return of the Jones in the classic ‘Holy Grail’ will certainly be sorely disappointed, as the former Python seems content earning laughs by giving all pasty white Englishmen big ears and webbed feet and dressing the British police in pink uniforms. Yes, that is what is supposed to pass for laughs here, in addition to a running joke that sees Neil’s colleague being pursued by an ever-growing cult led by a fellow female teacher whom he had asked Neil to wish that she would forever worship at his feet. Though low humour was arguably part of the Pythons’ appeal at the height of their cult popularity, it was never this juvenile – and the fact that Jones’ other alums John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Michael Palin sound so absolutely bored voicing the alien council is proof of that.
Between Neil’s other wish-fulfilment fantasies is a romantic subplot involving the girl who lives next door to Neil, Catherine (Kate Beckinsale), an assistant to a TV book-review show hosted by a malicious diva (played by ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ star Joanna Lumley). Neil uses his powers to get Catherine into bed with him one evening, though she becomes appalled the morning after when she learns that she was ‘bewitched’ into it – why he just doesn’t use those same powers to make her fall in love with him frankly escapes us. That also puts him at odds with her possessive ex, a U.S. army colonel named Grant (Rob Riggle), who ends up kidnapping Neil to coerce the latter to fulfil a whole list of stupid and selfish wishes – in addition to big ears, webbed feet and pink uniforms, also includes turning all traffic lights green just to hear the crashing of vehicles for his perverted amusement.
It isn’t the first time that Pegg is playing the lovable loser, and he brings an amiable likeability to a thankless role that is frankly beneath the talented comedian. Beckinsale largely phones it in, while Riggle over-acts for even the few scenes he is in. And like we said earlier, there is really nothing to crow about the much-talked about Python reunion, especially given the unfunny lines they are made to deliver and how each of them is hidden behind cheap grotesque CGI that doesn’t look any better than a cut-rate 80s or 90s sci-fi flick.
No matter how tantalising the prospect of a comeback from Terry Jones might have sounded on paper, there is no way fans could have been waiting for this lame, unfunny sitcom. Like we said at the start, there is a great idea at the heart of it, but Jones, who co-wrote the script with Gavin Scott, aims for the lowest common denominator here. And just as its title suggests, absolutely anything but the kitchen sink seems to be Jones’ guiding principle here – how else can you explain a scenario where Neil completely annihilates his class of thirty-over misbehaving public schoolboys with a simple swish of his hand – so you might want to bring absolutely no expectations in if you’ve already decided to re-live the former glory days of Monty Python and the crew.
Movie Rating:
(A sorry excuse for ‘Monty Python’ fans, this lame, unfunny sci-fi satire squanders a promising premise and a Python reunion that should have been much, much more)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Adventure/Thriller
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Paul Anderson, Lukas Haas, Brendan Fletcher, Brad Carter
Runtime: 2 hrs 36 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene and Violence)
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/the-revenant
Opening Day: 4 February 2016
Synopsis: Inspired by true events, THE REVENANT is an immersive and visceral cinematic experience capturing one man’s epic adventure of survival and the extraordinary power of the human spirit. In an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption.
Movie Review:
‘The Revenant’ isn’t the first – and certainly won’t be the last – motion picture to celebrate the extraordinary power of the human spirit against the indomitable force of Mother Nature, but it may very well be the most harrowing and humbling experience you’ll have in a theatre. Based in part on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel that is itself inspired by the real-life fur trapper Hugh Glass, it is an utterly visceral Old West tale of survival and revenge, pitting a severely mauled Glass against the raw elements of the uncharted American wilderness as he makes his way back to seek vengeance on the men who had left him to die. But more than what it is about is how it is told, and there is no doubt that Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s latest is ultimately a masterclass in beauty and brutality.
Chief to that is Iñárritu’s absolute insistence on verisimilitude, a commitment to re-creating the harsh frontier life of 1823 that sees him bring cast and crew on a gruelling shoot through a dozen locations in Montana, the Canadian Rockies and Argentina, much of it on unspoiled tracts of land in order to ensure that the locations look and feel as remote and forbidding as they are supposed to. That devotion to authenticity is also reflected in his decision to shoot only with natural light even at frigid temperatures, conveying the hard and sweeping naturalism of the Great Plains without compromise or embellishment. The result is nothing short of breath-taking; in fact, together with his Oscar-winning ‘Birdman’ cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, Iñárritu has created a film so visually ravishing that it achieves a kind of spiritual transcendence.
That is probably also the aim of the surreal opening sequence, which recalls the ethereal beauty of a Terrence Malick as it reveals in the form of a dream that Glass had a native American wife and that he was once living among her Pawnee tribe. In that very sequence, we also hear the first words of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Glass: “It’s okay son, I know you want this to be over. I’m right here. I will be right here. But you don’t give up. You hear me? As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight. You breathe… keep breathing.” Their significance will only become clearer later on, and other subsequent elliptical flashbacks will also further establish that Glass’ wife was killed along with the rest of her tribe by white men years earlier, that also explains why Glass is so fiercely protective of his half-white half-native son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck).
Later on, Glass will watch helpless as a fellow trapper from Texas with a pancake-like tomahawk scar across his scalp named John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) knives Hawk to death and coerce another callow young hunter Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) to become his accomplice. That tragic turn of events caps a gripping first hour that sees Glass narrowly make it out from an attack by Arikara Indians on his squad of trappers led by Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) at their riverfront encampment and subsequently mauled to the brink of death by a mama grizzly apparently protecting her two baby cubs. Much has been said about how the latter makes for astonishing yet excruciating viewing – and we can assure you that it does live up to the hype – but the former, filmed in a single shot tour-de-force, is just as vivid and savagely real.
That it all feels so relentlessly raw is in large part due to Lubezki’s amazing cinematography, employing long, unbroken, often handheld tracking shots to bring his audience right into the heart of the action or right alongside the characters. The latter is especially true in the second act, where Glass defies death to drag himself across mountains, rivers and rapids to exact retribution for the evil done to him. Iñárritu is in no hurry to have Glass confront his quarry, and for a good hour or so that will no doubt be a test of endurance for some viewers, we are treated to the very definition of visual poetry as snow whirls and billows around the icy landscape, twilight glowers on the horizon and embers dance like fireflies in the night. Lubezki’s images brim with soulfulness and grace, adding a hallucinatory texture to Glass’ elemental journey of survival – which, by the way, includes devouring the still-throbbing liver of a bison straight out of its body.
But we digress – there are grand issues that Iñárritu intends to address here, among them the notion of revenge and rebirth, though he doesn’t quite manage to do so as successfully. Glass’ will to survive is based singularly on the thirst to settle the score with Fitzgerald, but a slightly anti-climactic mano-a-mano ending aside, one is left guessing if and how his journey changes his nature as a revenant and whether therefore, when that thirst is finally quenched, his life has any purpose left. Because Iñárritu, who shares screenwriting credit with Mark L. Smith, refuses to dwell in sentimentality, Glass remains somewhat an inscrutable character, and we never quite relate to his desperation, pain and grief. Iñárritu’s tendency to cast his characters in good-bad dichotomies drains the film of the moral complexities hinted earlier on, such that Fitzgerald becomes defined by no more than his mercenary nature and the Arikaras who start off talking about honour and such are pretty much disposable.
It isn’t DiCaprio’s fault though that we are somewhat alienated from his character. On his part, there is utter dedication to mostly wordless performance. Indeed, DiCaprio throws himself mind and body into providing the portrait of a man filled with rage and searing indignation, as physical as it gets not just in how he grunts and gasps most of the time but also how he is called to perform while on the verge of hypothermia. Many have speculated that DiCaprio will finally get his Academy Award for the role, and if he does, it is every bit duly deserved. Of note too is his supporting actor Hardy, who is perfectly cast as the villain as he vanishes deep into the role to deliver a performance of absolute and utter perversity.
‘The Revenant’ isn’t a perfect film, but there is no other film this year that even comes close to matching its ambition, scope and ultimately achievement. Like we said, DiCaprio’s stripped down performance is completely stunning, as is every frame of Lubezki’s magnificent cinematography. And undeniably, this is Iñárritu’s work of art, a testament to his vision and uncompromising hard work. It is for all these reasons a must-see on the big screen, an epic of unparalleled visceral simplicity that no words can do justice to.
Movie Rating:
(Breathtaking in ambition, scope and achievement, 'The Revenant' is raw, gritty, uncompromising and utterly visceral filmmaking in telling an elemental tale of survival and revenge)
Review by Gabriel Chong
| « Prev | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | Next » |
Most Viewed
No content.