Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Michael Apted
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, John Malkovich, Toni Collette, Michael Douglas, Aymen Hamdouchi, Akshay Kumar, Tosin Cole, Adelayo Adedayo, Philip Brodie
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 4 May 2017
Synopsis: Alice Racine lives a quiet life in London. Once the best interrogator in the CIA, Alice failed to unlock a prisoner in time to save the lives of several people, prompting her to leave field and become a caseworker. When the CIA apprehends a suspect who is believed to have direct knowledge of an imminent terrorist attack, Alice is called in unexpectedly. She is successful on "unlocking" the suspect but before she can fully pass it off to her superiors, she gets a call from her old colleague at Langley. Quickly realizing she has been set-up, she narrowly escapes, and finds herself on the run. Knowing the CIA has been compromised, Alice must turn to the few she can trust as she searches for those responsible and tries to prevent a deadly biological attack on the city.
Movie Review:
Terrorist attacks are real. The recent attacks which happened in broad daylight in crowded downtown London and Sweden are prime examples of them. Unlocked is yet another conspiracy thriller that is based on the subject matter. Yet it never strays far from formula and again fails to contribute anything interesting to the entire conspiracy premise.
Swedish actress Noomi Rapace plays Alice Racine, an ex-CIA interrogator who chose to relegate herself to a desk job after she blamed herself for not able to stop a bombing attack in Paris years before. When the CIA managed to capture an Islamic suspect who is believed to have information on a planned biological attack, Alice’s skill is once again call to action. But once Alice has retrieved the info from the suspect, she realized the CIA agents are not what they are. Who are the people she can trust in the end? Is it ex-marine turned burglar Jack (Orlando Bloom), her ex-boss Eric (Michael Douglas) or MI6 agent, Emily (Toni Collette)?
Unlocked is definitely not a slow-burner, for most of the running time it’s pretty compelling to watch especially Rapace who makes such a terrific heroine figure. Even her supposedly desk-bound interrogator character knows how to handle a gun swiftly and goes mano a mano with anyone who gets in her way. Rapace no doubt once again provides a solid presence (and the movie to call her own) after her breakthrough performance in the original The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
When it comes to storytelling, either writer Peter O’Brien has watched too many conspiracy movies or watched too little in the past decade. O’Brien opted in favour of a predictable propaganda affair after a thrilling opening first act. Even with the atrocious acts committed by ISIS gracing the headlines now and then, Unlocked seems to imply the biggest enemy actually lies within the government. The inclusion of Islamic characters ultimately feels like a lazy attempt to spin a tale based on current trend instead of delving deeper into the subject.
The biggest star probably goes to Prague for doubling both London and Paris even if the thriller co-stars Orlando Bloom and Michael Douglas. Without giving much away, both actors appear only for a fraction of the screentime. Perhaps you just want to see the former heartthrob onscreen again for nostalgic sake or getting mauled by a Rottweiler and Douglas being the classy Michael Douglas appears to port over his role from Haywire, another conspiracy action thriller from 2012. For the record, John Malkovich plays the head of CIA, European division and he largely entertains the audiences with his sharp wit and humour.
Director Michael Apted who is known for his Gorillas In The Mist, The World Is Not Enough and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and recent television work liked Masters of Sex seems to be here simply for the paycheck. There is hardly an ounce of creativity to be found here despite the fact that the screenplay was featured in the 2008 blacklist. To be fair, almost nine years have lapsed and with principle photography completed in 2015, Unlocked is a product that is way past it’s selling date. Overall, you won’t be disappointed with the pacing and action bits. The story however is often derivative and misguided that a search through Netflix should garner better titles.
Movie Rating:
(Ironically the movie should have remained locked)
Review by Linus Tee
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FROM VEGAS TO MACAU III behind the scenes video releasedPosted on 05 Jan 2016 |
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ATTACK ON TITAN CROWNED NO. 1 JAPANESE BLOCKBUSTER AT LOCAL BOX OFFICEPosted on 09 Sep 2015 |
Genre: Thriller
Director: Fouad Mikati
Cast: Rosamund Pike, Shiloh Fernandez, Nick Nolte, Camryn Manheim, Alexi Wasser, Rumer Willis, Illeana Douglas, Stephen Louis Grush, Ryan Phillippe
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Violence and Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 20 August 2015
Synopsis: In this intense thriller, Rosamund Pike stars as a small town nurse who gets attacked during a home invasion by a mysterious criminal (Shiloh Fernandez). Following his arrest, she starts to regularly visit him in jail and befriends him, against her father's (Nick Nolte) advice.
Movie Review:
If there is one thing that ‘Return to Sender’ has going for it, it is Rosamund Pike. As the uptight ICU nurse Miranda with a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder, Pike projects disarming menace in a role not unlike that which she received critical acclaim for in David Fincher’s ‘Gone Girl’. The conceit here is Miranda’s transformation following a sexual assault who turns up at her doorstep one day –not only does she not try to avoid her assailant, Miranda writes letters to him and visits him in jail on a regular basis, striking up an unexpected friendship that culminates, upon his release, in him re-visiting her place and helping to fix up her front porch.
Whether she indeed has forgiveness on her mind is a riddle that screenwriters Patricia Beauchamp and Joe Gossett try to tease to the very finish, though admittedly it is not hard to guess just what Miranda’s real intentions are, not least because she seems to be relishing her weekly visits by wearing floaty day dresses to prison. And yet, director Fouad Mikati insists on keeping his cards extremely close to his chest, opting for a slow-burn buildup that emphasises her PTSD symptoms and concomitant descent into sociopathy without so much as hinting at what she has planned for her attacker. That may have been more effective were Miranda and her complement’s motivations clear, but as it is, the fact that both are left ambiguous leaves everything else in a bland and tedious muddle.
Just what was William (Shiloh Fernandez) doing on her doorstep in broad daylight while she was waiting for her blind date? What exactly made her go from a traumatised victim to reach out to William? Why does she end up turning against her father’s dog who apparently hates her? And just, why oh why does she decide of all things to write a letter to William as a means of initiating contact with him behind bars? Why not just visit? There are plenty of narrative loopholes in the poorly constructed set-up, but none as damning as the indistinct character work that frankly just leaves us scratching our heads wondering what these badly defined individuals are up to.
The fault isn’t just that of his writers, but also Mikati’s to bear. There are two crucial turning points here and he pretty much f**ks both up. The first is (obviously) Miranda’s nasty rape, which is staged with the sort of detachment that makes you think why you should be bothered that this is happening to her at all – even a similar scene in ‘Gone Girl’ where Pike’s character simulates a rape-in-progress in order to lie to the authorities later on has more teeth than this haplessly inept sequence. The second is the big reveal, which unfolds in such a low-key manner that you wonder if Mikati just could not be bothered; considering just what he wants his protagonist to be, one would have expected a lot more commitment to portray her as the unhinged avenger she is, which unfortunately fails to come through even in the final act.
Not even a coolly calculated performance from Pike manages to lift this uninspired thriller from its own tedium. Pike holds our attention for most of the film’s running time all right, but saddled with clichés like not being able to hold her hands steady to frost a cake or losing her cool playing the board game Operation doesn’t exactly do her befuddled character any favours. Fernandez is utterly forgettable as her predator turned prey, while Nick Nolte basically rasps his way through as her father struggling to get to grips with the daughter he thought he knew.
Whether as a character-driven tale or a pure B-grade revenge fantasy, ‘Return to Sender’ is just plain awful, and a terrible waste of its star Pike’s charisma and talent. Were it not for ‘Gone Girl’, this at-best TV drama would have been consigned to the Saturday night cable dumpster – but, as it turns out, given its title, you have no reason not to return this straight back to sender.
Movie Rating:
(Rosamund Pike reprises – sort of – her coolly calculating psycho role in ‘Gone Girl’, but this otherwise inept revenge thriller is a muddle of plot holes and poorly defined characters)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: After winning a competition to spend a week at the mountain estate of his company's brilliant CEO, programmer Caleb Smith arrives to discover he has been chosen to take part in a study of artificial intelligence. Sworn to secrecy and cut off from the outside world, Caleb meets his subject, a beguiling and seductive cyborg named Ava - and is plunged into an A.I. experiment beyond his wildest imaginings in this epic thriller charged with heart-stopping suspense.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Before they become household names in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) and Domhnall Gleeson (About Time) collaborated in this acclaimed UK made sci-fi thriller, Ex Machina.
A smart, entertaining sci-fi flick doesn’t require loud explosions every second or so to capture the attention of the audience. And this is what novelist/screenwriter turned filmmaker Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) has opted to do for his directorial debut.
As the story goes, a programmer by the name of Caleb (Gleeson) has won the company’s lottery to meet its CEO, the reclusive and gifted Nathan Bateman (Isaac) at his secluded home in the mountains. The intention of inviting Caleb over is for him to test the consciousness of an A.I. robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander) which is created by Nathan himself using unorthodox methods. Days passed at the facility, Caleb starts to develop feelings for Ava and he soon realized Nathan is not the man he thought he is.
The concept and moral obligation of developing artificial intelligence is explored and heavily dissected in Garland’s movie. Most of the time it’s surreal and intriguing. It’s intentionally slow paced and the frequent wordy exchanges between Nathan and Caleb undeniably create the illusion of who’s actually the manipulator or the tester.
Is Nathan playing God in his little cocoon? Is Ava as innocent as she looks? Provocative ideas are constantly being thrown at you. The premise at the very least hints of something very chilling in the climax and you simply can’t wait for it to reveal. And when the enigma is finally unraveled, you will find yourself being suck into this well-craft, complex story about the future of technology advancement.
Production design is sleek in general and the VFX shots are genuinely convincing despite the minimal budget. The performances of Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleesonand Alicia Vikander are almost flawless for the record. Of course, Ex Machina will not work if not for their exhilarating presences since the trio are basically the central cast members besides Nathan’s housemaid, a non-verbal character.
If you are disappointed with other A.I. related movies such as I, Robot and Transcendence or even the draggy Spielberg’s Artificial Intelligence, Ex Machina should fare better in engaging the intellect side of you.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Featuring indepth interviews with the cast and filmmakers, Through the Looking Glass: Creating Ex Machina runs at a whopping 40 minutes and intensively covers the script, characters, visual effects, costume design and much more.
Much of the information in 8 Behind-the-Scenes Vignettes have been covered earlier however for those who has shorter attention span, the various brief vignettes while not substantial provide just enough background info of the movie.
SXSW Q&A with Cast and Crew (consisting of director Garland, cinematographer Rob Hardy, Composers and Oscar Isaacs) is another great extra feature especially for those who are keen on the technical aspects of making the sci-fi title.
A collection of Lionsgate Trailers round up the DVD features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Overall, the digitally shot movie appears to be pretty sharp. Textures and colour palette are pleasant and outdoor nature shots are majestic. Since this is not a loud action sci-fi flick, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack does its job in the end with well-placed sound effects, brooding music cues and clean dialogue.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Comedy
Director: Mark Wu
Cast: Ronald Cheng, Mark Wu, Ava Liu, Terry Zou, Chrissie Chau, Eric Wang, Yang Jianping, Tenky Tin, Peter So, Louis Cheung, Leung Ka Ki, Lau Kong, Tony Ho, Jackson Wan Kwong, Zhang Chi, Wen Chao
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Coarse Language and Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 3 September 2015
Synopsis: Roger Li (Terry Zou), the son of the richest man in town, is involved in a car accident which has soon become the talk of the town. The only witness James (Mark Wu), nervous and terrified, denies witnessing the accident and seems to withhold the truth. Veteran undercover cop Dream Dragon (Ronald Cheng) and James are old time buddies with an intention to take advantage of their relationship, Dragon approaches James to investigate this suspected substitute case. James’ beloved sister Kwan (Ava Liu) is born with a serious eye disease. Her only wish before losing her sight totally is for James to realise his dream of being a popular superstar. It is the motivation for James to join the male pageant “Man of China” in hope to win the competition. Meanwhile, James is invited by a renowned director to work abroad on his new international project. However, the shooting period overlaps with the court date of the case. It turns out that everything is controlled by a mastermind with a premeditated intention yet to be revealed…
Movie Review:
For a start, Undercover Duet has nothing to do with Ronald Cheng’s Dragon Loaded series though both their characters shared the name ‘Dragon’ and both are cops.
Hong Kong singer turned comedian Ronald Cheng plays Dream Dragon Lau, an undercover cop who was raised in Harlem and his language often peppered with plenty of expletives. Desperate to regain his cop status, D-Dragon decides to investigate a notorious case of hit-and-run accident. The witness, James Wan (Mark Wu) is a wannabe actor and also happened to be D-Dragon’s childhood friend. Pondering between testifying or withholding the evidence for money, Wan finds himself at risk of being kill. Will D-Dragon manage to save the day?
Because Mark Wu is the director and also the writer, he has the luxury to hog the camera for the longest time. Like other comedians such as Chapman To and Wong Cho-lam, his brand of humour is best taken in small dosages. In fact, Ronald Cheng is so much funnier as compared to Wu and its obvious since both shares the same screen pretty often. Cheng delivers his dialogue in a mixture of Cantonese (or dubbed Mandarin) and English with such ease that it kind of tickles even if the script is not. Wu tries hard to be both funny and wants the audience to empathise with his character but he just come across as irritatingly stupid.
The biggest problem with Wu’s script is that it drags on far too long. Clocking in at 115 minutes, Undercover Duet has more misses than hits and comic timing are generally off. There’s a prolonged sequence that sees Wu’s character travel to Shanghai for a filming of a silly reality show. With the exception of a really cool fight sequence that involve some cool parkour moves, the entire segment can be removed without causing major disruption to the whole plot.
Subplots which has Wan’s sister (Ava Yu) going blind (which explains why Wan refuses to hand in the evidence as he needs money for her operation) and a tedious conspiracy of who-killing-who and who-blackmailing-who took away much of the tension and comedy. For a buddy cop comedy, the action bits surprisingly are intense and well choreographed. For that, we are going to forgive Mark Wu for torturing us with 3D Sex and Zen and Lan Kwai Fong.
There’s some clever digs at the current political and social climate of Hong Kong and a disgustingly, nauseous gag in which an unconscious Wan is saved by D-Dragon. Undercover Duet is not as bad as initially thought but it can be hell lot better if Wu had done a bit more trimming at the editing room.
Movie Rating:
(Outrageous buddy cop comedy that is lean on the comedy but good with the action)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Documentary/Biography
Director: Asif Kapadia
Cast: Amy Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse, Mark Ronson
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Coarse Language and Some Drug References)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 27 August 2015
Synopsis: From BAFTA award-winning director Asif Kapadia (Senna), AMY tells the incredible story of six-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse - in her own words. Featuring extensive unseen archive footage and previously unheard tracks, this strikingly modern, moving and vital film shines a light on the world we live in, in a way that very few can. A once-in-a-generation talent and a pure jazz artist in the most authentic sense, Amy wrote and sung from the heart using her musical gifts to analyse her own problems. The combination of her raw honesty and supreme talent resulted in some of the most original and adored songs of the modern era. Her huge success, however, resulted in relentless and invasive media attention which coupled with Amy's troubled relationships and precarious lifestyle saw her life tragically begin to unravel. Amy Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011 at the age of 27.
Movie Review:
“I don’t think I’m gonna be at all famous. I don’t think I could handle it. I would probably go mad.”
Those words from Amy Winehouse in the early part of Amy will strike and haunt you for their far-sightedness in describing what happens to the incredibly talented but flawed music prodigy.
Although we are all familiar with the rise and fall of Amy Winehouse thanks to her unraveling in the public eye, Amy adds another dimension to our understanding of the vocal powerhouse thanks to Asif Kapadia’s masterful storytelling. Kapadia eschews talking heads in favour of home videos and Winehouse’s friends’ responses to difficult questions. Rather than have a narrator weaving the different parts of Winehouse’s life together, Kapadia chooses to let Winehouse’s lyrics tell the story as they float across the screen in a handwritten font. Complete with strikeouts, these confessional lyrics give the impression of reading from the late singer’s diary and being given a personal glimpse into her life. Although the lack of a voiceover/narration initially makes the entry into the singer’s life a bit jarring and the flow a little unsmooth, it is a perfect approach for it reflects Winehouse’s personality- a refreshingly honest and charming young woman with raw unpolished edges.
The film opens with a now-famous home video footage where a cheeky and vibrant 14-year old Winehouse impersonates Marilyn Monroe at the end of her friend’s 14th birthday party. Even at that tender age, her voice is far superior to many professional singers and her friends fall silent as they listen to her rendition of Happy Birthday. Her talent is so overpowering that her friend, UK soul singer Tyler James, felt compelled to share a demo with his recording company. During this time, we get to see the shy and sweet teenager wow record company executives and friends alike with not just her talent but her charisma and funniness. Here, you get to witness her in her prime before the pressures of fame and destructive love cause her to buckle and spiral into unending darkness.
Shortly, Winehouse meets one of the catalysts of her downward descent – Blake Felding-Civil. Winehouse and her future husband embark on a passionate but tempestuous relationship where they get into a cycle of breaking up and reconciling. Her vulnerable side comes through in instances where she obsesses over text messages from Felding-Civil after their first breakup and when she displays her desire to be one with him by deciding to follow in his footsteps of taking drugs just to experience the same highs as him when he gets drugged out. Her hero worship of her father who seems to care more about commercial interest than her exacerbates her downward spiral. Put simply, Amy Winehouse made bad choices and met selfish people in life like all of us do but unfortunately, those bad choices led her to a premature death.
Despite knowing what happens at the end, you find yourself wishing that she will somehow survive and overcome all those adversities. That desire grows throughout the film as you get to know the singer through the snippets her friends share and you find yourself rooting for Winehouse. Hope for Winehouse comes in the form of her two best friends, Juliette Ashby and Lauren Gilbert, as well as her first manager, Nick Shymansky. The trio tried their best to bring Winehouse back from destruction and to protect her from her selfish entourage, resorting to even stealing her passport to stop her from touring after she almost ends up dead thanks to a drug overdose. Eventually though, they choose to walk away from the mess that Winehouse created partly because they can no longer bear to watch her fall and partly in hopes that walking away would motivate Winehouse to sober up.
The mayhem around Winehouse comes fast and furious. Kapadia keeps you transfixed as you witness the Winehouse turn into a trainwreck under relentless public scrutiny. You find yourself wanting to look away but quite unable to do so.
A brief moment of respite comes when Winehouse gets to record a duet with her idol, Tony Bennett. Here, you see the Amy of old as she nervously pace around the studio, berating herself for not doing it right. Bennett encourages her in a fatherly manner, telling her “Don’t worry, I’m the same”. Comforted by his reassurance, Winehouse rises to the occasion and becomes the perfect singer she was meant to be, purring into the microphone and seducing you with her voice. And for that moment, we get to witness what Amy Winehouse might have been.
Movie Rating:
(A powerfully honest documentary that documents the rise and fall of Amy Winehouse as she battles her self-destructive tendencies, Amy is as riveting as it is sad)
Review by Katrina Tee
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff
Cast: Cassidy Gifford, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos, Reese Mishler, Travis Cluff, Price T. Morgan
Runtime: 1 hr 27 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Horror)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: thegallowsmovie.net
Opening Day: 27 August 2015
Synopsis: Twenty years after an accident caused the death of the lead actor during a high school play, students at the same small town school resurrect the failed stage production in a misguided attempt to honor the anniversary of the tragedy—but ultimately find out that some things are better left alone.
Movie Review:
Let’s be frank – it’s too easy these days to dismiss the latest low-budget horror done “found footage” style as yet another gimmick. What novelty it had when it was first introduced into the genre by ‘The Blair Witch Project’ and then made fresh again in ‘Paranormal Activity’ has all but dissipated after a seemingly endless string of middling entries that use it as a distraction from an absence of plot, character and basic filmmaking techniques. That’s the kind of audience skepticism that this latest from the Blumhouse factory – which also birthed the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise – has to overcome in order to even break out.
Unfortunately, this filmmaking debut by Chris Lofing and Travis Cluff falls far short on several counts. High school hauntings are not a new premise, and the duo, who also assume writing duties, base theirs around an accidental death in a Nebraska high school which claimed the life of its lead actor during a stage performance of a play named ‘The Gallows’. For rather unconvincing reasons, it seems the school is keen to stage the same play yet again twenty years later, which of course serves as the perfect excuse for the spirit of the student killed years ago to return to haunt its present performers.
Conveniently, the writers-directors have confined the events of the film largely to the night before the opening, on which its lead actor Reese (Reese Mishler), his do-no-gooder football buddy Ryan (Ryan Shoos) and Ryan’s peppy cheerleader girlfriend Cassidy (Cassidy Gifford) sneak into the school auditorium in order to destroy the sets just so they need not go on stage the day after. Their malicious act of vandalism hits a snag when they run into the play’s lead actress Pfeifer (Pfeifer Brown), who is the reason why Reese agreed to do the play in the first place. As it turns out, Pfeifer’s presence that evening isn’t just coincidence, although the filmmakers save that revelation for a nasty twist at the end, which also cannily leaves the door open for a sequel.
That would be probable if they had bothered to put more thought into the rest of the movie, which unfolds with thudding tedium. First, the quartet find themselves locked in. Then, they realise that the ghost has somehow managed not just to jam their cellphone signals but also take out the telephone lines in the school office. That same ghost also seems to want them to find something, which is why it leaves certain doors deliberately open so that they can discover an old TV in a room at the back of the office showing a recording of the 1993 play. Only in the third act does something mildly creepy turn up – that is, a shadowy figure, noose in hand, sneaking up behind each one of the high school kids in turn – but there is too little buildup to make the motif truly scary.
Fundamentally, the film’s weaknesses lie with its fidelity to the “found footage” conceit. Admirable though it may be how the filmmakers never step outside it, the format ultimately requires us to suspend our disbelief just why any of the characters would be recording the madness around them even as they shriek and howl down the school corridors. It is never explained why Ryan has such an obsession with capturing the events down on camera, nor why Cassidy or Reese picks up on that same tendency after Ryan meets his end. Ironically, it also makes the action very hard to follow, and so a typical sequence begins with a brief shot of the horror followed by a lot of jerky camerawork that just gets on your nerves every single time.
Like the countless other forgettable “found footage” horrors that have come before it, ‘The Gallows’ is trapped by its own technique and ends up worse for it. Indeed, there is much potential in a story set in and around the eerie hallways of a high school in the dead of the night, but that promise is squandered in an underdeveloped story and in the service of a filmmaking style that is frankly more maddening than anything. It certainly isn’t the worst in its class, but there is nothing terrifying in between the blurry shots that make this not only a boring film but a bothersome one as well.
Movie Rating:
(Yet another reason to dislike the “found footage” technique, this low-budget horror has not enough plot or scares to warrant a lot of jerking around)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Choi Dong-hoon
Cast: Gianna Jun, Ha Jung-woo, Lee Jung-jae, Oh Dal-soo, Cho Jin-woong, Choi Deok-moon
Runtime: 2 hrs 20 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 September 2015
Synopsis: Snipers. Marksmen. Hired guns. Double agents. A group of exiled rebels are planning a hit on an Army Commander in Japanese-occupied Korea, but the only killer for the job is in prison. Now, the Resistance must devise a jailbreak, break out a hitman... and discover which of them is a traitor.
Movie Review:
Choi Dong-hoon’s Assassination is yet another star-studded follow-up to his immensely entertaining heist blockbuster, The Thieves. This time round instead of a fancy contemporary title, Choi turned his attention on a period thriller and the action is shifted to 1933 Gyeongseongduring the Japanese occupation of Korea.
The gist of Assassination without the need for a spoiler warning tag focused on a mission to kill a ruthless Japanese General Kawaguchi and his equally ruthless Korean business tycoon alliance, Kang In-gook. The leader of the exiled Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, Yem (Lee Jeong-jae) is tasked to form a motley crew to take down the targets. Sniper also the Captain of the trio, Ahn Ok-yun (Gianna Jun), explosives specialist Duk-sam (Choi Duk-moon) and ‘Big Gun’ (Cho Jin-woong) are thus assigned to travel to Korea from Shanghai to carry out the mission.
The setup is actually pretty easy to follow at least for the second hour or so but unfortunately, helmer Choi who also co-wrote the story stuffed the first 60 minutes with too many characters, an unnecessary time jump (switching between 1911 to 1945 and back to 1933) and subplots that you probably need a notebook to jot down the little details. Besides the three protagonists, there’s also a hired killer dubbed Hawaii Pistol (Ha Jung-woo) and his cigar-chomping associate, Old Man (Oh Dal-su) that is being hired to eliminate the trio. Are the duo another bunch of exiled independence fighters or are they simply opportunity seekers? And how trustworthy is our highly praised resistance fighter Yem?
Apart from the above-mentioned flaws, Choi keeps everything moving at a breezy pace and he knows how to up the tension as the minute passes. There are plenty of plot twists ranging from dubious character motivations to double-crossing etc. Without revealing further, there’s even an emotional turmoil for Gianna Jun’s character just when you thought the movie had reached its climax.
Clearly, Assassination is blessed with a handsome budget. From the neatly dressed sets of Shanghai Film Studio (featured famously in movies such as Lust Caution to Kungfu Hustle) to a gigantic built set in Korea, production and costume design is never an issue here. On top of it, Choi delivered many heart-pounding action sequences that will make Hong Kong action maestro John Woo proud. A standout sequence definitely belonged to Jun’s balletic display of gunplay while jumping from one rooftop to another. The final sequence taking place in a grand departmental store which featured more explosions and gunfire is yet another technical achievement.
Despite being an all-so serious historical piece that proudly wear patriotism on its sleeves, Choi never forgets to inject some humor to it. Duk-sam, ‘Big Gun’ and Old Man are mainly the few colourful characters that constantly keep the audience tickling with their wry dose of humour (anyone keen on why pigs are castrated?). Coming off from the success of her hit TV drama serial My Love from the Star, Gianna Jun has an incredible star presence playing a character with a tragic past. This explains why she is tasked to carry the movie on her shoulder. Though she has very little screentime opposite her co-star from The Thieves, Lee Jeong-jae, the latter did a respectable job playing a character you loved to hate while Ha Jung-woo’s character is too thinly written and hardly memorable.
The topic of resistance fighters rallying against the notorious Japanese army in the World World II era hardly qualifies as new. But Choi Dong-hoon’s bullets filled espionage action thriller will keep you all tensed, entertained and clamouring for more.
Movie Rating:
(Undeniably the must watch Korea movie of the year!)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Helen Mirren, Ryan Reynolds, Katie Holmes, Daniel Bruhl, Tatiana Maslany, Frances Fisher, Charles Dance, Max Irons, Antje Traue, Tom Schilling, Henry Goodman, Elizabeth McGovern, Jonathan Pryce, Moritz Bleibtreu
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/WomanInGoldMovie
Opening Day: 27 August 2015
Synopsis: Academy Award winner Helen Mirren stars in the incredible story of Maria Altmann, a Jewish refugee who is forced to flee Vienna during World War II. Decades later, determined to salvage some dignity from her past, Maria has taken on a mission to reclaim a painting the Nazis stole from her family: the famous Lady In Gold, a portrait of her beloved Aunt Adele. Partnering with an inexperienced but determined young lawyer (Ryan Reynolds), Maria embarks on an epic journey for justice 60 years in the making.
Movie Review:
There is a fascinating story at the heart of ‘Woman in Gold’, but somehow it seems muted under the direction of Simon Curtis and the screenwriting of Alexi Kaye Campbell. Adapted from the life stories of its two leading protagonists, the Austrian-Jewish Holocaust refugee Maria Altmann and the struggling young lawyer E. Randol “Randy” Schoenberg, it charts their five-year-plus battle in courtrooms from California to Washington to Vienna to regain rightful ownership of Gustav Klimt's masterwork ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ which belonged to Maria’s family together with other Klimt paintings until they were seized by the invading German Nazis in World War II.
Because Google can pretty much tell you the outcome of their lengthy legal battle, the value of this account is really in their journey, which unfortunately isn’t quite as compelling as it should have been. Both Curtis and Campbell are well aware that Maria’s quest is not just about natural justice but also personal closure, coming to terms with the emotions that have haunted her since she was forced to leave Austria more than five decades ago. Indeed, it is only through empathising with these circumstances that we would be able to understand the psychological turmoil that she had to brace herself for, but that connection between past and present proves to be the film’s weakest link.
Told in flashback, Maria’s past is gripping in and of itself, spanning Maria’s upper-class Viennese childhood as well as the later Nazi Anschluss into Austria. Notwithstanding their fragmented nature, these scenes of the cultured life, the Nazi invasion, the subsequent public humiliation of the Jewish people, the closing of the country’s borders, and last but not least, Maria’s flight to freedom with her husband unfold with dramatic urgency and poignancy that the rest of the film sorely lacks. If you know your ‘Orphan Black’, you’ll recognise breakout star Tatiana Maslany as the young Maria, and a particulae scene in which she says goodbye to her father Gustav (Allan Corduner) whom she will never see again is deeply moving.
How that relates back to Maria’s struggles in present day is something which both director and screenwriter struggle with. Too often, a scene from the past ends with Maria summoning defiance and determination in equal measure, and while that works at certain points in the narrative, it is all too clear in many other instances how it is meant to gloss over awkward transitions that could have given us a deeper understanding of Maria’s emotional state. Ditto for Randy, whose transformation from detachment to conviction happens over one simple visit to the Jewish Holocaust Memorial in Vienna that leaves him bawling in tears in the nearby men’s room immediately after. It is unconvincing to say the least, and yet another example of how lacking Campbell’s script is in solid character work.
On the other hand, Maria’s legal rollercoaster to reclaim ownership of the paintings feels utterly pedestrian, no matter that we are taken across a restitution hearing in Austria to the US Supreme Court and back to Austria for the final arbitration. Condensed for expediency, they are nonetheless told with old-fashioned Hollywoodization that simplifies intriguing matters of provenance and legal manoeuvring. Instead, the filmmakers seem more preoccupied with the dynamic between Maria and Randy, which while performed with verve by Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds, comes across too familiar and convenient.
We know that Randy will start off sceptical and indifferent before being obsessed by the case despite the objections of his law firm boss (Charles Dance) and his pregnant wife (Katie Holmes). We too expect that Maria will, despite her initial gumption, face doubts about how far she should push her face in the face of seemingly insurmountable legal odds, and that Randy will be the one to lend her moral support. There are no surprises to the evolving relationship between lawyer and client, even as their roles blur, but Mirren and Reynolds share an engaging rapport that keeps us from losing interest in the perfunctory.
The supporting cast however have no such luck, given their criminally underwritten roles. Besides Holmes, Daniel Bruhl has little to work with as the investigative reporter whose research into the Altmann estate served as a crucial point in determining the outcome. Elizabeth McGovern and Johnathan Pryce also appear in judicial robes on the Stateside, but their appearances are no better than glorified cameos. It isn’t quite clear what persuaded these thespians to do day-player duty in this film, and our best guess is that they were somehow attracted by the subject matter to participate in some form or other.
Such intentions are perfectly understandable, given what a remarkable true story this film has as its source material. Sadly, it is precisely for this reason that one suspects there is a much, much better film waiting to get out, one that doesn’t just play it safe, go through the beats and as a result come off just superficial. It’s a paint-by-numbers account at best, and even with top-notch performances by Mirren and Reynolds, there is no saving this promising movie from falling into mediocrity.
Movie Rating:
(An unspectacular account of a spectacular true story, this paint-by-numbers retelling of how Austria lost its 'Mona Lisa' to New York is still engaging for Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds' performances)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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