SYNOPSIS: Marvel Studios unleashes the next global phenomenon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, the epic follow-up to Marvel's The Avengers. Good intentions wreck havoc when Tony Stark unwittingly creates Ultron, a terrifying A.I. monster who vows to achieve "world peace" via mass extinction. Now Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and The Hulk alongside Black Widow, Hawkeye and Nick Fury must reassemble to defeat Ultron and save mankind...if they can!
MOVIE REVIEW:
I can sense the tiredness in Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. On one hand, he spearheaded an incredible, never-seen-before assembled superhero flick called Avengers while on the other hand, he helmed a sequel that sits somewhere between a mindless action movie and one that is bursting with unfulfilled cool ideas.
Thor’s half-brother, Loki is no longer the antagonist in the sequel. Replacing him is Ultron (voiced by James Spader), an artificial intelligence robot created by Tony Starks for the global defense program. Instead of saving the world, Ultron is hell bent on mass destruction because he believes this is the only way to achieve world peace. Recruiting Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Ultron proceed to scour a new body for himself. In the meantime, the Avengers must team up once again amid their differences with the help of Nick Fury to save mankind from the evil Ultron.
Despite running at a hefty 141 minutes, Avengers: Age of Ultron still feel a tad rushed and significant plot threads are abandoned the minute they are introduced. It’s definitely a daunting task to juggle so many superheroes’ appearances and simultaneously, ensuring the movie moved in the direction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). To be fair, Ultron is a charismatic villain or at least he sounds like one. He is definitely a badass but he is not the typical villain that craved for monetary or power, he has a far ambitious plan in mind. Unfortunately, Whedon failed to do justice to him ultimately he ends up as yet another disposable pawn in the MCU.
The first Avengers featured a massive fight in the Helicarrier and a climatic battle in the heart of the city. Honestly, it’s pretty hard to top both of them and Avengers: Age of Ultron has to settle on a crazy fight between a mind-controlled Hulk and Starks in his hulkbuster suit and a prolonged car chase, which took place in the busy streets of South Korea. Visual effects by ILM remain top-notch and there’s a certain amount of humour though significantly lesser than the first. Do remember this outing is touted as darker and more serious.
Honestly, the movie is fine on the whole. It still has all the ingredients to entertain everyone gearing for another solid superheroes outing. There are new characters including Paul Bettany as Vision and a whole slew of Marvel anecdotes, Easter eggs waiting for the hardcore fans to discover. For the rest of us, it suffices for a single viewing but down the road, it simply didn’t enthrall as well as the first one did.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Global Adventure is a brief 3 minutes feature that introduces viewers to the different location shoots in which the filming took place.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Typically, with such CG-heavy title, the images look pretty soft at times though much of the detailing and design work is excellent as expected. The Dolby Digital 5.1 is solid and booming with deafening explosions and ambient effects while dialogue remains crisp throughout.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Join former boy-genius Frank (Clooney), optimistic, science-minded teen Casey (Britt Robertson), mysterious Athena and the brilliant David Nix in a world of pure Disney imagination. Tomorrowland transports you on an inspiring and magical journey of wonder and adventure to a place where if you can dream it, you can do it.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Very much liked Prometheus, Tomorrowland is an ambitious sci-fi flick gone wrong. Coincidentally, both come from the brain of Damon Lindelof (co-creator of Lost and other sci-fi related movies).
For the uninitiated, Lindelof has the tendency to create interesting premises and inspiring vision. But his stories never really have a great ending and tend to fall apart in the final act after hell lot of building up. And Tomorrowland even with the great Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) at the helm can’t really salvage an uneven story and the heavy-handed concept.
The narrative for a start is slightly complex so bear with me. A tech-savvy teenager and daughter of a NASA engineer, Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) stumbles upon a mysterious pin, which allows her to be transported to a place called Tomorrowland. It’s a temporary vision which only those who possessed the pin can see. It turns out that Athena (Raffey Cassidy), an audio-animatronic droid from the future has sneaked Casey the pin. Her mission now is to look for Frank Walker (George Clooney), a grizzled, paranoid inventor and together they must save the world from a worldwide catastrophe.
Tomorrowland more than often slow to a crawl especially with too much mumbo-jumbo about the confusing future and stuff. It’s Damon Lindelof doing most of the scribing (with Bird credited as co-writer) so you expect muddling deep narrative than plain old straightforward storytelling. It’s kind of hard figuring out why the leader of Tomorrowland, Nix (Hugh Laurie from House M.D.) wants to see the world burn but since this is a DVD, you can rewind and rewatch at your conveniences.
Other than that gripe about the laborious story, Tomorrowland is actually a very fun flick to watch. The famous “It’s A Small World” attraction in the 1964 New York’s World Fair is a hidden portal to the future while the iconic Eiffel Tower has a concealed rocket under it. There’s also an exhilarating gun fight at a memorabilia store whose storeowners are droids by the way. If you are feeling a bit nostalgia over The Rocketeer, there’s a pretty neat jetpack sequence as well.
When it comes to the cast, Britt Robertson at the age of 25 plays a very convincing teenager while Clooney plays a very convincing grouchy old man. Laurie on the other hand lends some weight to the production with his unforgettable British accent and young English actress Raffey Cassidy is amazingly believable as a droid surpassing Haley Joel Osment’s performance in A.I.
In the end, all the visual excitement can’t really compensate the lacking of a coherent story. Tomorrowland is not the destined sci-fi classic it ought to be instead it’s just an action flick recommended for the elaborate visuals.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Brad Bird Production Diary NASA talks about filming onsite at NASA
Blast From The Past is a fake commercial for the memorabilia store seen in the movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Visually speaking, Tomorrowland looks fantastic on DVD. Colours and details are solid. Ambient sound is well placed, the action sequences are immersive with occasional strong loud effects across the speakers and dialogue is clear.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast across the globe in their most gravity-defying and emotional adventure yet. Targeted by a cold-blooded black-ops assassin with a score to settle (Jason Statham), their only hope is to get behind the wheel again and secure an ingenious prototype tracking device. Facing their greatest threat yet in places as far away as Abu Dhabi and as familiar as the Los Angeles streets they call home, the crew must come together once again as a team, and as a family, to protect their own.
MOVIE REVIEW:
TheFast & Furious franchise has practically evolved from an insipid streetcar racing crime movie to a globetrotting heist series, unexpectedly bigger than any action franchise in recent times.
With a story that is spill over from Fast & Furious 6 and The Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift franchise writer Chris Morgan returned with horror maestro James Wan at the helm. Never mind the fact that you are not a regular series follower or have forgotten that Dom (Vin Diesel) actually appeared at the end of Tokyo Drift. You just need to know that Fast & Furious 7 is yet another supercharged flick equipped with spectacular stunts designed to entertain you.
The previous villain Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) is now critically ill in hospital and it’s time for his brother, ex-special forces turned rogued agent Deckard (Jason Statham) to step in and exact revenge on the team. Before long, the various team members have experienced Deckard’s wrath while at the same time, a Mr Nobody aka Frank Petty (Kurt Russell), leader of a black ops team propose that Dom assist him in recovering a lost computer program dubbed the “God’s Eye” in exchange for his help to stop Deckard. The plan is fixed and yes, the team is back in business.
This is not a movie that calls for elaborate plans unlike Ocean’s Eleven or Mission Impossible. Fast & Furious 7 is purely an excuse to introduce more crazy stunts and over-the-top action. On this account, it indeed delivers first with an exhilarating airdrop before moving the action to Abu Dhabi. The so-called “God’s Eye” is just a silly plot device to move the action across several places and Deckard Shaw amusingly and conveniently appear at every corner, building and car park to take on Dom all because he knows people.
Dwayne Johnson, the DSS agent who fights alongside the team has a smaller role this time and his most memorable contribution is the hard fight against Deckard in the beginning of the movie. Tony ‘Ong Bak’ Jaa officially made his Hollywood debut as a villain and while he is given a few sequences to showcase his prowess, it’s too insignificant to make much of an impact.
The most impressive thing, which the filmmakers have done, is not the topping of the physics-defying stunts in fact by the time the climax took place in downtown L.A., you can’t deny that you already feel slightly dopey from the visuals and noises. What sets this apart from the earlier instalments is the care taken to carve a touching tribute to its fallen star, Paul Walker. It simply makes you feel that the Fast & Furious is no longer the same without his presence. While we await for Fast 8 to grace the screen in 2017, it’s time to celebrate the legacy of Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Conner once again on home entertainment.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Back to the Starting Line is a 12 minutes segment that takes a brief look at the franchise on the whole plus new characters and also a touching tribute to the late Paul Walker.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Fast & Furious 7 looks incredibly sharp and vibrant on DVD. There are hardly any noticeable defects and detailing is amazing even for the night sequence. The Dolby Surround 5.1 is often dynamic and intense. Gunfire and explosions put you right in the middle of the action and dialogue is crisp. A perfect title to showcase your surround system, however please switch to night mode if you catching this in the middle of the night.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Beca, Fat Amy and the Barden Bellas are to pitch slap the world! After a scandal threatens to derail their last year at Barden, the three-time defending champs worry that they've lost their harmony for good. With one chance left at redeeming their legacy, they must face off against the toughest competition on the planet: German supergroup Das Sound Machine and fight for their right to win at the World Championships of A Cappella. It will take the power of sisterhood to find their voice and see what it takes to be the world's top pitches!
MOVIE REVIEW:
Sometimes, Hollywood gets lucky when a relatively low-budget movie becomes a hit and made liked five times the budget back. Case in point - Pitch Perfect.
A sequel is inevitable given the amount of money made and most of the original cast members returned for this second outing. Three times defending champs, the Barden Bellas are suspended from participating in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) after Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) suffered a wardrobe malfunction at a performance for the President’s birthday gala. They have only one chance left to redeem themselves, that is to win the World Championships of A Capella. But before that, leader Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) and the rest of the girls must work out their differences before facing off the reigning king of A Capella, Das Sound Machine.
Aside from a script that screams predictable and lazily plotted, Pitch Perfect 2 wins mostly because of the perfectly coordinated musical numbers and energetic performances of the cast. As expected, the Barden Bellas are again in disarray and they have to rely on a retreat workshop to get the house back in order. All those hard work overcoming the obstacles just can’t compare to humming “Cups” over the campfire to regain their harmony. Yup it’s cheesy but I guess men will never understand the ladies.
Rebel Wilson continues to be a scene-stealer with her outright silly goofy antics liked rowing across a large lake to express her love for the former leader of the Treblemakers. Though quite a lot of screentime is devoted to Anna Kendrick’s Beca who is now an aspiring record producer and working as an intern at a record label, unfortunately it’s merely filler material until the next song-and-dance number appears. As a result, the rest of the quirky members of the Barden Bellas are mostly forgotten. Remember the quiet Asian girl or the black tomboyish member? Characters that make the first one a hoot are reduced to mere cameos. Well, at least there is an additional new member, Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) that looks and holds her voice well.
Directed by Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games) who also has a small supporting role as a commentator for the ICCA, Pitch Perfect 2 sticks to the tried-and-tested formula to deliver yet another female-driven sequel that offers catchy songs and occasional jokes. We heard that Pitch Perfect 3 is already in the pipeline so stay tuned for more Barden Bellas!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The only two extra features are Extended Musical Performances of Bellas and Das Sound Machine and a three minutes Gag Reel.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Audio is pitch perfect in every way. Music and dialogue is immersive and lively. Visual is equally top notch with deep natural flesh tones and images all around.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, Adrian Schiller
Runtime: 2 hrs
Rating: R21 (Mature Theme)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 January 2016
Synopsis: A remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Their marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Movie Review:
In the spirit of award ceremonies, you can expect many (insensitive?) jabs when English actor Eddie Redmayne’s performance in this film is cited. The 33 year old actor is already picking up countless nominations for playing a transgender in Tom Hooper’s latest work. Depending on the producers’ willingness to take risks, jokes may involve whether Redmayne should be nominated in the Best Actor or Best Actress category. However, as far as published reviews go, the up and coming actor has turned in yet another exceptional critically acclaimed portrayal of a real life character.
After nabbing the Best Actor accolade at last year’s Academy Awards by playing Stephen Hawking in James Marsh’s The Theory of Everything, he takes on another role which screams “Give me another Oscar”. This time, he plays Lili Elbe, one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery. The fictitious love story told in this film is inspired by the Danish artist and his partner Gerda Wegener, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by David Ebershoff.
Hooper, himself an Oscar winner for Best Director for 2010’s The King Speech, knows how to draw out the best from his cast. Expectedly, Redmayne gives it his all to play the protagonist who is visibly in much emotional pain, seeing how he is struggling with who he really is. We see the character go through episode after episode of wanting to break out of his sexuality, and albeit they are nothing groundbreaking (you’ve probably seen such scenarios if you’re familiar with queer cinema), they work for the mainstream audience. And this is probably where you think to yourself, if this film is meant as an Oscar bait, then there are certain elements which have to appeal to the widest possible group of viewers. With that mindset, you can enjoy the film for what it is – a love story.
While Redmayne is getting all the attention, let it be known that the star who really shines in this 120 minute film is Alicia Vikander. The Swedish actress, who has caught our attention for her stellar performance in Ex Machina (2015), plays Gerda – a woman who was in love with a man who is gradually disappearing. Yet, she supports his journey to find his true identity till the end. The affecting and poignant performances are varied to show the different stages of her perspective – from disbelief and helplessness, to supportive and being a pillar of hope. The 27 year old actress, who has gotten quite a fair bit of Hollywood recognition with her roles in Burnt (2015) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E (2015) is the bright young star to watch out for this season.
With the story set in the 1920s, one can expect a visual feast. The filmmakers have painstakingly recreated the era by filming in London, Berlin, Copenhagenand Brussels, and by featuring the art pieces and props used during that time. A lush music score composed by Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game) complements the handsome visuals. You can expect nominations in the art direction, costume and original score categories during the award season.
No doubt this film is made to shine at the major festivals, but let us set aside cynicism and embrace humanity in relationships.
Movie Rating:
(Although safe in its depiction of a controversially intriguing subject matter, the film is still a winner – thanks to engaging and powerful performances from Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander)
Review by John Li
Genre: Comics/Action
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Michael Shannon
Runtime: 2 hrs 32 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://www.batmanvsupermandawnofjustice.com
Opening Day: 24 March 2016
Synopsis: Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day saviour, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
Movie Review:
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is probably one of the most appropriately titled superhero movies. That’s because the movie is pretty much no more than just a bloated teaser and set-up for the two upcoming Justice League movies (Dawn of Justice, get it?)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice attempts to be more than just a sequel to Man of Steel. It is a continuation of the debate raised in Man of Steel about responsibilities of powers, who can be trusted, how Superman, as a god incarnate, whose benevolence benefits Earth and whose whims Earth would be helpless before.
The movie starts off promisingly enough in that direction, taking us back to the Superman/Zod fight from a ground-eye’s view, showing us the terror and not the awe that struck the hearts of helpless humans who witnessed catastrophe, and the collateral damage it inflicted, unfolding before them. And it is in this moment of helplessness that you see Bruce Wayne at his most vulnerable as he realises that while as Batman, he has all the resources that any human can have but is still helpless before immortals whose powers subject us to their mercy.
But the movie doesn’t stay on the course of this promising start. Rather, it starts veering off-course as though bent on following an unstructured direction, jinking the audience from one subplot to another subplot. Subplots that, mind you, not only don’t further the story but are draggy and told through the same old tired method (primarily of one dream sequence after another dream sequence). The audience is suddenly pulled out of one scene just as it is getting immersed in it and abruptly placed into another scene that has no connection with the prior scene, only to realise later that it’s a dream sequence. It gets so tiresome that after a while, whenever you get confused, you pretty much know that the scene has to be a dream sequence.
There are some good moments of course, like when the outcome of a Senate hearing on Superman and whether he needs to abide by Earth’s rules, pushes the plot forward and crystallises the debate over Superman’s role. Or when Martha Kent manages a friendly wisecrack in her scared state when she meets Batman for the first time, giving the movie a moment of much-needed humour.
The movie channels its thoughts and inner debate about the significance of human life and the responsibilities of powers through Lex Luthor, who is basically portrayed as a bratty and mentally unhinged rich kid by Jesse Eisenberg. This Luthor not only deviates from the canonically scheming, cool and collected Luthor that fans know but will also remind non-fans of Heath Ledger’s brilliantly menacing Joker in The Dark Knight because it is a poor shadow of Ledger’s Joker with all the nervy babble but none of the menace Ledger’s Joker emits underneath that façade of clownish nerves. Luthor’spenchant for candy and sneakers and social awkwardness is meant to contrast against his diabolical nature and schemes to make him all the more unpredictable and thus disturbingly scary. But he comes across as a spoilt brat with way too much nervous energy (no thanks to the sugar I bet) and nothing better to do with his money.
Zack Snyder also succeeds in making the Batman, the world’s greatest detective, equally bland and terribly stupid. One would think a thinking Batman would be most suited for a movie that attempts to debate the question of powers and responsibilities and who should be Earth’s guardian. Instead, Snyder decides to surprise the audience by ridding the Batman of any stealth and superior intellect as he sneaks around quite clumsily to get Luthor’s secret and quite stupidly falls into Luthor’s oh-so-easy-to-detect setup. Ben Affleck’s Batman is seething with anger, sadistic, relies primarily on brute strength (to prepare for his showdown with Superman, he trains…like a bodybuilder). Essentially, Affleck’s Batman is the Hulk in a Batman costume – strong(even his build fits), stupid and oh, so angry.
The only character that lights up the screen and has some dignity this movie is, ironically, Wonder Woman ,who really is here to plug her own upcoming movie. She becomes the movie’s highlight (even without backstory) by simply being less broody and conflicted than the other ‘heroes’ and simply fights for humanity when we are threatened, no questions asked about whether humanity deserves her slogging it out for them. Because that is just what a hero does.
Movie Rating:
(I give this a passing rate only because of Gal Gadot and the beautifully rendered visuals. DC fans, I think you are better off sticking to the animated series)
Review by Katrina Tee
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Director: Soi Cheang Pou-soi
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Gong Li, Feng Shaofeng, Xiao Shenyang, Kris Philips, Him Law, Kelly Chen
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: PG13 (Brief Nudity)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 5 February 2016
Synopsis: The Monkey King 2 is an upcoming Hong Kong action fantasy film boasting a main cast of stars Aaron Kwok, Gong Li, Feng Shaofeng and Xiao Shenyang. In this sequel of the 2014 box office hit The Monkey King, the White Boned Demon (Baigujing) played by Gong Li constantly attempts to prise Tang Sanzang for his meat, thus forcing the quartet to delay the journey on the quest for sutra. Whilst Tang was involved in a misunderstanding with Monkey King (Sun Wukong), White Boned Demon stole the opportunity to manipulate Tang, who is vulnerable without the help of his skilled disciple…
Movie Review:
With a movie like ‘The Monkey King’, the only way you could go with a sequel is up, so it really isn’t that surprising that ‘The Monkey King 2’ is a few notches better than its predecessor. Yet the two years since the release of that dull and expensive CGI eyesore sees its helmer Soi Cheang find poise, imagination and inspiration to deliver a much more assured, entertaining, and engaging cinematic rendition of the legendary ‘Journey to the West’ story, bolstered in no small measure by an irrepressibly lively turn by Aaron Kwok – replacing the original’s Donnie Yen – as the titular Sun Wukong and excellent CGI by no less than the folks behind ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’.
Now that his origins are out of the way, this second chapter – set 500 years after he was imprisoned by the Goddess of Mercy – sees the young and ingenuous Tang Priest Xuanzang (Feng Shaofeng) free Wukong from under the clutches of the Five Elements Mountain after being pursued by a white tiger. Unbeknowst to Wukong, their encounter has in fact been predestined by the Goddess (Kelly Chen) herself, who has given Wukong the quest of protecting Xuanzang on his journey to retrieve some sacred scriptures. Unbeknownst to Wukong, two other characters have been given similar assignments – one, the half-man half-pig Zhu Bajie (Xiao Shenyang); and two, the Sand Demon Sha Wujing (Him Law) – thus completing the quadfecta of characters most commonly associated with the classic story.
Opting wisely not to cover too much ground, a newly appointed quartet of screenwriters (including Ran Ping and Ran Jianan, Elvis Man and Yin Yiyi) instead pick a famous segment from Wu Cheng’en’s classical novel to form the backbone for this film, that of Wukong defeating the White Boned Demon (or 白骨精). The latter has been terrorising the wealthy Silk Road Kingdom of Yun for years, but her latest target is Xuanzang, whose flesh she believes will help her gain immortality. Those familiar with the source novel will remember the famous ‘three strikes’ between Wukong and the White Boned Demon - first as a village girl, second as an elderly woman and third as an elderly man – but rather than a literal adaptation, the writers have re-interpreted the text more broadly as a three-round fight between the Demon and Wukong, with the last reserved for an epic CGI-heavy battle that has the Demon transforming into a towering half-bodied skeleton.
Oh yes, that last sequence alone is probably the most breathtaking that we’ve seen in any Chinese film thus far, a combination of good old Hong Kong action-on-wirework and modern-day CGI to re-define the fantasy epic genre. In fact, Cheang seems to have adopted the template set by his Hollywood counterparts for this sequel, constructing his film as a compendium of thrilling action sequences with enough story, humour and character development to serve as narrative glue in between. No sooner after Wukong is freed do we find him and Xuanzang facing off with a giant water dragon, followed quickly by Wukong fighting Bajie and Wujing thinking that they are out to harm Xuanzang, and then in quick succession two elaborate encounters with the White Boned Demon before the ultimate showdown atop her snow-swept wintry palace.
Replacing Yen as action director is none other than Sammo Hung, and the latter’s penchant for showy, flamboyant moves over the former’s more grounded style proves a surprisingly better fit for the genre. Seemingly relishing the opportunity to be disencumbered from the forces of gravity, Hung hardly keeps his characters feet on the ground, preferring instead to send them soaring up into the heights of heaven or circling in the air while battling each other or one another. In particular, Kwok’s months of martial arts training to prepare for this role has paid off handsomely, rewarding him with a deft physicality to match his naturally buoyant personality.
Where his actors fall short, Hung taps flexibly on the visual effects supervised by veteran Frenchman Jacques Stroweis and on the costumes designed by another veteran Yee Chung-man to make up for their lack thereof, especially to ensure that the duelling characters look and feel evenly matched onscreen. Deserving of special mention is Stroweis’ contribution, who ensures that the distractingly bad special effects of the first ‘Monkey King’ movie remain with it – you’ll only have to look at Bajie and Wujing’s clash with the Demon’s relentless army of skeletons to know how far by leaps and bounds the VFX has improved.
Cheang has also obviously benefited from the experience of the previous film in working with effects-heavy sequences, such that the visuals here boast a dynamism which its predecessor often lacked. Equally, Cheang is a lot more at ease juggling comedy, drama and action, striking the right balance between lightness and sobriety – and the result is a film that knows when to take itself seriously and when to just have fun. The humour is wacky and well-timed, not only from Wukong’s cheekiness but also from Bajie’s willingness to poke fun at his pigsy look; while the drama emphasises Wukong and Xuanzang’s conflicting principles, the former who sees no need to show mercy to those who do evil and the latter who is a firm believer of mercy regardless.
As much as we hate to admit it, Kwok is a much better ‘Monkey King’ than Yen – not only is he much more spirited than Yen ever was, Kwok is also a much more expressive actor, and even under layers of heavy makeup, one feels keenly his sense of playfulness, frustration, indignation, anger, and loyalty to Xuanzang. On the other hand, Gong Li is a much better villain than Kwok was as the Bull Demon King; like Angelina Jolie in ‘Maleficient’ or Charlize Theron in ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’, Gong Li exudes elegance and malice in equal measure, so much so that there is never any element of doubt why her two subjects and even the King of Yun Kingdom (Kris Phillips) tremble and quiver in her presence.
Even though it would have made sense for Cheang to step aside for another director to take his place after the embarrassing 2014 original, the choice to return Cheang to the helm is at the end a wise one, allowing this sequel to improve in every respect from story to character to action to drama and ultimately to CGI. No matter how opportunistic it may seem for this sequel to be released right smack at the beginning of the Lunar Year of the Monkey, ‘The Monkey King 2’ overcomes such cynicism by delivering crowd-pleasing four-quadrant entertainment in exuberant fashion. If it’s fun and thrills you’re looking for this New Year, it’s fun and thrills you’ll get.
Movie Rating:
(In every respect from humour to drama to action to CGI better than its predecessor by a huge measure, ‘The Monkey King 2’ ushers in the Lunar Year of the Monkey in exuberant spirited fashion)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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mm2 Entertainment Partners with Taiwanese Film Producers In Movie Adaptation of Giddens Ko's Bestselling NovelPosted on 30 Sep 2015 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson, Zooey Deschanel, Danny McBride, Scott Caan, Leem Lubany
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://rockthekasbahmovie.com
Opening Day: 5 November 2015
Synopsis: While visiting Kabul, Afghanistan, washed-up rock manager Richie Lanz (Bill Murray) gets dumped by his last client (Zooey Deschanel). His luck changes when he discovers Salima Khan, a Pashtun teenager with a beautiful voice who dreams of becoming the first female to compete on the television show "Afghan Star." With help from a savvy hooker (Kate Hudson), two war profiteers and a trigger-happy mercenary (Bruce Willis), Richie embarks on a mission to make sure his new star gets discovered.
Movie Review:
Bill Murray’s latest attempt at playing the curmudgeonly washed-out loser who finds personal redemption is in the form of a has-been rock promoter named Richie Lanz who, after suffering the indignity of having his one and only talent cum personal assistant Ronnie (Zooey Deschanel) skip out on him while on a tour to Afghanistan, stumbles upon a shy Pashtun girl (Leem Lubany) with the voice of an angel and a repertoire of Cat Stevens songs. The part about Richie is fiction, but that about the young Afghan woman who subsequently disregards familial disapproval and death threats to realise her dreams of performing live on the reality TV show ‘Afghan Star’ isn’t – it is partly inspired by the true story of Setara Hussainzada, who did just that in 2007 and has since been the subject of a 2009 documentary as well as a more recent HBO half-hour special.
As inspiring as it may have sounded over a treatment to graft that real-life story into a fictional screwball comedy, ‘Rock the Kasbah’ is as dismal as it gets. Its way of getting Richie from the low-rent Van Nuys motel he works out of in California to the deserts of Afghanistan is by way of a tip from a drunk USO liaison in a bar at which he has booked Ronnie to perform in. Its definition of humour is the sight of Ronnie freaking out on the plane surrounded with turbaned men, or a bandana-wearing Richie in an open convertible with two fast-talking arms dealers (Danny McBride and Scott Caan) in the middle of the night, or Richie wearing lipstick and a Marilyn Monroe wig tied to a bedpost. To corral these sexist, racist and crass moments into a coherent satire requires both wit and finesse, neither of which its screenwriter Mitch Glazer nor its director Barry Levinson brings to this misconceived mess.
The disappointment is even greater considering the pedigree here – Levinson was writer and director of the similarly toned ‘Wag the Dog’ back in 1997; Glazer was writer of Murray’s incalculably superior ‘Scrooged’; and Murray has proven gifted in his ability to mix pathos with dry sarcasm especially of late in critically acclaimed films like ‘Lost in Translation’, ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ and ‘St Vincent’. Yet Glazer’s script here is a mishmash of unfunny clichés even before Richie gets to the Pashtun village where he meets Salima (Lubany) – besides the Herbalife salesmen turned gun runners, Bruce Willis turns up as a psychotic gun-toting mercenary, Kate Hudson as a American hooker with a heart of gold, and Iranian-born Arian Moayed as a disco-loving taxi driver. And oh, in addition to manoeuvring to get Salima on the show, Richie also finds himself caught in a crossfire between duelling village chiefs and the opium trade.
But mostly, Levinson seems content on letting Murray be Murray, for better and for worse. A good two minutes spent listening to Murray caterwauling through Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’ to a group of Pashtun tribal elders, which gets less amusing and more grating with every passing second. Such self-absorbed off-kilter personalities are not new to the actor, but the fact that Murray plays the equivalent of a white-saviour without any shade of nuance or any hint of apology makes his character particularly loathsome and obnoxious. Rarely has Murray been less charming on screen, which is why the most cheer-worthy moment of the film is ironically when Richie falls to the ground after being shot at while trying to be the negotiator between two warring tribes.
Still, it would seem unfair to blame Murray for the insufferable experience of sitting through his character’s arrogance, misogyny and pomposity when it is clear that he is simply ambling through Glazer’s sloppy excuse of a script. It is all the more inexcusable for treating Salima as no more than a glorified cameo, relegated to the last third of the film just so in order to end the film on a real-meets-reel feel-good note. There is no catharsis to be had even when Salima defies the odds to become a bona fide celebrity, and by then the only thing clear is just how muddied this supposed black comedy is. It has no ideas, no clarity, no motive and no point, and is as unbridled an embarrassment for everyone involved as it gets.
Movie Rating:
(Not even the reliable Bill Murray can save this haphazardly plotted, narratively bereft, and tonally misguided mess of a screwball comedy cum white-saviour redemption fable)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Get your tissues ready – when local singer Joi Chua croons 掌声响起 on Track 5 of this 33 minute soundtrack album, you may be moved to tears. Chua, who plays a parking attendant to loves to sing songs by music icon Feng Fei Fei in Royston Tan’s latest feature film, takes on several of the late Taiwansongstress’s well loved tunes.
Elsewhere, there is the emotional 我是一片云, the melodramatic Hokkien tune 心肝宝贝 and the hilarious medley 敲敲门/ 巧合- 组曲a lso featuring veteran Rahimah Rahim singing in Mandarin. An original composition念is also performed affectionately by Chua later in the CD.
Getai style songs like 欢喜就好 - Summon Auntie Version and 烧肉粽 performed by Liu Ling Ling shows you can take getai out of Tan (his previous films 881 and 12 Lotus were set against the backdrop of loud getai numbers), but you can’t take getai out of the award winning filmmaker. Fans of Cantopop will also love covers of the late Anita Mui’s 将冰山劈开 and 女人花.
Another highlight of this recommended soundtrack is local hip hop artist Shigga Shay’s 打包. The two odd minute cue is perfectly executed by the 23 year old. You’ll love how he raps out a list of drinks ordered at coffee shops – check out the side splitting music video uploaded on his YouTube channel, and you may find yourself learning more about the drinks available at your friendly kopitiam. A pity though, that the other rap about the life and career of Feng featured in the film isn’t included here.
This album is an easy listen, with some earworm songs that will play on repeat mode in your head.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (5) 掌声响起
Review by John Li
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