Genre: Thriller/Horror
Director: Nick Cheung 　
Cast: Nick Cheung, Amber Kuo, Sisley Choi, Louis Cheung, Lawrence Ng, Shi Yan Neng, Jacky Cheung
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Nudity and Horror)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures and Encore Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 26 November 2015

Synopsis: Fatt (Nick Cheung) is a gangster by day, exorcist by night. What makes him different from other exorcists is that he can see through and empathise with the pain in the spirit’s past, which helps him in convincing them to release their grudge and transmigrate. Little did he know that his partner Chung (Louis Cheung) has been secretly recording and uploading videos of his exorcism sessions online. These videos go viral and turn Fatt into an overnight star.

The media goes wild over Fatt, including rookie paparazzi Ling (Sisley Choi) who is desperately trying to climb the ranks of her profession. In one incident, Ling is possessed by a fierce spirit and nearly gets killed. Fatt miraculously comes to her rescue, and scolds her for being disrespectful to the dead. Ling becomes intrigued by the enigmatic Fatt, and sets her mind on uncovering the story behind his life. The deeper she digs into his past, the more disturbing truths she discovers—the most terrifying one is of Fatt’s girlfriend Shuet (Amber Kuo) who, after her death 88 years ago, continues to linger in his life. Shuet seems to have reservations about her coming transmigration, much to Fatt’s dismay.

Elsewhere, Hark (Shi Yan Neng), who is a vengeful spirit with a violent past, is wreaking havoc by killing mediums and exorcists. Fatt confronts Hark, but fails to persuade him to let go of his heavy grudge. He decides to investigate deeper into Hark’s past life to amass clues that could help to weaken the evil force.

The time has come for Shuet’s transmigration. If she misses this chance, she will be trapped in the human world as a wandering spirit. Juggling Hark’s malevolent intentions and Shuet’s reluctance at departure, Fatt finds himself in one of the toughest situations in his life.

Movie Review:

Who would have thought that Nick Cheung would have such an affinity with the supernatural, so much so that one year after his directorial debut in ‘Hungry Ghost Ritual’, he would return to the director’s chair in yet another horror outing? ‘Keeper of Darkness’, which he also stars in, finds a much more assured and confident Cheung at the helm of a flawed but much more compelling story compared to last, which follows a professional exorcist who moonlights as a gangster by day as he attempts to find closure with a female ghost while under threat by one of the most vicious spirits that he has ever encountered in his personal and professional life. It is as close to a character-driven horror as we have seen, and we do mean this in an encouraging way.

Stoic on the outside but tormented on the inside, Fatt is not quite so different from the usual cop roles that Cheung plays, except that this time he happens to be an exorcist blessed (or cursed) not only with the ability to see ghosts whether in the day or at night but also with the knack of being able to communicate with them. It is through this communication that Fatt convinces them to let go of their often tragic past, and in doing so, leave the human vessel which they have possessed as an outlet for their repressed feelings. As Fatt would tell us, the spirits which linger on in our world tend to be either suicides or murder victims, whose grudges with our kind prevent them from moving on to reincarnation and the hope of a better tomorrow.

On one of his assignments, Fatt runs into the spirit of a young girl who was burnt alive with her father Hark (Shi Yan Neng), the latter of whom is hell bent on exacting revenge on the corrupt detective responsible for their appalling fate. Unless Fatt helps him kill that detective, Hark threatens to continue a murder spree which had already claimed the lives of two mediums. And yet though it may be convenient to assume that the film is no more than another battle between the vengeful ghost and the unfortunate ghost whisperer, there is in fact yet another equally significant dimension to Fatt’s story – that is, a female spirit named Shuet (Amber Kuo) who has lived in the same apartment as Fatt since he was a kid and whom he has grown to fall in love with.

Shuet is an intriguing addition all right, and thankfully, Yeung Sin-Ling’s screenplay nicely fleshes out the unlikely connection between them through multiple flashbacks that adds poignancy to the emotional dilemma which both Shuet and Fatt have to confront in the later half of the film. Without giving away too much, a good part of it has to do with Fatt’s clinically depressed mother (played by Karena Lam) and the dingy apartment that they move into with a history of its own. Besides Shuet, Fatt’s lonely existence consists of his loyal assistant Chung (Louis Cheung), a boastful self-important gangster type who provides some degree of comic relief, and is interrupted by the presence of rookie reporter Ling (Sisley Choi), who is hungry to capture some ghostly phenomenon on camera to boost her career standing.

The multitude of supporting characters and their respective arcs with Fatt do make the central narrative more diffused than ideal, but by and large, Cheung succeeds in painting a portrait of a tragic loner who draws on his own pain to help set free the lost and wandering spirits of our world while remaining trapped by his personal childhood demons. Cheung’s soulful portrayal is the key here, drawing us into his tortured soul and opening the way for us to understand that of those which have left this world whom he communicates with. As a director though, he does struggle trying to balance drama, horror and romance in the same movie, but those shortcomings do not distract from his own otherwise much stronger lead performance that is the very emotional anchor of the story.

Yet even though he may not be on the surest footing, there is still much to praise about Cheung’s ambition and achievement in his sophomore feature. Most significantly, his attempt to fuse the supernatural with the real world as we know it is hauntingly captured in phantasmagorical images that recall what the Pang brothers had created in ‘Re-cycle’ but in a much more evocative fashion. A particular standout sequence is one which sees Fatt go about his routine of bringing candies for ghosts wandering in one of the dark alleyways in Hong Kong – alternating between what Fatt sees and what someone without the gift of the third eye would, Cheung sharply evokes what it means to have spirits walking in our midst. In contrast, a later sequence that has Fatt immerse himself into the spiritual realm to search out Hark sees Cheung go all out in CGI to recreate the infamous Kowloon Walled City, although that bit of excess with digital trickery proves the law of diminishing returns.

Still, there is no doubt that ‘Keeper of Darkness’ is visually distinctive in its own right, including the sight of Cheung with a prodigious crop of white hair and a body covered in Mandala tattoos that was apparently kudos to veteran production designer Yee Chung-man. Also notable is how Cheung avoids cheap jump scares and instead goes for slow-burn sequences that build dread and tension, gaining its horror stripes the hard-earned way. Even though he might have taken some time to segue from acting to acting and directing, that time since has likely paid off, if not in terms of experience than for being able to call in favours from the likes of Andrew Lau, Shawn Yue and even Jacky Cheung, all of whom appear in glorified cameos here. And though he is still a much better actor than director, Cheung’s sophomore outing as the latter is a marked improvement from his last, proving himself yet again to be the keeper of the - especially in recent years - dying Hong Kong horror genre. 

Movie Rating:

(By turns gripping and melancholic, this character-driven horror sees a much more assured Nick Cheung at the helm and a typically soulful turn by Cheung at the lead)

Review by Gabriel Chong 

Genre: Drama
Director: Adam McKay
Cast: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, Melissa Leo, Hamish Linklater, John Magaro, Rafe Spall, Jeremy Strong, Marisa Tomei, Finn Wittrock
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Rating: NC16 (Coarse Language and Some Nudity)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.thebigshortmovie.com

Opening Day: 21 January 2016

Synopsis:  When four outsiders saw what the big banks, media and government refused to, the global collapse of the economy, they had an idea: The Big Short. Their bold investment leads them into the dark underbelly of modern banking where they must question everyone and everything. Based on the true story and best-selling book by Michael Lewis.

Movie Review:

Truth be told, this reviewer wouldn’t have been interested in this biographical comedy drama if not for the big names attached to it. Putting the faces of Christian Bale (Exodus: Gods and Kings, American Hustle), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World), Ryan Gosling (Only God Forgives, Gangster Squad) and Brad Pitt (Fury, 12 Years a Slave) sure helps with catching eyeballs.

Then there is the unlikely choice of having Adam McKay as the director of this 131 minute movie. Having served as head writer for the popular sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for two seasons, and directed movies like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) and Step Brothers (2008), one wouldn’t have expected the director producer writer actor to take on this Wall Street drama about the financial crises of 2007 to 2008, which was brought on by the buildup of the housing market and credit bubble.

Of course, it doesn’t help that this writer wasn’t a finance or economics student – hence the lack of knowledge in the seemingly serious and complicated subject matter.

The story focuses on four characters and how they are involved in the world of high finance. Through a series of incidents, we see them predict the credit and housing bubble collapse, and how the big banks’ greed and lack of foresight led to what is considered the worst financial crises since the Great Depression of the 1930s. As a result, there were countless evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment. The decline in consumer wealth was estimated at trillions of US dollars.

Can you imagine anyone bringing such events to the screen, and hoping to gain interest from someone as uninformed as this columnist? And more importantly, having it categorised as a comedy? Trust McKay to do the job., and having the movie clinch five Oscar nominations (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing) and many other award nominations as well.

Like the topic, there are lots of jargon and financial processes which are difficult to understand. We believe that most viewers will still be clueless for most parts of the movie – that is probably similar to how the finance sector works. If you aren’t already a victim yourself, you have probably heard how your friends have been thrown jargons and terminologies on investments and stocks, only to feel lost and confused over what the entire situation is about. But that doesn’t stop humans from wanting more – hence the eventual unfortunate series of events.

The screenplay by McKay (Ant Man, The Campaign) and Charles Randolph (Love & Other Drugs, The Interpreter) ensures that the film moves at an energetic pace so that the layperson will not be bored or lost in the technicalities of the finance world. You are also pleasantly surprised by the inclusions of Anthony Bourdain, Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez in sequences where they speak to you directly, explaining certain jargons used in the movie. Such approaches definitely make viewers sit up and watch – even if the explanations are still cloudy, you’d give the filmmakers points for thinking of this refreshing way of telling the story.

The cast fares well under McKay’s direction, and a supporting cast including Melissa Leo, Harmish Linklater, John Magaro, Rake Spall, Jeremy Strong, Marisa Tomei and Finn Wittrock will have you seeing the perspectives of each of their characters, and how they viewed the downfall of the financial system. 

Movie Rating:

(The great ensemble cast makes this movie about the global financial crisis unexpectedly enjoyable and fun to watch)

Review by John Li

Genre: Drama
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Wood Harris, Graham McTavish
Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: http://creedthemovie.com/

Opening Day: 26 November 2015

Synopsis:  Adonis Johnson (Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. Still, there's no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed's legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa. Once in the City of Brotherly Love, Adonis tracks Rocky (Stallone) down and asks him to be his trainer. Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo - the fierce rival who became his closest friend. Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains the young fighter, even as the former champ is battling an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring. With Rocky in his corner, it isn't long before Adonis gets his own shot at the title...but can he develop not only the drive but also the heart of a true fighter, in time to get into the ring?

Movie Review:

No one expects Sylvester Stallone to step into the ring at this age and deliver a knockout the way he did to his fearsome Russian opponent Ivan Drago in ‘Rocky IV’ thirty years ago, but rather than make ardent fans endure the possible ignominy of a reboot, ‘Creed’ finds a way to honour and preserve Stallone’s legacy while advancing the series for a new generation of audiences. And so though Stallone reprises his role as the working-class hero Rocky Balboa from Philly, he does not throw a single punch against a fellow opponent; instead, like what his fierce rival and later on best pal Apollo Creed did for him back in ‘Rocky III’, Stallone plays trainer to Adonis Creed (called Donnie), the illegitimate son of Apollo who is now grown-up and is wearing his abandonment issues on his sleeve.

Though Rocky was thrust into boxing as a means of proving his self-worth, the fundamental conceit of ‘Creed’ lies in the fact that boxing is in Donnie’s blood due to his lineage, which is why after juggling between an office job and black-market prize fights in Tijuana, Donnie decides to quit the former to pursue boxing full-time. That calling brings Donnie from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, where he seeks out his father’s one-time fiercest opponent Rocky to be his trainer. This is the first time in close to a decade that we are seeing the Italian stallion (after the sendoff that was ‘Rocky Balboa’ back in 2006), and the years since have left the former boxing hero alone and weary following the death of his wife Adrian and his best pal Paulie. Yet it isn’t any secret that, despite some initial reluctance, Rocky eventually agrees to train Donnie, part out of love for the young man’s father and part out of an inextinguishable desire to get back into the game.

In the same way, ‘Creed’ makes no bones about reworking the classic Rocky formula – like the old Rocky, Donnie is an unproven underdog who finds himself way out of his depth. Indeed, his first live match is with Leo “The Lion” Sporino (played by real-life boxer Gabriel Rosado) – the #4 ranked light heavyweight in the world, with an impressive 17-0-0 record and 12 wins by knockout – and his next and last one in the movie is with “Pretty” Ricky Conlan (played by another professional boxer named Anthony Bellew) – the Lineal Light Heavyweight title holder and undefeated best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, with a record of 36-0-0 and 28 wins by knockout. Right down to the final outcome of the Creed vs Conlan match-up, those who have seen the original will surely recognise some familiar story beats.

Even so, Donnie is both a similar as well as a different character from Rocky, the latter of which is beautifully drawn out here in his mental anguish boxing under a nom de guerre versus his father’s name, for fear of being called a fraud – or in the character’s own words, “a fake Creed”. Donnie’s struggle to step out of the shadows of a father that he never knew gives newfound meaning and poignancy to his own classic ‘Rocky’ moment in front of the mirror, as Rocky tells him to look at his own image which will be the greatest opponent he will ever fight in and out of the ring. Besides the sport, Donnie also finds his bearing with the help of his downstairs neighbour Bianca (Tessa Thompson), a no-nonsense avant-garde musician coping with a degenerative hearing problem that forces her to wear hearing aids. That Donnie gets a love interest isn’t so surprising, but his scenes with Bianca are surprisingly affecting, largely because the latter is, in her determination and resolve, very much her own person.

True to its title therefore, this is Donnie’s story, but that doesn’t mean Rocky is no more than a glorified sideshow. Slowly but surely, the film coaxes a moving mentor-mentee relationship between the pair, beginning with Rocky’s tough but tender training shown in more than one montage, to their scenes at the dinner table together after Donnie moves in with Rocky, and to the words of encouragement that Rocky speaks to Donnie in between round after punishing round. In particular, that familial bond pays off tremendously with a melodramatic twist midway into the story that makes it as much Donnie’s fight from that point on as it is Rocky’s. Most admirable is how their relationship is never painted in cliché – such as pitting Rocky’s prudence against Donnie’s zealousness – and even without ever hinting at such an association, one gets the distinct sense by the halfway mark that Rocky has become no less than a father figure to Donnie.

That the relationship between Rocky and Adonis proves so poignant is also in large part due to Michael B. Jordan and Stallone’s committed performances. There is equal parts brashness and vulnerability in Jordan’s underplaying of the titular character, who during the course of the film comes to terms with his own anger as well as his past. Jordan is nicely complemented by what has to be one of Stallone’s most nuanced acting ever, shedding his usual macho image as well as that of the character to play Rocky at his most fragile. Having created and shaped the character from the very first movie, Stallone knows Rocky like the back of his hand, but even so, fans will be both surprised and moved by how much pathos the 69-year-old actor brings to his latest rendition of one of his most iconic roles.

No ‘Rocky’ movie is complete without at least one thrilling fight, and ‘Creed’ delivers two knockout ones. The first unfolds over the course of one single unbroken take impressively shot by Maryse Alberti (who also shot ‘The Wrestler’), with the steadicam circling in and around the boxers who execute their moves and movements with breathtaking precision; and the second, which sees Donnie slip on a familiar pair of star-spangled trunks, is a combination of elegantly choreographed long takes and virtuosic editing, all the way to a rousing finish that manages to weave in Bill Conti’s triumphant theme into an already propulsive score from Ludwig Goransson. Even though Donnie’s time spent fighting makes up for less than a quarter of the movie’s two-and-a-quarter-hour runtime, it is the character drama beforehand that makes these fights all the more thrilling and emotionally engaging.

With such assured and confident direction, it’s hard to tell that ‘Creed’ is only Ryan Coogler’s sophomore feature film after the Sundance award-winning favourite ‘Fruitvale Station’. It is as promising a transition into big-budget studio filmmaking as can be, not least for the fact that his film is not only compelling in itself but one worthy of standing amidst a rich legacy of six predecessors. As Rocky makes his way up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the closing sequence, there is no doubt that Coogler has deftly bridged the old and the new to create a film that stands not in shadow of its past but one that lives up to its own ‘Creed’.  

Movie Rating:

(Thrilling, emotional and uplifting, this ‘Rocky’ spinoff doesn’t just bask in the shadow of its predecessors; it stands and triumphs by its own ‘Creed’)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Horror/Comedy
Director: Jonathan Milott, Cary Murnion
Cast: Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, Jack MacBrayer, Leigh Whannell, Nasim Pedrad, Ian Brennan, Jorge Garcia
Runtime: 1 hr 28 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://cootiesmovie.tumblr.com/

Opening Day: 10 December 2015

Synopsis: From the twisted minds of Leigh Whannell (co-creator of Saw and Insidious) and Ian Brennan (co-creator of "Glee"), COOTIES is a horror comedy with unexpected laughs and unapologetic thrills. When a cafeteria food virus turns elementary school children into killer zombies, a group of misfit teachers must band together to escape the playground carnage.

Movie Review:

Because Scott Gimple and his team of writers at AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ have apparently sucked the air out of every thoughtful zombie drama, them feature film writers have instead tried to balance the quotient by going the way of comedy – though judging by the results of the recent ‘Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse’ as well as this latest from ‘Saw’ creator Leigh Whannell and ‘Glee’ creator Ian Brennan, they’d be better off letting the folks at AMC do all the walking. Neither scary enough as a horror film nor funny enough as a comedy, ‘Cooties’ instead settles for obvious gore beats, lame jokes, uninspired plot mechanics and a bunch of characters that we really just don’t give a damn about.

To be fair, it does start with a fiendishly clever premise: using a factory-to-table sequence over its opening credits, we see how an infected chicken is processed into chicken nuggets that end up being served at a cafeteria in an elementary school. In no time, the kids are turning each other into rampaging, flesh-eating zombies in the playground outside, while their teachers – made up of Elijah Wood’s dorky substitute Clint, Alison Pill’s relentlessly cheery Lucy, Rainn Wilson’s cocky gym trainer Wade, Whannell’s socially maladjusted sex-ed educator Doug among others – are forced to run from the little rotters within the school building.

Thanks to Doug, we are treated to some mumbo-jumbo about how the virus doesn’t take hold if you’ve already reached puberty, which is really no more than a convenient excuse to keep the kids the flesh-eaters and the teachers their meat. There is indeed some fun to be had in the role reversal between children and adults, which Whannell and Brennan milk for both macabre as much as pop-culture humour. Oh yes, this is that movie where what is meant to be funny is as much Doug’s proclamation that rap music is to be blamed for the outbreak as a scene where a zombie-fied grade-schooler uses a teacher’s severed head as her colouring board – and if that sounds distasteful to you, then you won’t very much like seeing a teacher beating another zombie-fied student to death.

Predictably, first-time feature directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion crank up the fake gore and violence to over-the-top proportions, but it is the name actors romping through the gross-out humour that bring the biggest laughs. Most prominently, Wood and Wilson play up their romantic rivalry for Pill to hilariously chauvinistic effect, bickering from face-to-face to over walkie-talkie even as they need to depend on each other to stay alive from the pint-sized monsters. As he did playing Specs in the ‘Insidious’ trilogy, Whannell often steals the show delivering the most inappropriate lines with a stone face, but that is also because the others like Jack McBrayer’s closeted art teacher and Nasim Pedrad’s paranoiac are given little else to do in comparison.

What starts out as twisted mayhem unravels itself just as quickly, and the film is ultimately not smart enough as satire on elementary-school kids turning against their day-time tormentors; instead, we get a lot of blood, equally if not more questionable violence, and occasional smatterings of laughs and frights. It is at best campy forgettable fun, and at worse an only half-alive horror-comedy hybrid that doesn’t do justice to either. 

Movie Rating:

(Turning elementary-school kids against their daytime tormentors may seem a fiendishly clever premise, but 'Cooties' is ultimately too ham-fisted and scattershot to make good on its satirical potential) 

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: Renny Harlin 　
Cast: Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville, Fan Bingbing, Eric Tsang, Michael Wong, Zhang Lan-Xin, Eve Torres, Winston Chao
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 22 July 2016

Synopsis: Skiptrace follows Bennie Chan (Jackie Chan), a Hong Kong detective who has been tracking notorious crime boss Victor Wong for over a decade. When Bennie’s goddaughter Samantha (Bingbing Fan) gets into trouble with Wong’s crime syndicate, Bennie must track down the man whose actions got her there: the fast-talking American gambler Connor Watts (Johnny Knoxville). Bennie soon discovers, however, that in bringing Connor back to Hong Kong he’s ensuring more than his goddaughter’s fate; Connor also possesses knowledge about Victor Wong that, if exposed, could finally bring the corrupt businessman to justice. As Bennie races against the clock to return with Connor to Hong Kong, the unlikely pair embarks on an entertaining and perilous adventure that spans from the mountains of Mongolia to the dunes of the Gobi desert.

Movie Review:

No matter that it was filmed largely in China, ‘Skiptrace’ hews closer to the Hollywood action comedies that Jackie Chan was making for a predominantly Western audience in the early 2000s than the big-budget Chinese historical epics that he has been making thereafter. Like ‘Rush Hour’ or ‘Shanghai Noon’ therefore, Jackie is here accompanied by an American sidekick whose main and perhaps only purpose is to serve as his comic foil – and that honour this time round has been bestowed on ‘Jackass’ star Johnny Knoxville. Yet even though it plays completely according to formula by allowing Jackie and Johnny to bicker and joust together and against each other, there is something distinctly diminishing about their ‘odd-couple’ enterprise this time round, such that the Renny Harlin-directed film is never quite as exciting or amusing as it needs to be in order to be entertaining.

To be sure, it does begin on a high by introducing Jackie’s Hong Kong police officer Bennie Chan in the midst of a raid on a drug trade happening in one of Tai-O’s stilt houses. Recycling a gag from ‘CZ12’, Jackie has an unexpected run-in with a dog that causes his cover to be blown, and the ensuing melee sees Jackie spring quickly into action dodging bad guys while trying to apprehend the key persons in the exchange. It is nothing spectacular to be frank, but seeing Jackie do what he does best is always a treat. Oh, and so is the nostalgia one gets from watching Michael Wong onscreen, in a supporting role as Bennie’s superior Captain Tang who chastises him for the failed operation and for suspecting that the respectable businessman Victor Wong (Winston Chao) might be the criminal mastermind known as ‘The Matador’ whom Bennie vows to take down personally for causing the death of his beloved partner Yung (Eric Tsang in a glorified cameo).

Just as Jackie, Johnny’s character also gets an extended introduction that establishes him as the disarmingly charming hustler Connor Watts, who arrives in Macau with Russian gangsters on his heel for owing a debt to their boss Dima. Connor is twice unwittingly caught up in Victor’s affairs – first, via the stunningly gorgeous Samantha (Fan Bingbing), who is soon unveiled to us as none other than Yung’s daughter gone undercover to avenge her father; and second, by being at the wrong place and the wrong time to have seen Victor shoot dead a female with apparently incriminating evidence against the latter, which also explains why he opts to go with the Russians later on. It is this turn of events that sets Connor up as a prized witness for Bennie as well as a target whom Victor sends his henchmen (led by Leo Ku) to eliminate.

Bennie’s initial run-in with the Russians that kicks off the middle act is probably the most lively action sequence among the three elaborate ones that Jackie stages throughout the course of the movie. From the middle of a bowling lane where Bennie rescues Connor strung upside down, to the narrow cobble-stoned pavements of a Siberian town, and finally to the cramped assembly floor of a factory in the business of manufacturing Russian dolls, Bennie tries to evade the much heftier-sized Russians while keeping an eye on Connor to make sure he does not slip away. Jackie is as playful as ever in these scenes, whether stuffing Connor in a bin and rolling him down the pavements or using a life-sized Russian doll to evade the blows of a tough leather-clad female opponent dubbed the ‘Siberian Terminator’ (Eve Torres), but this is unfortunately also the point where it (sometimes literally) starts going downhill.

Because Jackie has taken it upon himself to be China’s unofficial ambassador to the world, ‘Skiptrace’ also carries with it his motivation to showcase the sights and cultures of the more native parts of China. And so, even though it defies narrative logic, Bennie’s trek across China with Connor back to Hong Kong will include a dinner-and-dance with a Mongolian tribe where Jackie will perform Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ (believe that!) as well as a stopover at a Yunnan village where the people happen to be releasing ‘kongming lanterns’ that evening and celebrating the ‘Mud Festival’ and ‘Hundred Family Feast’ in the morning. In between, Bennie and Connor sneak their way on board a train, drive a rickety two-seater vehicle into the Gobi Desert, row down a fast-flowing river on a raft buoyed by inflated pig skin and even spend a night in a cave spooning each other to keep warm.

Yet even with these opportunities for bonding, one never gets a real sense of camaraderie between the two travellers. That is partly because Jackie often takes the moral high ground chastising Connor for not being a ‘man of honour’, partly because Johnny spends most of his time scowling for being dragged against his will across China, partly because the script by first-time writers Jay Longino and Bendavio Grabinski lacks character depth, and also because Jackie and Johnny do not quite share enough chemistry to turn the antagonism between their characters into the sort of ‘love-hate’ relationship that the movie needs. As a result, Connor’s change of heart later on feels obligatory, be it a newfound sense of honour that motivates him to speak up for the truth or a renewed sense of loyalty towards Bennie to help a ‘brother’ in time of need.

Ditto the final setpiece set at a shipyard in Hong Kong – notwithstanding a late twist on the identity of ‘The Matador’, the action feels tired and uninspired, even with Jackie doing a lot of running around. His best sequences have always had an operatic grace and order to them, but Jackie’s last hurrah here lacks elegance and comes across haphazard – and is even overshadowed by a girl-on-girl showdown between Torres and Mainland actress Zhang Lanxin. That is even more disappointing considering how Jackie and his director Renny (of ‘Die Hard 2’ and ‘Cliffhanger’) are supposed to be pros at staging such high-wire acts, but seem content to go out in a middling way here.

Alas that sentiment is true of the movie as a whole – especially surprising given how Jackie has said he has taken 25 years to make this – which ultimately lacks the screen rapport (between Jackie and Johnny) so sorely needed to make the buddy-comedy pop. By the time he finally got this made, Jackie too seems exhausted, and those looking for his usual level of energy or inventiveness will surely go away empty. Even on the level of the Hollywood action comedies Jackie used to make, this probably ranks among one of his least, not as dire or embarrassing as ‘The Spy Next Door’ but not quite much better than ‘The Tuxedo’. This is no ‘CZ12’ for sure, and seeing as how Jackie has already lined up ‘Railroad Tigers’ for the end of the year, you’ll be better off waiting for that than this ‘Rush Hour’ reject neither fun nor thrilling enough to even justify a fourth instalment under the banner. 

Movie Rating:

(Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville don’t share enough chemistry to make their ‘odd-couple’ comedy work – and unfortunately, the action hardly makes up for it)

Review by Gabriel Chong 

SYNOPSIS: Max, a precision-trained military dog serves on the frontlines in Afghanistan until he loses his handler, U.S. Marine Kyle Wincott in the line of duty. Traumatised, Max is sent stateside where the only human he can connect with is Kyle's brother, Justin. The pair strikes up an unlikely friendship as they unravel a mystery that may deliver more excitement and danger than they bargained for.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Max started out as a tribute to all the dogs and their handlers who lost their lives in military service but in the end the supposedly meaningful movie makes way for something that is dark, generic and ultimately disappointing.

While on a routine mission in Afghanistan, U.S. Marine Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell) and his loyal canine, Max are ambushed by hidden enemies. Kyle is tragically killed and Max after suffering from severe PTSD faced being put down or return to Kyle’s family back in Texas. Max took an instant liking to Kyle’s troubled younger brother Justin (Josh Wiggins) and the two learns to bond with each other over the days.

This will probably go down the sentimental, heartwarming family route for others but director and writer Boaz Yakin (Safe, Now You See Me) has a far larger plan in mind. That is to turn Max into a heroic dog flick which has Max and Justin fighting against an illegal weapon-dealing cartel which conveniently involved Tyler (Luke Kleintank), the shady buddy of the late Kyle.

How Tyler managed to smuggle weapons out of military facilities all the way from Afghanistan to Texas and how he managed to get himself discharge from service is not crucial to the plotting. All the plot holes seems to be insignificant as Yakin spent most of the screentime depicting Justin and his friends, the comic relief Chuy (Dejon LaQuake) and love interest, Carmen (Mia Xitlali) and their bike action in the forest. Once a while, his parents played by Thomas Haden Church (Sideways) and Lauren Graham (Parenthood) pops in to impart family values and lesson and making sure Max is still doing fine.

With very little to pull the heartstrings or the meat to display the patriotic work our four-legged heroes have done for the country, Max resort to a climatic finish with plenty of dog fights, gunplay and pyrotechnics to entertain the viewers. Max hints of something far superior but instead of a loud ‘woof’, it’s a mere weak whimper. Those looking for an emotionally satisfying canine flick better check out Marley & Me or Eight Below.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Working with Max is a brief feature that showcases how the trainer got the dogs to act in front of the camera. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Although it looks like a TV feature, the visual quality is pretty handsome. Images are sharp with bright clean colors. Audio is serviceable and soft on the whole except for some nice cool action bits in the climax.   

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee
 

Nostalgia has become a commodity, as this album from the hit Taiwanese movie has proven with its track list.

The album contains 10 cues totaling a total runtime of 41 minutes (strictly speaking, songs only take up 33 odd minutes, as the last two four minute tracks are karaoke instrumental cues), and majority of them are hit songs from the 1990s. Andy Lau’s “忘情水” (you’ve gotta love the direct English translation “Potion for Forgetting Love”), Eric Suen’s “认识你真好” (“It is Good Knowing You”) and “爱火” (“Fire of Love”), and Grasshopper’s (the Cantopop boy group reigned the airwaves during their heydays) “失恋阵线联盟” (“Union of Heartbroken People”) are the songs that will make you feeling all fuzzy about the good ol’ days of listening to music on a Walkman (or Discman, if you can afford one). There is also American hip hop artiste MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” for you to bob your head along.

Taiwanese girl group S.H.E’s Hebe sings the movie’s theme song”小幸运” (“Small Happiness”), a track that will be sung by thousands of KTV goers, while imagining that they had a love story as sweet as the one depicted in Frankie Chen’s debut movie. Two other new tracks are Popu Lady’s sweet ”妳说他” (“You Talk About Him”) and Dino Lee’s”我们青春” (“Our Youth”).

The box office hit has earned more than NT$400 million (S$17.1 million), with some obsessed fans watching it more than once in theatres and spamming quotes from the film all over their social media accounts. You can bet they will also lap this soundtrack up, reliving the movie’s moments as they put the songs on repeat.  

While other successful Taiwanese films like Cape No. 7 (2008), You Are The Apple of My Eye (2011) and Café. Waiting. Love (2014) boasted more diverse soundtrack albums (and stronger storylines as well, in this reviewer’s humble opinion), this CD would be flying off shelves, given how people are lapping all things associated with the feel good movie. 

ALBUM RATING:

Recommended Track: (1) 小幸运(电影「我的少女时代」主题曲) / 田馥甄

Review by John Li

Genre: Drama
Director: Thomas McCarthy
Cast: Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schrieber, Brian D’Arcy James, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup, John Slattery
Runtime: 2 hrs 8 min
Rating: NC-16 (Some Mature Content)
Released By: Shaw 
Official Website:

Opening Day: 21 January 2016

Synopsis: SPOTLIGHT tells the riveting true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world’s oldest and most trusted institutions. When the newspaper’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters delve into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston's religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world. Directed by Academy Award-nominee Tom McCarthy, SPOTLIGHT is a tense investigative thriller, tracing the steps to one of the biggest crime stories in modern times.

Movie Review:

“The city flourishes when its great institutions work together,” the cardinal offers the newly appointed Boston Globe editor some friendly advice in the early part of the movie. The editor, however, disagrees with this vision of harmony and argues that the paper should be independent.

This effectively sets the stage for the story that would win the Boston Globe a Pulitzer Prize and unravel the horrifying extent of the Catholic clergy’s abuse of children.

Spotlight is the gripping detective story/newsroom drama that brings to the screen this story of how a group of dogged reporters, egged on by their editor, not only refused to bow down to authority but pushes it back when such authority is used to cover up sinister acts as power operates without accountability.

Unlike other films where reporters are usually idealists or crusaders fighting for a cause that they believe in, the reporters here are conflicted humans who have mixed feelings about digging deeper into the acts of the Catholic clergy and causing doubt on figures who they’ve been taught to look up to since young.

Tom McCarthy ably helps the cast bring forth that inner conflict and avoids casting the conflict in mere black and white. While it is easy to treat this story, so well-known now, as a simple story of moral or good versus evil, thankfully McCarthy chose not to do so which would have risked oversimplifying the story as one of binaries.

McCarthy is not one prone to romanticism. He recognises and draws out the grayness that is reality. The Boston Globe is an imperfect institution where the people working inside are as prone to laziness and compromise as anyone else. Part of the reason why this scandal was not uncovered earlier was due to lapses on the part of the Boston Globe which close to overlook the evidence that the hierarchy was aware of the wrongdoings. The Spotlight team’s efforts to uncover the truth is more than just a matter of them doing what journalists are supposed to do – report the truth. It is also an effort to redeem the Boston Globe. The question “What took you so long?” is one that haunts them as they zealously attempt to make up for lost time.

The lack of romanticism is embedded in the overall design and feel of the film. The natural glamour that Rachel McAdams naturally exudes is toned down as she becomes an ordinary human being who struggles with the most basic of things such as loading a dishwasher.  A retiring veteran is sent off with awkward speeches and forced laughter. McCarthy avoids easy shortcuts like exploitative flashbacks and also eschews the inflated sense of importance that the noir-ish All the President’s Men (you know that comparison between the two newsroom dramas based on real news events would be inevitable) had.  This lack of euphemism and bare approach is perhaps what makes the moral horror of the incidents all the greater and appalling. 

Although the story’s outcome is well-known, McCarthy manages to create suspense throughout the journey, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats as the stakes become clear and are those that audiences can easily relate to. It is not difficult to imagine yourself being in the shoes of the different characters, given how human they are and wondering, what choice would I have made?

And was the choice made by them in uncovering the scandal worthwhile?  

Movie Rating:

(An explosive saga that brings out the everyday heroism of its characters, Spotlight is a masterpiece that leaves its audience breathless with its tight pacing)

Review by Katrina Tee

Genre: Thriller/Action
Director: Lo Chi-leung　
Cast: Sean Lau Ching-wan, Gordon Lam, Jacqueline Li Xiaolu, Jiang Yiyan, Guo Xiaodong, Rhydian Vaughan
Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment, Clover Films and Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 10 December 2015

Synopsis: A women’s prison in the Northern China in 1932, Prisoner FU Yuan (JIANG Yiyan) digs a tunnel in her prison cell with a silver spoon and escapes. Inspector SONG Donglu (LAU Ching-wan) is summoned to investigate FU’s escape. By tracking down the letters sent to him by FU, it sets SONG off to Hong City to unravel FU’s disappearance.

Hong City is enduring several years of economic recession and citizens are struggling to live. GAO (GUO Xiaodong), the business magnate of the city, has corrupted the government officials, monopolized the whole industrial business and treated the labors harshly. Students have deployed to protest against the situation. At one point, it follows with relentless suicidal incidents of labors jumping off buildings. Their clothing is blood stained with words of accusing GAO’s cruelty. SONG starts to suspect the suicides as he has witnessed one of the suicidal actions. When SONG is digging into the cases, university professor HUO (LAM Ka-tung) tells SONG that FU had published a set of ciphers as a game in his newspaper half year ago and the subject of ciphers is related to these bizarre suicidal incidents.

SONG is gradually unveiling the plot of riddles, and yet, the truth is inevitably covered up by more red herrings, peculiar murders and gun battles…If FU is ruled out as the suspect, who is the culprit behind the serial killings?

Movie Review:

Everyone loves a quick-witted but eccentric detective at the heart of an intriguing mystery, especially one with supernatural undertones that is subsequently resolved by good old logical deduction. That was the hook of Lo Chi-leung’s ‘The Bullet Vanishes’ three years ago, which saw Inspector Song Donglu (Lau Ching Wan) try to crack a string of deaths in which the bullets which caused them mysteriously vanished thereafter. Besides a gripping story, Lo’s critical and commercial hit also boasted the engaging chemistry of Lau and Nicholas Tse, the latter of whom played a sharp-shooting local detective that turned out to be the mastermind behind the killings.

There is good reason why Tse doesn’t return for this sequel, which finds Inspector Song once again at the centre of a perplexing whodunit, this time centred around a string of unnatural suicides in which each one of the victims blame the corrupt business magnate Gao Minxiong (Guo Xiaodong) for their fates. Naturally, there is more than meets the eye, and Song’s investigation reveals links to the fomenting tensions between the business owners led by Gao and the oppressed working class, as well as an impending student revolution led by university professor Huo (Lam Ka-Tung) against Gao.

But whereas its predecessor kept you guessing just who was responsible, there is hardly any surprise this time round. Indeed, right from the character’s introduction early on where he uses the example of sacrificing one innocent life to protect five others in order to illustrate his concept of social justice, we are under no illusions that this certain individual will eventually be unveiled as the mastermind. Without that element of surprise, the only answer that we are left waiting for is why – and boy oh boy, is it one long, draggy, ponderous wait just to get to that point. 

To get to the bottom of the case, Song goes on a wild goose chase within the fictional Hong City, teaming up occasionally with a local sergeant (Rhydian Vaughan) and with an ex-fiancée (Li Xiaolu) whom we learn he had unceremoniously dumped at the altar some years ago in tow. Unfortunately, neither quite justify their own existence in the movie, whether by themselves or as a supporting act to Song the way Tse’s police captain was in the first movie. And oh, speaking of its predecessor, the husband killer Fu Yuan (Jiang Yiyan) whom Song had put behind bars in the first movie escapes in this film’s opening minutes, and not only becomes the excuse to bring Song to Hong City but also turns up now and then to tease a possible romantic attraction.

With Lo performing just directorial duties this time round, returning screenwriter Yeung Sin-ling seems at a loss how to develop a compelling narrative around these characters and the bourgeoisie-proletariat conflict surrounding them. Instead, she lets Song do a lot of talking that often adds up to very little, and places the other characters in a revolving door to take turns trading exposition after lengthy exposition with Song. A sub-plot involving Gao and his son whose incompetence threatens to unravel his whole operation is equally underdeveloped, and so are the themes of courage amidst oppression and the torment of regret that are supposed to be the film’s emotional anchors.

If it isn’t yet clear enough, those expecting an action-packed thriller like the trailers seem to promise will be in for a huge disappointment, as the two sequences you see – the first with Song riding horseback through the city and the second with Song on a runaway train which will eventually derail – are just about the only action that you will get in the two hours here. Lo takes a playful tone with the former as Song tries to evade Gao’s henchmen while remaining on horseback through the rooms of a hospital, but the levity seems out of place in a movie that otherwise seems content to take itself deadly seriously. On the other hand, the finale is an impressive blend of live-action and CGI by Chinese moviemaking standards, but is otherwise a shameless rip-off from Guy Ritchie’s ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ and nothing we haven’t yet seen before from Hollywood.

Of course, from Song’s brilliant powers of deduction right down to the bromance between Lau and Tse, it is no secret that ‘The Bullet Vanishes’ was meant to be a ‘Sherlock Holmes’ equivalent. Yet, while Lau succeeded in making Song a character of its own standing in the earlier movie, he is ultimately undone here by poor characterisation and bad plotting. Gone are his skills as a keen forensic investigator and an expert in criminal psychology; rather, Song is defined here mainly by his penchant for conversation and his preference not to engage in matters of the heart. Lau is no stranger to the quirky, oddball detective act, but even he struggles to convince us why his character is worth his salt.

Like we said at the beginning, everyone loves a quick-witted but eccentric detective at the heart of an intriguing mystery, but sadly, ‘The Vanished Murderer’ offers none. There is too little wit about Inspector Song, and not much of intrigue in this open-and-shut case. Like its title, this sequel tries to replicate elements of its predecessor with little success – unless a murderer stays behind at the scene of his crime, what the heck does a vanished murderer mean anyways? The bigger mystery is why these original players would sign up for something which only sullies the name of their good work in the past, and if there’s one thing we’re sure of, it is that they are probably hoping this ignominy vanishes not a second too quickly. 

Movie Rating:

(An utterly disappointing follow-up to the gripping period detective thriller ‘The Bullet Vanishes’, this inexplicably titled sequel is heavy on exposition and light on everything else including plot, character, tension or action)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Nothing will ever be as phenomenal as the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, and of course, its sequels. In case you’ve been living under a rock, the series (two TV movies, one theatrical relase) launched the careers of a certain Zac Efron and a certain Vanessa Hudgens.

But we are not here to talk about those highly infectious movies (it’s time we dug up those soundtracks for re-listens). After countless other productions, Disney Channel’s latest does offer something really interesting. Aired earlier in July this year, the TV movie tells the stories of the teenage sons and daughters of Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, Jafar and the Evil Queen. Yup, these folks are Disney’s infamous villains.

Directed, choreographed and produced by Kenny Ortega (the same guy who helmed High School Musical), one can expect fun musical numbers in the soundtrack. The 40 minute album kicks off with the pulsating “Rotten to the Core” performed by Booboo Stewart, Cameron Boyce, Dove Cameron and Sofia Carson, the four actors playing the villains’ offsprings. The electronic number is clean wholesome fun, something you’d expect from a Disney production. “Evil Like Me” featuring Kristin Chenoweth is a gleeful villain song, while “Did I Mention” featuring Jeff Lewis is a feel good hip hop which Efron would have pulled off easily. Elsewhere, something emotional like “If Only” would only be fit for the female protagonist to croon away her reflective mood.

A pleasant surprise comes in the form of “Be Our Guest” performed by Kala Balch, Marco Marinangeli, Mitchell Hope and Spencer Lee, which infuses hip hop and a capella to great effect. “Set it Off” is a hum worthy finale number, while Shawn Mendes’ single “Believe” oozes positivity.    

Also included on the CD are tracks from Descendants: Wicked World, short form animated series following the events of this successful production, and a decent score suite composed by David Lawrence.

If you’d like to see how these songs are visualised in the TV movie, head over to YouTube to check out the clips. The album is good clean fun, like what you’d expect from the House of Mouse. 

ALBUM RATING:

Recommended Track: (5) Be Our Guest - by Kala Balch, Marco Marinangeli, Mitchell Hope and Spencer Lee

Review by John Li