Genre: Drama
Director: Hitoshi Ohne　
Cast: Takeru Satoh, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nana Komatsu, Shota Sometani, Takayuki Yamada, Kankuro Kudo
Runtime: 2 hrs
Rating: PG
Released By: Golden Village Pictures 
Official Website: www.bakuman-movie.com

Opening Day: 19 November 2015

Synopsis: The “Death Note” duo’s “Bakuman” which began in 2008 as a series in Shonen Jump Weekly is considered as depicting the modern-day “Way of Manga.” While the content was considered avant- garde for Shonen Jump Weekly, the 20　volume series won wide support, not only from Death Note fans, but also sub-culture and creator fans, selling a phenomenal 15 million copies. The genius who will bring this masterpiece of Japanese manga-making to life is director Hitoshi Ohne, of the groundbreaking film adaptation of “Moteki(Love Strikes!).” Director Ohne’s masterful, innovative use of imagery will weave a tale of the boys’ development, struggle, friendship and love. His goal is to create a vibrant, exhilarating work on par with “The Social Network”, “Ping Pong” and “Kids Return.” This innovative coming-of-age action film will appeal to audiences of all ages and speak to everyone who loves (or has ever loved) manga.

Movie Review:

Bakuman is yet another movie adaptation of a popular selling manga series of the same name. Recently we have seen some disappointments for live adaptations from mangas such as Attack on Titan (2015) and The Black Butler (2014), which certainly made fans of the original series cringe with distaste because of the leap too far off from the original. Thankfully, although Bakuman did have parts which does not follow the manga series closely, it has managed to bring out a flavor of its own and emerge out of this downward spiral.

A goal that sparked off with the promise made with the girl of his dreams got serious when Moritaka Mashiro / Saiko (played by Sato Takeru) decided he had to be the best to attain his dreams. The dream of having a regular manga published on the ever-popular Weekly Shonen JUMP magazine, and eventually having Azuki Miho (played by Komatsu Nana) becoming the voice actress of his works.

Takagi Akito (played by Ryunosuke Kamiki) discovered Saiko’s manga drawing talent and teamed up with him; Takagi became in-charge of the narrative and story while Saiko is chiefly in-charge of the manga drawing. This team meets with much adventures and challenges along the way, as they embark on this journey of pursuing their passions.

It is not the first time that Sato Takeru works with Ryunosuke Kamiki. Previously, they have also worked together in another live adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends (2014), where they played opposing roles. This explains their seamless onscreen chemistry, which translates very well into the roles of Takagi and Saiko, bringing out the brotherhood and the strong support forged in this progress to the top, making breakthroughs after breakthroughs.

The cast for Bakuman is also worth a mention. Sato Takeru and Ryunosuke Kamiki are notable actors in the new wave of Japanese actors, who slowly built their popularity with sheer hard work. The cast also consists of Shota Sometami, a gifted actor who plays the key antagonist of the movie, veteran actor Lily Franky (plays the role of the chief editor) and Yamada Takayuki (plays the role of the editor in-charge). Together, this strong lineup made possible the vivid delivery and highly entertaining Bakuman.

The movie highlights the hard work and delicacy in manga drawing. It also subtly pays tribute to several hallmark JUMP works, including quoting from the famous Slam Dunk series – “The game is over once you give up.” Simply interesting and effectively conveying this unique facet of Japanese culture manga where it’s enjoyed by everyone, regardless of age and background.

Despite going through several setbacks and meeting with many challenges, Takagi and Saiko eventually made it to the top – well, for only once. After the heightened atmosphere of actualizing their dreams of ranking first on the Weekly Shonen JUMP, the movie drops to the chilling reality that comes after the one hit wonder. Albeit a little anti-climax and not the typical 'happily ever after' model, Bakuman is still one movie that is watch-worthy, being passionate and impressionable. 

Movie Rating:

(Friendship, Endeavour, Victory! A hot-blooded and passionate movie that makes one appreciate the profound culture of manga!)

Review by Tho Shu Ling

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Michael Bay
Cast: James Badge Dale, John Krasinski, Max Martini, Pablo Schreiber, Toby Stephens, Dominic Fumusa, Matt Letscher, David Denman, David Costabile, David Giuntoli, Demetrius Gross, Alexia Barlier
Runtime: 2 hrs 25 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP 
Official Website: http://www.thirteenhoursmovie.com

Opening Day: 18 February 2016

Synopsis: From director Michael Bay, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi”is the gripping true story of six elite ex-military operators assigned to protect the CIA who fought back against overwhelming odds when terrorists attacked a U.S. diplomatic compound on September 11, 2012. When everything went wrong, six men had the courage to do what was right. Based on the nonfiction book “13 Hours” by New York Times bestselling author Mitchell Zuckoff and Members of the Annex Security Team.

Movie Review:

In between making the next (and supposedly the last) ‘Transformers’ movie, Michael Bay has decided to make a film about the most complex and controversial episode of American military history in recent years. For the uninitiated, ’13 Hours’ – based upon the 2014 book of the same name by Mitchell Zuckoff – tells of the 2012 assaults on an unsecured U.S. diplomatic compound and a nearby Central Intelligence Agency base in Libya in which four Americans, including a U.S. ambassador, died. Unsurprisingly, that attack has become highly politicized by Republicans as a failure of American foreign policy under the Obama administration, and remains a sore spot for then-Secretary of State and current Democratic-hopeful elect Hillary Clinton, with a Congressional investigation now underway. Given the sensitivity, it may seem entirely opportunistic of Bay to make a film about the incident, but Bay isn’t concerned at all about the politics.

Oh no, Bay’s intentions are much more straightforward – that is, to honour the people who were literally in the line of fire that fateful night of the anniversary of 9/11. In particular, his focus is on the half dozen private security operators, members of the CIA's sub-contracted Global Response Staff (GRS) tasked to protect CIA staffers at its covert Libyan base, who swung into action against the orders of its base chief Bob (David Costabile) to attempt to rescue the ambassador and his ill-equipped security detail under siege at the compound. These were the same men who will go on to defend the base later on against a series of increasingly violent attacks by Islamic militants, before being bailed out by the Libyan army while waiting in vain for the U.S. air support that never came. Indeed, if there is any hint of politics in Bay’s depiction, it is of the weak-willed and plain clueless CIA and Pentagon officials whose inaction most certainly placed those on the ground at greater unnecessary risk.

Simplistic as such a jingoistic tale of bravery may sound, it is in fact surprisingly effective. Bay has never been shy about his love for the American flag, and in ’13 Hours’, his overt patriotism finds its voice in the celebration of these unsung heroes – ‘shadow warriors’ as they call themselves – who were greeted with professional contempt by their base commander but rose to the occasion when the time came to find the courage to do what was right. Working off a spare, minimalist screenplay by novelist Chuck Hogan, Bay uses the arrival of John Krasinski’s Jack Silva to introduce the other members of the detail – including their leader Tyrone ‘Rone’ Woods (James Badge Dale) and the wisecracking Kris ‘Tanto’ Paronto (Pablo Schreiber) – and establish their daily routine before kicking things into high gear. The setup is well worth the wait, in particular in acquainting us to the tension within the American ranks between the CIA types and these quasi-governmental employees.

Between mission and motivation, Bay chooses the former, so it isn’t quite surprising that we don’t get to know these men as much as we’d like to. The little amount of time Bay squeezes out for character development is largely spent on superficial and similar individual attributes – whether an occasional flashback, or a Skype call home, or a longing glance at a family photo – and besides Jack and Tyrone, the rest of their teammates are pretty much indistinct from one another. For a different reason altogether, that same sense of ambiguity applies to their attackers. Not just for the fact that their nature and origin remain contested, Bay underscores just how difficult it was to distinguish Libyan ally from enemy given the various warring tribal factions in control of different parts of post- Gadhafi Libya – and as the former Army ranger Tanto puts it, “They’re all bad guys till they’re not.”

For slightly less than two hours, Bay is completely in his wheelhouse portraying the intense firefight between the titular soldiers and their aggressors. As ever, Bay’s penchant for action is riveting and pulse-pounding, and there are about four to five big set-pieces that showcase what Bay is seriously good at. From the storming of the compound to a relentless gunfight in the streets outside to a vehicular chase through the dimly lit roads to the ‘Alamo-like’ siege of the CIA base, Bay thrusts his audience right into the heart of the action, capturing with impressive detail the dizzying chaos as well as the psyche of these men – their fatigue, their sense of helplessness, their camaraderie and most of all, their sense of duty – as the hours wear on with little hope or sign of reprieve. His cynics will no doubt pick on his use of slo-mos, ‘kill shots’ and even a ‘missile-eye view’, but these signature Bay techniques are by and large employed judiciously here to convey the gore and carnage of war. 

To be fair, ’13 Hours’ lacks the gravitas or nuance of ‘American Sniper’, but even if Bay’s affair is a much more simplistic portrayal of the grit, resourcefulness and valour of his subjects, it is nonetheless thrillingly and viscerally powerful. There is no political commentary here, and we would argue the omission is for the better – not only for the fact that it would be presumptuous of Bay to try to tint public opinion over such a contentious incident at this inauspicious timing, but also because there are obviously directors out there more dexterous at it. Instead, Bay chooses to do what he does best, and that is, to honour the heroism of the men who saved the day by placing us in their boots on the ground in the heat of battle. And for all that American rah-rah, Bay does leave us with a thought-provoking image: mothers and children wandering through the field of corpses outside the CIA compound the morning after the attack, grieving over their dead spouses. 

Movie Rating:

(Thrilling and visceral, Michael Bay’s salute to the heroes of that fateful day in Benghazi is a searing real-life war movie)

Review by Gabriel Chong

OUR TIMES grossed over $2million in local box office Posted on 06 Nov 2015 OUR TIMES (我的少女时代) tops the box office again! Since its release on Oct 22, OUR TIMES has grossed over $2 million in local box office and reigned No. 1 for two consecutive weeks. OUR TIMES is now showing in cinemas. Check out our review of OUR TIMES original motion picture soundtrack which feature classic tracks from Andy Lau and Eric Suen. ... more

Genre: Drama
Director: Matt Wu　
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Yang Zishan, Hao Lei, Andy On, Jack Kao, Zhou Yu Tong
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 28 July 2016

Synopsis: One Night Only depicts an overnight romance story between an addicted gambler, Gao Ye (Aaron Kwok), and a prostitute, Mo Mo (Yang Zishan). Gao Ye got himself into a gambling debt threat after being released from prison. Mo Mo met Gao Ye, thinking he would want her “service”. However, instead of paying Mo Mo, Gao Ye forced her to start a black market underground boxing with him using her bondage savings. They go through a series of events―kidnapping, car-racing and killing, only to realize the need to decide which path they want to take before sunrise…

Movie Review:

One Night Only, as suggested by the title, is about a rendezvous between Gao Ye (Aaron Kwok) and Mo Mo (Yang Zishan). With the colourful backdrop of the nightlife in Thailand, the night Gao Ye and Mo Mo shared turned out to be an eventful and life-changing one.

The plot extends beyond just the two obvious vices – sex and gambling. It also talks about relationship development and the interconnectedness of human relationships. It started off with just a ‘random’ encounter, where Mo Mo turns out unexpectedly at the door of Gao Ye, as though he has placed ‘an order’. However, Mo Mo insisted on staying lest she gets chided at work. Having just experienced a huge loss at his last gamble, an idea suddenly sparked Gao Ye’s mind – to get Mo Mo to make the ‘investment’ on him.

Through the development of the plot, it leads to just conventional card gambling, to cage fight gambling and then to also an alleged murder. The story was interesting to follow. The plot then goes more than meets the eye, when it lead on to a plot twist to another, where it is revealed that the affinity fostered between the two goes beyond just that one night.

Albeit the development was a little slow, it gave ample room for the two main characters to build a chemistry and a trust relationship. They anchored the story really well and were enjoyable to watch. Aaron Kwok also haven’t lost his charm. Even a non-Chinese person who walked past the movie poster asked, "Eh, who's that yandao in the poster?" 'It's Aaron Kwok!' "Oh!!! He’s still so handsome!" That is right. The 51 year-old, able bodied heart throb is still making women's hearts swoon today.

Another commendable effort of the movie is to be able to tell a coherent story despite going back and forth in time, and handling several plot twists. The cinematography, coupled with the plot, also suited the flow and the style of storytelling. The movie also concluded well and amiably, giving a satisfying watch overall. In closing, here’s a quote on searching which echoes the central theme of the movie: "We often think of searching as a kind of movement, a forward motion through time, but maybe it can be also the opposite - a suspension of time and memory."

Movie Rating:

(A light-hearted and heartwarming story on a man’s search of life and its meaning)

Review by Tho Shu Ling

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Mike Thurmeier
Cast: Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, Keke Palmer, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Lopez, Stephanie Beatriz, Adam DeVine, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Max Greenfield, Jessie J, Nick Offerman
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Rating: G
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.iceagemovies.com/gate

Opening Day: 30 June 2016

Synopsis: Scrat’s epic pursuit of the elusive acorn catapults him into the universe where he accidentally sets off a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the Ice Age World. To save themselves, Sid, Manny, Diego, and the rest of the herd must leave their home and embark on a quest full of comedy and adventure, traveling to exotic new lands and encountering a host of colorful new characters.

Movie Review:

Ever wonder how Ice Age managed to churn out one lackluster sequel after another while others just went direct to video after a second outing? Simply because the entire franchise has earned more than enough to overhaul half of our aging train line.

This fifth instalment features our usual bunch of ice age creatures returning to save themselves from a cosmic event set off by the adorable acorn-loving Scrat. The plot is as thin as ice, the jokes are lazy and there are more new characters on top of an already crowded cast which obviously deprived the screentime of the three buddies.

Before the catastrophe strikes, the offspring of Manny the woolly mammoth (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah), Peaches (Keke Palmer) is now attached, getting ready to be married to a mastodon named Julian (Adam Devine). We have the predictable daddy insecurity issues in addition to the family drama as one of the franchise’s ongoing themes. But these are pure fillers until the next action sequence comes up. Shortly after a seemingly ordinary meteor shower strikes, the one-eye swashbuckling weasel (Simon Pegg) from Dawn of the Dinosaurs appears to warn everyone about the pending disaster, an even bigger meteor shower is going to wipe out every mammals on earth. His solution for everyone to survive this calamity is to divert the asteroid back to space and to add on to the danger and adrenalin, a family of carnivorous dino-birds are hot on their trail.

The story on the whole is unimaginative and for the most part monotonous. Manny is still his usual boring self, Sabre-toothed cats Diego (Denis Leary) and Shira (Jennifer Lopez) are considering starting a family and Sid the bumbling sloth (John Leguizamo) is still seeking a mate. Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck) continues to be the irritating sidekicks and Granny sloth (Wanda Sykes) entertains with her bitchiness. There are among them new characters played by Nick Offerman and Jesse Tyler Ferguson but they are introduced purely to disguise the weak prehistoric narrative. If you must know, British pop singer Jesse J voices a sloth (no prizes on who she is going to set her eyes on) and obligingly contributes a catchy tune.

14 years have passed since the first Ice Age, I bet most of the audiences can only remember the antics of the wacky squirrel Scrat. His segments are normally the highlights despite having no dialogue; just his perfect comic timing and Chris Wedge’s zany sound dubbing. If Blue Sky and Fox decide to assemble all his sequences in the beginning, the halls will be half empty even before the rest of the actual movie starts. In Collision Course, Scrat has a whole prologue and his subsequent mischiefs set in outer space and again, it’s the best part of this 94 minutes movie. If you don’t get my hint, just arrive punctually at the screening.

Directors Mike Thurmeier and Galen Tan Chu have stick with the studio and franchise long enough unfortunately, they didn’t manage to bless their gang of old friends with enough to do except running tirelessly from one point to another. The sole distraction of this brand new Ice Age is that the visual continues to look rich and detailed and I’m pretty sure the technologies behind all those fur and movement have largely bump up since they first started.

IMDB claims this is the final entry of the franchise. We seriously hope so before we find Scrat’s antics no longer enticing. It’s best that Blue Sky and Fox starts working on a better property instead of continuing flogging a dead horse.

Movie Rating:

(Ice Age ought to be frozen for at least a century before civilization needs another tired instalment)

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Romance/Comedy
Director: Pang Ho-Cheung
Cast: Shawn Yue, Miriam Yeung, Jiang Mengjie, Wang Xiaochen, Toby Lee, Dada Chan, Susan Shaw, Derek Tsang, Paul Chun
Runtime: 2 hrs
Rating: NC16 (Sexual References and Coarse Language)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures 
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 4 May 2017

Synopsis: Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung reprise their popular roles as Jimmy and Cherie in this third installment of the romantic comedy Love in a Puff. Back together since Love in the Buff, Jimmy and Cherie strive to stay together happily ever after. But the shocking news of Cherie’s philandering father marrying a girl younger than herself does not make things any easier for Cherie…

Movie Review:

This reviewer was afraid this day would come – that he has to review Hong Kong writer director Pang Ho Cheung’s third installment of the Jimmy & Cherie film series (fans would affectionately know the characters’ Chinese names Zhi Ming and Chun Jiao). Seeing how his friends have settled on and moved on to the next stage of life (attending weddings, housewarmings and babies’ first month celebrations are getting a tad too reflective), this writer realises it is really time for him to figure out what he wants to do with life next.

Which, incidentally, is how Jimmy is probably feeling in this movie. Back in 2010, Pang made Love in a Puff and chronicled the love affair between Jimmy the advertising executive Jimmy and Cherie the cosmetics salesgirl Cherie. The two met at an outdoor smoking area and eventually fell in love (the critically acclaimed film is the filmmaker’s response to Hong Kong’s indoor smoking ban). Two years later in 2012, Pang explored the on off relationship between the couple with Love in the Buff. It was a happy ending as Jimmy and Cherie rekindled their love at the end of the movie.

And like how couples progress in real life, Pang concludes this contemporary romantic trilogy with a two hour movie which hilariously (albeit a little cruel at times) shows the differences between how a man and a woman look at love. Cherie, who has turned 40, is increasingly cautious about her womanhood. Jimmy, who is four years younger, is still very much a man child with his gadgets and short attention span. The two are sharing a comfortable cohabited flat, but where are they heading towards in life?

Pang injects a few supporting characters to beef up the otherwise unsurprising story. Cherie’s estranged father appears and announces that he is marrying a younger woman. Jimmy’s godmother, who happens to be a sexy young woman, appears and moves into their flat.

You know there are efforts to spice up the film. It opens with a horror story told by Cherie, there are plenty of celebrity cameos, and the overall production value is high. There are animated sequences, as well as impressively computer generated monsters and aliens. Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue, who are reprising their roles as Cherie and Jimmy, have perfect chemistry. Susan Shaw, Paul Chun Dada Chan and Derek Tseng also deliver commendable performances. There are dirty jokes, laugh out loud gags and post credit scenes – Pang has to be credited for capturing the viewers’ attention. It is a shame that we are watching the Mandarin dubbed version here – the Cantonese word play can only be made out from the subtitles.

What is this film trying to say? Relationships are littered with self doubts and mistrusts? We will all move on and all the ideals we had in the past are nothing but wishful musings? Or as the title suggests (the literal translation is ‘Cherie saves Jimmy’), we will all be ‘saved’ by the commonalities of life? That, sadly, is what this columnist fears most, that while the rest of the world ‘grows up’, he is left to wonder where all those time went.  

Movie Rating:

(A true to life story that is made much more attractive by Pang Ho Cheung’s innovative storytelling, as well as the good looking Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue)   

Review by John Li

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Babak Najafi
Cast: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Radha Mitchell, Jackie Earle Haley, Melissa Leo, Charlotte Riley, Morgan Freeman
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence And Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/LondonHasFallenOfficial/

Opening Day: 3 March 2016

Synopsis:  After the British Prime Minister has passed away under mysterious circumstances, all leaders of the Western world must attend his funeral. But what starts out as the most protected event on earth, turns into a deadly plot to kill the world's most powerful leaders and unleash a terrifying vision of the future. The President of the United States, his formidable secret service head and an English MI-6 agent who trusts no one are the only people that have any hope of stopping it.

Movie Review:

‘London Has Fallen’ is the sequel to the 2013 film ‘Olympus Has Fallen’. Unlike its predecessor, Babak Najafi directs this entry into the ‘Has Fallen’ franchise. The previous film was directed by Antoine Fuqua and was praised for being one of the rare surprises of 2013. ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ was also a box office success. Thus, a sequel was green lit and here it is. However, gone is Fuqua and so is the quality of the first film. It is not only a very unnecessary sequel but also a huge step down from its predecessor.

When attending the British Prime Minister’s funeral in London, what starts out as the most protected event on earth, quickly turns into chaos. The world’s leaders are being assassinated one by one. The President of the United States, Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) is in danger and only has his unbeatable secret service head and close friend, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) to protect him and get him back home safely. Basically, ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ but instead of a white house, it takes place in London.

Taking place 3 years after the events of the first film (but never mentioning the events of the first film, not even once), Mike Banning is now happily married to his wife, Leah (Radha Mitchell) who is expecting their first child. Just like all other generic action film, the subplot of having an unborn child is being used here again to raise the stakes of the danger our main character faces. This is the start of numerous action clichés in the film.  Speaking of action clichés, even the beginning of the film was a letdown. It starts with a wedding in Pakistan. The father of this bride is no other than the villain, Aamir Barkawi (Alon Moni Aboutboul). A drone strike that was aimed on Barkawi killed his daughter but he was fine, and he and his sons vow revenge on every world leader. Such revenge motivation for a villain has been used over and over again. And this brings me to the biggest problem of the film, its script.

The writing of this film has already fallen into cliché territory as evident in these plot points. Although the concept of ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ was unoriginal, the script did bring certain refreshing ideas to the industry and there were plot points that were unique. Alas, despite having the same writers Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt return and having two other writers joining, the script did not match the standards of the original. There is absolutely nothing other movies have not done before. Clichés ranging from Deus Ex Machina to America is the only one who can save the day to managing to survive an explosion in the last second are all present in this film. The dialogue in ‘London Has Fallen’ is also filled with mindless action one-liners from every character. Such cringe worthy dialogue from Banning or the President removes every tension or stake from the scene.

One of the biggest complains that ‘Olympus’ receives is that it took it self too seriously, this does not give ‘London’ any reason to insert joke after joke after joke in their dialogue and go the ‘White House Down’ route. What is this? A comedy? Every line they put in must be something hilarious but it did not hit audiences, only leaving them thinking, Really? Even Fuqua did not want to return to helm this film due to this script and that is saying something. With all that said, do not watch this film expecting anything smart out of it. It is definitely one of those shut off your mind kind of action movies.

Unfortunately, viewers will not be able to shut off their minds and be entertained by what is happening on screen. This is because the action scenes are too confusing to watch. A few minutes after the President and Banning arrive, the attack in London attacks happens. Unlike the previous film, which has smooth shots of action taking place, this film chooses to show us nothing. Director Najafi choses a style that is cited to have become a pest is most action movies this days- the quick cuts. Not only does this led to what is being shown hard to comprehend, but also it is straining for the eyes, as audiences do not know where to focus. His method of quick cutting led to shots lasting no longer than a few seconds in pivotal moments of action is a quick turn off for viewers. Thrown in a few one liners and you get a messy, sluggish action scene. The only time when there is no quick cuts in the action are when there are wide shots of destructions. However these wide shots of carnage are not better as the CGI is obvious and unconvincing. One can really tell that the budget of the movie was low and wasted. In addition, the hand-to-hand combat scenes were a mess, full of shaky cam, leaving me to believe that the cinematographer was probably listening to LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem’ while filming those scenes. Shake that.

These action scenes are plague with the common problems of today’s action scenes but one action scene in particular seemed like a different director directed it. This scene happens about 60 minutes into the film and it was a one take track shot of Gerard Butler killing terrorists. It was unusually well done and breath fresh air into the film. Well, at least it kept me from falling asleep. Another positive about this film that actually is something the first film lacked, color. Taking place in the streets of London gave more color variation to the film as compared to being in dark hallways in ‘Olympus’. But since we are confused by what is on screen, more color is not doing any helping.

The directing in other scenes is not any better. Many shots are focuses on character literally talking to the camera. And this is not any fourth wall break like ‘Deadpool’. This is highly evident in the first appearance of Morgan Freeman’s character. The first shot we have of him was just him walking to the office all while we are looking at his face framed in the center. I know that he is an actor that is well known for portraying God but this sort of worshipping, just takes us out of the movie. Speaking of Morgan Freeman, his character had (or felt like) very little screen time as compared to in ‘Olympus’, leaving him to be underutilized. Speaking of time, at a run time of 99 minutes, 20 minutes shorter than ‘Olympus’, ‘London was surprisingly well paced. But however, we would rather have spent this 99 minutes not getting confused. 

The performances in this film ranges from garbage to just phoning it in. Butler was just the all American, will not die, one liner hero. Eckhart and Freeman was certainly not how they were when they were in ‘The Dark Knight’ or even in ‘Olympus’. Lets be honest, everyone was just there for the paycheck.

The reused plot, the cliche dialogue and the bad directing are not enough reasons to discourage you from watching it? Fine, let me add another reason- it is also xenophobic. Not only does it glorify killing of non-Americans, but also makes fun of it. One line which I found to be truly racist, is this line said by Butler, Go back to F***adistan or wherever it is you are from.It is just plain pro-American propoganda.

Despite of all that being said, more movies from this franchise are going to be made. There is still an audience for such kind of films and still will pay money to watch it. Sspeaking of money, Gerard Butler is having a career problem. If this movie bombs finacncially like ‘Gods Of Egypt’, he definitely is failing to chose good scripts. Lets hope this franchise fails too.

‘London Had Fallen’ is a huge step down from ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ and loses everything the original did. It could have been a refesher in the action genre but ended up being just another unnecessary sequel. Even one of the tagline states,“Prepare for bloody hell, at least it prepared us for it” and that is a warning viewers should listen to should they still consider to watch this atrocity. 

Movie Rating:

(Even though Antoine Fuqua rejected to return to this blasphemy, Hollywood will still do anything for money)

Review by Celestine Pang

Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Fred Schepisi
Cast: Clive Owen, Juliette Binoche, Bruce Davison, Navid Negahban, Amy Brenneman, Valerie Tian, Adam DiMarco, Josh Ssettuba, Janet Kidder, Christian Scheider
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Nudity)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: http://wordsandpicturesthemovie.com

Opening Day: 12 June 2014

Synopsis: A witty romantic drama, WORDS AND PICTURES stars the engaging duo of Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen working together on-screen for the first time. Prep school English teacher Jack Marcus (Owen) laments his students' obsession with social media and good grades rather than engaging with the power of the written word. A one-time literary star, Jack has not published in years filling his spare time with drink versus the art of language. He meets his match in Dina Delsanto (Binoche) — an abstract painter and new teacher on campus, who was once celebrated for her art. From the start, the two flirt and provoke each other with equal relish.

Movie Review:

Rom-coms tend to be flashy, glittering and a pair of good-looking young stars fronting the movie is always the case. But for a rom-com liked Words and Pictures, it’s basically a grown up romance for the grown-ups without the gimmick.   

The gorgeous looking French actress Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Chocolat) pairs up with English actor Clive Owen (Children of Men) to demonstrate the combined power of their acting abilities to the audience in this somewhat intelligent and arty romantic flick directed by Fred Schepisi of Roxanne. 

Binoche plays a celebrated artist, Dina Delsanto who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. Moving to a small town to take on a job as an art teacher at a college prep school, she met the obnoxious Jack Marcus (Owen), the school’s English teacher who was once a published writer. Over an argument over the importance of words or pictures, the two unlikely duos find solace and love in the company of each other. The only question is will Marcus’ drinking problem be a hindrance to their fragile relationship?

No doubt clichés are unavoidable in this genre, Words and Pictures rises from the ashes with it’s often delightful witty dialogues and battle-of-the-sexes comedy. Jack Marcus might be alcoholic and tries hard to mend his relationship with his estranged son but he is always fiery when it comes to the literacy world. Delsanto might looked and sound liked an icy queen but when a fellow student got harassed when a romance gone wrong, she is not afraid to step out and protect her student.         

The characters might be slightly exaggerated but not exactly unbelievable. As to why Marcus ended up with such a serious alcoholic problem, the issue is never properly addressed. Scenes of him trying to struggle with his addiction kind of stick out like a sore thumb but that’s a tiny gripe. Of course, it helps that the dazzling chemistry between the two leads manages to avoid a major pratfall so that we can have a decent 111 minutes of enjoyable screentime.

Words and Pictures will appeal to those who love a decent romantic drama with soul. Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen are fantastic together and those art pieces that are showcased in the movie are actually painted by Binoche herself. Impressive. 

Movie Rating:

(A grown-up romance flick for those who appreciate love, books and pictures)

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: Since the dawn of time, Minions have served (and accidentally eliminated) history's most despicable villains. After their latest explosive mistake leaves them without an evil leader, the Minions fall into a deep depression. With the tribe on the brink of collapse, three unlikely heroes—Kevin, Stuart, and Bob—embark on a journey to find a new big boss. When their quest leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Academy Award® winner Sandra Bullock), our three heroes must face their biggest challenge yet: saving all of Minionkind…from annihilation! 

MOVIE REVIEW:

For the new generation of kids and adults alike, the minions have successfully replaced the Looney Tunes to become the spokesmen of inconsequential, wacky and amusing cartoony acts. Though in actual fact, the yellow creatures don’t actually speak in a language we know of. (They speak Minionese if this helps). 

In this spin-off from the Despicable Me series, Minions takes viewers to the very beginning where they first evolved from single cell organisms into small yellow beings that exist only to serve the world’s most despicable master. From a T-Rex to a caveman to Napoleon to Count Dracula, none survive long enough to live happily ever after with the minions. That is until three fearless minions, Kevin, Stuart and Bob decides to venture out into the world in search of a new master after a long period of isolation.

Without the presence of the brilliant Steve Carell’s Gru and his relationship with his three adopted daughters, Minions just seems pretty much irrelevant and empty. There’s only so much gibberish and silly gags one can endure for 90 minutes and despite having a super villain, Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) onboard, it can’t really salvage the movie from being overkill. The idea is to have the minions stealing the Queen’s crown under the order of Scarlet but of course expect dizzying results when you have three simple-minded, banana loving creatures to complete the mission.

Since none of our heroes is equipped with a decent line of tangible dialogue, the rest of the supporting human characters have to do the job. While Bullock has a track record doing live-action movies, she just sounds flat and unmemorable as Scarlet. Same goes for Jon Hamm as Scarlet’s inventor husband. Michael ‘Birdman’ Keaton turned up as a robber who gives a lift to the hitchhiking minions but his character only appear in three brief scenes or less.

All thanks to the fumble-a-minute minions, kids will definitely chuckle and laugh manically at all the slapstick antics and made-up language. Hollywood movies just can’t end without a big-bang climatic action sequence and Minions had a madcap, explosive finale set in downtown London. The perfect trick to awake those bored, sleeping adults. Minions never aspire to be in the league of a Disney/Pixar animation movie, it sets out to make a frenetic silly caper based on familiar (extremely popular) characters and you can’t deny Universal and Illumination Entertainment had achieved its goal. Roll in the money!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Jingle Bells Minion Style comes just in time for the holiday. Brings a whole lot of meaning to the word "armpit". 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Minions looks all bright and yellow on DVD with glistening, detailed images. Sound and ambient effects are perfect. Technically speaking, this is a solid looking animation, on par with any major animation titles out in the market if not better.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee
 

Genre: Western/Thriller
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Zoe Bell, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Demian Bichir, Dana Gourrier, James Parks, Channing Tatum
Runtime: 3 hrs 2 mins
Rating: R21 (Sexual Scene & Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures 
Official Website: http://thehatefuleight.com

Opening Day: 21 January 2016

Synopsis: In "The Hateful Eight", set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as 'The Hangman,' will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town's new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie's Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie's, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who's taking care of Minnie's while she's visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all...

Movie Review:

For Tarantino fans, "The Hateful Eight" has “Directed by Quentin Tarantino” stamped all over. Ensemble cast – checked. Arguably gratuitous violence, blood and gore – definitely. Pays homage to other genres – yes, western and mystery in this case. The result? Pretty good, actually, interesting enough to avoid being overly draggy for three hours. Until the blood gets a little too much near the end, anyway.

Set after the Civil War in the snowy landscape of Wyoming, the film brings together eight hateful characters. John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell) was hurling Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) into Red Rock to be hanged. On their way, they pick up Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a Civil War veteran turned bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), the supposed new Sheriff of Red Rock. The group was then forced to take shelter midway at Daisy’s Haberdashery due to a blizzard, where they meet four men who might not be who they seem.

True to its name, the film’s main eight characters were well and truly hateful, unworthy of any sympathy from the audience. While he might not be the most evil, Warren’s shrewdness and resourcefulness does make him stand out. In fact, he did elicit sympathy from the audience until, well, his sadistic side was put to show in all its glory. Despite so, however, Warren was arguably the most honest and loyal person in the incorrigible bunch. Warren and Mannix’s terse relationship was also a delight to observe, as the characters take jabs at each other before falling into an uneasy alliance that was gradually cemented. Their relationship was a breath of fresh air, or as fresh as being stuck in a musty wooden hut can be, in the film where everybody just wanted each other dead.

Despite the high quality performances from the cast, the portrayal of the flawed and baser instincts of human beings was, to the reviewer, the true attraction of the film. Tarantino’s refusal to shy away from the violence led to the full display of the evil nature of Man without any qualms, in the way the men saw fit to murder and humiliate one another. This brings to mind the question – how far must one be pushed before survival instincts overwhelm morality, and for people to treat another with total disregard?

But I digress.

Another much publicised aspect of the film was its release in 70mm, and it being shot in 65mm. The wider screen did make the snowy and barren Wyoming (actually Colorado) landscape look fabulous, but only for the whole of maybe… ten minutes. Could not help that there was a blizzard and most of the story had to be in a really small room. Moreover, it is likely that the intricacies and benefits of the film format stand out to the average cinema-goer, which this reviewer admits to be.

It was a different story, however, for the music in the film, which it playing a big role in the Hateful Eight instead of being a mere afterthought. The western-inspired score, composed by Tarantino’s long time collaborator, Ennio Morricone, was impactful and measured, providing either an ironic twist to the action on screen, or further deepening the tension in between characters. This, too, was another highlight of the film.

Although the film’s run time exceeded three hours, it captured the audience’s attention for most part, from the tension between the stage coach passengers, the constant circling of adversaries and the unpredictability of who would be the last person standing. The audience was kept at the edge of their seats despite the relatively slow pace of the first two chapters. Perhaps it is just me, but it wouldn’t hurt to cut down on the blood, though.

Movie Rating:

(A gripping tale of what happens when you put murderers who should not be in a room together. Although it was not hard to predict the ending, the process does not disappoint)

Review by Goh Yan Hui