Genre: Fantasy/Action
Director: Dean Israelite
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Becky G, Elizabeth Banks, Naomi Scotts, Dacre Montgomery, Ludi Lin, RJ Cyler, Bill Hader
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/PowerRangersMovie/
Opening Day: 23 March 2017
Synopsis: POWER RANGERS follows five ordinary high school kids who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove - and the world - is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover that they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so they will have to overcome their real-life issues and band together as the Power Rangers before it is too late.
Movie Review #1:
I have a soft spot for the ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’. I grew up with the Fox Kids’ series (I’m referring to the Haim Saban version adapted from the Japanese TV show), played with their toys, and counted the 1995 big-screen adaptation as my first time in the cinema without my parents. It is no secret that popular culture’s tastes have evolved significantly since then. Going by today’s standards of what’s cool and classy, you’re probably supposed to cringe at the unnatural dialogue, the amateur fight scenes and the sheer cheesiness of it all. You may say that was part of its charm, but then again, I suspect many fans – myself included – just loved it for what it was, not because it was supremely campy or ‘so bad it’s good’. It is with no small amount of trepidation that I greeted ‘Saban’s Power Rangers’, Lionsgate’s attempt to turn a 90s TV phenomenon into a modern-day superhero franchise – not simply because there will be inherently biased ‘haters’ out there who will use today’s standards to judge yesterday’s show and criticise this movie using that same yardstick, but also because it will inevitably be compared against the current crop of Marvel/ DC superhero movies and regarded as B- or worse C-grade.
The good news is that director Dean Israelite (who made a small teen-centric science-fiction adventure in 2015 called ‘Project Alamanac’ before he was offered this big-time gig) and his army of writers (five of them to be exact, including Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Gatins who gets screenwriting credit) have made a respectable attempt at a modern-day reboot. And by modern-day reboot, I mean that the Rangers are no longer anti-septic: Jason Scott (Dacre Montgomery), a.k.a. the Red Ranger, a disillusioned star quarterback who’s lost his golden ticket after a prank involving a bull in a changing room goes wrong; Trini (Becky G), a.k.a. the Yellow Ranger, is angsting over her sexuality; Billy (RJ Cyler), a.k.a. the Blue Ranger is an outcast tech-whiz who is on the spectrum; Kimberly (Naomi Scott), a.k.a. the Pink Ranger, is a former popular cheerleader with a mean streak that has caused her to be ostracized by her friends; and last but not least Zack (Ludi Lin), a.k.a. the Black Ranger, is a school dropout who looks after his ailing mother in a trailer home.
A lot of time, detail and attention is spent sketching out their respective challenges they need to overcome within and without, in order – I suspect – so that it can claim to be character-driven and cannot be faulted for not being that. So serious is it about getting these five teenage misfits to resolve their issues that it denies them from ‘morphing’ (or plugging into the Morphin grid) until they learn to get over themselves, trust each other and bond as one family unit. As far as these characters are concerned, there’s no question that they are certainly much more fleshed out than they ever were before, such that their camaraderie is hard-won, even well-deserved and definitely a lot more genuine. But that also means they never don their armour or get into their Zords until right at the end, when they have to stare down their first real opponent – and the series’ recurring villain – Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), who is searching for Earth’s Zeo Crystal in order to augment her powers which she intends for no less than world domination.
Not that they don’t train – they do, under the mentorship of Zordon (played by Bryan Cranston in motion capture) and his loyal robot assistant Alpha-5 (voiced by Bill Hader), but just not in their suits or inside their mechanical dinosaurs. If ever anyone believed you learnt best in the field, well these Rangers would be a classic example, especially since it is in the heat of battle that they learn that their individual Zords can combine into something even bigger and more powerful, i.e. the Megazord, and how to control its arms, legs and swords. That’s the bad news unfortunately; indeed, for all the credibility the filmmakers build through grounding their characters, they cannot quite convince that the Rangers can accomplish all that within the span of taking down Rita with her green-crystal powered golden staff and gigantic monster Goldar. The third-act showdown is rushed to say the very least, and dissonant with the first hour-plus which tries strenuously (and which admittedly is quite successful) at injecting realism into the Rangers’ origin story.
It doesn’t help that the climax is messy, poorly choreographed and badly shot. Not only is there no pace or rhythm to the mayhem, there is also no order – one moment we see Pink swooping down from her Pterodactyl, another we see Red on the ground on his Tyrannosaurus; and yet another we see Yellow pouncing along in her Sabertooth. That also speaks to the choreography, which doesn’t give enough time for the individual Rangers or Zords to establish themselves in the field before moving on to the next or even a satisfying one-on-one between Megazord and Goldar. It doesn’t help that Matthew J. Lloyd’s cinematography is stuck on medium shots and close-ups, such that we never feel the sense of scale watching these outsized Zords fighting Goldar nor the awesomeness of the Megazord when it finally does make its grand – and too brief – appearance. Accomplished though the visual effects (by no less than four studios, including Weta Digital) may be, they are ultimately undermined by Israelite’s inability to direct a big-scale action sequence, so much so that the stakes are never felt and any thrill or even excitement barely present.
In truth, this reboot is probably only just good enough to revive interest in a property that is best remembered with nostalgia. You can tell the filmmakers tried hard to make sure that it is attuned to the sensibilities of a modern-day audience, even giving Zordon greater depth by creating a dilemma where he could choose to be selfish or selfless. Yet with Banks’ over-the-top rendition of Rita, the token ‘Go, go, Power Rangers’ theme song and the obligatory battle spectacle at the end, ‘Saban’s Power Rangers’ just flounders trying to find the right balance between gravitas and campiness, coming off as an odd and somewhat awkward combination of both. If only they had gotten the big climax right, I suspect fans of the old TV series and audiences discovering this for the first time will probably both find something to like about it. As it is, it barely powers up, and that is something no amount of character work can save – not when the point of it all was to watch the Rangers morphing into battle, get into their Zords and ‘go, go!’
Movie Rating:
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(Not the train wreck that some are expecting this to be, and yet not enough of a shot in the arm to make this into the next superhero franchise, this modern-day reboot has plenty of character work but lacks a thrilling action-packed payoff)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Movie Review #2:
Nostalgia has become a commodity – just look how franchises from the ‘90s are getting ‘reboots’ (‘reimaginings’, ‘retellings’ or any other word that goes down well with academics) on the big screen. Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, RoboCop and the recent Beauty and the Beast: are fans getting spoilt for choice? How do filmmakers straddle between pleasing fans of the original, and getting millennials excited?
Oh, we haven’t even gone into the countless ‘collector’s edition’ merchandise, action figures, social media campaigns and by products that spawn from these reboots.
The latest franchise to join the club is Power Rangers, an American entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live action superhero television series. First produced by Saban Entertainment, the television series takes much of its footage from the Japanese drama Super Sentai produced by Toei Company. Power Rangers first debuted in 1993 as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and made its way into popular culture along with a line hot selling toys by Bandai.
More than two decades later, Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin play high school students who are recruited by Zordon (for those who aren’t fans of the original series, Zordon is a mentor like character who operates from a Command Centre situated in a desert) to become Power Rangers. This five teenagers are not part of the popular gang in school: one of them is autistic, one of them questions her sexual orientation, while another is having problems with a ‘sexting’ scandal.
Yup, these are real issues teenagers are facing today and the filmmakers have decided to incorporate them into the storyline. Director Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) and screenwriter John Gatins (Flight) do a decent job of making a movie about teenagers and the challenges they are facing in their world, based on the beloved ‘90s kids series. And this move isn’t too bad an idea, because the concept of a group of young people morphing into superheroes does feel dated and can easily become unintentionally hilarious. This reboot also features a diverse cast (there are some funny gags between the Blue and Black Rangers about skin colour), and it is a commendable effort.
Bryan Cranston provides the voice and motion capture of Zordon, Bill Hader delivers another impressive voicing job as Zordon’s robot assistant Alpha 5, while Elizabeth Banks has a campy and fun time playing the Power Rangers’ alien invader enemy Rita Repulsa.
A good two thirds of the 123 minute movie is spent on what some refer to as ‘character development’, and fans who are eagerly anticipating cool sequences of morphing rangers and the appearance of the dinozords may be slightly disappointed. When these scenes eventually take place, you may not be swept off your feet (frankly, how excitingly different can movie
Fans will point out that the team is lacking Tommy Oliver, the Green Ranger. The mid credits scene suggests that he will be making his appearance in the next instalment of this reboot franchise. Reports have also been surfacing online that there are five sequels planned. Will the movies get better? Only time will tell.
Movie Rating:
(This reboot of Power Rangers isn’t as campy or fun like the much loved ‘90s kids series, but it does add a nice touch on the issues faced by teenagers today)
Review by John Li
Genre: Fantasy/Action
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Cast: Brie Larson, Toby Kebbell, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Tian Jing, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, John C. Reilly
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros Singapore
Official Website: http://kongskullislandmovie.com
Opening Day: 9 March 2017
Synopsis: This compelling, original adventure from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) tells the story of a diverse team of scientists, soldiers and adventurers uniting to explore a mythical uncharted island in the Pacific, as dangerous as it is beautiful. Cut off from everything they know, the team ventures into the domain of the mighty Kong, igniting the ultimate battle between man and nature. As their mission of discovery becomes one of survival, they must fight to escape a primal Eden in which humanity does not belong. In 2017, all hail the King.
Movie Review:
No sequel, spinoff or remake has come close to matching up to the mythology of the 1933 classic, and just to be sure, neither does this latest iteration of pop culture’s mightiest simian. Instead, this origin story largely set in the 1970s when America was pulling itself out from the quagmire of the Vietnam War inspires to be no more and no less than a monster-mash adventure of epic-sized proportions, pitting not just Man-against-Kong but Man-against-nature-itself, the latter represented by supersized species the likes of towering spiders, blue-blooded pterodactyls and giant saw-toothed lizards referred to as Skullcrawlers that are all too eager to get a literal taste of human flesh. Oh yes, this is a CGI showstopper in many, many more ways than one, with state-of-the-art Industrial Light and Magic technology complemented with inventive creature design by Carlos Huante to create a fitting modern-day throwback to the B-movie action-driven creature features of the past.
Dispensing with any hint of nuance, the straightforward and utterly functional plot has John Goodman’s scientist cum bureaucrat Bill Randa assemble a team under his top-secret government-funded Monarch project to explore the hitherto uncharted Skull Island, a landmass in the South Pacific hidden by constant electrical storms and magnetic interference which has been only recently uncovered by the first Earth-mapping satellites sent up into space by the US. Among those whom end up one way or another on the mission: Tom Hiddleston’s former SAS officer turned tracker-for-hire James Conrad, Brie Larson’s anti-war photojournalist Mason Weaver, and last but not least Samuel L. Jackson’s embittered Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard and his helicopter squadron (some of the more recognizable faces include Shea Whigham and Toby Kebbell). There are about a half dozen other characters too difficult to keep track once the film gets underway, such as Jing Tian and Corey Hawkins’ pair of token-minority scientists who get a couple of pointless lines and no real purpose.
Withholding knowledge of the real intent of the expedition to “document the existence of massive unidentified terrestrial organisms’, Randa instructs Colonel Packard’s men to start dropping bombs from their helicopters under the guise of mapping the island seismographically, which naturally irritates the hell out of its eponymous chief resident. Kong’s grand dramatic entrance consists of hurling a napalm tree towards one of the choppers, before tearing through each and every one of them by either ripping them apart or tossing them against each other. Oh yes, you’ll be glad to know that (unlike Randa) Kong doesn’t hold anything back right from the get-go, meaning that you will get to see him in all his massive vicious glory in every single scene that he is in. That awesome introduction not only cuts the ensemble down to those in the opening credits and divides them into two groups, but also sets up the enmity between Kong and Packard.
Given the simplicity of the storyline, it is no surprise that the characters are but stock types – in fact, the most fully developed character only joins midway through the film, a WWII vet named Hank Marlowe (John C. Reilly) who survived the Japanese pilot after him when both their fighter planes crash-land back in 1944 and has since learned to live peacefully among the natives there. It is Marlowe who narrates the mumbo-jumbo of the role Kong plays in maintaining the ecological balance among the bloodthirsty species on the island – especially the fearsome Skullcrawlers – and convinces Conrad and Mason to stand against a vengeful Colonel Packard hellbent on exacting revenge for his fallen men. Reilly steals every scene he is in – more than just as supporting comic presence, he is a real live wire injecting warmth, humour and dryness as an eccentric lost-in-time pilot. Jackson comes a close second with his brash gusto, but the rest of the actors are not much better than as body count.
But really, who are we kidding – you’re probably not here for the story or the characters but the damn ape himself, and boy, does he look magnificent. With tactile fur and soulful eyes, Kong comes to life in breathtaking realism, aided with motion capture by ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ actor Terry Notary. This Kong is majestic on his own (one such moment has him taking a break in a lake while Kebbell’s terrified major watches from behind a rock a few feet away), and jaw-droppingly powerful during any one of the startlingly photoreal sequences of bestial combat. It bears noting that the monsters which emerge to challenge Kong or which simply make an appearance as part of the fauna of the titular island are also just as stunning, especially a confrontation in a foggy graveyard between the remaining survivors and a Skullcrawler and the climactic Kong-versus-giant-Skullcrawler smackdown that is impressive even by modern-day CGI standards.
Despite being a visual effects novice, indie director Jordan Vogt-Roberts proves right at home in a big-budget motion picture. He creates an immersive pre-historic paradise to complement the exciting monster scenes, and mixes 70s war imageries from ‘Apocalypse Now’ and ‘Platoon’ into the ‘Jurassic Park’ setting to keep his audience hooked. Together with cinematographer Larry Fong, he also manages to capture the monster’s rage in interesting perspectives, such as through the perspective of one of Packard’s soldiers trapped in the helicopter cockpit as the chopper spirals downwards to its fiery grave. Wisely too, Vogt-Roberts opts to skip a love story between Hiddleston and Larson, as well as not to overplay the connection between Larson and Kong (in the same way the 1933 classic did between Kong and Fay Wray) which speaks to the gorilla’s humanity.
Because of his firm grasp on pace and rhythm, what is two hours feels much less so – and if there is one unintended outcome of that, it is the fact that we end up wanting to see more of Kong. As much as it is Kong’s movie, there are also stretches in between where he is nowhere to be seen, and the other nasty dino-like creatures on Skull Island take center stage to exert terror on the human intruders. Ultimately, this is a movie fashioned on pure action spectacle, using state-of-the-art CGI to breathe new life into the old-school monster movie mash genre (you would do well to note that this is meant to be an origin story in Legendary/ Warner’s MonsterVerse franchise, setting up the beast for a planned showdown against Godzilla in 2020). It may all seem familiar, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun or thrilling, so really just grab your popcorn, sit back and enjoy the ride.
Movie Rating:
(Big on action, thrills and pure spectacle and lean on everything else, this latest iteration of pop culture's mightiest simian is good old monster mash fun)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SETS BOX OFFICE RECORDS GLOBALLYPosted on 20 Mar 2017 |
Genre: Biography/Drama
Director: Pablo Larraín
Cast: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Crudup, Greta Gerwig, John Hurt, Richard E. Grant, Caspar Phillipson, John Carroll Lynch
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Disturbing Scenes)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/jackie/
Opening Day: 16 February 2017
Synopsis: JACKIE is a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of the iconic First Lady, then Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Natalie Portman). JACKIE places us in her world during the days immediately following her husband's assassination. Known for her extraordinary dignity and poise, here we see a psychological portrait of the First Lady as she struggles to maintain her husband's legacy and the world of "Camelot" that they created and loved so well.
Movie Review:
In this columnist’s humble opinion, Emma Stone is getting too much hype for her role as an aspiring actress in Damien Chazelle’s musical romantic drama La La Land. It is quite obvious that Natalie Portman has done a much, much better job in this biographical drama directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain (The Club, Neruda).
While Stone sings and dances her way to winning one Best Actress accolade after another, it is probably just not Portman’s year as she quietly brings the heart wrenching role of Jackie Kennedy to life. While we in this part of the world may not be familiar with this aspect of American history, Jackie’s life after the 1963 assassination of her husband John F Kennedy shows her at both her most vulnerable and her most graceful moments.
Mica Levi’s (Under the Skin) ominously heartrending Oscar nominated score opens the film, and we see Jackie’s close up. She opens to the door for a journalist (the underrated Billy Crudup) who is about to talk to her about the series of events that followed the unfortunate death of her husband. From there, there are several flashbacks to different moments in time: where Jackie films a TV special in the White House, where she experiences first hand how a bullet hits John F Kennedy’s skull (she refers to him as “Jack), how she refuses to take off her blood stained pink Chanel suit after Jack’s death, how she decides to lead her children out of the White House during the state funeral, and how she packs up all her belongings in the White House to move on with life.
These moments are interspersed in non linear fashion, with Jackie’s conversations with the journalist between. Viewers who are impatient may be frustrated with the somewhat incoherent style of storytelling, but the emotional returns are worth your time if you take some time to appreciate the how the filmmakers have beautifully painted an intrinsic human portrait of Jackie with this film based on Theodore H White’s Life magazine interview with the widow conducted at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
Portman is brilliant here, and while some may feel that it is an impersonation based on a historical figure, you need to soak in the moments when the 35 year old actress expresses grief, anger, doubt and all the emotions one feels in difficult times. Portman is elegant and does this without words, and one can only imagine what it was like for the real Jackie to face the entire spectacle that was going on around her while she was dealing with a personal tragedy. Gracefully dressed in outfits from the 1960s, the film is also nominated for Best Costume Design at the 89th Academy Awards.
Yes, this 100 minute film is definitely a Oscar bait. It is unlikely that Portman will win the Best Actress (she has been recognised for her performance in Darren Aronofsky’s hard hitting 2010 drama Black Swan), but this doesn’t mean that this poignantly striking film should go unnoticed.
Besides Portman, there are also commendable performances by the ever reliable Peter Sarsgaard as JFK’s younger brother Robert F Kennedy, Greta Gerwig as White House Social Secretary Nancy Tuckerman and the late John Hurt as a priest who shares his spiritual outlook with Jackie. This was also Hurt’s final film released before his death earlier in January this year.
When Hurt’s character tells Jackie that there comes a time in man’s search for meaning when he realses there are no answers, it leaves viewers pondering about the very essence of life.
Movie Rating:
(Showcasing a beautiful performance by Natalie Portman, the film tells the poignant story of how a public figure maintained her courage amidst a personal tragedy)
Review by John Li
Genre: Drama
Director: Ry Russo-Young
Cast: Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, Elena Kampouris, Alyssa Lynch, Logan Miller
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References And Coarse Language)
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 2 March 2017
Synopsis: What if you had only one day to change absolutely everything? Samantha Kingston has it all: the perfect friends, the perfect guy, and a seemingly perfect future. Then, everything changes. After one fateful night, Sam wakes up with no future at all. Trapped reliving the same day over and over she begins to question just how perfect her life really was. And as she begins to untangle the mystery of a life suddenly derailed, she must also unwind the secrets of the people closest to her, and discover the power of a single day to make a difference, not just in her own life, but in the lives of those around her - before she runs out of time for good.
Movie Review:
Before I Fall is based on a Young Adults book written in 2010 by Lauren Oliver. It is also, quite frankly, not unlike a 100-minute ThoughtCatalog film. Audiences with a perchance for these two genres should find themselves suitably indulged, but others may find themselves polarised by the treatment.
The film starts with a philosophical narration, showing us vignettes of characters that we will get acquainted with. The voiceover comes from Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch), who is destined to experience a Groundhog Day occurrence that has her repeating her February 12 over and over again.
All goes well initially. Samantha wakes up and heads to her ride to school with her queen bee bff Lindsay (Halston Sage), and her two sidekicks Elody (Medalion Rahimi) and Ally (Cynthy Wu). They giggle, yelp, and bop to alternative youth pop in the car, before arriving at the school for Cupid’s Day.
This replacement to Valentine’s Day has students purchasing roses from a hall with personalised messages, before messengers deliver them to their candidates. Luckily for Samantha, she has the school’s hottest boy Rob (Kian Lawley) heart in her hands - with plans to offer up her virginity to him that same night.
We soon encounter other characters that cross paths with the motley - the butch Anna (Liv Hewson), the friend Kent with a crush (Logan Miller), and the outcast artist Juliet (Elena Kampouris). All of them go through some form of high-school teasing from the foursome, serving up their bullying with comments that will raise an eye-brow. It is the last character that suffers the most from the abuse, eventually becoming a pivotal character and message.
Later that night, after the fabulous four leaves a party, they encounter an accident - their cars flipping over and ends with - Samantha waking up to the same alarm and scenario as the day before. She is suitably disorientated, thinking that it’s the weekend, before she finds events unfolding exactly as they have “the day before”.
Hints about what might be happening are dropped. Her teacher speaks about Sisyphus in the classroom. Her friend Ally brings up the Chaos Theory. It takes Samantha a while to catch on that she might be in some sort of purgatory, but Ry Russo-Young directs the repeats with mindfulness - playing with different angles and character perspectives to keep the days engaging. What will Samantha do differently, you ask, as she makes slight shifts in her decisions in each loop, moving them from self-preservation to a more moralistic standpoint.
The lesson is obvious - though to see its development is quite engaging, with help from the talented Deutch, the gorgeous location of British Columbia and her mountains, as well as the steely and surrealistic treatment from cinematographer Michael Fimognari. It’s not only the result of repentance that we are after, but the process of the shifts as well that makes for some interesting what-ifs - including an emo angsty clash in one repeat.
Although Before I Fall doesn’t reinvent the genre wheel, it does offer up some solid issues that face the youths of today, and satisfies with a deeper ending than I would have given this fable for.
Movie Rating:
(This fable of living with purpose now comes packaged as a Young Adults film, and luckily for Ry, it doesn’t need a second chance to work)
Review by Morgan Awyong
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Director: Rian Johnson
Cast: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis
Runtime: 2 hrs 30 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: The Walt Disney Company
Official Website: http://www.starwars.com
Opening Day: 14 December 2017
Synopsis: In Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Movie Review:
Whereas ‘The Force Awakens’ needed to bring us back home to the franchise and did so by mostly remaking the original ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’, ‘The Last Jedi’s’ challenge is to forge a new way ahead for the series, while retaining at least some of its crowd-pleasing tropes, traditions and mythologies from before. And if the news that its writer-director Rian Johnson had just been given the reins to chart the next trilogy was not reassurance enough that he has nailed this one, then we’re here to say after seeing the film that Johnson has indeed achieved a remarkable balance between novelty and nostalgia, and that ‘The Last Jedi’ is probably right up there with arguably the best one of them all.
A quick refresh of the characters and events of ‘The Force Awakens’ would probably be wise in order to keep up with the many moving parts of Johnson’s narrative, but as the time-honored info-crawl informs us at the start, the rebel Resistance has found themselves outmatched by the superior technology and sheer firepower of the First Order despite successfully destroying their Starkiller base in the last movie. The thrilling opening battle further confirms this – despite the derring-do and quick-wittedness of hothead fighter pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), the Resistance loses all the rest of their fighter jets and bombers taking down just one of the First Order’s Dreadnought warships, and have simply no counter-measure against the First Order’s newfound ability to track vessels travelling at light speed.
So while what’s left of the Resistance try to figure out their next move with the First Order on their tail, the reformed ex-Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) steals away with a ship maintenance worker Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) to a swanky casino planet in search of someone whom they hope can help them sneak on board the First Order’s main ship and disable the tracking device. Instead of their mark, they meet a wily mercenary named DJ (Benicio Del Toro) who may or may not be on their side. Meanwhile, back on the Resistance fleet, Poe comes into conflict with the risk-averse Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern), who is placed in charge after General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is rendered unconscious following an attack on the Resistance by Kylo Ren himself. While Poe favours action, Holdo appears to have no other intention than to prolong the standoff as long as possible, their tension culminating in a mutiny orchestrated by Poe and other like-minded members of the Resistance.
But perhaps the most compelling of the three inter-woven plotlines which exist in parallel for a good two-thirds of the film is that which continues from the last movie, following the Jedi-apparent Rey (Daisy Ridley) as she seeks to convince the self-imposed recluse Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on a remote island to join the Resistance. As Rey soon finds out, Luke has his own inner demons to overcome, and is very much entwined with her arch-nemesis Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) choice to embrace the Dark Side. At the same time, Rey discovers a hitherto untapped connection with Kylo, aka Ben Solo, setting up a series of telepathic exchanges between them over meaning, morals and motivations.
It is no small feat juggling so many characters, new and familiar, at the same time, but Johnson achieves the near-impossible of giving each his or her due by treating them as an ensemble. Even better, the dynamics between and among them feel genuine and profound. The potent cocktail of resentment, kinship and destiny that binds Rey, Kylo and Luke is the main act here, playing out first as a psychological battle-of-wits and subsequently as a physical battle-with-lightsabers. There is also the camaraderie that grows between Finn and Rose, reinforced by their mutual belief in the Resistance for the oppressed and downtrodden and reaffirmed by their willingness to sacrifice their lives for each other as well as for the cause especially as the stakes grow increasingly perilous. And last but not least, what starts out as animosity between Poe and Holdo evolves into mutual respect for their commitment to the Resistance, in one of the many effective sleight-of-hands that Johnson pulls here.
More so than in any other ‘Star Wars’ movies, there is a constant frisson of moment-to-moment unpredictability here that keeps you at the edge of your seat. Part of it has to do with where the characters have come from and what they are about to do next – such as Rey’s family history, or the origins of Luke’s profound disappointment, or Kylo’s inner stirrings. Part of it has to do with the plotting itself – will the Resistance be able to evade the First Order; will Finn and Rose succeed in disabling the tracking device on board the First Order’s main ship; and perhaps most significantly, will Rey be lost to the Dark Side or will Kylo choose good over evil? Like his previous movies, there are surprises big and small here, and while some are not necessarily crowd-pleasing, there is no doubt ‘The Last Jedi’ is ultimately much better off for them.
What further defines ‘The Last Jedi’ is its sequences of pure visual and visceral beauty. A lightsaber duel in Kylo’s master General Snoke’s (Andy Serkis) throne room has Rey and Kylo doing battle with First Order guards dressed in bright-red robes, the chamber’s luminous crimson walls eventually giving way to reveal an endless star-field. The climactic confrontation on a mining planet of white salt and red dust is jaw-droppingly striking, particularly as the straight red lines etched by the Resistance’s combat vehicles turn chaotic by the First Order’s onslaught and the inevitable bloodletting thereafter. From the digital effects, to the production and costume designs, to the creature designs, and certainly John Williams’ ever-invigorating score, the artistry is simply top-notch and wondrous to behold.
Considering the legacy he’s needed to uphold, the expectation he’s required to fulfill and the promise he’s supposed to generate, Johnson has done exceedingly well with ‘The Last Jedi’. Like we said at the start, there is a perfect balance between the new and the old, so as much as it retains the age-old themes of Oedipal rage and sibling rivalry in an eternal struggle between the light and the dark side of the Force, it isn’t afraid to acknowledge the traditional ‘Star Wars’ elements by upending them. Just as crucially, it never loses sight of the spirit and emotion of the franchise even through two-and-a-half hours long of pursuit, evasion, mayhem and explosions. Oh yes, its ominous title may portend Kylo’s own proclamation at one point “It’s time to let old things die”, but ‘The Last Jedi’ is indeed a new hope for the ‘Star Wars’ canon.
Movie Rating:
(Perfectly pitched between novelty and nostalgia, 'The Last Jedi' is a remarkable new hope for 'Star Wars' in ways alternately thrilling, surprising, emotional, and ravishing)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS 2017Posted on 27 Feb 2017 |
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Herman Yau
Cast: Andy Lau, Jiang Wu, Ron Ng, Babyjohn Choi, Audrey Song Jia, Philip Keung, Liu Kai Chi, Felix Wong, Louis Cheung, Tony Ho, Shek Sau, Felix Lok, Vincent Wan, Michael Tong
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 20 April 2017
Synopsis: Cheung Choi-san (Andy Lau) is a senior inspector of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau (EOD). Seven years ago, he went undercover and became the protégé of Hung Kai-pang (Jiang Wu), a top wanted criminal specializing in bombs. Cheung successfully disintegrated Hung's criminal gang, but during the operation, Hung manages to escape while his younger brother and allies were captured. To seek revenge for Cheung's betrayal, Hung comes back seven years later and prepares to plant a series bombs in Hong Kong, which creates public panic, and lures Cheung out for action to unfold an ultimate plan for revenge.
Movie Review:
‘Shock Wave’ builds the proverbial hostage thriller around Superintendent JS Cheung (Andy Lau) of the Explosive Ordinance Bureau (EOD) of the Hong Kong Police Force, whose arch-nemesis Peng Hong (Jiang Wu) resurfaces after seven years off the grid with dozens of armed mercenaries threatening to blow up the busy Cross Harbour Tunnel and bury the hundreds of motorists trapped within it. Their rivalry traces back to the time JS was undercover in Peng Hong’s gang, a trusted member who ultimately betrayed the latter by setting the police on him and his men during a daring bank robbery, resulting in half of them being arrested, including his younger brother Biao Hong (Wang Zi-Yi).
Besides the chance to even the score, Peng Hong’s actions this time round are also driven by greed – promising a payment of US$500 million, the conniving businessman Mr Yim (Liu Kai-Chi) had orchestrated Peng Hong’s return to Hong Kong in order to use the crisis to demand the Government acquire his company’s alternative cross-harbour tunnel Western Harbour Crossing, aiming to profit from the inevitably inflated stock prices during the melee.
As much as the vendetta between JS and Peng Hong may have teased a character-driven narrative, director Herman Yau (who co-wrote the script with his ‘Sara’ and ‘Ip Man: The Legend Is Born’ collaborator Erica Li) opts instead for spectacle-driven storytelling.
The opening scene alone is testament to that, packed with vehicles smashing into one another, machine guns shooting non-stop and a pulsating score by Brother Hung cranked up to 11 – but thanks to veteran Dion Lam’s action direction, undeniably executed with flair and finesse, even adrenaline-pumping in the good-old Hong Kong cinema way.
In between that and the similarly loud but no less thrilling shootout within the confines of the tunnel to cap the three-day hostage standoff, Yau will squeeze in at least two other such extended sequences – one that begins with a bomb defusement at Gloucester Road Garden and culminates in a race-against time down the streets of Central to dispose a C-4 in Victoria Harbour; and another that sees the police engaging in a fierce but brief firefight with the hostage-takers over two Maintenance engineers trying to escape from the adjacent tube tunnel.
Amidst these and other more minor episodes showing JS’s bomb disposal skills in action (among the more memorable ones is that involving a junior police inspector Wong (BabyJohn Choi) as well as another involving JS’s own girlfriend Carmen (Song Jia), there is hardly any room for plot or character, which seem meaningful only as filler between the gunfights and explosions.
There is no shade of grey therefore in the characters – the cops are all good guys, including JS, his second-in-command Ben (Ron Ng), his colleagues Officer Kong (Philip Keung) and Officer Chow (Felix Wong), and their superiors Commander HF Wan (Sek Sau); and the criminals, led by Peng Hong, are uniformly cruel and vicious who will kill, maim or injure with nary a hint of compunction.
There is also little attention on character relationships – a romantic subplot between JS and Carmen comes off perfunctory, and therefore falls short of generating the intended empathy towards the toll that JS’s occupational hazard exerts on his personal life; ditto the tension between JS and Peng Hong, which plays out in fits and spurts whenever narratively expedient but never builds to anything compelling.
Not all is lost though – Yau manages to convey the peril that EOD officers like JS are faced with each time they are called into action, as well as their fundamental desire to save lives that ultimately motivates them to put their own life and limb on the line. The poignant finish further underscores their sacrifice, demonstrating how survival depends as much on skill as on luck.
Each one of the bomb disposal scenes is taut and tense, choreographed with methodical precision to demonstrate the professionalism of the EOD and unfolding like a procedural to show the coordination within the EOD as well as with the other units of the police force on scene. The realism in these scenes makes them gripping to watch – whether neutralizing an old warhead by injecting congealant into the nose fuse to stabilize it or spraying liquid nitrogen onto a timed IED to literally freeze its detonation – and speaks to the homework that Yau and his actor-producer Andy Lau must have done as preparation.
Alas, with a straightforward plot and just as basic characters that fall squarely into heroes or villains, ‘Shock Wave’ fails to engage on a deeper level that ‘Cold War’ and its sequel did or even Dante Lam’s recent trilogy of cops-and-robbers thrillers. The unbridled show of firepower, be it from ammunition or explosives, suggests that Yau seems keen on following in the footsteps of Lam, who has since given up the streets of Hong Kong for the jungles of the Golden Triangle - there is even a scene early on set on the Thai-Burmese border, which is intended to answer just where Peng Hong was hiding while preparing for his return back to Hong Kong to save his brother and claim revenge on JS.
Like we said before, the emphasis here is first on the role and duties of the EOD and second on the gunfights and explosions that spring from the feud between JS and Peng Hong. What falls in between is treated mostly inconsequentially, and is therefore the reason this literally but not quite figuratively explosive thriller cannot escape the trappings of B-grade action cinema.
Movie Rating:
(Loud, action-packed and frequently thrilling, ‘Shock Wave’ nonetheless lacks compelling story or characters, and therefore remains no more than a competently made B-action movie)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Director: Chayanop Boonprakob and Kriangkrai Vachiratamporn, Nithiwat Tharatorn, Jira Maligool
Cast: Nine Naphat, Violette Wautier, Mew Nittha, Sunny Suwanmethanont, Ter Chantavit, Noona Neungthida
Runtime: 2 hrs 24 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 9 March 2017
Synopsis: ‘A Gift’ is the next captivating offering from GDH honouring the King’s musical compositions by highlighting his songs within a cinematic symphony of romance, soul-searching drama and heartwarming humour. This film is dedicated to King Bhumibol Adulyadej as an end-of-year gift to all the people of Thailand. The film tells the story of 6 people who are trying to overcome challenges that life has thrown at them. ‘A Gift’ is unwrapped for your viewing pleasure using a three-degree of separation narrative, divided into three parts and filmed by three different directing teams.
Movie Review:
Besides being a revered monarch for more than half a century, King Bhumibol Adulyadej was also an accomplished musician – and ‘A Gift’ pays tribute to the man by using three of his most recognized compositions as inspiration for three separate but tangentially associated stories on love, sacrifice and the pursuit of one’s passions. Seeing as how it has been barely six months since King Bhumibol’s passing, it is of course easy to dismiss this triptych of feel-good rom-coms as no more than cash-grab; and yet it is undeniable that there is heart and warmth in each one of the straightforward but uplifting tales from the producers of ‘I Fine.. Thank You… Love You’, so if you’re willing to cast aside your cynicism, you’ll find that ‘A Gift’ is not without its simple pleasures.
Romance is the first order of the day with Chayanop Boonprakob and Kriangkrai Vachiratamporn’s ‘Love at Sundown’, which unfolds largely over the course of a single day between two strangers Beam (Naphat Siangsomboon) and Pang (Violette Wautier) who meet at the rehearsal for a scholarship awards ceremony to be presided by the Russian ambassador and his wife. Chosen at random to stand-in as the guest-of-honour couple, Beam and Pang start off at odds due to the former’s flirtatious ways, but start to bond as Pang opens up about her unfaithful boyfriend Ong (whom you can probably guess will turn up – and indeed does – at some point to try to salvage the relationship).
The set-up is hardly new, but the writers-directors manage some genuinely funny scenes – one such sequence has Beam deliberately flirting with Pang’s good friend Ploysang after she claims that the latter is her girlfriend in a bid to get him off her back; another has Beam sharing about a previous romance gone bad which left the girl so distraught she became a fitness buff and ended training up muscles. Thanks too to the effervescent chemistry between dashing newcomer Siangsomboon and singer-turned-actress Wautier, this segment is genuinely sweet, charming and winning, culminating in a cautiously optimistic note on the night of the ceremony itself that has the couple confronting whether to continue their budding romance.
Things take a more sober turn in Nithiwat Tharatorn’s ‘Still On My Mind’, which centres around 20-plus-year old Fa (Mew Nittha) who takes up the responsibility of caring for her Alzheimer’s-stricken father Pom after her mother Fah passes away. Not only is she forced to contend with his absent-mindedness (such as forgetting to turn off the kitchen tap or placing his clothes in the refrigerator), Fa also has to wrestle with her father’s refusal to accept her mother’s death. While fiddling with the old piano at home one day, Fa discovers that her late mother’s favourite tune ‘Still On My Mind’ triggers her father’s memories of the past – and so, she decides to practice and perform it on the occasion of her parents’ wedding anniversary, enlisting a dreamy-eyed piano tuner Aey (Sunny Suwanmethanont) to assist her in the process.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Aey and Fa will eventually fall in love with each other, and Tharatorn builds their romance through caring for Pom. Between buying Pom’s favourite congee with pork and accompanying Fa on the day of the anniversary as Pom drives around picking up his wedding suit and ring, Aey impresses upon Fa that making her father realize the truth may not be better than letting him live his own way. Suwanmethanont and Nittha are not quite as engaging as Siangsomboon and Wautier, but arguably the relationship between Aey and Fa is secondary to that between Fa and her father – and thankfully, the heartfelt performances and down-to-earth scenarios make the emotional core between father and daughter real, keenly felt and ultimately poignant.
Choosing to end on an upbeat note, Jira Maligool’s ‘New Year Greeting’ sees a former rock band lead singer Llong (Ter Chantavit) join a financial analysis company only to rediscover his love for music when he encounters members of an amateur office band, including HR co-worker Kim (Noona Neungthida) whom he develops a connection with. More so than the previous two segments, this finale is constructed to elicit maximum laughs – from a ‘faux’ horror sequence in which Llong hears strange noises in the darkened office when he first stumbles onto the office band playing after hours, to Llong and Kim’s recruitment of the unlikeliest office types to augment their band, and to the actual practice sessions carefully timed to avoid the scrutiny of their disapproving supervisor Ms Supanika.
Relative to the preceding two segments, this one is the most lightweight, but therein lies the charm of Maligool’s concluding piece. It doesn’t get preachy about its central message of fighting for your dreams (which incidentally happens to be the title of one of Llong’s former band’s songs) or its other underlying theme about recognizing the hidden talents within each and every individual, no matter how dorky, eccentric or lowly-skilled. It is free to therefore indulge in silly humour (such as how Ms Supanika’s disapproval stems from having to listen to Llong singing on her car stereo from when her son was in ninth grade till when he went to university) without being tonally awkward. And if you’ve seen Chantavit in ‘One Day’, ‘ATM’ or ‘Hello Stranger’, you’ll know he’s perfect for such material.
Even though it was conceived as tribute to King Bhumibol, ‘A Gift’ never gets sycophantic in its adulation of the late monarch; instead, it finds everyday situations, circumstances and persons to relate to the King’s musical compositions, demonstrating implicitly how he was never far or removed from the lives of his people. So yes, it doesn’t take a Thai to enjoy this collection of three short stories heartwarming in their own right – and what more, with such good-looking young actors and actresses headlining each one of them, there is no question this gift’s pleasures can be universal.
Movie Rating:
(Finding beauty in simplicity, this triptych of stories inspired by the late King Bhumibol’s compositions is alternately funny, poignant and heart-warming)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: CG Animation
Director: Tom McGrath
Cast: Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Lisa Kudrow, Tobey Maguire, Jimmy Kimmel, ViviAnn Yee, Patton Oswalt, Miles Bakshi
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: 20th Century Fox
Official Website: http://www.dreamworks.com/thebossbaby/
Opening Day: 30 March 2017
Synopsis: DreamWorks Animation and the director of Madagascar invite you to meet a most unusual baby. He wears a suit, speaks with the voice and wit of Alec Baldwin, and stars in the animated comedy, DreamWorks’ THE BOSS BABY. THE BOSS BABY is a hilariously universal story about how a new baby's arrival impacts a family, told from the point of view of a delightfully unreliable narrator, a wildly imaginative 7 year old named Tim. With a sly, heart-filled message about the importance of family, DreamWorks’ THE BOSS BABY is an authentic and broadly appealing original comedy for all ages.
Movie Review:
Loosely based on Marla Frazee’s 2010 picture book of the same name, ‘The Boss Baby’ pits a seven-year-old boy named Tim against his arrogant, manipulative and precocious walking-and-talking baby brother. Wait, did we say walking and talking? Oh yes, this titular infant is no ordinary baby; dubbed the Boss Baby from start to finish, he wears a suit and tie and carries a tiny briefcase wherever he goes. That’s because he happens to be an ambitious management executive from the baby-making organization known as Baby Corp, whose deliberate entry into the Templetons’ family is really for cover to infiltrate arch-rival company Puppyco and stop their newest invention – the ne’er-grow-old ‘Forever Puppy’ – that threatens to further divert humans’ affection (presumed to be finite) away from babies. If all that sounds a little far-fetched, you’re absolutely right; in fact, these events are happening inside the mind of a wildly imaginative only child, who concocts this elaborate scenario as an analogy of how his newborn sibling is usurping the time, attention and love of his parents.
Because most of it happens inside Tim’s head (who narrates the story as an adult voiced by Tobery Maguire), director Tom McGrath (co-director of the three ‘Madagascar’ movies) and screenwriter Michael McCullers (Mike Myers’ co-writer on the second and third ‘Austin Powers’ movies) get plenty of leeway to let their own imagination run wild. That includes conceiving conception as coming off an assembly line, where babies are diapered, powdered and sorted into ‘Family’ or ‘Management’ depending on how they respond to stimuli. That also involves throwing corporate politics into the mix, where the Boss Baby’s mission success decides whether he gets promoted to CEO, upgrades to a huge office of his own complete with a private toilet, and joins the ranks of his idol ‘Super Colossal Big Fat Boss Baby’. And last but not least, that culminates in the foiling of a dastardly plot hatched by Puppyco’s CEO, Francis E. Francis (Steve Buscemi), to flood every corner of the world with his ‘Forever Puppys’ packed into a rocket ready for launch.
The late introduction of Francis E. Francis shifts the proceedings into hyperdrive, and like ‘Penguins of Madagascar’ or ‘The Croods’, delivering loud frenetic action becomes the priority in the third and final act. From the point Tim and the Boss Baby sneak into Puppyco’s company headquarters on ‘Bring Your Kids to Work’ Day, it is one non-stop action sequence after another as the unlikely duo evade Francis’ henchman within their suburban neighbourhood en route to the airport, smuggle on board a plane full of Elvis impersonators bound for Vegas, and stop the rocket countdown from a Vegas convention centre before the ‘Forever Puppies’ overrun the globe. All that feverish to-and-fro comes at the expense of heart, humour or even neglecting the simple truth behind all that fantasy, i.e. that Tim’s just plain terrified that he is being replaced – and that not even a supposedly heartwarming resolution that has Tim finally embrace his baby brother and the latter ‘family-hood’ can compensate for.
In fact, it is the earlier two – and much simpler – acts that have much more meaning and laughs. An earlier sequence that pits Tim against the Boss Baby and his other Baby Corp spies in the vicinity to the theme music from that 70s TV show ‘S.W.A.T.’ is a lot more entertaining and inventive than the concluding melee. Even more inspired is that which introduces us to Baby Corp, centred not just on a revisionist explanation of where babies come from but also why the Boss Baby was not like most of the others bound for domestication from the beginning. There are other amusing touches of wit – such as how the Boss Baby gives a virtual tour of Baby Corp by asking Tim to suck aggressively on a special pacifier, or how the Boss Baby delivers himself to the Templetons by taxi and funk waddles up the doorstep, or even Tim’s daily escapist adventures that turn dinner into a hunt through the Congo, daily baths into an undersea mission to save his parents from inside the jaws of a shark and his alarm clock into a Gandalf wizard wannabe named Wizzy.
But a big reason for the Boss Baby’s sheer hilarity is none other than Alec Baldwin’s flawless voice delivery, this being the fifth time he’s lending his signature deadpan to an animated movie. Perfectly capturing the eponymous character’s infantilism, brashness, egotism, insecurity and affection, Baldwin brings the man-child to vivid life, nailing the punchlines and even elevating some of the less clever puns. The young Bakshi manages the transformation from jealousy to fondness nicely, and Buscemi is just fine in a typically villainous role, but there is no denying the show belongs to the Boss Baby and therefore Baldwin, without whom we probably cannot imagine anyone else in the role. Indeed, it is hardly a stretch to say that Baldwin is the film’s standout element, its primary source of cheer, exuberance and wackiness, and quite simply the one reason that makes it worth catching.
The basic premise of ‘The Boss Baby’ is undeniably an appealing and relatable one: the anxiety, uncertainty and even fear that a child faces when he is no longer the only kid in the family, especially given the demands and concessions that a newborn places on his or her parents’ time. Turning that into a vivid fantasy with the newborn becoming a literal ‘boss’ not just of the family but also of an entire baby-making operation that views puppies as their number one enemy sounds ingenious, but the execution through hijinks-driven slapstick gags ultimately reduces it to generic hyperactive fare that too many animated comedies these days are guilty of. And by that same measure, ‘The Boss Baby’ has little distinction from the average cartoon, despite being admittedly beautifully visualized, cheerfully executed and boasting the top-notch voice talent of Alec Baldwin. It may be about a baby all right, but that hardly excuses why it has to resort to the attention span of one.
Movie Rating:
(Never fully expanding on the promise of its appealing and even ingenious conceit, 'The Boss Baby' is typical hijinks-driven slapstick entertainment, despite boasting a pitch-perfect Alec Baldwin in the eponymous role)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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