Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Andrés Muschietti
Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard , Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff
Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Rating: NC16 (Horror and Violence)
Released By:  Warner Bros 
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/ITMovie/

Opening Day: 7 September 2017

Synopsis: When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

Movie Review:

As appealing as it may sound, turning a Stephen King novel into the next feature-length horror blockbuster has not been easy or straightforward; and classics like ‘Carrie’, ‘The Shining’, ‘Pet Sematary’ and ‘The Mist’ sit alongside duds like ‘Children of the Corn’, ‘Thinner’, ‘1408’ and most recently ‘Cell’. Fans of King will tell you that ‘IT’ is one of his quintessential works – from its small-town setting, to its coming-of-age story, to its central theme of one’s inner fears – and that any adaptation will most certainly be compared against the 1990 miniseries starring Tim Curry as the killer clown named Pennywise. None of that has thankfully been lost on director Andy Muschietti, who brings to vivid life the aforementioned classic King elements in a fun, gripping, poignant and frequently creepy thrill-ride that counts as one of the better, if not the best, big-screen translations we’ve seen.

Condensing King’s 1,100-page doorstop is no easy feat, but the trio of writers comprising Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga (originally set to direct) and Gary Dauberman opt wisely to shave his massive book in half. Instead of dealing with events in two distinct time periods, this two-hour, 15-minute picture focuses entirely on the childhood-set portions, transplanting the setting from the 1950s to the 1980s in the process. These events unfold over the course of nine months in the roughneck township of Derry, Maine, where a self-named ‘the loser’s club’ of outcasts are confronted with the presence of an otherworldly clown (Bill Skarsgård) who preys on the darkest fears and secrets of the children in the town. Six-year-old Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott), who is seen in the beat-for-beat page-to-screen opening sequence meeting with this sinister figure under a storm drain amidst a thunderstorm, is one such victim, and among the group is his older brother Bill (Jaeden Lieberher) still wracked with guilt for sending Georgie out alone.

The clan also consists of hypochondriac Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer), foul-mouthed know-it-all Richie (“Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard), neurotic Bar Mitzvah trainee Stan (Wyatt Oleff), chubby introvert Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), chain-smoking tomboy Beverly (Sophia Lillis), and last but not least home-schooled loner as well as the only black kid in town Mike (Chosen Jacobs). Each one of these characters will come face to face with Pennywise in turn, their individual encounters establishing their respective backstories that are also the bases of their weaknesses. Eventually they will learn that they need to overcome their own fears stemming from their particular circumstances, and most of all, stand together united in order to overpower their demonic tormentor. It is through confronting this terror that these ragtag buddies will cement the bond of friendship and camaraderie between them, thus setting the stage for the next chapter promised by the movie’s finale 27 years later.

In King’s novel, Pennywise remains by and large an abstract menace whose existence is never quite explained, lending itself (pardon the pun) to metaphysical theories of who and what it (there we go again!) represents. Unfortunately, there is no such subtlety in Muschietti’s film, which points to some ancient evil in the town’s history as the origin of Pennywise. There is also no nuance in the horror here, which reinforce the diminishing returns of too many jump-scares – indeed, each sequence begins with a slow build and concludes on a deafening note. Not that they are not well-crafted; they most certainly are in order to maximise the suspense each and every time, but there is a certain rhythmic consistency by which they play out that slowly but surely undermines the shock impact that each successive one has on us.  

More engaging than these series of increasingly predictable ‘boos’ is the fantastic chemistry between the children. Wolfhard all but steals the show with his motor-mouthed profanities and whip-smart quips, while Lieberher is as real and credible a teenage hero as it gets coping with the guilt from the loss of his brother at the same time as he is motivating his friends to stand up to Pennywise than shy away from it. But perhaps the most heart-tugging dynamic going on is the romantic triangle involving Bill, Beverly and Ben that so beautifully portrays the tentativeness of first love at the cusp of adolescence, without ever resorting to the histrionics of mutual rivalry; Taylor and Lillis in particular deliver heartfelt performances that never hit a false note. Muschietti elicits some of the most authentic acting we’ve seen in a long while from a teenage cast – and due mention needs to be made too of casting director Rich Delia for assembling this cast of mostly unknowns.

It is both the nuanced coming-of-age sentiment that the movie evokes and the investment in each one of the protagonists that makes ‘IT’ one of the finest King adaptations in a long while. To his credit, Skarsgård snarles and coos to twisted effect, stamping his own mark on this realization of Pennywise; but it is more fascinatingly entertaining than nerve-rattlingly disturbing. Neither for that matter are the depictions of the children’s own horrors, which too often rely on loud noises and sudden cuts to amplify the frights. But ‘IT’ rightly places the emphasis on each one of the seven losers – giving each its due, establishing their individual quirks and personalities, and grounding them in their angst and anxieties – while ensuring that it remains faithful to 80’s small-town pastoral sensibilities, therefore staying as true to the spirit of King’s novel as can be. Like we said at the start, the scorecard on King’s movies may be mixed, but ‘IT’ certainly deserves its place among the ones to be remembered and revered. 

Movie Rating:

(Warm, funny and poignant, 'IT' is a beautifully told story of the joys, confusions and fears of childhood, and therefore better at being a classic Stephen King coming-of-age tale than a supernatural horror)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Charlie Bean
Cast: Dave Franco, Justin Theroux, Olivia Munn, Abbie Jacobson, Fred Armisen, Michael Pena, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods, Jackie Chan
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By:  Warner Bros 
Official Website: http://www.legoninjagomovie.com

Opening Day: 28 September 2017

Synopsis: In this big-screen NINJAGO adventure, the battle for NINJAGO City calls to action young Master Builder Lloyd, aka the Green Ninja, along with his friends, who are all secret ninja warriors. Led by Master Wu, as wise-cracking as he is wise, they must defeat evil warlord Garmadon, The Worst Guy Ever, who also happens to be Lloyd’s dad. Pitting mech against mech and father against son, the epic showdown will test this fierce but undisciplined team of modern-day ninjas who must learn to check their egos and pull together to unleash their inner power of Spinjitzu.

Movie Review:

This reviewer highly recommended The Lego Movie back in 2014, calling it a movie that “is awesomely perfect for both adults and kids”. He gave a perfect score for The Lego Batman Movie earlier this year.

So it doesn’t take a genius to guess whether he is going to lap up the third instalment of franchise.

Based on the Lego Ninjago toy line which has been delighting fans since 2011, this is the first feature length movie to be based on an original Lego property. This columnist did not have much interest or knowledge about Ninjago before this, but he now finds himself checking out toy reviews to decide which sets are worth owning – such is the power of commercial product placement.

For the uninitiated, Ninjago is a fictional world featuring both modern cities and ancient villages. The setting for the 2011 TV series is now a colourful universe combining Chinese and Japanese pop cultures inhabited by Lego characters. The protagonist is 16 year old Lloyd Garmadon, the son of the evil Lord Garmadon, a tyrant living in a volcano and is constantly trying to conquer Ninjago.

Poor Lloyd: he is a social outcast (not surprising when your father is a villain who crushes buildings and blows people up) and doesn’t know what it is like to spend quality time with Daddy. He is also torn when he morphs into the Green Ninja to fight Lord Garmadon with his teammates. Can his uncle, the wise Master Wu (who is also the ninjas’ spiritual leader), enlighten him? Does his mother, a working class lady named Koko, have a secret to hide?

We sense that this teenager is experiencing unbelievably high levels of stress.

Like the two stop motion animated films before this, the filmmakers have created a rich and multi coloured universe which look epic on the big screen. Battlescenes with exploding Lego bricks are impressively created, and live action scenes are cleverly inserted. The highlight is seeing how each ninja drives or controls a machine (known as a mech) to destroy bad guys.  

The pop culture references and jokes fire at you in a fast and furious mode – no wonder we see three directors (Charlie Bean, Paul Fisher and Bob Logan), six screenwriters (Logan, Fisher, William Wheeler, Tom Wheeler, Jared Stern and John Whittington) and six producers (Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Chris McKay, Maryann Garger and Roy Lee) on the credit list.

The voice cast is remarkable. Dave Franco (Nerve) is exasperatingly adorable as Lloyd the Green Ninja, Justin Theroux (The Girl on the Train) will crack you up with his non stop gags, and Jackie Chan (The Foreigner) is perfectly cast as the wisecracking Master Wu. It is interesting to note that this is not the first time Chan is voicing kungfu inspired characters – remember Monkey from the Kung Fu Panda movies and Mr Feng from The Nut Job 2?

The rest of the ensemble cast members have less to do, but they are equally remarkable. Michael Pena (CHiPs) is imposing as Kai the Red Ninja of Fire, Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) puts his awkward charm to good use as Jay the Blue Ninja of Lightning, Abbi Jacobson (Bad Neighbours 2) displays girl power as Nya the Silver Ninja of Water, former Saturday Night Live star Fred Armisen (Zoolander 2) spouts hilarious one liners as Cole the Black Ninja of Earth, and Zach Woods (Ghostbusters) is mechanically brilliant as Zane the white Ninja of Ice. Elsewhere, Olivia Munn (Office Christmas Party) takes on the role of Koko, Lord Garmadon’s ex wife and Lloyd’s mother.   

While there isn’t a creatively witty surprise like The Lego Movie and a ton of Easter eggs like The Lego Batman Movie, this 101 minute movie still packs enough solid jokes to entertain both adults and kids. This is a straightforward story about the importance of family, and you can expect father and son to reconcile in the end. It may be a convenient way to conclude a movie, but it works for the masses.

For collectors, they will be scrambling after the movie to purchase Lego’s brilliantly manufactured building sets of Lloyd’s Mech Dragon, Kai’s Fire Mech, Jay’s Lightning Jet, Nya’s Water Strider, Cole’s Quake Mech and Zane’s Ice Tank.  

Movie Rating:

(The entertaining movie features martial arts, good guys, bad guys, adventures and lots of laughs – and it ultimately gives you an urge to buy some Lego Ninjago toys)      

Review by John Li

Genre: Action/Superhero
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa
Runtime: 2 hrs
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By:  Warner Bros 
Official Website: http://www.justiceleaguethemovie.com

Opening Day: 16 November 2017

Synopsis: Continuing his vision of the DC Universe, filmmaker Zack Snyder will bring together 6 of the most iconic DC super heroes together for the first time on the big screen.

Movie Review:

‘Justice League’ marks the culmination of an unofficial trilogy that began with the flawed but fascinating ‘Man of Steel’ and continued with the ponderous but polarizing ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’. Unfortunately for DC, the deck was stacked against it from the beginning of this ‘Avengers’-style teamup – not only did critical and commercial derision of ‘BvS’ force a change in tone from the grim grandiosity of its predecessor, a personal tragedy led its director Zack Synder to step away late into production, with Joss Whedon stepping in to punch up the banter as well as complete post-production work on the film. Both considerations will certainly colour fans’ perception of ‘JL’, though if one is prepared to set aside these biases and comparisons with this-and-that Marvel and/or DC comic-book movie that’s come before it, you’ll find a fun, charming and even uplifting movie at its core.

In Synder’s trademark style, the opening credits set to the Leonard Cohen/ Sharon Robinson classic ‘Everybody Knows’ reminds us of Superman’s (Henry Cavill) passing via a headline in an old issue of the Gotham Free Press. His absence has left Batman (Ben Affleck) dealing not just with the lowly criminals on the street but also the possibility of a more malevolent evil, whose impending appearance is heralded by its scouts of winged metallic vampire-like creatures. Halfway around the planet, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is dealing with a London besieged by anarchists looking to take advantage of Superman’s death; although when a huge fire goes off at the ancient Statue of the Amazonians, she similarly realizes that a much more powerful force of destruction may be imminent.

So the pair set off to recruit the titular league of superheroes – the fully tattooed Aquaman (Jason Momoa) from the tiny Iceland town of Djupavik; the haunted half-man, half-machine Cyborg (Ray Fisher); and last but not least the glib-tongued but even more lightning-paced The Flash (Ezra Miller). These three characters are appearing in DC’s Extended Universe for the first time, and co-writers Chris Terrio and Whedon ensure that they all get due emphasis amidst the ensemble. Including Batman and Wonder Woman, each one of these characters have to face up to their respective inner demons before confronting the supervillian Steppenwolf (an unrecognizable Ciaran Hinds) and his army of Parademons – Batman has to get over his guilt of indirectly causing Superman’s death; Wonder Woman is still reeling inside from the death of her one true love Steve Trevor (remember Chris Pine from this summer’s ‘Wonder Woman’?); Aquaman has to overcome his fear of isolation in order to work with the team; Cyborg has to deal with the angst from being a living abomination; and The Flash has to conquer fear of his own inexperience in the heat of battle.

Truth be told, it was never going to be easy bringing each one of these superheroes into the same movie without diluting their own distinctive identities, personalities and idiosyncrasies, or for that matter without coming over as a jumble of five or six mini-movies, but Synder (no doubt with assist from Whedon) manages to do so not just coherently but even compellingly. This isn’t a dark Batman movie, nor a sunny Wonder Woman movie, but one perfectly balanced on hope, gravitas and gloom. Say what you may about how familiar the eight foot tall horned demon Steppenwolf’s ambition of destroying the world may be, but the threat of establishing a Hell on Earth feels absolutely real, reflected on the faces of a family of four in rural Northern Russia whose home just happens to be at Ground Zero. Yet the proceedings never get dull and depressing like ‘BvS’, invigorated from time to time by the witty banter between and among the characters that never tip into mockery.

Oh yes, unlike the out-and-out circus act that was ‘Thor: Ragnarok’, ‘JL’ mixes comedy, drama and action deftly so that it never sacrifices one for the other. There is humour and fun in the way the superheroes riff each other; there is drama in the tussle between the characters about how far they are willing to go in the name of expediency versus ethics (hint: it’s about bringing Superman back to life); and there are a couple of electrifying action sequences, including one set within the cavernous tunnels underneath Gotham Harbour where they first get a taste of Steppenwolf’s might and the CGI-heavy finale where the complete alliance (yes, including the Man of Steel himself) get to demonstrate their individual powers as well as what they are capable of when they finally learn to work together as a team. You’ll find plenty of cheer-worthy moments whether you’re a fan or a casual viewer, and even some surprising poignancy from the emotional reunion between Superman and his family.

Credit for that goes to Synder/Whedon and to the A-list actors/actresses that have become invaluable to the DCEU – Affleck as Batman is front and centre of course, but his overbearing bitterness in ‘BvS’ is now moderated by purpose and even optimism;  Gadot is as magnetic and in command of her role as ever, and fans need not be worried that she is playing second fiddle here; Momoa is a vibrant larger-than-life presence who will leave you looking forward to his solo outing next Christmas; and Miller is a delightful mix of earnestness, enthusiasm and naiveté. On hand to lend reliable supporting presence is Jeremy Irons as Batman’s loyal help Alfred as well as Amy Adams and Diane Lane as Superman’s wife and adopted mother respectively. Cavill himself enters the movie only at the two-third mark, but like the last two movies, never misses a beat in being the very depiction of square-jawed heroism.

We’ll be honest that we’re completely disgusted by the vitriol that some critics have heaped onto ‘JL’ – one calls it a ‘big, bloated, superhero mess’ – that we think is motivated by their utter bias against the DCEU than any objective basis of assessment. In fact, we enjoyed ‘JL’ a lot more than we expected, and that’s not because we had low expectations to begin with. It’s too tempting to try to reinvent the superhero genre what with the current and upcoming deluge of comic-book movies, but this is a perfect example of how not to lose your raison de’etre in the process. Sure there are generous (and we may add, genuine) laughs here, but never at the expense of diminishing the mission and/or stakes of saving the world. Ignore all the naysayers – ‘JL’ concludes the trilogy and kicks off a new league of superheroes (and supervillains, though you’ll have to stay till the end of the credits to know what this means) on a rousing high. 

Movie Rating:

(Fun, amusing, charming, thrilling and with moments of unexpected poignancy, 'Justice League' kicks off the league of DC superheroes on a rousing high)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence and Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International 
Official Website: http://www.babydriver-movie.com

Opening Day: 20 July 2017

Synopsis: A talented, young getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. When he meets the girl of his dreams (Lily James), Baby sees a chance to ditch his criminal life and make a clean getaway. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey), he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom.

Movie Review:

‘Baby Driver’ kicks into fifth gear right from the get-go with a breathlessly exciting six-minute getaway chase that is just about the coolest sequence we’ve seen all summer. As he waits for his consorts – Buddy (Jon Hamm), Darling (Eiza Gonzalez), and Griff (Jon Bernthal) – across the street from the bank they are robbing, our eponymous wheelman Baby (Ansel Elgort) cues up the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s guitars/ snare/ strings punk symphony ‘Bellbottoms’, firing up his Subaru Impreza WRX STI once they emerge with their bags of cash from the building. What follows is an exquisitely choreographed cat-and-mouse with numerous police cars in hot pursuit around downtown Atlanta, the feints, double-backs and climactic shell game involving identical red Subarus devised with lock-step precision.

Welcome to the vehicular-action-heist-thriller-jukebox-musical-romance from the mind of writer-director Edgar Wright, who after two decades finally developed his lightning bolt of an idea conceived while sitting in the bedroom of his North London flat. Pop culture enthusiasts would know Wright best for his Cornetto trilogy – namely, 2004’s ‘Shaun of the Dead’, 2007’s ‘Hot Fuzz’ and 2013’s ‘The World’s End’ – but his latest is not just one of the most inventive films you’ll see this summer, it’s also one of his most idiosyncratic creations ever. That is thanks to his ingenuity to design an entire film around carefully chosen tracks – and we don’t just mean the action set-pieces, but every single sequence you see onscreen. Baby’s coffee run right after the dazzling opener is set to the tune of Bob & Earl’s ‘Harlem Shuffle’, and as an example of how choreographer Ryan Heffington (best known for videos such as Sia’s ‘Chandelier’) has worked his deft touch into the movie, one scene in that dance has Baby pretending to blow into a trumpet displayed in a shop window just as a trumpet blares in the track. Wright’s intention is ambitious all right, but more importantly the execution is absolutely meticulous, and it is an infectious toe-tapping delight.

The music isn’t simply for show though – since the car accident that claimed his parents’ lives, Baby has been stuck with tinnitus, and the steady pop-stream that issues from his iPod helps drown out the constant ringing in his ears. Neither for that matter is his career act incidental: Baby has been dragooned into working for Doc (Kevin Spacey), the ringleader of a recent spate of robberies who devises the plans and assembles a crew of freelancers to put them into motion. To be sure, both Baby and Doc are not hardboiled characters; that archetype belongs to Bats (Jamie Foxx), a paranoid career thief who has a constant bone to pick with Baby. Two other dynamics come into prominence during the course of the movie – one, Baby’s relationship with his deaf, wheelchair-bound foster father (C.J. Jones); and two, his budding romance with the diner waitress Debora (Lily James), who walks into his life singing Carla Thomas’ ‘B-A-B-Y’  – and it is again no coincidence that both have to do with sound and music.

Not quite so surprising, Baby wants to be done with his debt to Doc and start a new life with Debora, but those dreams are put on hold when Doc turns up on their first dinner date together and coolly threatens that something will happen to either Debora and/or Baby's godfather if Baby doesn’t come back to work for him. As such genre pictures do, things will get worse before they get better – not only does Baby get further caught up in Bats’ crosshairs, a bungled attempt on a postal office will have him reckoning with an utterly deranged Buddy. Throughout the ensuing melee, Baby remains the film’s moral centre – indeed, while fleeing for his life, Baby still makes time to return an old lady her handbag from the front seat of her car he just jacked, as well as send Pops to an old folks’ home so that he will be properly looked after – and it is his humanity, more than his shades, groove or awesome playlist, that keeps us emotionally invested in his predicament and his outcome.

Despite so, there is no denying that the story and character beats are nothing new, but Wright arguably isn’t trying to create a genre-defying picture than giving a fresh spin to familiar ingredients. And why not really; after all, he demonstrates amply that he has plenty of style and swagger to burn. What could have been a dreary rundown of the next job is given a propulsive jolt with Dave Brubeck’s ‘Unsquare Dance’ in the background. What could have been cheesy B-movie lines are rejigged with snappy witticisms: “You don’t need a score for the score,” says Bats to Baby; “He puts the Asian in home invasion,” says Doc about one Asian baddie he recruits; “Your waitress girlfriend is cute. Let’s keep it that way,” Doc says of Debora to Baby. And what could have been disposable supporting parts are instead played with panache by a menacing yet paternal Spacey, a chummy then off-the-hails Hamm, and a positively psychopathic Foxx; these veterans bolster charismatic career-making performances by relative newbies Elgort and James, who by the way exude enough chemistry in their few intimate scenes together to convince you of their genuine attraction for each other.

So indeed, it’s hard not to fall in love with this burst of creative energy from a director who as been rattling with the language of pulp cinema since the very start. At the core of ‘Baby Driver’ is a never-seen-before synergy of music and movement, a flawless intertwining of sight and sound that is performed with sheer bravura. Sure, there will be cynics who deride it for being gimmicky, but there is just so much to love about it that you will be hard-pressed not to simply go along for the ride. And truly, what a ride it is – thrilling, invigorating, slick, groovy, dazzling even, it deserves all those superlatives and more. Strap in, sit back and enjoy the coolest blast of these blockbuster days of summer. 

Movie Rating:

(The music makes the movie makes the music in pop culture auteur Edgar Wright's vehicular-action-heist-thriller-jukebox-musical-romance, which is easily the coolest movie you'll see this summer)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: CG Animation
Director: Tony Leondis
Cast:T.J. Miller, Anna Faris, Sofía Vergara, Patrick Stewart, James Corden, Ilana Glazer, Jennifer Coolidge, Jake T. Austin, Maya Rudolph, Christina Aguilera
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International 
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 8 August 2017

Synopsis: The Emoji Movie unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone. Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone’s user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become “normal” like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Ilana Glazer). They embark on an epic “app-venture” through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the Code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it’s deleted forever.

Movie Review:

This columnist is kind. He recognises merit where it is due. Unlike the countless number of merciless reviewers out there, he thinks that The Emoji Movie isn’t the worst flick he has seen.

Anyone movie fan who has been on the worldwide web recently should have seen the bad reviews director Tony Leondis’ work has received. Here are some samples:

“Hear that? It’s the end of the world” – Johnny Oleksinski, The New York Post

“A force of insidious evil” – Charles Bramesco, The Guardian

“Makes Angry Birds seem like pure artistic statement’ – Peter Sobczynski, rogerebert.com

It is understandable why critics have been unkind to this 86 minute movie. Cinema goers have been spoilt by great animated films made by Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks and other studios (we are not even mentioning the films produced by their counterparts in Europe and Japan). So when a mind numbing work like this comes along, it is a great opportunity for reviewers to display how good they are with words, and how they have the ability to tear a piece of work apart.

But we are not here to do that. To be fair, the story by Leondis and Eric Siegel does have the potential to be a commentary about how humans are too absorbed by the very technology they created. Guess the businessmen decided to dumb down everything to please the younger viewers (bring on the movie tie ins, toys and other frivolous marketing products!)

The movie takes place within the digital universe of a teenage boy’s smartphone, where emojis wait around until they are selected to express their ‘defining’ emotion which is then relayed on the smartphone screen. The protagonist “Meh” is an apathetic emoji who can, gasp – express different emotions. This is, of course, not accepted in a world where only stereotypes live. After a series of mishaps, “Meh” goes on a journey with “Hi 5” and “Jailbreak” to venture through a maze of apps in search of the elusive Firewall. If “Meh” breaks through the wall, he can reprogramme himself, become a normal emoji and truly be a “Meh”.

Leondis, whose main directorial works are on non feature film titles like Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005) and Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters, may have missed the mark here. While there are a few chuckle worthy moments (there are plenty of jokes which poke fun of familiar apps like Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Instagram), the majority of the gags feel like a high school student’s attempt at trying to be smart.

Younger viewers should be amused by the bright colours and the non-stop chatter, but one cannot help but wonder how the filmmakers managed to get the star studded cast together. T.J. Miller is “Meh”, James Corden is “Hi 5” and Anna Francis is “Jailbreak”. The somewhat hilarious casting choices are Christina Aguilera as a dancer in the Just Dance app, Sofia Vergara as a flamenco dancer emoji and ahem, Sir Patrick Stewart as a poop emoji. 

The laughs wear off after a while, as the movie gradually becomes a tiresome effort from the scriptwriters to meet a feature film runtime.

Movie Rating:

(While it may not be the worst movie you'll see, it is likely to have you walking out of the theatre feeling “meh”)

Review by John Li

Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Cast: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Claudia Kim, Fran Kranz, Abbey Lee, Jackie Earle Haley
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International 
Official Website: http://www.thedarktower-movie.com/site/

Opening Day: 3 August 2017

Synopsis: There are other worlds than these. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world’s most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black. Based on the Novels by: Stephen King

Movie Review:

“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” So goes the famous opening line of what’s been popularly cited as Stephen King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower – a sprawling seven-part novel series published over the course of more than two decades. Watching the opening moments of this eagerly-anticipated big screen adaptation unfoldhowever, one begins to get an inkling that director and co-screenwriter Nikolaj Arcel has opted for a somewhat different take on its print source (the opening line from the first novel is still referenced midway in the movie, but with considerably muted impact).

That more than a few liberties have been taken with the original narrative becomes glaringly obvious as the movie chugs on. Not that there’s a problem with that at all, but by the end of the film, there’s little else left to conclude than the fact that its difficult gestation (different parties and studios have been in talks to adapt the film for the past ten years, including the likes of J. J. Abrams, and it’s rumoured to have been plagued by poor initial screen tests, re-edits and re-edits before its current theatrical release) has resulted in a disappointingly stillborn piece of work.

Although the different arc in the film can be technically attributed to the fact that it’s meant to be a sequel to the books, it appears to draw from various existing elements of the series to create a separate, standalone story. No-nonsense intertitles at the beginning – as if to suggest the gravity of the situation – inform us that there is an important tower that acts as a nexus holding our universes together. Idyllic scenes of children playing on a grass field soon give way to more sinister shenanigans that involve diabolical adults with skin several sizes too loose for their intended cheekbone structures and kids being strapped to metallic contraptions channellingtheir psychic powers to launch anoffensive. Said tower, which resembles a menacing spire straight out of the Lord of the Rings set spiralling up into the heavens, is officially under attack.

It all turns out to be a bad dream, one of many before experienced by a young Jake Chambers (played by newcomer Tom Taylor). Or maybe it’s not just a dream – between dealing with disbelieving family and friends who basically think he’s off his rockers, and getting hunted down by shadowy characters (somehow reminiscent of The Matrix and its Agents, except less dapper), Jake proves his visions are the real deal by finding the portal to the parallel universe known as Mid-World on his own. There, he encounters the characters he’s been seeing in his dreams: first Roland Deschain, the last “gunslinger” (imagine dystopian Old-Western cowboy with a noble lineage, played by Idris Elba) and eventually, the evil Walter O’Dim, a.k.a. the Man in Black (played Matthew McConaughey).

Long story short – Roland and Jake bond over personal vendettas that they need to settle with Walter and a quest to save the world from his clutches, while the latter needs the divine, chosen-one psychic abilities (theso-called “Shine”) of Jake. Thus begins a game of hide-and-seek involving both factions seeking each other out and shuttling between Mid-World and Keystone Earth (the human world, or at least the on-screen reality of New York City). As films like these go, it all culminates in an ultimate showdown between both sides. It actually sounds a little more interesting than it really is, because running at a scant 95 minutes and grappling with a (relatively) modest budget of US$60 million, The Dark Tower struggles to dress up its paper-thin script of evil-wrecks-havoc, good-fights-evil with a frenetic line-up of uninspired action sequences.

With the film practically revolving only around the three aforementioned main characters (none of the mono-dimensional side characters are worth mentioning), it’s a shame that the action comes at the expense of their backstories. Unlike the novels, Jake almost takes centre-stage here alongside the last gunslinger, even though the latter’s potentially a lot more complex and interesting to explore.The focus on their settling of personal scores with the Man in Black detracts from the arguably bigger, far nobler cause of saving the world from the collapse of the tower, but if the former angle is what Arcel’s celluloid rendition is gunning for, the characters’personal tragedies and opportunities for sub-plots feel glossed over.These are all creative risks that do not pay off, and audiences will wind up barely getting a whiff of the magic originally present in King’s epic universe that amalgamizes aspects of American Western, science fiction, horror and Arthurian fantasy.

If you’re wondering, those who have not read the books should have no issue following the basic story arc essentially, but they will have difficulty investing emotionally in the film’s central figures, who could do with a boost of dimensionality. Who really were the noble Gunslingers in their heyday and why was a fallen Roland impervious to the dark magic of Walter, who so easily wills death upon utterance of a command? Why is Walter so hell-bent on destroying the Tower and releasing the proverbial kraken? Why should we care then? Uninitiated moviegoers should not have to plough through the novels to get the answers to these questions. Given this much incredible source material to work with and the high stakes of potential sequels or spin-offs hinging on the success of this film, it shouldn’t and can’t afford to miss the mark this much (a follow-up TV series has been planned for 2018, but we wouldn’t hold our breath now).

Frankly though, the movie isn’t abysmally bad – it just isn’t exceptional enough to stand out from the slew of first-rate fantasy-action and superhero movies available to consumers these days. Nonetheless, audiences should still regale in the stylings of the expansive sets and characters from the Mid-World. The display of aerial acrobatics when Elba’s Roland prepares to take aim with a pair of guns and a few bullets in his hands is sensational. But it is the leading actors who prove themselves to be the real towers here: Elba and McConaughey make the most of what they’ve been afforded and cut imposing figures on screen, while Taylor is perfectly cast as Jake, displaying a rare precocity that we’d love to see more of in the future. Fans of Stephen King will no doubt have a fun time spotting Easter eggs referencing his other works: from a photo of the Overlook Hotel (from The Shining) in a therapist’s office, ruins of a theme park named Pennywise (from IT) to a St. Bernard’s dog in the streets possibly alluding to Cujo, among others. It’s less fun for those who aren’t in the know, and we’re certain both camps of audiences would much rather trade some of the cheaper thrills for more solid storytelling and character development.

Movie Rating:

(Reduced to a run-of-the-mill action flick with characters that lack depth, fans of the original novels may feel let down by how it barely scratches the surface of its source material, while the non-initiated may be left wondering what the hype was all about. Still, it makes for a sufficiently enjoyable (if somewhat forgettable) popcorn flick)

Review by Tan Yong Chia Gabriel

Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Jared Leto, Mackenzie Davis, Dave Bautista, Lennie James, Hiam Abbass, Barkhad Abdi, Sean Young
Runtime: 2 hrs 34 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence & Some Nudity)
Released By: Sony Pictures Releasing International 
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/BladeRunner2049/

Opening Day: 5 October 2017

Synopsis: Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.

Movie Review:

A sequel nobody could have expected to a sci-fi flick whose cult success nobody could have predicted, French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 needs little introduction to self-respecting genre fans as one of the year’s most eagerly anticipated releases. The year then was 2019 in the dystopian universe of Ridley Scott’s trailblazing predecessor Blade Runner (under two years from where we are right now) and the events depicted here transpire thirty years on – a roughly commensurate amount of time it’s taken for this reboot of the ’80s classic to materialise. Given the unique confluence of celluloid/real-world timelines, it seems as good a time as any to revisit how our modern-world anxieties have changed since. And we can only say this: to be able to witness the mesmerising spectacle that is Blade Runner 2049 on the big screen reminds us that it’s a good time to be alive.

Originally based on Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the Los Angeles introduced by Scott’s cinematic forerunner was a rain-soaked, futuristic but dreary metropolis filled with “spinners” (not of the fidget variety, but three-wheeled flying cars), Japanese-influenced neon billboards and whatever’s left of the human population that hasn’t vacated Earth for “off-world” settlements. “Replicants” were human-like androids bio-engineered for slave labour and Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) was our star “blade runner” back in the day – the term for police agents who killed off or “retired” renegade replicants before they could rebel against humankind. Except that he fell in love and made off with one from the other team named Rachael (Sean Young), leaving in the first instalment’s wake a host of open-ended philosophical and plot-related questions for audiences to ponder upon.

Backstory and nomenclature aside, cut to three decades on: in 2049, blade runners still travel on spinners, they persist in their dogged hunt for rogue replicants, replicants in general remain despised by humans and Los Angeles continues to be a shithole to live in – that much doesn’t change. The sense of continuity that pervades on screen owes a significant debt to the people behind it: even as Scott handed over directorial reins to Villeneuve (the latter was responsible for last year’s spellbinding sci-fi thrillerArrival), the former retained producer duties on this one; original co-screenwriter Hampton Fencher also joined forces with Michael Green (Logan; Alien: Covenant) for this latest outing. But rather than discuss more of the same, we’d much rather go into how the potent mix of old and new blood among its cast and crew has taken the blueprint of the original and metastasised the architecture of its diseased world into a fuller form on so many levels, it’s truly a product to marvel at.

For one, story-wise at least, the focus has shifted to young blade runner K (Ryan Gosling), who himself is – horror of horrors – a replicant, albeit of a newer, improved and presumably more subservient iteration. By day, he hunts and retires other errant, older-model replicants while by night, he returns to the synthetic (yet debatably authentic) embrace of his high-functioning, artificially-intelligent hologram girlfriend, Joi (Ana de Armas). When K inadvertently uncovers a secret with the potential to spark a full-blown conflagration between replicants and mankind, his boss (Robin Wright) orders K to track it down and destroy it. But he develops some ideas of his own and embarks on a concurrent journey in search of his own past and identity that eventually leads him to Deckard (thankfully reprised by Ford himself). Hot on K’s heels are replicant manufacturer Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) and more specifically, his ruthless henchwoman Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), who have their own vested interests in the earth-shattering secret.

Beyond the above, any further revelation of specific plot points on our part would ruin a first-timer’s experience of the storyline. Scott’s Blade Runner was less concerned about the sophistry of its story arc than examining its many philosophical themes under a cloudy, murky veneer: the ethical issues behind human genetic engineering, the authenticity of human memory, whether a machine that thinks and feels is still a machine and ultimately, what it means to be human. In contrast, Villeneuve’s film attempts all of the same themes while upping the quotient on delivering a more compelling narrative, and he sure isn’t in a haste to tell the story here. Pieces of the exposition are painstakingly engineered and sequenced over the luxurious running time of more than two and a half hours, alternating between quick bursts of blockbuster-style action sequences and slow, pensive shots that are bound to draw comparisons to Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. And yet there is nary a scene that feels overtly gratuitous.

Sure, it could be argued that it’s the subliminal ambiguity of how Scott’s pioneering film hung together that makes fans revisit it time and again, since there is little to spoil plot-wise as opposed to Blade Runner 2049, but there is so much textural richness in Villeneuve’s expansive follow-up that begs further exploration. If the existentialist questions posed were mostly to be inferred in Scott’s precursory flick, Villeneuve’s take delves deeper into them, even laying bare a few by having his characters pose them point-blank in dialogue. “To be born is to have a soul,” K muses on one occasion, while Deckard asks him during another instance: “Who am I to you?” As the case was thirty years ago, there aren’t easy answers either this time around, which still affords us plenty to ruminate on for a long time after the novelty of the 2049 storyline wears off. Even if the filmmakers aren’t prescriptive on this count, they make us feel for its emotionally complex characters (especially the non-human ones) and it’s our empathy that at least reminds us of one aspect of being human. K’s Kafkaesque trajectory in the film reaches heart-breaking proportions (his moniker most likely a nod to Josef K., alienated protagonist of Kafka’s stories) and the pathos in Gosling’s performance shows he is perfectly cast. We struggle to think of a better Hollywood A-lister male actor to play a replicant with burgeoning human-like sensibilities than Gosling, whose deadpan, masculine exterior belies an unspeakable vulnerability.

And then of course there are the glorious visuals to bask in, which we could go and on about, thanks mostly to cinematographic genius Roger Deakins and production designer Dennis Gassner. Geographically, the film moves the action from Los Angeles to other areas such as San Diego (a mountainous garbage dump for foragers) and Las Vegas (an uninhabitable radioactive wasteland with emptied-out casinos), all gorgeously rendered in a neo-noir palette that ranges from cityscapes in drab grey to skies in sickly saffron hues. In a nod to the retrofitted alternative universe of its predecessor, fans will be pleased to see defunct brands like Pan-Am and Atari remaining alive and well on the billboards of Los Angeles. The special effects team manages to conjure some sexualised hologram sequences that are frankly stunning to behold. And in terms of sound, Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch’s effective score only vaguely echoes Vangelis’ seminal synth-beat melody, delivering fresh aural punches with rumbling ferocity and impeccable timing.

Is this movie for the masses? It’s not your average popcorn action thriller flick, that’s for sure, and if that’s your thing, you shouldn’t be guilt-tripped for not enjoying this movie as much as you thought you should have. But it’s an exceedingly well-made film that tries to meld high art with blockbuster storytelling and fans of the original should adore it for the most part. Only time will tell if it manages to reach the hallowed ranks of the first Blade Runner, but in the meantime there’s one thing I’m certain of – I cannot wait to re-watch this on the big screen again. And again.

Movie Rating:

(No cheap replicant, Blade Runner 2049 is a visually sumptuous, deliciously cerebral sci-fi thriller that emerges tall from the behemothian shadows of its predecessor as one of the best of its kind in recent memory)

Review by Tan Yong Chia Gabriel

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Ding Sheng
Cast: Wang Kai, Darren Wang, Ray Ma, Yu Ailei, Lam Suet, Wu Yue
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence & Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures, Clover Films
Official Website:

Opening Day: 18 January 2018

Synopsis: Two brothers – Kai and Chao – are on opposite sides of the law. Kai heads up a smuggling operation, while his younger brother, Chao, is an up-and-coming star in the police department’s narcotics division. Chao has looked up to his older brother all his life, but after a botched drug deal leads to the death of their father, Chao swears off all contact with Kai.

Movie Review:

The year was 1986. The movie industry was introduced to John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow. Starring Ti Lung, Chow Yun Fat and Leslie Chung, the action drama was made with a tight budget and did not receive much marketing. The result was phenomenal after it was screened in cinemas – the movie became a classic and became influenced filmmakers in the region and Hollywoodto churn out works of similar genre. Thanks to its success, a sequel and prequel followed. Needless to say, box office earnings were remarkable.

Remakes often face the risk of being panned by fans. In this case, why would Mainland Chinese director Ding Sheng embark on one? The answer is simple if you realise how lucrative the Mainland Chinese market is.

The story of this version of the gangster classic is not very different from the original. A righteous smuggler (Wang Kai) goes to jail after a failed mission, and decides to start his fresh anew after release from prison. His former partner (Darren Wang) looks up to him like a real brother, while his blood related younger brother (Ray Ma) is frustrated with his criminal dealings. Throw in more familiar elements like a gang betrayal, a drug deal gone wrong and a tragic family death, and you get 114 minutes of pure testosterone drama.

Comparisons are inevitable for movie remakes, and we will try to make our views as objective as possible. One thing almost everyone will agree with – no one will ever be able to recreate the chemistry between Ti Lung, Chow Yun Fat and Leslie Chung. While Wang Kai, Darren Wang and Ray Ma do a decent job of portraying the bromance between the three men, it is an impossible feat to be as suave as the trio in the Hong Kong original.  

Because of the original’s influence in the movie industry, such stories of brotherhood, noble sacrifices and gratuitous bloodshed do not make viewers sit up and pay attention anymore. To a certain extent, people may take this solid screenplay for granted and be able to predict the fates of the three protagonists.

There is enough action to satisfy fans of this genre, with plenty sequences showcasing gangster showdowns, gun fights and intense staring. Wang Kai (Railroad Tigers) is believable as the movie’s big brother character, while Darren Wang (Our Times) tries his very best to emulate Chow Yun Fat’s “Mark Gor” charm (unfortunately, he comes off as a little needy and whiny at times). Ma (East Meets West) does the most with the limited screen time as an up and coming cop who has to come to terms with his elder brother’s involvement with crime. Lam Suet (Three), Yu Ailei (Explosion) and Wu Yue (The Brink) shine as villains, and as expected, the female characters are secondary in this male dominated movie.

Back in 2013, Director Ding (Saving Mr Wu) also applied a “Mainland Chinese” touch to another Hong Kong classic in Police Story 2013. In this latest work, he proves again that he is capable of handling big budgeted movies and high profile celebrities. While the movie will not go down history as a classic (does anyone still remember the Korean remake?), it will definitely get a lot of attention and publicity, something the Hong Kong original did not enjoy prior to its release.  

Movie Rating:

(Understandably, this Mainland Chinese remake will not be a classic like the Hong Kong original, but it manages to deliver a decent dose of entertainment)

Review by John Li

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Nick Cheung
Cast: Nick Cheung, Xu Jinglei, Yu Nan, He Jiong, Louis Cheung, Michael Miu, Lam Suet, Philip Ng, Chris Collins
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence and Some Drug Use)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures, Clover Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 1 May 2018

Synopsis: Yu Chau is a cop who has gone so deep undercover within the triad. He can no longer tell which side of the law he’s on. When he accidentally kills one of his pals in an operation, he runs off into the boonies to lick his wounds. Upon his return, he teams up with fellow officers Jim and Jackie to catch a triad Boss, only to unveil collusion with government officials at the highest level. Yu Chau once again faces the dilemma of taking the law into his own hands...

Movie Review:

Having cut his teeth with some of the best and worst in the Hong Kong film industry over the past three decades, two-time Golden Horse Award-winning best actor Nick Cheung has in recent years demonstrated a confidence to reinvent some of the genres which the industry has been closely associated with. So after taking on the horror/ supernatural genre with 2014’s ‘Hungry Ghost Ritual’ and 2015’s ‘Keeper of Darkness’, Cheung has here set his sights on the classic crime thriller with a hyper-stylised entry that seems equal parts inspired by ‘Sin City’ as it is Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy.

Like them, ‘The Trough’ unfolds in a fictional city where crime is rampant and in need of a (reluctant) anti-hero willing to subvert the law in order to upkeep it. That hero here is the frequent undercover cop Yu Chau (Cheung), whom the first act sets up as a somewhat disillusioned individual from spending too much time with those on the other side of the law. An overlong introduction to his last stint with mob boss Yun (Michael Miu) culminates in a fierce gunfight in a laundromat that leaves all but Yu Chau dead, and the latter goes off into the African desert to cleanse himself – which, as the opening credits demonstrate, apparently involves showing a hyena just who is more menacing.

The real story here begins only about half an hour into the movie, when Yu Chau is summoned back by his handler Zhan (He Jiong) to uncover the identity of the criminal mastermind nicknamed ‘Boss’. To do so, he will have to go undercover once more with the abrasive ringleader Chun Hua (Yuen Wah) to kidnap a young girl, but as Yu Chau soon discovers, the case involves not only some very powerful individuals at the highest echelons of society, but also reeks of corruption at the highest levels of the police. Not that you’ll have to wonder just who they are – there is no attempt to hide the fact that Zhan’s superior Diane (Maggie Cheung) is one of them, or for that matter, any buildup to Xu Jinglei’s Japanese-born socialite as the ‘Boss’ herself.

Co-written by Cheung, the film isn’t so much a whodunnit as a whydunnit, which Cheung turns into a meditation on the nature of crime and justice and whether either is simply two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, those expecting a compelling treatment of the subject matter will probably come off disappointed and in fact frustrated by the sheer narrative illogicalities. Why would ‘Boss’ risk her own life by getting into an elevator with Yu Chau? Why would she send a whole army of henchmen to delay him while she makes her escape, and then shortly after willingly let herself be apprehended by him? Why would she end up killing those who did her bidding, while hoping that Yu Chau will somehow carry on her legacy? Not much in the final act of the movie makes simple common sense, and that is a pity, because the first hour is arguably pretty intriguing.

Before its conceit falls apart, ‘The Trough’ hooks you with its relentless bleak tone and its blasts of explosive gunplay. In probably one of the most memorable nihilistic sequences of the film, Yu Chau is seen walking down a street at night in seeming utter detachment to the law-breaking around him: prostitution, carjacking, and most egregiously, a group of teenage hooligans gunning down a man. Like the weather phenomenon that it is named after, the skies over the city dubbed Solo Field are perpetually overcast, so much so that the entire movie unfolds in different shades of grey.

Amidst that overwhelming sense of despair and desolation are episodes of intense action – notably, a thrilling vehicular chase along the city’s downtown streets that see the complete demolition of a couple of police cars, and an equally exhilarating one-versus-many shootout in a building that climaxes with a mano-a-mano between Cheung and Philip Ng’s unnamed kung fu kicking assailant. Cheung was in two of Dante Lam’s most acclaimed cops-versus-robbers films in the early years of the last decade (read: 2008’s ‘Beast Stalker’ and 2010’s ‘The Stool Pigeon’), and channels similar ballsy sensibilities in choreographing and staging his film’s own fiery shootouts. Cheung’s own experience with triad movies also lends itself well to some of the tense  underworld exchanges, including that between Miu and Lam Suet’s middleman to settle the former’s debt and another in an abattoir where Cheung susses out if Li Haitao’s disgruntled underling is in fact the ‘Boss’.

Alas these accomplishments are not quite enough to make up for a muddled script that doesn’t quite know how it wants to set up the central relationship between Yu Chau and the ‘Boss’, and therefore how to portray its key message on the rightful place that crime should or should not have in a inherently unequal society. That said, the fact that Cheung has attempted a neo-noir spin on the traditional Hong Kong crime thriller should in itself be lauded, and despite its shortcomings, ‘The Trough’ is never visually or stylistically boring. One does however hope too that the city had more character and definition to it, ditto Yu Chau himself, so that we can better appreciate the context behind the latter’s struggle to uphold justice. It’s no classic, but Cheung’s third time in the actor-cum-director’s seat confirms yet again a bona fide Hong Kong cinema veteran reinvigorating the industry in small but significant ways.

Movie Rating:

(A muddled third act undermines what is otherwise an intriguing neo-noir about the existential nature of crime in an unequal society, punctutated by some thrilling blasts of explosive gunplay)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Crime/Thriller
Director: John Woo
Cast: Zhang Hanyu, Masaharu Fukuyama, Qi Wei, Ha Jiwon, Angeles Woo, Nanami Sakuraba, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Tao, Kunihara Tokunaga, Kenichi Yajima, Kei Tanaka, Joe Nakamura, Hisashi Yoshizawa, Naoto Takenaka, Yasuaki Kurata, Takumi Saito
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures, Clover Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 23 November 2017

Synopsis: Based on a novel by Japanese writer Juko Nishimura, tells the story of prosecutor who is framed for robbery and rape and sets out on a one-man mission to clear his name.

Movie Review:

Manhunt opens in an idyllic town whereby we see our leading man, corporate lawyer Du Qiu (Zhang Hanyu) walks into a traditional Japanese bar to have a sake. He has a heartening talk mainly about old classic movies with the bartender before all hell break loose. The brief prologue showcases two things, one Manhunt is a loose remake of the 1976 Japanese classic starring the late Ken Takakura and two, action maestro John Woo is back in familiar territory after helming two period dramas, Red Cliff and the disastrous The Crossing.   

Diehard fans of Woo will have trouble relating to his latest venture- a part detective thriller and part actioner that goes absolute bonkers in the climax. Aside from his acclaimed gun-fu action sequences, Woo’s strongest forte is his theme about brotherhood and friendship. Just liked his past collaborations with Chow Yun Fat and Ti Lung, Nicolas Cage with John Travolta, in Manhunt, he pairs up Zhang Hanyu (Operation Mekong) with Japanese actor/popstar Masaharu Fukuyama though both respectable actors are frequently letdown by the awkward mix of Japanese and English dialogue.   

The story is about Du Qiu being framed for a murder he never commit while Fukuyama plays a smartass detective assigned to take him down. If this is a simple good versus evil kind of actioner and Woo’s job is to bring in the white doves and wham-bang then Manhunt will be a much enjoyable ride. Unfortunately, the story is riddled with unnecessary subplots and characters. Let’s see we have Mayumi (Qi Wei), a widow who is out to find out the truth behind her scientist husband’s death. A pair of genetically enhanced assassins, Dawn (played by Woo’s daughter, Angeles) and Rain (Secret Garden’s Ha Ji-won). Last but not least, a pair of sinister father-and-son pair of Tenjin Pharmaceutical with also corrupt cops in the force. The supposedly crime thriller slowly turned itself into a hot mess that the only thing that brightens up is waiting for the next bloodshed to appear on the screen.  

For those looking for some trademark Woo’s action moves, patience is very much require as the real action doesn’t really kicked in until almost an hour into the movie. After a fistcuff involving a cageload of doves being set free, the next action major sequence is the widely touted jet ski chase which is hampered by nothing but bad CGI. The only memorable action scene happened at a farmhouse where we encounter a bunch of assassins on bikes trading guns, samurai sword and blows with our two handcuffed heroes. The finale which took place in an enclosed laboratory environment sees a ludicrous serum which turned ordinary folks into super soldiers at work, a stark reminder that Woo shouldn’t touch anything relating to sci-fi (Watch Paycheck).   

Despite the onlocation shoot which mainly took place in Osaka and the participation of many Japanese talents liked cinematographer Takuro Ishizaka, production designer Yohei Taneda, Manhunt seems to lack the usual flair seen in Woo’s The Killer, Hardboiled or even Face/Off. The story is way off, characters look stilted and the action simply a rehashed of Woo’s better moments. This could easily be the comeback effort of John Woo but it seems he is relying too much of his old glorious past to make much of an impact. In fact, it’s a soulless Woo movie that’s not going to be remember by fans down the road. 

Movie Rating:

(All the slow-mo, white doves and double guns are here, what’s lacking is a true blue John Woo movie)

Review by Linus Tee