Genre: Comedy/Action
Director: Nash Edgerton
Cast: David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, Amanda Seyfried, Sharlto Copley, Thandie Newton
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene and Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 15 March 2018

Synopsis: An exhilarating mix of dark comedy, white-knuckle action and dramatic intrigue, Gringo joyrides into Mexico, where mild-mannered businessman Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo) finds himself at the mercy of his back-stabbing business colleagues back home, local drug lords and a morally conflicted black-ops mercenary. Crossing the line from law-abiding citizen to wanted criminal, Harold battles to survive his increasingly dangerous situation in ways that raise the question: Is he out of his depth - or two steps ahead?

Movie Review:

The titular ‘foreigner’ is Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo), a sweet-natured but down-on-his-luck middle-level executive at a pharmaceutical company who finds out that he is about to lose his job. His old college friend and boss Richard Rusk (Joel Edgerton) is on the cusp of selling the company, and the conniving CEO as well as his equally amoral co-president Elaine Markinson (Charlize Theron) have invited themselves along one of Harold’s casual trips to the company’s plant in Mexico because they need to offload some off-the-books deals with a drug cartel. To add insult to injury, Richard has been sleeping with Harold’s wife Bonnie (Thandie Newton), who breaks up with him via FaceTime while he is overseas. Disillusioned, disenchanted and disgruntled, Harold decides to stage his own hostage kidnapping in order to bilk his employers out of the $5 million employee travel insurance.

It’s no surprise that nothing goes according to plan, and among the other disparate pieces of the narrative puzzle are: a small-time hood Miles (Harry Treadway) dragging his clueless girlfriend Sunny (Amanda Seyfried) on a drug run, a Mexican drug lord (Carlos Corona) with an obsession over late-era Beatles albums, a former CIA assassin Mitch (Sharlto Copley) who’s now running a non-profit in Haiti, and last but not least Harold’s shady Mexican counterpart (Yul Vazquez) at the plant whose motivations for tracking down Harold remain unclear. As scripted by Anthony Tambakis and Matthew Stone, Harold is the only decent fellow amidst an ensemble of grifters, scammers and liars – and not surprisingly, Harold goes from innocence to wisdom over the course of the movie, discovering his own wit and mettle along the way to outsmart his enemies at their own game.

Per convention too, there are betrayals, mistaken identities and switchbacks to try to keep one guessing. Such crime romps were aplenty in the 90s, ranging from Coen brothers’ classics like ‘Fargo’ to pulpy Elmore Leonard adaptations like ‘Out of Sight’ and ‘Get Shorty’. ‘Gringo’ falls somewhere in between: it isn’t at all as clever as the best of the Coens, but it does offer some genuine laughs every now and then. In fact,  having more than one too many colourful character ultimately dulls the fun, by setting up too many moving pieces that the script cannot quite juggle all at the same time – subplots like Sunny’s parallel journey in Mexico with her deceiving boyfriend Miles or Mitch’s shifting loyalties as he forms an unexpected bond with Harold feel entirely superfluous, leaving too little time for character work on any of the key characters for them to be more than cut from cupboard.  

It doesn’t help that director Nash Edgerton (older brother of Joel, in case you’re wondering), who is making his sophomore feature-length film after 2008’s critically praised ‘The Square’, fails to inject much spark or fizz into the unnecessarily convoluted proceedings. Quite the contrary, Edgerton’s direction feels oddly enervating, switching between and among characters without any firm sense of continuity. To his credit, he carefully sets up the narrative dominoes at the start – beginning with Harold’s fake distress call to Richard and Elaine and then circling back to fill in what happened two days prior – but seems helpless to control where or how they fall thereafter. Even when you know everything is coming to a head, Edgerton fails to build enough momentum for the mayhem to reach a sufficiently absurd level of madness, and the fact that the script relies too much on coincidences and just-in-times at its climax fails to help.

But if anything, ‘Gringo’ has assembled an overqualified list of performers who are delightful to watch even as caricatures. (Joel) Edgerton swaggers and blusters, Theron is on full-on sex appeal mode while glorying in her meanness, Copley is an engaging wild card, and Seyfried is appealing as ever as an ingenue. But perhaps the biggest revelation here is Oyelowo, thus far seen in dramatic roles like Martin Luther King in ‘Selma’, who proves surprisingly funny in deadpan when harried and distressed. Like we said before, Harold is the only truly nice guy here, and Oyelowo brings both grace and humanity to his character. Thanks to him and his peers, ‘Gringo’ is a lot more entertaining than the sum of its individual parts. As long as you’re not expecting it to make sense, there is enough pulp to make this crime lark a diverting, if unwholesome, pleasure.

Movie Rating:

(Ironic as it may seem, the cast of 'gringos' overcome an under-developed yet over-convoluted script as well as lethargic direction to make this pulpy crime lark a diverting, if unwholesome, pleasure)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: Yuichi Fukuda
Cast: Shun Oguri, Masaki Suda, Kanna Hashimoto, Masaki Okada, Masami Nagasawa, Tsuyoshi Domoto, Hirofumi Arai, Jiro Sato, Nanao, Kankuro Nakamura, Yuya Yagira, Ryo Yoshizawa, Ken Yasuda, Akari Hayami, Murotsuyoshi
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Encore Films & Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 3 August 2017

Synopsis: After the aliens, known as the Amanto, invaded and conquered Edo Japan, a ban on swords is enforced and the samurai are treated with disdain. Gintoki Sakata (Shun Oguri), a former samurai once feared as the “White Demon” in battle, now operates a yorozuya (odd jobs house) with his friends Shinpachi Shimura (Masaki Suda) and Kagura (Kanna Hashimoto). One day, Gintoki receives a job request from a swordsmith to find a cursed sword known as the Benizakura. During his search, Gintoki traces the cursed sword to a notorious killer, Nizo “The Butcher” Okada (Hirofumi Aran). He discovers that Nizo is affiliated to his old comrade, Shinsuke Takasugi (Tsuyoshi Domoto), who is leading the extremist group Kiheitai to plot a coup d'etat in the shadows. Will Gintoki and his band of unlikely heroes be able to stop Takasugi and restore peace to their home?

Movie Review:

Let’s face it, if you are not already an established fan of the manga series, there’s no need to spend your hard-earned money on this long, laborious affair otherwise known as the first live-action movie of Gintama.

Based on the long-running manga series published in Weekly Shonen Jump, Gintama tells the quirky exploit of former samurai Gintoki Sakata (Shun Oguri) and his friends, Shinpachi Shimura (Masaki Suda) and Kagura (Kanna Hashimoto) who makes a living running an odd job house. When Gintoki is tasked by a swordsmith to find a missing cursed sword, he discovers a serial killer is involved. In addition, an ex-comrade has turned to a dark side and hunting down his best friend, Kotaro Katsura (Masaki Okada) as well.

Gintama for the uninitiated is set in an alternate universe in long ago, Edo era. It’s not a plain period action thriller but one that has Aliens in it as well. You see, Edo has been invaded and conquered by Amanto (aliens or sky people as mentioned in the movie) and samurais are no longer allowed to bear any arms. In fact, they are resorted to holding mundane jobs for a living like being a waiter for example. It gets weirder and weirder and there’s an unusual pet alien character, Elizabeth which looks like a cross between a penguin and a duck, but actually it’s just a man in a white suit. There’s also a gigantic CGI white-furred dog named Sadaharu.     

The flick has so much going on that it will take ages trying to make sense out of it. This is definitely a movie that imagination knows no boundaries if you are looking at the upside of things. It’s the Japanese version of a mo-lei-tau movie perhaps even ten times more nonsensical than a typical Stephen Chow movie. For instance, the movie opens shortly with an absolutely redundant scene of the lead characters going on a prolonged silly beetle hunt and later we encounter a character who breaks into gibberish while attempting to read a Dragonball manga (notice reading a manga not a book) to an injured Gintoki. 

Shun Oguri (Lupin the Third, Museum) at the age of 34 seems to be a bit too old to be playing the man-child samurai who has the habit of constantly digging his nose. But I guess he is cast because he does look pretty similar to his manga counterpart. Tsuyoshi Domoto, one half of pop group Kinki Kids, turned up in the end for the talkiest climax ever for an action movie. Apparently there’s no need to guess further which role he is playing. Veteran Jiro Sato stood out among the numerous actors and actresses with his perfect comic timing as a perverted villain who fancied Kagura, the gung-go girl with a strange bottomless appetite.

Gintama has no qualms parodying anything under the sun and that includes mocking fun of itself such as the man in the suit gag and a karaoke music video that stars Gintoki Sakata. Fans of Japanese pop culture will be tickled at all the obvious references to Gundam, One Piece and even a Studio Ghibli classic is not spared. We heard there’s more to it but given the limitation of our knowledge, we better leave them to Gintama fans out there. We are not expecting a Hollywood blockbuster budget but there’s more work that needs to be done to the CGI effects and various CGI background which looks way too crappy on the big screen. We can’t even decide if the humour is intended for alien characters to be dressed in cheap plain animal heads or some figures are seriously missing in the budget department. The rest of the costumes are generally well designed and detailed though cosplayers are catching up. The action choreography is messy and also marred by shoddy effects and slow-mo.

Despite being all silly and inconsequential, it’s hard to recommend Gintama to the casual audiences with all the rojak elements of a sci-fi and samurai actioner. Fans of the manga will probably find this a gem. The rest of the old-school crowd who love Akira Kurosawa and Yoji Yamada, this is not that long-awaited samurai flick for you.    

Movie Rating:

(Strictly for fans of Gintama. We mean it.)

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Drama
Director: Dick Lee, Daniel Yam
Cast: Benjamin Kheng, Julie Tan, Constance Song, Gerald Chew, Zachary Ibrahim, Chen Yi Xi, Ryan Ang, Michelle Wong, Foo Fang Rong
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Drug Use)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment, Golden Village Pictures  
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 3 August 2017

Synopsis: Set in 1970s Singapore, when rock music was banned and long-haired men were considered gangsters, Wonder Boy follows the story of Richard (Benjamin Kheng), a teenaged aspiring musician and the school's social outcast, as he forms a band - The Wonder Boys - and embarks on his coming-of-age journey through youthful ambition, friendships, first love, and the uncertainty of impending adulthood.…

Movie Review:

Behind every song, there is an untold story - the liner of Wonder Boy promises. The inspired biopic film of our homegrown singer-composer Dick Lee sounded like a good idea during inception, but sadly ends up off-key.

Benjamin Kheng is the 16-year-old Dick Lee, an outcasted musically-inclined boy who has a thing for composing his own music. As he starts his school term, he tries to get with the cool trio of Mark (Zachary Ibrahim), Roy (Ryan Ang) and Sammy (Chen Yi Xi) to launch his music ambitions by winning the Talentime. They eventually form The Wonder Boys.

His plans are wrought with obstacles, from strict parents to the lack of response to local music, and while Dick also battles through complex personal relationships and growing up pains, these struggles eventually feed his creative stream of personal episodic songs.

Wonder Boy is directed and written by Dick, with co-director Daniel Yam and co-writer Ong Kuo Sin lending their film experience. This made me wonder whose hand had the biggest play in producing this shallow and inconsequential piece of a film. The musical film suffers from many missed beats.

Maybe it’s Dick’s experience in theatre but the writing feels stilted and perfunctory. Each scene feels encased in itself, with not much relevance to the adjoining ones. The title might have affected the script, because the story arcs certainly seemed aimless, resulting in a film that gives us the sense that it wonders what its direction might be.

Kheng gives an admirable performance, throwing flashes of Dick with his recognisable diction and hand flourishes. However, he’s hampered by the wooden and occasionally schizophrenic lines. The poor boy comes across angsty and unlikeable; a brat that rails at family for no real reason, and pushes boundaries that seem more imaginary than real.

We get the idea - strict family, outcast in society and life, musically misunderstood. But somehow none of this makes it on the screen like it was intended. Wonder Boy drops the ball instead of the mic, with a story that doesn’t provide investment and certainly provides no pay off.

For example, Linda the free-spirited girlfriend, played by the coquettish Julie Tan, ends up disappearing after the father (Gerald Chew) announces “she has been dealt with” like a mafia boss instead of the businessman that he is. In another segment, Dick is thrown out from the group and his own sister Pat (Michelle Wong) and ex-crushee (Foo Fang Rong) joins the boys to form a new group, and again nothing much is said of that angle except for one shot of them performing in Talentime.

The Wonder Boy team suffers not only from their inability to focus on its initial theme of hopes and dreams, with its narrow canvas which they painted themselves into a corner, but also from contrived production values that makes the viewer feel bored and claustrophobic. Most of the film happens within the home, school or some mysterious theatre, and the only bit of Singaporean flavour comes from the odd overuse of orchids as set decoration, as well as the one very loud orphan LAH uttered by Pat in a birthday scene. In most of the other scenes, guys and girls come across very American, throwing house parties and kissing as they dance, while toting guitars to school, drinking shakes at diner-like settings and dropping F-bombs like there’s no tomorrow. Really? You can forget about nostalgia because it looks more like a hipster’s version of what they think the 70s is like.

There are some good moments, mostly coming from Wong who gives an enjoyable and nuanced performance, but Wonder Boy feels mostly inauthentic and lost. I’m sure the struggle is real for Dick and his teenage years, but this film does not do his legacy any justice. The household name is almost a brand synonymous with originality but this production fails to inspire.

Movie Rating:

(In Life Story, Dick Lee sang, “This is my life story. Uneventfullest story.” This film unfortunately seemed to make it so)

Review by Morgan Awyong

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Genre: Action/Superhero
Director: Taika Waititi
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins, Benedict Cumberbatch
Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: The Walt Disney Company 
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/Thor

Opening Day: 26 October 2017

Synopsis: In Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Ragnarok,” Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok—the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization—at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger—the Incredible Hulk!

Movie Review:

When English rock band Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song played over a scene in the movie’s opening sequence, we had a hunch that the 17^th film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is going to be awesome. The 1970 song, which features a repeating riff and lyrics referencing to Norse mythology, was aptly used in the movie’s first trailer.

Using the classic rock tune in the actual movie is, in our humble opinion, an ingeniously apt move.

We are glad that our inkling was right – the superhero flick is a refreshing Marvel movie we all hoped it would be. More importantly, it is enjoyable and funny – something films of this genre is lacking these days (ahem, we are looking at you, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice).

The movie, which is also the sequel to 2011's Thor and 2013's Thor: The Dark World, sees the God of Thunder trapped on an alien planet without his powerful hammer. Back home at Asgard, a ruthless Goddess of Death is threatening to destroy everything and Thor has to find a way to stop it. It doesn’t help that he finds himself pit against the Hulk, someone he refers to as a “friend from work”.

This 130 minute movie is a joy to sit through. Chris Hemsworth (Ghostbusters) reprises his role for the fifth as the crown prince of Asgard and it’s a relief to see the actor having fun with the role (check out that cool haircut!).  Other familiar faces include Tom Hiddleston (Kong: Skull Island) as Thor’s adoptive brother Loki, Idris Elba (The Dark Tower) as the all seeing and all hearing Heimdall, Anthony Hopkins (Transformers: The Last Knight) as Thor’s father Odin and the ever reliable Mark Ruffalo (Now You See Me 2) as Bruce Banner/ Hulk.

The additions to the franchise are splendid choices: Cate Blanchett (Carol) is gleefully malevolent as the antagonist Hela, Jeff Goldblum (Independence Day: Resurgence) is indulgently campy as the pleasure seeking Grandmaster, Tessa Thompson (Creed) is believable as the tough and hard drinking ally Valkyrie and Karl Urban (Pete’s Dragon) adds a human touch as the rogue Asgardian warrior Skurge.

The ensemble cast seemed to have a blast working on the movie, probably thanks to New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi’s direction. Viewers who have seen the 42 year old’s previous works What We Do in the Shadows (2014) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) wouldn’t be surprised with the approach taken for this blockbuster - it is fun, entertaining full of jokes and has the occasional quirky heartwarming moments.

You might think the writing team behind Guardians of the Galaxy and its sequel are responsible for this movie’s high level of energy, but the story (Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Eric Pearson) and screenplay (Pearson) have a sense of sturdiness that gives this title an edge.

Kudos to the big budget, the popcorn movie is also spectacular to look at on screen. With its outlandish splash of colours, there is an old school feel to the film. The 3D effects are glorious, Javier Aguirresarobe’s (The Promise) cinematography exudes grandeur and Mark Mothersbaugh’s (The Lego Ninjago Movie) score drips with vintage rock coolness.

When the addictive Immigrant Song plays over one of the finale’s epic battle scenes, we are assured that this is an awesome entry in the MCU that deserves to be a cult classic. 

Movie Rating:

(The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is fun from beginning to end - definitely a breath of fresh air from overly serious superhero movies)

Review by John Li

Genre: Drama
Director: Mark Williams
Cast: Gerard Butler, Gretchen Mol, Alison Brie, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Anupam Kher
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: PG13 (Sexual References and Some Coarse Language)
Released By:  Shaw 
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 10 August 2017

Synopsis: Dane Jensen (Gerard Butler) is a hard-driven Chicago-based headhunter, working at a cut-throat job placement firm. When Dane’s boss (Willem Dafoe) announces his retirement, he pits Dane against Lynn Vogel (Alison Brie), Dane’s equally driven, but polar opposite rival at the firm, in a battle for control of the company. As Dane gears up for the professional battle of his life, he learns his 10-year-old son, Ryan (Max Jenkins), is diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly, Dane is pulled between achieving his professional dream and spending time with his wife (Gretchen Mol) and Ryan, who need him now more than ever.

Movie Review:

We are actually stuck in a dilemma on this, we don’t know if this movie should be call A Family Man (not to be confused with Brett Ratner’s The Family Man) or stick to it’s original title, The Headhunter’s Calling because both titles won’t be as good as say, The Redemption of an Absentee Father or something along this line.

Instead of leading a band of nearly naked warriors to war or protecting the President, Gerard Butler stars as a cutthroat, ruthless headhunter, Dane Jensen who spent more time climbing the corporate ladder than spending quality time with his wife and three young kids. You know Jensen is tough and no-nonsense when he drinks coffee mix with Red Bull in the morning. And he also demands oral sex from his wife in an absolutely awkward exchange for a PG13 movie. And you know he is aiming to take over his boss’ seat when the latter (Willem Dafoe) offers him a chance except there’s a fellow competitor, Lynn Wilson (Alison Brie) in the race as well.

At the same time, his eldest son whom Jensen assumed has weight issues is in actual fact, suffering from leukemia. At this point, you probably know Jensen is going to neglect his sales target and focused his attention on his sickly son. Developing a 360-degree turn in his behavior, Jensen realized his goal of “bringing home the bacon” is no longer his priority in his life instead it’s his family who ought to be on top of his list. We swear this is not a faith-based movie but it should.

Running close to two hours, A Family Man spent the bulk of the runtime on boring corporate, boardroom talk that apparently went nowhere by the time Jensen’s son got admitted to the hospital. The movie attempts to stay afloat by devoting the rest of the narrative to Jensen spending time with his sick son and his sudden change of conscious including helping a middle age man (played by Alfred Molina) in landing a job, an act not likely performed by the old Jensen. To showcase the pressure and stress faced by the couple, Mrs Jensen (Gretchen Mol) had an embarassing meltdown at her son’s school while later on, Mr and Mrs Jensen had a huge quarrel at a family gathering.

Despite the good intention to impart messages about the importance of family, the entire affair never rises beyond a generic, melodramatic TV movie. Gerard Butler who also produced this Made-In-Canada production unfortunately wasted his chance to showcase his dramatic range. Willem Dafoe on the other hand who played his ruthless boss has a few chilling scenes that require him to scream his lungs out.

Honestly, A Family Man is not sappy enough to unleash your tear ducts or a decent representation of the headhunting business. The tone is generally inconsistent and that perhaps is due to first time director Mark Williams (producer of The Accountant). For a tale that is mainly about grief and redemption, A Family Man sadly never really hit the mark. 

Movie Rating:

(You don’t really need Kleenex boxes for this one)

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: Recently divorced and laid off from his job, Elliot Baker (Joel Kinnaman, Suicide Squad; Run All Night) is desperate to spend more time bonding with his sons, Bradley (Tom Holland, Captain America: Civil War) and Caleb (Percy Hynes White, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb). What starts as family day trip to teach his boys how to shoot turns into a nightmare when they become stranded. As they retreat to a desolate cabin, Elliot’s mounting fear of losing custody pushes him to the edge. The brothers quickly realize that the man responsible for keeping them safe has now become their biggest threat.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Joel Kinnaman (Robocop, Suicide Squad) turned in a rousing performance as a father who is on the brink of insanity in this otherwise tepid survival cum psychotic tale set in wintery rural Ontario. Another noticable big name in the indie production is none other than Tom Holland, star of this summer blockbuster, Spider-man: Homecoming who plays his son, Bradley.  

Elliot Baker (Kinnaman) is a divorcee whose two sons are staying with him for the weekend while his ex-wife and partner are going on a cruise vacation. From the get go, we can see Elliot is a very troubled man. He has recently lost his job probably due to some scuffle with the boss and he seems to be in debt as well. The short-tempered dude suggests bringing his sons, adolescent Bradley and his younger brother, Caleb (Percy Hynes Whites) on a hunting trip presumably to toughen them up. When their Jeep got stuck in the snow, the trio decides to find shelter in a deserted cabin. However, the most dangerous thing the brothers faced is not getting lost in the icy cold wilderness but a father who is slowly turning cuckoo. 

First time director and writer Rob Connolly prefers to keep things small, hoping to deliver a creepy sense of fear and loss in contrast to a huge backdrop of nothingness except snow and trees. On one hand, he succeeds in bringing out the performances of his three leads but the limits of his faltering scripting fails to execute the intended thrills and drama. For example, the fate of two strangers (one of them has Elliot on the edge by constantly speaking in French) who shared the cabin with the guys ultimately met with a predictable outcome. And most annoying of all, there’s little justification for Elliot to turn berserk all of a sudden upon learning that his sons are leaving the country with their stepdad. Jealous? Perhaps. Scared? Maybe. Fear of losing? True. To lock up the kids and murder strangers? That’s too much to stomach. 

Edge of Winter attempts to sort of follow the mould and footsteps of The Shining though there’s no need for us to comment further which one is much superior. It takes a lot more to convince us why a father would terrorize his kids even though the thought of them leaving his side is too much for him to bear. The abrupt ending which involved a stalled vehicle miraculously revived left audiences with unresolved, lingering questions. On the whole, Kinnaman, Holland and Whites put in solid performances. The cinematography and harsh terrain is perfect. Everything is near flawless except the glaring underdeveloped screenplay.         

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

White colours are generally strong though imaging tends to suffer a little during the darker scenes possibly due to inadequate lighting. Conversations and screams are weighty though frankly, there’s hardly much noticeable surround or sonic effects to take note of.  

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee