Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany
RunTime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website: https://www.starwars.com/films/solo
Opening Day: 24 May 2018
Synopsis: Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in Solo: A Star Wars Story, an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo befriends his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars sagas most unlikely heroes.
Movie Review:
Despite being one of the most enigmatic characters in the ‘Star Wars’ universe, we’re not quite sure anyone was looking forward to seeing a origin story on the beloved space scoundrel Hans Solo. And yet following a very publicly-known troubled production that saw a change in directors, here we are with the second so-called ‘anthology’ title of the Disney-driven blockbuster juggernaut. Quite frankly, as much as it is inessential, we’re happy to report that Ron Howard’s ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ is nonetheless a delightfully escapist action adventure. It stands on its own as a fast-paced heist movie with a bunch of crooks aiming to pull a job, but yet contains just enough references to the larger ‘Star Wars’ canon to satisfy fans looking for consistency, coherence and continuity with their character favourites.
As conceived by franchise stalwart Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jonathan, the young Han (Alden Ehrenreich) starts off as a street-smart delinquent on a rough child-slave planet called Corellia, where he dreams of a better future with his girlfriend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke). But a hasty attempt to flee separates Han and Qi’ra, and the former makes it his mission to get a spaceship and rescue Qi’ra from that awful place. That journey will take him from the trenches of the war-torn mud planet Mimban, to the company of a band of marauders led by career criminal Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and their nasty gangster employer Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), and last but not least to the very beginnings of a rebellion against the colonising forces of the Imperial Empire sweeping the galaxy. Along the way, it answers the question of how Han met his loyal pal Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), comes to pilot and later on own his flagship Millennium Falcon, and even venture upon the famed Kessel Run.
It’s inevitable that some of these developments feel reverse-engineered, but to their credit, the father-son screenwriting duo keep the story lively and slick enough without being burdened by or be wallowing in nostalgia. Like we said earlier, this is by and large a heist movie, so most of the action revolves around Han teaming up with Beckett to steal a lucrative type of fuel known as coaxial, which is not only the basis of Han and Chewbacca’s companionship but also that of Han and original Falcon owner Lando Calrissian’s (Donald Glover) acquaintance. These key moments are established amidst a thrilling raid of a fast-moving train speeding along the wintry hills of an icy planet, an exhilarating robbery within the caverns of the dusty mining planet of Kessel, and a remote desert standoff in between a series of double-crosses, triple-crosses and other duplicities. Each one of these is in itself a fine action sequence, and ever the venerable pro, Howard never lets the pace slack from start to finish.
But what distinguishes his entry from the other recent ‘Star Wars’ movies, including and especially the very first spinoff ‘Rogue One’, is its unabashed sense of breeziness. That is in part an indelible quality of its titular character Han, but also a deliberate creative decision that chooses humour over despair, gloom and sombreness. The operative word here is fun, and that running trait defines the tenor of Han and Chewbacca’s banter, as it does the dynamic between Beckett and his crew Val (Thandie Newton) and the four-armed chimp-like Rio Durant (voiced by Jon Favreau), as it does the back-and-forth between Han and Lando, and even the quirky new supporting character of Lando’s whip-smart female droid L3-37 (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Whereas the other films were concerned about the fate of the universe, Han’s primary preoccupation here is staying alive while redeeming the love of his life, which is a marked but altogether welcome contrast.
It is in this vein that the ensemble cast shine in their own right, despite some having big shoes to fill. Notwithstanding the revered legacy of Harrison Ford, Ehrenreich brings the swagger, derring-do, and sigh-guy handsomeness to Han, and it is quite a joy watching him channel Ford’s brash enthusiasm without any middle-age contempt. Harrelson completely owns every single scene he’s in with his mix of mischief and jadedness; former Penn State player Suotamo brings genuine emotion to Chewbacca; and Glover effortlessly carries his predecessor Billy Dee Williams’ suave, cape-wearing charm. Perhaps the most intriguing character relationship here is that between Lando and L3-37, who spar repeatedly over the latter’s fierce determination to free her fellow machines of their servitude, thus unleashing some sort of Gremlin-like mayhem on Kessel.
On hindsight, that ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ had much less fan baggage is one of the fundamental reasons why it has managed to distinguish itself as no more and no less than a solidly entertaining rollicking action adventure. Sure, it has to pay its dues to the ‘Star Wars’ brand, which it does dutifully though in ways occasionally clumsy (don’t ask just how Solo got his name) and surprising (a late appearance by a certain member of the Sith will certainly get fans talking). Yet with humour, exuberance and thrill, ‘Solo’ turns itself from a movie you never asked for into one you’d enjoy with unbridled glee, and for that reason, will certainly resonate with those who grew up with the original trilogy as well as kids who are just about discovering the franchise. It may have gone a little Solo from its extended family, but this fun, kinetic romp is all the better for it.
Movie Rating:
(Devoid of the despair, gloom and weightiness of the recent 'Star Wars' movies, this kinetic, fun-filled romp is a rollicking heist flick that harks back to the spirit of the original trilogy)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comics/Action
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Pena, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, Tip “T.I.” Harris, David Dastmalchian, Hannah John-Kamen, Abby Ryder-Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Douglas
RunTime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/MarvelSingapore
Opening Day: 5 July 2018
Synopsis: From the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes “Ant Man and The Wasp,” a new chapter featuring heroes with the astonishing ability to shrink. In the aftermath of “Captain America: Civil War,” Scott Lang grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a Super Hero and a father. As he struggles to rebalance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from the past.
Movie Review:
Ant-Man and The Wasp is one of the few sequels that is actually better than the original movie. It is an entertaining comedy with a heartfelt storyline examining the relationships between parent and child. Peyton Reed (who directed the first Ant-Man) successfully balances heart and humour with the hypnotic action scenes.
With superheroes whose key superpower is to shrink or enlarge at will, it is easy for the audience to be lost and lose the heroes in action sequences where the heroes battle their enemies through a dizzying array of size changes. While Ant-Man and the Wasp has action sequences that run at breakneck speed in which random objects, like a Hello Kitty Pez dispenser or a Hot Wheels car, shrink and grow on highways, the combat doesn’t overwhelm. They are masterfully spaced out and the change in sizes is logical rather than random. This shows early on in the first real fight scene where Hope Van Dyne/ The Wasp (played by Evangeline Lilly) battles a pack of goons in a kitchen and weaves in and out of the way of the goons and their weapons while artfully landing punches and kicks on them.
As the first female co-headliner of a Marvel Comic Universe movie, Hope is more than simply a girlfriend/ex-girlfriend of the male superhero (unlike Pepper Potts in the Iron-Man franchise). She gets a way cooler suit than Ant-Man, something which the hero acknowledges when he quizzes Dr Hank Pym (played by Michael Douglas) about the additional wings that Pym has given the Wasp but not Ant-Man who has to rely on summoning flying ants as rides that are in constant peril of being eaten by larger animals.
The emotional plotline is about her finding her mother, the original Wasp (played by a suitably wistful and gentle Michelle Pfeiffer) who has been lost in the Quantum Realm for thirty years after sacrificially reducing herself to sub-atomic size to save the world. The exploration of parent-child dynamics serve as the emotional anchor for the two main characters. While Hope is pining for and trying her best to save her mother, Scott Lang/Ant-Man (played by Paul Rudd) tries his best to be a good father to his daughter, Cassie (played by an endearing Abby Ryder Forston) who ends up giving him sagely advice on choosing between friends or freedom. That the two sets of parent-child relations are parallels is acknowledged by the characters where at one point, Scott assures Hope that he knows that her mother is still alive and has kept going because of Hope, from his own experience of having kept going on because of Cassie.
The writers also succeed in somehow balancing three groups of people, the FBI led by frenemy Jimmy Woo (played by Randall Park), a blackmarket tech lynchpin (played by Walter Goggins) and a troubled desperado Ghost (played by Hannah John-Kamen) going after Dr Pym and his lab/technology. At various points, the three groups succeed in making use of each other to further their goals. Unfortunately, with three sets of semi-villians, two of them end up as stereotypes – Woo as the socially inept yet effable Asian cop and the blackmarket tech lynchpin as a greedy sleazehound. There is some success in fleshing Ghost out as a frightened young woman who is desperate to relieve herself of the pain and threat to her life that comes with the powers she did not asked for.
While Reed succeeds in balancing most of the elements of the movie despite having so much going on, what would make this movie perfect would probably be a reduction in the number of characters. Supporting characters like Michael Peña’s Luis and Forston’s Cassie, only have a few scenes which they steal quite easily. In particular, Peña plays on the defining characteristic of his character’s fast-talking, superfluous nature to good effect in one scene that will have you in stitches and clinging on to every inane word that comes out in that machine-gun like sequence.
All in all, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a two hours movie that never overwhelms nor tries too hard to be bigger than what it is. A third Ant-Man movie would likely be on the cards after this.
Movie Rating:
(Tiny sized superheroes, giant fun)
Review by Katrina Tee
Genre: Comedy
Director: Raja Gosnell
Cast: Will Arnett, Ludacris, Stanley Tucci, Natasha Lyonne, Alan Cumming, Jordin Sparks, Shaquille O'Neal, Gabriel Iglesias
RunTime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 31 May 2018
Synopsis: Will Arnett, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Natasha Lyonne, Jordin Sparks, Gabriel Iglesias, Shaquille O'Neal, Alan Cumming, and Stanley Tucci, SHOW DOGS is a family comedy about the unlikely pairing of a human detective (Arnett) and his canine partner (voice of Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), who has to go undercover at the world's most exclusive dog show to solve his biggest case yet.
Movie Review:
It wasn’t too long ago when talking-dog family movies were the rage, and Raja Gosnell must have either felt that children under the age of 7 were being deprived of such harmless diversion and/or that their parents were somehow nostalgic for that kind of wholesome family fun. How else would you explain why the director of ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua’ and the two live-action ‘Scooby Doo’ movies would return to such action comedy fare content to serve up exactly the same formula of slapstick humour, puerile gags and lame pop-culture references?
Oh yes, if that sounds like your idea of fun, then ‘Show Dogs’ is just the movie for you. From Will Arnett getting bitten on the butt, to jokes about toilet water and drinking out of them, to tongue-in-cheek references of ‘The Lego Batman Movie’ (Arnett was the voice of Batman in that one), it is clear that Gosnell and his pair of writers Max Botkin and Marc Hyman can hardly be bothered about being derivative; rather, their only preoccupation seems to be to engender enough CGI mayhem involving talking dogs of various breeds, stripes and temperaments, and to fill the moments in between with as much wisecracks as is necessary not to let the pace slack.
Unfortunately, the entire endeavour simply comes off exhausting, and it is especially telling that the movie’s one-and-a-half-hour duration feels at least twice that length. Part of the problem lies with the throwaway plot, which has something to do with Arnett’s FBI agent Frank Mosley teaming up with a rugged, alpha-male NYPD Rottweiler Max (voiced by Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges) to go undercover at a Las Vegas dog show in order to apprehend a band of illegal animal traders. Never mind that the story seems to be a note-for-note reboot of Sandra Bullock’s ‘Miss Congeniality’; what’s more fundamental is how poorly developed the storytelling is, with nary a care for how Frank and/or Max go about their investigation or the mechanics of the animal smuggling ring. There is hardly any tension or excitement or climax to speak of, such that the movie feels flat from start to finish.
To the credit of the talented voice cast, they try their darnest to make the most out of their characters – among the standouts are Stanley Tucci as the prissy French Papillion former champ Phillippe, Gabriel Igelesis as the feisty but over-excitable pug Sprinkles and Shaquille O’Neal as the dreadlocked Buddhist-worshipping Komondor appropriately named Karma – but their hyper-aggressive jokiness can only go so far to cover up how thinly drawn their characters really are, with perhaps only Phillippe given anything resembling a character arc over the course of the movie. Oh, there’s also a bit of romance going on between Max and singer Jordin Sparks’ Australian Shepherd Daisy, but again that’s barely developed enough to register.
In addition to the non-existent plot and barely-there characters, ‘Show Dogs’ also suffers from Gosnell’s own slapdash choreography. There seems little thought given to proper scene construction, not to mention the cheesy visual effects that are responsible for the awkwardly inserted CGI animals as well as the clumsily animated mouths and faces of the real ones. Sure, Gosnell probably didn’t have as big of a budget as he did working on his previous studio-backed movies, but the careless manner in which he has assembled the scenes is inexcusably sloppy, not least of how he cannot even be bothered to maintain any semblance of consistency as to whether the humans and dogs in his film can actually speak and understand each other.
Frankly, ‘Show Dogs’ is so terrible you wonder why it’s getting a theatrical release in the first place. That’s not because its premise feels left over from the 1980s, or even that the talking-dog family comedy genre is well past its heydays; rather, it’s how shoddily, messily and thoughtlessly the movie has been put together, as if the filmmakers just couldn’t be bothered with basic coherence. We were never expecting this to be first-in-show, but neither for that matter did we expect this to be worst-of-breed; and with such runt of the litter, there is hardly any wonder why there is nary any audience goodwill left for movies of this like.
Movie Rating:
(This latest talking-dog family comedy from genre specialist Raja Gosnell reminds you just why such movies fell out of favour in the first place)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Kim Yong Wan
Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Kwon Yul, Han Ye-Ri, Choi Seung-hoon-I, Ok Ye-rin, Yang Hyun-min
RunTime: 1 hr 48 mins
Rating: PG (Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 31 May 2018
Synopsis: Mark is a disgraced arm wrestling champion who was adopted by an American family when he was a boy. He’s a bouncer at a club and befriends a Korean sports agent named Jin-ki, who has a knack for schemes to make money from any situation he’s in. Lured by an arm wrestling tournament in Korea and Jin-ki’s scheme to make a fortune from it, Mark comes back to his native country for the first time in 30 years. When he arrives, Jin-ki gives him his biological mother’s address. Hesitant at first, he goes to the address and is united with a sister he didn’t know existed and embraced by a new family, he prepares himself to make a mark on the tournament.
Movie Review:
Plot unfolds in a super-charged bar based in L.A. where Mark (Ma Dong-Seok aka Don Lee) minds his day as a bouncer and a platinum-haired Jin-Ki (Kwon-Yool) drags him in to be part of an ego-inspired arm wrestling bet. And Mark (Ma) renders his true form and beats down his Caucasian counterpart, much to the dismay of his white boss. And after a volley of punches and swearing, the setting relaxes into a contrasting scenario at a hyper-mart where Mark (Ma) works as a security officer greeting people and carrying those big shopping bags, feeling rather despondent.
Six months forward, Mark (Ma) receives a call based on a betting plea from the over-enthusiast, Jin-Ki (Kwon), who beckons him to Korea in the pretext of a rig but in reality, Jin-Ki (Kwon) wishes to turn his life around by using Mark ((Ma) as his money-maker. Trustingly, Mark (Ma) too flies over to gain ownership of his glory, only to discover long-lost relatives. He then starts uncovering woeful secrets of his unresolved childhood amidst Jin-Ki’s (Kwon) dicey bet-setting endeavours.
Mark’s (Ma) alleged step-sister Soo Jin (Han Ye-Ri) along with her two kids, affectionately referred to as the “June-Bugs” (since they are named as Joon-Hyung and Joon-Hee respectively), play the pivotal roles. They help Mark (Ma) fathom out his late mother’s predicament at that point in time when she had to abandon him as a child. Along the way, many other supporting characters such as Combo (Kang Shin-Hyo) and Punch (Lee Kyoo-Ho) with Mr Yoo (Yang Hyun-Min) as the nemesis with a comical laughter throws in curveballs into the plot, making it an endearing 108 minutes.
Kim Yong-Wan, the 37-year-old has directed Champion, his first ever feature film backed by Warner Bros with three other films that add up to his portfolio. Clever choice of cast as Ma, the multiple-award winner who sports a chastened crew-cut, nails it with his commanding, pugilist physique and the Sly Stallon-ish lazy eye movements in this titular role. Ma’s rendition as an adoptee also grazed some social issues besides just delivering punches, kicks and blows. On top of knocking down some baddies in the film to protect his new-found relatives, Ma also takes credit for co-scripting this comedy. The 47-year-old thespian raised in the States, is also expected in Bearand Raging Bullslated to be released later this year. Kwon, the chocolate boy of Korean rom-com sitcoms did justice to his role as an amateur agent who has the patience of a saint and a twisted mind of an imp. Han who predominantly acts in indies and short films made an ideal pick as a distressed widow and mother to the two kids, Choi Seung-Hoon and Ok Ye-Rin who are smart, enduring and funny.
Movie Rating:
(Foreseeable climax with a prophetic scene that blurs into a vision accomplished sort of happiest ending. One can bank in on the slice-of- life humour that anyone can relate to on any given day)
Review by Asha Gizelle M
Genre: Drama/ Mystery
Director: Xin Yukun
Cast: Song Yang, Jiang Wu, Yuan Wenkang, Tan Zhuo
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Screening Dates: 5 May 2018 (visit scff.sg/films/wrath-of-silence/ for showtimes)
Synopsis: Zhang Baomin (Song Yang) is a mute miner who works far away from home because of some disputes he had with the townsfolk years ago, whilst his wife and son remain near the mountains running a small sheep farm. One day, Baomin learns that his son Lei has not come back from shepherding for two days. He goes back to find his son. His appearance back in town makes people anxious. Searching for his son, Baomin heads for the rough and dangerous mountains, but the resentment and distrust of the townsfolk leads them to turn a blind eye to the reality of a missing child. After the acclaimed feature debut of A Coffin In the Mountain, Xin Yukun’s sophomore directorial feature film is highly anticipated and once again exposes the corruption of contemporary Chinese society and the dark side of the human psyche.
Movie Review:
Aside from flag-wearing patriotic war movies, the Chinese film industry (and we mean Mainland Chinese, not Hong Kong or Taiwan for that matter) has in recent years carved its own niche in hard-hitting crime dramas laced with social commentary. Having established his name in that regard with his well-received 2014 Venice-bowing debut ‘Coffin in the Mountain’, Xin Yukun’s sophomore feature film sees an even more confident filmmaker cementing his mark on the genre with an engrossing noir-tinged thriller that hits hard and punches deep.
At its heart, ‘Wrath of Silence’ is about a father searching for his teenage son who has gone missing. In this case, the father is an irascible miner Zhang Baomin (Song Yang) who has been estranged from his family since moving away to work in Feng County, following a disagreement with his fellow villagers over the sale of land rights that led to him stabbing the eye of the local butcher. But upon learning from his wife Cui Xia (Tan Zhuo) that their 12-year-old son Zhang Lei had not returned after taking out the sheep to pasture one evening, Baomin rushes back home to join in the missing-persons search.
Quite by coincidence, that process leads him to cross paths with the bruiser Da Jin (Wang Zichen) at one of the local mines, which Jin’s boss Chang Wannian (Jiang Wu) had most recently wrested ownership of by force. Jin brings Baomin to meet Wannian, and that encounter leaves him to suspect that the boss of Hongchang Mining whose overtures he had previously rejected is behind the disappearance of Lei. But by following his unfounded hunch, Baomin inadvertently gets further into the crosshairs of Wannian’s illicit activities that also implicate the crooked lawyer Xu Wenjie (Yuan Wenkang), both of whom happen to be under the scrutiny of the authorities.
As with such fragmented narratives, seeing how the different characters come together is fundamental to the eventual payoff. Thankfully, Xin has woven a compelling story around the fates of his three central players, namely Baomin, Wannian and Wenjie, in surprisingly and yet satisfying fashion. Though a large part of what happens is due to happenstance, Xin roots the actions of his protagonists firmly in their respective motivations – be it a father’s desperation in Baomin’s case, a misplaced invincibility in Wannian’s case, or just simple self(ish)-preservation in Wenjie’s case – and allows their fortunes to intertwine in mutually destructive ways. It is to Xin’s credit that it all comes together believably, without ever resorting to any deus ex machina twists or compromising our empathy for Baomin.
In Baomin, Xin has crafted a character rugged and sympathetic at the same time. As overt as the symbolism may be, the fact that Xin is mute reinforces the plight of the rural underclass in Chinese society, who often find themselves voiceless and powerless against rich and corrupt mercenaries. Notwithstanding, it is notable that how Baomin’s lone crusade turns out, which is undeniably constructed so the film does not run afoul of the Chinese censors (who would certainly not look too kindly on vigilantism or any glorification of it). Yet by the same measure, Baomin never turns into some caricature of the classic avenger archetype, and is all the better for it.
On the other hand, Xin has no qualms casting Wannian in a generically villainous role, but he finds in Wu a superb actor able to convey menace with various shades of nuance. Ditto his choice of Song Yang for Baomin, who portrays his character with just the right mix of desperation, despair and indignation. Largely though, this is Song’s acting showcase from start to finish, and the up-and-coming performer pulls off the dialogue-free role with aplomb. Next to Song and Jiang, the other supporting members somewhat pale in comparison, but the resultant two-hander makes the rich-poor divide Xin is trying to illustrate even more obvious.
Like we alluded to at the start, ‘Wrath of Silence’ is one in a line of gritty crime thrillers that Mainland filmmakers have discovered their niche in of late, and is indeed one of the best that we have seen from that industry. Hard to believe that Xin is only 33 years old this year, especially given his strong storytelling grasp in terms of plotting, mise-en-scene and characterization, but this second directorial effort is an improvement leaps and bounds over his debut. There is no wrath to be felt in enjoying such a full-bodied drama, or any reason why you should stay silent about its accomplishments, so go ahead and sink your teeth into this layered, textured thriller that you’ll more then readily tell others about..
Movie Rating:
(Taut, gripping and surprisingly poignant, writer-director Xin Yukun's sophomore film is an impressive addition into the Mainland Chinese crime thriller canon)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Kevin Ko
Cast: Dong Zijian, Elaine Zhong, Jessie Li, Yuan Fufu, Wu Yi-yao, Liu Mengmeng, Xi Jingyan
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Rating: PG (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 10 May 2018
Synopsis: He Xiaoyang, who is single for four years, is mistaken as head girl Guan Xin‘s love interest by accident. To get rid of He Xiaoyang, Guan Xin decides to help him pursue the most beautiful girl in campus Li Shushu. With Guan Xin’s help, He Xiaoyang learns the most efficient way to pursue a girl. But he can’t figure out whether there is really a way to face his true love.
Movie Review:
It seemed like a perfect movie for this reviewer to gather some tips on hooking up a love interest. After all, the protagonist of this romantic comedy has also been single for the longest time, and is on a quest to lose that status. The difference between the two dudes? The character is forced into the situation, as compared to this writer, who appears to be plain sluggish.
Back to the movie. The boyish Dong Zijian plays a high school student who gets into an embarrassing misunderstanding with the campus belle. Without giving too much away, let’s just say it involves a shirtless guy, a girl who has her head placed at an unfortunately inappropriate position, and vomit. This sparks the quest for them to clear up the mess. What’s the best way to do this? For the dude to find a girlfriend in the shortest possible time.
Dong, who impressed us with his touching performance in At Café 6 (2016), is the right fit for the role. The fresh faced young man has a lazy charm and there is no reason to dislike this dude. He is the friend who will say yes to all your requests, no matter how unreasonable they are.
The other Mainland actors in the movie may not be familiar faces in our region, but they each portray their character well. Elaine Zhong, who garnered attention and got a nomination for Best New Performer at the 54th Golden Horse Awards for her performance in Youth (2017), plays the female protagonist who has grand plans for the dude to get hitched. The 25 year old actress is easy on the eyes, and we hope to see her in more movies. Jessie Li has a smaller role of the target of the project, and puts her dreamy eyes to good use. The actress, whom you may remember from Port of Call (2015), was recognised with a Best Actress accolade at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards. Yuan Fufu and Jin Jin play the dude’s two best friends with the right goofiness, and is a constant source of laughter in the 101 minute movie.
To be honest, the movie poster doesn’t seem to suggest that this is a show that you’d pay attention to. But give it a chance and you will be pleasantly surprised with how the story plays out, from being a screwball comedy to a remarkably heartfelt story about true love. The side plots work as well, because they each have a message to send.
While you already know who the dude will end up with 15 minutes into the movie, there are still some innovatively created sequences which will make you sit up and pay attention. Watch how a cinema going experience is scientifically broken down into whether a couple will end up together, and the different permutations of how you can court a girl in a bar. These clever approaches, coupled with the cast’s winning performances, work in an otherwise formulaic movie, making it a thoroughly enjoyable movie to sit through. Will this writer buck up to do something about his love life after watching this movie? We’ll see.
Movie Rating:
(The romantic comedy's winning cast and clever segments make it a highly recommended date movie)
Review by John Li
|
TRAILER WATCH - ROBIN HOODPosted on 04 May 2018 |
Genre: Drama
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Grace Palmer, Jeffrey Thomas
RunTime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Nudity)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 31 May 2018
Synopsis: Starring Shailene Woodley (Fault in Our Stars, Divergent films) and Sam Claflin (Me Before You, The Hunger Games films), ADRIFT is based on the inspiring true story of two free spirits whose chance encounter leads them first to love, and then to the adventure of a lifetime. As the two avid sailors set out on a journey across the ocean, Tami Oldham (Woodley) and Richard Sharp (Claflin) couldn’t anticipate they would be sailing directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history. In the aftermath of the storm, Tami awakens to find Richard badly injured and their boat in ruins. With no hope for rescue, Tami must find the strength and determination to save herself and the only man she has ever loved. ADRIFT is the unforgettable story about the resilience of the human spirit and the transcendent power of love.
Movie Review:
At first glance, ‘Adrift’ looks to be yet another lost-at-sea drama, albeit drawn from the true story of 23-year-old Tami Oldham Ashcroft’s 41-day struggle to stay alive following a devastating Pacific hurricane. And certainly, the film itself does bear much of the genre’s conventions, including the ravages of constant hunger, thirst and exposure to sunlight, the titles indicating the slow but sure passage of time, and the grim treatment of a shattered leg and ribcage. But equally, those looking for a harrowing chronicle of her ordeal will probably come off disappointed, not least because director Baltasar Kormákur has decided that Tami’s relationship with her fiancé Richard is just as, if not more, interesting than her survival story.
Adapted from Tami’s 2002 memoir titled ‘Red Sky at Mourning: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Survival at Sea’, ‘Adrift’ works on two timelines: one that begins with an injured Tami (Shailene Woodley) jolting awake below her severely damaged yacht and trying to find her way back to land, while keeping a seriously wounded Richard (Sam Claflin) alive; and another that follows the Californian’s idyllic tropical courtship with the handsome Englishman upon their serendipitous arrival in Tahiti, leading up to their ill-fated $10,000 gig to sail a couple’s boat back to San Diego. Scenes alternate between before and after the storm, with the former moving ever closer to the hurricane itself and the latter ticking off the days and weeks of the yacht adrift.
It’s not difficult to see why Kormákur or his trio of writers (namely, Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell and David Branson Smith) had chosen such a narrative structure instead of say telling the tale linearly; by doing so, they could build towards the storm as the climax, rather than working their way down from it. Yet at the same time, the frequent jumps back-and-forth make it difficult for us to be fully immersed in Tami’s physical and psychological trauma, even as we see her going about the motions: fixing the mast; pumping water from the cabin; rationing tinned sardines; putting aside her vegetarianism to catch a fish and eat it raw; and last but not least, navigating a tricky new course to Hawaii with almost no guidance etc. As Robert Redford demonstrated in the one-man procedural-like thriller ‘All Is Lost’, it takes attention to these details to turn them into real human drama, which the bifurcated scripting unfortunately loses.
That said, not all is lost. For one, Kormákur’s decision to shoot the movie out at sea ensures that these scenes have an inimitable sense of place, captured beautifully and vividly as they are by Robert Richardson’s widescreen cinematography. For another, the focus on Tami and Richard’s love for each other puts a somewhat refreshing romantic spin on the genre, infused as it is with heartfelt emotion. In fact, the stakes here are quite different – rather than living for herself, Tami here is motivated by her deep affection for Richard, which gives her reason, purpose and hope to stay alive. It also saves a late reveal about Richard’s fate from simply being a gimmick, especially given the sweet unforced chemistry between Woodley and Claflin.
Between them, it is Woodley who is the unquestionable star of the picture, and the 26-year-old best known for starring in the YA sci-fi series ‘Divergent’ and HBO’s ‘Big Little Lies’ radiates the same inner strength and vulnerability here in equal measure. Such adventurer-lost-in-the-wilderness movies are often overwhelmingly male, but Woodley justifies just why she deserves to be front and centre in this film with a performance that is convincing, engaging and even fascinating. Oh yes, there is never any doubt that she knows her way around a craft on water, and indeed her dedication to craft is probably one of the most compelling reasons to see the movie which she also produced.
Certainly, ‘Adrift’ comes off a little underwhelming when compared against Kormákur’s other disaster movies like 2015’s climbing-expedition-gone-awry chronicle ‘Everest’ and 2012’s nautical true-tragedy ‘The Deep’, which is also why those looking for the same thrills from this similar survival picture may very likely go away dissatisfied. Seen from the lens of a love story though, the bliss-and-ordeal rhythm that the movie tick-tocks to makes a lot more sense, and may even come off unexpectedly touching. This is first and foremost an ode to the power of true love and its capacity to sustain the odds, so rather than taking it literally, it’s a lot more powerful appreciating the title as a metaphor for these two souls all right, who once adrift now find anchor next to each other.
Movie Rating:
(Better as a love story than as a survival drama, this tribute to the power of love to sustain one above the odds is buoyed by a radiant performance by Shailene Woodley)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Director: Jeff Wadlow
Cast: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Hayden Szeto, Landon Liboiron, Sophia Taylor Ali, Nolan Gerard Funk
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Scene of Intimacy and Some Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: https://www.blumhousestruthordare.com
Opening Day: 10 May 2018
Synopsis: Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) and Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf) lead the cast of Truth or Dare, a supernatural thriller from Blumhouse Productions (Happy Death Day, Get Out, Split). A harmless game of “Truth or Dare” among friends turns deadly when someone—or something—begins to punish those who tell a lie—or refuse the dare.
Movie Review:
Perfectly eager for horror fans to associate this latest teenage horror with genre specialty studio Blumhouse, the official title of the movie reads “Blumhouse’s ‘Truth or Dare”. In truth, Blumhouse has had their fair share of hits and misses over the years, so as much as it has cemented its reputation with last year’s ‘Get Out’ and ‘Happy Death Day’, it is also equally culpable for some abysmal entries like ‘Unfriended’ and ‘The Darkness’. Unfortunately, while this thriller isn’t their worst, it is quite certainly one of their decidedly inferior ones, with few scares, even less wit and just altogether dull.
Like many Blumhouse titles, it puts a spin on a deceptively familiar setup – in this case, a deadly version of the junior high party game of the same name which possesses a group of college kids who play it while on spring break in Mexico. Among the unlucky sextet is the group’s do-gooder Olivia (Lucy Hale), who’d much rather be spending her time building homes for the less fortunate than engaging in some drunken revelry south of the border; that is, until her best friend Markie (Violett Beane) emotionally bribes her to go along, although the fact that she has eyes for Markie’s boyfriend Lucas (Tyler Posey) could be part of the reason too.
On their final night, Olivia lets herself be charmed by Carter (Landon Liboiron), a stranger at the bar who subsequently invites her and her friends to an abandoned Catholic mission to play the titular game. As you may expect, secrets get revealed, including Olivia’s one about Lucas, but none more devastating than Carter’s disclosure that he had lured everyone there so that he may get to live. Before Carter takes off, he warns them that they have no choice but to play, and just as importantly to follow the rules of the game.
Obviously, the gang will soon learn that Carter’s threats are real, as one by one they are taunted by demonically distorted faces of people around them spouting the game’s signature opening line ‘truth or dare?’. Either way, the game forces each one to confront some part of themselves that they have been trying to hide – whether is it admitting to selling illegal prescriptions, or coming out as gay to one’s ostensibly homophobic parent – before eventually daring them in life-threatening ways or killing them outright Rube Goldbergian style.
At least that seems to be the logic of director Jeff Wadlow’s film, which he co-wrote with three other credited writers, that suffers from a dearth of both inventive storytelling and imaginative staging. The former plays out in thinly drawn characters that we hardly care for who dies or who lives, as well as a laughable home stretch where Olivia and Lucas track down a mute Mexican nun to find out how to beat the demon at its own game. The latter means that there is hardly any fun or thrill to be had watching the characters getting knocked off one-by-one, and save for one sequence which sees one of them try to walk along the perimeter of a slanted roof while finishing a handle of vodka, none of the others come close to matching the white-knuckle tension of any one of the five ‘Final Destination’ films.
Even the actors look bored, and quite honestly, we don’t blame them. The film isn’t involving, or clever, or even fun; it simply goes along from one truth or dare to the next, trying frantically to maintain some semblance of logic and/or come up with some surprises along the way. Like we said, this is certainly one of Blumhouse’s lesser titles, and there is good reason why there is as yet commitment on a ‘Truth or Dare 2’. As long as Blumhouse keeps up with more ‘Get Outs’ and ‘Happy Death Days’ than ‘Truth or Dare’ types, it can afford the occasional disappointments like this one.
Movie Rating:
(Truth - this latest Blumhouse production is one of their decidedly inferior ones; we dare it to be bolder, cleverer and scarier)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Stefano Sollima
Cast: Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Isabela Moner, Grace Palmer, Catherine Keener, Matthew Modine, Jeffrey Donovan
RunTime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 19 July 2018
Synopsis: In SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO, the series begins a new chapter. In the drug war, there are no rules – and as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border, federal agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) calls on the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), whose family was murdered by a cartel kingpin, to escalate the war in nefarious ways. Alejandro kidnaps the kingpin’s daughter to inflame the conflict – but when the girl is seen as collateral damage, her fate will come between the two men as they question everything they are fighting for.
Movie Review:
No, Emily Blunt’s ethically conflicted FBI agent Kate Macer doesn’t return for ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’. Neither, for that matter, does director Denis Villeneuve or his ace cinematographer Roger Deakins. And yet, despite missing these key creative personalities, this sequel to the blistering 2015 drug cartel thriller emerges as a tense, compelling action movie in its own right.
Conceived once again by writer Taylor Sheridan, the focus remains on the Mexican cartels, although this time round the crime of contention is not drug but human trafficking. The consequences on American soil are laid out right at the start in a pair of chilling scenes: one, when a routine roundup of illegal immigrants along the US-Mexico border ends with a shocking act of jihad; and two, when a group of suicide bombers kill dozens in a Kansas City supermarket, including a mother and child who are seen pleading with one of them near the sliding glass entry doors moments before he detonates himself.
Prelim evidence suggests that the Mexican cartels are now a funnel for Middle Eastern terrorists to enter the United States, and as retaliation, the hardened black ops specialist Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) is summoned by the CIA deputy director (Catherine Keener) and the US defense secretary (Matthew Modine) to set off a cartel war. Given that the head of one of the cartels is precisely that which killed Medellin attorney-turned-assassin-for-hire Alejandro’s (Benicio del Toro) family, Matt enlists him to help in the mission: kidnap the boss’ teenage daughter Isabela (Isabela Moyer) and make it seem like one of his rival cartels did it.
As you can expect, things hardly go according to plan, and what fundamentally alters the calculations on the side of the Americans is Isabela’s botched escort back to Mexico that results in more than 20 dead Federal Police. Well, and that and the fact that further investigation has shown that the Kansas City bombing wasn’t at all related to the cartels. Matt is ordered by his bosses, on POTUS’ instructions, to wipe the slate clean, which includes disposing the now-inconvenient Isabela who had witnessed the killing of these policemen by US soldiers on Mexican soil.
Alas, Alejandro refuses to make Isabela collateral damage, seeing in her some of his own deceased daughter. However callous he may come off, it was his humanity that drove him to become a ‘sicario’, and it is this same conscience that now propels him to become the film’s moral centre. If we do this, he asks Matt, how are we different from them? And so, he and Matt find themselves at odds and therefore at war with each other, although Sheridan is smarter than to let this devolve simply into a cat-and-mouse game between the two allies-turned-enemies.
Interspersed within the first hour of the movie are scenes from a subplot involving the 14-year-old Mexican-American teenager Miguel (Elijah Rodriguez), who is lured into the tangled web of the cartels and their business of smuggling people. As Alejandro decides that Isabela is safest back on US soil, you’ll know it is only a matter of time that his path will intersect with that of Miguel’s in decisive, possibly even devastating, ways. We should add that Alejandro’s fate with Miguel doesn’t come to a end at the close of this film, but is in fact used to set up the next chapter of the ‘Sicario’ franchise, should that come to pass.
And why not really? Whereas its predecessor took care to deglamourize the business of DEA raids and cartel violence in order to meditate on the vicious cycle of violence between the Mexicans and the Americans trying to defeat them, this sequel has no such predilections, aiming instead to be no more and no less than a straight-up genre exercise. Yet on that count, it accomplishes its objective handily.
Not only is Italian veteran director Stefan Sollima perfectly capable at building tension throughout the two-hour duration, he proves just as skilful at staging the film’s set-pieces – besides the exhilarating centrepiece that sees Alejandro and Matt’s convoy fend off machine guns and RPGs, there are also other brief but memorable scenes, such as one where Alejandro peels off his balaclava to allow his trembling henchman victim to see his face before pumping the latter’s body with bullets. To be sure, none of the sequences reach the high-water mark set by Villeneuve’s original, but Sollima’s confident staging of suspense, action and drama makes this a gripping, even pulse-pounding, watch.
Nevertheless, Sollima wouldn’t have much of a film if not for Brolin and del Toro, who register even more strongly in their roles than they did in the original. Part of that of course has to do with Blunt’s absence, but both actors bring newfound depth to their characters as they question how far they are willing to obey the orders of their mission and superiors. Brolin injects his previous wisecracking self with an intense world-weariness, while del Toro does so in his signature way of expressing moral struggles with few words, and the pair make an instantly classic screen teaming.
Inevitably, ‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado’ cannot be the same film the original was without Blunt and Villeneuve, and thankfully neither Sollima or Sheridan aim for this to be a retread. Like we said at the start, this sequel is a dynamic and propulsive thriller that can more than stand on its own, founded on Sheridan’s skilful translation of Old West dramatic tropes and bolstered by Sollima’s confident direction as well as Brolin and del Toro’s sensational performances. Sheridan has left the door wide open for another sequel, as well as publicly expressed his hope that Blunt will return to reprise her character, and we certainly hope they make this a trilogy.
Movie Rating:
(As tense, compelling and propulsive as the original, this sequel thrives on its own terrific character-driven story as well as the dynamic pairing of Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro)
Review by Gabriel Chong
| « Prev | 347 | 348 | 349 | 350 | 351 | 352 | 353 | 354 | 355 | 356 | 357 | Next » |
Most Viewed
No content.