Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Lasse Hallström, Joe Johnston
Cast: Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy, Eugenio Derbez, Matthew Macfadyen, Richard E. Grant, Miranda Hart, Sergei Polunin, Jayden Fowora-Knight, Omid Djalili, Jack Whitehall, Meera Syal, Ellie Bamber, Misty Copeland, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Rating: PG (Some Frightening Scenes)
Released By: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 1 November 2018

Synopsis: All Clara (Mackenzie Foy) wants is a key – a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift. A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer’s (Morgan Freeman) annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key—which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It’s there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren), to retrieve Clara’s key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world. Starring Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Disney’s new holiday feature film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston, and inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s classic tale.

Movie Review:

Either Disney had chosen to ignore the failure of the CGI-heavy/boring Alice Through the Looking Glass or they are simply too rich and powerful to bother.

We simply can’t shake off the feeling that we have seen all these before after we left the screening of Disney’s latest live-action fantasy adventure, The Nutcracker And The Four Realm. To be exact, it’s like an exhausting mixture of The Chronicles of Narnia and Alice in Wonderland that Disney is probably right not to screen to the media in advance.

The movie opens on Christmas Eve where we are introduced to our YA protagonist, Clara (played by a grown-up Mackenzie Foy from The Conjuring and Interstellar) and her various family members. Though they are still grieving over Clara’s recent deceased mother, her father tells her that the spirit of Christmas needs to go on; shortly after, they make their way to a grand party thrown by Clara’s inventor godfather, Drosselmeyer (a brief cameo by Morgan Freeman with an eyepatch and fake wig).

The ball in the end is just an excuse for Clara to wonder off into the four realms. What exactly are the four realms? Apparently, they are magical realms created by Clara’s late mother, a place which her mum is declared as a Queen which conveniently makes Clara a Princess. But all is not well at the realms as they are at war with the evil Mother Ginger (a rather underused Helen Mirren) and her equally sinister clowns and army of mice. To reclaim the realms, Clara must first look for a magical key and team up with Sugar Plum fairy (Keira Knightly in cutesy mode) and a loyal Nutcracker soldier (newcomer Jayden Fowora-Knight) to fight against their maniacal enemy.

Rather than based on German writer ETA Hoffmann’s short story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King and Marius Petipa’s Nutcracker Ballet, the credits state that it’s “suggested” by it. That accurately sums up the mediocracy of the final material. For a start, Disney should be praised for coming up with a smart, strong-willed female protagonist who possesses both technical knowledge, leadership but also has no qualms risking her life fighting creepy clowns and toy soldiers that comes to life.

Still, The Nutcracker And The Four Realm is more of a technical achievement than a story worth telling despite a predictable midway twist. Ironically, the most entertaining aspect is a stage act within the movie which makes excellent use of ballet and physical props. Furthermore, the movie does have its dark scary standout moments especially with entertaining acrobatic clowns and a giant made up of numerous tiny mice. It sounds that we are desperately trying to squeeze out whatever good The Nutcracker has to offer in order to differentiate itself from other similar Disney titles and indeed this is the case.

Even with a mere 101 minutes running (Cinderella clocking in at 105 minutes, Alice in Wonderland at 108 minutes and Beauty and the Beast at a whopping 129 minutes), The Nutcracker still feels 20 minutes too long with the story proceedings lacking much surprise and feeling very pedestrian. The immersive CGI landscapes is a wonder to behold though it sacrifices all the hard work put in by production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas.

Sharing a co-directing credit with Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) is Joe Johnston (Captain America) who puts in over 30 days of reshoots. Hallstrom’s forte might be his heartening storytelling and Johnston with his experience in visual effects though unfortunately, both filmmakers seem to be behaving like fishes out of water with the material.

In the grand tradition of Disney’s themed princess stories, The Nutcracker And The Four Realm ends on a happy festive note. Despite Mackenzie Foy’s serviceable performance as Disney’s latest heroic princess with the whip-wielding Mirren and Knightly playing against type, its evidence that there’s too little done to salvage the entire storytelling from boredom.

P.S. Italian singer Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo teams up for the moving theme song, “Fall On Me”.

Movie Rating:

(Incredibly magical and appealing if you are 12 years and below; otherwise it’s too bland and too safe)

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Rob Marshall
Cast: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, Joel Dawson, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep
RunTime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Official Website: https://movies.disney.com/mary-poppins-returns

Opening Day: 25 December 2018

Synopsis: In Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” an all new original musical and sequel, Mary Poppins is back to help the next generation of the Banks family find the joy and wonder missing in their lives following a personal loss. Emily Blunt (“A Quiet Place,” “The Girl on the Train”) stars as the practically-perfect nanny with unique magical skills who can turn any ordinary task into an unforgettable, fantastic adventure and Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”) plays her friend Jack, an optimistic street lamplighter who helps bring light—and life—to the streets of London.

Movie Review:

54 years after author P.L. Travers’ titular nanny arrived on the big screen, Mary Poppins returns for a sequel which tries so hard to capture the charm and magic of the original that it doesn’t care if it comes off anachronistic as a result. Oh yes, no one will likely accuse director Rob Marshall for failing to treat the beloved 1964 film with insufficient reverence, and those who remember it will surely recognise the echoes everywhere of what came before – including a lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) who will remind you of Dick Van Dyke’s chimney sweep Bert; an eccentric relative of Mary’s named Topsy Turvy (Meryl Streep) who is reminiscent of Ed Wynn’s airborne Uncle Albert; and last but not least, the famous animated set-piece involving a sidewalk chalk drawing that is reinterpreted here as a trip inside a china bowl.

We’ll be Blunt – if you’re up for another helping of the undeniable charms of ‘Mary Poppins’, then you’re in for a delightful, even supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, time; but if familiarity is your equivalent of monotony, then you’ll likely be unimpressed by Marshall’s painstaking re-creation of the style, tone and beats of his predecessor. Yet you can hardly blame him for keeping with legacy, not least because of the burden of expectation from two or three generations of audiences who have grown up with that Disney touchstone, for whom the names Michael and Jane Banks and/or their Cherry Tree Lane house will instantly strike a chord. These two Banks were the children from the original, with Michael (Ben Whishaw) still living in the family home with three moppets of his own that his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) helps to look after.

Writer David Magee sets the movie 24 years after the action of ‘Mary Poppins’, against the backdrop of the ‘Great Slump’ in the 1930s. A struggling artist working part-time as a teller at the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank where he has taken a loan against the house, Michael has missed a number of successive payments due following the death of his wife, and is now fighting to dodge foreclosure. That consequence is particularly upsetting not just for Michael but also his three children – John (Nathanael Saleh), Annabel (Pixie Davies) and Georgie (Joel Dawson) – given the memories that it holds with his late wife/ their late mother. Amidst their grief, gloom and anxiety, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) announces unannounced and uninvited to bring joy, cheer and hope back into the household, arriving from the sky on a kite that Georgie was pulling on an unusually overcast and gusty winter day.

Thanks to Mary’s magic, the kids get to go on a series of imaginative adventures: a bathtub plunge leads to an undersea kingdom, complete with all manner of ocean life and a pirate ship; the aforementioned painted Royal Doulton bowl that the children break in the midst of a heated argument becomes a colourful adventure blending live-action and hand-drawn 2D animation, where they will meet swirling bluebirds, cheerful livestock and a scheming wolf; and a visit to Topsy reveals a house that turns itself upside down every second Wednesday of the month. These flights of fancy will snap the children out of their despair, and motivate them to help their father find a way out of their predicament; most notably, to make a surprise visit to the office of the bank president William ‘Weatherall’ Wilkins (Firth), where they will overhear of his unkind manoeuvrings intended at ensuring that their family is eventually evicted.

The MacGuffin here is a certificate that proves Michael’s father had left them shares in the bank, which could very well be enough to repay the outstanding loan. Just as you’d expect, the said certificate remains frustratingly elusive right up till the very last minute, whereupon a climactic rush ensues to deliver it to Wilkins before Big Ben strikes midnight. As much as we think Mary would prefer to use her magic judiciously, we wonder why she doesn’t simply use her magic powers to get Michael to Wilkins’ office, instead of letting him cycle all the way from Cherry Lane to the bank and/or making Jack and his band of lamplighters risk their lives scaling the sides of Big Ben to buy Michael some extra time. And what about the last-minute appearance of Van Dyke’s elderly banker Mr. Dawes Jr., who shows up conveniently to save the day and demonstrate that he is still an able dancer at the ripe old age of 92?

To say that the narrative needs more work is an understatement, but it is evident that the overriding prerogative here is to bring on some good-old holiday cheer. It would have been quite impossible for composer Marc Shaiman and his co-lyricist Scott Whitman to top the Oscar-winning songs and score from the Sherman Brothers, and while they don’t, there are a couple of good numbers which Marshall turns into some infectiously fun sequences – in particular, ‘Trip A Little Light Fantastic’ sees the lamplighters engage in everything from acrobatic stunts to BMX bike tricks as they lead the children home through the fog, and ‘A Cover is Not the Book’ is a lively music-hall dance number performed on a stage made up of giant books. Amidst the jolliness though, the movie does hit a couple of poignant notes, especially with the lullaby ‘The Place Where Lost Things Go’ which Mary sings to the grieving children to tell them that their mother lives on in their memories.

That number shows how beautifully Blunt hits both the musical and emotional high notes, and it is a pity that the ceaseless stream of digressions, side trips and interludes keep us from getting to know Mary better. She is as much a mystery by the end of the film as she was at the start, to the extent that we’d say we don’t actually know enough about this version of Mary Poppins to make an informed comparison with that of Julie Andrews’ earlier rendition. Ironically, we know more about Jack and the torch he carries for Jane, which is also a validation for Miranda in his first major screen role. Whishaw is unfortunately side-lined for much of the movie, and we wish it had spent more time developing the relationship between Mary and Michael as a contrast to what it was when the latter was just a child. In place of depth though are some gratifying one-scene cameos, including that of Streep, Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury.

Some would argue that the world of Mary Poppins is just the kind of great Disney entertainment that we need in these troubled times, and indeed ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ does contain more than a spoonful of sugar to offer some delightfully transportive pleasures. Though arriving more than half a century later, this sequel deliberately chooses to trade in nostalgia, which explains why it is structurally and stylistically modelled after the 1964 original. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, especially if it’s a feeling of childlike whimsy and wonder that you’re after, but we’d be lying if we didn’t say that we wished that the movie had traded in some measure of familiarity with novelty. At least there is charm, if not magic, in the tale, and we suspect for those who loved ‘Mary Poppins’, that will be more than enough.

Movie Rating:

(Structurally and stylistically slavish to the 1964 classic, 'Mary Poppins Returns' casts a charming, but altogether familiar and not quite so magical, spell that still brings good old-fashioned cheer)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Rocky Soraya
Cast: Luna Maya, Christian Sugiono, Sara Wijayanto, Christian James, Jeremy Thomas
RunTime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: NC16 (Horror and Some Violence)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment & Cathay Cineplexes
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 27 September 2018

Synopsis: Maira is a children fashions designer who is married to a toy company owner, Aiden. As Maira lost her daughter, Airen designed Sabrina for his wife in memory of her daughter, Kayla. Vanya, Aiden’s niece and adopted daughter, has troubles getting over her parent’s misfortunes. In hopes to see her mother again, Vanya used the Charlie Charlie board to summon her mother but little did they know, the entity summoned is much more sinister, and lurks within the doll, Sabrina.

Movie Review:

Does the world need another movie featuring a possessed doll?

Apparently it does, according to the filmmakers behind this Indonesian production. One thing that the horror genre never gets tired of is a creepy doll. You will be feeling very uneasy if a whole shelf of creepy dolls stared at you. Those glassy eyeballs and expressionless faces are enough to give you nightmares for eternity.

The centre of attraction in this horror movie is the titular Sabrina, a doll made by a suave and successful man who also owns a toy company. He lives happily with his wife and their adopted daughter, who is also his niece. The young girl is still dealing with the loss of her birth mother, and she isn’t a happy kid. The child gets her hands on a game to summon her dead mother and all hell breaks loose. The doll in question? It has a sinister plan up its tailor made dress.

While Hollywoodhas been freaked out by Annabelle (who knew a spin off franchise from The Conjuring could make so much money?), Chucky (the original killer doll from the Child’s Play series) and some lesser known dolls from Dead Silence (2007) and The Boy (2016), it’s time Asia got its own version of the haunted plaything. Couple that with the ever ominous signature dark magic unique to this part of the world, and you get a money milking machine to draw audiences into the cinema.

Pardon our ignorance, but we did not know that this movie is an entry in producer director Rocky Soraya’s The Doll franchise. The entrepreneur and former textile exporter made The Doll in 2016 and The Doll 2 in 2017. This seems to be a case of Asian filmmakers following the business model of Hollywoodproductions. Considering the annual output from this series of movie, this has probably been quite lucrative.

But how does the horror flick fare? This reviewer watched the movie in a large theatre with only one other person, so the creepy impact was aptly delivered. Jump scares, loud music and plot twists are what fans of the horror genre are used to, and they are suitably incorporated into this 113 minute movie. Kudos to the makeup team for making the supernatural beings look so grotesque, and the art production team for making the doll look so sinister.

While we can’t say that the cast gave award winning performances, the camera loves the good looking actors enough to give them countless close ups. Luna Maya plays the good hearted woman who wants nothing more than acceptance from her husband’s niece. Christian Sugiono portrays the loving husband who wants nothing more than keeping his small family intact. Sara Wijayanto takes on the role of a poltergeist hunter aided by her spouse played by Jeremy Thomas.

And yes, there is the little girl whose main job in the movie is to talk to apparitions, look scared, scream and lug the scary doll around.

Like many mysteries we are unaware of in this world, there are quite a number existent in this movie. Why do human characters hide in dilapidated closets while trying to escape evil ghosts? Why do protagonists stand around for evil ghosts to finish their speech before running off? And perhaps, the greatest mystery of them all is why kids (and their unknowing parents) would want to lap up this hideously scary doll, causing sales to shoot rocket high? Keep that thing away from us at all costs!

Movie Rating:

(Delivering some decent scares, this serviceable Indonesian horror movie showcases yet another doll that is, ahem, obviously possessed)

Review by John Li

Genre: Crime/Thriller
Director: Lee Jong-suk
Cast: Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin, Kim Sang-ho, Kim Min-sang, Jang Young-nam, Lee Shi-ah
RunTime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 4 October 2018

Synopsis: An ace police crisis negotiator, Chae-yoon is called to the scene where her supervisor is taken hostage. Faced with the cold-blooded hostage taker, Tae-gu, she tirelessly tries to crack him down. Eventually, the shocking truth begins to unveil…

Movie Review:

The Negotiation is the latest thriller movie from the land of kimchi. It revolves around Inspector Ha Chae-yoon (played by Son Ye-Jin), a crisis negotiator from the Seoul Metropolitan Police. She’s an outstanding inspector, regarded highly of her negotiation skill and fluency in English, having her training received overseas. However, just when she wanted to quit altogether, she was named by a perpetrator, Min Tae-gu (played by Hyun Bin) to negotiate on behalf of the government.

The film opens with Chae-yoon trotting into the crisis scene in her plain clothes, establishing her character as being sassy and quick-witted. She got hold of the situation and proceeds to negotiate with the kidnappers who are taking hostage of civilians. But that surprised her superior as she was supposed to be off duty. Regardless, she made her way into the house to make direct contact with them to access the situation better. However, the scene turned ugly as the negotiations ‘failed’.

The opening scene probably didn’t make much sense at first, as it started off on a rather ‘bad’ note. However as the narrative progressed, it became clear why the opening scene was needed. The plot twist involved much uncovering of the authorities’ wrongdoings, and the complicated connection with arms dealer, Tae-gu. It’s probably not hard to guess what happened in between, but the overall storytelling was appropriate and nice paced, without too many cliches. 

In terms of the cast, both Hyun Bin and Son Ye-Jin were equally outstanding. They are probably familiar faces, even for people who don’t follow Korean dramas now. They acted in popular television series Summer Scent (2003) and My Name Is Kim Sam-soon (2005) respectively. Hyun Bin’s performance definitely matured over the years, and showed much depth in his character. His character is not just single dimensional, he displayed a lot more complexities in the character’s feelings and demeanor. On the other hand, Son Ye-Jin is a well composed inspector and passionate about bringing about righteousness. It was definitely a treat when these two came together. 

With an almost perfect cast and racy action, there’s almost nothing to criticise about the movie (well, not until you get bothered by the loopholes in the plot). The other pity would be trying to pull off multiple plot twists. It got a bit messier towards the end, but it did manage to recover with a mic-drop ending. 

The Negotiation is a refreshing watch from the typical Western type of thriller-suspense movies. There was a fair balance between in gearing up for the action and packing it with good acting. While the storyline may not be the most unique, the overall watch was good one-off.

Movie Rating:

(How can a thriller-suspense movie be melodramatic as well? Well you need to watch to find out)

Review by Tho Shu Ling

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Ari Sandel
Cast: Madison Iseman, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Caleel Harris, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ken Jeong, Jack Black
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: PG (Some Frightening Scenes)
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 18 October 2018

Synopsis: Halloween comes to life in a brand-new comedy adventure based on R.L. Stine’s 400-million-selling series of books.

Movie Review:

2015’s ‘Goosebumps’ kick-started Jack Black’s recent string of family-friendly live-action comedies (which counts subsequently last Christmas’s ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ and this fall’s ‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’), and if it wasn’t apparent just how much fun Black’s neuroticisms were, then this sequel which relegates his role as the reclusive author R.L. Stine to a mere cameo shows how much of an outsized presence he had played.

Less witty, less lively and less imaginative than its predecessor, this largely inferior follow-up is not without its share of jolts and giggles especially if you haven’t seen the first movie, but fans hoping for the same level of fun and thrills will probably come off disappointed.

Swapping the town of Madison, Delaware for the similarly little hamlet of Wardenclyffe, New York, the film sees a new group of kids taken in by the evil machinations of the ventriloquist dummy Slappy.

Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Sam (Caleel Harris) are our two middle-school outcasts who run a fledging junk-disposal business; while on their first day of business cleaning out an abandoned house, they come across the doll with the sinister game show host grin, and inadvertently bring him to life after reciting the incantation found in his pocket.

At first, Slappy seems to be a blessing in disguise – not only does he help Sonny and Sam teach the local bully a lesson, Slappy also makes Sonny’s hitherto unsuccessful science project work.

Yet Slappy’s true intentions are anything but noble. Using his magical powers, Slappy raises all manner of Halloween heck upon Wardenclyffe – among them, jack-o'-lanterns, plastic bats, gnomes, mummies, green lantern-headed witches, gummi bears, the headless horseman and a giant spider made entirely of purple balloons. 

Incoming director Ari Sandel shows relish in employing the artists within Sony Pictures Animation to anthropomorphise the array of creepy-crawly creatures, combining both computer-generated imagery and practical effects to conjure Halloween fun and mischief. As spectacle, it is impressive all right, but wears thin pretty quickly, with little beneath the visual trickery to sustain your interest.

If it isn’t yet obvious, the plot is paper-thin and of little consequence, most of which consists of Sonny, Sam and Sonny’s older sister Sarah (Madison Iseman) attempting to get rid of Slappy and then failing which, trying to stop Slappy from achieving his nefarious aims.

You’ll probably guess that Slappy’s plan has something to do with Sonny’s science project modelling wireless electricity transmission, seeing as how the movie cares to emphasise several shots of electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla’s statue in its opening shots. Similarly, you’ll be looking out for when Slappy comes for Sonny’s harried mum Kathy (Wendi McLendon-Covey), who won’t believe her children’s accounts of what is happening in their town until she sees it with her own eyes.

To be fair, writer Rob Lieber does give Slappy some occasionally devilishly witty lines that does recall Chucky from the ‘Child’s Play’ movies, albeit a less vulgar iteration in order that this be PG-rated. But aside from that, how much you enjoy the movie depends on how much you enjoy the visual chaos from watching a whole bunch of Halloween decorations come alive.

That more than anything else seems to be the raison d’etre of this kid-friendly comedy horror, even at the expense of reducing its human characters – including Black’s Stine and Ken Jeong’s Halloween-obsessed neighbour Mr Chu – to sideshows.

Without Black anchoring the mayhem this time round, ‘Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween’ is no better than your average Saturday morning live-action film, but if that’s the distraction you need, then bring the kids along for the ride.

Movie Rating:

(Unless watching all manner of Halloween heck come to life is your idea of 'treat', this sequel which finds original star Jack Black in no more than a cameo is mostly just visual 'trick')

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Martial-Arts/Period
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Deng Chao, Sun Li, Zheng Kai, Wang Qianyuan, Hu Jun, Wang Jingchun, Guan Xiaotong, Wu Lei
RunTime: 1 hr 56 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence)
Released By: Clover Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 11 October 2018

Synopsis: Pei is ruled by a wild, dangerous king (Zheng Kai). The king's military commander (Deng Chao) has fought bravely on the battlefield, but needs unique strategies to survive treachery in the king's court. He has cultivated a "shadow" (also played by Deng), a look-alike who can fool the king, as well as Pei's enemies, when deception proves necessary. Seeking final victory over a rival kingdom for control of the walled city of Jing, the king and the commander plot a secret attack. In training with his wife (Sun Li), the commander devises unconventional, lethal ways to use Pei's signature weapons and shields. The stage is set for an unprecedented battle.

Movie Review:

‘Shadow’ has been praised as Chinese auteur Zhang Yimou’s return to form after 2016’s spectacle-driven ‘The Great Wall’, and we completely agree. It isn’t so much that there is a film without spectacle – in fact, we would say that there is even more memorable visual spectacle here than there was in ‘The Great Wall’ – but rather that there is deep purpose, meaning and significance in ‘Shadow’ as well as every one of its gorgeously mounted shots, which makes this easily one of the best martial arts ‘wuxia’ pictures in recent time.

Whereas ‘Hero’ was awash in bold colours, Zhang drains the colour almost completely in ‘Shadow’, choosing instead a distinctly monochromatic palette comprising contrasting whites, blacks and greys. That artistic choice reverberates throughout the entire movie: the whites and blacks reflect the yin-yang duality which is the film’s recurring motif, while the infinite greys in between highlight the complexities within this intricate palace tale of power plays, dual identities and misplaced loyalties. Zhang has openly said that he was inspired by traditional Chinese ink-wash painting, and this is as close a cinematic equivalent as you could ever imagine.

Duality is woven into the story right from the start, which finds an elaborate scheme hatched by the Pei Kingdom’s cunning military commander Yu (Deng Chao) to take back the strategic city of Jingzhou. Weakened and ailing from a terrible wound that Jingzhou’s mighty spearsman General Yang (Hu Jun) had inflicted on him previously, Yu sends his doppelganger (also played by Deng) to arrange a rematch with Yang, and in the lead-up to that duel, practices with his so-called ‘shadow’ on a huge yin-yang diagram to train him to take on Yang.

But Yu’s motivations are necessarily suspect: Yu had deliberately not sought the King’s (Zheng Kai) blessings before sending his ‘shadow’ to challenge Yang, though he is proven right that the King would never have agreed to the plan when the latter is willing even to offer the hand of his sister (Guan Xiaohong) to Yang’s son in the hopes of establishing a truce. Not surprisingly, the King is unaware that Yu had employed a body double in his place, although he becomes suspicious when Yu’s ‘shadow’ finds various excuses to turn out his request to humour him with a duet on the zither with Yu’s wife Madam (Sun Li).

There is a lot going on in Zhang’s reimagining of a part of the ‘Three Kingdoms’ saga: there is hint of jealousy between Yu and his ‘shadow’, though some awkward moments that pass between Yu’s ‘shadow’ and Madam during their training sessions together shows Yu’s feelings may not be misplaced; there is a subplot involving Yu’s loyal deputy Captain Tian (Wang Qianyuan), who is disgusted by the King’s cowardice and is recruited by Yu for another crucial branch of his scheme to retake Jingzhou; and last but not least, there is the King himself, who is not quite so daft as not to realise that there is something fishy going on around the other power centres in his kingdom.

It takes about an hour for Zhang to put all its chess pieces on the board, which involves a fair amount of exposition, but even in these talky scenes, there is an air of genuine tension as the characters set themselves up against one another. Oh yes, we assure you that it never does get boring, and among one of the standout scenes is that which Madam shows Yu how to successfully counter Yang’s ‘masculine’ moves with delicate ‘feminine’ strokes using a traditional oil-paper umbrella, as a steady stream of rain falls from the roof of the cave within which Yu has made his hideout and designed his signature ‘yin-yang’ training ground.

But that is at best warm-up for the film’s piece de resistance, which comes just after the hour-mark, depicting the siege on Jingzhou city as Yu’s ‘shadow’ prepares to face off with Yang on a raised bamboo platform in a river gorge. The former first reveals the intriguing weapon of choice – an umbrella made out of semi-circular blades of iron, that can send these blades slicing through the air when twirled – which is also that which a detachment of prisoners-turned-soldiers led by Tian upturn to nestle themselves within and spin down the rain-swept main street of Jingzhou. If there was any doubt Yu wanted his ‘shadow’ to be more than just a decoy, that sequence puts these questions firmly to rest.

So singularly outstanding is this sequence that there is simply no way anything that comes after could have topped it, and thankfully neither Zhang or his action director Dee Dee tries; notwithstanding, the former gives the latter ample latitude to continue with the carnage wrought in that set-piece, as Yu, his ‘shadow’ and the King confront one another through a succession of bloody scenes from which no one escapes without a few major wounds. It is undeniably less exciting stuff, and at times guilty of being overly operatic, but necessary to bring the deception, duplicity and connivings of the last two acts to a satisfying close.

These flaws though do not diminish the accomplishments in Zhang’s beautifully mounted and philosophically fascinating period epic, which surely counts as his best film in recent time. If you enjoyed ‘Hero’ and ‘House of Flying Daggers’, you’ll surely enjoy the gorgeously choreographed sword duels here, not to mention the rest of the strikingly beautiful shots of the film’s almost bi-chrome visual universe. Credit goes too to Zhang’s production designer Ma Kwong-wing of elaborate interiors and rainswept exteriors, costume designer Chen Minzheng’s intricate robes and headgear, and composer Lao Zai’s (aka Loudboy) evocative classical score; oh yes, every element here is carefully calibrated like yin-and-yang, perfectly balanced against one another, so let yourself be swept away by this stunning work of art come to vivid life.

Movie Rating:

(The most visually gorgeous Chinese film you'll see this year, 'Shadow' packs a philosophical tale of deception, duplicity and authority in what is an unequivocal return to form for auteur Zhang Yimou)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Comedy
Director: Wu Yuhan
Cast: Huang Cailun , Allen Ai, Song Yang, Celina Jade
RunTime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: PG (Some Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 11 October 2018

Synopsis: Adopted from the stage show of the same name, Hello, Mrs. Money tells the story of Li Cha (Song Yang), a poor guy, and his billionaire auntie (Celina Jade). To win the heart of his beloved girl who likes money, Li Cha asks his billionaire aunt to help. Never met with his aunt before, Li Cha recognises a male employee, Huang Canghai (Huang Cailun), as his aunt by mistake. For their own benefits, Li Cha, Huang Canghai and Liang Jierui (Allen Ai) decide to pretend Li Cha’s aunt together, yet the “real aunt” shows up, bringing audience tons of hilarious moments……

Movie Review:

It’s got the twisted mishaps of Hangover, the misdemeanor of Ted, and just a touch of that Crazy Rich Asian OTT display - except all wrapped up and tied with a Mainland Chinese bow on top. Hello, Mrs Money is a non-stop madcap riot, milking each unfortunate scenario made by bad decisions. And given how tacky the trailer was, I was surprised that the movie worked.

This is definitely in part due to the cast, who through their overacting, still manage to eke out giggles from their charismatic portrayals. Newbie director Wu Yuhan managed to work through caricatures to elicit decent emotional  investment, so that the ending landed with enough punch. Brainy humour this is not, but flashes of wittiness surprise, and keeps the viewing enjoyable as the jokes shuttle rapidly through the gamut from toilet to slapstick.

The story is simple enough. Mrs. Money is really Monica (Celina Jade), a mysterious billionaire who is due to make a rare public appearance at a grand party for her nephew Li Cha (Song Yang), who needs her influence to win over his lover’s family. And a lot leverages on her appearance, because it turns out, everyone from the father-in-law to the brother-in-law, are on the verge of bankruptcy, and they are hoping an injection of Monica’s assets will revive their businesses.

But Monica is no frail, hapless old lady. She turns heads effortlessly in her pure white suit, and enjoys observing the world from a distance to investigate motives. So in this case, she calls to cancel her appearance, but disguises herself as the hotel staff to gauge the intentions of the new potential relatives.

On the island, her cancellation sets off a string of frantic reactions, ending in a hilarious episode where a dedicated employee Huang (Huang Cailun) is mistaken for the enigmatic heiress. You’ll really have to watch it to see how that happens. This leads Li Cha and his brother-in-law to continue the masquerade, resulting in equal amounts of squirming and laughing. It’s not too bad a mix really.

With all the colours, positioning, ensemble and circumstances, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought everything a little staged, because it was! But in this case, the transition didn’t feel too awkward, given how surreal the proceedings are going anyway.

While the characters like Huang, Li Cha and the father-in-laws come across crude at the first, but like the oddest dysfunctional family, they grow on you after some time. This is especially so for Huang’s impersonation of Monica. While hitting typical slapstick points at the start, the cross-dressing and voice-altering later strikes the funny bone hard, as Huang battles between the two characters in front of the entire family. I’ve never thought a phone vibration could bring a chuckle out of me.

And yes, even though the message of “money isn’t everything” has been done to death, the way it manifests itself in Hello, Mrs. Money still makes it enjoyable. Watch the end for a particularly clever shot.

Movie Rating:

(Cast aside technicalities and just enjoy the fun romp of zany antics, along with the pleasure of watching the fake Monica pull himself out of awkward situations)

Review by Morgan Awyong

SYNOPSIS: As his country prepares for war, top Egyptian official Ashraf Marwan makes contact with Israel and wades into a shadowy game of high-stakes espionage. 

MOVIE REVIEW:

There may not be any name actors headlining the true-life thriller ‘The Angel’, but don’t let that keep you away from one of the best espionage movies we’ve seen in recent time.

Based on the New York Times bestselling novel ‘The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel’, the film recounts the fascinating events surrounding the top Egyptian official Ashraf Marwan (Marwan Kenzari), who was both presidential aide to then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (Sasson Gabai) and a Mossad spy at the height of the infamous Yom Kippur War.

It was Ashraf who warned the Israelis of Egypt’s imminent invasion through the Sinai, but who also advised President Sadat to delay his invasion twice, thus saving both sides from worse bloodshed when the latter side eventually joined hands with Syria from October 6th to 25^th in the year 1973. But because his earlier warnings did not materialise, Ashraf was initially branded by some quarters of Israeli intelligence as ‘the boy who cried wolf’, and the fable itself is a recurring motif throughout the film.

As adapted by David Arata, we are introduced to Ashraf during Sadat’s predecessor President Nasser’s rule, where he was both junior aide in the Presidential Office and son-in-law to Nasser’s daughter. Yet his convictions that Egypt should ally itself with the United States than with Russia led him to be ostracised by Nasser, who not only ridiculed Ashraf in front of other government officials but also made clear his disapproval of Ashraf to his wife Mona (Maisa Abd Elhadi).

Following Nasser’s death, Ashraf warms himself to Sadat by providing evidence of corruption among several top government officials who used to be close to Nasser. But at the same time, Sadat’s insistence that he could not avoid going to war with Israel at some point in order to reclaim lost Arab territory deeply troubled Ashraf, who therefore decided to ‘cold call’ the Israeli government and offer his services. After a period of silence, Ashraf is contacted one evening at his home by the Mossad, setting the stage for a series of information exchanges centred on Egyptian military activities.

Naturally, Ashraf’s interactions with Israeli intelligence are the focus of the narrative, in particular with his handler Danny Ben Aroya (Toby Kebbell) and another more seasoned but more sceptical operative Judah Hornstein (Mickey Leon). Trust is the key dimension of their relationship here, not only as Ashraf finds himself tailed by Israeli agents who don’t seem convinced that he is genuine but also as his enemies whom he had put in prison begin to suspect that he might be working for the Israelis after all. That tension is well-sustained throughout the film by director Ariel Vromen, who keeps the focus trained largely on Ashraf as various parties tighten their noose around him.

By telling the story through Ashraf’s point of view, Vromen also highlights the cost of his clandestine activities on his marriage, particularly as he ‘disappears’ for official trips every now and then. It doesn’t help that one of the confidantes he turns to for assistance happens to be the attractive English actress Diana Davis (Hannah Ware), whom Mona suspects that Ashraf is having an affair with. If the emphasis on his crumbling marriage seems distracting at times, it is only towards the end that it becomes clear the intention is in fact to juxtapose the depth of his convictions to the inadvertent consequences of these choices, underscoring how fervently he must have believed his country was on the wrong side of history with the Soviets.

The movie very much rests on Kenzari’s shoulders, but his magnetic performance carries the film through and through. Kenzari sets Ashraf up as an enigmatic figure at the start, whose loyalties are murky at best, but over the course of the next two hours, slowly peels away the layers to reveal him as a patriot who had Egypt’s best long-term interests at heart. It is a somewhat controversial argument, given doubts to this day of who he was really working for, but we say the film is better off taking a position for the matter than leaving it open-ended.

So like we said, there may not be any big-name stars headlining ‘The Angel’, but this is easily one of the best original Netflix movies we’ve seen. Especially when many such stories tend to emulate the Bourne trilogy, it is admirable that there is a strong commitment to realism in the storytelling here, while keeping the proceedings tense and suspenseful. Those into period films will also surely appreciate the attention to detail on the 1970s locations including in London and Cairo, which add to the air of authenticity that makes the film even more impressive..

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Derrick Hao, Mak Ho-Pong
Cast: Athena Chu, Louis Cheung, Bob Cheung, Terry Zou, Li Fung
RunTime: 1 hr 27 mins
Rating: PG13 (Horror)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 18 October 2018

Synopsis: On New Year's Eve, Qingyi (Athena Chu) and her son, Dawa, were waiting for her husband to come home from work but he never showed up. Meanwhile, Dawa keeps seeing a stranger who is invisible to Qingyi. Leaving Dawa under the care of her neighbour, she heads to the village to find out her husband’s whrereabouts. Qingyi returns home and sees a stranger hiding in her house… Upon hearing about his mother’s death, Xinzhong (Louis Cheung) returns to his hometown. When he was handling issues regarding her death, a real estate agent appeared and asked Xinzhong to sell his mother’s mansion. Xinzhong must now find the property certificate to sell it. While finding it, strange things keep happening. Are these really just accidents, or was Qingyi warning her son?

Movie Review:

For a 46 year old, Athena Chu looks gorgeous. The Hong Kongactress is the object of fantasy for many guys. Before her charming performance in Jeffrey Lau’s Chinese Odyssey movies starring Stephen Chow, she had already gained popularity in showbiz by appearing in Wong Jing’s infamous Raped by an Angel franchise. Yup, she was known for being a sex goddess and taking on jobs which mainly required the actress to look pretty (affectionately known as “flower vase roles”).

Are things going to change with her involvement in this horror movie directed Derrick Hao and Mak Ho Pong? Unfortunately, we don’t think so.

Chu plays a woman whose husband dies in a worksite accident. The poor lady is left alone in a big mansion with her young son. It doesn’t take long before paranormal activities begin occurring, but to sustain the length of a feature film, the two of them continue living in the haunted house. Years pass and the son grows up to be an ambitious young man (played by the underrated Louis Cheung). After hearing news of his mother’s death, he returns to the mansion with his girlfriend and yup, strange things continue to happen.

This is the kind of movie that was clearly conceptualised to make some quick bucks from horror buffs at the box office. However, being a PG13 title, you probably know things are going to be quite watered down. The premise of the movie, while not particularly innovative, showed some promise initially. A loving widow who will do anything for her only son? Relatively touching, if you ask us. An unfilial son who wants to be disassociated with his mother because she is a vegetable seller in the village? You’ve got some nice drama brewing. A mother and son reunion that may end up in a blood bath? A nice horror flick is taking shape.

But alas, the 87 minute movie decides to take a turn in its last act to make this an emotional drama about parental love. Couple that with a ridiculously unwarranted plot twist and not only do you get disappointed fans who were hoping to be scared sh*tless, you also lose the viewers who appreciate a good screenplay.

The jump scares littered throughout the movie are obligatory and unoriginal. A TV that switches itself on, a tap that runs on its own, a mysterious force that strangles the protagonists, low toned murmurs that come on whenever the room goes dark. While these scare tactics are sometimes effective, they may barely satisfy the hard core fans of the horror genre.

Chueng (L Storm) does his best to play an uninspiring and unlikeable character (he has to put on a hideous wig at one point), while Chuputs in effort to emote (she has to put on hideous make up to play an old woman at one point). The actors who signed up for this movie probably know that it isn’t award winning material, but we are not sure whether they were aware that the final product borders on being a yawn fest.   

Movie Rating:

(Despite the occasional jump scares, this horror movie won’t please fans of the genre)

Review by John Li

Genre: Action
Director: Adrian Teh
Cast: Hairul Azreen, Ammar Alfian, Henley Hii, Taufiq Hanafi, Gambit Saifullah, Hafizul Kamal, Theebaan G, Jasmine Suraya Chin
RunTime: 1 hr 55 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 11 October 2018

Synopsis: Lieutenant Commander Arman Anwar is a Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) Special Force PASKAL Operative; One with an illustrious service history. Having lost Arman’s father to the same cause, his mother has always been bitter about Arman’s choices and predicament. In one of his dangerous mission, one of his teammate died and another one was dismissed. Just when Arman decided to ask for transfer he is needed for one last mission that would change his world forever.

Movie Review:

Count us mightily impressed by ‘Paskal The Movie’, named after the elite Royal Malaysian Navy unit known as Pasukan Khas Laut and inspired by real-life events that the special operations force was involved in. Largely avoiding the sort of heavy-handed flag-waving patriotism which such military films are oft guilty of, it showcases the tactical precision of these highly-trained team of soldiers, and depicts their courage, heroism and sacrifice in the line of duty. These are in plain and even remarkable display in the elaborate set-pieces which bookend the film, which not only represent a high water mark for Malaysian action cinema, but also are no less worthy of regard as that of much more lavishly budgeted Hollywood and even Chinese films.

Hard to believe that the director is Adrian Teh, whose filmography before this consisted of comedies like ‘The Wedding Diary’ and ‘King of Mahjong’, but Teh signals unequivocally that he is perfectly comfortable in action-movie territory, kicking off with a high-octane sequence on the high seas. From the point the crew of the cargo vessel Laurel 11 in the Gulf of Aden spot the Somalian pirates on radar approaching on three separate skiffs, Teh builds up methodically the sequence of events: the communication between Laurel 11 and the Royal Malaysian Navy ship Bunga Mas 5;  the emergency measures undertaken by the crew of the Laurel 11 to avoid being taken hostage; the seven-men Paskal team led by Arman Rahmat (Hairul Azreen) boarding Laurel 11 and taking out the pirates one by one; and last but not least, a brief hostage standoff that is over as quickly as it emerges.

As it turns out, Arman also happens to be the main character of the subsequent story, which establishes that he had followed his late father’s footsteps to join the Paskals, much to his mother’s chagrin, and after coming home to find his mother alone and passed out on the dining table, he decides to write to his commanding officer Marzan for a transfer. Marzan agrees to put in a word for Arman to be a trainer in Lumut henceforth, provided that Arman lead his men on one final mission to capture the notorious pirate Rudi at the Filipino Market in Kota Kinabalu. What was supposed to be a straightforward operation turns out anything but, when Arman spots his former Paskal team member Jeb (Ammar Alfian) in cahoots with Rudi, especially given Jeb’s knowledge of their protocols and SOPs.

Even before that fateful reunion, a series of flashbacks convey the backstory between Arman and Jeb, who were fellow Paskal trainees with another buddy Joshua (Henley Hii) and were chosen at the point of their graduation to undergo further training with the US Navy Seals. Together with the Chinese soldier Han (Hollywood veteran Tiger Chen Hu), Arman, Joshua and Jeb were deployed as UN peacekeepers in 2011; alas, a skirmish with some armed hostiles led to the impulsive and egoistic Jeb inadvertently causing Joshua’s death, and Jeb’s subsequent execution of one of the hostiles at point blank, which led Jeb to be given a dishonourable discharge. Still bitter and even less restrained than before, Jeb threatens to harm Joshua’s wife Lily (Jasmine Suraya Chin) and two-year-old son Joey unless Arman butts out from investigating him further.

Not surprisingly, that won’t be the last Arman crosses paths with Jeb; neither for that matter can Lily avoid getting into their crosshairs, culminating in a hostage situation at an offshore oil rig off the coast of Sabah where Lily works. To rescue Lily and the rest of the crew of the rig, two teams of Paskal men will launch a pre-dawn raid against the pirates. Among the notable scenes within the meticulously choreographed finale are an open shootout on the deck of the rig; another below deck along the narrow confines of a corridor; a booby-trapped room with multiple grenades connected to one another via taut wires attached to their firing pins; and last but not least, a mano-a-mano knife fight between Arman and Jeb on a narrow bridge atop the rig. That last half-hour is intense to say the very least, and certainly a noteworthy achievement for Teh and his crew in terms of design, planning and execution.

If it isn’t yet obvious, there isn’t much story or character development to speak of, both of which seem to be in service of the action. Oh yes, there are hardly any surprises in the narrative at all, or any sophistication in the delineation between hero and villain, so you can see right from the start where it’s all headed. Besides Arman and Jeb, there is little we learn about the rest of the supporting characters too, and we could certainly do more with the sort of scene where Arman goes out with Joshua and Lily to get her wedding ring that shows the brotherhood among the Paskal team members. That Arman and Jeb make much of an impression is in large part credit to Azreen and Alfian, who play their respective archetypes convincingly and charismatically.

But insofar as profiling the heretofore little-known Paskal, this movie certainly does these unsung heroes justice. Much has been said about the training which the actors went through to prepare for their roles in the movie, and that preparation definitely shows in both their physicality and agility. Teh’s emphasis on authenticity also pays off, such that one never feels at any point during the movie that the portrayals are inaccurate or less than realistic. Certainly, if one of his objectives is to raise the bar for action movies in Malaysia, Teh has accomplished it handily, beautifully and even outstandingly. The action is adrenaline-pumping all right, but well-choreographed, well-filmed and well-edited to ensure suspense, continuity and sheer thrill. As far as demonstrating the skill, grit and bravery of the Malaysian armed forces, it sure beats our ‘Ah Boys to Men’ hands down.

Movie Rating:

(An impressive display of courage, heroism and sacrifice of its titular elite special forces, 'Paskal The Movie' also sets a new high water mark for Malaysian action cinema)

Review by Gabriel Chong