Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: Kenji Tanigaki
Cast: Donnie Yen, Wong Jing, Niki Chow, Teresa Mo, Louis Cheung, Naoto Takenaka
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Drug References)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 23 January 2020
Synopsis: Fallon Zhu (Donnie Yen) is a Hong Kong police officer – an agile fighter with a high crime detection rate. Dumped by his fiancée Chloe (Niki Chow), Fallon was heartbroken and started indulging in food. In six months, he became 200+ pounds. His superior, Superintendent Huang, puts him in charge of escorting a convict to Japan. A series of mishaps befall him in Japan; not only did he lose all of his belongings; he also lost the convict in his custody. His luck overturned when he met Thor (Wong Jing), another Hong Kong citizen. The both of them join forces to solve the mystery behind Fallon’s convict’s strange and sudden death.
Movie Review:
If it is indeed true that ‘Ip Man 4: The Finale’ is Donnie Yen’s last Kungfu movie, then ‘Enter the Fat Dragon’ is as promising an entry into the action comedy genre as it gets. Like the classic 1978 Sammo Hung movie of the same name, it is an unabashed tribute to Bruce Lee and his martial arts, which should be apparent from its poster of Yen in Lee’s signature yellow jumpsuit while wielding the nunchaku; oh yes, if that isn’t clear, Yen’s overweight Hong Kong police officer Fallon Zhu openly references that classic Lee film, making no apologies for behaving like the legendary actor in front of the Japanese yakuza while taking them on in the heart of Tokyo.
Besides sharing the same title though, there is little to no similarity between Hung’s earlier movie and Yen’s latest. Whereas Hung was an apprentice pig farmer sent to the big city to help his family, Yen is a 200-plus pound officer who is sent by his good friend and colleague Shing (Louis Cheung) to escort a suspect back to Japan to stand trial for a traffic offence. While Hung’s farmer has to stand up against a gang of thugs causing trouble at the grocery stand where he works, Yen’s officer does so against the yakuza to whom Shing’s friend Thor (Wong Jing) and his lover Christina (Teresa Mo), who operates a Chinese hotpot restaurant in Kabuki-cho, owes money to.
In fact, the over-eager police officer Fallon Zhu is caught up in a lot more than that. The suspect of his assignment, an AV director named Yuji (Hiro Hayama), so happens to be a witness and possess evidence of mob boss Shimakura’s (Lawrence Chou) cocaine smuggling operation at Tsujiki Market, and after escaping from custody, is found beaten and dead in the Tokyo River. Refusing to simply let the case rest, Fallon takes it upon himself to investigate Yuji’s death, incurring not just the wrath of Shimakura’s gang but also that of his corrupt Japanese counterpart Inspector Endo (Naoto Takenaka). To make matters worse, his former fiancée/ actress Chloe (Niki Chow) becomes implicated in it too.
It isn’t surprising that Fallon will make things right both professionally and personally in the same stroke, ensuring that justice is served on Shimakura and patching things up with Chloe by the dramatic finale within the restaurant of and on the stairs of the Tokyo Tower. What is surprising is how beautifully it comes together not just plot-wise but also character-wise, thanks to a polished script co-written by Wong Jing, Philip Lui and Ronald Chan – oh yes, it isn’t just how the series of events leading to Fallon’s depressive binge eating, his encounters with Endo, Thor and Christina, and finally to Chloe’s involvement with Shimakura are plotted nicely, but also how Fallon goes from self-confidence to self-doubt to self-determination.
None of that is handled with a heavy hand; instead, Wong Jing, who co-directs the movie with Kenji Tanigaki, keeps the tone deftly balanced between comedy and drama. There are plenty of hilarious moments, such as how Fallon comments casually during their pre-breakup quarrel how the latter has only one acting expression, or how Fallon celebrates his birthday alone with a candle stuck on top of a polo bun, or how Yuji escapes with literally his pants down on the back of a truck, or how Thor gets high after stealing one of the cocaine-stuffed tuna at Tsujiki for sashimi. Oh yes, it is often laugh-out-loud funny, and Wong Jing does so without ever needing to resort to repetition or exaggeration.
Though ably assisted by supporting players such as Chow, Wong and Mo, the movie belongs through and through to Yen himself, who acts and fights through heavy facial prosthetics and fatsuit as you’ve never seen him done so before. Yen is absolutely and effortlessly endearing as the earnest but unlucky Fallon, who despite the setbacks he has to endure, is down but never out. Yen also brings a heretofore unseen playfulness to the role that is utterly infectious, and you’ll probably be restraining yourself from cheering out loud as he channels his inner Bruce Lee with the yakuza on the streets of and the rooftops over downtown Tokyo.
Speaking of action, Yen himself serves as action director, and together with his regular collaborator Tanigaki as choreographer, devises a couple of inventive sequences both comical and exciting. Among the highlights are a foot dash through the narrow alleys of Tsujiki, a rooftop cat-and-mouse chase in the Kabuki-cho, and an intense mano-a-mano fight between Fallon and Shimakura; in particular, the last, though admittedly indulgent, is deliberately designed to allow Fallon to go full Bruce Lee over his opponent. While brief, you’ll also certainly enjoy Yen’s spiritedness to spoof his own cop movies of the past, with iconic scenes from ‘SPL’ and ‘Flash Point’ re-enacted for some good nostalgic laughs.
Frankly, we’d never expected to enjoy ‘Enter the Fat Dragon’ as much as we did – for one, Wong Jing’s involvement is always cause for caution; and for another, Yen is new to the action comedy genre. And yet, their collaboration here is probably the most inspired you’ve seen from either of them in some time, with Wong regaining the comedic mojo he has arguably lost and Yen in one of his most surprisingly entertaining roles. Not only is it perfect to put you in a jolly mood for the Lunar New Year season, it is also simply one of the best examples of the genre. We’ll gladly enter the fat dragon with this comic ensemble any time of the year.
Movie Rating:
(Hilariously and infectiously entertaining, 'Enter the Fat Dragon' sees Wong Jing at his comedic best and Donnie Yen demonstrate a heretofore unseen flair for action comedy)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Mystery/Comedy
Director: Chen Sicheng
Cast: Wang Baoqiang, Liu Haoran, Tony Jaa, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Masami Nagasawa, Tadanobu Asano, Tomokazu Miura, Shang Yuxian, Wendy Zhang
Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment, Shaw Organisation, MCC International, Cathay Cineplexes
Official Website:
Opening Day: 13 February 2021
Synopsis: Following the excitement of first Bangkok and then New York, a big murder case takes place in Tokyo. Chinatown master detectives Tangren (Wang Baoqiang) and Qinfeng (Liu Haoren) are invited to take up the mystery. Adding to the excitement are the other detectives on the CRIMASTER international detective list as well as the current top rank, Q. Yet another hilarious battle of wits is set to take place...
Movie Review:
As with many titles that occur around the lunar new year, Chinatown Detective 3 is a film that is just going for the entertainment jugular. There’s sprawling chase scenes, enough costume changes for a Victoria Secret show, and the involvement of extras the size of a small country.
Not that it’s all bad. This third chapter brings detectives Tang Ren (Wang Baoqiang) and Qin Feng (Liu Haoran), who’s his nephew but really the lead, to Tokyo. It seems the crime lord Noda Hiroshi (Satoshi Tsumabuki) has been falsely accused of murder, but it’s all the more dire because the victim is leader to a Thai triad group.
This lends itself to a script that milks the two cultures for what it’s worth. We get sumo wrestlers and cosplay parades weaved in with moments of Thai appearances, such as the Detective Jack Jaa (Tony Jaa). Some will find enough appropriation in there to start a protest - not to mention Tang Ren’s overt bumpkin accent as a Chinese mainlander - but the audience isn’t really here to be offended, and so it all slides.
Like an extended ad for Japan’s tourism board, Chinatown Detective 3 is rife with scenes and locations from the country. From festival chariots and Mario karts, to an onsen encounter with the yakuza, you’ll be forgiven for forgetting about the story.
Chen Sicheng attempts to string the action-mystery plot together, and to give him credit, the pace is relentless. But sometimes the non-stop visual effect wizardry and OTT acting from his characters is more distracting than what it’s worth. Tang Ren and Jack are almost never really funny, and their slapstick tropes really push beyond their expiry dates.
Luckily, the boyish Qin Feng and frilly local Japanese detective relief us from the antics, and the district police chief portrayed by veteran Tadanobu Asano, is a joy to watch. His simmering performance gives the counter-weight to all the shenanigans the group gets into.
Also enjoyable are some side characters, such as the henchmen of Hiroshi. In perhaps one of the better scenes in the morgue, a giant switcheroo results in a fantastic sequence, helped by the commitment of the goons.
Within this story are sequences that are all about the gimmick. The camera work here moves non-stop, swirling and swooping to give us the feeling of being on a 2-hour rollercoaster ride. CGI comes in spades, sometimes disregarding script logic to just bring in a fancy idea. Again, it is fun to watch, giving visual pleasure if nothing else, but perhaps Chen should have focused more on his decent cast members and given them a better chance to shine, without zooming in and out of their eyeballs.
In the midst, the plot thickens of course, to include twists and surprises. It gets a little too convoluted at times, but again, we are here really not to sit down to a suspenseful expert whodunnit, but a vehicle for a China-made production to go big in scale and laughs. It’s impressive for sure, but it sometimes feels like a pomeranian - all hair, little dog.
Movie Rating:
(If you’re looking for mindless entertainment with plenty of scenic Japan icons, this is it. There’s decent material there, underneath all the fluff, but it often doesn’t surface enough)
Review by Morgan Awyong
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MORE TROLLS OF DIFFERENT MUSICAL VARIETY IN 'TROLLS WORLD TOUR'Posted on 23 Jun 2019 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Drug Use)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 27 February 2020
Synopsis: From writer/director Guy Ritchie comes THE GENTLEMEN, a star-studded sophisticated action comedy. THE GENTLEMEN follows American expat Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) who built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him (featuring an all-star ensemble cast including Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant).
Movie Review:
Before he was off making such blockbuster fare as ‘Sherlock Holmes’, ‘King Arthur’ and last summer’s ‘Aladdin’, Guy Ritchie was busy writing and directing scruffy gangster flicks studded with colorful characters played by name actors. His latest shows that Ritchie has not lost any of those sensibilities, parlaying them into a rowdy, rambunctious and sometimes rude crime caper that makes for a great deal of chatty and bloody fun.
Anchoring the ensemble is Matthew McConaughey’s American expat Mickey Pearson, the kingpin of a successful marijuana empire who grows and distributes his own product from out of shipping containers placed on the country estates of down-on-their-luck aristocrats. Now happily married to his own ‘Cockney Cleopatra’ (Michelle Dockery), Mickey is looking to retire early and sell his business to another Yank named Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong).
Not surprisingly, getting out isn’t quite so simple, and among the complications are a ‘Chinaman’ nicknamed Dry Eye (Henry Golding), a group of scrappy tracksuit-wearing rappers/ boxers as well as their well-mannered boxing coach (Colin Farrell), and a sleazy tabloid journalist named Fletcher (Hugh Grant). In fact, the entire story is framed as a lengthy encounter between Fletcher and Mickey’s right-hand man Ray (Charlie Hunnam), with the former threatening to divulge his knowledge of their operation in the form of a screenplay.
It is meta all right, and Ritchie, who co-wrote the movie, is clearly having fun espousing his love for 35-millimeter celluloid and taking jabs at Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Conversation’; in fact, the movie-within-a-movie conceit even culminates with Fletcher presenting his screenplay to a Harvey Weinstein-like mogul of Miramax. Ritchie is also visibly having a field day with his usual bag of storytelling tricks such as rewinds and alternative narrative splinters, with such personalities as a vengeful editor (Eddie Marsan) of a tabloid called The Daily Print, a Chinatown gang boss named Lord George (Tony Wu) and a Vietnamese thug named Phuc (Jason Wong).
In typical Ritchie fashion, the humour is intentionally incorrect – not only are there racist jokes (like how Phuc sounds like an English-language profanity) and homoerotic hijinks (like how Fletcher cannot resist putting his hands on Ray’s thighs), there is also a bit about an indiscretion committed towards a farmyard animal (which thankfully isn’t shown in any graphic detail). Oh yes, Ritchie doesn’t care about your delicate sensibilities, but those who lap up his Cockney style will certainly enjoy the brash filmmaking on display.
There are also the performances to revel in, including an absolutely debonair McConaughey, a charmingly straight-laced Hunnam, a suitably brassy Golding, a hilariously indisposed Farrell and a pleasurably sleazy Grant. Each of the cast members have been specifically chosen for their respective parts, and every one plays their role to the hilt; if we had one gripe, it is that the only substantive female role here is that of Mickey’s wife, and even then it is admittedly still a minor character in the larger scheme of things.
Even though he’s moved into the blockbuster league, ‘The Gentlemen’ finds Ritchie clearly relishing the return to familiar ground. It is a throwback all right, a return to the sort of genre fare that made his name in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and one that fans of his garrulous gangster pictures like ‘Snatch’ and ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ will gleefully embrace. It doesn’t hurt of course that he has such a game cast willing to act naughty, talk dirty and shoot first, and as long as you’re in the mood for some foul-mouthed fun, we’re confident you’ll enjoy being in the company of these crooks.
Movie Rating:
(As foul, fun and fascinating as his earlier Brit gangster pictures, 'The Gentlemen' is a delightful return to familiar ground for Guy Ritchie)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: VICE explores the epic story about how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as Vice-President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Vice is Adam McKay’s follow-up to hissatire comedy hit, The Big Short. Comparison is inevitable though one deals with politics and the latter about the financial crisis of 2007. Employing the same formula and filled with tongue-in-cheek humour, Vice is unfortunately more of a dud than fun and the efforts of Christian Bale is thoroughly wasted in the leading role.
No stranger to shrinking his weight for his onscreen roles, Bale added 40 pounds to his frame in Viceto play former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney instead. The story written by McKay himself takes a scattershot look at the life and career of Cheney and most important of all, how he rises to become the most influential Vice-President in American history.
It’s not a prerequisite to possess knowledge of Dick Cheney as knowing McKay, he has no interest to showcase a serious biography about the character either. Vice is basically a series of brief sketches being stitched into a two hours feature. The movie even had a fake ending with crawling credits at the halfway mark. You got to admit though that’s a pretty funny move.
As painted by McKay, Dick Cheney comes across on the whole as a thoroughly boring and uncharismatic man. From working under then economic adviser Donald Rumsfled to running to be a representative for Wyoming to a running mate alongside George W. Bush, Cheney is more of a man that has hidden agendas, ambitions of his own rather than a passionate leader who cares for his country and fellow citizens.
Well, it could also be a one-sided political assassination attempt by McKay or just a purely silly fictional plot about a famous political figure. Either way it never makes for a satisfying watch. The list of cast members assembled however is godsend. Bale of course is amazing as Cheney so is Amy Adams as Lynn Cheney. Steve Carell convincingly stars as Rumsfled, Sam Rockwell without being over the top is solid as Bush and Tyler Perry is compelling as 4-star General Colin Powell. It’s really a waste that a supposedly edgy witty movie is mostly a drag to sit through.
In the end, we are hoping McKay is already working on his Donald Trump biography. That ought to be better.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD comes with a The Making of Vice which clocked at a whopping 35 minutes, The Music of Power is a deleted musical sequence, 17 minutes of Deleted Scenes and a Gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual looks aged and cheesy at points probably intended by the filmmakers. Otherwise it’s a fine viewing experience. Dialogue is heavy for this title and the Dolby Digital 5.1 is more than sufficient.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Derek Tsang
Cast: Zhou Dongyu, Jackson Yee, Yin Fang, Huang Jue, Zhou Ye, Zhang Yifan
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 November 2019
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Nian is the subject of cruel bullying at high school when she meets Bei, a tough street kid. The two teenagers find a kindred spirit in each other that gradually rises above love, forming a world of their own. But the cocoon is crushed when they are being dragged into a teenage girl murder case as prime suspects. An emotional roller coaster that is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, the China coming-of-age movie offers thought-provoking insights into the intense competition faced by nearly 10 million teenagers every year who sit for the National College Entrance Examination and national issues of school bullying. If you are one amongst 10 million to secure a promising future with a topnotch college passport, would you kill to do it?
Movie Review:
Most coming of age movies make you feel good at the end of the film. This one definitely doesn’t. The heavy handed approach to tell a story may not go down well with everyone, but that doesn’t mean the filmmakers of this drama doesn’t have an important message to deliver. Instead, the social message is so timely, we are hoping that this can be screened for in schools for educators and students to have a better understanding of the social issue.
The film sets the tone from the start by telling you the seriousness of bullying. The film’s protagonist is Chen Nian (played perfectly by Zhou Dongyu), a high school student who is becoming increasingly stressed by the upcoming ‘gaokao’, an annual academic examination in China that is a prerequisite for entrance into higher education institutions at the undergraduate level. Things become worse with her desk mate’s sudden suicide, which greatly traumatises the poor girl. She is then subjected to bullying by her classmates, especially from a trio of popular girls who do very unkind things to her.
If you think this is going to be funny like Mean Girls, wait till you see how cruel the bullies can get.
Chen Nian then crosses paths with Xiao Bei (played with gusto by Jackson Yee), a street smart dude who commits petty crimes, and the two form an unlikely bond that sees him becoming her protector and boyfriend. She moves into his run down apartment, tries to concentrate on preparing for the important test and dreams of having a better life once she gets enrolled into a prestigious university.
The film changes tone in the second half and becomes a murder mystery when one of the bullies is found dead at a construction site. Things become more dramatic and you are left guessing who committed the murder, and the intentions behind the act.
After helming the critically acclaimed Soul Mate (2016) which also stars Zhou, Derek Tseng returns with this second film which explores a social issue without sugar coating anything. Presented in an artistically edgy style, the dark allies and underbellies of Chen Nian and Xiao Bei’s world are places you don’t want to venture into. The grittiness of the film may not go down well with mainstream audiences who prefer this genre of movies which are brimming with positive energy.
Stretching over two hours, the 136 minute film may not be a piece of work that is easy to sit through. However, it provokes the audience into pondering about the severity of social issues, and whether there is anything we can do about it. Zhou and Yee’s intense performances will keep you constantly engaged, as you wonder how one can go through such painfully romantic teenage years.
After blocking the film from the 2019 Berlinale and subsequently preventing a late June theatrical release, Chinahas finally greenlit the film in late October. No official details were shared publicly, but we are guessing that the problems explored in the film are so real, the authorities had some problems showing them to the world. The film now ends with a series of messages about what has been done to address bullying, and we hope the measures are really put in place to deter these terrible acts.
Movie Rating:
(A dark but important coming-of-age story that is anything but feel-good)
Review by John Li
It’s been a long, long time since we put a soundtrack on repeat. Thanks to this album, we are loving how music plays a crucial role in movies again.
Titled after John’s 1972 tune “Rocketman”, the movie chronicles the Elton John’s early days as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music, his addiction to alcohol, sex and drugs, as well as how he stepped out of the darkness to become the well-loved celebrity he is.
And the soundtrack does a brilliant job of telling the story by documenting John’s career highs and lows through some of the legend’s most beloved tunes. What’s even more amazing is that Taron Egerton, who plays John in the film, croons the songs himself,
Is that more impressive than a lip synching Rami Malek who plays Freddie Mercury and won an Oscar? You decide.
Kicking off the 72 minute album is “The Bitch Is Back”, an apt opening that is given a Broadway treatment. Through the following tracks “I Want Love”, “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting” and “Thank You For All Your Loving”, we hear how a young boy is yearning for his parents’ love. The film’s supporting cast Sebastian Rich, Kit Connor, Gemma Jones and Bryce Dallas Howard lend their vocals to the songs as well.
The album truly takes off with “Your Song”, a lovely ballad that may bring tears to your eyes. Even if you do not know John’s repertoire inside out, you would have heard songs like “Crocodile Rock”, “Tiny Dancer” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (regardless of whether they were covers or originals performed by the musician himself).
If you have watched the film, songs like “Rocket Man”, "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" and “Goodbye Yellow Road” (Jamie Bell delivers an affecting performance here) are melancholic tunes that will tug at your heartstrings. Tagerton, who voiced Johnny the Gorilla in the animated movie Sing (2016), had performed “I’m Still Standing” in that movie’s finale, something which he also does in this film. A nice touch, we say.
John sings a duet with Egerton on “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”, a song written specially for the movie. It is heartening John himself has shown strong support for this film, and has praised actor Egerton’s singing on the soundtrack. It truly gives this album extraordinary listening experience.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (7) Your Song
Review by John Li
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'FROZEN II' FINDS ELSA ON A QUEST TO SAVE HER KINGDOMPosted on 12 Jun 2019 |
SYNOPSIS: In this thrilling Western, a young boy, Rio (Jake Schur), is forced to go on the run across the American Southwest in a desperate attempt to save his sister (Leila George) from his villainous uncle (Chris Pratt). Along the way, he encounters Sheriff Pat Garrett (Ethan Hawke), on the hunt for the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid (Dane DeHaan). Rio finds himself increasingly entwined in the lives of these two legendary figures as the cat and mouse game of Billy the Kid’s final year of life plays out. Ultimately Rio is forced to choose which type of man he is going to become, the outlaw or the man of valor, and will use this self-realization in a final act to save his family.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Instead of making another Western about the infamous outlaw, Billy the Kid, director and co-writer Vincent D’Onofrio (Netflix’s Daredevil, Jurassic World) crafted a slow-pacing story about truth and respect largely told through the eyes of a 14-year-old kid, Rio (newcomer Jake Schur) who is on the run after killing his abusive father.
On the way to the home of his mother’s friend, Rio stumbles upon the hideout of Billy the Kid (Dane DeHaan) and his gang.Lured by the charismatic Billy, Rio looks up to him as if he is his surrogate brother not knowing that Billy is actually manipulating the young man. At the same time, Billy is captured by the sheriff of Lincoln County, Pat Garret (Ethan Hawke). Rio soon finds himself trapped inbetween the good and the bad and he must make the final decision of sticking with the correct side at the end of the day.
The Kid feels more like a coming-of-age drama rather than a gritty Western as the screenplay struggles with its characterization and narrative. Simply put, it’s a Western that talks too much and too little on the gunplay. The promising prologue and subsequent proceedings established several interesting characters and motive but clearly, none of the setup actually kicks into high gear by the time the movie hits the one hour plus mark.
The standout factor is the casting of Chris Pratt, yes Star Lord who plays the sadistic uncle of Rio. Almost unrecognizable with lots of facial hair, Pratt is genuinely creepy as he joins his The Magnificent Seven co-stars though it’s kind of a pity that his role is reduced to an extended cameo. Hawke and DeHaan provides most of the scenery-chewing and Schur is a potentially a solid young actor to look out for.
Even with D’Onofrio’s best attempt not to tell a generic, formulaic Western, The Kid takes itself too seriously to be truly entertaining despite a high level of testosterone level. Technicalities are impressive and that applies to the entire cast performance as well but ultimately it’s an unmemorable Western.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Making The Kid is a brief 9 minutes making-of feature
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The DVD provides a serviceable Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which features solid audio, ambient and gunfiring effects. Visual quality is commendable for a DVD although certain low light situations are on the weak side.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: CG Animation
Director: Thurop Van Orman
Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Danny McBride, Peter Dinklage
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 5 September 2019
Synopsis: A hilarious all-star cast of new and returning talent are brought together as the flightless birds and scheming green pigs take their beef to the next level.
Movie Review:
The video game may no longer be as popular as it used to be at the start of this decade, but ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ proves that the brand can still live on in feature-length animation form. Like the first movie, the sequel is yet another riotous, often frenetic, exercise in slapstick silliness, but even more than the first movie, its non-stop barrage of jokes hit the comedic bulls-eye.
The threat is no longer green porcine, egg-stealing invaders; instead, our titular flightless protagonists, as well as their former worst enemies, find themselves staring at a new threat from a third island. On this frosty volcano named Eagle Island, a brilliant but embittered eagle named Zeta (voiced by Leslie Jones) has invented a powerful cannon to shoot massive balls of ice at both Bird and Piggy Islands. The motive? Because she is tired of living on a frozen island and would like a tropical vacation.
You can probably imagine that it will take a while before our irritable but insecure hero Red (Jason Sudeikis) can accept a truce with the leader of the pigs, Leonard (Bill Hader), in order for them to work together. In fact, mission success doesn’t rest with the two of them alone, but rather with how well they can work together with the rest of their team, assembled ‘Ocean’s Eleven’-style, that includes the speed demon Chuck (Josh Gad), the explosives expert Bomb (Danny McBride), and the plucky engineer Silver (Rachel Bloom).
Red doesn’t take too well to teamwork – not only does he cling on to his status as the saviour of Bird Island like a security blanket for his underlying sense of worth, he has been acting on his own volition all this while, and cannot quite defer to someone who could be more qualified than he is; that someone, in this case, so happens to be Silver, whose mathematical problem-solving abilities quickly establishes her as the brains of the outfit. But as much as Red may dislike Silver, it isn’t hard to guess that the pair will become lovebirds by the time they manage to save the day.
It is no spoiler that they eventually do; what makes the inevitable worthwhile is the journey packed with madcap set-pieces, puns and needle-drops. The highlights include an utterly hilarious sequence of bathroom hijinks when the group tries to steal an eagle’s ID card at a urinal while disguised in a rickety eagle costume; a random breakdance battle to the tune of ‘Axel F’ between the group still in disguise and the rest of the guards, that ends with the latter grooving to ‘Baby Shark’; and a whole subplot with whales, a boa constrictor and even outer space as a trio of baby-talking hatchlings try to retrieve three of their runaway unhatched siblings.
With full credit to director Thurup Van Orman, who is making his leap to directing after lots of success in TV, there is plenty of wacky fun to be had, even if you can tell the humour (scripted by Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell and Jonathan E. Stewart) is at times go-for-broke. To be sure, it isn’t just the kids who will be entertained; in fact, there are puns like ‘Crazy Rich Avians’, nods to everything from ‘Back to the Future’ to ‘Dawson’s Creek’, and needle-drops like David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ that will keep the adults engaged and entertained.
That the source material is a game whose object was to launch small round birds at green pigs using slingshots proves how far the filmmakers have come in terms of their character design and world-building. Thanks to the exemplary voice cast too, including the likes of Tiffany Haddish and Awkwafina in trusty sidekick roles, the jokes are delivered spot-on with cheek and verve. It is exuberant all right, and even cuckoo-crazy from time to time, but the outrageousness is all part of the fun which ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ aims and often delivers with aplomb. Forget logic, physics and most of all restraint, and you’ll find yourself laughing loud and silly.
Movie Rating:
(As ridiculous as it is wild and wacky, this fast and frenetically-paced sequel is a riotous flight of manic set-pieces, lovable puns and appealing needle-drops)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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