Genre: CG Animation
Director: Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck
Cast: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 November 2019
Synopsis: Why was Elsa born with magical powers? The answer is calling her and threatening her kingdom. Together with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, she’ll set out on a dangerous but remarkable journey. In Frozen, Elsa feared her powers were too much for the world. In Frozen 2, she must hope they are enough.
Movie Review:
This is a true story. Whenever this reviewer’s friend hears her kids singing “Let It Go” in the house, she will ask them to go to their room, close the door and croon their hearts out so she can finish her chores in peace. Such is the power of the catchy anthem from Disney’s 2013 hit. And we aren’t even talking about the profit earned from merchandising (“I want an Elsa doll!”) and home entertainment (“I want to put the Let It Go scene on repeat!”).
So, why wouldn’t the House of Mouse churn out a second movie to leverage the popularity? Dread it, run from it – the sequel still arrives. We are happy to report that this instalment is better than the last.
Without giving away too much (we are assuming you don’t need much introduction to the recurring characters), the story takes place years after the first movie, and Elsa is hearing a strange sound from the north calling her. Together with Anna (the sister), Kristoff (the dude), Olaf (the snowman) and Sven (the reindeer), they take a journey beyond Arendelle to discover the origin of Elsa's magical powers. Oh, they also need to save their kingdom from impending doom.
Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad return to voice their characters, while new ones are voiced by Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood and Martha Plimpton. While these new personalities do not leave as much of an impression as the ones we are already familiar with, they help to add some depth to the story. There is the loyal lieutenant who is trapped in the enchanted forest with his army of soldiers, the queen who has a royal secret not known to her daughters, and the wise leader of an ancient tribe.
What is notable about this 103 minute animated film is that it explores a philosophical theme that involves elements of nature, and the link between them. Parents need not worry that their young ones will be lost in the story, because there are still kid friendly aspects that will tickle their senses. Yup, Olaf may be an irritating character to adults, but he will always be able to make children laugh with his silly antics.
The animation is beyond gorgeous, and you will feel that there is so much to embrace in nature – we can only imagine how captivating it would be to watch the film on an
For older viewers, this is a sequel that outdoes the original with its bolder themes. For the young ones, there is enough humour to retain their attention. For everyone else, there are awe inspiring visuals for the senses and catchy tunes to sing along to.
Movie Rating:
(Let the first movie go, and embrace this beautiful sequel that is an epic feat)
Review by John Li
Genre: Comedy
Director: Gene Stupnitsky
Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Molly Gordon, Lil Rel Howery, Will Forte
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Sexual References and Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: https://www.goodboysmovie.com
Opening Day: 12 September 2019
Synopsis: Just how bad can one day get? The creative minds behind Superbad , Pineapple Express and Sausage Party take on sixth grade hard in the outrageous comedy, Good Boys . After being invited to his first kissing party, 12 - year - old Max ( Room ’ s Jacob Tremblay) is panicking because he doesn’t know how to kiss. Eager for some pointers, Max and his best friends Thor (Brady Noon, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire ) and Luc as (Keith L. Williams, Fox’s The Last Man On Earth ) decide to use Max’s dad’s drone – which Max is forbidden to touch – to spy (they think) on a teenage couple ma king out next door. But when things go ridiculously wrong, the drone is destroyed. Desperate to replace it before Max’s dad (Will Forte , The Last Man on Earth ) gets home, the boys skip school and set off on an odyssey of epically bad decisions involving some accidentally stol en drugs, frat - house paintball , and running from both the cops and terrifying teenage girls ( Life of the Party ’s Molly Gordon and Ocean’s Eight’s Midori Francis).
Movie Review:
Seeing as how the teenage coming-of-age movie has been just about done to death by Hollywood, the reigning kings of the genre (by this, we mean producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) have slyly taken the same formula and applied it to tweens. Oh yes, the lead characters here are a trio of sixth-graders – Max (Jacob Tremblay), Lucas (Keith L. Williams) and Thor (Brady Noon) – who call themselves ‘the Beanbag Boys’, and are too young and innocent to differentiate a sex doll from a CPR doll, or say what a nymphomaniac means (“someone who has sex on land and sea,” one of them says).
As conceived by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, the writing team best known for its episodes of ‘The Office’, ‘Good Boys’ follows the misadventures of these 12-year-old boys desperate to learn how to kiss properly before they attend a ‘kissing party’ hosted by the school’s resident cool kid (Izaac Wang). Besides googling ‘porn’ and practising on the (ahem) aforementioned doll, they decide to use Max’s father’s drone to spy on his next-door teenage neighbours Hannah (Molly Gordon) and Lily (Midori Francis). Unfortunately for them, both girls decide to turn the tables on their snoopers, leading to a string of hijinks to retrieve and replace the drone.
These hijinks allow first-time director Stupnitsky to unleash a bunch of spontaneous gags and choreographed set pieces. The gags range from mistaking a bunch of sex toys for weapons, an encounter with an exhausted local cop (Sam Richardson) at a convenience store while trying to steal beer, and a running joke involving some stolen molly (read: MDMA) disguised in a kids’ vitamin pill bottle which the kids somehow just cannot pry open the childproof cap of; and the more elaborate set pieces include a harrowing freeway dash to get to the local mall, as well as an unexpected battle with some frat boys whom they attempt to buy some molly from.
To be sure, because of the age of these characters, you can sense the writers have held back the raunch just so they do not cross the line into morally questionable territory (as opposed to say how the bets would be off if the kids were 14 and adolescents). Because it is clearly calibrated, the humour is somehow less laugh-out-loud amusing than we had expected; in fact, we would even say that besides a couple of chuckles, the rest of the movie will probably just inspire a smile or two, and much really depends on the extent to which you identify with the struggles of these boys who are navigating the perils of pre-pubescence.
Than being a gross-out comedy, where Stupnitsky succeeds is in portraying their age-appropriate troubles. Max is on one hand obsessed with getting his first kiss with the girl of his dreams right at the ‘kissing party’, and on the other worried that his dad will come home from his work trip to find out that the work drone he had specifically asked Max not to touch is missing. Lucas doesn’t quite know how to deal yet with his parents’ announcement that they are divorcing, notwithstanding that they have reassured him he will get to enjoy pizza nights twice a week. And last but not least, Thor is worried about his image at school, having being labelled ‘sippy cup’ after chickening out from drinking a bottle of beer during an earlier dare.
And over and above their own individual worries, Stupnitsky makes them confront their inevitable drifting apart as they grow up, such that after the day’s shenanigans are over, we get a whole coda at the end showing how they have each gone their own ways and yet miss each other’s company at the same time. It’s a bittersweet ending all right, but unmistakably just as important to what Stupnitsky had wanted his audience to take away as the jokes that had come before it. Thanks to the loopy charm of his three young stars, that mix of sweetness, crassness and heartfelt-ness manages to be sufficiently winning.
Like we said, ‘Good Boys’ probably isn’t as hilarious as you think it would be – and the fact that the less than tightly constructed plot is really intended as scaffolding for the gags and set pieces doesn’t help – but there is still plenty of heart to be found in this movie which grounds itself in believable characters who are recognisably kids we all know. In case you’re wondering, it does thread on a fine line between funny and offensive, and for the most part, Stupnitsky displays enough sensitivity to come out the former than the latter. It’s a pre-teen raunchy comedy at the end of the day, and if the title is any indication, it’s good (not great).
Movie Rating:
(Not quite gross-out funny, and mixed with bittersweet emotion, this pre-teen coming-of-age sex comedy delivers the chuckles, though not quite the guffaws)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Director: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver , Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels , Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong’o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Kelly Marie Tran, with Ian McDiarmid and Billy Dee William
Runtime: 2 hrs 22 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website: http://www.starwars.com
Opening Day: 19 December 2019
Synopsis: Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams join forces once again t o take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the seminal Skywalker saga, where new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.
Movie Review:
42 years is a long time for any franchise, even with nine films, but that is what ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ represents, i.e. the culmination of the Skywalker saga in the Star Wars canon since George Lucas created one of the most defining elements in contemporary pop culture. Had it not been for the countless legions of loyal fans over the years, we would probably not be witnessing a blockbuster event like this now; and we say this because it therefore makes perfect sense that director JJ Abrams and his co-writer Chris Terrio would aim to give the fans a satisfyingly rousing finale with this episode, even to the extent of course-correcting where ‘The Last Jedi’ had gone.
Indeed, it should not be a secret that the last instalment was disliked by a good number of fans for being out of step with the spirit and form of the series, no matter the bold choices which its writer-director Rian Johnson had decided to take. It is inevitable, if you belong in that demographic, to feel vindicated by the narrative choices which Abrams has taken here; but while it may seem as if you’d have to love either movie and not both, we’d say that we’d liked ‘The Last Jedi’ for its ambition, and enjoyed this latest that, while staying in familiar territory as the earlier two trilogies, is undoubtedly a thoroughly entertaining popcorn flick.
If you’ve seen the trailers, it should come as no spoiler that Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) has returned; in fact, the signature opening crawl establishes that he has assembled a vast fleet of warships, each with his own planet-wiping cannon, to kill Rey (Daisy Ridley) and wipe out the Resistance. Palpatine recruits the leader of the First Order, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), to lead the advance, and together with General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Allegiant General Pryde (Richard E Grant), Kylo begins a cat-and-mouse game with the key members of the Resistance – namely, Rey, Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Chewie (Joonas Suotamo) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) – who are themselves hunting for Palpatine.
Without giving much more away, let’s just say that Kylo and Rey remain locked in a psychological battle-of-wits which, as we’ve seen in ‘The Last Jedi’, plays out both literally and figuratively. Oh yes, if there is something which Abrams has preserved from the last movie, it is how the yin-yang pair manage to not just communicate telepathically but also engage in light-sabre battles remotely. Kylo’s relentless pursuit to lure Rey over to the Dark Side is related to Rey’s own origins (whose revelation fans will be pleased with) as well as his own grand ambition, but their push-pull dynamic is easily the most emotionally compelling aspect of this movie.
It should therefore be no surprise that their duels are the highlights of the non-stop action here – in particular, that which you is teased in the trailers atop the ruins of the Death Star is probably the most thrilling set-piece; not only is the mise en scène visually breath-taking, the sheer commitment of both Ridley and Driver to their respective roles makes the stakes even more keenly felt. And while we’re on the action, we might add that Abrams keeps it going at light speed, putting his characters through one breathless chase after another.
That it doesn’t feel exhausting throughout the two-and-a-quarter hours is credit to Abrams, who stages the action with thrilling aplomb, be it ‘light-skipping’ from planet to planet, or evading Storm Troopers with jet packs in the desert, or even launching a ground offensive atop a Dreadnaught. It does however require more than one MacGuffin to say the very least, especially in the first hour when the object of interest is a certain glass tetrahedron, but the pacing moves at such a brisk clip that you’d quite surely be caught up in the momentum.
In between the scramble are plenty of fan-service moments, including the (brief) re-appearances of Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and General Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams). General Leia Organo (Carrie Fisher) also plays a more significant role here than we’d had expected, and given how her appearance is possible due to both technology and recycling unused footage from the previous two movies, is no less than ingenious. Even if some of the other tributes aren’t as elegant, you’d still feel sentimental seeing the entire legion of memorable ‘Star Wars’ characters in this concluding send-off.
To fans who disagreed with the direction which Johnson took in ‘The Last Jedi’, ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ will surely feel like a vindication. Like we’ve said, we’re prepared to embrace both, and in the case of the latter, to recognise and embrace that it is intended to be a rousing final chapter that fans can feel proud of. Despite its flaws, Abrams is nothing if not professional, and there is pure euphoric energy in this fast-paced, eventful and occasionally even surprising entry. As long as you’re prepared for this to be a familiar but nonetheless exhilarating retread, you’ll enjoy this last hurrah for everything it tries to do and ultimately gets right.
Movie Rating:
(As satisfying a send-off as fans would have wanted, 'The Rise of Skywalker' is a familiar but nonetheless exhilarating retread of the best that the 'Star Wars' franchise had stood for)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Deng Chao, Yu Baimei
Cast: Deng Chao, Ren Suxi, Sun Xilun, Bai Yu, Li Jianyi, Shao Bing
Runtime: 2 hrs 27 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 25 July 2019
Synopsis: In the vast space, an astronaut has suddenly lost contact with the mission control center. In the darkest hour of his life, he recalls the lessons taught by his father... Filled with love and affection, warmth and wonder, tears and joy; this is a penetrating and artistic depiction of familial bond, underscored by a set of life value messages.
Movie Review:
There’s no punches pulled here - Looking Up is a China-made film, replete with pride-stirring messages that can be seen as gentle nostalgia or shameless propaganda. If you can set that all aside, there’s a couple of universal themes here at play which might be of more interest.
Ma Fei (Bai Yu) is one of the two astronauts that China has sent to space. The boyishly handsome captain beams with pride, only to turn misty-eyed when asked about his missing family during the press conference. As he takes off into space, muttering about bows and arrows, we are treated to an aged figure staring at the spacecraft. This is, of course, Ma Haowen (Deng Chao), his father.
Cue the throwback.
We see a younger Haowen taking up the Olympic Baton before a grand bridge. Pausing in front of the structure he designed, the famed architect grabs his son out from a celebratory performance and passes him his birthday gift of a football globe. Just as everything was going swimmingly, to everyone’s horror, the bridge collapses at the opening ceremony.
The disgraced architect is jailed, and for the good of his loved ones, relinquishes custody and marriage. His wife Xin Yu (Ren Suxi) remarries into money and sends Ma Fei to a prestigious school to get a second chance in life. Alas, the boy is easily distracted and filled with angst - nothing like the man he is destined to become.
His change comes about when Haowen returns after serving his time, and through unorthodox methods and unfailing encouragement, the hardworking father manages to do the impossible and transform his kid into one of the best students in the school.
So when met with a major accident in space that causes a communication outage, and possibly faced with a slow death in space, the young astronaut recalls the lessons of his estranged father and tests his capabilities one last time.
When talking about the main theme of education, Looking Up represents the country’s recognition of critical thinking lacking in the system. Especially for Asian countries, the dead-set methods of memorisation has been often called out for destroying the real process of learning - creating robotic citizens than releasing full potential.
Haowen’s contrast of the inspiring parent as opposed to the more-typical Tiger mum in Xin Yu, also fuels the movie’s thrust in beseeching for a more compassionate approach. In the rapidly-developing China, this would no doubt resonate, as values start to shift towards western influences.
But to the audience elsewhere, this message feels trite and redundant. And yes, though we are still talking about inspiring creativity and “design thinking” as concepts we want to inject, the discourse about a book-smart person having less value is already long over.
So what is left is really a family story on perseverance and love. And that shines a little brighter, even if the messaging deafens the more intimate relationships the characters build through the film.
Ren is particularly good as she layers steely exterior with a loving concern, one that most of us are all too familiar with. Sun Xilun as the young Ma Fei is also charming with his easy performance, if a little affected at times.
The problem with Looking Up, can be likened to putting a pastry chef in a hot kitchen. Having a similar skillset and valid recipes does not guarantee a good dish. The film is formulaic to a fault, displaying predictable tropes and standard developments. All this would be a little easier to take, if not for two big issues. The fact that the content is repetitive, and the movie runs just shy of 2 hours and 30 mins. That’s just way, too, long.
Deng Chao does double-duty as director, and Yu Baimei is his partner. The pair struggles with finding an even tone, veering sometimes towards Chow-esque comedy, then the next - Han Han type of quirk. The characters also struggle with gravity, with - surprise, surprise - most of the weight on Deng’s Haowen. It’s a grossly miscalculated favouritism, making it seem more like a vanity project.
And it doesn’t stop there. With the references to Hong Kong and Tibet (most of the time superfluous), it makes the viewer shift uncomfortably in their seats making this seem even more of a project with agenda than true entertainment. Add to that a didactic script riddled with awkward scenes of exposition (that initial conversation about the accident between the two astronauts is excruciating), Looking Up has aptly titled itself in its vantage as a lacking entry in the charts.
Movie Rating:
(Age-old comeback story entertains still with some great characters, but fails to gain full speed due to poor scripting and a maladjusted tone)
Review by Morgan Awyong
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Joachim Rønning
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sam Riley, Harris Dickinson, Ed Skrein, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Michelle Pfeiffer
Runtime: 1 hr 58 minutes
Rating: PG (Some Intense Sequences)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website:
Opening Day: 17 October 2019
Synopsis: In Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” a sequel to the 2014 global box office hit, Maleficent and her goddaughter Aurora begin to question the complex family ties that bind them as they are pulled in different directions by impending nuptials, unexpected allies and dark new forces at play. The years have been kind to Maleficent and Aurora. Their relationship, born of heartbreak, revenge and ultimately love, has flourished. Yet the hatred between man and the fairies still exists. Aurora’s impending marriage to Prince Phillip is cause for celebration in the kingdom of Ulstead and the neighboring Moors, as the wedding serves to unite the two worlds. When an unexpected encounter introduces a powerful new alliance, Maleficent and Aurora are pulled apart to opposing sides in a Great War, testing their loyalties and causing them to question whether they can truly be family.
Movie Review:
Ever heard stories about bringing parents to meet your future in laws for dinner? This Disney movie gives you another reason why you shouldn’t do so.
A few years have passed since Maleficent wreaked havoc (but for a good reason). Aurora is now Queen of the Moors, where fairies and mythical creatures roam happily throughout the land. Prince Phillip proposes to the beautiful Aurora, and a dinner party follows. Aurora brings her scary godmother to dinner with Prince Phillip’s parents King John and Queen Ingrith. Someone pisses Maleficent off, and all hell breaks loose.
Expectedly, the best scenes of this Disney sequel to the 2014 movie are those the titular character. We were first introduced to the supposed antagonist of the beloved fairytale adapted into a classic animated film by the House of Mouse in 1959. It was a fresh idea to see the turn of events from the villain, and portraying the relationship with Aurora and her corrupted father. Angelina Jolie steals every scene she is in, the moment she stands on top of a cliff asking her pet raven not to ruin her morning.
Things get a lot more interesting when Maleficent prepares for the dinner party. She learns how to greet people without scaring them off, and we can’t think of any other actress who can embody Maleficent’s aura. Maybe it’s the dramatically sharp cheekbones, or the intimidating horns – there is something regally frightening when you see Maleficent as a live action character.
Then the dinner party happens – Jolie gets to pit off with Michelle Pfeiffer’s Queen Ingrith. It is pure joy to see the two actresses share the screen, engaging in a royal catfight. Sarcasm fills the air as the two women throw pointed one liners at each other. You know what they say about hell has no fury like a woman scorned.
We feel that we are talking too much about Maleficent and the great job done by Jolie when she becomes a b***h. It would have been nice if the filmmakers gave her more screen time to show off that side of hers, because the rest of the 118 minute movie does feel like a calculated Disney production. There are happy fairies flitting around the pastel coloured kingdom, there is true love between Aurora (Dakota Fanning trying her best to hold her ground) and Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson, who has taken over Brenton Thwaites’ role, but is equally forgettable), and an overstretched final sequence where the two get married at a syrupy ceremony.
The supporting characters (especially the fairies played by Imelda Staunton, JunoTempleand Lesley Manville) don’t get to do much, and viewers are treated to one lovely computer generated sequence after another. There is also this side plot where Maleficent finds her own kind in a mysterious location which looks breathtaking. Like a true blue Disney movie, this one directed by Joachim Rønning mesmerises you with its top notch production values.
The most impressive segment of the film happens when Queen Ingrith wages a war with fairies. Maleficent swoops in to join the battle, and the spectacle of the sequence can only truly be experienced on a cinema screen. The two sides fight each other against Geoff Zanelli’s majestic soundtrack score, and although you know how things are going to end (it’s a Disney movie, remember?), you indulge yourself in the scene, fully knowing well that it could have been shortened for brevity.
Movie Rating:
(Majestically shot with impressive visuals, this movie could have done with more screen time for its titular character)
Review by John Li
SYNOPSIS: To save his pregnant wife, an emergency room nurse unwillingly partners with an injured murder suspect in a race against time and renegade cops.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Why would everyone ranging from Hallyuwood and Bollywood want to remake a nearly decade old, mediocre French action flick? It’s a mystery for sure and now it’s Hollywood’s turn to bring in “Falcon” and “Crossbones” for the Netflix version.
Point Blank is a remake of the 2010 movie of the same name and it basically retained the original premise except for some minor changes. Anthony Mackie stars as Paul, an ER nurse who is being forced to get criminal and suspect murderer, Abe (Frank Grillo) out of the hospital after Abe’s brother, Mateo (Christian Cooke) held Paul’s pregnant wife as hostage. Thus, begins a whirlwind journey of Paul and Abe pitting themselves against a slew of corrupt cops and rival gangs that are hot on their trails and also trying to find out the truth behind the killing of the local District Attorney.
Point Blank is the kind of straight-to-video flick that works fine on Netflix but probably earns a few measly dollars on the big screen before being removed entirely from the release schedule after a week. It reeks like cheap liquor despite featuring a reputable cast list liked Mackie, Grillo and acclaimed actress Marcia Gay Harden.
Most of the time, the entire movie seems to be running on auto-mode with a few violent gunshots inbetween and a fast pacing to compensate for the lack of thrills. Point Blank (2019) apparently has nothing new to offer in fact it is so embarrassingly low budget that the original French version actually consists of a few genuinely well-choreographed chase and action sequences that will put this one to shame.
The least they could do is at least pepper the story with more twists and grit but Hollywood much prefer to play it economical, safe and predictable. Point Blank is a misfire for both Mackie and Grillo who obviously deserved much better material. Maybe a “Falcon Vs Crossbones” TV special is worth a look more than this expired action thriller.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Charles Parnell, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Greg Tarzan Davis, Ed Harris
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Intense Sequences)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 26 May 2022
Synopsis: After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose”. Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from tho se who will be chosen to fly it
Movie Review:
No other actor can return to a role like Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell as Tom Cruise does in ‘Top Gun: Maverick”. Lest we forget, it has been more than three decades since Tony Scott’s quintessential 80s blockbuster minted the then-baby faced Cruise as a bona fide icon, and if there was any doubt that Cruise waited too long to do a sequel to ‘Top Gun’, we can reassure you that there will be no such reservations once you’ve seen this magnificent follow-up.
Whereas once he was a young hot-shot, ‘Maverick’ finds its eponymous character now a weathered naval test pilot who lives in a hangar out in the Mojave Desert and is attached to the navy’s latest supersonic plane programme. That he remains a captain is no coincidence; indeed, as we are told, Maverick has carefully staged his own career stasis in order not to be promoted into desk-job irrelevancy. And when a hard-ass admiral (Ed Harris) tries to shut the programme down, Maverick demonstrates how he hasn’t lost his impunity after all these years by personally taking the plane out for a Mach 10 experiment.
At the cusp of being permanently grounded, Maverick is summoned back to Top Gun to prepare the programme’s best and brightest for a top-secret mission to launch a stealth attack on a secret uranium enrichment facility hidden within a deep mountain valley. The mission turns out to be both professional and personal, affording Maverick the chance to come to terms with the lingering guilt over the death of his best friend Goose (played by Anthony Edwards in the first movie), given how one of the pilots is none other than Goose’s bitter son Rooster (Miles Teller).
Goose isn’t the only call-back from the original film; there is Penny (Jennifer Connelly), an old flame that Maverick has the opportunity to rekindle feelings with after an apparently messy breakup several years ago, and Maverick’s old frenemy Iceman (Val Kilmer), now the decorated commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet who is revealed to have been instrumental in getting Maverick out of trouble all these years. It is lovely to watch Cruise and Connelly navigate a grown-up romance with such chemistry, but this sequel’s most poignant moment belongs to the reunion between Cruise and Kilmer, especially with how beautifully the filmmakers have weaved in the actor’s physically diminished condition into the movie.
Thanks to its richer relationships, ‘Maverick’ packs genuine wallop, more so we dare say than its predecessor. Goose’s resentment towards Maverick for his father’s death, which colours not just their instructor-trainee relationship but also Goose’s relationship with the 11 other aviators, especially the smug Hangman (Glen Powell, terrific as an Iceman-type). It is to the credit of the trio of screenwriters – including Cruise’s favourite auteur-wingman Christopher McQuarrie – how successfully the sequel draws on the events of the first movie to form the emotional bedrock of this one, right up to its thrilling, take-your-breath-away climax that we will talk about more later.
Equally though, the screenwriters have largely hewed to the structure of the earlier ‘To Gun’, with the recruits put to the test with gruelling flight tests and simulated dogfights while having to deal with rivalry, seduction and personal reckonings. There is sheer thrill watching Maverick chase his young charges in F/A-18s all over the Mojave Desert, made even more awesome knowing that it is Cruise in the cockpit for each and every one of these scenes, whether piloting a fighter jet 200 feet above the floor of Death Valley or corkscrewing through Washington’s Cascade Mountains. That the training feels more urgent is thanks to how the writers have learnt from the first movie: instead of tacking on a mission at the last minute, the stakes are higher here right from the beginning knowing that the training is for a mission that they might not survive.
All that anticipation however pays off more spectacularly with an edge-of-your-seat climax that will surprise you in more ways than one. It is in these final 20 mins that you’d realise, if you haven’t yet, the brilliance of director Joseph Kosinski’s craft, not least in how he films the face-melting ascents, whiplash-inducing loop-de-loops and other airborne stunts with amazing clarity in cinematography and editing. Sure, Cruise’s insistence on making this as real as possible – including the use of camera rigs than CGI – is key to it, but there is no denying the crispness of Kosinski’s direction, which with all due respect to Scott, pays off with the far superior aerial sequences in this sequel than the ones in the first movie.
Above and at the heart of it all, is Cruise. As if we needed yet another reminder, Cruise defies his age yet again by getting into the cockpit and performing the sort of high-speed manoeuvres that many professional pilots half his age would struggle to do. It is no coincidence that it has taken nearly 40 years for ‘Maverick’ to make it to the big screen, but this carefully calibrated blockbuster is just about everything you would expect it to be and more. It is exhilarating, rousing and downright stunning, a triumphant reminder of what old-fashioned Hollywood moviemaking was about and a celebration of Cruise as the last Hollywood movie star of his kind.
Movie Rating:
(An absolutely glorious old-school blockbuster that honours the legacy of its predecessor while equaling, if not exceeding, it in thrills, emotion and spectacle)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Crime/Drama
Director: Andrea Berloff
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, Jeremy Bobb, James Badge Dale, Common
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Rating: NC16 (Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website:
Opening Day: 8 August 2019
Synopsis: “The Kitchen” stars Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “Bridesmaids”), Tiffany Haddish (“Girls Trip”), and Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) as three 1978 Hell’s Kitchen housewives whose mobster husbands are sent to prison by the FBI. Left with little but a sharp ax to grind, the ladies take the Irish mafia’s matters into their own hands—proving unexpectedly adept at everything from running the rackets to taking out the competition…literally.
Movie Review:
Not often do you see a mob drama headlined by an all-star female cast, which makes ‘The Kitchen’ even more disappointing. Despite assembling a dream trio in Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss and Tiffany Haddish, this ill-conceived female empowerment tale doesn’t quite know what to make of its three lead characters; in fact, it doesn’t even know just what sort of movie it wants to be, and ends up being neither a serious-minded crime yarn like ‘Goodfellas’ or a violent comedy-drama in the same spirit as the DC Vertigo comic-book miniseries which it is adapted from.
Indeed, as unlikely as that may read, ‘The Kitchen’ spawns from a little-known graphic novel by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle, which imagines what could happen in 1970s Hell’s Kitchen if three women decided to start their own gang in the Irish underworld. Given the predominance of the opposite sex, there would have needed to be a strong impetus for them to do so in the first place – hence the setup which sees our central trio take their financial circumstances into their own hands when their husbands are nabbed by the police during a robbery and sent to prison.
It isn’t long before their motivation evolves from necessity to liberation: Kathy (McCarthy) has long been a dutiful wife, and relishes being able to take charge of her destiny; Claire (Moss) has lived with an abusive husband, and makes no apologies shagging up with a Vietnam vet Gabriel (Domhnall Gleeson), who turns out to be pretty handy in assisting the gals with body disposal; and Ruby (Haddish) longs to break out of the shadow of her racist husband and mother-in-law (Margo Martindale). Each is given reason for us to feel empathy for – and cheer when she breaks out of her respective birdcage – but chances are you’ll find yourself less moved than confused.
Unless you’re pro-crime, there is at least something troubling about the way that Kathy, Claire and Ruby make their way up the ladder. We see them muscling local businesses to pay up, threatening those who do not, and even eliminating the competition – and whether deliberately or unintentionally, condensing these exploits into montages further reinforces how the movie is tone-deaf to the fact that these acts are still criminal. By the time the girls start turning against each other as they become more ambitious/ ruthless/ feckless, your distaste towards them will feel fully justified, and wonder how the movie could ever think that we could get behind them in the first place.
To the stars’ credit, much of that blame lies with Oscar-nominated writer Andre Berloff (of ‘Straight Outta Compton’), who makes her directorial debut here. Berloff’s scripting is hardly at her best, as she struggles to define her characters compellingly or even coherently – not only are we never fully convinced of the depth of Ruby’s inferiority complex because of her skin colour (she’s from Harlem), we are left puzzled why Kathy would so easily leave her husband to the Italian mob even if the latter had made a wrong move behind her back. Even worse is her directing, which leaves scenes going on for too short or too long, has little sense of pace and momentum, and further illuminates the shortcomings of her plotting.
Given the state of the material, we can hardly blame McCarthy for coming off weak, struggling to build her character’s incongruities into a cogent whole. Haddish fares better in her first dramatic role, but there is little room for her to dig deep into what is essentially a thinly written character willing to do anything and everything to get her way. In contrast, Moss makes the deepest impression because her character is the most clearly and simply defined. The rest of the stellar supporting cast are equally wasted, though Brian d’Arcy James, James Badge Dale and Jeremy Robb do their best with their limited (and sidelined) male roles.
As much as we’d have liked to embrace ‘The Kitchen’ as the first female-centric mob drama, or even a female-fronted DC project, this is a misfire on too many counts. It is hardly a character-driven drama, or even a drama for that matter, considering how cartoonish the twists and turns are. It is also a troubling statement of female empowerment, especially if embracing it means accepting the liberty to bend law and order to one’s will. It is however undoubtedly a criminal waste of talent, in front of and behind the camera, every one of whom has pulled in much better work than this messy, haphazardly constructed, and downright unpleasant movie. Suffice to say, this dish deserves to stay in ‘The Kitchen’.
Movie Rating:
(Not even the stellar female lead cast can save this incoherently plotted, scrappily directed and deeply frustrating mob drama, that is little more than a criminal waste of talent)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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FIRST LOOK AT DISNEY'S 'MULAN'Posted on 14 Jul 2019 |
Genre: Thriller
Director: Tate Taylor
Cast: Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Luke Evans, McKaley Miller, Missi Pyle, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, Dante Brown
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 25 July 2019
Synopsis: Everybody’s welcome at Ma’s. But good luck getting home safe. Oscar ® winner Octavia Spencer stars as Sue Ann, a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town (Diana Silvers, Glass), to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some uns uspecting, if younger, friends of her own. She offers the kids the chance to avoid drinking and driving by hanging out in the basement of her home. But there are some h ouse rules: One of the kids has to stay sober. Don’t curse. Never go upstairs. And call her “Ma.” But as Ma’s hospitality starts to curdle into obsession, what began as a teenage dream turns into a terrorizing nightmare, and Ma’s place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on earth.
Movie Review:
If you know of Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, you’re probably wondering what she is doing in a horror thriller like this. Notwithstanding that the titular role was written specifically with her in mind, little in Spencer’s filmography suggests that the star of such prestige pictures as ‘The Help’, Hidden Figures’ and ‘The Shape of Water’ would agree to play a middle-aged maladjusted psychopath who develops an obsession with a bunch of high-school kids and ends up tormenting them in her basement. Oh yes, despite some attempt at socio-political commentary (read: it is no coincidence that she is ‘black’ amidst a predominantly ‘white’ cast), this is ultimately still an exploitation horror, albeit one is never quite as gonzo as it needs to be.
The setting is a depressing Ohio town in present day, where 16-year-old teenager Maggie (Diana Silvers) has just moved to with her newly divorced mother Erica (Juliette Lewis). Luckily for her, Maggie is invited to hang out with the cool kids at school from day one, instantly befriending the brassy Haley (McKaley Miller) and her peeps. They first make acquaintance with Spencer’s character Sue Ann when they go looking for an adult to purchase alcohol for their evening hangout, and although the veterinarian’s aide demurs at the start, Sue Ann eventually relents and indulges their request. Not only does she fulfil their liquor order, Sue Ann offers to open up her basement so they won’t get caught for underaged drinking.
Except for Maggie, none of the other kids do not find Sue Ann’s generosity even borderline suspicious; yet, as you can guess, it only gets creepier from that point on. Besides converting her basement into a permanent spot for alcohol-soaked parties, Sue Ann takes to dropping in at school to visit Maggie and her friends, as well as serial texting them whenever she perceives that they are slighting her. Ever the more vigilant one, Maggie is further troubled by the odd thumps she hears from the main house itself that Sue Ann has warned is strictly off-limits to the kids, and also the pair of earrings her mother had given to her which goes missing the morning after one of those parties at Sue Ann’s place.
Through on-and-off flashbacks to her own high-school experience, we slowly learn of Sue Ann’s backstory, made up not just of traumatic episodes of verbal bullying but even a racialised moment of sexual humiliation. It is sobering stuff to say the least, but in the hands of director Tate Taylor and writer Scotty Landes, also intended as justification for her disturbing acts later on. Yet these episodes strain credulity to say the least, and rather than stirring sympathy for Sue Ann, leave us cringing. It doesn’t help that Spencer dials in a performance that is too restrained for its own good, failing therefore to convince how aggrieved and repressed Sue Ann needs to feel in order for us to buy into her motivation for going batshit crazy in the last third of the movie.
Indeed, like we said at the start, as much as the filmmakers inject the movie with racial overtones and psychological undertones, ‘Ma’ is still very much shlock horror. How else would you describe Sue Ann – as one of the much-touted promotional stills of the movie proudly display – sewing Haley’s mouth shut, painting one of her friends’ face white and attaching dog collars around each one of their necks? What about the fact that she uses animal tranquiliser on the person who had humiliated her, tying him naked to the bed and infusing dog blood into his veins? Even as Spencer tries to elevate the material, there is no disguising that it is no more than a B-movie exercise in amped-up exploitation.
And it is precisely on that level that ‘Ma’ disappoints, because unlike say ‘Get Out’, it hardly develops its premise compellingly enough to elevate itself into politically-charged horror. ‘Ma’ fails to deliver a visceral kick out of Sue Ann getting her comeuppance, partly because Spencer is too measured and partly because Taylor is too insipid a director to tackle a movie of this nature. Given how it isn’t violent or gory enough, ‘Ma’ is really just boring, ambling along for far too long before deciding in its finale to change gears into torture porn. As much as we respect Spencer as an actress, we cannot say we liked ‘Ma’ any bit better just cause she is in it, and we suspect for both her and Taylor’s sake, they should just stay in safer territory (like ‘The Help’) the next time they decide to team up again.
Movie Rating:
(Not nearly as gonzo as it needs to be, this feeble attempt at turning shlock horror into politically-charged psychological horror - like 'Get Out' - ultimately falls flat)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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