Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Alan Yuen
Cast: Darren Wang, Milla Jovovich, Sandrine Pinna, Timmy Xu, Liu Meitong, David Lee McInnis, Lam Suet, Sean Xiao, Danny Chan, Lu Nuo, Kathy Chow
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Sexual References)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 1 August 2019

Synopsis: Feng Zhao (WANG Ta-lu) is a slacker whose biggest hobby is extreme sports. During one extreme challenge, Feng is unwittingly caught in a dangerous transaction when he is mistaken by a mysterious businessman as his contact. Soon, he's recruited by an international spy organization, together with the top spy agent Bruce (Milla JOVOVICH) to continue his disguise and finish the deal for the safety of the world. Meanwhile, Miao Miao (Sandrine PINNA), a cowardly police officer, and her good friend, Shan Ding (Timmy XU), are also drawn into the case. Together with Feng, they form a team to steal a priceless treasure owned by a wealthy businessman. After a series of adventures involving high- tech gadgets and lots of close calls, the rookie spies get their hands on the treasure. At the exchange, the “spies” realize that their ultimate mission is to sell the treasure in exchange for raw materials that can be used to create a weapon of mass destruction. Just as they’re about to complete their mission, the terrorist mastermind behind the original deal steals the materials. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, the rookie spies set out to stop the terrorists before it’s too late.

Movie Review:

Apparently, the Mainland companies still think there is a market for Hollywood style, big-budgeted action thrillers after the lukewarm received Bounty Hunters, Mission Milano and The Adventurers. Backed by no fewer than four Mainland companies and Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures, The Rookies is a dreadful action spy adventure that is hardly original or worth nearly two hours of your life. 

Taiwanese star Darren Wang (Our Times, Fall In Love At First Kiss) stars as Zhao Feng who makes his living as an extreme sports athlete. When an extreme challenge went wrong, Feng finds himself caught in the middle of an illegal transaction between two groups of baddies. With his face being revealed, Feng is then recruited by a mysterious spy organization led by Bruce (Milla Jovovich) to travel to Budapest to complete the transaction with the real terrorist. Little did he know that, it’s going to take more than plain guts and money to save the world. 

Co-scripted and helmed by veteran Alan Yuen who wrote Jackie Chan’s New Police Story, Rob-B-Hood and directed the Andy Lau’s actioner, Firestorm, The Rookies is a letdown in terms of action and somewhat underdeveloped in terms of story. As much as it tries to be an action comedy caper, the jokes and gags are painfully unfunny. The all-too-long prologue attempts to paint Feng as a carefree slacker, fearless vlogger though audiences will find it hard to be amused or awed by Feng’s antics. Next, Yuen decides to throw in some Johnny English’s slapstick comedy routines only to further establish it’s all too juvenile to be really amusing.    

But wait there’s a villain in the form of American/Korean actor David Lee McInnis as Iron Fist (no not the Marvel character) who has developed a serum to turn human beings into plants! He is basically a ruthless, one-dimensional terrorist planned on rebuilding the world after losing his fiancée or wife to a terrorist attack. Unfortunately, the enemy is not that important to Yuen’s story as he is busy filling up the story with a bipolar suffering Interpol policewoman, Miao Miao (Sandrine Pinna), Feng’s friend Ding San (Timmy Xu) and his girlfriend, LV (Liu Meitong) who joins Feng in his madcap adventure.  

Instead of going straight after Iron Fist and his deadly serum, Feng and his friends decide to infiltrate a castle and snatch the “Holy Grail” from its rich owner before Iron Fist lays his hands on it. And that’s where the actual joke comes in, the so-called “Holy Grail” is merely a plot device to stretch the movie runtime longer resulting in a wild goose chase across the beautiful city of Budapest with not much mentioning of it after all the hoo-ha has ended. Who knows, it might be in the hands of Indiana Jones.   

With the indefinite hiatus of fellow Taiwanese Kai Ko, Darren Wang seems to be enjoying much success in the Mainland market after the box-office hit, Our Times. To be fair, Wang is easy on the eyes and he can look effortlessly charming and funny. Pairing up with Taiwanese-French Sandrine Pinna (who can act pretty well seriously), the pair of good lookers sizzle onscreen despite the often lacklustre plotting. And there’s Hollywood starlet and Resident Evil’s Milla Jovovich who received a prominent presence on the poster but appears slightly just more than the time you queue for the popcorn. She does get the grand entrance treatment except she is (probably for financial reason) render handicapped before the action actually gets started. 

Despite all the money thrown in, The Rookies is riddled with unbelievably bad CGI from unconvincing backdrops, fake explosions, gadgets, automobiles to chopper. It’s a major distraction consider nearly every scene is tweaked with some form of CG. This in the end could be an escapist fun flick if done well sadly Yuen is too focused filling up the nearly two hours flick with inconsequential plotting, shallow characters and early 90’s computer imagery. 

Movie Rating:

(You can forget about the entire movie except that Darren Wang and Sandrine Pinna looks fantastic and photogenic in Budapest)

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Drama
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Cast: Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Aaron Phagura, Dean-Charles Chapman, Nikita Mehta, Nell Williams, Hayley Atwell
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 15 August 2019

Synopsis:  “Blinded by the Light” is a joyful story of courage, love, hope, family and the unique ability of music to lift the human spirit. The film tells the story of Javed (Viveik Kalra), a British teen of Pakistani descent growing up in the town of Luton, England, in 1987. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father (Kulvinder Ghir). But when a classmate (Aaron Phagura) introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in the powerful lyrics. As Javed discovers a cathartic outlet for his own pent-up dreams, he also begins to find the courage to express himself in his own unique voice.

Movie Review:

There was a simpler time when our lives were shaped by the music we listened to. Remember how the melodies and lyrics of certain songs spoke to you so much, you felt that anything was possible in a world full of challenges? That was the power of music which we heard on the airwaves, or for some of us who could afford it – via cassettes and live concerts (this was before the age of digital streaming music was a norm).

For the protagonist of this film, the source of inspiration was American singer songwriter Bruce Springsteen. This is an interesting premise for the movie which set in the late 1980s, in the British town of Luton. You can expect drama and jokes involving the differences between the two cultures. What makes the film even more interesting is the ethnicity of the male lead. He is a British Pakistani Muslim teenager who is brought up in a family who treasures tradition. Expect more sparks to fly between the kid and his parents.

It is no surprise that this is the work of Gurinder Chadha, the English female director of Indian origin. Her past works, which include Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Bride and Prejudice (2004) and The Mistress of Spices (2005), is known to explore the identities of the Indian diaspora on screen. By packaging the stories as comedies and romantic dramas, Chadna’s films set a bigger stage for discussions on diversity.

Her latest work is no different. Based on journalist Sarfraz Manzoor's memoir Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll, it is essentially a story of a young boy whose life is changed after he discovers the music of who he deemed as a role model.

TV actor Viveik Kalra takes on the role of the protagonist, and being a relatively unfamiliar face in the industry, he does an excellent job of portraying a character who idealistically believes that his future is entirely in his hands (shame on us cynics), and his performance brings hope to anyone who is feeling a little down and out in life right now. He is joined by supporting characters played by Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, Kulvinder Ghir and Nell Williams.

There aren’t many surprises in the story written by Manzoor, Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges. Plot developments you’d expect from a coming of age tale are all in place. Boy is inspired by music? Check. Boy’s father is against his behaviour and tries to get him to adhere to traditions? Yup. Boy goes against all odds, makes people understand him and a happy ending closes the movie? You bet. This is a good thing because the positive message and feel good factor of the film will spur us on in the right direction.

Even if you aren’t familiar with Springsteen’s music, this is a universal story that you will embrace. Some of the musician’s poignant lyrics are stylistically superimposed during key scenes, and they serve as timely reminders that with the right determination, anything is possible. You will walk out of the theatre feeling that you are ready to take on anything in life.

Movie Rating:

(Whether or not you are a fan of Bruce Springsteen’s music, you will cheer for the positive message that this film wants to convey)

Review by John Li

Genre: Drama
Director: James Gray
Cast: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler, Donald Sutherland
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 minutes
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence & Coarse Language)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 19 September 2019

Synopsis:  Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.

Movie Review:

This is one of the most heavy hearted films we have ever watched. For the entire movie’s 123 minute runtime, there is almost no light hearted moment where you can take a breather to smile and laugh about life. Step into the theatre only if you are prepared to go on a reflective journey with Brad Pitt.

The story takes place in a near future, a future that seems out of this world but we all know is going to materialise. The protagonist is a fearless astronaut (Pitt in a role that may just earn him an Oscar nomination) who has been largely living in the shadow of his equally, if not more valiant father. Also an astronaut, the old man (Tommy Lee Jones, who effortlessly plays a grumpy senior) had led a team into deep space to look for intelligent life. The ship and crew never returned, and the world never got an answer whether there is life in space. When electrical surges his Earth, the son takes on a mission to travel across the solar system to reach out to his father, find the origin of the surges, and yes – decipher what life is all about.

This is one of those rare philosophical pieces of work that get backed up by a major movie studio. It probably helps that the director is James Gray (The Immigrants, The Lost City of Z), an acclaimed filmmaker who has had four feature films under his belt that competed for the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Investors also probably saw the potential success of this film with the involvement of Pitt (Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood), Jones (Jason Bourne), together with supporting roles played by Ruth Negga (Warcraft), Liv Tyler (The Incredible Hulk) and Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games franchise). These are all notable and credible names in showbiz, which should put any doubts to rest.

Like any other reflective piece of art, this one features melancholic and thoughtful voiceovers by Pitt. It asks profound questions, makes you wonder about your existence, and ponder about your role in the bigger scheme of things in the universe. While the story is about uncovering the truth about a missing father and stopping a mysterious power surge that threatens Earth’s stability, you will realise the film has a larger message than that. And how much you immerse yourself in the tapestry of things largely depends on your outlook in life. Take a chance and you will be richly rewarded with a profoundly beautiful tale about discovering life.

From how we have described the film, it sounds like there are only deep voiceovers, shots of astronauts floating in space and mesmerising cinematography of planets. Don’t fret – the studio has made sure that there are sequences that will make you sit up and watch. A chase sequence on the moon, a flesh eating primate and some brief fight sequences in the spaceship should be sufficient to make this two hours interesting.

Couple that with engaging performances from all the actors involved in the production, and you will get one of the best sci fi films in recent history that is both thought provoking and mainstream enough to please the crowd.

Movie Rating:

(Brad Pitt welcomes you to join in on a voyage into deep space to discover the meaning of life)

Review by John Li

Genre:  Animation
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Cast: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Shun Oguri, Tsubasa Honda, Chieko Baisho, Sakura Kiryū, Sei Hiraizumi, Yūki Kaji
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 12 September 2019

Synopsis:  When small town high schooler Hodaka Morishima makes a go at living on his own in Tokyo for the first time, it isn’t long before he finds steady work writing for a local magazine focused on all things strange and supernatural -- but the most interesting thing happening in the boy’s life is the unusual weather. Rain’s common enough in the city that at first, no one makes much of the recent torrential showers that never seem to end, but unbeknownst to nearly everyone, a young girl named Hina Amano who has the ability to control the weather walks among them.

Movie Review:

With the immense commercial success of Your Name (2016), many wait in anticipation for the next Makoto Shinkai work. Unfazed by the high expectations, Makoto Shinkai returns with Weathering With You, a film which centres on a high school student Hodaka (voiced by Kotaro Daigo) who escapes to Tokyo to run away from his small island hometown and his past. He struggles to make a living as a young chap, and bumps into Hina (voiced by Nana Mori) who showed him warmth in the otherwise cold and inhospitable concrete jungle. The past success with Your Name definitely helped to propel the first 3-day sales of Weathering With You in Japan, making it top the box office sales and exceeding the first 3-day performance of Your Name. However, there was noticeably a lot less buzz about Weathering With You in comparison to Your Name. 

Weathering With You opened in Japan on 19 July when Tokyo was experiencing a prolonged period of rain and saw very little sunlight (it was as little as 5.6 hours of sunlight for a period of 16 days!). That became an unintentional marketing campaign, as it fitted perfectly with the context of the film. The story progressed to Hodaka learning about Hina’s special ability to clear the skies in the midst of torrential rains. Hina was orphaned and needed money to support herself and her brother, so they devised a business out of it. But all things come at a cost, and they will have to make a choice. 

Technical wise, Makoto Shinkai has achieved yet another breakthrough - the visuals were absolutely stunning in this film. Every single frame was intentional, drawn with a lot of keen details. If you’ve been to Tokyo before, it’d feel as though you are transported back to that space. The familiar Tokyo streets, sights of Shinjuku, and the famous red light district Kabukicho - are all drawn to reality. Even though the usual practice is to use made-up brand names in animated films, they also successfully tied up with notably real-life big brands like Nissin, SoftBank and McDonald’s. It may be seen as a product placement of sorts, but they were all worked in tactfully without being too blunt and ‘in-the-face’, which in fact value adds to the experience. Trust me, McDonald’s never looked so good.

Like how Makoto Shinkai introduced hints of Shinto beliefs in Your Name, there were also similar motifs in this film. On top of that, cultural icons like the “teru teru bozu” charms (‘ghost-like’ figures made of cloth of tissue, believed to clear the skies in Japanese culture) were used in the movie as well. While some people are concerned about how non-Japanese viewers actually feel distant with these, but it serves an opportunity for people around the world to learn about Japan. There is so much more to Japan; much more than just sushi and Akihabara. Weaving these cultural elements into the movie puts together a unique experience. However, what’s lacklustre was the attempt to pack too many themes. While the key theme is about adolescents going through the process of ‘adulting’, it also attempted to cover topics like environmental issues etc. There was even a haphazard side story arc on weaponry which certainly seemed omittable. 

With high expectations, it naturally leads to disappointments for some people. Nonetheless, Makoto Shinkai’s latest work is one which should certainly be appreciated as a standalone, and achieved more than an average animated film. Visuals aside, the voice acting was great, it was sprinkled with pleasant surprises, and the OST also worked to fit the climax of the film to a T. At its core, it is a creative expression of the artist’s thoughts on issues, and his fascination about Tokyo since he first set foot two decades ago. It is also the artist’s intent to immerse the audience in the hyperreal environment, to deliberate over an individual’s impact of choice on the environment and society. After watching it, maybe you will think differently when you look up to the skies.

MOVIE RATING:

(Fair weather and rainy days reimagined, with breathtaking details and 101% aesthetics. If you don’t watch it, you’re going to lose out on something)

Review by Tho Shu Ling

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Genre: Comedy/Musical
Director: Chris Foggin
Cast: Daniel Mays, James Purefoy, Tuppence Middleton, Noel Clarke, David Hayman, Dave Johns, Sam Swainsbury Maggie Steed, Christian Brassington
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG13
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 1 August 2019

Synopsis:  Inspired by a true story, Fisherman’s Friends tells the heartwarming tale of a Cornish all-male group that go from singing sea shanties to shooting up the charts. Taken by their performances, music manager Danny takes a punt on this amateur outfit, made up of hardy fishermen and lifeboat volunteers. As he vows to turn this crew into the world’s oldest buoy band, he finds more than a good record deal. When you open your heart, life, love and friendship can play the most harmonious tune…

Movie Review:

If you’ve seen ‘The Full Monty’ and ‘Calendar Girls’, you’ll know what sort of movie ‘Fisherman’s Friends’ is. Oh yes, despite taking considerable liberties from the true-life story of an an all-male a capella folk singing group from Port Isaac in Cornwall, who in the noughties became an unexpected hit for their authentic sea shanties, this likeably oh-so-British comedy-drama packs more than enough feel-good humour and charm to leave a big, broad smile on your face.

The completely fictional part of the story has high-flying London music producer Danny (Daniel Mays) journeying to Port Isaac with three of his colleagues for a stag do, whereupon he encounters the group of local sea shanty singers led by Jim (James Purefoy) and his dad Jago (David Hayman). As tightly-knit as you can imagine, these men are fishermen by morning, rescuers by day and performers by week, and it just so happens that Danny and his mates are in town when the group gather for a singsong on the harbour side.

Danny is pranked by his mates to talk the fishermen into signing a record deal, and is thus left behind on his own in the community who regard them as “wankers from London”. Though at first sceptical, Danny is slowly bought into their brand of friendship and togetherness, so much so that he decides to stay on out of his own accord when his friends reveal that they were just pranking him – that, and the fact that Danny has a crush on Jim’s daughter, a single mother named Alwyn (Maggie Steed) who runs the town’s B&B where Danny is staying.

You can probably guess where the film steers itself to: not only will Danny slowly win the trust of these Cornish fishermen, he will also gradually win over Alwyn and her lovely young daughter, and there will be one more inevitable misunderstanding which threatens to tear all that apart before everyone gets his or her happily-ever-after. We’re not going to spoil it for you here, but you’ll know well before it comes just what it is that will come between Danny and the fishermen/ Alwyn way before it happens.

Yet what it lacks in terms of surprises, the movie more than makes up for it with heart and humour. Both its director Chris Foggin and its trio of writers (comprising Piers Ashworth, Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft) approach the material with utmost sincerity and not a hint of disingenuity, so much so that you’ll be embarrassed to think that they had any other intention than to celebrate the triumph of a group of underdogs and a person who had faith in them. Oh yes, there is plenty of heart in this adaptation all right, and much, if not most, of it will certainly be heartfelt.

If at the same time it never gets cloying, that’s credit to the excellent cast assembled here, who bring much warm cheer to the proceedings. While there admittedly could be greater definition to their respective characters, you’ll certainly cannot miss Hayman and Dave Johns (from Ken Loach’s ‘I, Daniel Blake’), both of whom are suitably salty yet crustily charming. The chemistry between the grizzled bunch is also hugely enjoyable and extremely infectious, and even if their singing isn’t that impressive, makes their performances absolutely winning.

At the very least, ‘Fisherman’s Friends’ is akin to a warm bowl of Brit comfort food, especially if you need a cure from cynicism. But as formulaic and predictable as it may be, we must say we lapped it up more than we expected ourselves to, thanks to its gung-ho ensemble, earnestness and pathos. It is thoroughly amiable, often upbeat, and perhaps even uplifting, so if you’ve enjoyed similar feel-good Brit fare, you’ll surely love to hang out with this bunch.

Movie Rating:

(Formulaic and predictable, yet utterly charming and winning, this feel-good Brit comedy-drama will leave you with a big, broad smile on your face)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Chan Pang Chun
Cast: Yuen Cheung Yan, Tsao Yu Ning, Kara Wai, Esther Huang, Carlos Chan, Angie Shum, Anika Sheng, Keeva Mak
Runtime: 1 hr 29 mins
Rating: NC16 (Horror and Sexual Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 8 August 2019

Synopsis:  To reminisce about the old-school life, Ho Tsz Fung (starring Tsao Yu-Ning) and his old friends revisited their school before it shut down. Over the years, there were many rumors spreading among the students, as the school was used as a military laboratory during the Japanese occupation in World War II. When walking around the school, they find a former student’s diary among the archive journals, which recorded supernatural events in the past, including the mysterious disappearance of a girl.

Movie Review:

I used to study in a pre-war school, and so as you might guess, the grounds were filled with stories. The fact that actual riots and war heroes were part of its history made it all the more compelling. So haunted school plots have a particular relevance to me, especially when they involve unspoken topics, mysterious rooms and Japanese soldiers.

In Binding Souls, Feng (Tsao Yu Ning) returns to his alma mater college before its impending demolition with his girlfriend and three other students for some research, but finds more than they bargain for in its blood-filled Japanese-occupied history. If this sounds all too familiar, it is. And will stay that way for the next 89 minutes.

Predictable plot aside, don’t be expecting too much from other aspects in this lacklustre production. With a done-to-death casting (jock, homeboy, scaredy-cat, ringleader, filler) and twists one can spot a mile away, even something as basic as production sense goes out the window with wardrobe discontinuity.

Given how basic everything feels, especially the limp scraps that the script seems to be pieced from, it’s surprising to know that director Chan Pang Chun is not a first-timer. With a few horror projects in his belt, his experience in multiple roles seems to have not benefited him in any way at all, as he drives this project to the ground with a direction a goldfish could muster.

In terms of characters, they end up as just flat caricatures of stereotypes, and their repetitive lines are torturous in their own right. Feng’s girlfriend constantly gets spooked and reminds the others not to scare her, while ringleader Mei Qi literally begs with exaggeration for spirits to appear. If done right, this might be construed as camp, but the overall finesse clearly shows that this is pure cheese and time-fillers to prolong the story acts. It’s extremely tiresome to watch the five stay one-note throughout the movie, no matter what is thrown at them.

Wearing down one’s patience is also the incoherent reactions and proceedings, as scare scenes are patched together without flow. You’ll find no logic when the characters choose to explore or when they sleep, other than for the sole reason to introduce a scare. With no framework for their exploration to unfold, the scenes just quickly aggravate.

The sloppy handling extends to many loose ends that occur in the show. One of the students start to hiccup soon after she visits the school, but nothing ever comes of it. There’s also a ranting homeless guy that terrorises people at the gate, and prolonged meaningful shots seem to indicate his deeper knowledge, but the credits come on and again, not a trace of what he was all about.

Binding Souls is like elevator music, but the worst kind where they get a mediocre singer to do an Adele cover. The struggle can be seen in every facet of this Hong Kong production, and whether it’s due to lack of talent, time or money, the full reasons cannot possibly merit this disaster. The only thing I can give credit to would be how gruesome a few of the scenes are… but just barely.

Movie Rating:

(This proves even classic plots can go wrong. Chan’s confused product is almost unwatchable, and the characters some of the most annoying around)

Review by Morgan Awyong

Genre: Horror
Director: André Øvredal
Cast: Zoe Margaret Colleti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Dean Norris, Gil Bellows, Lorraine Toussaint, Austin Zajur, Natalie Ganzhorn
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Rating: NC16 (Horror)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: https://www.scarystoriestotellinthedark.com

Opening Day: 15 August 2019

Synopsis:  It's 1968 in America. Change is blowing in the wind...but seemingly far removed from the unrest in the cities is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time-stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah's terrifying home.

Movie Review:

“Why she so curious?”

“I thought she returned the book?”

“Why they return to the house?”

To a movie reviewer, nothing is scarier than a viewer who needs to verbalise her mind. And to the teenage girl in question, the answer to all of your question is: Because this is a movie, so just watch and you’ll know why.

Gripe aside, it’s a sign that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark piques the interest of its audience, and it manages to somewhat string singular short tales into a larger missive - one targeted at its fans from the 80s and 90s.

Like its closest cousin Goosebumps, the three volumes written by Alvin Schwartz were horror stories targeted at young children. But its claim to notoriety was when certain parents tried to remove the books at school libraries, citing its disturbing and gruesome content as being inappropriate for children. The freakish illustrations by Stephen Gammell probably didn’t help.

But this is 2019 and the crowds can handle severed toes and decapitation with better gloves, so Andre Ovredal takes on the film adaptation, and displaces his predecessor, Guillermo del Toro, into the producer seat instead.

Boarding that nostalgic train made popular by Stranger Things, we see the same formula here - that of young kids fighting supernatural forces, with adults playing second-fiddle. But you can’t help if it is running out of steam.

It’s not that Stella (Zoe Colleti) as the sensitive ringleader in her awkward group is not charming. Or that Chuck (Austin Zajur) as the cheeky prankster and Auggie (Gabriel Rush) as the brainy manboy isn’t endearing. But it’s just that formula-fatigue is setting in, with character development and circumstances easily predictable within the first 20 minutes. 

I did appreciate the social messaging weaved into the plot, what with the Nixon elections playing out on TV and references to racism targeted at the other lead, Ramon (Michael Garza), but the plot struggles a little to stay coherent and the character dabbling makes the stories a little detached. 

Some of the stories fare better than others, and it’s not necessarily those that have longer screen time. And even though the pacing gratefully keeps things entertaining, the confrontations feel very one-note and thus not as satisfying as it can be. Some tightening of the shoelaces is needed here.

Maybe that is the disadvantage of telling that many tales in one chapter - that of appropriation and satisfying build-up. Luckily the creature design (no doubt del Toro’s influence here) and some great moments lift Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark out of banality. It’ll be interesting to see if the subsequent ones muster better meat. In the meantime, try not to terrorise the theatre with your chatter.

Movie Rating:

(Entertaining enough and sits better with a younger audience. But the older crowd might appreciate the social undertones and visual monsters in this adaptation. Luckily remains more boo-than hoo)

Review by Morgan Awyong