Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Orlando Bloom, Milla Jovovich, Christoph Waltz, Ray Stevenson, Mads Mikkelsen, Luke Evans, Juno Temple
RunTime: 1 hr 50 mins
Released By: Shaw
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Official Website: http://www.threemusketeers-movie.com/
Opening Day: 26 October 2011
Synopsis: The hot-headed young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) joins forces with three rogue Musketeers (Matthew MacFadyen, Luke Evans and Ray Stevenson) in this reboot of Alexandre Dumas' story. They must stop the evil Richlieu (Christoph Waltz) and face off with Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) and the treacherous Milady (Milla Jovovich). The action adventure is given a state of the art update in 3-D.
Movie Review:
Like a car wreck, there's a constant fascination about the dazzling "The Three Musketeers" that defies critical logic. Visually anachronistic and with a penchant for narrative whiplash, director Paul W.S. Anderson is in his truest element as a filmmaker that knows the value of fracturing the attention span of audiences for maximum distraction. There's no denying the visual energy on display here as the story purposefully eschews Alexandre Dumas' classic narrative and instead relies on a reimagining of its characters and their quest. This is not altogether sacrilegious given the novel's scores of adaptation throughout the years (hitting its creative peak in a 1973 iteration by Richard Lester) and Anderson does make the most out of creating something organically viable in the story's 17th century setting by introducing a steampunk element.
Its story does do its solid allusion to its namesake throughout its first act when it introduces its trio of heroes -- Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Aramis (Luke Evans), and Porthos (Ray Stevenson) as they eventually team up with the young country bumpkin, d'Artagnan (Logan Lerman). Then it veers off into something quite different. Still somewhat keeping with the book, there's a necklace that needs to be recovered from Da Vinci's vault. And In its most showy and repurposed role, Anderson employs his muse, his wife and star of his biggest franchise, Milla Jovovich of the Resident Evil films as the sensational Milady De Winter -- her best role in quite some time. The musketeers team up with the duplicitous De Winter who promptly runs off to the Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom), who is in cahoots with the Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz) building warships with plans stolen from Da Vinci's vault.
Anderson does set the pieces up for a film tailor-made for his sensibilities (as well as taking the pulse of many a teenage boy around the world) to provide a visceral thrill. Technologically impressive, his latest film makes full use 3D to create a compelling feast for the eyes while keeping its characters notably 2D. It's a beautiful movie to look at -- its frame is busy and creates a sense of substance even when there's nothing substantial about the story or characters. It supplants what it lacks with a wanton verve and an emphasis on action set-pieces. But it has to be said, this can only endear it to certain audiences looking for mindless weekend beguilement and immediately repulse those looking to recapture some sort of nostalgia from its classic tale. There's a sense that Anderson anticipated this expectation and makes a good go of giving audiences quite decently choreographed scenes of swashbuckling tempered with the requisite amount of airship battles to complement his directorial brand of "action first, story later".
Anderson is one of the most commercial of directors working today and by that logic, one of the most important filmmakers in the industry. There's a sense of cinematic tone and a visual ballet that he nails in his films. He works from genre and concepts rather than labour his particular talents with emotional and intellectual idealism. "The Three Musketeers" is overly ripe at times and unmistakably absurd but there's more to this film than just the sum of its parts, it's a work of showmanship that edges closer to a filtered dreamscape than a jaunt through classicism.
Movie Rating:
(A superior time-waster -- if that's what you're looking for that is)
Review by Justin Deimen
Genre: Drama
Director: Kriv Stenders
Cast: Rachael Taylor, Josh Lucas, Noah Taylor, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Luke Ford
RunTime: 1 hr 32 mins
Released By: GV
Rating: PG
Official Website: http://www.reddogmovie.com/
Opening Day: 20 October 2011
Synopsis: Night in the mining town of Dampier, Western Australia, a dog lies in the backroom of the town‟s only pub, dying. Not just any dog, but the most loved and infamous dog of the entire Pilbara region – Red Dog. Slowly through the night word spreads and people from the town gather in the pub. Part vigil, part wake, part celebration, they swap stories of Red Dog‟s life, his rise to fame, his glories and tragedies. Red Dog had first hitched a ride into Dampier some ten years earlier with publican Jack and wife Maureen (Noah Taylor and Loene Carmen). At the time, Dampier was more outpost than town and Red Dog‟s rangy personality matched the spirit of the land and the colourful characters who came from throughout the world looking for work. Red Dog endeared himself to (almost) everyone who crossed his path including Peeto (John Batchelor), a large brash man with a surprisingly soft and gentle heart; Vanno (Arthur Angel), an Italian who Red Dog helps find love; and Jocko (Rohan Nichol), a miner with a dark and disturbing past. However, it was not until Red Dog came across John (Josh Lucas) that he settled down…
Movie Review:
Before you go dismissing this as yet another Hollywood fluff about man’s best friend, know this- ‘Red Dog’ is based on a true story of a stray Australian Kelpie who wound up in the remote mining town of Dampier, Australia and found its way so firmly into the hearts of the locals that a statue of him now greets all visitors to the town. Intrigued yet? You should, for this adaptation of Louis de Bernières’ book based on the legend is a surprisingly engaging yarn that is probably one of the best canine movies you’ll see this year.
Unfolding in flashback, the movie begins in the late 1970s when the long-haul trucker Tom (Luke Ford) lands up in a bar in Dampier and finds its occupants gathered in a back room trying to put down a copper-hued kelpie cross. The canine affectionately called ‘Red Dog’ has been- for reasons which go pretty much unexplained- poisoned by strychnine, and the town vet only confirms the worst fears of those gathered there that their beloved companion is dying.
The quizzical Tom inquires about Red Dog from the bartender Jack (Noah Taylor), who will be the first among the rest of the locals to recount their fond memories with him. It is a befitting start, for Jack and his wife Maureen (Loene Carmen) were responsible for bringing Red Dog to the newly established mining town after meeting him on the highway. At first largely ignored among the rowdy mining community, Red Dog finds himself the centre of attraction when a homesick Italian worker Vanno (Arthur Angel) takes to talking to him about his hometown that no one else would bother listening to.
Just like that, screenwriter Dan Taplitz effortlessly hands over the narrating baton to another of the townsfolk gathered in the bar- and Vanno’s account tells of Red Dog as everyone’s dog but no one’s in particular, not the burly Peeto with a secret love for knitting nor the reticent Jocko (Rohan Nicol) nursing a tragic secret. Both characters however are among those personally touched by Red Dog’s presence which Taplitz brings to the forefront of the film, and these vignettes are infused with such gentle humour and warmth that you can’t quite help but be charmed by them.
The man Red Dog finally chooses as his master is the American bus driver John (Josh Lucas), a drifter who never stays more than two years in one place. John steps out to save the dog from humiliation, and just like that, a permanent bond is forged between the two. So strong is their connection that John senses jealousy on Red Dog’s part when he asks the company secretary Nancy (Rachael Taylor) out on a date- the dog placed in Peeto’s care finding its own way to the open air movie theatre screening Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’.
Yet it is to Brisbane born filmmaker Kriv Stevens’ credit that one feels equally for the relationship between John and Red Dog as much as that between John and Nancy, instead of manipulating his audience’s emotions to favour one over the other. Stevens blends the lives of these characters beautifully, which pays off enormously when the film takes a sombre turn after John’s abrupt disappearance following his wedding proposal to Nancy. It’s no secret tragedy has befallen- and this becomes a turning point for Red Dog and his legend as the loyal friend waits patiently at John’s house for three weeks for his return before setting off on a journey around Western Australia in search of his master.
To say that this bittersweet second half is poignant is an understatement, and we advise you to be ready when you feel a lump in your throat or for that matter tears in your eyes. Stevens doesn’t overdo the grief, and the restraint that he displays in handling the proceedings goes a long way in ensuring that the sentiments portrayed in the film always remain genuine. Melodrama is also not his intent, and the sober tone changes to a more decidedly humorously offbeat one when Red Dog faces off with his infamous nemesis, a snarling kitty simply called Red Cat.
The ease with which the film switches between comedy and poignancy is in part due to the spontaneous quality of the storytelling, which eschews any pretension, showiness or heavy-handiness for a straight-up approach. The outback against which Red Dog’s story unfolds never feels less than authentic, thanks in no small measure to Geoffrey Hall’s wonderfully evocative cinematography which captures the rugged beauty of the Pilbara and its mining industry. The chemistry between the mostly male actors is also excellent, and Lucas and Taylor make for an extremely likeable couple.
But the star of the film is first-time leading dog Koko (owned by producer Nelson Woss) who proves to be truly a revelation, responding to the emotional beats of each scene with great eloquence. It isn’t often we praise the acting of an animal, but Koko is a large part of the reason why the film works marvellously. The charm of Red Dog’s story however lies not with what he did, but rather who he was- as one of the characters in the film points out early on- through his actions to each member of the Dampier community. And told with wit, humour and warmth, it is a crowd-pleaser for all ages.
Movie Rating:
(Forget Hollywood’s fluff about man’s best friend- this Australian film packed with wit, humour and warmth is the real deal, and a true crowd-pleaser for all ages)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: David Keating
Cast: Aidan Gillen, Eva Birthistle, Timothy Spall, Ella Connoll, Ruth McCabe, Brian Gleeson
RunTime: 1 hr 27 mins
Released By: Shaw
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene, Violence and Some Gore)
Official Website: http://www.exclusivefilmsinternational.com/
Opening Day: 6 October 2011
Synopsis: The village of Wake Wood in rural Ireland has preserved a tradition which enables its inhabitants to bring a person back from the dead for three days, one year after their death, in order to say a final farewell to their loved ones, before they make their final journey to the spirit world. Patrick and Louise Daly have come to Wake Wood to take over the veterinary practice. They are relocating from the city to recover from the tragic death of their daughter. The couple can't have another child. They discover the ritual. Patrick and Louise ask if the villagers might bring their child back. The villagers agree to help but remind them that they can only have her back for three days and then she must return to the world of the dead. Patrick and Louise accept the rules, but when their child returns, they decide to keep her and break their agreement. The couple pay a terrible price for this transgression.
Movie Review:
Oh where do i begin with this mess? The obvious story? The terrible script? The sub par acting that is crawl worthy? OK, i might be exaggerating alittle but only because of my anger towards such monstrosity being able to sneak into the theaters here. Overall, it feels like a direct to DVD production or a film that will only see the light of day in a horror film festival as a filler. Yes, i am that emotional towards it as sensed from the get-go that started from the first sentence i wrote. Let’s break up into points at where it fails.
But before we jump into this pool of murky depth of horror, a little summary of what it’s all about. A young couple after meeting with a terrible tragic event with the loss of their beloved young daughter, moved to a creepy town/village and finds out the dark and mysterious secret that keeps the town alive. More like they really bring back the town alive from the dead. But of cos nothing is ever that simple. Rest assure, mayham will be abound and lives will be lost. I’ll be even more upset if it didn’t. Anyone wanna take a guess why the film sounds familiar? Talk about remakes and reboots, anyone remember the hit Stephen King’s Pet Semetary?
The main gripe i had with the whole feast was how unconvincing the “demon kid” was. It was rather apparent noticing how carefully edited the film was that the evil deed she does was of a different context in order not to traumatise her in real life. Quick cuts after quick cuts, the killing scenes were so disjointed that its rather laughable. It doesn’t help either that the kid isn’t really good and this was her first acting gig. Lucky her to be the main leading role is a feature film.
And then the script and story line came. Goodness gracious, how oddly rushed it was. There wasn’t a smudge of emotional being lingered to better understand the thoughts of the folks after they had lost their only daughter to a ravaging dog. Believe it or not, only way i managed to get their emotional distress was me filling in the blanks. Rather lazy of the film maker to expect the audience to leave it to us to fill in such crucial information. Not only that, perhaps it was the strain after a long day at work or perhaps watching it in the later part of the night was the cause of the unbelievable stretch the plot device had to pull through. Understanding the desperation was indeed the main factor for the drive to get their daughter back from the dead but everything just felt forced and non coherently casual. As time ticked by, the whole premises got weirder and not in a good way either. From the stereotypical acting of the mysterious town dwellers to the strange ritual done to resurrect the dead, i kept thinking what actually went through the writer’s head and wondered if they had a major hangover the next morning. The only saving grace was where it finally ends and we get to see a glimmer of menace which was rather an interesting angle to work for but alas, that's where the reel ended. Acting for the rest of the cast was rather blend and was rather disappointed at Aiden Gillen’s performance until the final shot of his menace.
Helming the vehicle, David Keating, bless his luck on winning best director at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, have to have made his very best of what is readily available but still puzzles at the poor choice of material. The production smelled like an amateur package and for what it’s worth, it’s a decent scare fest for a Saturday night with your buddy to poke fun at.
Movie Rating:
(I would guess anyone would be hardly awake when the film ends)
Review by Lokman B S
|
"THE HELP" SURPASSES US$100M AT THE US DOMESTIC BOX OFFICEPosted on 01 Sep 2011 |
SYNOPSIS: Fatalistic teenager George Zinavoy is a master at just barely getting by. In fact, he's practically turned it into an art form; making it through the entire school year without doing a shred of work. But when George meets a beautiful and complicated girl named Sally, he discovers a kindred spirit who turns his slacker world upside down. Their quirky and unexpected romance may just inspire George to do the unthinkable - get off his butt and chase after his dreams.
MOVIE REVIEW:
It’s really nice to see them grow up, isn’t it? It wasn’t too long ago when we remember Freddie Highmore playing that adorable wide eyed boy opposite Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet in Finding Neverland (2004) and of course, Charlie Bucket who finds a golden ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Now the 19 year old is all grown up, and taking on angst ridden teenager roles. In this Gavin Wiesen directed production, you get to see a different side of Highmore.
The London born actor plays George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who has somehow made it all the way to his senior year in school without ever having done a real day of work (we tried with our ever evolving education system here, but ended up being reprimanded instead). Thanks to what they call fate, he makes a friend in a girl named Sally (Emma Roberts, better known as Julia Roberts’ niece), who is popular in school, but hides a complicated side which very few people see. Before George knows it, Sally begins changing his life.
We have seen this sort of film before, where a lonely soul’s life is rekindled by an unlikely companion. Different personalities often draw people from different worlds together – at least that’s what happens in movies, anyway. Here, these two individuals are nicely portrayed by Highmore and Roberts, two talented young actors of this generation. While they are bogged down by a meandering screenplay which doesn’t offer much in the creative department, they manage to engage with their natural chemistry and likeable on screen presence.
Complementing the Highmore and Roberts are other actors like Michael Angarano, Elizabeth Reaser and Sam Robards who may not be your A listers, but do a decent job at playing their roles as a charismatic artist, a quirky mother and an uncaring stepfather respectively. You may also spot Alicia Silverstone and Rita Wilson in the ensemble piece.
Wiesen’s efforts in attempting to make this film an eccentrically unique can be felt, but the result is far from what the script’s potential offers. Through predictably mundane plot developments, viewers are brought through yet another somewhat inconsequential romance. The 84 minute film was an official selection at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, but only had a limited release in the States. It is a film which does not have enough character to draw the crowds, and it is probably due to that reason why distributors did not lap this up.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
This Code 3 DVD contains six promotional interstitials New York Slice of Life, On Young Love, The Art of Being Shy, The Art of Ditching School, The Art of First Love and The Art of Being a Misanthrope (each running at two to three minutes) where Highmore and Roberts talk about what they feel about the different themes explored in the film. Short, sweet and snappy, these clips are as likeable as the stars. HBO First Look – The Making of The Art of Getting By is a more in depth look at the production process of the film. The platter is rounded up by the film’s Theatrical Trailer.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual transfer of the movie is fine, and is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Digital.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by John Li
Genre: Thriller/Crime
Director: Kim Jee Woon
Cast: Lee Byung-Hun, Choi Min-Sik, Jeon Gook-Hwan, Jeon Ho-Jin, Oh San-Ha, Kim Yoon-Soo
RunTime: 2 hrs 22 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: R21 (Strong Violence)
Official Website: http://www.facebook.com/lunafilms
Opening Day: 15 September 2011
Synopsis: I SAW THE DEVIL is a shockingly violent and stunningly accomplished tale of murder and revenge. The embodiment of pure evil, Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. On a freezing, snowy night, his latest victim is the beautiful Juyeon, daughter of a retired police chief and pregnant fiancée of elite special agent Soo-hyun. Obsessed with revenge, Soo-hyun is determined to track down the murderer, even if doing so means becoming a monster himself. And when he finds Kyung-chul, turning him in to the authorities is the last thing on his mind, as the lines between good and evil fall away in this diabolically twisted game of cat and mouse.
Movie Review:
It won’t be James Cameron, but Korean director Kim Jee-Woon who will be the first to work with Arnold Schwarzenegger post-Governorship- and if his latest ‘I Saw The Devil’ is anything to go by, their ‘Last Stand’ should be one crackling firecracker of a movie. Excuse us for getting ahead of ourselves, but we reckon you probably already heard much critical buzz about this ultra-violent thriller. And indeed, this addition into the revenge thriller genre is one of the best you’ll see in a long while- gripping, intense and unflinching in its depiction of violence, and yet packed with a strong moral message that will resonate with you long after the credits are over.
The set-up is simple- on one end is Korean special agent Kim Soo-hyeon (Lee Byung-hun) whose pregnant fiancé Ju-yeon (Oh San-ha) was brutally murdered on her birthday; on the other is her killer Kyung-Chul (Choi Mik-sik), a minibus driver by day and serial murderer by night. As justification for what is to come, Ju-yeon is not simply killed, but butchered into several pieces and strewn into a remote countryside lake. In one of several brilliantly executed sequences, Soo-hyeon arrives at the lake just as the forensic team, swarmed by hordes of reporters, drops the box containing Ju-yeon’s head which rolls to a stop right in front of Soo-hyeon.
Faced with this heinous crime, Soo-hyeon decides to take two weeks off work to track down four possible suspects- one of whom turns out to be Kyung-chul. But even before he gets to the real killer, it’s clear Soo-hyeon has transformed into quite someone or should we say something else- going by the way he busts his first suspect’s balls (literally) with a hammer and leaves his second suspect equally incapacitated. The pent-up intensity from Soo-hyeon’s first two interrogations builds like a vise as his investigation leads him to find his fiancé’s engagement ring at Kyung-chul’s place, and finally culminates when he sneaks in on Kyung-chul about to claim his next victim in a greenhouse.
You may be surprised at how swiftly Soo-hyeon manages to catch up with Kyung-chul after just an hour into the movie, and perhaps even more so when Soo-hyeon lets him go. Rather than the traditional cat-and-mouse game, screenwriter Park Hoon-jung turns the game on its head by twisting it into a catch-and-release. Assisted with a tracking device in Kyung-chul’s gut, Soo-hyeon deliberately and repeatedly chases Kyung-chul down, brutalising him, and then letting him go once again. It is Soo-hyeon’s manner of inflicting both physical and psychological torment on Kyung-chul, the former payback for what Kyung-chul did to his fiancé and the latter payback for his own inner anguish Kyung-chul caused.
While Soo-hyeon’s first encounter with Kyung-chul may be gratifying for those looking to quell their righteous anger at the latter’s grotesque act, the second hour with the hunter becoming the hunted becomes quite a different beast altogether. Yes, there’s no denying that each of their physical encounters is riveting to watch, but the film is also intentionally discomforting to get its audience to contemplate if Soo-hyeon’s brutal methods are necessary and warranted. Kudos to director Jee-woon for presenting the violence in neither a sensationalistic nor evasive manner, instead finding just the right balance to serve it straight up and getting right at the heart of whether Soo-hyeon is justified in his transformation into the very monster Kyung-chul is in order to fight him.
Wherever your sentiments may lie, the climax packs a strong message of the repercussions of vengeance, and it is a spellbinding finish to a movie that never fails to engage every step of the way. Though there is none of the exuberance of his earlier Sergio Leone homage ‘The Good, The Bad, The Weird’, Jee-woon demonstrates his versatility as a director by delivering a splendidly made revenge thriller with a gripping pace and strong narrative momentum. He also has two great character actors in Byung-hun and Mik-sik, both of whom are excellent in their respective roles as hunter and hunted at different points in the film. But it is Mik-sik who turns out the more outstanding performer here, the ‘Old Boy’ veteran giving a restrained performance that doesn’t for once let his sadistic psychopath character turn into caricature.
And with the combination of Jee-woon’s masterful direction, Hoon-jung’s nifty scripting as well as Byung-hun and Mik-sik’s mesmerising performances, it is little wonder that ‘I Saw The Devil’ has been chalking up numerous accolades across the world- so much so that the movie was screened Stateside earlier this year ahead of this local theatrical release. We can attest that the wait is truly worth it, and this movie is simply a terrific entry into the hard-hitting thriller genre that the South Korean film industry has carved out a niche in of late.
Movie Rating:
(Look past the unflinching violence, and you’ll find that this is one suspenseful, gripping and intense thriller among the very best of its genre)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Crime/Drama
Director: Nicholas Winding Refn
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks, Christina Hendricks
RunTime: 1 hr 40 mins
Released By: Shaw
Rating: M18 (Violence and Gore)
Official Website: http://www.drive-movie.com/mobile/
Opening Day: 3 November 2011
Synopsis: Driver is a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can't help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene, a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard. After a heist intended to pay off Standard's protection money spins unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals. But when he realizes that the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash in his trunk - that they're coming straight for Irene and her son - Driver is forced to shift gears and go on offense.
Movie Review:
This crime drama movie is as straightforward as it can get. With an undemanding title like “Drive”, you can expect the film to be centered on someone who, well, drives. The protagonist is a nameless driver who is a Hollywood stunt performer by day, and a getaway driver at night. While there are a tad too many movies out there which are trying too hard to be smart, this Nicolas Winding Refn gets points for being unpretentious – the result is a fine character study of an individual who lives with a purpose.
After showing off his “photoshopped abs” in Crazy, Stupid, Love, Ryan Gosling shows the world he is one capable actor by taking on the role of a loner who works as a mechanic, stunt driver and getaway driver. After a heist gone wrong, he discovers that a contract has been put on him, causing him to take some very extreme actions for survival.
What’s a story without some angst laden love? Here, Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps) plays a neighbour whom our hero falls in love with. Enter some tough thugs and ruthless gangsters to the mix and you’ll get a highly stylised action movie which earned Refn a Best Director award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Based on the 2005 novel “Drive” by James Sallis, this 100 minute production is a reminder of how character development is essential to a good story. Academy Award nominated writer Hossein Amini (The Wings of the Dove) has translated the simple yet poignant tale from print to screen. The protagonist here is a loyal, lonely and somewhat suppressed individual who rises to the occasion when circumstances in life take a wrong turn. Through stark presentations of violence which grabs your attention, the filmmakers have successfully created a central character which speaks to its audience.
Through cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel’s (The Conspirator, Valkyrie) tragically gorgeous frames, the movie has a hard edged beauty which will appeal to fans of noir films. The use of exaggerated violence and very stylish art direction further adds to the viewing experience, and how the protagonist is living a spiraling world of visceral realism. Composer Cliff Martinez’s (Contagion, The Lincoln Lawyer) tensely overwrought score is also an apt element of the highly recommended film.
Points also go to Gosling and Mulligan for portraying characters which seem unspectacular on paper, but heartrendingly real on screen. Though the two photogenic actors do not have many lines (in fact, they do not share much screen time together), the chemistry is affectingly tender. The two up and coming stars also have a wonderful supporting cast to work with. Bryan Cranston’s (Larry Crowne) wily garage owner, Albert Brooks (Finding Nemo) and Ron Perlman’s (Conan the Barbrian) cold blooded mobsters, as well as Oscar Isaacs’ (Sucker Punch) loving father complement the film with understated but consequential characterizations.
The reason why this film works is because of the fundamental exploration of human nature in its rawest form. Couple that with visually striking sequences and you’d get a reflective tale of how we can be driven to extremes to pursue our desires.
Movie Rating:
(A beautifully visualised film which explores human nature’s rawest form)
Review by John Li
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Director: Rupert Sanders
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron, Ian McShane, Sam Claflin, Ray Winstone, Eddie Izzard, Bob Hoskins, Eddie Marsan, Lily Cole, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, Nick Frost, Liberty Ross, Noah Huntley, Sam Spruell
RunTime: 2 hrs 7 mins
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.snowwhiteandthehuntsman.com/
Opening Day: 31 May 2012
Synopsis: In the epic action-adventure Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays the only person in the land fairer than the evil queen (Oscar(r) winner Charlize Theron) out to destroy her. But what the wicked ruler never imagined is that the young woman threatening her reign has been training in the art of war with a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) dispatched to kill her. Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White's beauty and power. The breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale is from Joe Roth, the producer of Alice in Wonderland, producer Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and acclaimed commercial director and state-of-the-art visualist Rupert Sanders.
Movie Review:
Never in our farthest imaginings did we envision Snow White to be an ass-kicking warrior princess who would lead an entire army into battle, but that’s the reason why first-time feature film director Rupert Sanders’ interpretation of one of the Brothers Grimm’s most beloved fairy tales has been labelled revisionist. So revisionary is it that it even manages to turn its very title on its head, so much so that all that is white as snow is almost completely gone from the movie, replaced by dark and foreboding landscapes the stuff of some younger children’s nightmares.
Inspired no doubt by the contemporary age of feminism, first-time (yes we know this will be the second time we’re using that word) writer Evan Daugherty has taken interesting liberties with both the titular character as well as the villainous Queen. The latter in particular is given an intriguing twist as a woman both liberated and trapped by her beauty, for it was her ravishing looks that first won her the attention of a king but which diminishing by age had left her heartbroken. Fuelled by contempt, Ravenna (as the Queen is known here) has over decades gone from kingdom to kingdom winning the hearts of kings and then taking their lives.
Her latest conquest is that of a kind-hearted widowed King Magnus (Noah Huntley) and father of Snow White, whom she poisons then slaughters with a dagger on their wedding night. Of his young daughter Snow White she keeps imprisoned in a high tower, until a premonition by her golden mirror on the wall years later leaves her yearning for the come-of-age Snow White’s heart to achieve true immortality. Alas Snow White seizes the opportunity to escape when Queen Ravenna’s brother Finn (Sam Spruell) enters her cell to retrieve her for the Queen, fleeing the confines of her father’s former castle for the enchanted Dark Forest.
In turn, the Queen sends a grief-stricken drunk known only as the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) with knowledge of the woods in pursuit- though it doesn’t take long before he switches sides and ends up protecting her against Finn and the rest of his army. As Snow White endeavours to get to the grounds of Duke Hammond, an ally of her father’s, the Huntsman becomes as much her protector as well as her romantic interest. But as formula would dictate, there should be another corner to complete the love triangle- hence the obligatory presence of the Duke’s son William (Sam Claflin), who has apparently had a soft spot for Snow White since he was young.
What happened to the dwarves you might be ask? Well, rest easy if you’re a fan of the tale- the seven dwarves are still around, though they only appear in the second half of the movie. And just to reassure you that they have not been sidelined, they do play a pivotal role in Snow White’s mission to depose the Queen. As portrayed by a whole bevy of distinguished British character actors the likes of Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, Toby Jones and Brian Gleeson, their rowdy presence is also a much welcomed one, bringing some sorely missing levity into the otherwise sombre proceedings.
While the signature elements- poisoned apple, wall-hanging mirror, dwarves and evil Queen- are no doubt drawn from the classic fairy tale, Daugherty and his co-screenwriters John Lee Hancock and Hossein Amini adopt a cinematic tone and style taken from more contemporary fantasy adventures. In fact, the trio together with Sanders could be accused of leaning too heavily on some of these- Sanders’ framing of Snow White’s quest using sweeping shots against mountainous backdrops set to Celtic music is all too reminiscent of ‘Lord of the Rings’; while a late plot twist that gives new meaning to Snow White’s symbol as saviour to the people immediately invites comparisons with ‘Narnia’.
Chiefly, their version of Snow White isn’t so much Snow White as we know of it, but a feminist version of Robin Hood, who not only stands up for the injustices of those around her but leads them to battle against the forces that prevail. In that regard, this Snow White isn’t all that different from Tarsem’s earlier ‘Mirror, Mirror’, whose protagonist was similarly independent-minded if less swash-buckling. The new-age notion of Snow White as war heroine is interesting, but one that is ultimately let down by Kristen Stewart’s bland portrayal.
Consequently, this Snow White functions less as a character in itself, than as an obligatory complement to the malevolent Evil Queen, played with icy menace by Charlize Theron. The Oscar winner steals every minute of the show she is in- hers a coolly calculated performance of pent-up fury waiting to unleash itself. Theron is also aided by some nifty CGI and designer Colleen Atwood’s ravishing costumes, and we watch transfixed as she steps into a creamy milk bath or transforms back into human form from a flock of crows with her mantle and cloak a glistening black oil slick.
Yes, Sanders, who hails from the world of commercials and Xbox games, has a keen eye for visuals, and it shows amply in the gorgeously crafted shots- especially the contrast between light and dark to represent scenes of hope and despair respectively. And despite borrowing slightly too heavily from genre material, Sanders’ maiden attempt at a big-budget summer tentpole is as assured a debut as any- it is also to his credit that though the story does unfold at a very deliberate pace in the middle, it never turns out boring.
With this version of Snow White, Hollywood continues its recent trend of revisiting classic fairy tales for a modern-day twist, a formula that proved successful for ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (whose producer Joe Roth is also behind this movie) but less so for ‘Red Riding Hood’. On account of its distinctive take on the evil Queen as well as its nightmarishly brutal tone, it belongs in the league of the former than the latter. And indeed, having seen both ‘Snow White’ films this year, we can firmly say that this is the one you should see.
Movie Rating:
(Dark and unrelentingly Grimm take on the beloved fairy tale, but one that is visually astounding and grippingly paced)
Review by Gabriel Chong
|
YOU ARE THE APPLE OF MY EYE SETS NEW MILESTONE IN TAIWAN LOCAL FILM HISTORYPosted on 31 Aug 2011 |
Genre: Drama/Historical
Director: Jackie Chan
Cast: Jackie Chan, Li Bingbing, Joan Chen, Winston Chao, Jaycee Chan, Dennis To, Ning Jing, Hu Ge, Yu Shaoqun
RunTime: 1 hr 58 mins
Released By: Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: PG13 (War Violence)
Official Website:
Opening Day: 29 September 2011
Synopsis: Jackie Chan's 100th movie. A historical epic based on the 1911 Chinese Revolution, which ended the last feudal dynasty of China.
Movie Review:
Jackie Chan celebrates the milestone of the 100th film in his career with the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution, significant for ending the reign of the Qing Dynasty and ushering in a new era with the founding of the Republic of China. Simply titled ‘1911’, the expensive historical epic sees Chan taking on the role of General Huang Xing, who was leader Dr Sun Yat-Sen’s deputy and commander of the revolutionaries in several cities across South China.
Besides starring in the film, Chan also bankrolled the US$30mil drama and serves as ‘general director’ alongside TV director Zhang Qi- so let it be known that this is also Jackie’s passion project. Nonetheless, good intentions do not a good film make- and ‘1911’ is an excellent case in point. Meticulously researched and assembled to make it as authentic a depiction of history as possible, it is nonetheless underwhelming and lacking in heart, spirit and most of all passion. It is also less a film than a history lesson, and far less compelling than its peers ‘Founding of a Republic’ and ‘Beginning of the Great Revival’.
Yes, it is ostensibly modelled against the latter two similarly big-budget historical pictures that have taken a momentous chapter in China’s history and turned it into crowd-pleasing blockbuster entertainment with a who’s-who list of actors in roles both large and small. But even with ‘Founding’s’ screenwriters Wang Xingdong and Chen Baoguang, ‘1911’ lacks the finesse of both its genre predecessors, attempting too strenuously to squeeze as many characters and plotlines as possible into its two-hour running time.
We have no qualms with the film’s method of introducing its characters with onscreen captions, but there are just too many in here to even matter. Indeed, the sheer number of them means that some like Jaycee Chan’s Zhang Zhenwu, Yu Shaoqun’s Wang Jingwei, or Dennis To’s Xiong Bingkun have less than a minute of screen time, and disappear as quickly from their audience’s mind. The objective of honouring these martyrs and their respective contributions to the revolution is admirable, but some judiciousness should very well have been exercised to ensure that those given mention do make a difference in the film too.
The consequence of portraying so many characters at once is also that the first half of the film feels extremely haphazard, fast-forwarding from one event to another with little continuity. In fact, this film probably takes the crown for being most heavily reliant on inter-titles throughout its duration to explain each and every sequence, and the ill-conceived technique results in a film that feels oddly like watching a history textbook unfold before one’s eyes. It doesn’t help too that editor Yang Hongyu likes to interrupt scenes just as they are building up with flashbacks or parallel yet unrelated events, effectively preventing the audience from engaging with the characters within.
And even though history is supposed to be an objective and dispassionate exercise, that is no excuse for the lack of any true emotion in the film. Busy juggling the mammoth cast and characters, neither Jackie Chan nor Zhang Qi seem to have paid much attention to the development of the key roles- Huang Xing, Xu Zonghan and even Sun Yat-Sen. Their definition here is essentially one-note- whether the wise intellectual (Sun) or the brave military commander (Huang) or the quiet yet strong-willed wife (Xu)- and you’re not likely to feel any differently for any of the characters before and after the film. The only interesting character amongst them all is General Yuan Shikai (Sun Chun), depicted as shrewd and cunning in brokering the abdication of the feudal throne.
In truth, for all its promise of being a gritty war movie a la ‘Saving Private Ryan’, it is the political struggles in the last days of the Qing dynasty between the provisional president Sun Yat-Sen and Yuan Shikai that proves the most intriguing. Crammed into the last half hour of the film, this particular theme emphasises the challenge of instituting a new political regime which would replace a system more than 2000 years old. In contrast, the battle scenes lack intensity or any genuine thrills for that matter, often drowning in melodramatic music to demonstrate the heroism of the outnumbered and outgunned revolutionary forces against the Qing’s military might.
And we suspect that Jackie Chan fans may be most let down by that, since we do expect much better from the veteran actor who’s given us some of the most thrilling action movies in the 80s and 90s. Instead, Chan spends most of the time in the film looking old and aggrieved, with only a brief fight between Chan and three men coming close to the old Jackie we’ve grown to love. What’s perhaps even more perplexing is that while Chan gets top billing, his role as Huang Xing is overshadowed by Winston Chao’s Sun Yat-Sen and Sun Chun’s Yuan Shikai- not simply because both Chao and Chun are better dramatic actors, but also because there is more screen time devoted to both.
Precisely because we are huge fans of the star, it pains us to say that Jackie Chan’s 100th movie fails to live up to its expectations as a milestone film in his career or as a tribute to a significant event in modern China’s history. Better suited as a TV movie on the History Channel than a lavish blockbuster epic, ‘1911’ could be useful as educational material for those looking for an introduction to the founding of the republic- anyone else will likely be disappointed.
Movie Rating:
(Too much tell and too little show makes this epic less a movie than an underwhelming history lesson lacking in heart, spirit and passion)
Review by Gabriel Chong
| « Prev | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | Next » |
Most Viewed
No content.