Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Redford
Cast: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Danny Huston, Justin Long, Tom Wilkinson
RunTime: 2 hrs 6 mins
Released By: Shaw
Rating: PG (Some Violence and Disturbing scene)
Official Website: http://www.conspiratorthemovie.com/
Opening Day: 6 October 2011
Synopsis: In the wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice-president, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (ROBIN WRIGHT), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth (TOBY KEBBELL) and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks.
Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington , newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (JAMES McAVOY ), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken
realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt, her own son, John (JOHNNY SIMMONS). As the whole nation turns against her, she is forced to rely on Aiken to uncover the truth and save her life.
A riveting courtroom drama with action and thriller elements throughout, The Conspirator tells a powerful and haunting story about America then and now.
Movie Review:
History buffs would probably want to pay attention to this film, being the debut production of The American Film Company which had pledged to make accurate films from America's rich history. Without a doubt the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln sets the premise in which The Conspirator is based upon, but stripped to its core it details the progress that's been made of the legal and political system that we have come to be all too familiar with given pop culture, and the very compelling arguments made for the case to reform.
It is the time of national reconciliation with the great North-South divide still very much playing a deep role in society, and the untimely and unfortunate Lincoln assassination making it worse, with the War cabinet led by Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline) taking over and assigning his trusted men to become judge, jury and executioner, wanting to quickly move on from its investigations and trial of the captured suspects and assassination conspirators that seemed more like a witch-hunt and revenge effort rather than to seek justice. on the stand is the lone female accused conspirator Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) who got sucked into the scheme of things because her son John (Johnny Simmons) knows John Wilkes Booth (Toby Kebbell) and the others, and had used her boarding house for secret meetings leading to the fateful event.
So it's up to lawyer Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) to battle through his own reluctance to see beyond the obvious, and to battle personal prejudices against a woman whose only crime it may seem was to protect her son from prosecution and sure death, being clearly one of the perpetrators, whose whereabouts is unknown and in a way is quite the unfilial one for letting his mom stand accused for a severe crime she may not be a part of, other than to allow her premises to be used to get rent. Those of us who relish courtroom drama will find The Conspirator full of legalese arguments, although in a more primitive system back then, plus the fact of having unfair odds stacked against the defendant, becoming an uphill task for Frederick Aiken to try and get his client off the hook.
Robert Redford directs this film with unassuming, yet compelling style in keeping it pacey, and engaging for anyone who may not be knowledgeable about the details and background of the historical events that unfolded. With the commitment by the production for accuracy there's an incredible amount of detail in art direction to get things right, and the story by James D. Solomon and Gregory Bernstein contains just enough narrative depth without boring you or making it seem like a history lesson come alive. This is important since one can sieve through countless of fact based material to form conclusions, or to allow a properly made film to take us through the important points in just over two hours, only if it was told in a manner that sparks interest.
McAvoy also shines as the soldier turned lawyer as we see how he progresses into the feeling of disgust with the very blatant double standards, perjury and perversion of justice and the constitution even in a system that's being manipulated by higher powers to sway verdicts the way they want them to be, which reminds us of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. Robin Wright also gives her Mary Surratt a certain quiet dignity, and it's hard not to be judges ourselves whether she's in the loop of things or otherwise, though the fight here, clearly stated, goes beyond whether she knows, but fighting for one's rights according to due process, even if Mary Surratt may seem uninterested, but Frederick Aiken and his mentor (Tom Wilkinson) fiercely want to protect.
An ensemble cast also helped to boost interest in the film, with the likes of McAvoy, Wright, Kline, and those like Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Alexis Bledel all playing bit roles, although Justin Long did look a little out of place since he isn't quite believable as a blast from the past character, in some way no thanks to his usual typecast role of the teenager and young adult of today complete with natural idiosyncrasies.
The issues the film tackles go beyond the courtroom, and still stays relevant for today, speaking up about the dangers of power held in the hands of a few, who may choose to go rogue with it for whatever intent good and bad, and it is up to us to stand up and speak up about it, even though we may be put under the spotlights ourselves and have our lives made quite miserable. This is moral courage, which is something that cannot and shouldn't be extinguished. Recommended!
Movie Rating:
(Compelling David vs Goliath courtroom drama)
Review by Stefan Shih
SYNOPSIS: One day, a dying Sifu flees from the Imperial City to a small village. He is found by a humble farmhouse cook named Tu who, at the request of the dying Sifu, must return a very important Kung Fu Academy Tablet to the Sifu's daughter Moli in the Imperial City. Never having been to the city, Tu already gets off to a dangerous start - the old master and his daughter have gone missing! But to keep his promise, Tu has no choice but to stay in the Academy to wait for their return. He's bullied from day one for knowing no kung fu. But serving as a cook there, he picks up some kung fu as the days go by. He meets a mysterious girl (Moli) who identifies herself as Moyan to protect her safety. Tu doesn't know that this girl is the one he's supposed to pass the tablet to. After many misunderstandings, they are finally able to connect - but not before the big bad villain Slash decides to kill Moli and Tu for intervening with his evil plan to take over the entire China.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The question here is what if. What if “Kung Fu Rabbit” comes before Kung Fu Panda? What if “Kung Fu Rabbit” is the official spin-off from the DreamWorks’ franchise? Will it then receive a more stellar response from the general audience?
At the glance of it, “Kung Fu Rabbit” indeed has a lot of similarities to “Kung Fu Panda”. Instead of a rotund panda, we have a rotund rabbit who incidentally finds himself in the pugilist world after stumbling upon a dying master in front of his door step. The innocent rabbit named Tu (Rabbit in Chinese) is entrusted by the master to pass his Kung Fu Academy tablet to his only daughter, Peony who has left to join the circus. But before he breathed his last breath, the master transferred part of his energy and kung fu to Tu whose only speciality skill at this point is making fried cakes.
The story here is very much predictable, just like a typical martial-arts movie, the main villain, Slash is the one who caused the death of the master and usurp his throne to the Academy and it’s up to Peony and Tu to revenge his death. Despite the digestible running time of 90 minutes, most of the gags and humour fails to entertain and one prolonged segment involving two fumbling robbers at the start sticks out like a sore thumb. Even The voice talents which include Fan Wei voicing Tu, Yan Ni (A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop) for Poeny and veteran Zhang Feng Yi (Red Cliff) lending his villainess to Slash sounds a tad boring.
This US$18 million production from Tianjin, China overall boasts acceptable CG animation values while obviously still a long way to go comparing to a Hollywood production, this one is definitely notches above our local CG production, “Zodiac: The Race Begins”. The quality of the CG characters and backgrounds are pretty uneven and detailing such as animal fur, clothing are sparse and flat.
Yet “Kung Fu Rabbit” is not a total disaster at the end of the day. There are at least a few noteworthy sequences that are at least watchable, one involving Tu doing his graceful routine of cakes frying and a fight sequence which ends with Peony and her sidekick, a tiny rabbit named Biggie escaping on a hang glider. Director Sun Lijin even ropes in a Taiji master for the kung fu choreography for authenticity purposes and the score done by Hong Konger Peter Kam is as good as the one Hans Zimmer did for the Kung Fu franchise.
Given more technological resources and dialogues that needs further polishing; “Kung Fu Rabbit” would have achieved better results. Never mind the filmmakers even tried to take a dig at Kung Fu Panda by making Slash a bear disguising as a panda!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD comes with a trailer and a photo gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is a bit underwhelming during the action sequences and fortunately with the inclusion of English and Chinese subtitles, you won’t be lost amid the heavy Chinese accents. Picture quality is acceptable.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Huo Caiguo is forced to keep his marriage a secret in order to get a new job as an assistant at a perfume company. As his CEO Mandy becomes more appreciative of him, their relationship starts to arouse the suspicions of his wife, Jingyi, who also discovers Caiguo has been lying about his marital status at work. The inevitable happens when Caiguo and Mandy are on a business trip together, and Jingyi asks for a divorce. The heartbroken Caiguo buries himself in work and mixes a scent that becomes a bestseller. Jingyi sees the ads that say: “Let’s get married… its love’s antidote”. Will the new scent be the antidote they need to heal themselves and start afresh?
MOVIE REVIEW:
‘Mr and Mrs Single’ represents the kind of mid-budget rom-com fare that’s fast becoming a staple genre in the burgeoning Chinese film industry. Basically the formula goes like this- take one male and one female regional star (could be either Hong Kong, Taiwan or even China), hire someone from Hong Kong as director and then put them together in a glossy, slickly packaged rom-com complete with the kind of clichés you would otherwise find in a Hollywood product.
This time, the pair of stars happen to Eason Chan and Rene Liu, the former from Hong Kong and the latter from Taiwan. Chan plays Mike, a typical working executive who’s just been recruited in a high-paying job to be the assistant to the CEO of a perfume company Mandy (Liu). Mandy’s the apparent equivalent of Miranda Priestly in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, the domineering female boss whose subordinates cower in fear and who expects her assistant to be on call and around 24 hours a day. Even if the film doesn’t admit it, the relationship between Mike and Mandy is pretty much mirrored after that in the Hollywood film.
The catch here however is that Mike has to pretend to be single- in the cutthroat working world of China, marriage is apparently frowned upon, and seen as an impediment to career advancement. This of course strains his marriage to Jenny (Bai Bing), even more so given that she works in the same office building as he does. The social relevance is interesting, but neither the screenwriters nor the director fully exploit the premise for sharp satire.
Instead, director Patrick Kong, whose filmography consists mostly of rom-coms, plays the comedy according to formula. So true enough, Mike and Mandy develop mutual attraction, while Mike and Jenny’s marriage end up in lies, misunderstandings and quarrels- the ending nonetheless is formulaic happily-ever-after for everyone, and the focus on these individual going-ons means that very little is spent exploring the phenomenon of ‘pretend-singlehood’ which the film purports to explore.
As pure formula, the film is nonetheless elevated by the fine chemistry between Eason Chan and Rene Liu. Kong also does a good enough job ensuring that the film remains engaging throughout, even if it never turns out as interesting as you would expect it to. Good enough if you’re in the mood for some rom-com diversion, but not great enough to make it a must-see, ‘Mr and Mrs Single’ just proves that the growing China film industry may very well become yet another clone at churning out the formulaic rom-coms that Hollywood has made great business out of over the years.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Just the trailer and a gallery of stills from the movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Both actors speak fluent Chinese, so the Chinese audio track here does fine in bringing out their natural voices. Visuals are clean and crisp.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: At a tender age, Shi Tian Cai has been influenced by his father's gambling addiction and known among his peers to be the junior gambling king. At 8 years of age, Tian Cai's father died in a fire leaving behind Tian Cai to fend for himself. As years go by…Tian Cai got married to Zhi Hui who is about to give birth. Tian Cai gambles to support his family and he believes that through gambling he would make himself rich. Tian Cai works with Honey, a junket who harbours deep affection for him, and wins at high-stake gambling sessions. With Tian Cai’s innate gambling instinct and talent, he managed to make a huge windfall. However, Tian Cai’s gambling ability generates envy and hatred from a Taiwanese tycoon Li Guan Jun. Each step that Tian Cai takes ultimately brings him closer to his nemesis and imminent death…
MOVIE REVIEW:
Li Nanxing can be considered as an iconic figure in the local television industry. After spending more than 20 years as a leading actor (and still is!) in Mediacorp, the 46 years old actor finally went behind-the-scenes as a director and star of “The Ultimate Winner”.
Ask anyone on the streets and most will likely remembered Li as Yan Fei in the enormously popular gambling theme drama series, “The Unbeatables”, our local counterpart to Chow Yun Fatt’s God of Gambling. Thus it comes as no surprise that Li decides to do his debut feature on gambling though it comes with a huge catch if you think you know what’s brewing.
Li stars as Tian Cai, a man who makes his living gambling. He believes he has the gift for it and despite his wife’s (played by Rebecca Lim from Channel 5, “The Pupil) protest, Tian Cai continues his wayward ways and met an opponent, Champion Lee (Taiwanese drama King, Aaron Chen) that will destroyed all that he has.
With a screenplay by seasoned TV director Harry Yap (he too helmed a gambling comedy, “Happy Go Lucky" starring Fann Wong last year), “The Ultimate Winner” is bogged down by formulaic plotting, weak characterization and a very preachy, not so subtle message – Gambling is bad. Despite the movie taking place across a period of three years and more, characters remain the same with nothing substantial to explain the happenings. Li reverts back to his gambling habit after a hiatus. His business partner cum admirer, Honey (Constance Song) still carries a torch for him. His wife continues to nag at him. Champion Lee is as unpredictable as before and that’s because we knew so little about the man.
And perhaps due to Li’s friendship, many other familiar Mediacorp stars, Huang Shinan, Zheng Geping, Chen Shucheng, Rayson Tan, Phyllis Quek and Dai Yang Tian walks in and out of this drama without making much of a lasting impression except Rayson’s character committing suicide at People’s Park and screaming at God.
Gone are the wildly-imagined card tricks and intense gambling sequences, what we have here is a few exhilarating racing sequences featuring Porsche, Lamborghini racing down our fantastic looking skyline in replacement. And not to mention, the constant references to Christianity can be a frustrating experience and this might come unprepared especially for mainstream audiences expecting a jolly well-executed high tension drama.
Although Li is competent in his directing debut in other aspects of this production such as the look and feel which probably appears much better than an average local title, “The Ultimate Winner” is a disappointing affair, the intention is a good one but it can’t really salvage an incoherent plotting. The National Council on Problem Gambling might probably pick this one up for educational purposes.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The 22 minutes Making of feature interviews with Li and other cast members and plenty of behind-the-scenes shots liked how the car racing sequences are staged.
The DVD also comes with a Teaser and Theatrical Trailer, Photo Gallery and a Music Video.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is competent enough for the dialogue-based drama and the video quality is acceptable.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Hong Kong, the present day. At the luxurious Yee Low Mental Sanatorium, psychiatrist Xiao Tingqin (Tang Yifei) is assigned the case of "special" patient Sum Liu-sheung (Cherrie Ying), who claims to live both in the real world and 12 parallel universes, and appears to have special powers. As soon as they meet, Sum starts playing mind-games with Xiao, whose one-year-old marriage to independently wealthy policeman Zhen Shanlin (Stephen Fung) is already under serious strain, due to her workaholia and her aversion to being touched by him. Sum introduces Xiao to the scientific concept of "worm-holes", through which one can travel in time and to parallel universes, and stirs memories in Xiao of her past relationship both with Zhen and her first love, Ji Lü. Zhen's friendship with gourmet-food shop-owner Gu Xilin has also put further strain on her marriage, and one day, meeting them in the street, she starts to wonder whether Sum has enabled her to experience parallel versions of her life.
MOVIE REVIEW:
There are bad movies, and then there are movies like ‘Virtual Recall’. Based on a Chinese novel by Law Wing-Sum, this psychological thriller with elements of science fiction is so ineptly bad you wonder just how the stars involved could possibly be signed up for it. And we’re not talking unknown B-list actors that need a paycheck at the end of the day- there’s Hong Kong actor Stephen Fung, who once had a promising directorial career with ‘Enter the Phoenix’ and ‘House of Fury’; there’s Cherrie Ying, a regular supporting player in Johnnie To/ Wai Kar Fai comedies; and then there’s Tang Yi-Fei (ok, her last work was Wong Jing’s awful ‘Future X-Cops’ so this can’t exactly be considered a step down).
Anyhow, Tang plays a psychologist, Dr Xiao Tingqin, at a sanatorium whose patient Sum Liu-sheung (Ying) tells her of parallel worlds and tries to control her mind to play Russian Roulette. But it turns out that Tingqin is no saint herself- her one-year marriage to a decorated policeman Zhen Shanlin (Fung) is breaking apart at the seams, and the two don’t even stay in the same apartment apart from hosting mutual friends for dinner celebrations. Basically, the incoherent plot has to do with the mind games that Liu-sheung subjects Tingqin to, confusing her by leading her to think that she is in some parallel dimension or another.
Frankly, we can’t be bothered- especially not when director and co-writer Larry Cheung has absolutely no idea himself. Right from the start, Cheung displays an extraordinary ability at unintentional humour, so much so that you admire the actors for being able to keep a straight face throughout the film. Like most Chinese directors, Cheung fails spectacularly at both the psychological thriller and the sci-fi genre, and his clumsy attempt to meld the two together into one just makes the unfolding tragedy even more unbearable. Cheung also lacks Wong Jing’s crude talent at making trash look good, so the film, which moves along with absolutely zero narrative momentum, with its abundant flaws are so plainly apparent.
It’s not surprising with such clunky direction that even Stephen and Cherrie’s combined efforts can’t save the film. Both look as if they are merely clocking in their time, leaving the heavy lifting to Tang Yi-fei. The Chinese actress bares a surprising amount of skin for the role (at least for a Chinese movie), but even her titillating antics can’t overcome the film’s sheer tedium to register a pulse. And there is really no reason to give a damn, for ‘Virtual Recall’ might as well have been titled ‘Virtual Amnesia’- for that was exactly what we wanted after sitting through every godawful 90 minutes of it.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Just a trailer and a photo gallery of stills from the movie.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 works just fine for the film, and since half the actors speak in Chinese and the other in Cantonese, it’s a toss-up between either audio track. Visuals are clear, but the film’s own visuals lack polish.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Two street inspectors named Gong and Ba were on the mysterious murder case in town. However, when the real murderer was finally revealed, Gong realized the danger was much closer to home than he could ever imagine and as a result of an unlikely friendship is tested.
MOVIE REVIEW:
For those who are too young to know, director Wong Jing was once a hotshot director/writer/producer and held the notorious record of churning out countless of titles a year. Not to mention, he has directed more superstars including Chow Yun Fatt, Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, Jet Li and Stephen Chow than anybody else in the HK film industry.
“Treasure Inn” marks Wong’s return to the local cinema screens after last year’s dismal sci-fi action piece, “Future X-Cops”. This time round, the prolific director with the aid of famed action choreographer Corey Yuen, conjured a martial-arts flick with his usual dosage of ‘mo-lei-tau’ humour, romance bits and detective elements in another of his own sloppy scribing work.
Nicholas Tse and Nick Cheung play a pair of junior constables on probation who are being framed for a murder case in their hometown. A valuable Goddess of Mercy statue is missing and a whole family is massacred if you must know. Stumbling upon a pair of sisters and a doctor along the way to Treasure Inn where the statue is believed to be auction to the richest buyer, the duo is out to clear their names not knowing the utmost danger they are going to face.
As per any Wong’s works, the movie is filled with bits and pieces plucked from many other superior productions and his brand of racy humour though soften by a lot here to suit the conservative China market is chuckling at best. One of the core villains’ weapon of choice is a Chinese lute, anyone recall “Kung Fu Hustle”? And the purpose of “Treasure Inn” situating in the middle of the harsh desert works almost in similar fashion to “Dragon Inn”.
Of course, you can’t be too picky watching a Wong Jing’s production, after all this is a man who makes his name doing nonsensical comedies. Yet, one can’t help feeling that Wong is seriously over the hill with his over reliance on Nick Cheung’s bucky-tooth character for comic relief and Corey Yuen’s not so impressive action sequences, atrocious CG effects to tide us over for the next half of the movie.
Nick Cheung is a competent comedic actor (drama as well), it’s the weak material that fails him. The heavy wire works here seems too easy for Nicholas Tse’s athletic skills and Charlene Choi plays for the umpteen times a tantrum-throwing possessive girl. Wong also throws in Mainland actors liked Tong Dawei, Liu Yang, Huang Yi and HK actor Kenny Ho into this bundle of slipshod storytelling.
With advancing technology, audience demands and the increasing ticket pricing not helping, it’s a miracle that Wong Jing is still sticking to his worn out formula in the year 2011.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The short Making of feature consists mainly of interviews with the main cast members, director Wong Jing and action choreographer Corey Yuen.
The DVD also comes with a Theatrical Trailer and a Photo Gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The overall Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack and video quality is acceptable for this production. Another good thing is the DVD actually has the original Cantonese language as an option.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Comedy/Crime
Director: Brett Ratner
Cast: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe, Casey Affleck, Stephen Henderson, Judd Hirsch, Michael Peña, Alan Alda
RunTime: 1 hr 46 mins
Released By: UIP
Rating: PG13 (Coarse Language and Sexual References)
Official Website: http://www.towerheist.net/
Opening Day: 3 November 2011
Synopsis: Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead an all-star cast in Tower Heist, a comedy caper about working stiffs who seek revenge on the Wall Street swindler who stiffed them. After the workers at a luxury Central Park condominium discover the penthouse billionaire has stolen their retirement, they plot the ultimate revenge: a heist to reclaim what he took from them. Queens native Josh Kovacs (Stiller) has managed one of the most luxurious and well-secured residences in New York City for more than a decade. Under his watchful eye, nothing goes undetected. In the swankiest unit atop Josh’s building, Wall Street titan Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) is under house arrest after being caught stealing two billion from his investors. The hardest hit among those he defrauded? The tower staffers whose pensions he was entrusted to manage. With only days before Arthur gets away with the perfect crime, Josh’s crew turns to petty crook Slide (Murphy) to plan the nearly impossible…to steal what they are sure is hidden in Arthur’s guarded condo. Though amateurs, these rookie thieves know the building better than anyone. Turns out they’ve been casing the place for years, they just didn’t know it.
Movie Review:
We have to hand it to ‘Rush Hour’ director Brett Ratner- say what you will about his lack of depth as a filmmaker, but the guy deserves accolades for rewarding one of the best comedians of our time with one of his best roles in recent years. Yes, we’re talking about Eddie Murphy, who spent the past few years wasting away in fat suits and learning how to talk to animals- but thanks to Ratner, those days are hopefully over, as Murphy returns to the wisecracking, smart-mouthed sass that we loved so much in his ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ days.
Murphy is here playing the streetwise criminal Slide, recruited by a bunch of blue-collar workers to rob a Bernie Madoff-type Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) responsible for swindling away their hard-earned pension money. It takes some time for screenwriters Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson to set up the premise under which these hardworking men would conspire to commit such a high-stakes crime, but once they do the necessary to pave the way for Murphy’s entry, the film becomes an entirely different animal altogether, enlivened by the sheer energy and verve of Murphy’s irreverence.
The film’s best moments come courtesy of Murphy’s instructions, teaching the bunch of rookies- including the ringleader Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller), the slow-witted Charlie (Casey Affleck), the jumpy Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick) and the naïve Enrique (Michael Pena)- what it takes to be a criminal. All but Fitzhugh are employees at a luxurious high-rise residential building on Manhattan’s Columbus Circle (played by Trump Tower Columbus Circle) called The Tower- Josh the manager, Charlie the concierge and Enrique the recently employed bellhop- and basically good honest people forced to thievery both by circumstance and Shaw’s absolute arrogance. Oh and let’s not forget the Jamaican maid Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe) with some much-needed safe-cracking expertise, whose sexual advances at Murphy are equally laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Once the gang get their act together, the witticisms are unfortunately taken over by the heist proper. ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ scribe Griffin ensures that the break-in remains riveting throughout, keeping it true to the crew’s inexperience by having their initial plans thwarted and leaving them scrambling to hunt for Shaw’s prized treasure. Yet entertaining as the heist- that unfolds over Macy’s Thanksgiving parade- may be, the crime is too elaborate and too far-fetched to remain credible to the end, demanding that reason be (quite literally, we may add) thrown out of the window. Credit however must go to Ratner for staging these improbable sequences with admirable flair, so much so that you’ll be willing to forgive the leaps of logic it tries to get away with.
Of course, it isn’t just Murphy that Ratner has brought along for the caper, but an excellent ensemble cast whose chemistry lights up the movie. Affleck’s deadpan performance is consistently humorous, none more so than when he gives a monotone pep talk to the rest of the staff on the eve of Thanksgiving. Broderick plays it low-key most of the time, but he gets much sympathy as the middle-class fellow that has fallen on hard times as well as a fair share of laughs learning to be on the other side of the law. Pena is especially amusing acting goofy, the actor usually cast in more serious fare revealing a hidden gift for comedy. And together, Stiller, Murphy, Affleck, Broderick and Pena are a great team, bouncing off each other's lines with perfect timing.
Yet as much as the film is played for laughs, it doesn’t forget that its characters are mirrored on those who have similarly lost their jobs or even their life savings in the wake of the economic crisis over the past three years- so Ratner and his screenwriters give the movie added emotional heft through Lester (Stephen McKinley Henderson), the veteran doorman of The Tower who tries to commit suicide when he realises his money which he gave to Shaw to invest is all gone. His despair is the catalyst that puts Josh’s plans into motion- and Ratner lets Shaw’s comeuppance be somewhat a vicarious triumph for the working-class among his audience who see parallels between themselves and Josh and the rest of his crew.
Then again, social commentary isn’t Ratner’s primary purpose here- rather, the filmmaker whose direction has often been criticised as workmanlike is once again out to make the kind of broad commercial entertainment best characterised by his ‘Rush Hour’ trilogy. And by that standard, Ratner has succeeded immensely, delivering a high-energy comic caper that moves at a brisk clip and dishes out the laughs and the action in generous quantities. But perhaps his greatest accomplishment is to restore Eddie Murphy to his former ‘80s persona- yes, Murphy’s in top form here, and that alone should tell you how much fun ‘Tower Heist’ is.
Movie Rating:
(Lively entertaining heist caper that packs more than its fair share of laughs, thanks to a great ensemble cast- including a wisecracking Eddie Murphy back in top comedic form)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Director: Tarsem Singh
Cast: Henry Cavill, Stephen Dorff, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans, Kellan Lutz, John Hurt, Mickey Rourke
RunTime: 1 hr 50 mins
Released By: UIP
Rating: M18 (Violence And Sexual Scene)
Official Website: http://www.immortalsmovie.com/
Opening Day: 17 November 2011
Synopsis: Eons after the Gods won their mythic struggle against the Titans, a new evil threatens the land. Mad with power, King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) has declared war against humanity. Amassing a bloodthirsty army of soldiers disfigured by his own hand, Hyperion has scorched Greece in search of the legendary Epirus Bow, a weapon of unimaginable power forged in the heavens by Ares. Only he who possesses this bow can unleash the Titans, who have been imprisoned deep within the walls of Mount Tartaros since the dawn of time and thirst for revenge. In the king’s hands, the bow would rain destruction upon mankind and annihilate the Gods. But ancient law dictates the Gods must not intervene in man’s conflict. They remain powerless to stop Hyperion…until a peasant named Theseus (Henry Cavill) comes forth as their only hope. Secretly chosen by Zeus, Theseus must save his people from Hyperion and his hordes. Rallying a band of fellow outsiders—including visionary priestess Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and cunning slave Stavros (Stephen Dorff)—one hero will lead the uprising, or watch his homeland fall into ruin and his Gods vanish into legend. The 3-D epic adventure Immortals is directed by revolutionary visualist Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) and produced by Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton, the producers of 300, as well as Ryan Kavanaugh (Dear John, The Dark Fields).
Movie Review:
Greek mythology is never going out of fashion on film with interest seen from the likes of a Clash of the Titans remake of an 80s film, a follow up sequel, and an expected franchise from the Percy Jackson series which featured a slate of younger looking Olympian gods and their offspring in a modern day setting, which director Tarsem Singh's film Immortals had seemed to draw inspiration from in keeping his Olympians blessed with a much younger looking facade, despite having waged a protracted war in the prologue resulting in the fallen gods now known as the Titans being trapped within Mount Tartarus, awaiting the fabled day that someone will free them all with the Epirus bow, for them to exact revenge.
In Charles and Vlas Parlapanides' story, Immortals is a mythology loosely based on Theseus and the Minotaur and the Battle of the Titans, and emphasis on loose indeed, based upon an imagined series of events, so you can throw whatever you know about Theseus and mythological references out of the window, save for key highlights. In its bold attempt to really rock the narrative boat and track record, it dived into showcasing an all out war where there are no innocent bystanders, with heavy casualties from the sides of men, gods and titans when they come clashing together, hard. Characters do get knocked off when you least expect them to, and in doing so rewriting what it means to be immortal.
For the main villain King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), immortality means sowing his seed in the most extreme of fashion, with the killing of expectant mothers, and the impregnation of women in towns his troops plunder to fuel his sick fetish of having almost all of the next generation of humankind bear some semblance to him, while for the hero Theseus (Henry Cavill previewing just how physical his Superman can be), he goes by the principle of being defined in life after death based on the heroic deeds performed in this lifetime. One declares war on the Olympian gods through the search of the Epirus Bow to unleash hell on earth and in the heavens, while the other has to choose to fight on the side of the gods led by Zeus (Luke Evans, promoted from his Apollo portrayal in the Clash of the Titans remake), but having to be turned into a believer first, and then being told to carry out the deeds of the gods without getting any direct assistance from beings of higher powers. Talk about being used.
You may have reservations from the trailer that this may be another Zack Snyder's 300 knockoff eager to cash in on the look and feel of that film given the spluttering developments of a 300 sequel, but the end product and the fight sequences were top notch here, and ensuring one watches this in a hall with a proper sound system set up will pay dividends. The 3D effects were limited to depth of field with no key highlights deliberately planned to exploit any in-your-face moments. But whether digital, 3D or otherwise, credit has to go to the excellent fight choreography and sound design team for really coming up some pretty nifty battle sequences with moves that will draw gasps of admiration for the action junkie, and sound that provided an added dimension to the battles, especially so for any battles involving the gods descending upon earth.
Here's where you'd see references to Synder and 300 made, with action bits slowed down and sped up, with plenty of violence in between from full on decapitation, blades cutting through flesh, and enough scenes of torture no thanks to the character of King Hyperion that can make the staunchest of torture porn fans squeal. Tarsem seemed to really amplify the violence and gore that just about bordered on exploitation, though employing his usual keen sense of visual flair to make them all very wickedly stunning and turning them into guilty pleasures. Immortals had set the bar up high for any other Olympian god movie to follow from their shiny golden armour right down to the sheer power, intensity and speed of executed moves in shock and awe fashion.
The highlights of the film are the battles, with the story in part about the quest for a magical weapon being just an excuse to link the sequences together. The film is riddled with plenty of plot and narrative loopholes, some even transcending space and time that blunts the value of the story, especially when the abilities of gods, titans and even men get blurred. What's more, there were some very incoherent scenes that posed more questions than to move the story forward, leaving behind narrative gaps in its wake, which is a pity since they served as a distraction and will leave one wondering what had happened in the meantime, other than being distracted by Tarsem's sense of style and scale through the liberal use of CG landscapes.
Movie Rating:
(Fantastic action doesn't guarantee cinematic immortality)
Review by Stefan Shih
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