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WISHING ALL READERS A HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR & 兔年大吉!Posted on 20 Jan 2023 |
Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller
Director: Frant Gwo
Cast: Andy Lau, Wu Jing, Li Xuejian, Sha Yi, Wang Zhi, Zhu Yan Man Zi, Wang Zhi Fei, Wan Qian
Runtime: 2 hrs 53 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 22 January 2023
Synopsis: The sun is about to be destroyed, and humans have built huge engines on the Earth’s surface to help them find a new home. However, the road out into the universe is perilous. In order to save the Earth, a group of young people once again stepped forward to begin a battle against life and death.
Movie Review:
The Wandering Earth II in actual fact is a prequel to the 2019 hit. Thus to benefit those who missed the first, here’s a brief recap. Earth is facing a global doom when the sun is expanding and will soon kill everyone unless humans move the Earth to another solar system. While the problem is temporary resolved, earth is soon going to be destroy by Jupiter. In comes a young man named Liu Qi who defied all odds to save humanity with the guidance of his estranged father, Liu Peiqiang (Wu Jing), a space pilot stationed in an outer space station.
Frank Gwot returns to helm The Wandering Earth II which tells the origin story of Peiqiang and how the moving mountain project comes to fruition. You know the part where the UEG (United Earth Government) comes together to build a gigantic space station, put a bunch of accelerators on one side of the globe and move Earth out of Sun’s way.
Thus, the first 40 minutes unabashedly showcases the insane CGI quality which is a notch higher than the original and non-stop barrage of information which includes the time crunch faced by the UEG, protests and sabotages by terrorist groups against the project and laughingly, a clumsy setup of a romance subplot involving Peiqiang and his wife-to-be, Duo Duo (Wang Zhi).
In short besides the harrowing plot of Earth going kaput anytime soon, the movie is seen through the eyes of three individuals. First up is of course Liu Peiqiang who volunteers for the potentially deadly space program because he wants to leave a slot for his young son to stay safely in the underground bunkers. Why and how the people go about in their lives below ground, you need to watch The Wandering Earth.
Anyway, the second belongs to Tu Hengyu (HK superstar Andy Lau in a “special appearance”), a system engineer in charge of an advanced computing system in the lunar system. But Tu has an ulterior motive of his own, he wants his mentor to restart the digital life project in order to let his late daughter continue to live her life “virtually” in the online world. How and what on earth a digital life ought to be is never elaborate further in the movie. In any case, we need to move on.
The third, Hao Xiaoxi (Zhu Yan Man Zi), is a protégé under the wise and relentless Chow, the UEG rep for China. Through Hao and Chow, we see how China save the world just like how we are so use to watching America saving the world from being destroyed in Independence Day, Deep Impact and The Core. No doubt, it’s mere typical Chinese propaganda material at least the grandeur speech made by Chow about human survival and civilization is pretty admirable.
The Wandering Earth II works best when it comes to portraying the flaws of an ordinary human. What’s missing here is a well-known star playing the perfect hero which ironically plays much to the movie’s strength. Both Liu Peiqiang and Tu Hengyu are doting fathers and family men. But they are men with real human flaws. Wu Jing fortunately is not putting on his Wolf Warrior persona instead he is a fumbling soldier fighting for his son and his supposedly intended sacrifice is more to ending his own misery due to his wife demise than for the nation. Lau should be commended for playing a selfish scientist who very much puts the Earth at risk with his continual mumbo-jumbo about resurrecting his daughter who died in a tragic traffic accident.
Still, to put it delicately, The Wandering Earth II is by no means a casual viewing experience for movie goers looking for an enjoyable, leave-your-brains-at-the-door time in the cinemas during the festive season. Most of the time, it’s brooding and brimming with talking heads from scientists to political figures. The story based on a novel by Liu Cixin has no lack of scientific jargons, facts and big ideas. However, it barely scratches the surface despite being close to three hours as it’s overcomplicated with unnecessary chaos and developments, running from one set piece to another. In other words, be prepare to go in with a clear mind and attention to be fully immerse in Gwo’s world.
Lastly, most impressive we must add is the visuals and production values which is on par with any major Hollywood productions out there. Every second onscreen consists of one or many beautifully rendered or CGI enhanced images. Even the late Ng Man-Tat is recreated onscreen for a brief cameo as Peiqiang’s father-in-law and we suppose Lau is also subtlety digitally de-aged in the finale.
And there’s also a mid-credits so don’t go rushing to the restrooms.
Movie Rating:
(An uncompromising sci-fi extravaganza bogged down by an extreme long runtime)
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: From war-torn Syria to the 2016 Rio Olympics, two young sisters embark on a harrowing journey as refugees, putting both their hearts and champion swimming skills to heroic use. Based on a true story.
MOVIE REVIEW:
A story of a refugee turns Olympian? No, this is not a make-believe tale from Hollywood but a true story of Yusra Mardini and her sister, Sara and how they trek across dangerous territories, overcame dire straits to be whom they are today in this inspiring movie from filmmaker Sally El Hosaini.
Sisters Yusra and Sara leads a normal teenage life in Syria except their father, Ezzat (Ali Suliman), an ex-swimmer himself is coaching her two daughters in swimming and preparing them for the 2016 Rio Olympics. However, their plans and ambitions are cut short by the impending civil war and the sisters together with their cousin, Nizar (Ahmed Malek) has to fled the war-torn country hoping to have a better life in Germany.
The Swimmers takes a somewhat polished documentary approach in telling the ordeals of the sisters as they have to first attempt to cross the sea to Lesbos on a worn-out boat in Turkey. Of course, things don’t go as plan and the boat full of refugees nearly drowned if not for the courageous actions and quick thinking of the sisters. It’s a heart-pounding sequence for sure despite knowing that they will survive in the end.
Certainly, their ordeal doesn’t end there as they face shady people along the way, mostly out to con the poor refugees out of their money as they promised safe transportation to their next destination except it’s just lies on top of lies. And we have yet mentioned the possibilities of being abused or raped by strangers especially when you are a young lady liked Yusra. The Swimmers brought to light on how fragile refugees are in real-life through the eyes of the Mardini sisters.
The screenplay written by Hosaini and Jack Thorne (Enola Holmes, The Aeronauts) is more of a survival story than an inspiring sports drama. Even though the third act focused heavily on Yusra’s training under German coach Sven (Matthias Schweighofer) and the revival of her Olympics dream and doubt, her journey as a refugee carries more weight and depth than her eventual Olympic bid.
Still, the movie is shot beautifully by cinematographer Christopher Ross. The acting is also top notch as the Mardini sisters are portrayed convincingly by real-life sisters Manal and Nathalie Issa as the former puts on a spunky performance as the rebellious elder sis and Nathalie is heartbreaking as the darling of her father and the one that has to fulfil the family’s wish of her being an Olympian.
While The Swimmers is a much more complex sports movie than the average underdog sports drama given the shocking and struggle story behind, the generic finale feels less engaging to the much superior first and second act.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Devotion, an aerial war epic based on the bestselling book of the same name, tells the harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Perhaps Devotion came out at the wrong time especially in the same year where another aviation movie called Top Gun: Maverick made such a huge killing at the box office. This is so true when you think of the famous Chinese idiom, “One Mountain cannot contain two tigers”.
While Devotion is indeed a movie about aviation as well, it’s a totally different beast from the Tom Cruise one. In fact, it’s a biography about Ensign Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), the first Black American aviator to graduate from flight school and fought alongside his wingman, Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) in the 1950 Korean war.
Instead of doing a full-blown biography on Brown, the story oddly focused strictly on the brief time he has with his family and team mates before he set off on the mission to support the South Koreans. We see Brown as he struggles with racism, self-doubt and most importantly his loving relationship with his wife, Daisy (Christina Jackson) and young daughter.
Brown is very much a loner, one that rather talks to the mirror than opens up to his fellow wingman, Tom. Yet to the surprise of his fellow seamen, he has unseen tricks up his sleeve as his surprise knowledge of French helped get them up close with Elizabeth Taylor in Cannes. Sadly, we didn’t get to see more of Brown nor his friendship with Tom Hudner. Whether it’s the intended purpose of the writers or director J.D. Dillard, Devotion never comes across as a proper tribute to the real-life hero.
Armed with handsome production values, Devotion manages to juggle some compelling aerial dog fights and camaraderie in the finale. The war sequences are exhilarating despite being PG13. While not on the level of Maverick, there’s still a tremendous amount of believable technicalities and choreography from aerial stunt coordinator Kevin LaRosa, the same man behind the Cruise’s hit.
Despite the unfocused screenplay, Jonathan Majors delivers another layered, astounding performance once again sealing his position as Hollywood’s next go to man. One of Maverick’s alumni, Glen Powell plays a character that is completely different from “Hangman”, a genuine, humane person who treats one as equal in an era where colours matter.
Aside from some missteps along the way, Devotion manages to be an highly enjoyable, old-school war epic that celebrates the heroic antics, friendship of those brave men that helped changed the world we live in today.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: In a post-apocalyptic near-future, a researcher at an AI lab leads the effort to end a civil war by cloning the brain of a heroic soldier — her mother.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Jung_E is the latest brainchild of Yeong Sang-ho, director of Train to Busan and Peninsula. Despite talks of a seemingly looming galactic battle involving humans and cyborgs in the prologue, Jung_E never really took off the ground except for being a small, intimate drama between a mother and a daughter throughout the duration.
Captain Yun (Kim Hyun-joo) was a decorated war hero who was fatally injured and her brain data was cloned and developed into an advanced form of combat AI codenamed Jung_E. Spearheading the project is scientist Yun Seo-hyun (Kang Soo-yeon) who happens to be the daughter of Captain Yun.
With the clone of Captain Yun constantly failing the simulation, Kronoid, the company behind the technology decides to discontinue the project and instead concentrate its existing resources into household products, sex toys included. When Yun discovers her childhood cancer is returning, her only hope is to free Captain Yun and her conscious before the latter is fully controlled by the corporation led by a despicable, over-the-top Kim Sang-hoo (Ryu Kyung-soo).
Yeong certainly has crafted a flick that is reminisces of I, Robot, Robocop and Elysium. This would mean Jung_E is more of a rip-off than an original thought-provoking flick on humanity and science. Fortunately, Yeong knows how to tell a somewhat heartfelt, engaging story despite the familiarities. For most of the duration, the story is focused on Yun and her mother, a relationship that is never expanded upon since the day her mother “died” in her last mission. While Yun is never shown explicitly expressing her love, the third act is a testimony to their bonding and relationship.
This of course brings us to the supposedly slick CGI-heavy action as seen in the opening which sort of showcases Captain Yun fighting against some robotic enemies. Yet this is not Yeon’s intention as Jung_E starts to busy itself with lots of corporate talk and exposition, trying its best to establish an apocalyptic tale of conflicts and politics which sadly wasn’t given much screentime to expand on.
Thus, much of Jung_E relies heavily on the terminally ill Yun and her mother. The relationship between them is emotionally heart-breaking and it’s even more tragic given that actress Kang Soo-yeon passed away in real-life months after filming was completed.
In short, Yeong’s self-penned and directed effort is definitely not the movie that you expect from the trailer. It’s not a frenetic action sci-fi flick though it has a few decently choreographed action sequences especially the finale. Still, even this is Yeong’s middling effort, it’s recommended at least for a single watch.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Families and cultures clash when two LA millennials from different backgrounds fall in love and face the ultimate relationship test: meeting the parents.
MOVIE REVIEW:
You People is something liked Meet the Parents, that more than two decades old comedy starring Robert De Niro as an overbearing father and Ben Stiller as his hapless future son-in-law. Only this time, Eddie Murphy is the overbearing, overprotective father and Jonah Hill is the poor son-in-law.
Kenya Barris (writer of Coming 2 America and Girls Trip) making his directorial debut here co-wrote this with Hill and it follows the relationship between white man Ezra (Hill) and his African-American Muslim girlfriend, Amira (Lauren London) and their respective families led by Amira’s dad, Akbar (Murphy) and Ezra’s mother, Shelley (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).
You People in short is an awkward comedy about meeting your potential in-laws and tension about racial relations. Predictably, the father-in-law is feeling insecure about having a white, Jewish son-in-law and goes about destroying it while on the other hand, Ezra’s mother is an expert in creating cringe-inducing moments especially in front of her future daughter-in-law.
This M18 comedy is chock full of explicit dialogue rather than raunchy gags which surprisingly there isn’t. Most of the time, it’s just verbal humour whether you get it or not. There are plenty of sweeping, stereotypical statements about racism and disparity. Maybe perhaps it’s hard for this side of the Earth to understand about the sufferings of Jews or Blacks in the past. That’s why we don’t get the memo to laugh at what the characters are repeatedly rambling.
Honestly, there’s only so much jokes you can wring out of a single topic. Akbar bringing Ezra to an all-blacks barbershop, forcing him to play basketballs with other Blacks and insisting on joining him in his bachelor party, none of these gags actually work in the end. All you feel is the filmmakers are trying their best to stall time until the predictable finale.
Most disappointing is Murphy who seems so uninterested all the time that he didn’t bother resuscitating the lifeless script with his usual standup comedic energy. Indeed, there are a few moments with Hill’s character that truly showcases some potential gold comedy but unfortunately every scene soon runs out of steam with nothing slapstick coming out it.
The pairing of Hill and Murphy is much look forward to on paper of course. Yet You People plays like a sitcom pilot that very much overstay its welcome. There are probably other comedies that involved an interracial couple, clashing in-laws and wedding gone wrong. This flick has everything stated except the laughs and likeability.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan, Kerry Condon
Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins
Rating: M18 (Nudity)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website:
Opening Day: 26 January 2023
Synopsis: Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN follows lifelong friends Pádraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship. A stunned Pádraic, aided by his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and troubled young islander Dominic (Barry Keoghan), endeavours to repair the relationship, refusing to take no for an answer. But Pádraic’s repeated efforts only strengthen his former friend’s resolve and when Colm delivers a desperate ultimatum, events swiftly escalate, with shocking consequences.
Movie Review:
Writer-director Martin McDonagh’s ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ was one of the best films of 2017, and we loved it for its mix of playful dark humour with a dash of grotesque violence. So it is with palpable anticipation that we awaited his follow-up, not least because it reunites the British-Irish filmmaker with his leading men from ‘In Bruges’. Alas, this tragi-comedy of friendship gone awry set in the 1920s on a fictional Irish isle of Inisherin somehow feels too slight, dull and under-developed, notwithstanding the solid pairing of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, and will leave you wondering just what the point of it all really was.
At the core of this fable is the falling out between two longtime best friends – the younger of the two is a sociable cow herder named Pádraic Súilleabháin (Farrell), a sweet and simple guy who lives with his smart and sensible sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon); the older of them is a melancholy fiddler named Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson), now in his 60s and fretting over the smallness of his existence. It is this resentment which presumably causes Colm forgo their daily routine at the village pub out of the blue, declaring to Pádraic when quizzed: “You didn’t do anything. I just don’t like you no more.”
So begins a chain of events largely seen from Pádraic’s point of view, not quite so different from the stages of grief – namely, denial, anger, bargaining and acceptance. As Pádraic cycles through these series of emotions, we also see the impact of it ripple through the small community they inhabit. Except for the occasional subplot involving the village delinquent Dominic (Barry Keoghan) and his brute dad Gary (Gary Lydon), this is pretty much a two-hander between Pádraic and Colm, and therefore falling on Farrell and Gleeson to anchor their respective characters.
Anyone expecting some sort of shocking revelation why Colm had decided to ignore his best friend will be sorely disappointed; indeed, there is no such basis here, except for the fact that he simply wants to be left in peace to play his fiddle for the remaining 12 years he is convinced that he has to live. It isn’t just the suddenness that proves perplexing; even more so is Colm’s vow to cut off one of his own fingers every time Pádraic tries to speak to him. For Colm to do so just because he’s grown tired of his best friend sounds extreme to say the least.
To be fair, there are incidental pleasures to be had – the scenery is breathtaking, courtesy of Galway Bay’s rolling green hills and ravishing ocean views; the occasional but judicious use of a mysterious old lady called Mrs McCormick (Sheila Fitton) adds nicely to the quasi-magical fairytale; and the contrast between Pádraic and Siobhán is an excellent touch, especially as the latter proves herself to be a bright young woman deserving of much less provincial life that she longs for. And yet, these joys are not quite enough to compensate for the emptiness of the relationship between Pádraic and Colm, not when it is ultimately the crux of the entire movie.
So despite the anticipation and the hype given its accolades so far, we suspect ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ will turn out hollow and pointless for many. There is simply not enough here to justify a whole film, with Colm less a character than a caricature, hardly believable or compelling in any way. It is still engaging and watchable all right, but coming after the much superior ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, McDonagh’s latest is nothing more than a piece of fiction about an abruptly interrupted friendship set against a beautiful, isolated place..
Movie Rating:
(Too slight, dull and under-developed, Martin McDonagh's latest is a tragi-comedy that lacks depth, meaning or purpose)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Jack Ng
Cast: Dayo Wong, Adam Pak, Louise Wong, Fish Liew, Tse Kwan Ho, Renci Yeung, Ho Kai-Wa, Michael Wong, Vincent Kok, Bowie Lam
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: mm2 Entertainment
Official Website:
Opening Day: 21 January 2023
Synopsis: n a moment of irresponsible negligence, sharp-tongued barrister Adrian Lam (Dayo Wong) mishandles a child abuse case and indirectly sentences the innocent Jolene Tsang (Louise Wong) to prison for 17 years. Falling from disgrace, Adrian decides to serve the public and defend the commoners, until an unlikely opportunity for appeal surfaces. Determined to right his wrong, Adrian gathers former partners Evelyn Fong (Renci Yeung) and Prince (Ho Kai Wa) to free Jolene, but that would mean fighting against the tycoons, Victoria (Fish Liew) and Desmond Chung (Adam Pak), who also have barrister James Tung (Michael Wong) as their private consultant. With pressure from media and police, and facing tough cross- examination from prosecutor Kam Yuen Shan (Tse Kwan Ho) in court, how will Adrian uphold justice and punish the true culprit?
Movie Review:
Stand-up comedian and actor Dayo Wong has in recent times found box-office success with hits liked Agent Mr Chan, The Grand Grandmaster and Table for Six. Though to put it bluntly, the first two were too overrated to warrant much fuss. But when it comes to his latest A Guilty Conscience, it’s a near-perfect, mesmerising legal drama tailored to Dayo’s acid-tongue and wittiness.
Dayo plays Adrian Lam, a lowly idling Magistrate who switched to private practice after being demoted by his supervisor. His first case involves the murder of a young child and his task is to defend the child’s mother, Jolene Tsang (Louise Wang) who is being accused of child abuse. Apparently, Tsang is a kept mistress of a doctor (Adam Pak) who happens to be married to one of Hong Kong’s richest socialites, Victoria Chung (Fish Liew).
However, the ever confident Lam assumed it will be a sure win case but alas when a witness changes his statement at the last minute, Tsang is sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for manslaughtering. Feeling guilty at his mishandling of the case, Lam works hard to have the case retrial with the help of his legal teammates, Evelyn (Renci Yeung) and Prince (Ho Kai-Wa).
A race against time ensued when Lam has to gather enough evidence to face against a powerful prosecutor, Kam (Tse Kwan-Ho), the evil forces behind the real culprit and the possibility of Tsang facing a life time imprisonment if the appeal fails.
Screenwriter Jack Ng who frequently collaborates with Dante Lam on movies liked The Stool Pigeon, That Demon Within and Unbeatable serves as both director and writer on A Guilty Conscience. Despite running at more than two hours, Ng kept the entire ordeal gripping and the audiences in bated breath with the seemingly never ending “unforeseen” circumstances happening to Lam and his team even with a revelation of a critical video clip being shown at midpoint.
Yet Ng manages to cleverly juggle the tension between the courtroom drama and antics outside the courthouse with ease. There’s no excess usage of melodramatics or unrealistic plot twists though plotwise, the familiar idea of “Jack the Giant Killer” comes to mind with the character of Lam taking on not just the judicial system but the collusion of the rich and elites of a corroded society.
The role of Adrian Lam is perfect for Dayo and credit again goes to Ng and his team of writers for blessing him with sharp, laugh-out-loud dialogue to work his magic on. Remember his hilarious portrayal of a paralegal in War of the Genders TVB sitcom opposite Carol Cheng? His turn as Lam reminds one of Yu Lok Tin, often witty, sarcastic and always unpredictable. In an added bonus, the character of Lam also grants Dayo a chance to showcase his talent as a serious actor in a few dramatic scenes.
Louise Wang and Fish Liew reunites after their Anita biopic (also a script by Jack Ng) though Liew is given lesser screentime to shine while Wang proves she is an upcoming actress to watch out for. Veteran Tse Kwan-Ho is impressive as the tough as nails, Kam and even Michael Wong shines as the shady legal advisor to the wealthy Chung family.
Unlike the typical forgettable Chinese New Year offering, A Guilty Conscience is a crowd-pleasing drama that offers solid entertainment, solid acting chops and an obvious stab at the Hong Kong legal system. Whether it’s greed, power or money pulling the strings behind remains debatable after the movie ends. For fans of Dayo Wong, exhilarating courtroom exchanges and debates, Jack Ng’s directorial debut shouldn’t be missed.
Movie Rating:
(The ultimate legal drama of the year and we are hoping Dayo Wong and Jack Ng returns for a sequel)
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Louis Leterrier
Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, John Cena, Scott Eastwood, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Brie Larson, Alan Richtson, Daniela Melchior, Rita Moreno
Runtime: 2 hr 21 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Drug References)
Released By: UIP
Official Website:
Opening Day: 18 May 2023
Synopsis: Fast X, the tenth film in the Fast & Furious Saga, launches the final chapters of one of cinema’s most storied and popular global franchises, now in its third decade and still going strong with the same core cast and characters as when it began. Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: A terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past who’s fueled by blood revenge, and who is determined to shatter this family and destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever. In 2011’s Fast Five, Dom and his crew took out nefarious Brazilian drug kingpin Hernan Reyes and decapitated his empire on a bridge in Rio De Janeiro. What they didn’t know was that Reyes’ son, Dante (Aquaman’s Jason Momoa), witnessed it all and has spent the last 12 years masterminding a plan to make Dom pay the ultimate price. Dante’s plot will scatter Dom’s family from Los Angeles to the catacombs of Rome, from Brazil to London and from Portugal to Antarctica. New allies will be forged and old enemies will resurface. But everything changes when Dom discovers that his own 8-year-old son (Leo Abelo Perry, Black-ish) is the ultimate target of Dante’s vengeance.
Movie Review:
As much as he was responsible for some of the best entries of the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, we cannot say we were too upset when Justin Lin walked away from ‘Fast X’ one week into production, purportedly due to a disagreement with Vin Diesel. Indeed, if ‘F9’ was anything to go by, Lin had run out of steam by the last entry, which was dull, tedious and aggravating to watch. And yet, it is for the same reason that we did not have our hopes up for what was earlier promised to be the first of a two-parter finale, which we thought needed some creatively deliberate construction by a veteran (say writer Chris Morgan) to make the send-off worthwhile.
As it turns out, ‘Fast X’ is better than what we thought it would be, though it is still nowhere near the heights of 'Fast Five’ and ‘Fast and Furious 6’. Lin’s replacement is Louis Leterrier, who demonstrated with the first two ‘Transporter’ movies that he knows a thing or two about high-octane action. To Leterrier’s credit, the set-pieces are entertainingly preposterous, including one featuring a giant neutron bomb rolling down the streets of Rome, another with a 1970s Dodge Charger falling out of an aeroplane onto a highway and then smashing two helicopters against each other, and another with the same Dodge Charger racing down the arched wall of a dam to escape from a massive explosion up top.
From Rome to Naples to Rio and to Portugal, Leterrier puts each of these picturesque locales to good use in a globe-trotting adventure that sees former drag racer turned agency spy Dominic Toretto (Diesel) confront an old enemy Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) bent on seeking revenge for the death of his father in ‘Fast Five’. Much has been teased about the showdown between Dom and Dante, with the latter described as both “a monster” and “the Devil” and hyped up as the deadliest baddie that the Toretto crew has ever faced; and to Momoa’s credit, Dante is a flouncing, flamboyant sociopath who is one of the best, if not the best, villains that this series has ever had, his one sole objective with regard to Dom and his crew being “never accept death where suffering is owed”.
Speaking of Dom’s crew, the “family” has grown so large now that it is simply impossible to have them stay together as one throughout the film. So after the Rome misadventure, Dom heads off to Rio to confront Dante by himself, though he picks up a new ally in an up-and-coming street racer Isabel (Daniela Melchior) along the way. Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), Han (Sun Kang) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) spin off to London, where they seek help from former enemy Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is captured and held at an undisclosed black site, but gets some help from another of their former enemies Cipher (Charlize Theron) and an Agency insider Tess (Brie Larson). And last but not least, ‘F9’ villain Jakob Toretto (John Cena) shows up at Dom’s house to save Dom’s son Little B (Leo Abelo Perry) from heavily-armed agents sent at the behest of rogue Agency boss Aimes (Alan Ritchson), as well as to babysit Little B the rest of the way.
There is a lot going on just so every character the franchise has birthed along its 20-year history gets something to do, but as you can probably imagine, there is no denying how overstuffed it is. Roman’s subplot fares the worst, and not even Gibson’s glib talking can make it any more entertaining. Letty’s subplot is good only for a mano-a-mano fight between her and Cipher, which is noteworthy because it is the first time Theron has been allowed to go ‘Atomic Blonde’. Jakob and Little B’s story is welcome levity amidst the overblown action, and further confirms Cena’s comic potential (go see ‘Blockers’ if you haven’t). But the movie really only comes alive with Dom versus Dante, his utter anarchy a welcome antithesis to Dom’s sobriety about family and other lines of gravelly dime-store wisdom.
But even as Leterrier tries his darnest to keep the wheels spinning with all manner of shootouts, explosions and vehicular chases, ‘Fast X’ is ultimately handicapped by the absence of any sort of real peril. That’s what happens when too many enemies – in fact all of them, as far as we can keep track – become allies with just an act of generosity. That’s also what happens when the characters we’ve presumed dead keep coming back, and while that may have been welcome to a certain extent, it reduces their earlier demises to utter jokes – and no, we’re not talking about the much-buzzed return of Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs in a mid-credits scene, but rather the appearance of one Gal Gadot in the last scene just before the end credits roll.
At this point therefore, ‘Fast X’ comes off as yet another attempt to keep the wheels of the franchise spinning, while we await the elusive finale. What had been intended as a two-parter is now apparently a trilogy; and therefore what used to be a happily-ever-after ending is now replaced with a cliff-hanger, though we’ve come to the point where we expect every character presumed dead to come back in some semi-spectacular fashion sometime down the road. Speaking of road, it’s been a long journey for the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, and while ‘Fast X’ does not diminish the goodwill accumulated thus far (unlike say ‘F9’), we hope it will transform its game in order to deliver a truly rousing and surprising finish.
Movie Rating:
(The set-pieces are entertainingly preposterous, but aside from Jason Momoa as a flamboyant sociopath, 'Fast X' keeps the wheels of the franchise spinning without truly raising the stakes for a rousing, even surprising, finish)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama
Director: Phyllis Nagy
Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith, Grace Edwards, John Magaro
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Drug Use and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 23 February 2023
Synopsis: Chicago, 1968. As a city and the nation are poised on the brink of violent political upheaval, suburban housewife Joy leads an ordinary life with her husband and daughter. When Joy’s pregnancy leads to a life-threatening condition, she must navigate a medical establishment unwilling to help. Her journey to find a solution to an impossible situation leads her to the “Janes,” a clandestine organization of women who provide Joy with a safer alternative — and in the process, change her life.
Movie Review:
Though probably intended in the wake of the #MeToo movement to celebrate a group of women who banded together to help their fellow gender in need, ‘Call Jane’ is even more significant now given the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn its pivotal ‘Roe v Wade’ decision in 1973. Indeed, for the uninitiated, the ‘Jane’ here refers to the Jane Collective, a real-life clandestine Chicago group which had helped women secure safe but illegal abortions in the late 1960s prior to the seminal 1973 decision that established the constitutional right to an abortion.
Instead of a documentary on the collective itself, ‘Call Jane’ offers a story of a fictional character’s life-changing involvement with the group, starting from when she herself sought their help in order to terminate a potentially life-threatening pregnancy. As played by Elizabeth Banks, Joy is a sunny, upper-middle-class housewife who finds out after blacking out one evening while dancing to a Velvet Underground album from the collection of her 15-year-old daughter Charlotte (Grace Edwards) that she has a ‘congestive heart failure’ condition which places her at a 50/50 chance of dying during childbirth. Because abortion is criminalised in Illinois, Joy is forced to petition to an all-male hospital board to obtain one – and not surprisingly, is denied the procedure.
After failing to prove that she might be suicidal and cannot quite bringing herself to throw herself down the stairs, Joy starts looking for back-alley options, chancing upon a flier at a bus stop beckoning the pregnant and anxious to “call Jane”. Rightly so, the film spends a good amount of time detailing the process by which the organisation operates, including dispatching a driver to pick up Joy, requiring that she blindfold herself during the journey, collecting a $600 fee on the lift up to a nondescript apartment block where a doctor carries out the procedure, and recuperating at a residence that serves as the headquarters of the collective.
It is at the said residence where Joy meets Virginia (Sigourney Weaver), the head of the collective based on the real-life Jane founder Heather Booth. Besides Virginia, other memorable members of the collective include Gwen (Wunmi Mosaku), a Black advocate who argues that the procedure is too expensive for women of lower-income, and Sister Mike (Aida Turturro), a nun who is especially helpful at convincing those feeling conflicted due to their religious beliefs. When they come up short of one in their regular pool of drivers, it is Virginia who reaches out to Joy for a favour to pay it forward to other women who are in similar predicaments as she was.
‘Call Jane’ covers a lot of territory within two hours. While sticking closely to Joy, writers Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi draw out an elaborate coming-into-consciousness arc for her, which tracks how she goes from helping out the poker-faced doctor (Cory Michael Smith) to calm the jittery nerves of women on the operating chair to blackmailing the doctor into teaching her the procedure itself after discovering that he isn’t a licensed medical professional. Along the way, first-time director Phyllis Nagy – who is best known for her Academy-Award nominated screenplay for ‘Carol’ – illustrates the sometimes flawed, messy ways in which the Jane activists operate, the larger racial/ political landscape that they are inevitably a part of, as well as the legal implications of their actions, however noble.
Despite the potentially grim and heavy-going subject matter, Nagy tells Joy’s story with plenty of heart and humour. Never mind the challenges or the untidiness of their ways, there is never less than purpose in what Joy, Virginia and the rest of the Jane activists do, and it is invigorating to see how these characters do so with wit, intelligence and knowhow. Just as satisfying is watching Banks, Weaver and Mosaku take on the patriarchy with unbridled conviction, whilst sparring amongst themselves on race and intersectionality, painting a vibrant and compelling portrait of courage and compassion in equal measure.
It is to the filmmakers’ credit that ‘Call Jane’ isn’t preachy or frivolous, bursting instead with bright, vibrant energy as it offers a valuable look at the pre-Roe v. Wade era in the United States from the female perspective. Thanks to the sharp performances by the stars, there is never a less than engaging moment throughout the film, which manages to be nothing less than a crowd-pleasing, feel-good movie of personal empowerment. Especially in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn ‘Roe v Wade’, ‘Call Jane’ packs unlikely relevance and timeliness about the right to decide one’s fate as well as the mettle to give others the same agency.
Movie Rating:
(Bright, vibrant and compelling, this story of female empowerment is a relevant and timely portrait of courage and compassion)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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