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

Genre: Drama/Thriller
Director: Philip Yung
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung , Michael Chow, Patrick Tam, Du Juan, Michael Hui, Elaine Jin
Runtime: 2 hrs 24 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Sexual Scenes and Drug Use)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 23 February 2023

Synopsis:  In the 70s, Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (HKICAC) was founded. The mission to hunt down corrupted detectives unveiled a new chapter of the colonial Hong Kong. Lui Lok (Aaron Kwok) and Nam Kong (Tony Leung) who used to be two righteous police officers wanted to change the status quo. They built an empire of corruption by controlling organised crimes and eventually took the position of Chief Chinese Detective. A new episode of history began, HKICAC issued the wanted notices for Lui Lok and Nam Kong. Their era has officially come to an end. Where the wind blows, Hong Kong is no longer where it used to be….

Movie Review:

Hong Kong will never be the same again. That’s a constant refrain we hear from those who lament how the latest national security law has fundamentally changed the face of Hong Kong. But what exactly is the Hong Kong of the past? Is it a Hong Kong with a democratically elected government – but its former British rulers never did extend such freedoms to the colony? Or is it a Hong Kong with a strong rule or law – but wasn’t the corruption of the Hong Kong police force one of the colony’s most significant problems from post-war perhaps until later into the 20^th century?

‘Where the Wind Blows’ is a sober reminder of Hong Kong through the decades, seen through the fates of two of its most infamous characters in the police force – Lui Lok (Aaron Kwok) and Nam Kong (Tony Leung). A series of black-and-white vignettes show how Lui Lok started out an uncharacteristically righteous beat cop, who was physically lectured by his fellow officers for refusing to be on the take like everyone else; the only other officer who stood up for him is Fat Bee (Michael Chow), who will become a trusted partner and friend over the years. Notwithstanding his earlier idealism, Lui Lok’s experience during the Japanese occupation jolts him, leading him to abandon his code of morals after he rejoins the force following the war.

In contrast to Lui Lok’s humble beginnings, Nam Kong came from a wealthy, privileged family. Again, through a series of black-and-white vignettes, we will learn how Nam Kong’s experience during the Japanese occupation teaches the law graduate the value of a gun over a typewriter, leading him to enrol in the police force after the war was over. A good deal of time in the first hour is spent detailing how Lui Lok and Nam Kong’s respective convictions had evolved when they were young adults no thanks to the war, and while it does make the introduction extended, it does pay off later on when both become partners and rivals at the same time.

Though spanning over several decades, writer-director Philip Yung keeps the emphasis largely on the two decades or so from when both Lui Lok and Nam Kong were appointed corporals after successfully extinguishing a series of politically charged riots by pro-KMT protestors in the mid-1950s to the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in the mid-1970s. Lui Lok’s professional ascent is closely intertwined with the machinations of his shrewd Shanghainese wife Tsai Zhen (Du Juan) – whom he first impresses by showing off his tap dancing moves against Nam Kong’s piano playing and then quickly marries despite the objections of her father (Richard Ng in a brief cameo) – though their marriage also had its ups and downs, especially when he has an affair with a nightclub singer (Jessie Li). On the other hand, Nam Kong has a largely loveless marriage with Cora (Jeana Ho), due largely to his longtime crush on Tsai Zhen.

To the larger force though, Lui Lok and Nam Kong were two of the “Four Great Sergeants”, the other two being filled superficially by Fat Bee and Yim (Patrick Tam). Under the guise of keeping the peace, the “Four Sergeants” hatch a plan earlier on to carve out the districts amongst themselves, where they would each manage the triads within and collect a “monthly management fee” from the businesses to please the gangs, their British bosses and themselves. Yet as any historian will tell you, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and it isn’t long before we see both Lui Lok and Yim get greedy in their own ways; in particular, one interesting but all too brief chapter has both Nam Kong and Yim conspiring to aid the infamous Limpy Ho (Tse Kwan-ho) to take over the drug and gambling businesses run by the triads in Lui Lok’s territory.

It is clear that Yung did extensive research into his larger-than-life characters, and just as clear that he struggles to try to contain all that into a tight, coherent narrative from start to finish. Indeed, the rivalry between Lui Lok and Nam Kong – or for that matter the contestation among the Four Great Sergeants – could have been much better fleshed out; as it stands, there is one great scene where the four of them erupt into disagreement over a mahjong game, but no good follow-up thereafter. So too the complicated balance between the cops and the triads, jostling for mutual accommodation and having to define a new equilibrium when Limpy Ho enters the already crowded scene.

Those therefore expecting a gripping crime drama will likely be disappointed; so too those expecting an exciting crime thriller filled with gunplay. And yet, ‘Where the Wind Blows’ rewards those who willing to invest two hours and some of their time with a sumptuously-mounted biopic of the rise and fall of Lui Lok and Nam Kong, both enigmatically flawed with plenty of ambition and derring-do. It is a reminder of how ultimately despite the illusion of power, authority and wealth, nothing lasts forever. It is also a reminder of how deeply troubled Hong Kong was even in the post-war decades, and though an extended coda at the end with ICAC chief George Lee (Michael Hui) making an impassioned plea to his British superiors to act in the longer-term interests of the Hong Kong people seems tailored to the Mainland Chinese censors, it is nonetheless powerful and deeply poignant.

So in spite of its many flaws, we’d recommend that you go in with an open mind and let ‘Where the Wind Blows’ take you where it does. Though reportedly delayed by about five years, this is an ambitious, sprawling period epic in every sense. Film critic-turned-filmmaker Yung’s previous effort was the intriguing murder drama ‘Port of Call’, and this follow-up is on a much, much larger scale, perhaps more expansive than his own skills could match. Yet there is an undeniable poeticism to his effort, and even though we wish he’s exercised more discipline to the storytelling, it is still a strong addition to Yung’s oeuvre and perhaps most significantly, an ode to the tumult that Hong Kong has been through, for better and for worse.

Movie Rating:

(Not quite as tight or compelling as it could have been, this period epic is nonetheless a deeply moving crime saga of ambition, power and frailties)

Review by Gabriel Chong

Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Yim Soon-rye
Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Hyun Bin, Kang Ki-young, Jeon Sung-woo, Park Hyoung-soo
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Mature Content and Drug Use)
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 2 February 2023

Synopsis: Based on the true events of the Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan A group of Korean tourists is taken hostage by an extremist Taliban group in Afghanistan. The Korean government dispatches Jae-ho (HWANG Jung-min), known as one of Korea’s most skilled diplomats, in order to handle the situation. Once he arrives, he asks for the Afghan government’s cooperation and uses every means possible to free the hostages. However, his efforts go in vain. Due to his failure, he’s forced to work with Dae-sik (HYUN Bin), a special agent who is an expert on the Middle East. As they begin making their move to get to the Taliban, the first hostage death occurs. With nowhere else to turn, the two become unlikely allies in a race against time to save the rest of the hostages.

Movie Review:

It is fact that 23 Christian missionaries from the Republic of Korea were taken hostage by the Taliban back in 2007 when they wilfully went against the government’s ban on travel to Afghanistan. It is also fact that two of the hostages were executed before the government struck a deal with the Taliban for the safe release of the rest, which reportedly included a US$20 million ransom. It is however fiction that the negotiation ultimately came down to a skilled diplomat named Jung Jae-ho and a seasoned National Intelligence Service agent named Park Dae-sik, after multiple days and rounds of setbacks going through various intermediaries.

The titular men in ‘The Point Men’ refer to Jung (Hwang Jung-min) and Park (Hyun Bin), both fictional characters in director Yim Soon-rye’s dramatic retelling of the true events from more than a decade ago. Given the backdrop, there is good potential for a tense, character-driven thriller anchored by the dynamic between Jung and Park, two individuals whose approach to such conflict resolution would naturally be quite different given their respective background. And yet, there is little spark between them, the same of which can be said of Yim’s unfortunately mediocre drama, which while watchable, is utterly pedestrian from start to finish.

That is a pity, given its strong start with the re-enactment of the hostage-taking and the subsequent negotiations between the Korean and Afghan foreign ministries. In particular, the latter demonstrates the inexperience of the Korean diplomats in navigating the complexities of the political situation in Afghanistan, especially in believing that the Afghans would ever agree to the Taliban’s demands of releasing an equivalent number of their men in Kabul Prison; it also speaks to their naivety that they would even consider getting out of their vehicle and walking by foot along the streets of Kabul in order to avoid the congestion en route to the Afghan foreign ministry.

Instead of building on a promising first act however, Yim and her screenwriter Ahn Young-soo seem incapable of sustaining the narrative momentum. An episode with a leader of the Afghan Jirga turns out surprisingly flat because it isn’t clear how Jung or Park persuaded him to intervene on their behalf in the first place. Another botched attempt through a shady British mercenary named Abdullah (Bryan Larkin) unfolds too cursorily, even if it culminates in a nicely staged vehicular chase along the narrow alleys of Kabul. Only when Jung decides to risk his own life to negotiate face to face with the Taliban does the storytelling pick up pace, although the negotiation itself is sadly no more than a couple of histrionic outbursts stitched together.

Because the outcome was never in question, it is ultimately the process that matters; and in this regard, while never boring, there is the undeniable feeling that there were plenty of missed opportunities. For one, you’d wish the movie had explored the larger geopolitical nuances at play, including and especially the role of the United States as well as its troops on the ground. For another, you’d wish it also addressed the criticism of how the 23 hostages were to blame for their circumstances, given how they had deliberately circumvented national law for the selfish glory of their church. And most of all, you’d wish the film had developed the relationship between Jung and Park further, going from an initial disdain to deep mutual respect and eventually friendship.

Indeed, that the movie decided to centre the proceedings on two fictional characters and yet fail to make meaningful character drama out of it is probably our greatest lament. As solid as they are, there is only so much Hwang and Hyun can do with the cardboard roles, notwithstanding their inherent presence. Indeed, you’d also wish ‘The Point Men’ had taken its subject matter much, much further, not just in terms of character but also in its politics or even just as a procedural. As it stands, though never dull, you’ll be left wondering just what the point is behind this dramatic retelling, and ultimately go away rather underwhelmed.

Movie Rating:

(Though never dull, this utterly unspectacular thriller misses plenty of opportunities to be a strong character drama, a compelling geopolitical lesson or even just a gripping procedural)

Review by Gabriel Chong

SYNOPSIS: When held hostage by a convicted sports star, news anchor Liu Li-min finds a new shot at fame. But his investigation reveals far more than he expected.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Seven years ago, an up-and-coming baseball player, Zhang Zheng-yi (Edward Chen) was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his girlfriend, Wang Shih-yun in a deserted level of a ballpark. Fast forward to present times, a journalist running his own online crime site, Liu Li-ming (Joseph Chang) is held hostage by Zhang in a prison. Subsequently after the escape from prison, Liu and Zhang has to reluctantly team up to uncover the truth behind the brutal murder with the latter trying to clear his name while Liu hopes to restart his career with this piece of sensational news.

On the surface, The Post-Truth World is a crime mystery peppered with the usual long list of suspects that include a rich offspring who secretly runs a drug ring, an old janitor who probably witnessed the crime, Shih-yun’s influential businessman father who might be concealing the whole truth or the late wife of Li-ming, Ya-jing who was somehow present at the crime scene on the night of the killing.

Maybe Zheng-yi is also involved in some ways as he is shown frequently as a somewhat unhinged character known for his hot temper. His constant uncontrollable of his temper during the investigation demonstrates his inability to control his emotions. Perhaps he is really the killer after a heated argument with Shih-yun.

Nevertheless, the brisk pacing and rich narrative helps keep the entire ordeal going with plenty of twists and turns to makes things compelling. But then there’s more to it as the story examines how the current climate of journalism can affect the outcome or simply put, if truth still exists today? Even Li-ming’s editor who proclaimed he is only keen on publishing the truth ends up being a huge hypocrite who never practices what he preaches in the end.

Does Li-ming who wants to make his late wife proud willing to sacrifice his struggling career or manipulate the story to make a comeback?

The Post-Truth World is a riveting watch with a few scenes of wicked humor courtesy of Li-ming’s teenage daughter played by American’s Girl, Caitlin Fang and two overzealous cops hot on the heels of Zheng-yi. Chang triumphed with his remarkable performance playing a tortured soul who apparently misses his wife, dotes on his daughter and diligently desires to do the right thing in his investigative journalism career. Edward Chen who shines in the LGBT drama, Your Name Engraved Herein did a wonderful job as well portraying yet another suffering man.

There’s a mid-credit scene that took the whole ordeal to another level and makes you question if justice actually prevails. Fascinating and chilly stuff about today’s media and the mindset of audiences. Either take everything about the media and news with a grain of salt or as Trump always proclaimed “fake news!”

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Action/Comics
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O'Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray
Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Walt Disney
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 16 February 2023

Synopsis: Super Heroes Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and The Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible. 

Movie Review:

And so, Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) begins. Branded as part of The Multiverse Saga, it’s supposed to send chills down our spine by introducing the next big baddie in the series. This is none other than Kang the Conqueror, another fan favourite who is capable of travelling across timelines and doing very, very bad things.

Can this heavy responsibility lie on the shoulders of tiny Ant-Man, the Avenger that brought us some of the best good natured laughs in the franchise?

Ant-Man (2015) and its sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) were fun to watch, thanks to lead actor Paul Rudd’s extremely likeable persona, as well as the innovative scenarios Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man) were put in. The two movies worked well as standalone titles, and the filmmakers behind the projects probably didn’t have the pressure of incorporating dramatic and emotional moments that will cause a big impact in the MCU.

Peyton Reed returns as director for this third Ant-Man movie, and he might have been briefed by the studio executives that that it can’t be as goofy as the first two instalments. Imagine your paymaster telling you: “The movie cannot be too funny, because Kang is out to destroy the world with all his cruelness and nastiness. Cut down the jokes. Make things more serious and intense.”

With that, the 31st movie of the MCU feels like a very measured piece of entertainment. Rudd is still very relatable, and he makes you feel that an everyday man can become an Avenger. Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas return as Hope van Dyne, Janet van Dyne and Hank Pym. Together with Kathryn Newton’s Cassie Lang, the family is thrown into the mysterious Quantum Realm where they face Jonathan Majors’ Kang. Corey Stoll also reprises his role from the first movie. His frustrated antagonist is reborn as M.O.D.O.K., and the ridiculously designed villain is largely played for laughs.

In the Quantum Realm, the heroes also meet freedom fighters and rebels who are passionate about overthrowing a certain conqueror - you wonder whether there is a Star Wars plot unfolding? There are strange looking aliens (case in point: look out for a talking broccoli) and these trippy character designs are probably from the brilliant mind of writer Jeff Loveness, who has worked on the outrageously weird sci-fi animated series Rick and Morty.

Pfeiffer and Douglas are as reliable as ever when it comes to delivering commendable performances. The standout here is Majors (the 33 year old actor will next be seen in Creed III, where he will have a showdown with Michael B Jordan, who portrayed another MCU villain Killmonger), Hollywood’s next big star to look out for. While watching the 124 minute movie, you can’t be sure what Kang is up to or what exactly he wants. But the villain’s mysteriously seductive persona makes you feel uneasy, and Majors does a good job ensuring viewers that something terrible is going to happen when Kang wreaks havoc in the MCU.

So where does that leave Ant-Man? The superhero is forced to be part of a serious drama, and he tries his best to keep up. While there are occasional jokes that make you chuckle, you may miss the lightheartedness that made the first two movies a breeze to sit through. If you aren’t expecting a spectacular Marvel movie to blow you away, this is still a decent and pleasant ride. That aside, we are looking forward to what Phase Five of the MCU has in store for fans.

Movie Rating:

(We miss Ant-Man's goofy charm, but can't wait to see how Kang the Conqueror is going to wreak havoc in the Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Review by John Li

Genre: Thriller
Director: Will Merrick, Nick Johnson
Cast: Storm Reid, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, Daniel Henney, Nia Long
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 2 March 2023

Synopsis: From the minds behind Searching comes Missing, a thrilling roller-coaster mystery that makes you wonder how well you know those closest to you. When her mother (Nia Long) disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June’s (Storm Reid) search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it’s too late. But as she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers...and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she discovers that she never really knew her at all.

Movie Review:

As you are reading this review, your online activity is probably being tracked. Is it something you should be concerned about? Probably not, unless you are involved in some bad deeds like the shady characters in this thriller. Because if you are up to no good, what you do on the worldwide web (that includes something seemingly inconsequential like reading this review), may form part of the evidence to bring about your downfall.

That does sound scary, but keep in mind that this movie directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson is a piece of entertainment that has a purpose to deliver thrills, so logic may be exaggerated so that viewers can be kept at the edge of their seats to keep guessing who the ultimate baddie is.

The protagonist of the story by Sev Ohanian and Aneesh Chaganty is June (Storm Reid), a teenager is on a frantic search for her mother (Nia Long) who has gone missing after going for a vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend (Ken Leung). Some back story: June's father died from brain tumour when she was very young, and like most teenagers, she occasionally shuts her mother off. It probably doesn't help that her mother seems to have fallen head over heels for the new guy in her life.

Back in 2018, we were blown away by Searching, Chaganty’s feature debut starring John Cho and Debra Messing. Presented as a screenlife movie, the whodunit is shown from the views of smartphones and computer. screens. Merrick and Johnson, the duo who edited the movie, take on directing duties in this anthology sequel that tells the story using the same concept.

June uses all the technology she can lay her hands on to investigate, and that includes using Google maps and Internet searches. It also involves, gasp, hacking into email accounts and shopping sites. The story was probably written in such a way that the protagonist can coincidentally derive passwords. Moral of the tale? Create strong passwords that are unique and hard to guess. Anyway, the story does stretch itself a bit too much, but while you scoff at its outrageousness, you can't help but feel a little uneasy that it is possible in real life that your intimate chats on a dating app might be seen or someone else.

The highly engaging movie is not short of twists, and you try your best to keep up with the sequence of events.You also try to make sense of the plot development as new characters are thrown into the mix. There is the gig worker (Joaquim de Almeida) who helps June run from location to location in Colombia to search for clues, the FBI agent (Daniel Hennes who repeatedly advises June not to take things into her own hands), and her mother’s friend, a divorce lawyer (Amy Landecker) who seems to be a little too infatuated with the new guy. Every detail may be a clue, and you do not want to take your eyes off the cinema screen – until you realise computer and mobile screens are probably no stranger in your life anyway.

Movie Rating:

(Highly engaging, this screenlife thriller delivers the thrills and makes you a little worried whether your secret online chats will be seen by unintended parties)

Review by John Li

SYNOPSIS: Debbie and Peter are best friends and total opposites. She craves routine with her son in LA; he thrives on change in NY. When they swap houses and lives for a week they discover what they think they want might not be what they really need.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Nostalgia is the main factor you watched a flick liked Your Place Or Mine especially when it stars Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, both age-defying Hollywood superstars who hasn’t starred in a rom-com for a long while.

Directed and written by Aline Brosh McKenna who gave you The Devil Wears Prada and produced by Jason Bateman, Your Place Or Mine is that odd modern love story that is neither charming, witty or making you fall in love with the stars. In short, it’s a totally forgettable Netflix original of the week.

Debbie (Witherspoon) and Peter (Kutcher) has been friends for over 20 years since their hookup. Since then, they have remained best of friends. Platonic to say the least. While Debbie is divorced with a 13-year-old son, Jack and stays in LA, Peter is an ultra-successful marketing whiz who stays in a lavish condo overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

But when Debbie needs to go to the Big Apple to finish her accounting course, Peter offers her to stay in his apartment and he goes over to LA to look after Jack in her uphill cottage house. Needless to say, things happen and blah blah blah…they are going to end up together right?

For a start, Witherspoon and Kutcher didn’t exactly have a lot of screentime together, perhaps McKenna is trying to pull off a Sleepless In Seattle. Peter is often seen trying to bond with Jack over his eating habits, hockey and helping him getting back to his circle of friends. Debbie on the east coast gets to know a handsome book publisher, Theo (Jesse Williams) with the help of one of Peter’s saucy hook-ups, Minka (Zoe Chao).

None of the happenings apparently screams out sentimental, funny or sweet. Even the discovery of Peter’s long-hidden novel manuscript in the oven is more of a plot convenience than anything worth mentioning because as you know, there is a book publisher character and frequent mentions of Debbie’s dreams of being a book editor. Throw in a mysterious manuscript and you pretty much have an ending.

Frankly, Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher remains a delight to watch. They at least did a good job evoking the good times from classic 90’s rom-coms. Yet, Your Place Or Mine fails badly as a Valentine’s Day offering. Running close to two hours but without the magic of the late Nora Ephron or Nancy Meyers, this is very much a tough pill to swallow. Add to the fact that, McKenna planted two pointless dismal supporting characters played by Tig Notaro and Steve Zahn, the experience is far worse.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

SYNOPSIS: When a mysterious monster rises from the Mekong River and attacks Bueng Kan, it cuts people off from the outside world. Officials and people in the area, including Chinese scientists who accidentally came to conduct research in Thailand, must be mobilized to catch this monster before it’s too late.

MOVIE REVIEW:

It’s puzzling how a simple Kaiju movie in the vein of Godzilla could go completely off course. This Thai-Chinese co-production is a hot mess from the haphazard script to the amateur acting. And we have yet touch on the special and visual effects that helped bring the creature to life.

The monster thriller starts promisingly enough. A mysterious creature has risen from the river and begins to attack the villagers including a pair of siblings who are out looking for the sister’s missing daughter, May. In the meantime, the Chief of police decides to mobilize the rest of the villagers to hunt for the monster and that includes one of his inspectors who somehow brought his rebellious teenage daughter along. Then there is a pair of Chinese scientists who are conducting some kind of vague research in the area.

The narrative to begin with is overstuffed to the point of meaningless. The movie would have worked better if it concentrates solely on the Inspector while the rest be just relegated to supporting characters. But director Lee Thongkham who also wrote the script eagerly splits the story between both parties and the result is simply dismal.

Keng, the brother of the siblings is shown mostly staring blankly into the camera. Did he developed some sort of telekinetic power from the monster after being bitten by it? Or is he slowly turning into the sea monster? There’s no obvious answers of course. And Thongkham also devoted a portion of the screentime to the Inspector and his daughter forgetting there is actually a monster on the loose. As for the pair of Chinese scientists, they are basically sidelined after the first act.

To be fair, there are occasional CGI wide shots of the monster which are pretty outstanding. There’s indeed a generous display of the creature right from the beginning although as the movie progresses, there’s an overwhelmingly use of fast cuts, shaky cams, blurry shots and obvious cheap practical effects to hide the creature from the camera. Laughingly, there’s also an attack sequence in the flick that is primarily copied from Jurassic Park that fell miles short of the latter’s suspense and thrills. A cheap practical monster head we suspect is probably constructed in place of expensive CGI.

And to make matters worse, the story ended with a long epilogue involving some Buddhism philosophies that seems rather out of place for a simple monster feature. In fact, there’s no massive destruction in the end except the monster just wants her eggs and child to be rightfully returned. Imagine all the hoo-ha and excitement.

Thus, please do not switch on The Lake and expect something liked The Host or Godzilla. Thai cinema has been providing audiences a steady supply of more than decently made horrors and comedies but The Lake is not one of them.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee

Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Channing Tatum, Salma Hayek, Caitlin Gerard, Gavin Spokes 
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Rating: NC16 (Sexual References and Coarse Language)
Released By: WB
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 9 February 2023

Synopsis: "Magic" Mike Lane (Channing Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. For what he hopes will be one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite (Salma Hayek Pinault) who lures him with an offer he can't refuse... and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, once Mike discovers what she truly has in mind, will he--and the roster of hot new dancers he'll have to whip into shape--be able to pull it off?

Movie Review:

Even though the point of ‘Magic Mike’ and ‘Magic Mike XXL’ was to cater to women’s fantasies, both movies tried to be more than just the sheer gratification of making them shriek and smile. ‘Magic Mike’, directed by Steven Soderbergh, portrayed Channing Tatum’s titular character as a working class individual struggling to pursue his dream of being a small furniture business owner while navigating the perils of the stripper business; on the other hand, ‘Magic Mike XXL’, directed by Soderbergh’s frequent collaborator Gregory Jacobs, celebrated female desire and elevated the stripping performance into an art form in and of itself.

We cannot say the same of ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’, which sees Soderbergh return to the director’s chair for an underwhelming final chapter. Whilst the opening makes it seem as if it would be about Mike building back again after losing his beloved furniture business to the recent pandemic, Soderbergh and returning screenwriter Reid Carolin hardly make the film about Mike than about a new character named Maxandra Mendoza (Salma Hayek Pinault), the estranged wife of a moneyed British media mogul looking to define her own success after separating from her unfaithful husband by revamping a historic theatre in the West End that had just came into her possession.

As noble as the intent of demonstrating how “a woman can have whatever she wants whenever she wants”, Max’s transformation is barely compelling – after all, the most she does is to confront her husband when he tries to thwart her plans of replacing the current Regency-era play at the theatre with an all-male revue. Nor for that matter is her romance with Mike particularly interesting; whereas Mike remains the affable gentleman from start to finish, Max lets show her whims, insecurities and mood swings at every available juncture, and it doesn’t take long before whatever goodwill from the initial chemistry between Tatum and Hayek Pinault fades away.

Indeed, it is surprising how barely scripted the film is, a fact not even Soderbergh’s pacey direction can disguise. The first half-hour is essentially an extended calling card for Mike to demonstrate to Max just what he can get up to in a private performance, in order that she may make the invitation to join her in London. That is followed by a gap-filling hour populated by vaguely comic secondary characters, including a repressed city bureaucrat (Vicki Pepperdine), a grouchy manservant (Ayub Khan Din) and a precocious adolescent (Jemelia George). And last but not least, the finale is no more than an excuse to recreate the ‘Magic Mike Live’ stage show for the big screen, no matter how energetic the musical numbers are.

Still, you have to hand it to Soderbergh for not losing his audience’s attention along the way. As skin-deep as the opening act is, there is no denying that it is sultry and titillating, what with Tatum and Hayek Pinault oozing sex appeal and Soderbergh’s camera (once again under the pseudonym of Peter Andrews) staying close and continuous to their bodies. A flash mob sequence on board one of London’s double-decker buses is thrilling in its spontaneity and creativity, while glimpses of the rehearsals before the climactic final act whet our appetite for the brilliant routines choreographed by Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick.

Though comprising mostly unknowns (and therefore without the same ‘wow’ as say Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello or Matthew McConaughey from the previous instalments), the fact that the performers are bona fide dancers (from the ‘Magic Mike Live’ shows) makes the finale even more spectacular, with Soderbergh’s skilful camera movements capturing the dance moves in their full glory. But it is Tatum’s rain-soaked routine with a ballerina (Kylie Shea) that is the real showstopper, a mesmerising number both dazzlingly artistic and dead sexy, and proof that Tatum has not lost one bit of that ‘Step Up’ talent.

Pity therefore that despite the electrifying dance numbers, ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ is probably the weakest entry of the trilogy. There is hardly any story or character here, even to the extent of draining almost all signs of personality out of Mike. It doesn’t help that the movie has to resort to laughable voiceovers on the supposed relationship between love, dance and self-discovery to bolster its legitimacy, after sidelining Mike’s cohort from the previous films to cameos on a Zoom call. At least the previous two films overcame their superficiality; the way we see it, this last dance cannot quite muster any resolve to offer anything more than naked, guiltless bliss.

Movie Rating:

(The most stripped down chapter of the trilogy, this Last Dance forsakes story and character for sheer gratification of naked, guiltless bliss)

Review by Gabriel Chong