Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, David Denman, Sonia Ammar
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence)
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 31 August 2023
Synopsis: Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.
Movie Review:
Unlike ‘Taken’, which squandered its franchise opportunity with two hastily and poorly done sequels, ‘The Equalizer’ has taken its time over the course of almost a decade to get to the inevitable trilogy, and in doing so, remain consistently and reliably watchable. Indeed, both Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills in the former and Denzel Washington’s Robert McCall in the latter are men with a very particular set of skills, but ‘The Equalizer’ has proven with its 2018 sequel and this latest that it is the superior vigilante action film with an aged action hero.
It should come as no surprise that Washington is the very raison d'etre of ‘The Equalizer’ trilogy. Whilst critics embrace his thespian performances in dramas such as ‘Flight’, ‘Fences’ and ‘Roman J. Israel, Esq’, it is his action hero shtick in the late Tony Scott’s ‘Man on Fire’, ‘The Taking of Pelham 123’ and ‘Unstoppable’ and in director Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Training Day’ and ‘The Magnificent Seven’ that audiences have lapped up. As McCall in ‘The Equalizer’ films, all of which have been directed by Fuqua, Washington is peerless smoldering, swaggering and lighting up the screen as a deliverer of slick justice.
To their credit though, Fuqua and series writer Richard Wenk do not just take this latest (and possibly last) film as just another rehash of the earlier two. As much as the opening scene at an Italian vineyard strewn with bodies, knives and bullet wounds remind us of how ruthless efficient he is, it also ends with McCall getting shot in the back by a child he thought was innocuous, which he takes a moment to absorb lying on the grass. McCall does manage to make it into a car, drive onto a ferry, and steer his way up a mountain road en route to a fictional seaside town of Alamonte along the Amalfi Coast.
Most of the action takes place in that picturesque setting, where McCall is nursed back to health by a kindly elderly doctor Enzo (Remo Girone) at his home, after being brought there by a kindly carbinieri (Eugenio Mastrandrea). Pretty soon, the rest of the community also grows on McCall, including the barista (Gaia Scodellaro) at the café in the village square he goes to every morning, the fishmonger that initially refuses payment on account of being Enzo’s friend, and even the priest at the church on the hill he takes daily climbs up to in order to regain his stamina.
If it was purpose he was after in the earlier two films, it is peace that he longs for here – and it is precisely that peace he steps in to safeguard fiercely for the community when their lives are disrupted by the Italian mafia (specifically, the Camorra). Besides extortion, the mafia are also forcing people out of their homes in a bid to redevelop the real estate into hotels and casinos. After holding himself back when they set fire to the fishmonger’s store, McCall gets back to what he does best when he sees them openly threatening the policeman and his family in a restaurant.
From squeezing a median nerve, to turning a knife against its very aggressor, and to driving a corkscrew up into a baddie’s mouth, Washington’s savage, untroubled dispatching of the Camorra is an utter guilty pleasure. An absolute pro at pushing our buttons, Washington has perfected his trademark gestures – the smirk, pursed lips, and occasional sardonic aside – that make his kills as much for justice as they are for sheer entertainment. None of the sequences rival the showdown in the first movie at a home supplies depot, but watching Washington do what he does never loses its cathartic joy.
Like we said at the start, ‘The Equalizer’ trilogy exists because of Washington. He is its force of nature, whose ferocity is nicely balanced with charisma, grace and equanimity. Though he is obviously better than the material, Washington remains a consummate movie star through and through, never phoning it in even if he could easily do so. Those who remember his ‘Man on Fire’ will also be in for a treat – close to 20 years later, his reunion with Dakota Fanning, who plays a CIA desk clerk turned junior operative whom McCall strikes an unlikely partnership with, is surprisingly delightful thanks to their easy chemistry. If this is indeed the end of the road for ‘The Equalizer’, it is a satisfying conclusion that ends the franchise on a pulpy high note.
Movie Rating:
(Smoldering, swaggering and lighting up the screen as a deliverer of slick justice, Denzel Washington proves once again why he is 'The Equalizer' par none)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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WATCH OUT FOR THE GOLDFINGER (金手指) THIS DECEMBER!Posted on 17 Aug 2023 |
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Kelvin Tong
Cast: Rebecca Lim, Cynthia Koh
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Rating: PG13 (Horror)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures and Clover Films
Official Website:
Opening Day: 19 October 2023
Synopsis: CONFINEMENT tells the story of Wang Si Ling (Rebecca Lim), a pregnant painter who moves into her dream home and hires a confinement nanny after winning an award. As Si Ling begins her one month in confinement, inexplicable incidents start mounting in the house, threatening both her and her baby…
Movie Review:
One can’t possibly ask for a more timely publicity than this. Singaporean actress Rebecca Lim, who is headlining Kelvin Tong’s latest work announced last month that she is pregnant, complete with a photo of herself with a visible baby bump. The thing is, in Tong’s psychological thriller, Lim plays a single mother who experiences weird (read: supernatural) happenings when her confinement nanny moves in to take care of her newborn. Yup, this means that Lim’s appearance at the movie’s publicity events will cause a natural buzz.
Depending on how superstitious you are, watching a movie of this genre when you’re pregnant may not be the best idea, especially when you are the one playing the character who is being spooked. We are sure Lim is sensible about this, but we aren’t so sure about Si Ling, the single mother she plays in the movie.
It is almost the same set of peculiarities for any horror or psychological thriller. The characters always involve themselves in situations that most of us wouldn’t have landed ourselves in. For example, if you keep hearing strange voices and seeing shadowy figures while staying in a huge house with your newborn, would you have made attempts to find another accommodation? If you are perpetually haunted by a recurring nightmare about a ghostly figure that pounces at you in the house, would you have made more effort to move out?
Maybe the protagonist of this movie is taking the advice of her confinement nanny Ah Qing (Cynthia Koh) seriously, because she warns her not to step out of the house during the one month period. But hey, you see Si Ling heading over to a neighbour’s house to check out the old lady who calls her “dirty”, and going to her manager’s office to demand for answers whether anything sinister happened in the lodging he procured for her. Oh, and we don’t exactly understand why Si Ling uses the landline and doesn’t have any Internet enabled device to go online to search for answers.
Then there is the confinement nanny herself, who behaves is behaving suspiciously. Is Ah Qing secretly communicating to the father of the child behind closed doors? And what exactly are the ingredients in the confinement meals she cooks for Si Ling?
Questions, questions, questions.
This 95 minute movie takes its time to build up the mood, and a substantial amount of time is dedicated to Si Ling’s strange and frustrating encounters. There are very few jump scares, and the filmmakers are not interested in delivering gore and horror. Lim does a decent job in playing a character who is psychologically confused by the happenings around her, while Koh is appropriately unsettling with her cold stares and unaffectionate behaviour (one look at we wouldn’t trust Ah Qing with a newborn). The technical aspects of the movie are top notch. Director Tong is a confident filmmaker who knows how to use cinematography and sound design to bring out the best of the production set.
When the truth is finally revealed in the very last moments of the movie, you try to recall all the clues that Tong has placed throughout the story. But you also wonder why Si Ling didn’t get out of the house earlier, like any other normal human being would.
Movie Rating:
(There is an emotional payoff for this psychological thriller featuring decent performances from lead actresses Rebecca Lim and Cynthia Koh)
Review by John Li
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Nimrod Antal
Cast: Liam Neeson, Noma Dumezweni, Lilly Aspell, Jack Champion, Embeth Davidtz, Mathew Modine
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Coarse Language and Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 September 2023
Synopsis: Matt Turner (Liam Neeson) is a successful Berlin based American businessman juggling a booming financial career with family responsibility. Driving his kids to school one morning, Matt receives a phone call from a mysterious voice: there's a bomb under his seat that will detonate unless he completes a specific series of tasks, and fast. Trapped in their car in a high-speed chase across the city, Matt must follow the stranger's increasingly dangerous instructions in a race against time to protect his family and solve the mystery that plays out over the course of one day.
Movie Review:
We could never resist the temptation to make a pun on Liam Neeson and his special set of skills. But it had comes to a point whereby it is becoming repetitive and exhausting that we decides to give it a rest. Unlike us, the 71 year old Irish actor stars yet again in another generic, repetitive and exhausting action thriller of the year called Retribution. See, even the name smells generic.
Neeson plays Matt, a Berlin-based investment banker whose punishing working schedule has drifted apart his relationship with his wife and children. While his wife, Heather (Embeth Davidtz) is secretly planning a divorce at the lawyer’s office, it’s Matt’s turn to drive the kids, Zack (Jack Champion) and Emily (Lilly Aspell) to school.
Soon enough, Matt receives an anonymous call on a cell phone placed inside his car compartment. The psycho on the other side of the call informs Matt that there is a bomb hidden under his seat and it will detonate if he or the kids attempt to get out of the car. In the meantime, Matt needs to follow the psycho’s order such as watching the deaths of his office colleagues including his boss (Matthew Modine) and asking his wife to withdraw money from his deposit box.
Retribution in actual fact is a remake of a Spanish thriller which none of us here has watched. Thus there’s no way to make a decent comparison though we can attest that this English language version is so boring that the brief 91 minutes duration seems like eternity.
There’s no suspense, thrills or adrenalin for that matter as we follows Matt in his swanky Mercedes as he drives aimlessly around Berlin. Helmer Nimrod Antal (Vacancy, Predators, Stranger Things) certainly has an easy job directing Neeson who is practically stuck in the car the entire time. Besides some lame attempt to communicate with his estranged son and assuring his daughter, Neeson’s only other job is to toggle between the phones and control system of his car.
The material and direction is so weak that the handful of car chases and explosions are amateur at best. Even with Neeson’s trademark gruff and machismo on full display, there isn’t enough compelling elements and plot turns to keep things going. Even the so-called plot twist is standard screenwriting 101.
For a 2023 movie, Retribution is horrible on all accounts if you insist on comparing this to a nearly three decades, bomb-on-a-bus action thriller, the all-time superior Speed. Neeson needs to seriously stop his subpar everyday action hero routine or risk endangering his wholesome acting career.
Movie Rating:
(This Neeson vehicle lacks the horsepower to run from start to finish)
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Picking up a few months after the end of “Vacation Friends,” this uproarious sequel finds newly married couple Marcus (Howery) and Emily (Orji) inviting their uninhibited besties Ron (Cena) and Kyla (Hagner), who are also newly married and have a baby, to join them for a vacation when Marcus lands an all-expenses-paid trip to a Caribbean resort. His reason for traveling there in the first place is to meet with the owners of the resort to bid on a construction contract for a hotel they own in Chicago. But when Kyla’s incarcerated father Reese (Buscemi) is released from San Quentin and shows up at the resort unannounced at the worst possible moment, things get out of control, upending Marcus’ best laid plans and turning the vacation friends’ perfect trip into total chaos.
MOVIE REVIEW:
The money that goes to making Vacation Friends 2 should go to better use. Maybe the money from Hulu should go to several indie filmmakers or the WGA strike. Perhaps even charity. In short, nobody needs a sequel to the tepid Vacation Friends.
Set shortly after the first, Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Emily (Yvonne Orji) has invited their hard-partying friends, Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner) on an all-expenses paid trip to a Caribbean resort. In actual fact, Marcus is meeting the head of a Korean conglomerate at the resort to discuss the possibility of building a resort in his hometown, Chicago. The meeting is supposed to take place four days after but the Vice President, Yeon (Ronnie Chieng) decides to bring things forward.
As if there’s not enough trouble for Marcus, Kyla’s father, Reese (Steve Buscemi) who has just been released from jail joins them on the resort.
Honestly, after sitting through nearly two hours of Vacation Friends 2, we can’t really decipher what’s particularly funny or absurd that it deserve the audiences time. The whole movie tries hard to deliver something provocative maybe like The Hangover. But the moment never arrive. Not a gag, a one-liner or anything. A potential surfing went wrong gag just appear and sort of quietly vanishes, another gag involving cocaine also ends up being a flop.
Mostly, it’s Marcus getting angry and exasperated, his wife Emily doesn’t want a baby if you are keen on this part of the story. Ron is busy trying to win over his up-to-no-good father-in-law. Despite being a new mom, Kyla tends to leave their baby to Maurillo (Carlos Santos), the hotel concierge from the first one and the only pathetic reason why his character returned for the sequel.
As with all sequels, the second instalment gets bigger with a finale that’s equipped with drug dealers, dirty money, explosion and car chases. You know all these noisy shenanigans doesn’t make things any more entertaining, hilarious and meaningful.
The chemistry of the four leads remains the only draw especially John Cena who is destined to be quite a versatile actor. Other than that, there shouldn’t be a need for Vacation Friends 2 at all.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
SYNOPSIS: Stacy and Lydia are BFFs who've always dreamed about having epic bat mitzvahs. But things start to go comically awry when a popular boy and middle school drama threatens their friendship and their rite of passage.
MOVIE REVIEW:
We heard Adam Sandler is such a generous actor that he invites his gang of Hollywood buddies for Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2. And now he has round up his entire family for You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah. Nepotism you might say.
But hold your horses, Mitzvah is in fact one of the sweetest teenage comedy in recent times that you will be labelled a scrooge if you detest it.
Stacy Friedman (Sunny Sandler) and Lydia Rodriguez Katz (Samantha Lorraine) are two best friends dreaming about their ideal bat mitzvahs. Mitzvah is a Jewish ceremony of becoming an adult for the uninitiated. But their friendship suffers a setback when they fall in love with the same bad boy in school, Andy Goldfarb (Dylan Hoffman). Suddenly, the two girls who have been friends since they were babies begin to feud with each other over the slightest thing. Will their lifelong dream bat mitzvahs ever happen given the current situation?
Director Sammi Cohen and writers Alison Peck, Fiona Rosenbloom perfectly captures the spirit of the coming-of-age story tailored for the Tik Tok generation. There’s never a single dull moment right here as viewers are treated to the incredible rivalry of the once best friends. It all arises from a minor misunderstanding but Stacy isn’t going to take things lying down even resorting to volunteering at an old folks home where Andy’s grandma is residing.
From the unrealistic desire to go for more adult fashion choices to a forbidden kiss at the temple, the themes are so universally appealing that every parents with an angst teenager at home will attest to it. Sunny’s real-life dad, Adam Sandler plays her onscreen dad and he appears on and off offering some goofy not offensive humour.
Talking about offensive humour, there’s a big gag about a bloody floating tampon, probably pretty mild for a Sandler comedy. Another admirable fact about Mitzvah is the obvious missing of Sandler regulars and it’s definitely a good sign because you have SNL regular Sarah Sherman appearing as a very likeable singing Rabbi and Israeli actor Ido Mosseri playing an over-the-top DJ.
As for Sunny Sandler, she is truly the breakout star here. This nepo-baby is both funny and charming. Wonder where she inherit her genes from. Her elder sister, Sadie appears as her on-screen sister and she is amazing as well.
For a movie that covers first crush, friendship, humiliation, teenage awkwardness and lots of stuff about the Jewish culture, this Happy Madison production comes highly recommended. This is not a joke seriously, we repeat not a joke.
MOVIE RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Crime/Action
Director: Lui Mei Fung
Cast: Chrissie Chau, Gillian Chung, Karena Ng, Carrie Ng
Runtime:1 hr 28 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 September 2023
Synopsis: Top Sis (Chrissie Chau) was a successful businesswoman who is framed and sent to prison. She quickly realises that there is a turf war going on with Mrs. Ball (Gillian Chung). In light of self-preservation, she joins forces with Kelly (Karena Ng) and Mother Bo (Carrie Ng) to go against Mrs. Ball. She uses her business skills and turns the black market within the prison upside down. The war between the two clans continues to heighten.
Movie Review:
Those old enough to know the women-in-prison subgenre might be curious to find out if ‘Prison Flowers’ is a throwback to the Cat III Hong Kong films from the 80s. Unfortunately, except for an entirely gratuitous bare back shot, there is nothing remotely scintillating about this tedious redemption drama, which probably should have stayed in its own incarceration after a four-year delay.
A barely competent Chrissie Chau anchors the film as Tai Yim-kwan, a successful businesswoman who is sent to prison after being framed for embezzlement. Ignorant of the hierarchy within the inmates, Tai – otherwise known as Top Sis – unwittingly offends resident bully Mrs Ball (Gillian Chung). Compared to Chau, Chung fares even worse as the prison matriarch, exuding neither menace or awe.
For her own survival, Top Sis joins Mother Bo’s (Carrie Ng) clique, and together decide to set up their own cigarette trading business to rival that of Mrs Ball. So the film doesn’t end up on the wrong side of the censors, a prologue carefully explains how the setting is pre-handover to China, when the British rulers could hardly care about running the colony properly and where therefore such illegal activities even behind bars were rampant.
As much as the synopsis teases a showdown between Top Sis and Mrs Ball, their rivalry hardly amounts to anything compelling within the movie. Instead, the real villain here is Butcher Wan (Rain Li), a psychopathic career offender who had stabbed Mrs Ball in the abdomen just before her last release from jail. It doesn’t take long before Top Sis and Mrs Ball decide to team up against Butcher Wan, not least when the latter indirectly recruits Mother Bo’s daughter Bobo (Jeannie Chan) just to spite Bo.
Making her feature debut, short-film director Lui Mei-fung falls back on the usual melodramatic narrative tropes to pit Top Sis and Mrs Ball against Butcher Wan. You can see coming the unfortunate demise of one of the characters, which will reinforce the alliance between the two former factions led by Top Sis and Mrs Ball respectively. Likewise, you’d expect too that there is a sob story behind each of our protagonists, which has led to their imprisonment.
Sadly for Lui, she has neither the finesse to turn this into a cliched but engaging genre piece nor the actresses to deliver the material. Oh yes, there is no guilty fun to be had here, with the plot turns and dialogue taken with tin-eared seriousness. The setting too is poorly constructed, with only as much realism as a cut-rate TV drama. Whether the intention was to be gritty or trashy, the result is ultimately cringe-worthy.
Indeed, there is nothing pretty about the movie, notwithstanding its pretty-faced cast. Compared to the male-driven ‘Breakout Brothers’ by the same production company, this attempt at a female-driven prison movie falls utterly flat. Given the sociopolitical climate today, it is not realistic to expect that ‘Prison Flowers’ will aim to be a modern-day Cat III exploitation film; that said, we had hoped at least for more drama and less cliches. Like we said, it’s probably better if this production had stayed in own prison.
Movie Rating:
(Neither trashy or compelling, this tedious prison drama is bogged down by melodramatic cliches, amateurish execution and mis-casting)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Anthony Chen
Cast: Zhou Dongyu, Liu Haoran, Qu Chuxiao
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 September 2023
Synopsis: THE BREAKING ICE is set in Yanji, a border city in the north of China. It tells the story of the blossoming relationship among three young adults in their twenties, set over a few short days in the winter snow.
Movie Review:
Anthony Chen’s first foray into mainland China sees the Hong Kong-based Singaporean filmmaker venture to the frozen landscapes of Yanji, a small border city within shouting distance of North Korea. Against the working-class landscape of industrial smokestacks and the snowy peaks of Changbai Mountains, Chen devises a three-hander as a “love letter to the young people of China”. That however should not be taken to imply that ‘The Breaking Ice’ is in any way whimsical; in fact, we should warn you that even though it is never heavy-handed, it does deal with heavy themes such as alienation and ennui.
Indeed, each one of Chen’s protagonists is struggling with some degree of dislocation at the start. Nana (Zhou Dongyu) is a disaffected guide who gamely puts on a smile to host the busloads of tourists who have come to visit the city’s ethnic folk villages and hopefully support its local economy, but she quickly falls back on pursed lips once her customers are out of sight. She also nurses a foot injury whose significance will only become clearer in the second half of the movie, and without giving too much away, let’s just say hers is the most fully formed character arc of wasted potential, thwarted ambition and deep-seated regret.
Haofeng (Liu Haoran) is a Shanghai-based urbanite visiting Yanji to attend a friend’s wedding. Though his habit of chewing on ice cubes and looking over ledges makes it clear from the very start he is suffering from borderline depression, it is never satisfyingly clear what led him to this state, except some vague mention of how this boy from Henan had somehow cracked under the parental pressure of making it in life. Completing the triumvirate is Han Xiao (Qu Chuxiao), a rough-edged but good-natured local who works at his aunt’s Korean restaurant that Nana hosts her tour groups at for lunch. Unlike Nana and Haofeng, Han Xiao is simply adrift, and would have been content remaining a slacker enjoying an on-off flirtation with Nana if not for an unexpected romance that develops between Nana and Haofeng.
Over the span of four days, the trio traverse the city and its outskirts, including a walk along the border fenceline with North Korea, a visit to a night-time funfair where Nana is reminded of her past as a promising figure skater, and a massive ice maze where they play hide and seek with one another. They also spend time at a dance club where Nana and Han Xiao share an intimate dance while Haofeng wallows in his unhappiness chewing ice cubes, and indulge in a game of shoplifting while in a bookstore. Their sprees culminate in a trip up to the Changbai mountains to visit Heaven Lake, where an unexpected near-death encounter will force them to confront their frustrations, fears and future.
Given Chen’s previous works, it is not surprising that one may expect this to be a character study and therefore come off somewhat disappointed. Indeed, even though it is a relationship drama, it isn’t intended in the same way as ‘Ilo Ilo’ or ‘Wet Season’ was; rather, this is best appreciated as a heartfelt observation of three people whose lives intersect in intimately profound ways over a brief but consequential period. And in that regard, it is amazing how Chen lets the characters grow on you, develop within the course of the movie, and find hope, resolve and confidence to forge new beginnings on their own and with each other.
Those familiar with Chen’s oeuvre will know that he is a detailed filmmaker, and it is therefore entirely deliberate that we only know so much of the back stories of these characters. Whilst some would clearly prefer a more in-depth treatment, it is equally true that we know as much about their past as they do of one another, which in no way diminishes the experience they have with each other during those momentous days together. That said, it is true that a recurring motif of a runaway criminal never quite solidifies into anything truly compelling, but that is thankfully largely kept to the periphery of the movie.
In more ways than one, ‘The Breaking Ice’ sees Chen break out of the mould of his comfort zone. Not only has he chosen to apply his filmmaking sensibilities to reflect the undercurrents of today’s Mainland Chinese youth, he has also challenged himself to work with an entirely unfamiliar set of cast and crew in a foreign setting. Though it does feel familiar in some regard, it is nonetheless still an impressive achievement for the Singapore-born, now Hong Kong-based director, especially as a new chapter in his journey towards being a truly international filmmaker. Our heartiest congratulations to Chen, and we hope local audiences will continue to support local talent – after all, it may not be set in Singapore, but its themes, language and sentimentality is absolutely universal and just as keenly relatable.
Movie Rating:
(Intimate, heartfelt and ultimately uplifting, this tender observation of three people whose lives intersect over a brief but consequential period is an impressive new chapter for Singapore-born filmmaker Anthony Chen)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Crime
Director: Shen Ao
Cast: Zhang Yixing, Gina Chen Jin, Darren Wang, Sunny Sun, Zhou Ye
Runtime: 2 hr 10 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence & Some Coarse Language)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 14 September 2023
Synopsis: The film is based on tens of thousands of real fraud cases, and the horrifying inside story of the entire industry chain of overseas cyber fraud. Programmer Pan Sheng and model Anna were attracted by an overseas recruitment ad and went abroad to seek wealth, but they were scammed and ended up working in a factory. In order to leave, the two are going to attack the gambler Ah Tian and his girlfriend Xiao Yu, take their money, and complete their business... Can Pan Sheng and Anna escape from the cruel leaders of the fraud group, Manager Lu and Ah Cai? Facing cross-border investigations and pursuit of the police, where can they escape to?
Movie Review:
If you don’t already know, the fact that you are reading this review on the Internet means your online activity is probably being tracked. How you are clicking through the website, your mouse movements, the scroll depth and other navigation patterns are important pieces of information that can be analysed to monitor and collect your browsing behaviour. If it is any consolation, you are probably one of the millions of Internet users who are part of this ongoing activity used by corporations to grow their businesses.
And that is why this Mainland Chinese production is a stark reminder that the Internet can be a scary place if you fall prey to the traps set up by unscrupulous online scammers.
Produced by Ning Hao and directed by Shen Ao, it tells the story of Pan (Zhang Yixiang), a programmer and Anna (Gina Chen), a model who find themselves in an unnamed Southeast Asian country to be part of an organisation executing cyber scams through online gambling and gasp, crypto-related frauds. If you aren’t familiar with how cryptocurrencies work, it is best you steer clear of any related dealings that promise a fortune.
Through a clever non linear storytelling structure, we see how Pan and Anna join the organisation managed by Lu (Eric Wang) and have no way out of the system once they are sucked in. It is a horror seeing how the two are coerced into the scheme with the threat of violence and torture. As the plot is based on the director’s research on true life incidents, one can only imagine how scary it is to be trapped in a foreign country running scams with no way home.
Elsewhere, there is another storyline where we see Tianzhi (Darren Wang), a young man with a promising future becoming a victim of the online fraud. Without saying too much, the ending for this character is melodramatically tragic and that sets up another side plot where his girlfriend (Zhou Ye) is determined to spread awareness about online scams, and a police officer (Yong Mei) goes all out to crack down the fraud factory.
With a runtime of 130 minutes, this well produced thriller is constantly engaging, thanks to the committed performances delivered by the ensemble cast. Zhang, who made his debut in showbiz as a member of the boyband Exo, shed his pretty boy image to play a nerdy programmer who gets embroiled in this dismaying experience and has to find a way to escape. It is harrowing to watch his repeated attempts and it’ll keep you at the edge of your seat. Chen’s character of a model who wants to become famous is also one you can sympathise with, and the actress does a good job in portraying someone who is stuck in a very bad situation.
As the movie progresses and you see the Chinese officials going all out to bust the bad guys, you also realise this is a heavy handed approach to promote an anti fraud public message. There is even an end credit montage where real life victims talk about their experience and how they feel safer back home. It is no wonder why the movie made it to the top at the box office in the world on the opening weekend after general release. There is another upcoming movie from China about online romance scams, and we can’t wait.
Movie Rating:
(A well-executed movie that delivers the thrills and sheds light on the horrors of online frauds, while sending an important message about being careful with your online activities)
Review by John Li
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Michael Chaves
Cast: Bonnie Aarons, Taissa Farmiga, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: NC16
Released By: Warner Bros
Official Website: https://www.thenun2.com.sg
Opening Day: 7 September 2023
Synopsis: 1956 -France. A priest is murdered. An evil is spreading. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun.
Movie Review:
Those who have followed ‘The Conjuring’ universe religiously will know that the films of the same name which centre around Ed and Lorraine Warren as the husband and wife pair of paranormal investigators are ultimately the real deal, with the rest of the spinoffs – such as ‘Annabelle’, ‘The Nun’ and ‘The Curse of La Llorona’ – being largely inferior gap-fillers in between. Notwithstanding that, ‘The Nun’ had in 2018 gone on to become the highest grossing film of the franchise, which made this sequel inevitable.
Set four years after the events of its predecessor, ‘The Nun II’ finds Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) serving at a convent in Italy and Maurice, otherwise known as Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), working at a Catholic boarding school in France. Some may recall that while it had seemed that the demon Valak was banished by the blood of Christ, it had in fact possessed Maurice, as evidenced by an inverted crucifix seared into the back of his neck. As it turns out, Valak still haunts Maurice, and his presence at the school that used to be a former monastery is no coincidence.
You can probably guess that it is only a matter of time before Sister Irene crosses paths with Maurice once again, summoned as she is by the Cardinal to investigate a series of deaths across Europe – including that of the self-immolation of a priest in a church in Tarascon – that had Valak’s fingerprints on them. Joining Irene on her mission is a young, somewhat precocious, novice from the convent named Debra (Storm Reid), whose struggle with faith could do with a jolt from an encounter with pure evil.
To say any more would be to give too much away from a threadbare story – which we’re not sure why is credited to three writers, including James Wan’s frequent collaborator Akela Cooper – that knows its purpose to provide just enough narrative filling in between the horror set-pieces. Indeed, the only mystery here is just what Valak is searching for at the site of the former monastery, which is revealed all too quickly in a scene at the end of the second act where Irene meets up with an elderly librarian at the Palais des Papes.
That said, those looking for plain old good horror will find that director Michael Chaves – a veteran of these films with ‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ and ‘The Curse of La Llorona’ – knows just how to make his audience jump. Taking a leaf from the true master Wan, Chaves eschews the jump-out-at-you scares in favour for a solid buildup through suspense and dread, complemented by a strong mise-en-scene courtesy of some choice old-world European locations and Tristan Nyby’s atmospherically evocative cinematography.
A prank within the old chapel inside the boarding school is suitably spine-tingling, followed soon after by an even more sinister encounter that results in the unfortunately gory death of the school’s principal. A foot chase down the creepy alleys of the small town near Aix-en-Provence leads Irene to come face to face with Valak through the fluttering pages of a newsstand. And last but not least, a gleefully demented finale that features no less than a goat demon and a splash of the Catholic sacraments will leave you breathless right up till the mid-credits scene teasing the return of the Warrens. Oh yes, Chaves knows just how to get under your skin, and ‘The Nun II’ is hands down scarier than its predecessor.
So even though it is hardly iconic enough to make genre history, this latest entry into ‘The Conjuring’ canon is nothing less than serviceable, and we might even say well-constructed to deliver the requisite thrills its audience would no doubt be expecting. It is certainly one of the stronger spinoffs to date, and as long as you set your expectations right, will do just fine to keep fans occupied before the inevitable next instalment of the Warrens’ case files.
Movie Rating:
(One of the better spinoffs of 'The Conjuring' franchise, this solidly constructed sequel packs plenty of spine-tingling moments to keep fans gleefully entertained)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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