Inception

To say Inception is a good movie is not doing it any justice at all. In a summer of shameless remakes and sequels, this the best movie of the year if not the decade! Just when you thought Christopher Nolan cannot outdo his 2007 Batman sequel The Dark Knight, he shows us why he is the prodigal saviour of Hollywood. Inception is clearly his smartest movie since Memento.

This movie reminds us again the reason why we should pay the ticket price to watch in theaters. I'm not going to discuss the plot in any detail here because that will just spoil the fun of watching it. All I can say is it is an exhilarating experience for me which I have not felt in a long long time. The story confounds you at first to get your attention, leaves you with a dozen questions then Nolan unveils the answers to you layer by layer. By the time you have most of the answers he hits you with a hammer of excitements and spectacular visual treats in the climatic ending that will surely astound you. Even towards the end you will be clamoring to know what is going to happen.

All the actors and actresses did a marvelous job playing their respective characters because Nolan does not believe in stereotypical pedestrain characters. Every actor has a key role to play and bring to the movie and all of them had their moments to shine. In fact I can hardly find any flaw with this movie, the cinematography gives the movie it's epic feel and the music score by Hans Zimmer propels the excitement and tension of the movie, especially towards the end, to an emphatic height. This movie would have been an editing nightmare but yet it was so elegantly cut that it laid out the depth of the story in simple fashion, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are people who requires a second viewing just to fully grasps the entire story.

In the opening weekend alone the box office takings in U.S has already reached $60.4 million, the movie was made on a budget of $160 million. That's not including overseas market earnings. Reviews all over have been exceptional and everyone agree that this is THE movie to watch. Judging by the unanimous applause at the end of the movie, it is very obvious the positive sentiments are felt and appreciated. Such a gem only comes once every few years, you would be kicking yourself if you missed it. I'm already planning to watch it again!

Kick Ass

Trailers have 2 very important purposes, studios use them to highlight the best parts of the movies before they are released in order to entice audiences. More often than not we get so overwhelmed by the bits and pieces that we saw in the trailer we tend to hold our hopes way too high only to crash in disappointment (think the remake of Clash of the Titans). Sometimes the trailers act like a covert agent, they only show you what they want you to think the movie is about, but upon seeing the actual movie you realize you gotten more than you bargained. And the surprise in store does make that particular experience lot more memorable.

Kick Ass is one of those movies that if you see it from the trailer, looks like another typical superhero / teen-coming of age / comedy spoof movie that moulds itself closely with the likes of Spiderman. The story tells how Dave, a high school teen who decides to take his superhero dreams to a new realistic level and become an actual masked crusader. The premise is almost like 2008's Superhero Movie, which happens to be an actual spoof of Spiderman. But director Matthew Vaughn took great pains to steer Kick Ass away from any cliched whirlpool and offered us a fresh take of how an actual teen would deal with the issues of becoming an actual masked vigilante, at the same time dealing with issues such as family, friends, love and sex. On Dave's first attempt at crime fighting for instance, he actually gets himself so badly beaten by the thugs that he ends up in hospital. Though it was a pathetic end for our crime fighter, it does set Kick Ass apart from the other superhero movies and does away with the concept of invincibility. It's almost like watching a teenage version of Watchmen.

What worked for Kick Ass is how the director was able to skillfully project the anxiety of Dave's secret identity and his teenage desires altogether, yet never trapping itself to over indulgence at the expense of the story. Instead he led the different characters drive the plot ahead and in the proceed of that propelled the story to different heights, that in the second half began to take on a darker tone. Young Chloe Moretz gave a stellar performance as Hitgirl, who was trained from childhood by his father to become a masked vigilante. She is the martial arts expert who slices and shoots her enemies without any moral hesitation. It's an unexplainable feeling when you watch her cut her enemy down with lullaby music playing in the background. Or the way Nicholas Cage shoots his own daughter to make her overcome her fear of bullets. Kick Ass not only steers clear of the stereotypical gags, it dives head down to show us what we long wanted to expect out of real superheros.....real danger!

Nothing is atypical as far as Kick Ass is concerned, the performance by the cast sublimely fits the childish tone at once and then subtly switches gear as it gets darker. Mark Strong who plays the drug kingpin finally seems to be having fun with his character. He does away with his usual stoic performance this time, instead his villain is a father figure who struggles with the upbringing of his adolescent child, managing his ineffective thugs and dealing with the superhero threats. His muddled, confused expression is simply a joy to watch. Kick Ass is a refreshing and entertaining take on a popular movie theme that we felt may have seen it all. But the way the story unfolds and how the characters are written does make it seem like we are here for the first time and it is definitely enjoyable to be surprised like that. So don't always believe the trailers, sometimes the movie may turn out to be good afterall!

Robin Hood

The thing you have to know when your watching Robin Hood is that your not just watching a remake of a classic favorite, but your also watching a Ridley Scott movie. And I happen to be one of Scott's biggest movie fan, hence I will try my best to be as unbiased in my review as I could. Ridley Scott's movies are always bursting with details and details and details, the production values of any of Scott's movies are always immaculate and no expenses are evidently spared. From the historical characters to the last piece of thread found in the costumes, watching a Ridley Scott period production is like attending a crash course in history lesson.

Ridley Scott burst into Hollywood with a successive string of classic movies such as Alien, Bladerunner and Thelma & Louise. But he quickly descended into the 'style over substance' curse with flops like White Squall and G.I. Jane. However, he found new life in year 2000 when he won a deserving Oscar for Gladiator, but at the expense of us getting stuck with Russel Crowe. Maybe Scott wanted a more rugged battle hardened Robin Hood, but could he at least settle for someone younger?

So we all know the story of Robin Hood, the master archer who robs the rich and gives to the poor. How is Scott able refresh a seasoned plot story is something that needs to be seen to be believed. Like the old saying, if it isn't broken don't change it. Scott tried dabbling his strokes to give a fresh take on Robin Hood, but personally I feel he ended up with an incoherent storyline that could neither satisfy the old school audience nor win over the new. There is simply too much subplots involving too many characters that dredged the attention and focus of an audience already robbed with the ingenuity a familiar story. The political inclination of the French invasion was thrown into the background to make way for Robin and Lady Marion's romance. And seeing Crowe and Cate Blanchette (who plays lady Marion) flirting onscreen just seems wrong to me.

Robin Hood is decidedly one of Scott's least action packed, action period movie because of the development of an overly contrived story. But the fact the story still made sense in the end shows how much credit has to go to the editing team. One of Scott's biggest flaw in most of his movies are the villains are, well simply put, plain evil. Here the villain Godfrey, (played by Mark Strong, who seems to be making a career playing villains) is just a one dimensional bad guy without any moral ambiguity. That make's it an easier job for Scott to put Crowe's Robin Hood in favorable light with little effort, which without a doubt lost the good versus evil dynamics that was so well played between Crowe's Maximus and Joaqiun Pheonix's Emperor Commodus in Gladiator. Crowe did well to play out the character of Robin Hood, but added nothing new to a character we saw acted by so many predecessors in similar fashion.

But being a Ridley Scott's production, one is guaranteed of sweeping and breath taking cinematography that is signature of the veteran director. The CGI is merged seamlessly with the actual scenery to give us a sense that we are actually in medieval England. However there is too little engagement in the development of the character and story of Robin Hood to offer any fresh outtake that is supposed to be offered in an origins story. So far the best origins story I've seen still goes to Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins. Robin Hood is at best still a modern take of the swash buckling hero who does nothing much than repeat the formula of kill the bad guys and save the damsel in distress. I can only hope and pray that Scott's next project which is the prequel to his own 1979 mega classic hit Alien will render much better results.

Ip Man 2

Personally when I watched Ip Man 1, I felt the story was way too cheesy and over the top. It took itself too seriously when it is at best a well crafted action flick. But of course the collaboration of Donnie Yen and Samo Hung (as martial arts choreographer) can't go wrong, except maybe for the disastrous 14 Blades. Watching Ip Man 2 is very much like going to the General Election, there will be some contest but we always know what to expect!

Ip Man 2 succeeded better than part 1 as the producers scaled down the national hero theme for a more ordinary Ip Man who is struggling to start a martial arts school as he settles down in 1950s Hong Kong. The story felt more believable and empathic this way. And as he realizes, trying to be ordinary is never as simple as it seems. He gets challenged by other martial arts school and becomes embroiled in the politics of the system. Samo Hung plays Master Hung, the leader of the martial arts clan who stands in the way of Ip Man's establishment. In order to 'earn the right' to start a school, he has to challenge all the other masters in Hong Kong and not be defeated within one joss stick's time.

That premise itself is an action flick fan's wet dream. Seeing Ip man take on various masters of different school will be a feast for the eyes. And when the showdown came, it did not disappoint. Hong Kong film makers have certainly mastered the art of action cinematography over the years. They can instill humor and suspense into the action, drawing audiences to submit to the different moods before the grand confrontation between Donnie Yen and Samo Hung. The two of them are not only portraying the grand masters of their school, but these two men represent the only two pinnacle action masters left in the Hong Kong film industry. Their first on screen duel was in 'SPL' years ago, but this time in Ip Man 2 their fight sequence is one of the most intensely choreographed scenes I have seen in a long long time. Both actors have so much experience and chemistry with each other that you can literally feel the energy and wind blowing across your face with each punch thrown. The showdown between the two of them alone is worth the ticket price!

Unfortunately for most action flicks the script is always the collateral damage as immediately in the second half of the movie, the story tumbles into yet another stereotypical racial battle between the Chinese and Western, which has been done to death since Bruce Lee's time. Again the westerners, in this case the British, are the arrogant and conniving group who picks on and bullies the Chinese population. And as usual the Chinese will have to restore their honor and dignity through no other means other than to kick their sorry white ass in a boxing tournament with their resident champ, who surprise surprise, is an even bigger snob!

But still a few things worked in their way, this time the main English actors put up a much more decent and professional display of acting to their characters, and they don't sound 'weird' when they speak. Thus the later half of Ip Man slowly transforms into Rocky like mode, you could almost hear the Rocky trumpet theme blowing when Ip Man trains hard for the challenge and the whole of Hong Kong is throwing in support for him as he walks down the street. It is plagiarism on an unprecedented scale, but at least it is shameless fun! Ip Man 2 is an action movie, nothing more nothing less. Story in such films has always been inconsequential when all we want is to see are punches and kicks that takes our breath away. So just go watch Ip Man 2, relax your mind and let the energy on screen indulge you. This at least is what movie entertainment is about!

CLash of the Titans

Comparison to the original 'Clash of the Titans' will be inevitable as it is one of the most beloved movie classics to be released in the 80's. Given the technological deficiencies back then, the original 'Clash' is a masterpiece collaboration of great (yet simple) storytelling and innovative stop-motion effects by the late Ray Harryhausen.

So when Warner Bros decided to do a remake, expectations will naturally be high. But the greater the hopes the bigger the disappointment. It is not just that the new 'Clash' was poor compared to the old version, but by itself it was a messy piece of cinematic production that neither has much direction or story to compel the audiences. Several rewrites are made but I feel it is done just to differentiate itself from the original version, without adding much sense to the plot. Sam Worthington play Perseus, only this time his character is much darker as he attempts to seek revenge against Hades for murdering his foster family. Interesting when you analyse how a person can actually contemplate killing a God???

The new story drags itself in the 1st 15-20 mins as it attempts to set the mood and pace of the story, but amazingly once it does that the director abandons it for an orgy of monster mishmash special effects. There is absolutely no development of the story, just poorly edited scenes to indicate the progression of the quest that Perseus and the company takes. The director did try to flesh out certain characters in the story but the attempts does not seem to create any significant linkage to the story and was again dropped halfway. At least the original 'Clash' understood that the extra soldiers are there for 'sport' by the monsters and thus did not even bother with it.

One of the main highlights that had people talking about 'Clash' was the Medusa scene. The original was a brilliant combination of mood, sound, eerie music and clever editing, it had people talking about that scene even before audiences watched it. Advances in special effects really does overkill the magic of storytelling. There is no tension or atmosphere to the new Medusa scene, like many of the scenes in the new 'Clash' it was rushed and overshown killing any sense of fear and anticipation. The other scene stealer was obviously the Kraken. Why the new 'Clash' failed again here, is in the original the Kraken appeared early on in the show as it destroyed a major Greece city as punishment by the Gods. It told audiences that the Kraken is one mean mother and the carnage it can unleash is Godlike. In the new 'Clash', the Kraken appeared only at the end of the movie, though it did a good job in scaling it to be the colossal beasts it was supposed to be sadly it was 'turned to stone' before it could lay even the slightest damage to the City of Argos it was summoned to destroy. What a lamer!

With enough bad comparisons to the old version, enough is said to show how great my disappointment at the new 'Clash' movie is. Not surprisingly as a feature film released in March, it obviously had a lesser budget compared to the upcoming summer release movies. Maybe studio executives hoped that the title of the movie would conjure enough nostalgic affections for audiences to pack the theaters once again, thus compromised all storytelling concerns hoping to rake in a quick profit. And from what I have seen in 'Clash' it certainly proves to be the case.

The Hurt Locker

The 1st time I watched 'The Hurt Locker' I watched it with the anticipation that it was going to be a action heavy movie based on the war in Iraq. So naturally I felt sorely empty at the end of the movie, it wasn't a bad movie par say, just wasn't what I expected out of a war movie like say Black Hawk Down.

Then THL got nominated for Best Picture, followed by raving reviews by every single movie critic, and even my friends were talking about this movie. So I got intrigued again and decided to watch this movie once more from a fresh perspective. So what is THL about? It is in my summary, not a war movie, it is not even an action movie, it IS a human drama exploratory movie that is based on the conflict in Iraq. The controversies surrounding the Iraq war (George Bush administration) made it almost mission impossible to portray the war on celluloid and still win over audiences convincingly. Taking on the side that supports the Iraq war will naturally pit yourself against the anti-war groups.

What managed to work for THL is for once it is a war movie that examines war from the female perspectives. Katherine Bigelow has demonstrated her ability to tackle male oriented themed movies with a female instinct allowing for a less testosterone filled drama and fewer senseless on-screen violence. THL follows a group of bomb disposal unit as they attempt to complete their tour in the world's most dangerous place. Improvised Explosive Devices or IED is responsible for the highest number of US soldiers and Iraqi civilian deaths in Iraq. It IS the most dangerous job in the world!

THL worked on several levels, it is shot in a newsreel style and you can mistake that you are watching an actual news footage on screen. The absence of big name actors in the leading roles take away any sense of safety that you may reserve for them if it was otherwise. The action pieces are not your standard shoot'em up scenes with loud explosions, but it is a battle of wits and nerves without any political inclination. It is simply kill or be killed. THL also has one of the most engaging sniper action scene ever filmed, and I was very surprised to see Ralph Fiennes in a supporting role as a British mercenary.

But what can be the success for THL somehow ended up as the weakness for me too. The overall surreal realism portrayed achieved it at the price of stripping away the layers of characters that could have been dramatically developed. By doing so, sometimes I feel like I'm watching episodes of COPs but set in Iraq. Maybe this is the result of seeing war through the perspectives of a female, where men are accustomed to honor and glory. A female's version of war is somewhat more sentiment and personal, and admittedly this is new territory for me. What THL has undoubtedly given us is a real look at the war in Iraq. Whatever reasons this war was waged on has long been forgotten. In the end it is nothing but a daily struggle for survival to the men and women still stationed there, for them to make sense of whatever reasons there maybe left to continue with the conflict.

Hachiko: A Dog's Story

'Hachiko: A Dog's Story' is based on a true story which can be traced back to Japan in the early 20th century. Hachiko was brought to Tokyo by Professor Hidesaburo Ueno. During his owners life Hachiko saw him off at the front door and greeted him at the end of the day near the Shiduya Station. The pair continued their routine until May 1925 when Professor Ueno did not return on the usual train one evening. The professor had suffered a stroke at the university that day. He died and never returned to the train station where his friend was waiting.

The story which is a true testament to loyalty and friendship between the dog and it's master will be well received by the legions of dog and pet owners around the world in this American remake. After 'Marley & Me' in 2008, it seems the studio is are eager to cash in on Marley's success with Hachiko. The big difference is that Marley traces the life and tribulations of a dog seen through the owner's perspective, and relates how Marley played an integral and slowly significant part in their everyday events. With Hachiko however the movie is faced with the prospect of expanding an account which occurred almost 90 years ago. As an audience I am already aware of the story which was comprehensively summarized in the opening paragraph. So how can the director fill in the gaps between the events that took place in order to create a full feature length film?

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. I got 3 of them at home, but at some point the director seemed out of ideas on how to develop the film beyond its original material. So he chose to drag the film with an incessant dose of Hachiko run, sit, wait and jumping at the sight of Richard Gere (who plays the professor and it takes 45 mins for him to finally die in the film). We get the idea that Hachiko is a special dog, but there is only so much cute heartwarming moments one can take before it starts to really bore the audience. It isn't a bad idea to make a film about dogs, but it IS a bad idea when the lead actor is the dog itself. In Marley, we at least have Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston to give us the character elements that a Labrador could not convey with barks and whines, which as an audience can relate with. In Hachiko however, the characters in the film seemed to be there to only verbalize the obvious such as "Hi Hachi" or "Oh his not coming back anymore!"

If the director wanted a faithful reenactment of Hachiko's story, it might have worked better had they made a documentary out of it. Without expanding on the characters around Hachiko, the film just did not have anything new to offer, nor did it have enough weight on its own to engage the audience in an intellectual and emotional platform. Which is probably why the studio chose not to release the film in theaters, instead opting to release it direct to DVDs. But hardcore dog lovers will probably still enjoy the film and even shed some tears with Hachiko.

Watch the official trailer below:

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

So the Harry Potter series (movie) is coming to an end soon, its only natural that every studio and movie producer will be prospecting the libraries and bookstores for the next worthy, and profitable follow up. Many have tried (Chronicles of Narnia; The Spiderwick Chronicles) but few have succeeded. So along comes the next attempt in the form of 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief'. This time the irony is it's by the 1st Harry Potter movie director, Chris Columbus. So it seems like a safe bet to kick start a new franchise.

I honestly never heard of 'Percy' before the release of this movie, and it has nothing to do with age disparity. But upon reading the early movie synopsis, the similarity to Harry Potter is just uncanny. Both deals with a child who was a societal reject in the human world, discovers he is actually a demi-god (half man, half god, Poseidon to be exact) bestowing him special powers and advantage over the rest of his kind, and bears the heavy burden of saving both worlds. It sounds very much like how our schools are run these days. Anyway Zeus, the almighty God of Greek mythology lost his lightning bolt and he is convinced, without any explanation, that Percy is the thief and he gives him 14 days to find it or there will be war throughout the heavens with catastrophic consequences on Earth. Personally, I'm not too impressed by a God who can allow his greatest weapon to be stolen so easily. But guess what the biggest problem is, the world is ending and our hero needs to go through boot camp first before he can search for the lightning bolt!!!

HALLO!!!! I mean seriously, it maybe a fantasy novel but shouldn't common sense still exist? If the situation is that critical and that dire, wouldn't ALL the gods, demi or full, be mobilized to hunt for the thief, I mean its Zeus were talking about here! But apparently, the gods feel its insignificant a deal and they let a young untested teenage boy go save the world with only days to its demise. And to do so, they need to go to Hell (I kid you not) and ask Hades for advice. Oh but of course he had help from some friends in his quest to overcome his ordeals which includes the Medusa, a Hydra and Las Vegas( Resort World didn't complete in time for this production). So here's how the list looks:

Good looking hero-checked;

Hot chick-checked;

Comic sidekick-checked,

Monsters and villains that look mean but given only 5 minutes of lifespan for the sake of adding special effects and movie run time-checked

Ok, all the stereotype cast are here, we have a teenage movie!!! All we need is a theme song.

Seriously I'm not expecting 'Lord of The Rings' type material in 'Percy'. But there wasn't a single moment when I felt our hero and his gang were in any real danger. I just know that whatever they encounter, they are going to effortlessly vanquish the monster within the allocated time frame and move along. There are several ways the film could have used the medieval quest in a modern age setting to create a satirical story. But the producers chose the crowd pleasing approach and wasted the presence of several talented guests stars (Pierce Brosnan, Rosario Dawson, Uma Thurman and the hilarious Steve Coogan who played Hades dressed as a rockstar). So the quest for the lightning thief turns into a trip in the MRT with no element of surprise whatsoever, very pedestrian.

'Percy' might work for the young and uninformed audience who won't look beyond the thinner than the paper this script was printed on plotline. I honestly think Harold & Kumar had more adventure and more fun than them! Probably its a sign to say that teenage fantasy movies is not my thing anymore. I just hope the upcoming remake of 'Clash of The Titans' will fare much better.

14 Blades

When one watches the movie '14 Blades', I can bet all my Ang Pow $$$ that it is because the poster loudly declares Donnie Yen as their main actor for the film. I mean this guy has to be the hottest, most bankable actor in Asia right now. Just look at the 'Bodyguards & Assassins' poster, I don't think he is the main actor but yet he takes up the biggest space in the poster and stands right in the middle. So clearly, lots of movie studios and producers want to cash in on his namesake and hire him as the star hoping to draw audiences into the theaters, synonymous to how flies get attracted to blue light.

'14 Blade' tells the story of how Donnie's character Qing Long (Green Dragon) was trained to be a cold-blooded assassin for the Ming Emperor, a special breed of elite bodyguards. The movie started almost like 30 mins of the story has gone past, with Qing Long betrayed by an Eunuch and left for dead by one of his own comrades played by Qi Yu Wu. So Qing Long becomes a wanted fugitive and with the help of a security escort firm led by Vicki Zhao Wei, he attempts to find the traitors and seek vengeance....no sorry honor for himself. Along the way, a exiled warlord played by Samo Hung sent his highly trained assassin Tuo Tuo (literally means undress undress) to hunt and kill Qing Long, who (Samo) intends to overthrow the Emperor and usurp the throne. Oh and did I forget to mention that a band of bandits led by Wu Zun joined forces with Qing Long to destroy the traitors. And guess what is Wu Zun's character called, 沙漠判官。

If you find the story complicated, its because it IS complicated. And I doubt that was the intent. The script suffers from over exhaustion of too many sub plots and an overkill of characters that dosen't add to the progression of the main plot, which I doubt there is one anyway. But that can still be salvaged by some really cool action sequences, but even that is severely lacking here. Instead of letting Donnie do his stuff, that is cool ass kicking action they decided to do something horrifying instead. They let him ACT!!! I'm not doubting Donnie as an actor, I'm just doubting him as a non-action actor. When Donnie is not fighting bad guys, he really looks like a fish out of water, struggling hard to breath. His botoxic expression really makes it a torture to watch and at time I cringe more than I did when I was watching 'SAW'. But Wu Zun and Qi Yu Wu can both become serious contenders to be the worst actor yet. I guess the director probably wanted Wu Zun to be this cool and ruthless desert bandit, but honestly he failed utterly and ended looking more like a white version of Kumar acting as a villian. I honestly also don't know why Qi Yu Wu keeps getting roles that dosen't require him to speak more than 5 sentences in a single take, he is becoming a male 'vase' for Raintree pictures. So when I look at the casting choices, it became apparent to me that the sole marketing strategy of this film is to attract young idol audiences of the 3 male lead stars. So what has story and substance got to do with it??

If the producers had focused on the plot leading to Qing Long's betrayal they might have more material to express with. I really missed the older 武侠片 like 笑傲江湖，黄飛鸿 1 & 2. They really had such a wonderful story complemented by great actions. Here I witnessed a mediocre production with ludicrous special effects and bad acting, it was a failure from all angles as far as I'm concerned. No wonder Donnie look so indifferent throughout the film, but I guess Raintree must have paid him a hefty fee for his role. If all else fails, this 14 Blades can become an example of what NOT to do for a 武侠片, and I honestly wonder if we will ever get to see a good one ever again.