JiGerJag Speaks : The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Fresh from "She's Out of My League" and the voice of Hiccup in HTTYD, Jay Baruchel is set to be 2010's Michael Cera. To seal his status transition from an Apatow film B Lister to "A" Lister, Baruchel stars as David Stutler in this summer's "distraction from Inception" film, The Sorceror's Apprentice.

Helmed by Disney and guided by a stringy haired Nicolas "My Uncle is a Coppola" Cage and Alfred "Couldn't Find Work" Molina, Baruchel plays the underdog-geek-who-gets-the-blonde with aplomb. The story starts with a climatic fight scene backflash ala Xena the Warrior Princess, Hercules and other made-for-TV Greco myth-legend types, or in this case, the Middle Ages, with Merlin and his 3 apprentices at the crux of the story.

HODOUKEN!!

Nic Cage, plays Balthazar Blake, who along with Alfred Molina (Maxim Horvath) and Monica Bellucci (say wut??) who plays the beautiful Veronica, gets embroiled in a 1000 year battle between good and evil (Morgana). Balthazar and Maxim both falls in love with Veronica, which is a no-no for any practitioner of the ART. I refer to sorcery and not self-pleasure. Maxim then switches alliance to Morgana who kills Merlin. To thwart her evil plan of the destruction of the human race (which is no big deal really in the Middle Ages, imho), Veronica sacrifices herself by trapping Morgana in her body and then imprisoning both of them, along with all of Morgana's apprentices in a magical Russian Doll type prison. Balthazar has to scour the earth for centuries to find THE ONE who will wear Merlin's Dragon Ring, the ultimate Merlinite, front page material of Sorcery World digest.... who turns out to be the geeky, never-gonna-look-at-you-twice-in-real-life-ain't-dissing-just-keeping-it-real-yo Physics major student, Baruchel. Balthazar and David must then embark on a quest to destroy Morgana for good. Along the way, they meet Maxim, Becky (David's childhood crush) and Drake Stone, a celebrity magician who becomes Maxim's aide, undoubtedly, a jibe at modern day "illusionists".

Day 1 and he's already forgotten his owl

It's a simple enough story, with predictable one-liners (surely, you saw that one coming) and 2 dimensional characters. There were classic master-apprentice moments between Balthazar and David, though the chemistry between them was like watching Nic Cage make out with Angelina Jolie... or anyone for that matter. There was so much that could have been done given the expanse of technology when it comes to magic and sorcery (case in point, Harry Potter types) that the film came across as being lazy with the laughs and cheap with the gimmicks. Of course there was a love interest for David. And of course she was blonde and hot. And of course if David was not a sorceror, she would NEVER look twice at him. And of course there's a pivotal scene where she goes "You seem different." after David undergoes training and gains self-confidence. No hints how it's all going to end. Did Spain win the World Cup? Uh-huh.

Excusez-moi

If you are hungry for kul es ais magic tricks and effects, this film did have its finer moments. Being a Disney studio production, a nostalgic scene of the original Sorceror's Apprentice,does make an appearance. Also, look out for the Hungarian Mirror Trap which is pretty kul es ais in my books. Other than that, waiting for The Sorceror's Apprentice to astound you is like trying to find that elusive sweet kernel of popcorn that somehow made its way into your large bag of salted.

JiGerJag's rating - 2.5/5

Special MobieDick thanks to JiGerJag for her contribution. Some of her other reviews can also be found on this site and when entering the state of Limbo.

A Mel Melons Moment : Inception

Need not hold your breath any longer movie fanatics coz “The” summer blockbuster of the year and arrived and is set to knock the socks off your feet. Christopher Nolan’s latest brainchild, ‘Inception’ promises everything you’d expect; a fast-paced action thriller boosted by a strong yet simple storyline that tackles basic human emotions.

TOTEM-ham Hotspurs

The movie is about protagonist Dom Cobb (Leo), a man who makes a living by extracting information from a subject’s subconscious on the premise that the reality as you know it can be easily replicated in your dreams. Cobb is tasked by power mogul Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant an idea in his rival, Robert Fisher Jr.’s (Cillian Murphy) mind that would see the Fisher empire collapse and in return Cobb would be reunited with his children. Cobb seeks assistance from several ‘industry’ talents including dream architect, Ariadne (Ellen Page) and Jack-of-all-trades Eames (Tom Hardy) and alongside good friend and partner, Arthur (JGL), they devise an extremely complicated but subtle con ala ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ but stumble across many obstacles along the way.

Like... OMG..

Now, if you’re the kind of person who would rather not know much about a movie before catching it, you might feel slightly lost in the beginning as we are immediately thrown a scene where the movie introduces us to the concept of ‘entering dream world’ but you are eased into it when Cobb (Nolan) introduces Ariadne (audience) to the idea.

Special Scenes requires Special People

No obstacle was larger than Mal (Marion Cotillard), Cobb’s dead wife and main antagonist in the movie. Cobb’s overbearing guilt for her death has manifested into the group’s worst nightmare and only Cobb can stop her – signifying parallelism of man’s struggle to overcome his greatest fear. While it is very easy to find that the movie is centered around Cobb, Mal and to a certain extent, Ariadne, the other supporting cast plays a significant role that helped shape the movie. Pay close attention to Saito, whose role is somewhat marginalised midway through the movie as just the benefactor of the con becomes questionable at the end of the movie. Makes you think whether Cobb was really the mastermind behind the whole plot.

Everybody knew you started with the salad fork first

With a budget of 180m buckaroos, don’t expect Avatar-like special effects but that’s not to say it was insufficient, rather anymore added effect would distract the audience from the Nolan’s intentions.

‘Inception’, unlike most sci-fi movies, eases us to accept the possibility of an alternate world(s) without impairing men’s tendency to be rationale. The 2hour Freudian adventure ends in a classic open-ended interpretation that never gets old. You might find it easy to draw similarities from movies like ‘The Butterfly Effect’ or Christopher Nolan’s own 2000 psychological thriller, ‘Memento’, I think a cross between Cameron Crowe’s 2001 ‘Vanilla Sky’ with a little edge is a snugger fit.

One thing that is still bugging me though is, why was Ariadne portrayed as Cobb’s voice of reason rather than good bud, Arthur. I don’t buy the idea that Ariadne’s naïveté made her a suitable candidate. To be honest, she kinda annoyed me after awhile; wouldn’t JGL be a better choice? I think he should’ve played a much bigger role instead of the much cooler version of himself in ‘3^rd Rock from the Sun’ – unjustified. The anti-gravity fight scene was off the hook! Just something about that guy that makes you wanna have a closet full of suits. Anyways, any views or comments are most welcomed; I would love to hear them.

Rating 4.8/5 - a freakin’ MUST WATCH!

Mel Melons is a progressive writer and is known for his stinging attacks on popcorn films, the diminishing state of the country and the yellow fruit - the banana.

A special MobieDick thanks for his contribution.

Trailer : Inception

If you didn't know already, Inception is latest Summer Blockbuster for this year and it promises to be out of the ordinary. It tells the tale of Cobb who is in the business of stealing information in dreams. In his latest project Cobb has to put together a team but not to steal information but to plant an idea in a dream. Strange? Weird? The Heimlich Maneuver? Inception will test your mind on what you think is a dream or reality.



We saw the movie on Thursday night and strongly urge everyone to see it! This has to be our movie pick of the year so far. Watch it as soon as you can before people start to blurt out things or decide to post spoilers on their social networking site. A review of the movie and Q&A will come up not too soon from this post.

Ratings - 4.5/5

Robin Hood

This tale of Robin Hood is told from the Crusaders version of Richard the Lionheart and his dubby brother named John. Robin is at the fore-front of midevil warfare with King Richard battling the french and doing the normal war-mongering duty when Richard is unfortunately wounded and killed in battle. With this Robin (who is also a fantastic archer) must take his crown back to England for the new king to be crowned. Of course not everything goes as planned and things aren't as plain and sailing as expected. Meanwhile Robin decides to take up a quest where he has to return a sword to royalties in Nottingham as he feels he is indebted to a dead knight. And so the legend begins..

Father to a murdered son, Husband to a..


Aye my horse is bigger than yours..

Gripping? Astonishment? Thrills? Screams? These are just a few emotions that I didn't experience while watching this movie. Ridley Scott goes for the same tried and tested formula of Russell Crowe screaming something inspiring hoping it draws attention away from a poorly disjointed movie filled with cheesey one liners and occasional slap-stick humour. On one hand it tries to recreate the brilliance of Gladiator but falls way short of that target and probably being something slightly better than Clash of the Titans. You wait and wait for a hours for people to stop talking and start fighting but it rarely happens and just when you can get comfortable enough to fall asleep, WHAM! it hits you like a new George Micheal song straight in the face.

The Moneyshot

Of course it can't be all that bad right? Well I suppose if you just wanted a movie to entertain you and won't be too bothered with storyline and all then maybe you might find this movie slightly interesting. That is until you realise the talking continues for another 2 hours! Robin Hood is a long winded movie and if anyone wanted to really watch it, it would be because of the brand name and nothing else. Desperately poor on what could have been a good blockbuster movie for this summer.

Ratings - 2.5/5

Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans is a remake of the 1981 smash hit and offers a new and revamp look to the ground breaking film. The story revolves around a Demi-god (Half mortal half god) named Perseus (played by Sam Worthington) who upon witnessing the death of his family (well adopted) at the hands of the god of the underworld - Hades. With the help of a handful Greek soldiers, Perseus and his marry men embark on a journey of which he will encounter Giant demons, the legendary Medusa in his quest to avenge the death of his family.

I AM BEOWULF

If you're a fan of sea monsters, greek mythology and beardy looking warriors, then you've come the right place cause this movie does deliver that up front. The action is fast paced and you get the sense of an adventure movie ala Lord Of the Rings as they proceed on their quest. As the story progresses our hero encounters more foes and more problems but being the son of Zeus he occasionally gets a special handout from dad to which he rejects at first but we all know he'll use his gifts sooner or later.

Perseus always felt safe with his friend from Fraggel Rock

Not that I want to be overly critical, but this movie for me was a bit of a letdown. I'm a big Sam Worthington fan (especially after Terminator 4) but Perseus just transforms from an anti-hero character to just being plain annoying really takes the cake. The movie is fairly disjointed (if you actually care about the storyline) and what starts out as a journey to meet and destroy the god of the underworld slowly turns into National Lampoon's Vacation series. I think 15 minutes into the film I was already half bored and having flashbacks when I had to sit through Twilight: New Moon constantly reminding myself I would never let this happen again. I'm sure some people will slate me for not knowing my greek mythology or not seeing that it's just an action film, but to put it plain and simple I thought it kinda sucked.

Also another thing to note :- Being there all excited for this film and especially it being in 3D, I can only hope that you don't experience the same disappointment as I did when I discovered that there were HUGE ASS subtitles across the movie screen blocking half of my view and also being in 3D!

Beware of this movie young man...

So if I'm going to give an honest a opinion, if you have no disregard for storylines and where it's going then I'm sure you'll be fine with this movie. You probably should just settle for a 2D movie cause I don't really think 3D is worth your money. If you're none of the above then stay far away from it.

Ratings - 2/5

Avatar

Approximately 14 years in the making, you just know that something like this has to be worth the wait. The movie tells of a simple tale of an alien tribe fighting to defend what they feel is rightfully theirs, their land.

True blue baby I love you

When his brother is killed in battle, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. Upon arriving at Pandora, Jake is then introduced to his body suit or better known as Avatar which the company uses to study and learns about the local alien inhabitants known as the Na’vi. Jake also humbly carries out a covert operation to spy on the Na’vi but soon discovers all is not what it seems with the company that brought him to Pandora.

You don't want to know how they deal with jellyfish stings

Just for starters let me just tell you how visually amazing Avatar looks like on the big screen. Not only does is this movie revolutionary in terms of visual effects, but it also allows you to embrace the surroundings of Pandora. The idea is simple, to make the viewers feel as if they are actually there. After 10 minutes of watching and haven’t stopped for a blink or some liquid refreshment I knew that I was in for a treat. You can see the characters jumping through trees, climbing rocks, flying through the sky, riding a horse; anything to show off the visual effects in this movie. The 3-D effects can only be touted as genius or in simple terms the “why didn’t I think of that before” by James Cameron. It isn’t the sort of 3D effect that makes you hurl some leftover Burger King to the floor (please see Christmas Carol 3D) but more like a 3D painting where you need to stare real hard and let your friend know – dude it’s a hammer, can’t you see it?

Lock, Stock and a Kickass suit

As mentioned before the plot is relatively easy and it deals with relatively real matters, invaders taking over other people’s land. In a way it might be the core reason to why and how people end up fighting. For the humans they don’t see why the Na’vi can’t relocate themselves another place to live, and for the Na’vi they don’t understand why the humans (sky people) can’t respect their wishes and just leave them alone. Probably just movie talk but there’s probably a much deeper meaning to it than just humans versus some blue aliens.

Some may complain about the actual length of the film but I caught this film on a Friday night then continued to watch for the 2nd time on a Saturday afternoon. That’s almost 6 hours of some non stop hardcore 3-D Mania and a one way ticket to exploding bladder land. But let me tell you it was well worth my money and my time and am currently considering watching it for the 3rd time. So if you haven’t seen it yet, please do watch it in 3D for full effects while it’s still out now.

Ratings – 4.5/5 (My pick for 2009)

Ninja Assassin

We’re approaching the back end of the year so it’s pretty much now that there will be an influx of so many random movies available for your viewing pleasure. December promises to be a month of hope with titles such as Avatar and Sherlock Holmes hoping to end the year with a blast. For now however, let’s turn our attention to Rain’s debut and breakthrough Hollywood film (perhaps?) entitled Ninja Assassin.

Not team Jacob

Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge. – IMBD

Suprise! Ninjas!

The action in this movie is gory and violent to say the least. As we dive into the world of ninjas we also experience the intensity in their training and lifestyle. The movie does try to give it the cool factor whilst whispering the word ninja but unfortunately this is unable to save the movie from its doom. The training that the Rain has to go through is vigorous and at no point does it become relatively interesting to the viewer. Most would come for the violence but is so unrealistic that it would leave some grasping for a decent amount of logic, while those who came for the plot will soon discover that there is none. There are times when one might argue that this is the beauty of the movies or movie magic as they may call it, but surely 1 million ninjas versus Rain has to amount in some fatality against our hero? Even the martial arts for this movie can only be considered as average.

It's RAINing

My take is that this is trying to give Rain a bit of appeal towards Hollywood. Though many would not like to accept it but if you’re Asian and you’re trying to break into Hollywood, you better be either one damn fine actor or at least be able to bust the move like Jackie Chan. As it is, Rain is probably desperate to appeal to a much wider audience besides those in Asia. I’m sure if there are anymore roles coming for him later, it would probably be him speaking in his Native Korean in an action film where he plays a kung fu cop on the search of a Korean killer in California (wait a minute..) or a romantic comedy where he plays an Oriental struggling to make ends meet but turns to dancing and conquers the streets! Huu-Raa!

Ratings – 2/5

District 9

Venue - GSC Tropicana City

Just for this year, think back to when was the last time you went to the movies and really felt awesome after it? For me there were only a few to pick from. I can’t say that movies this year have been terrible but expectations levels have just not reach its usual blistering high. Up next is a film by Neill Bloomkap and produced Peter Jackson entitled District 9 which tells the tale of an alien society stranded here on Earth.

Age. Sex. Location please.

The movie starts out with a mock documentary style and follows the life of Wikus van de Merwe who works at Multinational United (MNU), a private military contractor that police the aliens. He is in charge of the relocation of all the aliens (which they call prawns) in District 9. Basically these aliens have been stranded on earth for the last 20 years and now the citizens of Johannesburg (yup they are stuck in South Africa) want them out. He has to get all the aliens within District 9 to agree to move to the new refugee place by signing agreement forms on the relocation plan. However, not everything as you can guess goes to plan and Wikus gets a bit more than what he hoped for.

Guns don't kill people. Alien guns do.

When I first saw ads for this film, I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly sure if it was worth watching. There were a few promos here and there but everything seemed to be pointing to the likely event of this movie being on HBO in a few months time. Needless to say, I was dead wrong. This film is absolutely worth the watch! I might be a bit bias since I had zero expectations and emerged with high fives all around once the movie concluded but this movie is a catch. Okay so maybe when it first starts off, you get this eerie feeling that this might be leaning towards B-grade cheapo movie but the storyline is strong enough to keep you in tune straight till the end. I have to warn you that the strong point for this movie is the storyline and if you’re expecting wham bam ala Independence Day shoot-em-up then you will be deeply disappointed. The character development is also another factor to keep your taste bud going. I would like to give a special shoutout to Sharlto Copley who plays Wikus van de Merwe for some pretty kickass acting.

You thought your job sucks..

Also worth noting is that the film is inspired by historical events that took place in District Six, an inner-city residential area in Cape Town in South Africa under apartheid. In 1966, District 6 was declared a "whites only" area by the apartheid government and for the next several decades, 60,000 people were forcibly removed and relocated to Cape Flats, 25 kilometres away.

So on a final note guys, watch it. I have a feeling however that some girls might not really enjoy this film since its lacking any leading male (sorry no Ryan Reynolds here ladies) or even a feel good factor. Think this film will be a cult classic and should definitely be there with your other dvd collection.

Rating – 4/5 Stars

I would like to have – A Prawn Vindaloo

Angels & Demons

Venue - Cineleisure

If you feel like lately most the movies on showing aren’t enough to fill your intellectual mind and satisfy your curiosity, well look no further as we have the latest installment from the Dan Brown franchise of ever epic religious treasure hunts entitled Angels and Demons. Will this be enough to pull in the crowd and leave fans of the book thirsty for more?

Big Holes equal Bad News

"Despite his notorious relationship with the Church, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is once again called upon to decipher the clues to a catastrophic conspiracy. The Pope has died, and before conclave can begin to determine his successor, the four preferitti (primary hopefuls for the papacy) are kidnapped. An ominous threat of their hourly demise, along with the complete annihilation of Vatican City, is issued as an elaborate revenge scheme for a persecuted group known as the Illuminati. With their meager time limit steadily counting down, Langdon, accompanied by beautiful physicist Vittoria Vetra, must travel throughout Rome to unravel the carefully hidden signs that will lead them to a terrifying adversary, a harrowing discovery, and the shocking truth." - IMBD

If in doubt send the girl in first

I’d have to say that I actually enjoyed this film. It was like a big puzzle which had action, suspense and drama all bundled into one. The flow of the movie had a bit of a Die Hard feel to it, in a sense that there was a time factor to consider. He had to try to solve each of the following to save the Cardinals. This setting gave it more of an edge which would really keep you on the edge of your seat. Unfortunately I’ve never read the book so I don’t really have anything to compare it with, but I definitely felt more interested in this one compared to Da Vinci Code (which was a bit overrated).

Obi Wan as Ewan McGregor

Storyline was good and the scenes or puzzles weren’t too over complicated that needed too long of an explanation, which I think was rampant in the Da Vinci Code. It’s probably a bit more light hearted and much easily acceptable which will probably be a lot more appealing to those who don’t really follow the franchise. If you’re looking for a night out or quite possibly going on a date, then this movie is for you. Should be able to impress your date with such interesting topics such as “I like this but the book explained a lot more” or “This beats Wolverine!” So finally the first thumbs up from me in quite a while.

Ratings – 3.7/5

Max Payne

Location – GSC Pavilion

After having watched a few movies with mixed feelings, I was well hyped up for this one. Roughly after the success of the Matrix, came a shoot-em-up game called Max Payne which used Matrix type of slow-mo shots (which was called bullet time in the game) to great effect delighting millions and creating a rather large fan base. Already feeling down in terms of movie picking, I was sure that my luck would change with Max Payne. It’s got guns, dark storyline, flying bat like creatures and Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch! Surely I’ve picked a winner here?

Not the Funky Bunch

The movie revolves around a cop named Max Payne (Mark Whalberg) who found his wife and child murdered a few years back and hasn’t been the same since. He decides to transfer himself from the homicide department to the unsolved cases department hoping to find clues on the person who had killed his family. As the story progresses, we learn more about the shady underworld Max lives in, which involves unexplained murders and hard drugs.

[SPOILER ALERT]

Max then gets caught up in a murder case involving a girl he meets at a party. Unknowingly to him however, this murder is also related to his family’s murder case. With Max being the last person seen with her, the police start to name Max as the prime suspect in the murder case. Max then goes all out to prove his innocence as well as picking up more clues on the mystery that surrounds the killing of his family.

Red bull gives you wings apparently

I’d have to say from a fan’s point of view, this movie is deeply disappointing. If you’ve played the game, you’d realized the fast paced action right from the start which is non existence in the movie. The action takes too long too start and only after 15-20 minutes, do you get a hint of action (I think Max wiped his nose or something). It is also amazingly frustrating everytime Max has a flashback about his family. This doesn’t happen once or twice, but more times than somebody actually getting shot in this film. Storyline is obviously important in any movie and I understand that the game had a fantastic one too, but in no way do we want to be reminded of Max’s feelings everytime he thinks about his love ones. Less love more guns please. Even the appearance of Mila Kunis was so limited in the movie that you even wondered what she was doing there in the first place. If they had just stayed with the normal format of endless violent I’m sure a lot more people would have been entertained. Instead, everybody now feels a little bit more depressed about everything. SIGH.

Rating – 2.5/5

Is Nothing Like - T-Pain

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Location – Pavilion

Food – Popcorn Sweet n Lite

The last time anybody heard of a 3D! film, people were running for their lives in the classic JAWS 3D! Now, a decade on, the same formula is repeated in JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D! I have to admit that I ended up watching the film in a typical oldskool 2D technology, but would it have been better watching it in 3D!?

Boys night out was doomed after the inclusion of a third member

Movie revolves around Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) who is a scientist in the science department of a university. Trevor is haunted by the lost of his brother Max, in a expedition to study seismic volcanic movement of plates 10 years ago. He then finds himself babysitter to his nephew of whom he hasn’t met for quite sometime. Coinciding with the arrival of his nephew, new and active movement of plates in Iceland suddenly trigger and forces Trevor to go there for a closer look. He then discovers that his brother Max was on the same trail which ultimately led to his disappearance. Thus begins the adventure of the JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D!

Women were always treated as equals

As you can probably guess I had ultimately fallen asleep writing the synopsis of the movie up there. Having said that the movie plot is quite decent. It makes numerous references to Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth which inevitably became a movie. So in a way it is a movie within a movie, or as you could also say, a book within a book. The movie was obviously made to fully maximise its 3D! capability and watching it in 2D might not bring the same desired effect. In a way you can’t really think of it as a movie, but more like a ride with a story behind it. As long as you expect to be entertained that way, then you might actually end up having a good time.

So look out for 3D! camera angles, fast paced 3D! scenes and eye popping 3D! effects to satisfy your 3D! lust you naughty little monkey.

Ratings – 2/5

Hancock

Venue – KLCC

Food – I don’t actually remember

More comic book adaptation fun for the month of July and up next is the anti-hero homeless guy they call Hancock Though presumably tired of watching more superhero movies, the theme for this summer blockbusters seem to be “anything you can do I can do better”. But does Hancock really make you feel that way?

Most Hobos preferred Nike to Addidas

The movie focuses on Hancock (Will Smith) of whom is a superhero living in Los Angeles. But unlike most superhero’s who have cool mansions and adored by the public, Hancock is quite the opposite. No home, no money and badly in need of a shower, Hancock goes about his business fighting crime and saving people in the most unconventional of ways (mostly because he’s drunk half the time). He then comes across Ray (Jason Bateman of Arrested Development) whom he saves from almost certain death-by-train-accident. Feeling in debt to Hancock, Ray decides to help Hancock improve his public persona by tutoring him in the art of Public Relations. Giving it shot, Hancock then decides to let himself be locked up in prison which would then increase crime rate in LA as he is not around to help. Brilliant eh?

B.U.M Equipment

Apart from some pretty supernatural fighting scenes, Hancock just drags on and on. Hancock seems to be able to do pretty much anything, though never really specifying what his actual powers are. Although it might be refreshing to see a superhero that doesn’t really know what he’s doing half the time fight crime, the commodity does ware-off after a while. Most people would end up watching this movie by default as the choices would be either Hancock or Made of Honor (unless you’re a girl). There’s even Charlize Theron in this one and she even looked too good to be in this film. Being a Will Smith movie, at least you’ll know that fun and laughs are up for grabs. Sadly in terms of superhero hall of fame, Hancock would be sitting on the bench outside the hall. The movie is a fun filled rollercoaster to nowhere and you would probably watch it then sneak into Made of Honor in cinema hall 2.

Rating – 3.2/5

It kinda made me – wanna watch more Charlize Theron movies. Meooww.

Wanted

Venue - KLCC on the weekends

Food - Popcorn in a bucket

Oddly enough there was a lot of hype for this movie in Hollywood. There’s Angie, there’s action, there’s Morgan and his merry killing men. Surely this is enough for any moviegoer to start ogling over the prospects of slow motion shooting scenes?

Training was always poorly financed at The Fraternity

The story revolves around Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) who leads a mundane life in a random financial firm. Like most of us, he has an extreme dislike to his job and starts to wonder if there was more to life than this. Things change drastically when Wesley discovers that he isn’t just a boring person, but indeed the son to the most lethal assassin that ever lived. His father, who had left him as a child, was recently assassinated by an equally as good assassin named Cross and is now coming after Wesley. Enter Fox (Angelina Jolie), who is a trained assassin and persuades Wesley to join The Fraternity (a special organisation of assassins) to bring balance to the world and avenge his father’s death.

Last time anybody stereotyped a lady driver

The movie has a fantastic opening scene where Fox is there to save Wesley from being killed by Cross. What follows is a full action car chase scene which is inclusive of hard hitting assassin type of skills as well as some moaning from Angelina (bet you think I’m making this up). You get the sense of how it might feel like to be a hitman from the training that Wesley gets and just at that moment you might actually start to think that this wasn’t such a bad movie to pay for. It is a known fact that most action movies put very little effort into plots and story development. Wanted had none of the above.

Wesley was never a desk person

At no point whatsoever does the movie give any space to reasoning and the natural laws of physics. Terms such as the curve bullet and flying out of buildings onto other buildings should be clearly left in science fiction movies or the next Harry Potter film. Our hero was clearly build up to be Luke Skywalker with ability in this film, but nowhere are we even convinced that he seems to have any muscle bound talent. Wesley might probably have been played by the wrong actor who hardly looks like an action hero and more like an awkward school teacher. Wanted is a complete mess and even the bonus of seeing the bare back of Angelina Jolie isn’t enough to cover the shame of watching a crappy action flick.

It should be noted that Wanted was actually based on a comic book. That would explain most of the action scenes and some of the death defying moments our hero encounters.

Ratings – 2/5

Is Nothing Like – The Bourne Trilogy.

The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian

Place - Pavilion

Ate- Crappy popcorn

Looking at the movie poster, you get the sense of ohhh and ahhh’s! The title still reminds you of the previous Narnia of which you had desperately tried to stop yourself from committing suicide in a public area. Still, one thought about the 2nd film is that how and why would anybody make a film where one army has blades and swords and the other has felines, bears and rodents.

Movie starts out with Prince Caspian (being the next heir to the throne), running for his life as an assassination attempt is being made on his life by his uncle. Caspian is then handed a golden horn by his teacher (who oddly enough looks like Santa Claus) and is told to only use it if things start to get a little desperate. The prince then runs into the woods where the people of Narnia stay. Once inside and predictably cornered by the murderers who were sent to kill him, Prince Caspian takes the horn and blows it. Fast forward to another dimension, Peter and his siblings are then suddenly transported back to Narnia. However, all is far from rosey. Narnia is a far cry from the world from which they were hailed as Kings and Queens 200 years ago. They eventually meet Prince Caspian and start to plot on how to take back his Kingdom as well as restoring order to their fellow Narnians against the armies who had taken their land from them.

Where's wally?

If you’re going on the basis of “please let this be better than the first one” then you’re actually in for a treat. The movie does have an added dark side to it (you actually see various Narnians dying) and will probably keep you on the edge of your seat till the end. That should first and foremost be the criteria of any would be action or fantasy movies. They should be keeping you on the edge of your seat. Fight scenes are pretty much average but are probably better than Harry Potter and his little stick. You will also start to see different sides of the Kings and Queens as they show their fears and insecurities in the film.

I laugh in the face of danger. Jolly good.

The movie was trying to bring over the kiddy fantasy element into a LOTR type of scenario. However the only problem with that is that LOTR was actually cool. It would be hard to believe that unless you are aged 8 and under, you would be aspiring to be King Peter, one of the horse people or other assorted fantasy animals. Every scene involving the heros was a corny moment waiting to happen. Throughout the whole movie, you’d be hoping that one of the mystical creatures would suddenly get hungry and start eating its human foes. It is a kid’s fantasy book so I don’t think anyone should expect too much from Narnia especially after the first one.

So if you’re gonna watch this for the first time it’s not really gonna be that good. However if you actually survived after watching the first one, then you’ll probably be quite entertained with this one. However bear in mind that if you can’t stand the fact that children are beating the crap out of older men, then skip it and go watch LOTR trilogy all over again.

Stars – 2.9/5

Most common quote – “FOR NARNIA!!!” …. good grief…

Is Nothing Like – Gimli from LOTR. Now that’s a badass dwarf.