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)

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

Star Trek

Location - GSC Pavilion THX Screen

“Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Howdy MobieFans! Growing up, and being a sci-fi fan, you’d usually be pushed into 2 pretty specific categories. A Star Wars fan, or a Trekkie. As you might not have guessed, I have always been a Star Wars fan and found most Trekkies deeply uninteresting and ironically enough, a lot dorkier than myself. So will this new self titled Star Trek movie change my perception of the majority of Trekkies all over the world?

Deep thinking was always a favourite pastime on the Enterprise

Without trying to give too much away, the movie revolves around the origins of the crew of the starship Enterprise which we have become so accustomed to over the years. This movie also gives a little bit of twist, in the sense that it’s a prequel and a new movie altogether. Movie starts off with a Starfleet ship being attacked by a very very big Vessel. The leader of this big Vessel is in search of a certain Mr. Spock, of which the captain of the Starfleet ship has no idea of what he is talking about. From this you start to deduce that this ship doesn’t seem to be from the present but from a different time frame. The first officer of the Starfleet ship, George Kirk evacuates the ship after being repeatedly shot at by the Vessel. Without any hesitation he decides to stay aboard the ship and attack the Vessel just so that the escape pods would be able to get to safety. It is from this that the pod carrying his wife and his son are able to escape and later own his son will grow up to be the legendary James T. Kirk (played by Chris Pine).

Going outdoors never included matching outfits

I’d have to say that finally this was the first movie in a long time that I actually enjoyed watching. Not that the other months were filled with dire and gut-inducing movies, but it has just been a while since I’ve gone to the films and just came out smiling. The movie had such a good flow to it, it never over emphasised too much on the origins of each and every character. Whenever a crew was introduced, you’d take it, put it on the board, look at it and carry on. Unlike some films where they try too hard to explain origins and ended up dominating the whole film with character biographies like a secondary school history book. More action less talking please.

Not everybody found "your mama jokes" amusing

Also it definitely had more outside action scenes which didn’t make it look too much like a management meeting like in every other Star Trek episode. Visually it looked outstanding which is far cry from my previous review of Wolverine. But its probably because u tend to associate sci-fi films with visually stimulating shots and therefore there’s more need for CGI as compared to other types of films. Without doubt this is probably the benchmark for this summer blockbusters.

I’m not such a Trekkie fan but I can assure you that if you’re a fan of Sci-fi, action and general wholesome entertainment then this is a movie you have to catch on the big screen. I think it’s worth emphasizing that you can save money from watching all the dramas, comedies and romantic films in the comfort of your home, but when it comes to the big movies this year, please by all means watch it at a THX screen and a combo popcorn meal in hand.

Ratings - 4/5