Underworld: Awakening [ Movie Review ] ★★

The Pitch 

Underworld Awakening is the fourth installments to the Underworld franchise. Just like Vin Diesel with the Fast and Furious franchise, the lead actress of the first two Underworld movies, Kate Beckinsale returns to the franchise after skipping one installment.

It's been reported that Kate Beckinsale had no intention to return to the Underworld series but was convinced by the quality of the script. Since Kate Beckinsale felt that the script was good enough to wear those tight rubber suits and corsets for another round of supernatural whack fest, the Underworld fans must be rejoicing to have another chance to see her strut her stuff on the big screen.

Personally,  I never seen any movies of the Underworld franchise, I had always been curious with the longevity of this series that revolves around the world of vampire vs werewolves. This series had always felt like a hoakey blend of two groups of beloved supernatural creatures with stylist tight clothing and a huge range of noisy weaponry. It isn't something that I would go out of my way to watch but since folks at Incinemas were nice enough to pick me from their facebook contest, Underworld Awakening shall be my entry point to the Underworld series. Let's hope that it would be a good jumping point for a Underworld newbie.

The Viral Factor | 逆戰 [ Movie Review ] ★★★1/2

The Plot

A failed mission to protect a scientist who has stolen a copy of the smallpox virus left Jon Man (Jay Chou) severely injured and the scientist kidnapped by his traitorous colleague Sean (Andy On). The bullet is lodged in Jon's brain will paralyses him within two week and he decides to spend his final days with his mother (Elaine Jin).

What he didn't expect was that his mother revealed to him that he has a long lost brother Man Yang (Nicolas Tse) whom she left behind with his gambling addict dad Man Tin (Liu Kai Chi). To fulfill his mother last wishes, Jon decides to track Man Yang down in Malaysia.

En route to Kuala Lumpur (Capital of Malaysia), Jon befriends medical specialist Rachel (Lin Peng) and came across criminal organization attempting to kidnap her. During the process to foil this kidnap attempt, he discovers that Man Yang is a wanted felon working as a mercenary for Sean, who needs the help of a medical specialist to mutate the small pox virus and holds the world ransom.

After Man Yang failed to kidnap Rachel but escaped with the virus, the criminal organization attempts to control him by kidnapping his daughter. The righteous Jon has to decide whether to stop Man Yang from breaking more laws or assist his wayward brother in rescuing his niece and stopping Sean's diabolical plans?

Turning Point 2 Laughing Gor Returns | Laughing Gor之潛罪犯 [ Movie Review ] ★★★

Laughing Gor is quite a "cultural" phenomenon in the Hong Kong entertainment scene. This undercover cop character was a supporting role in a Hong Kong TVB television police drama E.U (Emergency Unit - which was already a third installment to The Academy series). While undercover cops characters and angle had been done numerous times in Hong Kong films and tv series, Laughing Gor managed to gain so much popularity until the character / actor got a movie and drama series spin off.

First was the movie Turning Point that was supposedly meant to chronicle the Laughing Gor's times before the events in E.U. However it wasn't a faithful prequel as there are a few events that contradict with what happened in the television series.

TVB "corrected" those problems by making another spin off television series called Lives of Omission. This new television series became a replacement series that correct the contradiction between E.U and Turning Point. After Lives of Omission, it seems that Laughing Gor is still pretty much sought after and that why there's Turning Point 2 Laughing Gor Returns ( Laughing Gor之潛罪犯 ), a movie that directly ties in with events that occurred in Lives of Omission.

Turning Point 2 starts off with Laughing Gor (Michael Tse) being sentenced to life imprisonment for killing So (Bosco Wong). But for Hong Kong's most beloved undercover cop, it's never that simple. It turned out that Laughing Gor is in a new mission to gather more information on Tai Chit (Chapman To) a former Narcotics Bureau Station Sergeant who admitted to corruption but refused to reveal the identity of his accomplice.

Soon afterwards, a trained psychologist Professor Fok (Francis Ng) is imprisoned for drug dealings. The mysterious Professor is not a simple man. As soon as his jail term starts, he demonstrated his ability in analyzing people and manipulating people's mind. Laughing Gor soon realized that the Professor is interested in Tai Chit too. To add on to his dubious character, Laughing Gor also noticed that So's wife, Paris (Kate Tse) has been visiting Professor Fok and they are in a strange loving relationship.

What is Tai Chit withholding? Who is this mysterious Professor Fok and what is he up to? Why is Paris hooking up with the Professor when she should still be in the mourning for her dead husband. It all adds up to a big confrontation with the new head of police, the drug lord of the golden triangle and a diabolical plan to change the system.

There are a couple of things that I noticed about Turning Point 2 Laughing Gor Returns. The first and foremost would be that this movie relies heavily on the events in Lives of Omission and how it affected characters like So and Paris. Even though there's flashbacks to the last few episodes of Lives of Omission, it can get rather disconnecting. If it's impossible to access the television series, at least try to read up with Wiki page on it.
 
The second thing would be that Turning Point 2 played out like the third installment of Infernal Affairs. In order to move on, it adds new characters in by writing new background stories that wasn't established in The Omission of Life. In a way, it's a major retcon to what's been established, particularly to Laughing Gor killing So at the end of Lives of Omission. Some might like it and some might not. Personally, I thought it was a rather intriguing retcon and it kept me entertained throughout the show.

It's also quite strange that Michael Tse's screen time as Laughing Gor has been dramatically reduced for a lead role. It's filled with unnecessary characters like Carmen (Janice Man), Laughing Gor's handler and comedic performance of MC Jin as Officer Yeung that did very little for the story or Laughing Gor's story. It doesn't help when Michael Tse's co stars, Francis Ng, Chapman To and Kara Hui are stealing the show from the lead. It's like what Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang and Francis Ng (again) did in the first Turning Point movie, out shinning Michael Tse's performance.

In summary, I am still waiting for Michael Tse to impress me with his Laughing Gor character. I am still not getting the hype and popularity of this undercover cop. But that not to say that Turning Point 2 Laughing Gor Returns isn't without it's entertainment value. The retcon was fun to watch and the supporting cast of Francis Ng, Chapman To and Kara Hui are ever reliable in their respecting roles. Turning Point 2 comes recommended and probably highly recommended if you are a fan of Lives of Omission.


Rating: ***

The Expendables [ Movie Review ] ★★

On paper, it seems to be a dream project for the fans of action movies from the 80s onwards. Just the mere names of Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in a movie together would be enough to convince some of the movie fans to purchase a ticket for The Expendables. If it wasn't enough, the inclusion of Randy Couture (Mixed Martial Arts star), Terry Crews (former NFL star) and Steve Austin (WWE star) should send the movie's testosterone into overdrive mode.

But it's not the action movie that was expected from a collaboration of men with such caliber. It boils down to the issue of too many cooks spoil the broth. The Expendables had to take the time to give the numerous stars their screen time and that derails the build up for a good action movie.

Another problem would be that in a movie with so many macho manly stars and hardly any supporting acts to portrayal the weaker guys, it's really hard to define macho-ness the male star.

Then there the issue of having too many B grade actors in a movie. A B plus B does not equate to an A. In fact, the poor acting by the B grade actors actually made the movie even harder to sit through. Just imagine one B grade actor trying to top another B grade actor's act. Give me one action movie with one B grade actor will do.

All this problem mentioned above might have been solved if the script was stronger to accommodate all the stars and the director was more fitness in craving a good o action flick with a large ensemble. It has been done before with Dirty Dozen and the Ocean's Eleven series. The Expendables was simply not well made as an ensemble movie and the perceived excessive manliness cum Gung ho-ness of the old action movies felt rather subdued.

But it made enough money for a sequel and it's reportedly shopping for more male stars to join in the fray. Let's just hope that the folks who bought the movie tickets to The Expendables were not worn off by the novelty factor.

Gantz | ガンツ [ Movie Review ] ★★★1/2

The Pitch

Gantz has been in publication as a Manga series since 2000 and is currently going on strong. This gory manga depicts a group of people who were plucked right before their death and given a mission to kill aliens with futuristic weaponry. Folks who had not read the manga and wondered about it's popularity could finally get a taste of Gantz with the two part movies adaption.

To sweeten the deal, this film stars Kazunari Ninomiya and Kenichi Matsuyama as the two protagonists of Gantz. Kazunari Ninomiya career in Japan ranges from being a singer, songwriter, actor and radio host. For movie fans and the rest of the world, he probably more well known for his performance as Private Saigo in Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima.

Kenichi Matsuyama on the other hand, has been making regular appearance in recent Japanese movies that were shown in Singapore. Movies such as the Death Note franchise (as the iconic L), Detroit Metal City (switching from Johannes Krauser II and Souichi Negishi), Kamui Gaiden (as the reluctant ninja Kamui), Kaiji the Ultimate Gambler (doing a supporting role) and the recent Norwegian Wood which was shown just a couple of weeks ago. With these two popular Japanese actors / idols fronting the adaption of a popular manga series, it's intriguing to see what Gantz the movie has to offer.

The Plot

Kei Kurono (Kazunari Ninomiya) and Masaru Kato (Kenichi Matsuyama) tried to help a man who had fallen onto a subway tracks and after saving the man, they were hit by the oncoming train. Instead of dying a gruesome death, they were surprise to find themselves intact and teleported into a Tokyo apartment with a strange looking black sphere at one end of the room. They soon realized that they were not alone. The others were equally bewildered and no one could give a concrete explanation on  how they got there and what's going on.

After sometime, the black sphere known as "Gantz" was activated and presented a weird mission to the people in the apartment. Gantz then opened up and to their surprise, there a bald naked man with a breathing apparatus  They also found suits and a range of weapons inside three racks that protruding from Gantz. Before they could figure out what's going on, they were teleported back out to a Tokyo suburb to commence their alien hunting mission.

The Perspective

As a newbie to the Gantz story, this movie was an entertaining introduction to the world of Gantz. The premise for Gantz was pure escapism and high octane adventure that does not shy away from gore. The concept of hunting aliens in a wide variety of forms with a range of futuristic weaponry would appeal to fans of gaming, manga and fantasy.

Perfect Distraction

Not forgetting the babelicious eye candy Kei Kishimoto (Natsuna Watanabe) who provides a nice distraction from all the alien hunting going on in Gantz.

What the movie didn't do that well was the characterization of the Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato. Both came across as whinny as they struggle with their respective issues. The whole issue with Kei Kurono's childhood dreams of being a hero and Masaru Kato's being overly worried about his brother just slow down the pace of the movie. Instead of being excited about their new powers and thinking of how to  survive the next mission, they spend their time mopping about with their past problems. Personally it just felt like the wrong genre to explore such personal issues.

But overall, Gantz was fun and a great introduction to the manga series. It might inspire one to pick up the manga to see what's missing from the movie adaptation. It also wet one's anticipation for the sequel Gantz Perfect Answer. Let's hope that Gantz does well in Singapore so that the distributor would bring in Gantz Perfect Answer.

Kei Kishimoto (Natsuna Watanabe) So Sexy and Kawaii that I am going to post her picture again!

My Best Bodyguard | มาย เบสท์ บอดี้การ์ด [ Movie Review ] ★1/2

The Pitch

The first time I saw My Best Bodyguard poster in a Thailand cinema, I can't help but noticed that Shawn Yue is in a Thai Film. The next thing that caught my attention was the leading lady on the movie poster. Not exactly the type of actress that grace most of the Thai action flicks posters these days. There's an aura about her that stood out and upon some research, it turned out that she is the princess of Thailand.

The very next chain of thought would be whether did she use her royal connection to get this film made. Will she have the on screen charisma and/or looks to pull off the leading role as an actress? Will it be a decent action flick or an excessive indulgence by the rich and powerful?

Shawn Yue's participation in this movie was totally forgotten at this point. But it's interesting to note that MediaAsia had "loan" him to this project and will be taking charge of the Asian countries distribution of this movie outside of Thailand.

The Plot

The NSSD (National Security Special Detachment) is facing a major crisis in Thailand. There's a deadly virus outbreak and the Americans are threatening to interfere by taking over the crisis control. Jate, the section leader of NSSD promised that he and his team would resolve this issue within a week.

My Looks Could Kill Too

Meanwhile, a hotshot reporter Nicha (Ubolratana Rajakanya)  is doing her own investigation on the matter. An infected doctor seeked her out and gave her valuable information that could expose a foreign pharmaceutical company dirty secrets. Before she could get more information, the doctor was assassinated by Thud (Shahkrit Yamnarm).

Nicha decided to press on and confronted Shawn (Shawn Yue), the young and successful businessman who is leading the foreign pharmaceutical company. The ambitious business man has no qualms in sacrificing the weak for profits and medical advancement.

She later discovered a number of Thai citizen were used as lab rats to test out the virus. The first bunch of infected individuals were assassinated by NSSD in an attempt to control the outbreak of the virus while the remaining five were held captive by the pharmaceutical company. Her investigation unwittingly caused her to captured by Shawn's henchmen and they decided to inject her with the virus.

We don't need to shoot them up close

While waiting for a possible antibody from one of the remaining few, the NSSD suddenly appeared to bust Shawn's  illegal business dealings. The evil doers managed to send the infected personals away with NSSD on hot pursuit. Unexpectedly, the assassin, Thud who killed the infected doctor appeared to rescue the infected personal.

It turned out that Nicha's father was a Colonel and Thud works for him out of gratitude. Not only that, the Colonel also had past dealings with this form of virus and told them that the antidote might be in one of the infected personals. All they could do was to sit and wait for the one to appear. It's not an easy task as the infected personals would like to contact their love ones in case they are not so lucky to survive this experiment. NSSD and the foreign pharmaceutical company are also keeping a look out for this infected personals. 

The Perspective

I am deaf to all your criticism

First and foremost, what can one expect when the story was written by a person that uses the initial C.R.A.B as the writer credit. One heck of a bad story flow and characters motivation. In another word, it's CRAP.

If the plot above sound pretty convoluted and patchy, that's because it written as how it was shown in the theater. Excessive characters and subplots that does nothing for the main story. One setup moves to another setup without the linkage in between, making one wonder if there's a missing segment between those two scenes. Needless to say, the setup for the main characters' motivation were sacrificed when the movie attempted to chew more than it can swallow and digest.

The other notable problem with this movie would be Shawn Yue's attempt to speak English for the whole duration of the movie. Shawn Yue's English was pretty bad as compared to the rest of  the Thai cast. It sound so unnatural and unclear that English subtitle would be a great help.

Stop or the Princess will Shoot!

Last but not least, the problem with My Best Bodyguard would be Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya involvement. She lacks the looks factor to carry the movie as the female protagonist. While there are other actors that do not relies on their looks and instead hone their performance to hook the audience, Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya lacks that edge to draw in the viewer with her acting. Her acting came across as stiff and too much of the royalty aura that make her character less convincing as a working class reporter. It certainly doesn't help when she filmmakers hired so many good looking male counterparts to star in this movie with her. It's simply a glaring distraction with the incompatible pairings.

In summary, My Best Bodyguard is a pile of crappy mess that going to top my bottom ten movies of 2011 list. The story was a dismay mess and tried to take on too much. Shawn Yue was out of element when he been tasked to speak in English. The action sequences in My Best Bodyguard was a tame affair that does not require any attention. I don't want to be rude but my take would be that My Best Bodyguard is a vanity project for Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya. The movie industry could be a very harsh place and if you don't have the X Factor, you don't have the X Factor. One could only wait and see if she will ever make another movie after My Best Bodyguard.

Coda

In veins of some great Asian action flicks, My Best Bodyguard went on to show the NG segments of this movie. In particular, it focused on an accident that happened when the princess was making an escape from the captive. It was a simple scene that accident should not have happened but it did and in all honesty, it looked like the princess had a rather nasty face first fall. The rest of the coda segment dedicated their admiration for the princess's preservation to complete the movie.

As an action flick coda segment, it also fall pretty flat like the movie. There's nothing impressive about the action sequences in My Best Bodyguard that needed glorification in such manner. In fact, if someone didn't trip and fall in a bad way, there might nothing to filled the length of the end credits.