Frost/Nixon - Released 26 December 2009

Feature films centred on political themes are usually interesting for those interested in intellectual thoughts, however, no films of such genre has ever been entertaining enough for the average thinkers. You could be forgiven for having no knowledge of the interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon prior to the release of this movie. Director Ron Howard and screenwriter Peter Morgan wanted all of us to think that it was a point of importance to the world in terms of politics and journalism combined. No true story can be told 100% truthful to the audience using film, but Howard and Morgan manages to stay loyal to the true events that served as inspiration.

Being an average political viewer, and not so much of a political film fan, the Frost/Nixon interviews are quite fascinating to me. Maybe not all of the questions or answers, particularly when Nixon rambles on trying to avoid questions by offering anecdotes in place of answers. Regardless, they are still an invaluable source of history. Viewing the movie allows us the opportunity of seeing a key politician as a normal human being.

The movie was presented in a funny yet intelligent way, very well-paced, Morgan’s expert in structuring the entire movie perfectly and a hint of cleverness. Frost/Nixon was well directed and this is the sort of writing we do not see enough of nowadays.

The cast was certainly good enough for this flickt. Frank Langella and Michael Sheen were superb. They both managed to accurately portray their characters while still adding their own personalities. I would bet that Langella will probably take the Oscars at the end of the month. However, it is Michael Sheen who quietly steals the film away from Langella. Sheen brought the much needed grief to a film. If it was not for him, the movie could have just been a movie about two guys talking head to head. Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall and Toby Jones needs to be acknowledge here as they were giving out solid performances doing a lot with so little. However, I have to give an ovation to Sam Rockwell as he was the one that really stood out among the supporting cast members. Rockwell to me is not known for giving a solid performance, but in this one, he manages to sink into the role rather effortlessly. The only other movie that I have seen him acting at his best was in Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.

There are just so much production values in this movie that I don’t even think I can cover in this review. In summary, you will not find those political messages, rather it is just a fun movie with a very clever script. The great cast was just an added bonus and I think after Apollo 13 Ron Howard has delivered his other best work in this one. A film I greatly recommend anyone to watch.

4/5 Stars for this great piece of work...

FROST/NIXON TRAILER

Underworld: RIse of the Lycans - Released 23rd January 2009

At last, 2009 has come and the movie world just gets better and better. 2009 is the year of sequels and origin storylines. Rise of the Lycans is not a sequel and very much , and I really mean it, very much an origins flick. Other origin type of movies includes X-Men: Wolverine and Star Trek. Hmmm...2009 year or origins...sounds nice..Anyways, this movie is about the origins of how the Lycans started to fight back against the Vampires. It sets during the time of medieval and focuses on Viktor (one of the vampires' elder played by Bill Nighy) and Lucian (Lycans' leader played by Michael Sheen). It potrays the love story between a Lycan and a Vamp, the hatred between Vamps and Wolves as well as the quest to stand up against the Vamps by the Lycans.

The first movie was excellent and the second just wasn't the same without Nighy and Sheen. Lucian is the character you love to sympathize for whereas Viktor is the character you love to hate. This movie was seriously brilliant. Everything made sense which is a must for a perfect movie. I had watched the previous two so it kinda hit my intellectual mind softly with all the information potrayed in this one. Didn't really had to think hard on each scene. This time, it was really packed with action scenes and I just love the 80s style blood splat after a blade slash.

The movie stayed the same and resembled the previous two movies and although Beckinsale and her husband Les Wiseman, who directed the first two did not played any part in this movie, Patrick Tatopoulos did a perfect job in handling this one. Did I mention that Rise of the Lycans was his was feature film as a director? Well its true. He's a special effects professional prior to taking on this job. Boy, the guy can direct. Just by looking at the wolves, he was destined to take on this huge role.

The characters were engaging. Rhona Mitra who plays Sonja, didn't have to do much apart from reading her lines perfectly, showing her looks and figure and acted like the great actor she really is. She manages to show the audience how she is still a much more sympathetic character than Selene ever was. She really played the tough but tender role brilliantly. I didn't even miss Beckinsale for a minute.

Nighy and Sheen held this movie together so strongly and they are both so gifted. Watching the movie, your eyes will be glued so much to these two actors turning away the generic plot and the continuous darkness in the movie. The chemistry was just great and I wouldn't change a thing in them. Ok, maybe the contact lenses which was one of the only two issues I have with the whole movie. The other being that the wholel movie length was just too short. I needed more stunts and plots...but that's asking for too much.

4.5/5 Excellent movie!

Paul Blart: Mall Cop - Released 16th January 2009

I had not heard anything about Paul Blart: Mall Cop until I saw it climb on the US Box Office charts last week. The movie is about Paul Blart, a diabetic, whose aim was to become a state trooper in New Jersey but fails to do so (due to his blood sugar level problems - he often blackout) and has to stick to his old job as a security guard (Blart considers himself as a Security Officer) in a mall. On top of that, he lives with his daughter and mother, who often encourages him to socialise and meet women.

Starring Kevin James as the mall cop, I can say it was averagely an acceptable movie. If you liked Date Movie and Epic Movie, then Mall Cop is for you. Often quality-less, semi-humour, loads of cliches and messy within the script. Mall Cop was written up quite badly, but put in Kevin James, everything is pretty much balanced. Owh, did I tell you that James co-wrote the script? Well he did. The movie paid homage to Die Hard and Rambo II, which made the humour ridiculously great. There was nothing laugh out loud funny. The bits from Die Hard was somewhat interesting though. They did the unexpected good cop shooting the bad guy at the end and the how the bad guy finds out that Paul Blart's daughter is one of his hostages. The Rambo II scene duplicacy was also amusing. Blart hides in a New Jersey Devils hockey set up and then opens his eyes just like the mud wall scene in Rambo II produced a pretty funny set, but only if you kknow your Rambo movies.

The movie also brings back the Segway, which was initially introduced to the public in 2001 and was intended to completely redefine the way we travel within cities. Obviously that was a failed project and 8 years later, the Segway remains outrageously over-priced and not surprisingly absent from the general public. Lame I would say. I wonder how much money did Segway gave the production house.

Mall Cop definitely isn't bad, but I wouldn't put it up there as a top comedy either. Genuine funny moments can be seen from the movie, however, there weren't that many. Even so, the movie is highly tolerable, and doesn't overstay it's welcome, ending at a good time. It will have you laughing all the way through. If you're looking for a feel-good comedy to watch, then this is the one for you. Plus, you will get to see Kevin James, who not only rock in King of Queens but also in comedic big screen as always.

2/5 stars just because Kevin James is in it...

Bride Wars - Released 09/012009

Here we go again..Another chick flick movie. Before watching this one, these were my predictions. A cheesy, overly-cliched but an acceptably funny movie. I was right. Not only was it very cliched, it was extremely predictable. Who wrote this? And why did Kate Hudson accepted the role? She could have done something far better.

Talking about funny - not much really. I didn't really laughed rather giggled a lot. That just shows how comedic the whole film was. Okay..so the movie is about 2 girls (BFFs for that matter) ending up fighting over their wedding date, which was at the same date. Now I probably can understand the frustration and point of argument in that. However, the script was just awefull. It was pretty much Kate Hudson (Liv) and Anna Hathaway (Emma) all the way. Overdeveloped I would say and would that suggest everyone else was pretty much under-developed? YEAPS!... They were marrying to their man of their life right? So where were those 2 guys? Around - yes, Around, thats it? - yes again. Weak character development. They had 120 minutes to fit in everything Hollywood's formula can fit in, but they chose not to. Gimme a break.

So the movie's called Bride Wars right? So how was the War ask you? Predictable, again cliched, come on writers, where's the originality? Ok so you've got the spray tan incident, the hair dye incident, the swap her video montage trick, what else? Nada! That was pretty much how the so called wars were.

Hang on, we're not done yet. (SPOILER ALERT!) So Emma (Hathaway) ended up not marrying her fiance. It was partially because of her guy's attitude and hers. But wait, there's another reason to it. She's in love with Liv's brother. What the! The director didn't really developed that part of the story in the movie, but me being a film maker myself, spotted that possible third person snippet. Under-developed my friends.

Despite the weak storyline, I do have to agree on 2 things. 1) Hathaway is an excellent actress and 2) Kate Hudson is an excellent actress. Both played their role very well and I guess, with those 2 in the movie, the negative factors was compensated with their awesome acting.

My advice, if you haven't gone to the movies to watch this, best wait for the DVD to come out and watch it with your friends, trust me, save your money. Overall, watchable, but its nothing like Princess Diaries or How to lose a guy in 10 days.

2/5 stars - 1 star for Hathaway and 1 star for Hudson. Nothing for the script.

Changeling - Released 24/10/2008

A suspense filled thriller that will make you cry, clap, and close your eyes to depict the moment. A beautifully crafted Clint Eastwood film-making production, written by J. Michael Straczynski, with a whopping $55 million budget production movie blockbuster starring an Oscar-assured contender, Angelina Jolie.

An emotionally powerful and brilliant gripping true story-inspired drama that begins small with the disappearance of a young boy, only to gradually fan out to become a comprehensive critique of the entire power structure of Los Angeles, circa 1928. Changeling opens our hearts to the excruciating anguish of a loving mother in perseverance pursuit of her lost son who fought against a fraudulent system to do what is right while continue being mistreated by men in positions of power and authority. It explores the disempowerment of women, corruption in political hierarchies and violent acts.

We can read the pain in her eyes, the determination and drive, and the disturbing reality of real-life psychopathic criminal injustice. I suppose being a recently new mother herself, she manages to add that motherly instinct and passion towards her character’s real fear and feeling of losing a child. Jolie, flawlessly and successfully anchored a powerful performance with the rest of an amazing cast that brings to life emotions such as madness, anger, pain, sorrow, and the disbelief of such capable terrible actions by human. The situation her character goes through is so surreal and the film captures it perfectly. John Malkovich as always impressive performed a more serious, suspenseful and intensified level that carried a heightened sense of depth.

Stunning cinematography, wonderful Eastwood-esque self composed jazz and bebop influenced musical tones, a masterpiece performance that will keep you emotionally drawn into the story.

The overall experience is more exhilarating than saddening. There were some inconsistencies at times when the movie seemed to be all over place. Sometimes it was a crime mystery, sometimes a drama, and sometimes it tried too hard to be both. Despite that, Eastwood somehow keeps Changeling from dramatically falling apart.

A heart-felt moving and inspiring movie which lacks complexity that will be appreciated by mainstream viewers and Oscar voters. National Board of Review of Motion pictures named Changeling as one of the ten best films in 2008 topping worldwide gross standing at $66.7 million.

A 4/5 star rating for the first-class storyline and acting.

Ghost Town - Released 12 September 2008

This one is simply enjoyable to watch. If you've watched 'Death Becomes Her and Death Becomes Her' years back, you'll love Ghost Town. It has a similar feel to it, only thing is that this one is more up to date, so to speak. Daring, hilarious and elegant. This film is set in a more familiar setting,distinguishable from many different aspects and angles. It tells a story of a Dentist who died for seven minutes while having a minor surgery. He comes back to life regardless and starts seeing ghosts. Don't be scared, it's not a horror, it's comedy people!

There are times when you'll feel like you've seen this one before and yes while you might be right, one thing sets a different tone to the movie. It's Ricky Gervais' dry humour and acting that manages to salvage an average movie and turned it into a masterpiece. I can safely say with great pride that his film stands out to other similar comedy flicks. If you like The Office, UK version, then you will enjoy this one. Gervais acts quite similarly in this one but with more added expressiveness. With the character being a 'not a people person' type of guy, Gervais excels in delivering the goods.

Tea Leonie has changed much since her days from Bad Boys. She really looks like an aged mother in this movie. However, it did not change the way she acted. If you know Tea Leonie, you would understand and know the way she acts. Its those typical actresses with distinctive characteristics that gives that much needed bomb to entice the audiences to keep wanting to watch the movie. Ghost Town is certainly casted well.

In the end I was pleasantly surprised by the time the cinema lights came out. It's not just the fact that I felt really genuinely fulfilled by a straight forward comedy about ghosts, but that I was quite literally feeling to want to see what's going to happen in the following scene. There also exist that feeling you get when you watch the movie 'Serendipity', obviously I'm talking about the love interest between Gervais' and Leonie's character. Definitely a must watch flick.
4/5 mostly goes to Ricky Gervais!! Awesome Film

Cadillac Records - Released 05/12/2008

Some real life stories are just meant to be shown on the big screen whether or not they are completely and entirely true, or even only have a 1% truthfulness within its presentation. Whether Elvis Presley made a pact with the devil and used it to rise to fame as he did during his music artist journey or he simply did not need any help entertaining music lovers because he was born gifted, heck, no one really cares. It's the music that counts the most and for that reason alone, how these famous artists got there is simply an add-on bonus for us all to enjoy.

Cadillac Records is one example of such path in life for Etta James, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley. These great musicians of all time individually have their own stories to tell, from how they got up there to stardom, the in-between stumble and falls and also what it is that made them.

The movie may not have been entirely true, or were they, nobody ever really knows. But how Director Darnell Martin depicted each individuals were simply amazing and . The movie had me wanting for more, despite it being 109 minutes long. Maybe they should have gone for 2 hours. Regardless, plot-wise, it was well thought of. There may be few holes in it, like when Little Walter (played by Columbus Short) came out looking far aged compared to Muddy Waters (played by Jeffrey Wright) after Walter was thrown out by Leonard Chess (played by Adrien Brody) from Chess Records. Apart from that everything else really made sense despite the correctness in information.

The music in this flick was really inspiring. With a cover of 'At Last' - Etta James' hit single, by Beyonce Knowles, an old hit song was revamped into perfectness. Every single song in the movie was re-produced by the actors. You have Mos Def, Jeffrey Wright, Columbus Short, and Eamonn Walker recording their own versions which really got through to the younger generation of today. This was a great move I feel, because no one really wants to hear those same old songs by the originals in a musical movie biopic.

I was waiting for each scene anticipatingly. That's how good the camera works was. The acting actually did help that out a lot. Matt Dillon was initially called up for Chess' role. As good as Dillon would have been. I would not change the casting of Academy Award winner Adrien Brody. He was born to take on that character. I'm not sure if Chess was actually a calm, cool and sleek person, but if he was, Brody did brilliantly. In the context of history, Chess Records was actually managed by Leonard and Phil Chess. However, I feel that Martin took a great risk of discarding Phil in the movie and it did the film the greatest favour ever. It would have probably mess things up for Brody if he would to have shared the limelight with someone else.

What can I say about Beyonce. She was the BOMB, singing gracefully as always and turning her multi talents into another singing movie. The fact that she really put on weight for the movie was just the tall tale of the production itself. Jeffrey Wright has to share the same credits as Beyonce, and to turn up 5 notch in performance level after those 2 James Bond movies, this was the first time that I've seen the actor giving out so much in one single movie.

Overall, despite cinema seats only went on to US$7 Million in sales after a US$12 Million budget, this one is for those who loves sitting in front of the HBO channel. Wait for the DVD and get one. You'll love it.
4/5 stars mainly for great acting.

City Of Ember - Released 10th October 2008

Here we go again, another science fiction Novel turned into a big budget (US$38 Million) movie blockbuster. Another production wanting to be the next Lord Of The Rings masterpiece. Looks like these producers will never learn. Up to date, total gross revenue for the film is under the US$15 Million mark. Books rarely translate better to film and this one suffers for many reasons. Jeanne DuPrau's book is simply amazing with her perfect imagination driven storyline such as the library, the Pipeworks, and the city itself. Director Gil Kenan should have at least offer the audiences with more than one works of literature that is in the book.

If there's one thing that Kenan manages to get across here however, it is the imagination and vision that is present in the script - ermm, vision-wise I mean. The props and buildings were unbelievable. The first few scenes was remarkably breath-taking with the City of Ember itself is a sight to behold. I have no idea whether the ceiling light bulbs were CGI or real, but I would not change how these bulbs were presented. The special effects were brilliant however it did came off a little bit obvious especially during the scene of the mole-ish looking monster.

While the setting is top-notch, the characters that populate the underground city receive far too little development. The introduction of each characters were averagely presented. However, the relationship between Lina Mayfleet (played by Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (played by Harry Treadaway) were somewhat stuck and the progression never really got through the final stretch. Ronan did live up to her expectations of a post Oscar nomination in the past. The American-born Irish actress was fabulous acting as the girl who was destined to bring Ember to the surface and seems a lot more engaging in this movie than she did just last year in Atonement. Newcomer Treadaway, although looking like one who just came out of Disney's School of Academy, is also brilliant. He was appealing and firm with his lines. That's always promising for a young actor.

Mayor Cole (played by Bill Murray), Tim Robbins (played by Loris Harrow) and the other adult characters never really provided as much support as they should. The casting of such well-known actors in this film really did not do much to enhance the understanding and motives behind the city's cryptic suppression. They probably could have cut much of the budget by introducing upcoming actors. That way, they would maybe, yes maybe, somehow broke even. No offense to these actors, but blame it on the under-developed script.

Overall, it was an entertaining family movie. Not one for the sci-fi enthusiast though, even if it was categorized as one. The gross revenue may just be enough to put you off from watching it, but in my humble opinion, it did not do justice to the quality of movie. Surely a hit with the young ones however.
3/5 stars

Burn After Reading - Released (Various Dates - but first premiered on 12 September 2008)

When you have George Clooney (Oceans 11), Frances McDormand (Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day), John Malkovich (Eragon), Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Brad Pitt (Oceans 11) in your movie, one would think that cinema tickets will sell and the movie would turn out magnificient. For Burn After Reading, the former is definitely true with initial production budget at just about $30 million with gross ticket sales of about $130 million. The movie, however, did not turn out well enough for me. There are movies with bad scenes and there are movies with good scenes. This one's a no brainer. There was neither.

The whole movie was a boring nodding-off-fest. I can understand why people was attarcted to buy tickets for the film but I wasn't sure what so many people saw in it. I simply just felt like packing the movie projector, drive it to a lake and dumping the whole damn roll into the water! In saying that however, the film was consistently amusing. It kept me interested enough to want to see what happens next, well, it was Brad Pitt's role who kept me going literally. Watching him play an idiot seems to amaze me much (sorry angie :p). His hyper-activeness and geeky attitude just got the best of my giggleness.

Performances was very satisfying - for the script that is. Malkovich, McDormand, Clooney, and Swinton all manage to define their characters through individualised quirks without ever going over the top, however, there were too much talent wasted. Whoever did the casting did their job completely, overly well. The script did not do the cast justice. You have Golden Globe nominees and winners in there, not to say Oscar winners as well as nominees. But what do you get out of them? Pure stupidity acts, which I can safely say, they did extremely well anyways. I feel sad for them and for the Coen brothers to make a mish-mash drama/dark comedy/satire that was uninspiring at best and boring at its worst simply adds insult to an open wound.

Overall-I had mixed feelings with this production. I salute the Coens in doing that to me. All I can say is that I had little good laughs and now I'm off to bed.
3/5 stars for the cast-not the script.

Nothing Like The Holidays - Released 12 Dec 2008

Christmas with the Rodriguez family brings more than its fair share of secrets, lies and drama (oh and also some comedy) in this absurd and silly but warm-hearted festive production. As each son and daughter (plus a few close family friends cum ex-es) visit gets underway, the secrets begin to come to light and the family actually becomes closer because of the strife. Each member of the family has an issue to be put up with the rest of the family at some point. A father is dying and is reluctant to tell, a mum is being ridiculously jumping up to conclusion, one son comes back from the war and has his personal persona to deal with, the other son is conclusively being a smart-a$$. A typical, everyday, norm family. Seriously!

The plot is safe to say unremarkable but acceptable. The whole thing centers on a Christmas gathering of a latin-american clan with one son being welcomed home after serving for the military, and as fitting such a concept, nearly everyone involved has at least one secret, where the secret(s) that is often less secret than is presumed. It is all far too dramatic and sentimental. You have love issues at every angles, revenges, poor judgemental attitudes and the good old 'over the dinner conflicts'. They did try to sneak in some comedy relief in there, and thankfully they worked (to some degree).

With a star-studded cast, Debra Messing (Will and Grace), John Leguizamo (The Happening), Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under), Vanessa Ferlito (CSI:NY), Alfred Molina (Spiderman 2), one would think that there is much quality in the movie. Performance-wise, yes, there are qualities. Their roles on the other hand, kinda dissapointing. Messing's character is rather low-key for Messing's standards. Lequizamo was probably offered the role simply to add some laughable scenes, just to balance the drama out. It worked and definitely paid off, thought they could have done far much better than relying on 1 single person for sillyness comedy. Ferlito was as beautiful as she could have been. Trading places from a chick who carries a pistol in CSI for this role really helped her image as a vesatile actress. Although the toughness can still be seen at certain lines. Nevertheless, the whole production deserves a handful of credit given to them. The message that I got after watching this movie - "One can always rely on one's family's strength to get through many difficulties and obstacles in life". Powerful message but fairly average delivery.
3.5/5 stars

The Day The Earth Stood Still - Released 12th Dec 2008

The Day The Earth Stood Still is a remake of the 1951 film of the same name. It revolves around alien forces trying to jump-start Earth back to a more populate-able planet by destroying mankind. Basically, keywords involved in the story content of the movie are 'Environmental Care', 'Stupid Human Habits and Ignorance That's Destroying The Planet' and 'Please Enjoy and Appreciate The Special Effects
We've Done'.

Checklist After Watching:

• Environment Message - I'm going to be more respectful towards our beautiful blue planet.
• Habits and Ignorance Realization - CHECKED! REALIZED!
• Special Effects - Excellent! You can always count on the people at WETA DIGITAL (The guys who did LOTR Trilogy and King Kong).

Keanu Reeves was simply perfect for this role. There's just that Neo from The Matrix feel when he does these types of movies. It blends in very well in this one.

I can't figure Jennifer Connelly out. In every movie that she's been in, the way she acts is put it simply SIMILAR. Don't get what I'm talking about? Go watch HULK, BLOOD DIAMOND and A BEAUTIFUL MIND back to back. It's not a bad thing, I'm merely saying that, the way she acts simply works in every movie she's in. Gifted? I suppose.

A lot of people gave negative comments on this movie. I was almost sucked in to these remarks. But I was strong, I managed to stay away from the Dark side :p
Overall, it's a very entertaining movie and the effects was just inspiring. There's just one thing I can't figure out though - what's with the sphere thingy? couldn't they just used spaceships?
4/5 stars - mostly for effects

Four Christmases - Released 26th Nov 2008

What more can you ask for during these festive seasons. A Christmas themed movie just around Christmas time is an excellent add-on to the busy presents bustling, turkey bookings yada yada.....

Four Christmases is basically an adaptation of how normal people would spend their christmases each year - though this movie pretty much added too much flavour to the Turkey stuffing, so to speak.

We have Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon as a joyfully happily unmarried couple whose parents are divorced and remarried (to other people that is). They were on their way to Fiji to escape the typical family reunions during christmas, but with the flight cancelled and accidentally showed themselves on national TV, they could not avoid from skipping those reunions.

So they needed to finish up christmas day visiting all 4 of their parents' house, which they eventually managed to. By house number 2, I was already so exhausted watching 2 insane families. But I had to give the movie a chance. It's Vince Vaughn for goodness sake. So I continued, unwillingly. Turned out, it wasn't so bad after all. Apparently there's 5 oscar winners in the movie, and they didn't even need to act much, with the script being all squishy squashy. I don't even think they'd bothered having a written pre-production script. It was probably all done up during principal filming.

I can't stand watching such movies, but at the same time, I can't stand not watching them. Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's just Hollywood messing up our heads. Overall it was an acceptable Christmas movie and Vince Vaughn always delivers.
3/5 stars

Quantum of Solace - Released 31st Oct 2008

I have to say this directly, I hated the ending! The final action scene was horrid. And why would there be a hotel right in the middle of the desert anyways?!! Maybe Marc Forster (director) was trying too hard.

However, Daniel Craig receives my absolute praise for acting as a real deal human James Bond once again. He brings character to 007, that no other 007 actors has achieved. Don't ever rub that steel look off of you Danny Boy, it works, just like Zoolander did. :p

QOS might have overspent on their marketing department, but with ticket sales still soaring till this date proves how money has been well spent. Oh btw, what does Quantum of Solace means anyways? Seemed odd that they chose an overly intellectually sounding title.
4/5 stars

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - Released 7th Nov 2008

Another sequel movie, yikes!! On second thought, this one's not so bad after all. I've been a fan of cartoons (oops), i meant animation ever since I was born (thats around about the early 80s if you're so keen to know). I really thought this one was going to be a flop just like Pocahontas 2 and The Little Mermaid 2 (both went direct to DVD). However, it turns out that if you can steal a tiny bit of story line from one of the greatest animation movies ever made, ehemmm, The Lion King of course, then you'd probably survive ticket sales. Yes...there's an evil uncle waiting to take the Kingdom throne and Alex (Ben Stiller - The Lion) has to stop him. Yada-yada....

What I like most about this sequel is that there is more things to laugh at this time around. The first movie was really funny. Escape 2 Africa is just HILARIOUS!!! Someone's gotta Shoot down King Julien, Pleeaaaseeeee!!!......he's so adorable and comedic. Humor me more Your Highness!! lol.

Animation is sharper this time around, with more detail within the environment. This one's a hit with the kids, for sure.
3.5/5 stars

Transporter 3 - Released 26th Nov 2008

Making a third installment of any movie franchise is a risky business. Movie producers would normally try to stay away from creating no more than 1 sequel to any movies. The reason being that audiences normally have higher expectations on the a sequel or even a third installment compared to the initial movie. Hence, in order to create the high expectations, movie producers would have to raise their budget. That's the Hollywood style. But then again, The transporter franchise isn't made in Hollywood is it. So this theory doesn't really apply I suppose.

Needless to say, Jason Statham still looks fit as always and you can always count on him to whoop some a$$ in any production that he's in. There's a scene where it resembles a more realistic 'Neo vs 1000 Agent Smiths' fighting choreography. Seriously!

This time around though, the Transporter chick, Natalya Rudakova, suffice to say, did not impress me at all. Let's just say Shu Qi, the chick in the first movie, was far better off eventhough she had a weak knowledge in the English language. Sigh, that's what you get by putting a model in the big screen. Hollywood never learns *shakes head*.

Regardless, the movie manages to entertain me as the other 2 did. Great martial arts display, awesome AUDI (the part where he flipped the car on 2 wheels was sick!) and a very acceptable storyline. The transporter always delivers the package as promised, this one is no different. Overall, a decent over the weekend movie.
3/5 stars