Jurassic World Review

'What they have in there?' 

Jurassic World Review – I still remember the look on my face when I saw the Dinosaurs on the big screen on the last day after my PMR exam circa 1993! I was blown away and have since lost count how many times I re-watched that epic movie. Now let’s skip Jurassic Park 2 & 3 and head strait to Jurassic World shall we?

Just a friendly reminder....

22 years after the disastrous ‘Jurassic Park testing’, John Hammond’s (the late Richard Attenborough) vision for a full fledge operating theme park finally comes to life. However, just like any other theme parks, Jurassic World is no stranger to hiccups. With the crowd demanding for new ‘attraction’ to be added every other year, the scientist decides to ‘play God’ once again by ‘generating’ a new breed of dinosaur. Meanwhile ‘raptor whisperer’, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) has had a remarkable ‘bonding progress’ with his pack of Velociraptors. This invites the interest of military involvement (I can’t reveal why without spoiling the reason hence a mention will do). With the Board of Directors holding their breath for the big reveal in a park full of visitors, one small mistake of underestimating the smartness level of Indominus Rex (name which means ‘fierce or untamable king’) is all it takes for mayhem to take over once again. Will history repeat itself? Who will make it out alive or rather will anyone make it out alive this time around? Well, folks…Welcome to Jurassic World…

New meat for the grinder perhaps...???

In Jurassic Park, besides the jaw dropping job of bringing animals that extinct 65 million years ago to life, my favourite part of the movie was the superb theme music composed by John Williams. I get goosebumps every time I hear the majestic sound of the ocsestra as I remember my band performing it at one of our band camp concert. I was so glad that the Director paid homage to the theme song by bringing back in some parts of the movie. The CGI have certainly improved by leaps and bounds where we get to see more dinosaurs roaming around. With the exception of BD Wong (Henry Wu) and perhaps the T-Rex, the rest of cast are newcomers to the franchise. Although ‘new’, they seemed to have blended well with the environment. Chris Pratt high on his success as Star Lord is a mixture of both Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) proving that the Raptors are indeed highly intelligent while also cautious of their predatory nature. Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire redeems herself in this movie after playing a lot forgettable roles before. Besides the human characters, newbie Dinosaurs such as Mosasaurus and Indominus Rex are given almost enough time to shine. I’m trying to find a flaw but as off first watch I got no bad comments to write, perhaps after a few thousand views I might spot a mistake.  

Favourite movie everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! 

After the movie ended, I breathe a sigh of relief because Jurassic World certainly redeemed the mistakes that were Jurassic Park 2 & 3. After years of waiting to erase the memory of the double stinky sequels, Jurassic World brought back the awesomeness that is the Dinosaurs!!! Now if given an opportunity to visit a real Jurassic Park…would you make your way to Isla Nublar? 

Man Up Review

Blind date anyone? 

Man Up Review – Trust the Brits to come up with heart-warming rom-com such as this to follow suit of Love Actually, Notting Hill, Love, Rosie. (If you have yet to watch any of these movies, I suggest you do!)

Are you on Facebook? 

Nancy (Lake Bell) is a 34 year old journalist who is tired of going of blind dates. Meanwhile, Jack (Simon Pegg) is a 40 year old going thru a divorce. One day while on the way to her parents 40^th wedding anniversary, Nancy comes across a 24 year old, Jessica who is on her way for a blind date. After a short conversation Jessica figures Nancy needs to read a self-help book she was reading at the moment which incidentally was the ‘the hint’ for Jessica to meet Jack. Just a Nancy was looking for Jessica, Jack mistook Nancy as his blind date. Nancy decides to play along. They end up spending almost the whole day together. Along the way, Nancy meets her former high school friend who happens to still be madly ‘obsessed’ about her. Also appearing was Jack’s soon-to-be-x-wife with her new squeeze. Just as the blind was going well…Nancy finally had to come clean about her identity, Jack gets pissed but somehow somewhere they figure they are quite compatible for each other. How will the night end…?

Why Facebook....why not bowling instead/ 

Both Bell and Pegg usually play supporting roles so it was nice to see them finally being featured in main characters. Their chemistry was simply uplifting and you will find yourself rooting for their newly formed relationship. Being around the age and situation as Nancy, I could relate to her theories on things such a love and relationship. Her ‘list’ had some of my own insecurities as well. At certain point I felt this movie was made for me to also ‘put myself out there’. As for the guys, I guess they would also relate to Jack if they were in similar condition. Overall it’s a pretty decent outlook on how things can change, for better or worse as long as one is willing to take the chance.

Toast for the 'new couple' perhaps...jeng jeng jeng 

With the cinema full of horror, action and what not movies, it’s lovely to indulge in this kind of feel good flick. The circumstances maybe will only happen in movies but who knows when sometimes it might actually happen in real life as well. Till then…perhaps we should ‘Fuck the past’ and continue looking for our own ‘blue bits’! (Watch the movie to get this part!)   

Skydiveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

San Andreas Review

Can you smell what The Rock is cooking in this movie? 

San Andreas Review – California gets whipped by Mother Nature while The Rock tries to save his family.

Brace yourselves!!! 

Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) is a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot from the Los Angeles Fire Department. After a routine rescue mission he was on his way to spend the weekend with his daughter, Blake (Alexandra Daddario) who is off to college soon. Unfortunately an unusual strong quake that just had hit the Hoover dam requires his attention. Little did Ray and other Californians knew that it was just the beginning as Caltech seismologist, Lawrence (Paul Giamatti) predicts a life changing mega quake is about happen. Caught in the middle of the deadly tremor followed by aftershocks and even tsunami, can the family survive the ordeal?

Hold on tight!!! 

Other than Dwayne Johnson, the other star of the movie is definitely the CGI! It was simply mind blowing to watch Hoover damn breaking, Hollywood sign falling off, The Golden Gate Bridge getting swept away by the giant tsunami. Forget about the storyline, just stay for the effects. Better yet…invest some extra money and get the 3D tickets because it’s totally worth it. I watched this flick in Bangkok where they have 4D cinema! Gempak giler siot! I literally had to hold on to my seat as it swirled and wipe the water off my glasses and got poked on the back in accordance with the special effects. Damn chun wey!

Incomingggggggggggggg

On a sad note, watching this movie did get on my emotional side because of the recent Earthquake in Nepal. I hope the nation will rise up again after suffering from the devastating tragedy. Let’s just hope this fictional level of seismic activity will only happen on the big screen and not in real life because I simply can’t imagine how we would survive such catastrophe.

Spy Review

Watch out for Coop! 

Spy Review – Former ‘Bridesmaid’ face each other again in a different situation!

Are you ready for this???!!!

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) and Bradley Fine (Jude Law) are an awesome tag team as a deskbound CIA analyst and secret spy respectively. Together they were on the verge of taking down a dangerous arms dealer down until Bradley is ‘killed’ by Raina Boyanov (Rose Byrne) while compromising other agent identities. Left with no choice, Susan steps in as a covert agent to detect the location of the bomb before the deal takes place. Deep undercover, Susan manages to get close to Raina only to discover some surprising truths as more and more turn of events unfolds. Can an ‘ordinary basement based’ agent take control of a critical situation and come out victorious or screw up the whole operation instead?

Look out! There's a new agent in town!!! 

After Identity Theft and The Heat…Melissa is slowly gaining her way into Hollywood blockbuster list. I used to like her as ‘Sookie’ from Gilmore Girls. She is still as sweet as she was in that series. Add that existing charm with funny lines and antics…voila…she is on to more great things this lady with a big heart! Her nemesis in the movie, Rose is another up and coming favourite of mine. With her smoking hot body and that Australian allure I hope Miss Byrne will burn-pun intended up the big screen a lot more! Honourable mention also goes to Allison Janney as Elaine Crocker, she often play small roles but still manage to stand out just like the way she did in this flick. As for the boys, Jude Law…I will consider him to play James Bond because he does have that suave while Jason Statham…the usual charismatic man hits home run on this one as an annoying rouge agent. The strength of this movie is definitely in the casting no matter how big and small their role. The storyline is not half bad as well. You will find yourself laughing even if you try to control it so don’t hold anything back and go ahead and….well…laugh!

Don't underestimate Agent Cooper yo! 

Since James Bond had gone all so serious and focuses on the man perspective on being a spy, it’s nice to see an unlikely woman taking a role of a spy. Forget the logic and just enjoy the ride. I personally hope there will be a sequel to this espionage extravaganza, if you can call it that!  

The Age of Adaline Review

Ageless Adaline

The Age of Adaline Review – Internal youth. Would you want to be forever young? Like forever…forever?

Adaline thru the years

Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) was a normal 29 years old lady who had lost her husband and was left with her only daughter. If you think losing her husband was bad enough, her life literally changes after an accident. Her car gets thrown into river and struck by lightning. Adaline was not breathing for over 2 minutes but the lighting and by magic of science is brought back to life with a permanent condition. From that moment on, Adaline stops ageing. She remains as a 29 year old for eight (8) decades. She watch as her daughter, Flemming (Ellen Burstyn) ages. She falls in love but will leave when things get serious because of her condition. All her life she’s been running away, change and adapt her way into the new age-pun intended. Up until one New Year’s Eve where she stumbles upon Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman), a philanthropist who ignites her passion for life and unknowingly he is a link to her past. What seems to be an innocent weekend away becomes a crossroads for the truth and a chance for her to decide what she will do with the rest of her life. How will it change her and can this relationship beat the odds?  

Mother and daughter

Ladies and gentleman, Blake Lively have finally arrived at her defining role in the movie business. She carried this movie through and through. Her beauty is simply timeless while her poise will melt your heart away. One can feel her dilemma when she had to make the choices that she made. Add veteran cast members consisting of Harrison and Ellen, the casting director was spot on this one. The storyline which goes back and forth to Adaline’s past and present was wonderfully captured to make sense of her life. The soothing background music also travels well with the timeline. The storyline might appear slow at times but it was necessary to seize the moment. The Age of Adeline will not win awards for ground-breaking film making, but it does fill a void in this year's celluloid offerings. It is a good, straight forward, romantic journey.   

Life changing reunion...

In our era of desired eternal youth or the desire to merely appearing young, The Age of Adaline allows the audience to see the curse that this gift can be on anyone's life. I personally would not want to outlive my presence on Earth. Just make use of the time we have here and leave nothing but decent memories for the people who have come across us is good enough, don’t you think? 

Oh Blake.......wai u so pretty??? 

Pitch Perfect 2 Review

Back for more!!! 

Pitch Perfect 2 Review – The movie which made me fall in love with Anna Kendrick so naturally I was looking forward for more of The Barden Bella in this sequel!

Re-bonding time! 

The Barden Bellas soaring high confidence after winning National A cappella competition (3 years in a row) comes crushing down after a blunder in front of the country’s President. The ‘wardrobe malfunction’ cost them to be banned from domestic competition. They only able to redeem themselves if they win the World Championships, to be held in Copenhagen. This has never been achieved by an American team before because to quote Gail, the commentator (Elizabeth Banks who triples her role as an extra, Producer and Director in this movie) “The whole world hates us”! Their biggest rivalry comes in the form of robotically-perfect German group called Das Sound Machine. With most of the members in their final year, the girls are bent to restore their glory days before they leave. Meanwhile newbie Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) enters as a ‘Legacy’ Bella – her mother (Katy Sagal) once sang for the troupe to provide breath of fresh air. Becca (Anna Kendrick) is preparing for life after a Capella by Becca-ming an intern in a record label company trying to establish herself as a music producer. With the competition looming closer and the troupe becoming more and more unsynchronized can they rediscover their harmony and sound in time?

Witty duo! 

Look out for team Canada!!! 

The star of the first movie was the surprise package called Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy when she blew everybody’s mind with her amazing singing voice. Add overreacting expressions and gestures she instantly became a household name. In this sequel despite the early on blunder she slowly works her way back into our hearts again. Anna in the meantime also provides her charm here and there. I had a good laugh every time she stutters in a nerdy way when coming face to face with Das Sound Machine. The rest of the Bella have their short spotlight moment during their performance. As usual the face off, this time ‘National A Cappella Laser Ninja Dragon League’ highlights some of the other a cappella groups ability to belt out their best rip offs. The finals of the World Championship bring out the best of a country representative (Look out for Pentatonix!). If you like a lot of music in your movie, well this is it!

Facing up to Das Sound Machine! 

Personally I still think Pitch Perfect was much better than this follow-up. The laughs, songs, battles are still there but something seemed to be missing. With the graduation of the seniors, whether the “pitches” will be “aca-awesomess” in the upcoming “Pitch Perfect 3“, I look forward to improvements for the threequel.