13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi

Better than Transformers this one is! 

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi – This movie is based on actual events.

Not your ordinary soldiers. 

After the fall of Gadhafi, Libya becomes one of the most dangerous places on Earth forcing countries to close down their embassy in fear of attacks by terrorist. The Americans however decided to stay put (God knows why) guarded by private military contractors, Global Response Staff (GRS) who are stationed not too far away from temporary residence for any visiting ambassador. Former special operations personnel, Jack Da Silva (John Krasinski) joins his GRS mates and is soon deployed on his first mission to accompany a discussion with local oil tycoon. Meanwhile, US Ambassador, Chris Stevens decides to drop by Benghazi as well to maintain diplomatic connections amidst the political and social chaos. He is guarded by local militia on limited payroll and some Diplomatic Security Agents. On the anniversary on September 11, all hell breaks loose when a group of Islamic militants assault and seize control of the compound. Fierce fighting ensues between the both sides till dawn with huge causality including the ambassador himself becoming one of the victims.

Scurfy John actually looks good in this flick! 

Get ready for some loud explosions once the AK’s and mortar comes into play. Everything and anything blows up like it’s happening right in front of you. Equally chilling feeling is when the ambassador’s residents get engulfed in rapid fire started by the militants. Not to mentioned the gory and graphic scenes full of blood to capture the horrible injuries. I was squirming in my seat when I saw a man’s hand dangling after getting hit by mortar. Adoiiiiiii….luckily I didn’t faint on my seat. Despite the adrenaline rush every now and then, there was also a subtle message inserted to reflect on what was going on. Michael Bay redeemed himself with this flick after messing up Transformers. Amidst the catastrophe, he managed to capture the painful feeling of innocent civilians trapped in between those who are hungry for power and those who just want a peaceful live.

Better than London has Fallen. 

I have no idea how to describe how I felt while watching this movie except for asking…”What is wrong with us humans? Why are we killing each other and what for?”. With the recent rampant attacks happening all over the world, it’s only a matter of time before we really run out of time to save our world from total annihilation. Wake up and make peace not war stupid humans. Enough is enough. 

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice Review

Face-off! 

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice Review - …so it begins…”the Bat of Gotham and The Son of Krypton face off in an epic battle!” Yeah riteeeeeeeeeeeee…

Red cape man or black cape man? 

The flick starts off from where it ended in Man of Steel, with the city dwellers witnessing Superman (Henry Cavill) battling against General Zod while the city turns into rubble. Bruce Wayne’s aka Batman (Ben Affleck) own building also crumbles with his employees becoming innocent victims which fuels his hatred towards Superman even more. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) loathes both superhero and finds a perfect opportunity to turn them against each other by ‘creating’ a new creature he calls Doomsday. Observing quietly is Diana Prince aka Wonder Women (Gal Gadot) who later joins force to defeat Doomsday. In between Batman and Superman beats the crap out of each other with Superman returning to Smallville to get motherly advice from Martha Kent (Diane Lane) and also his other mission to keep Lois Lane (Amy Adams) out of trouble…(think the usual falling off building, trapped under water) and oh also trying to figure out who Wonder Women is. Meanwhile, Batman also had to deal with his own demons (as in to become a bat or remain human – just kidding!)

...then there's these two...hurmm...

Goodness me…I’m not sure where I should start murdering this movie, I went in with low or rather no expectation after Zack Snyder killed any sense of humour left in Superman with his Man of Steel revival. This time he even got Batman to go ultra-moody and sombre with no chance of us ever getting to see any glimpse of the previous charming or delightful Superman and Batman flicks used to offer us. Adding insult to the injury is turning Lex Luthor into an annoying chatterbox with his eccentric antics. Meanwhile, Lois Lane still remains the damsel in distress who seems to have not learned how to keep herself safe without being rescued by her super alien. The only saving grace was Wonder Women that light up otherwise solemn screen. The story was ALL OVER THE PLACE. The CGI was overused. The acting talents was greatly underused (Read: Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, Diane Lane) and yeah I couldn’t wait to leave the cinema, disappointed, once again.

Thank God for this Gal...Gadot! #TeamWonderWomen 

Bring in the Marvel Comic movies anytime please, DC comics is just too damn dark for me and for the love of God, I hope Wonder Women spin off will be better than this crap. 

P/s - Thank you Yes4G for the preview passes. 

Sisters Review

Look who is here! 

Sisters Review – When Hollywood’s best female comedic duo joins force to come up with a movie.

Ready to party? 

Maura (Amy Poehler) and Kate Ellis (Tina Fey) parents decide to sell their family house in Orlando to buy a condo. They inform Maura to tell Kate because Kate does not take bad news well and just as expected, Kate goes berserk and together, the sisters plan to throw an ‘Ellis Island’ themed party as their last hurrah in their childhood house. They invite all their former high school friends. One thing leads to another and the whole night turns into an unforgettable event. With both sisters trying to work out their issues while dealing with their aging-selves, it’s only a matter time before they learn to be a responsible adult.

Is somebody gonna get lucky? 

I had high hopes for the movie because Amy and Tina was an awesome combo in Baby Mama few years ago. Unfortunately all I got was lame to downward immature antics which did draw few chuckles here and there but in the end got me going… “That’s it?”. There were no substances and the story was all over the place with no real value whatsoever.

Same bathtub? Errr....no...not for me. 

Come on Amy and Tina, you ladies are better than this. Please don’t let me down again ok. Take this crap of a movie as lesson to come up with better flick next round ok. 

The Divergent Series: Allegiant Review

The gang is back

The Divergent Series: Allegiant Review – More of Four, more of Tris, more of…you get the idea…

Ready for another adventure 

Continuing from my review for the exciting cliff-hanger in Insurgent, Allegiant continues with Janine (Kate Winslate) being defeated and Evelyn (Naomi Watts) controlling of whatever that is left of Chicago. A grim regime similarity soon ensues when ‘trials’ are held to punish former Erudites. Tris and Four however are still determined to make it beyond the wall and *spoiler, they succeed only to discover another plot (not again!) against human kind are taking place there as well. Faced with more dilemmas, Tris has to make more decision and choice not just for her survival but the rest of individual beings.

Ok…to be honest, after the disappointing ending to The Hunger Games series, I’m fast losing interest in this story as well. Mainly maybe because my two favourite people are no longer in this 3^rd instalment, namely, Kate and Jai while my other favourite Maggie Q gets killed off so soon before I could even ‘lepas rindu’. Plus the plot that keeps going and going but getting nowhere was also beginning to irritate me. By now, I’m so used to the CGI (even with the intro of ultra-cool drone) that everything feels like MEH. Same goes for the acting, same old, same old from the existing cast except kudos to Miles Teller for being an annoying brat (me likey!). With addition of Jeff Daniels (another casting mistake after Naomi Watts) who looks like his about to break into his Dumb and Dumber role (no disrespect to his talent but he sooooo doesn’t suit to become David) only got me waiting for the movie to end. Nothing new here people, really. ZZZZZZ

Wall climbers...

Just like all young adult fiction novels, "Allegiant" is the final film of the trilogy which will be split into two parts, making it the fourth movie franchise to do so, along with "Harry Potter", "The Twilight Saga" and "The Hunger Games and my question is why? Well, the obvious answer would be to make more money but the downside of it is the once appealing franchise is fast turning into stale leftover milk but that’s just me, maybe. Whatever. #fliphair 

P/s - Thank you Klips for the preview tickets.

* Divergent review

* Insurgent review

Munafik Review

Haaaa....ada beran tak tangok? 

Munafik Review – Local horror movie with a twist.

...these two gifted people. Bravo on job well done! 

Ustaz Adam (Syamsul Yusof) possesses a special gift to ‘nurse’ those who are ‘disturbed’ by evil spirit back to health. His own faith however is shaken when he loses his wife in a terrible car accident. Traumatised for not being able to save her, he makes it his mission to find out who was responsible for the tragedy. One day his services are required to heal Maria (Nabila Huda) who is under heavy distressed. Bizarre and worrying incidents begin to happen as the Maria’s condition gets worse. It will take all of Ustaz Adam own belief and best effort to face his biggest challenge that might either strengthen or weakened his devotion in God for once in all. (Trust me I want to elaborate more but don’t want to spoil the fun so that’s all the cat I can let out of the bag…huhu) 

Dengar tu! Ingat tu! 

*Confession – if you know me, you would know that I am scared kitten when it comes of horror movies but something about this flick intrigued my interest to check it out so I braved myself to watch it on the big screen but…of course I took my glasses off whenever there was a scary scenes (…and God there were plenty of it!) or else I would have died during the screening and would not be writing this review now. Sekian. #sayasedarsayapen-takuts. Ok, now back to original programme

Ustaz Adam facing his biggest obstacle 

From the abovementioned confession you would guessed that I watched half the movie without my glasses on but whenever I put had it on, it was pure gold class! From the word get go, we are served with amazing cinematic experience unlike any other. I truly enjoyed the camera angles from high view to bottom view to sideways. It was pure perfection that was coupled with freaking awesome sound editing. Some scenes were not scary but boy the sound and lighting will make you crap in your seat! Kudos to Syamsul for capturing the essence of keeping his audience glued to the screen with or without hands covering their faces. All the effort was also greatly assisted by skilful casting including Syamsul himself who played the lead role. Amy Search’s daughter, Nabila Huda was also hauntingly terrifying that would give Linda Blair in The Exorcist a run for her money. Despite being categorised as a horror movie, there is an underlying lesson and moral values that can serve as guides to the Muslims and also non-Muslims alike in my opinion.

First time pi tgk wayang sesame pas keje. Nak je makcik ni sepak aku sebab aku asik tergezut jew. Huhu. 

With so many we-are-trying-to-scare-you-but-sorry-we-didn’t flicks flooding the big screen lately, Munafik could rival and come out top of its field. Kudos to Syamsul for showing different side of his many talents. He single handed might save this genre or even other categories if given the right opportunity and guidance. I now look forward to watch more of his handy work. 

The Kid From The Big Apple Review

Locally produced, internationally rewarded. 

The Kid From The Big Apple Review – When young meets old and East and West collides.

Bonding time! 

Sophia was raised by a single father who gets pregnant young and decides to move to New York and live with her boyfriend. For twelve (12) years she lives away from her father until one day due to work commitment in China, she had to leave her daughter under her father’s care who is a respected figure among the local community. The kid, Sarah is at first resentful of everything from moving to Malaysia to getting to know her grandfather to making new friends. She spends most of her time playing with her mobile phone while her ‘Kong Kong’ makes all the effort to make her stay comfortable. Soon Sarah begins to adapt to the new lifestyle while slowly making a deep connection with her Grandfather along with learning a thing or two about Chinese traditions. As time pass by, Sarah becomes attached to her Grandfather until on the day Chinese New Year when they receive awful news. Can this family get reunite or fate will present them with more challenge?  

Playtime! 

Bring some tissue or better still a tissue box when you enter cinema to catch this gem. It will tug your heart at all corner and in no time, you will find yourself wiping away your tears. Yes people, I cried too so you know this is no joke. Besides making you weep, it also make you smile thinking about the good old days when kids used to play outside and getting bruised instead of just planting their faces on latest gadget. There are appearances of latest technology (ipod and ipad) but in a form lesson how not to let it take over human emotions. The cast was brilliantly selected with the main kudos going to young Sarah but my personal favourite is Bao. Watch and you will know why. The storyline is very relevant in today’s world which will leave a lasting impact for both the younger and older generation.  

Malaysian pride 

With the school holiday around the corner and the movie winning its well- deserved accolades left right and centre, gather your family and even friends to watch this film. In the current fast paced world, the two (2) hours you spend to catch this cinematic wonder is worth every penny and time. 

P/s – It is a Local Chinese movie which might put off non-Chinese speaking community but the translation was done well so you don’t have to worry about not understanding the story. A definite must-watch and watch again movie in my book this one is. 

Kung Fu Panda 3 Review

Guess who is back! 

Kung Fu Panda 3 Review – Our favourite dragon warrior is back on the big screen once again.

Po and Li reunited! 

Serenity at the Valley of Peace is disturbed as just Po (voiced by Jack Black) reunites with his biological panda father Li (Bryan Cranston) which cause a discomfort with his adopted Dad, Mr. Ping (James Hong). It is later reveal that supernatural villain Kai (J.K. Simmons) have been stealing other Kung Fu Master’s chi is ready to wreak havoc across China. Po agrees to follow his father back to ‘Panda village’ to learn how to live like an actual Panda while trying the master the power of chi. As one after another Kung Fu Master lose their chi to Kai, it’s up to Po to stop the mayhem. Will Po truly become not just a dragon warrior and save the day once again?

New baddie in the block 

With an already existing impressive assemble of voice cast, addition of an Oscar winner and nominees (J.K. Simmons, Bryan Cranston and Kate Hudson) lend their voice talent makes thing merrier. That however is also a down point as other remaining characters getting fewer lines. I could only count few words by Jackie Chan playing the monkey and even Dustin Hoffman ends up playing second fiddle this time around. Beside the flooding of new roles, I have no other complain because this is fun ride from the beginning. The music, the animation, the colour is once again at its level best capturing the essence of China. There is also a lesson to be learned about family value along with teaching not to be greedy both applicable for kids and adults alike.

Panda village. 

Despite the survival of Kung Fu Panda as a three-quell, I think it’s about time Po and the rest of Furious Five retire before becoming obsolete with ridiculous storyline in the future. The third instalment is just enough to make you love but also leave the legendary Dragon Warrior as one of the best animation ever produced. I know I will remember the Panda-monium (pun intended) created by a cuddly Panda called Po! 

3rd and final outing, hopefully. 

Trivia - Four of Angelina Jolie's children, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Pax Jolie-Pitt, Knox Jolie-Pitt and Zahara Jolie Pitt, are voice extras in the scene when Po talks to the pandas about a game plan.

P/s - Thank you Foodpanda for the tickets.