A SERIOUS MAN (2009)

RATING: 2/5

Much like their radical departure in 2007's Oscar-winning NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, writer-directors Ethan Coen and Joel Coen defies expectations again with A SERIOUS MAN, arguably their most personal film ever made. While their new movie is a black comedy, it's really nothing like they ever done before. In fact, the comedy is so bleak that it's a tough sell even for fans who admire the Coen brothers' work. And here lies the biggest problem -- it's a seriously unconventional movie about faith, family, mortality and misfortune. Such subject matters are of course, very familiar but it's hardly universal at all. Not at least in the Coen brothers' dictionary. Suffice to say, it's a difficult movie to get hooked at or worst still, hard to laugh at because it paints a deeply cryptic metaphor about the Jewish community. Unless you have certain understanding about the Jewish, this is an otherwise tough movie to sit through.

The movie begins with a striking but odd-looking opening scene in some century ago, where Shtetl couple (Allen Lewis Rickman and Yelena Shmulenson) are being visited by a bearded old man (Fyvush Finkel) who is supposed to die three years earlier. The Shtetl superstitious wife believes that the old man may be a dybbuk -- a spirit possessing a human's body. After a short conversation, she sticks a knife in his chest. The old man doesn't seems to feel any pain at all, even though he's bleeding from the wound. He is then excused himself and walks out of the door, disappearing into nowhere. The scene itself sounds like a prologue straight out from a supernatural horror movie, but what happens next is entirely different story altogether. (Yes, I found the opening scene is really confusing and somehow can't seem to connect the dot of what the Coen brothers trying to tell us, other than impress us with their moviemaking craft). Cut to Minnesota, 1967 in which we are focusing on a Jewish math professor named Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlberg). On the surface, Gopnik is a regular family man that lives his life in a routine fashion. However his world is about to unravel in a series of misfortune events that cost him dearly. It begins with his wife, Judith (Sari Lennick) finally had enough and demands him for a divorce because she has been falling in love with their acquaintance Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed). His problem doesn't just stop there: His mentally-unstable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) who moves in with him, is giving him a headache; a Korean student named Clive (David Kang) offers Larry a bribe for a passing grade; and his children -- teenage daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) spends most of her time in front the mirror, while son Danny (Aaron Wolff) has been slacking around listening to Jefferson Airplane and getting high with his friend in the bathroom. There are just too many troubled thoughts Larry is trying to fix things around that he's about to lose control over his surroundings. So he is subsequently seeking spiritual advice from various rabbis, but to no avail. Endless anxiety and fear strikes him and eats him from inside out, bit by bit that Larry's life is going nowhere but way down to a possible crashing end.

From the cinematic standpoint, A SERIOUS MAN is a beautifully-mounted picture that all the technical values are pitch-perfect. As Minnesota natives themselves who grew up in the neighborhood, the Coen brothers knows well how to capture the exquisite period details of a '60s Midwestern suburb. Aided by cinematographer Roger Deakins, the movie is also simultaneously bleak and at times surrealistic. Carter Burwell's music score is achingly poignant while the editing, in which the Coens goes under the name of Roderick Jaynes, is well-calculated.

But the movie's biggest achievement is of course, the Coens' smart decision to cast relatively unknowns. Without doubt, the cast are uniformly strong. Among all of them, is none others than Michael Stuhlbarg in his career-defining performance as the struggling Larry Gopnik. His role is simply arresting from the minute one he appears on the screen that his sad-sack expression alone is more than enough to feel such pity for he is forced to go through.

Unfortunately their supposedly a great masterpiece-in-the-making doesn't exactly do well altogether. The Coens has definitely goes a bit too personal for their own good I must admit some of us have to crack our head to figure out what they are trying to deliver here. Their trademark brand of deadpan humor is too dry and very distant they feel uncomfortable to be laughed at all, let alone giggle. It also doesn't help when their narrative is too cryptic most of the times, especially with all the head-scratching moments involving the opening scene and of course, the non-resolution bleak finale where the movie ends abruptly with an incoming tornado threatened to hit the suburb. If the whole scenario is supposed to be a metaphor of sorts to spin a refreshing story about a hapless man's downfall, it's really hard to appreciate as one. Even their equally cryptic NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN doesn't come as frustrating as this one does. It's a misguided piece of work that should have deserves better.

READ MORE - A SERIOUS MAN (2009)

THE MESSENGER (2009)

RATING: 3/5

Of late, Iraqi-themed war movie is either about focusing on fighting for country or debating politics, it's refreshing to see something out of the norm. In THE MESSENGER, the story is more about grief, loss, love, recovery and relationships.

Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), a decorated and injured soldier, has just returned home from war in Iraq and reunited with his longtime girlfriend Kelly (Jena Malone). But the bittersweet reunion doesn't last long enough after Kelly dumped him to marry another guy. Shortly after, Montgomery is assigned to work under Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and a member of the army's Casualty Notification division. Together, they are in charge of a mission to tell people of their loved ones' deaths. Stone has specifically guided him about the procedures to be followed during their course of the mission -- no hugs, no empathy, no help, no physical contact of any kind -- except delivering the news and walk away. Such task is certainly a new challenge for newcomer like Montgomery, who is at first having a tough time trying to adjust with life after combat while struggling to keep his head straight on fulfilling his assignment. Not long after, he starts to feel pity about a recently widowed woman named Olivia (Samantha Morton) and subsequently having a relationship with her.

First-time director Oren Moverman, who is previously a screenwriter for 2007's critically-acclaimed I'M NOT THERE, does a remarkable job creating a moving drama that is both heartfelt and emotionally penetrating. Together, he and co-writer Alessandro Camon doesn't skimp on melodramatic value that could have plagued this kind of genre. Instead, the movie flows as naturalistic as possible while bringing the realistic sense of authenticity to make the entire experience all the more intensely personal. No doubt it's a very depressing drama, which not surprisingly, tends to be a bit too talky. The first half of the movie is particularly good, as we detailed on Montgomery and Stone's subsequent mission to tell people of their loved ones' deaths where each notification brings different aura of emotion it feels so involving, yet painful to watch for.

Except that the movie stretches its two-hour length a bit overlong with redundant scenes that could have trimmed short. Still, the movie benefits from a stellar cast worthy of Oscar materials -- Woody Harrelson is mesmerizing and particularly impressive as the no-nonsense veteran with a sense of wry humor. The versatile Ben Foster continues to impress with his acting resume, this time as the struggling soldier trying to find balance between his personal life and his current duty. No doubt both of them has never been better, and their raw performances are among the finest in their acting career. On the supporting side, Samantha Morton, Steve Buscemi and even a smaller one from Jena Malone, are equally captivating.

READ MORE - THE MESSENGER (2009)

EDGE OF DARKNESS (2010)

RATING: 2/5

Based on the highly-popular, award-winning 1985's BBC series of the same name, EDGE OF DARKNESS is a refreshing throwback to a thinking man's police thriller that Hollywood doesn't really make anymore. Not only that, this movie has a caliber of seasoned veterans on the helm -- original series director Martin Campbell is responsible for the remake here; screenwriters Andrew Bovell and especially William Monahan of THE DEPARTED (2006) fame; and of course a long-awaited comeback performance from Mel Gibson, who hasn't been acting for almost eight years after his 2002's SIGNS. From the basic outlook, it seems destined to be a knockout but there's a solid reason why this movie is dumped for January release instead -- an obvious sign for any movie with little fanfare or bad publicity. It's a real shame, because EDGE OF DARKNESS could have been successful except it is not. Instead, it's a half-realized thriller that tries too hard to be smart, thoughtful and exciting at the same time.

The movie begins with Thomas Craven (Gibson), a veteran Boston police detective who is delighted to see her grown-up daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic), reunited together for the first time in their Massachusetts hometown after many years apart. Craven starts to doubt about his daughter's condition when she vomits and grows seriously ill. Things get worse when Craven is shocked to watch her brutally gunned down by an unseen gunman at the front porch. The local police and the press quickly presume that Craven was the intended target, but he remains confused and unconvinced about the fact. After a short mourning, he wastes no time and determines to find out the truth behind his daughter's death. As his investigation goes further, he realizes the case takes him far beyond his jurisdiction where it involved in a some kind of conspiracy related to Emma's place of employment called Northmoor, a research facility headed by Jack Bennett (Danny Huston). There are more: Emma's boyfriend Burnham (Shawn Roberts) and coworker Melissa (Caterina Scorsone) are so scared of blowing the whistles of whatever they have come to know about every dirty secret that they vow to keep quiet. Then there's a trouble brewing in the form of a mysterious "fixer" named Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), a man who may or may be not on the side of Craven.

Marketed as a high-octane action thriller that instantly recalled the kind of revenge-driven style that Mel Gibson always good at in the past (e.g. LETHAL WEAPON, RANSOM, PAYBACK), Warner Bros has certainly made a grave mistake misleading everyone with all the deceptive trailers and numerous TV spots, as they obviously wanted to replicate their recent success of TAKEN (2009) -- another like-minded genre movie of such. Never mind the fact that the movie is slow-burning as long as it does have the sustained interest and build-up momentum. Which is too bad, because despite all the elaborate plot device about government cover-ups, industrial espionage and vigilante, little thing is actually happen here. William Monahan and Andrew Bovell's adapted screenplay is haphazard and at times, confusing especially with all the entire BBC series are forced to condense into a mere two-hour length. It also doesn't help when the pace occasionally stalls with a series of melodrama involving Craven's grief over the loss of his daughter that it's almost a chore to sit through.

As for the cast, it's good to see Mel Gibson back in his usual form viewers come to love -- an angry man with a personal vendetta who does thing his own way. It's a familiar role for him he has played many times before in the past, but his acting is somewhat rusty -- perhaps from the result of his eight-year absence. The rest of the supporting cast are equally credible, with Danny Huston's slimy performance as the sneaky corporate head with a hidden agenda; Bojana Novakovic's brief but stunning turn as Craven's ill-fated daughter; and Ray Winstone is particularly a standout as the mysterious "fixer".

Despite all the hiccups, director Martin Campbell remains adept when comes to action set pieces. It's just too bad all the exciting moments only comes in a short while. But when they do, they really packed a wallop. Violence is unflinching and the action is well-staged, particularly the one involving Craven tries to gun down an incoming car and a bloody shootout finale.

READ MORE - EDGE OF DARKNESS (2010)

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010)

RATING: 1/5

Much like the creatively-bankrupt revival of last year's FRIDAY THE 13TH, Platinum Dunes's horror remake specialty has finally gone an all-time low with this unnecessary re-imagining of Wes Craven's 1984 classic A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. What's even more shocking is that this is the worst NIGHTMARE movies ever made, so bad that those lesser sequels in the past are much more entertaining.

It begins with an uninteresting, lengthy prologue where we first introduced to sleep-deprived classmate Dean Russell (Kellan Lutz) who spends his night time at the local Springwood Diner to stay awake. But no matter how hard he tries, he can't stop having nightmare about a mysterious-looking burnt man who wears a pair of gloves with razor blades acted as fingers. The particular burnt man turns out to be powerful enough to torment him in real harm, that Dean ends up struggling and plunging himself with a steak knife into his own throat and dies. Fellow classmates, Kris (Katie Cassidy) and Nancy (Rooney Mara) are there, witnessing the shocking incident that they can't believe their eyes what they have just seen. Then during the funeral, Kris discovers a photo of her and Dean together as children, in which she has no memory whatsoever other than knowing him at the high school. So she determines to find out the truth and starts doing some investigation of her own. Apparently she and Nancy, along with Kris's boyfriend Jesse (Thomas Dekker) and pill-popping Quentin (Kyle Gallner), are all having nightmares about the same person. They also discovered that if they die in their nightmare, they die for real. And it's doesn't take long before everything is connected to the murky past -- many years ago, the parents in their small town found out that Freddy Krueger (Jackie Earle Haley), the groundskeeper at a local pre-school, had been doing terrible things to the children. Because of Freddy's immoral action, they tracked him down and burned him alive. But now Freddy is back, and he wants revenge against the kids who have grown up so he can kill them during their nightmares.

Originally conceived as a prequel to the 1984 original, the idea was dropped in favor for a run-of-the-mill slasher formula that is nothing more than a generic redux of the past installments. Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer's screenplay is shockingly dull, relying too much on expository scenarios to keep the narrative flowing while lacking any worthy characters and effective thrills altogether. Not even the inclusion of a backstory about Freddy's origin manages to rise above the occasion. Worst still, the creative energy during the nightmare sequences that always makes the NIGHTMARE installment all the more guilty-pleasure entertainment to watch for, are painfully routine and hate to say this -- creatively-bankrupt. Element of suspense are random at best, especially the fact that first-time feature director Samuel Bayer (a music-video veteran who once made the popular Nirvana's Smells Like a Teen Spirit) doesn't know a single clue about elaborate set pieces and sustaining a momentum. Steve Jablonsky's music score is terribly unimaginative, and the brief recall of original composer Charles Bernstein's central theme serves more of an afterthought. Some of the original's tribute are included as well, but fails terribly in comparison -- iconic moments by the likes of the bathtub scene, the bloodbath bedroom murder, and of course the scene where Freddy's head emerges against the wall of Nancy's bedroom -- doesn't evoke any sense of worthy thrills at all.

All the teenage cast are strictly cardboard cutouts and very forgettable. Rooney Mara, who plays Nancy, is sadly reduced to a pathetic figure here -- an absolute far-cry to the original Nancy (played by Heather Langenkamp) who is more resourceful, strong-willed and butt-kicking girl. The adults, in the meantime, are very wasted as well with Connie Britton's thankless role as Nancy's mother and Clancy Brown's less-than-enthusiastic performance as Quentin's school principal father.

What's left in (perhaps) the only redeeming quality of this otherwise dull movie is Jackie Earle Haley's performance as Freddy Krueger. At least, he's a spot-on to play such a role even though there's no denying that Robert Englund's iconic performances in the original movie series remains unsurpassed. Still, it's sad to know that Haley's monotone delivery lacks the playful or threatening vibe that Englund mastered them so memorably well in the first place. It doesn't help too when Haley's special-effects makeup looks surprisingly dull and less threatening.

Coupled with an anti-climactic finale and a (yawn) ending that opens the door for future sequel, this terrible remake is a wasted effort. Someone should tell the filmmakers to change the tagline of Don't Fall Asleep to Do Fall Asleep.

READ MORE - A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010)

PRINCE OF PERSIA (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

Based on one of the most successful video games of all-time, the eagerly-awaited adaptation of PRINCE OF PERSIA is a fairly enjoyable summer romp -- disposable, that is -- but ultimately lack of epic grandeur and lasting quality to make this an otherwise good old-fashioned action adventure in the vein of ARABIAN NIGHTS-vibe.

The movie begins with a brief prologue where a highly-spirited street urchin named Dastan (William Foster) first catches the eye of King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup) of Persia in the city market. The king adopts the kid and raises him like his own son. Fifteen years later, Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) has grown up becoming a prince. Unlike the king's biological sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), Dastan is more of a brave but reckless warrior who prefers to accomplish thing his own way. One night when the king's advisor Nizam (Ben Kingsley) is masterminding an ambush against the city of Alamut, Dastan finds himself a beautiful dagger with a crystal hilt unlike anything he has seen before. Not only that, the dagger is apparently more than just a mere weapon -- it also acts as a time-travel device whoever clicks a ruby on the hilt, will sends that person a minute back in time. And Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) desperately wants the dagger back at all cost. But trouble rises when Dastan is accused of murdering the king, during a birthday ceremony when he sends him a gift in the form of an expensive robe. It turns out that the robe the king wears in his body is poisonous and kills him immediately. Dastan has no choice but to flee off from Persia, and later finds himself unexpectedly teams up with Tamina. The mismatched pair doesn't get along at first, but they subsequently help each other escaping from a series of danger while gradually learning the shocking truth that Dastan's sneaky uncle, Nizam is behind this all the while.

From the surface, Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard's script sounds like a whole lot of fun that certainly recalled a classic throwback to the 1920s and 1930s fantasy adventure genre. It's just too bad the execution is a mixed result. The overall plot is more of a second-rate ripoff of 1999's THE MUMMY and of course, the INDIANA JONES movies while the equal storytelling between characters, action, comedy and dramatic moments is as haphazard as it gets.

The cast are also a mixed bag, especially for Jake Gyllenhaal who looks awkward with his inappropriately bug-eyed and hangdog expression as the titular character. Despite all the hard effort he has undergone for extensive physical training, buffed-up look and sports a messy, rock star-like long hair, he still doesn't look convincing enough to play the role as a dashing hero or a charming prince. No doubt he's certainly miscast for such a role. Meanwhile, the current British "It" girl, Gemma Atherton, seems like a shoo-in nowadays to play exotic role in the fantasy-driven adventure (as in the recent CLASH OF THE TITANS). But unlike her thankless role in that movie, she manages to bring some sparks to her come-hither role oozes with enough sexuality and playful energy. Her role is not entirely successful since there are times she gets very annoying with her bickering -- especially her repetitive dialogues regarding about destiny and protecting the dagger. The rest of the supporting cast are more than less a series of strict caricatures, with a particularly wasted performance by Sir Ben Kingsley. And of all the actors, it's the versatile Alfred Molina who made most of the impression as the sarcastic and hilarious role of Sheik Amar.

All the messy stuff aside, the movie remains fun enough for the masses looking for summer escapist entertainment. The acrobatic action set pieces are certainly energetic and fun to look at, especially with Dastan doing a couple of parkour scenes from rooftops to rooftops, scaling walls and exciting hand-to-hand combat. Harry Gregson-Williams' Middle East-flavored music score is entertaining and catchy enough, while John Seale's constantly fluid cinematography keeps the movie alive, though at times his overly-frantic camerawork does sadly gets in his way. Mike Newell's direction is essentially workmanlike, and it's a bit pity he doesn't bring the same gravitas he does before in his 2005's HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE. The special effects, in the meantime, particularly the time-travel sequence is entertaining enough but remains mixed, considering the movie's $150-million budget tag.

Although PRINCE OF PERSIA fails to live up the expectation Disney is hoping high for another PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN-like lucrative franchise, the movie delivers the necessary fun for this kind of genre. At the very least, it's a marginally decent summer action flick that truly kicks off the season (here's looking at you IRON MAN 2!)

READ MORE - PRINCE OF PERSIA (2010)

THE LOSERS (2010)

RATING: 2/5

Been there, done that. That's pretty much sum up for THE LOSERS, an awfully mediocre and (sadly) uninspired globe-trotting action comedy. Never mind the fact the movie is actually based on DC Vertigo comic since it's no difference than most like-minded genre you have seen countless times before.

A team of roughneck U.S. mercenaries, lead by no-nonsense Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), cocky second-in-command Roque (Idris Elba), hacker expert Jensen (Chris Evans), pilot Pooch (Columbus Short), and sniper Cougar (Oscar Jaenada), are assigned to infiltrate the enemy site in the Bolivian jungle. But their would-be successful mission fails abruptly when they watch helplessly, as 25 imprisoned children are brutally killed in a helicopter explosion. The government, spearheaded by rogue CIA operative Max (Jason Patric), has denied the five mercenaries' existence and left them for dead. With no passports or any form of proper identifications to return to their homeland, they are trapped in Bolivia until the appearance of a mysterious beauty named Aisha (Zoe Saldana) offers them a golden chance: help her to find and kill Max, who is planning a world domination, and she'll make sure they get back in the U.S. The five mercenaries have no choice but to accept the offer and next thing they know, nothing is what it seems in the first place.

Despite the involvement of credible screenwriters team of Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt, it's a pity that they toss out whatever level of characterization and competent storyline in favor for wisecracking jokes and sketchily-written plot. Not surprisingly, the characters are nothing more than strict caricatures. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is certainly tailored to play a brooding macho leader Clay, while Chris Evans is appropriately nerdy as Jensen. Zoe Saldana is looking feisty in her femme fatale role but too bad her character is overshadowed by the mere surface of her beauty. And of all the actors here, only Jason Patric fares the worst. Perhaps no actor in recent memory, playing a villain so gleefully over-the-top it's hard to swallow most of the time.

First-time action director Sylvain White (2007's STOMP THE YARD) does know how to work with the camera to get most of the excitement here. The action scenes are definitely stylish and kinetic, but it's just too bad he have to result with the annoyingly frantic cinematography and quick editing to complete the whole deal.

The biggest mistake of all is the filmmakers' decision to end the movie with a sadly anti-climatic note. For a movie that leaves (almost) no impression at all, such open ending is definitely a bad idea anyway because THE LOSERS is simply a forgettable one.

READ MORE - THE LOSERS (2010)

TRUE LEGEND (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

Over the last decade, legendary martial-arts choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping has made a household name in Hollywood, notably for his successful collaboration with the Wachowski brothers in THE MATRIX movies. And it's no surprise his much-awaited return to director's chair after 1996's TAI CHI 2 is one of the highly-anticipated martial-arts blockbusters of the year. The result is TRUE LEGEND, an entertaining homage to Shaw Brothers-style that blends with old-school technique and modern vibe. It's not entirely successful, no thanks to disjointed narrative, over-reliant on CG and unnecessary patriotic third act.

The movie centers on Su Can (Vincent Zhao), a decorative Qing court warrior in 1861 China, who has saved an imperial prince (Jacky Heung) from a band of assassins. The imperial prince is so touched by his bravery that he is immediately granted Su a promotion as a governor. But the modest Su rejects the offer and claims that his adopted brother Yuan (Andy On) deserved more for the honor. All Su wants instead is to devote his life to perfect his martial arts and hope to start a family. Five years later, Su is now married to Yuan's beautiful sister Ying (Zhou Xun), and the two live happily together with their 5-year-old son Little Feng (Li Ze). But Su's father (Leung Ka-Yan) warns his son that Yuan's long-awaited return to their hometown is more than just a social visit. Apparently his father is feared that Yuan is still holding a grudge against him for responsible of killing Yuan's father a long time ago. Not surprisingly, Yuan arrives with a deadly intention after all. He has spent the last five years mastering the Five Venoms Fist, in which he risks his body with the sting of numerous scorpions. Ever since then, he have been behaving extremely out of his mind and also looking a lot different than he's originally was. He spares no mercy and easily defeated Su's father with relative ease. When Su finds out about his father's brutal death, he seeks vengeance against him but he is no match for Yuan. During a brutal duel, Little Feng begs Yuan not to kill his father and because of the child's sympathy, Yuan ends up throwing Su into a raging river. At the same time, Ying also risks her life by jumping off the river as well and miraculously, both of them survive. They are subsequently rescued by a local medicine healer Dr. Yu (Michelle Yeoh) who lives peacefully at Beidou Mountain. As Su slowly recovers from time to time, Ying helps out Dr. Yu to produce quality wine. In the meantime, Su is desperate to get his fighting strength back into form so he can avenge his father and rescue his son as well. Over the course of his intensive self-training, he finds himself being challenged by a mysterious white-bearded monk named Old Sage (Gordon Liu) and The God of Wushu (Jay Chou).

The movie works best, especially for the first two-thirds where Yuen Woo-Ping has successfully crafted a series of entertaining martial-art set pieces that mixed with old-school kung fu style aided with the enhancement of CG. The over-reliant of CG tends to get annoying at times, but it remains fun to watch for nonetheless. Among the highlights are the daring rescue scene at a cave mountain filled with armed assassins; and two amazing duels between Vincent Zhao and Andy On. Right up to this point, the movie has all the necessary aura for guilty-pleasure moments but somehow Yuen Woo-Ping and screenwriter Christine To goes overboard with the narrative thrust.

Sadly, Christine To's bloated screenplay is quite a chore to sit through, especially in the draggy mid-section involving Su's slow recovery. The fantasy-ridden fight sequence between Su and The God of Wushu is really hard to take it seriously, particularly how campy Jay Chou looks in a fancy wardrobe with eagle-shaped helmet. Not only that, she also made a colossal mistake by abruptly shifting the tone of the story into different direction. This is the part where the particular third act seems like as if it belongs from another movie altogether. Though the third act clearly intended to showcase Su with his famous Drunken Fist against a bunch of foreign fighters, the scene feels too tacky and forceful.

The cast are average at best, with Vincent Zhao returns to cinema after years exploring in television dramas. Vincent has never been an actor known for expression, but at least he remains worthwhile enough to engage the viewers with his martial-art prowess. The rest of the supporting actors are equally credible, notably for Zhou Xun who gives a sympathetic performance as Su's strong-willed wife. But cameo appearances of Michelle Yeoh and the late David Carradine is a waste of talents, with each deliver thankless roles they could have done more than just mere presence.

The movie is hardly ranked side by side with Yuen Woo-Ping's classics (IRON MONKEY, THE TAI-CHI MASTER) but as far as the Lunar New Year blockbuster goes, TRUE LEGEND delivers its fair share of rousing entertainment.

READ MORE - TRUE LEGEND (2010)

THE LONGEST NITE (1998)

RATING: 3/5

Nihilism doesn't come this both wickedly entertaining and gripping in which Milky Way Productions did it again with THE LONGEST NITE, a murky and brutal crime thriller deftly directed by Patrick Yau.

The story is set in Macau, where two rival gangs Mr. K (Fong Kang) and Mr. Lung (Lung Fong) are attempting to negotiate a truce and hoping to join forces before the legendary big boss Mr. Hung (Law Jing-Ting) returns. Unfortunately, Mr. Lung is also learned that a contract worth $5 million dollars has been taken out on his life and he's quickly suspects it's Mr. K who is the mastermind. Mr. K, of course, denies such claims and he sends Sam (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), a dirty cop who works for him, to investigate the truth. Sam's method for getting information out of any suspects has always resorted into violence, and so far his investigation isfruitless. That is not until the mysterious arrival of a baldy stranger named Tony (Lau Ching-Wan) who arrives in town, with a sports bag. Sam suspects Tony is up to something bad but can't seem to figure out the exact truth. As the night goes on, it becomes clear that the whole event isn't just about the assassination of Mr. Lung but something more than what has originally expected.

No doubt the movie made full use of its notorious Category III-rating to create a disturbingly violent and murky piece of work (among unflinching scene involves Sam enthusiastically smashing the fingers of a potential assassin with a bottle of ketchup) that is certainly not for everyone. But genre fans will be delighted that Patrick Yau and screenwriters Szeto Kam and Yau Nai-Hoi knows quite well how to craft a gripping storyline filled with dark moralities. The story is especially the major point here, and it's intriguing to watch all the twists and turns offer here.

But none of them would have work, if not for the sheer credibility of Lau Ching-Wan and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's engaging performances. Lau is especially great, who made clever use of his deadpan expression and his shaved look to create disturbing aura for his character. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, as always, a chameleon actor who knows how to blend in with any characters he is given. Here, he's in total control -- at times he is both cocky, frustrating and sadistic -- and no doubt this is among his most complex role he's ever handled.

It's not a perfect movie by any means, with some of the notable flaws come from the script itself. At times the story tends to get confusing with all the shady motivations involved, while the climatic shootout between Lau and Tony in a factory full of mirrors are overly stylized for its own good. Raymond Wong's music, on the other hand, tends to get annoying after a while.

Despite its nihilistic nature, THE LONGEST NITE manages to garner a respectable 6 Hong Kong Film Awards nomination including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for both Lau Ching-Wan and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. Not surprisingly, the movie went home empty-handed with the more popular BEAST COPS won majority of the awards.

READ MORE - THE LONGEST NITE (1998)

GREEN ZONE (2010)

RATING: 2/5

On paper, GREEN ZONE is looking set to be the most commercially-successful movie ever made about Iraqi invasion. It's not hard to see why -- the movie is brought by the same team (actor Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass) who made two highly-successful BOURNE series (2004's THE BOURNE SUPREMACY and 2007's THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM) and it has been heavily touted as "BOURNE IN IRAQ", judging from its like-minded template that centers on a man's quest to uncover the truth. In addition to that, Greengrass himself a seasoned filmmaker who used to shoot documentaries in war zones, thus making him a shoo-in of crafting a potentially good movie for such genre. This is especially evident when he made an impact with the controversial but stunning 2006's UNITED 93. Despite all the massive hype, GREEN ZONE is surprisingly a major letdown -- a so-called thinking man's war drama that is actually more of a cliched-ridden movie with little insight or depth to engage us all the way.

Based on a book by one-time Baghdad bureau chief of the  Washington Post, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, the movie opens in the war-torn Baghdad on 1993 where Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and his troops are ordered to search the city for WMDs (Weapon of Mass Destruction). But all their hard efforts are wasted when they come up empty-handed. Back at the base, Miller voices out suspicions that the military may be receiving false intelligence as well as possible cover-ups. Fortunately, CIA agent Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson) supports his suspicion and wants Miller to keep in touch him regarding any relevant updates. In the meantime, Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) is hot on the heel against Pentagon intelligence correspondent Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) for vital information regarding an Iraqi insider code-named "Magellan". While Chief Miller and his troops continue their search throughout the city, they are approached by an English-speaking Iraqi named Freddy (Khalid Abdalla), who just witness some of Saddam Hussein's top men holding a secret meeting at a local house. Once Chief Miller and his troops find out that one of those men proves to be General Al Rawi (Igal Naor), the Jack of Clubs in the deck of Iraqi "Most-Wanted" playing cards, they know they're onto something big. Not only that, Chief Miller also gains what would be a very vital information in the form of a small notebook belongs to Al Rawi. But someone else wants the notebook badly as well, especially Poundstone who specifically orders Special Forces Lt. Col Briggs (Jason Isaacs) to obtain the particular evidence at all cost.

With an intriguing storyline that evokes a Hitchcockian-like mystery route and of course, the ever-popular MacGuffin plot device, it supposes to be a gripping thriller. At least for a while there, the movie does pushes some moments of sheer urgency but Brian Helgeland's adapted screenplay is shoddily-written while the pace is essentially one-note. The story quickly gets tired and increasingly frustrating after a while, and what's left is a predictable one long, tedious chase movie that is almost a chore to sit through.

Though the movie is boost with numerous intensity of endless chases, firepower and shootouts, it's sad to say that Paul Greengrass's cinema verite style to evoke you-are-there, documentary-like vibe has become a tired cliche of its own. This time, his messy handheld camerawork is even more frustrating to follow through than ever before -- especially during the action sequences that is hard to distinguish which is which. A notable failure is the climatic ending set during the night at the maze of buildings and narrow streets. Not only the scene alone is already dark to be seen, and the inclusion of the ever-shaky cam made the supposedly exciting showdown a terribly nauseating experience. This is one motion sickness that is hard to tolerate, and it's a shame that Greengrass doesn't make proper use of his expertise to make all those dramatic scenes with the similar kinetic vibes he once successfully achieved in his two BOURNE series.

The cast, in the meantime, are essentially one-note and stripped off from anything that can make us care about their characters. Matt Damon is no doubt a shoo-in to portray the relentless and tough-looking Roy Miller, in which he plays the physically-demanding role with relative ease. But it's sad that his character offers him very little thing to do other than watching him barking orders, run around with a gun and question authority figures. The rest of the actors, on the other hand, are terribly wasted. Considerable talents by the likes of Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Jason Isaac and especially Amy Ryan are sadly reduced into strict caricatures. If anything, only Khalid Abdalla made quite an impression as the sympathetic Iraqi who just wants nothing more than peace and harmony. One minor scene is beautifully played where Miller promises Freddy that he'll be compensated for his role as a translator in helping the U.S. military. But Freddy becomes emotional and claims that he didn't do what he did for the sake of a reward, but rather to do what best for his country and his own people. It is this key moment that separates from the rest of the hackneyed scenarios but it's just not nearly enough to save this movie.

On the technical side, Greengrass and his regular cinematographer Barry Ackroyd does a credible job of turning locations in Spain, Morocco and the U.K. into a realistic Iraq while John Powell's pulse-pounding music is simply engaging.

But the movie remains a huge, missed opportunity that could have been better. It looks like that Hollywood has (again) fails to beat the box-office jinx out of a Iraqi-set war drama.

READ MORE - GREEN ZONE (2010)

14 BLADES (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

So far, it has been a jinx for Donnie Yen when comes to wuxia pian genre -- with neither 2005's SEVEN SWORDS, 2008's AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS nor PAINTED SKIN, manage to hit jackpot whatsoever. However, 14 BLADES manages to prove this is at least his decent role ever tackled. It's fairly entertaining as far as the genre goes, but remains a minor disappointment, no thanks to director Daniel Lee's pedestrian style-over-substance direction that plagues his recent efforts (read: DRAGON SQUAD and THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON).

Yen is Qing Long, the head bodyguard and top assassin of the Jin Yi Wei working for the emperor of Ming Dynasty. He leads a special army, which all equipped the famed "14 Blades", a set of deadly weapons stored in a box carried around on their backs. Eight of the blades are meant for torture, five for killing, and the last one is for suicide if a Jin Yi Wei member fails to accomplish his mission. They are ruthless and has no sympathy whatsoever. But the Jin Yi Wei brotherhood is quickly falling apart when Qing Long is betrayed by evil eunuch Jia (Law Kar-Ying) and corrupted Jin Yi Wei member Xuan Wu (Singaporean actor Qi Yuwu). Apparently Xuan Wu is responsible for masterminding the killing of some of the righteous Jin Yi Wei members before leading the rest in a manhunt for Qing Long. Qing Long becomes a fugitive, and manages to escape from the now-corrupted Jin Yi Wei. En route, he meets Qiao Hua (Vicki Zhao), daughter of the Justice Escort agency founder (Wu Ma) and kidnaps her. He warns her father to spread false information on his whereabouts or else he have to kill her. At first, Qiao Hua treats Qing Long as enemies but Qing Long has gradually finds inner peace and starts to fall in love with her.In the meantime, a female assassin named Tou Tou (Kate Tsui) is sent over to seek and kill Qing Long at all cost. Rounding up the story, is Judge (Wu Chun of the Taiwanese boy band Fahrenheit), the leader of bandits who hunt for valuable goods.

Daniel Lee and Abe Kwong's screenplay is painfully routine which filled with stilted dialogues and over-expository scenarios. At times it's quite a chore to sit through, but thankfully the action scenes manage to save this movie from a total failure, if not up to the expectation as the hype suggests. Among the highlights are the "spinning coin" duel between Donnie Yen and Wu Chun, a forest brawl between Kate Tsui and Wu Chun, and a duel-to-the-death scene in a ruined temple between Donnie Yen and Kate Tsui. The fight scene are quite stylish and entertaining to watch for, except the fact that Ku Huen-Chiu's so-so choreography and the ever-annoying presence of CG to enhance the set-pieces spoiled half the fun.

The cast are moderate at best. Donnie Yen is wooden as always, except that he comes good when he is engaged into fisticuffs. Thankfully, the rest of the supporting actors manage to bring some necessary gravitas to their respective roles. Vicki Zhao brings a better-than-average performance as Qing Long's love interest; newcomer Wu Chun strikes an engaging presence as the dashing Judge while manages to convince the viewers with his own fight scenes. Kate Tsui is wickedly playful as the sneaky assassin Tou Tou, though her occasional grunts during the fight scene is pretty annoying.

Technical credits are decent and eye-catching, especially its gorgeous costume design that evokes the exotic touch of Middle-Eastern undertones.

READ MORE - 14 BLADES (2010)

72 TENANTS OF PROSPERITY (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

Unlike the '90s, it's hard to find a decent Lunar New Year ensemble comedy these days but it's quite a surprise that 72 TENANTS OF PROSPERITY proves to be a delightful viewing experience. Best of all, it boosts with some uniquely Hong Kong flavor, some winning casts and of course an ensemble comedy that is both genuinely funny and entertaining altogether.

In this quasi-sequel of sorts to the Shaw Brothers classic THE HOUSE OF 72 TENANTS (1973), the movie opens during the 1970s where Ha Kung (Justin Lo) and Shek Kin (Raymond Lam) help the group of 72 tenants of Mongkok's Sai Yeung Choi Street defeating ruthless landlord Tai Chi-Bing (Lam Ka-Tung) and landlady Aunt Three (Charmaine Sheh), while coincidentally rescue Pinky (Fala Chen) from a planned forced marriage to Chief Police Officer Chan (David Lo). Since then, both sworn brothers fall for Pinky and they made a deal by flipping a coin. Ha wins the deal and gets to marry her in the end. Forty years has passed, and the sworn brothers become sworn enemies. Both of them, Ha (Eric Tsang) and Shek Kin (Jacky Cheung), continue to clash against each other in a fierce competition selling mobile phones in the same street they have lived all these years. While they keep competing each other with their various "dirty tactics" (e.g. using bikini-clad models and mobile massage) to sell more mobile phones, everyone else start to complain about the recent sudden attack of an unseen culrpit throwing bottles of acid from the rooftops. They suspect it has to do with a potential villain in the form of a Mainland property developer (Leung Tin) who is looking forward to buy up the entire Mongkok's Sai Yeung Choi Street and evict the locals. On the other side of the story, Ha's son (Bosco Lam) falls in love with Shek's daughter, Jade (Stephy Tang) who is recently returned from Japan working as a AV assistant director. And there's Ha's daughter, Ha Nui (Linda Chung), a Wing Chun expert who is unexpectedly falls in love with Shek's son, Kin Chai (Wong Cho-Lam).

The good news about this movie, is the way how actor-producer-director Eric Tsang playfully making fun of local issues and culture of a typical Hong Kong society -- ranging from everything to shopping, eating, triads, recycling and of course, a hot-button issue regarding about acid attack. Dialogues are mostly funny and catchy enough, thanks to the clever Cantonese wordplay. Some of the actors are great, particularly for Eric Tsang, Jacky Cheung, Anita Yuen, Linda Chung and Wong Cho-Lam. In addition to that, it's also fun to spot the stars here (which is a record of 174 actors in a single movie!)

Despite all the good stuff, the movie remains a mixed result. Parodies by the likes of IP MAN (2008), with Linda Chung imitating as the Donnie Yen stand-in, and Michael Tse's reprising role of TVB's Laughing Gor (again), tries hard to be funny but only ends up being forceful. There are also times that the jokes are unfunny while some of the cloying moments tend to get too awkward. Not only that, scenes that suddenly burst into song-and-dance moments  (particularly the last part) tend to get annoying as well.

Though it's hardly a certified classic by any means, 72 TENANTS OF PROSPERITY remains fun enough for the masses.

READ MORE - 72 TENANTS OF PROSPERITY (2010)

SPLIT SECOND MURDERS (2009)

RATING: 2.5/5

It's always a pleasant little surprise of what Herman Yau can do with a limited budget and still manages to come up something worthwhile. Such case is SPLIT SECOND MURDERS, a little thriller-comedy that also (coincidentally) follows the template of the marginally better Danny Pang's SEVEN 2 ONE.

The movie opens with a cheesy CGI opening montage of an angel of death (Chet Lam) who is particularly bewildered of how come so many people died unexpected within the same day. What follows next is a story centers on Luk (6 Wings, of goofy hip-hop group FAMA), a struggling comic-book artist who is about to have a series of bad luck in his life over the course of a single day. He is so dedicated of his work that he's even willing to neglect the presence of his girlfriend Julia (Charmaine Fong) who has grown fed up with his ignorance. When Luk wakes up in the morning, he discovers Julia has left him. At the same time, he also delighted to find out that he might land a job as a comic-book artist in a questionable triad-owned publishing firm, which is manned by a slack-looking editor (MC Jin). That particular day he finds himself in a whirlwind of conflict, usually involving unrelated people who get pissed off at each other before ends up to varied degree of violence. Among the conflicts are two men fighting in a restaurant over the actual ingredient found in a food; a road rage between an angry laborer and an impatient taxi driver; an unpleasant reunion dinner between two couple of husbands and wives (Stephanie Cheng, Kay Tse, C Kwan and Andy Hui); and of course a triad gang conflict, led by Fan Siu-Wong and Maggie Siu, that ends up getting caught in fire. Apparently all this happenstance does occur for a reason: it's a price to pay for Luk's ignorant behavior, and in the end he does made up for a redemptive solution with a pretty club girl named Fong (Chrissie Chau) and begins to see the error of his ways.

Unlike SEVEN 2 ONE's more intriguing subject matter of a series of conflicted characters get caught in a web of complex scenarios that ultimately lead to convenience store robbery, novelist and screenwriter Erica Li's screenplay dealing with karma, fate and bad luck is mostly a mixed result.

Still Herman Yau's direction remains effective. He certainly knows away with satirical comedy and it's especially darkly hilarious to watch the emerging anger of his characters pissed off against each other. It also helps that Yau's quirky touch to add pop-culture knowledge of Hong Kong lifestyle that makes fun of average people -- ranging from their greed, materialism to self-interest. That's not all, as Yau manages to get the most from his largely inexperienced young cast. Despite the inclusion of veteran actors by the likes of Andy Hui, Candy Lo, Fan Siu-Wong and Maggie Siu, it was the young idols and singers who aren't particularly known for their acting abilities, surprisingly manage to stand out above the rest. Among the standout of course, is 6 Wing himself who is both likable and at times sympathetic as the out-of-luck Luk it's actually fun to watch him going through the course of a bad day.

Though SPLIT SECOND MURDERS is hardly a great cinema by any means, it remains a worthwhile experience especially for a low-budget quickie.

READ MORE - SPLIT SECOND MURDERS (2009)

SEVEN 2 ONE (2009)

RATING: 3/5

Prior to release of this low-budget quickie, Danny Pang's SEVEN 2 ONE receives some unwanted buzz which are all in negative light -- the producers has claimed that Herman Yau's similarly-themed SPLIT SECOND MURDERS ripped off their movie's ending (which coincidentally also starred the same six young cast for both movies). Another controversy comes from the movie's poster itself, which is a direct rip-off from the 2008 Hollywood thriller VANTAGE POINT. However, none of these negative publicity is really matters since this low-budget quickie is actually a surprisingly good thriller that is both slick and entertaining.

The title is of course, refers to its seven separate stories and how they eventually come together into a single event: a convenience store robbery. Told in the RASHOMON-like style, the movie quickly kicks into high gear to the robbery scene, where a masked thief demands to empty the cash from the cashier, Chrissie (Chrissie Chau) before getting into a fight with a loan shark, William (William Chan). As the cashier and two female customers, Carolyn and Wylie (Carolyn Chan and Wylie Chiu) looks on, the loan shark is stabbed from the back and the thief escapes. Then outside the store, a cop named James (James Ho) arrives in a van with a perpetrator, Gary (Gary Ho) at the nick of time, as well as other unidentified characters rounding up the particular event. The movie clocks back in time before the event of the robbery as each flashbacks tell a story. In the beginning of the story, Yung Yung (Stephanie Cheng) is dating William, her first proper romance with a guy after a lengthy experience being a lesbian. But her former fiery lover, Wylie is very upset with the break-up and demands to meet William face-to-face for clarification. The second story centers on Ling (Elanne Kwong), a beer promoter who is fed up with her useless boyfriend Pak Ho (Pak Ho Chau) for his compulsive addiction towards football gamble. Pak Ho's gambling debts has grown extensively from time to time, which leaves Ling no choice but to decide of becoming a prostitute in order to pay off his debts. However, Pak Ho doesn't want to rely entirely on her goodwill and decides to rob a convenience store to prove to her that he can solve problem on his own, except for all the wrong reason. Other stories are included the one involving Katy (Katy Kung) and Chrissie who work together in a convenience store. They have grown tired with their pathetic dead-end job, and they are especially angry when the perverted store owner, Leo (Leo Chim) has harassed them sexually. So the ladies plan to fake a robbery as an act of revenge by their boyfriends, Zheng Xi (Izz Tsu) and Xiao Fei (Siu Fay).

No doubt that this kind of multiple stories always interesting to watch for, with Danny Pang and Pang Pak-Sing's screenplay sparks some novelties at the subsequent flow of the plot, though it's also natural that the story tends to get convoluted and requires a suspension of disbelief to enjoy this kind of genre. Not to forget as well, is a surprisingly effective performances from the young cast that made up more than just their pretty looks. On the plus side, Danny Pang's direction is both efficient, quirky and dramatic enough that keeps us glued to the screen while anticipating what happens next.

That is of course, until the ending almost ruined the entire promising experience came earlier on. Once the credits roll, the movie provides an alternate "what if" scenario, showing the viewers how things might have turned out nicely if the characters has thought something rational to solve their problems. Instead of a surprise delight of sorts to inject some morality values, the particular scenario feels forced and wholly unnecessary. It's also notable that this is the same gimmick used in SPLIT SECOND MURDERS.

But most of all, this movie remains a turning point for the young casts here who breathe exceptional life into their mostly unlikable characters (lesbian, pervert, loan shark, gambler, etc.) that they are no doubt a next generation of promising talent to watch out for in the future.

READ MORE - SEVEN 2 ONE (2009)

TO LIVE AND DIE IN MONGKOK (2009)

RATING: 2.5/5

Looking at the promo poster that boldly displayed the self-declared "Wong Jing's first cult film", one might questioned whether his latest movie, TO LIVE AND DIE IN MONGKOK, actually lives up to its promise. After all, nobody goes on to make a movie and immediately a cult status since that kind of appreciation is achievable by critics and viewers over the course of time. Whatever gimmick he's trying to pursue here, the result is ambitious but lack of central focus to make this would-be cult movie a worthy masterpiece.

After spending 29 years in prison for slaughtering a rival gang, Fai (Nick Cheung) returns to the same place he grew up at -- Mongkok. But life in Mongkok is no longer the same place he once knew since everything has changed over the years. His former buddy, Porky (Willie Wai) is due for promotion to the head of the triad, and he is currently facing stiff competition from a slick rival named Peter (Patrick Tam). The old-timers in the triad society are urging Porky to make use of Fai to support him for the upcoming promotion, but instead he sends a couple of lackeys, Kid (Juno Leung) and Ken (Samuel Leung) to take good care of Fai -- namely lavish dinner and some spa time. In the meantime, Porky rather wastes time pursuing mainland prostitute Pamela (Monica Mok) and especially her mentally-challenged sister Penny (Natalie Meng) for sexual conquest. On the other side of the story, Fai is no longer the same fearless younger self he once was. Over the years in the prison, he has developed a severe case of multiple personalities disorder. Sometimes he's a gentle and kind person, and other time he turns into his former raging personality, who he sees an imaginary buddy which goes by the name of Fai Jr. (Tang Tak-Po). From a common point-of-view, it looks like Fai is talking to himself but that doesn't prevent the gang from trying to exploit his legendary hero status. But Fai doesn't really want to go back to the same path he once at, and instead he's more eager to reconnect with his mother, Charity (Bau Hei-Jing) who is suffering from dementia. Rounding up the complication is the temperamental cop Gunner (Liu Kai-Chi), who once responsible of Fai's imprisonment for putting bullet in his back.

No doubt there's a strong narrative point lies within this potentially ambitious movie. It's especially evident when Wong Jing, who also penned the screenplay, manages to shed some fresh angle into this otherwise formulaic triad genre -- by adding a central character with multiple personalities disorders. That's not all, Wong Jing's intriguing metaphor centers on Fai "trapped within the confine of Mongkok" does offers some layered psychological insight while Wong's juicy dialogue is often colorful, quirky and at the same time, clever. One such notion is where Fai questions the downfall of Hong Kong movies between the past and the present as a referential pop-culture point for his culture shock it's almost feel as if Wong Jing manages to ape some brilliant point out of Edmond Pang's filmmaking style.

It's all sound goods, at least on paper, but the end product doesn't exactly translate well on the screen. At the hand of Wong Jing's and his co-director, Billy Chung's direction, the movie is sadly a mixed bag. Perhaps it's evident that Wong and Billy doesn't have the caliber of, say Johnnie To or perhaps Herman Yau for that matter, to successfully mix genre that borderlines between quirky and provocative manner. Maybe they should take note of how effortless Johnnie To once did in MAD DETECTIVE (2007), except with a cop angle. As for TO LIVE AND DIE IN MONGKOK, the movie is quite a bloated mess, especially all the annoying fact of Wong and Billy has mistaken for grainy, color-tainted images, handheld cam, rapid-editing antics and other stylistic excess as a genre movie with a quirky twist. Most of the time, the movie looks distracting while Li Kar-Wing's haphazard editing especially during the fight scene is a total letdown. And that potential "trapped within the confine of Mongkok" undertones is also sadly undermined by Wong's unexpected detour by presenting it in a cheesy way. It's also hard to take it seriously to see Fai daydream about an imaginary guard (Roderick Lam) and the fake-looking CGI fence that prevent him from walking down Nathan Road to a neighboring district.

Given the vast potential of a line of award-winning actors rounding up in this movie, it's a pity that none of them are particularly standouts. No thanks to Wong and Billy's insensible direction to guide their actors toward better characterization, what's left are only mere surface struggling somewhere for subtlety. Fresh off from winning his much-deserved Best Actor award for last year's THE BEAST STALKER, Nick Cheung gets a potentially-meaty role as the schizophrenic Fai that could have earned him another acting nod. Too bad he spends most of the time looking either lost or dopey, though there are moments he did flesh out some credible acting in the process. The rest of the supporting actors, including Liu Kai-Chi and Patrick Tam are anything but typical performances we have seen them countless times before. Still, there are some overall worthy performances from some of the actors here: Monica Mok and (surprisingly) Natalie Meng are fine, while Bau Hei-Jing makes the most impression as Fai's suffering mother.

TO LIVE AND DIE IN MONGKOK is far from the so-called "cult status" the movie tries to achieve here. On the other side, it's not a bad one either except that it would be nice if this movie falls under the hand of a better filmmaker. And that would be an entirely different story.

READ MORE - TO LIVE AND DIE IN MONGKOK (2009)

FUTURE X-COPS (2010)

RATING: 0.5/5 

Originally slated for release on late February during the Chinese New Year month, FUTURE X-COPS is pulled off at the last minute because the filmmakers wanted to improve the special effects department. Unfortunately upon its initial release on April, the end result is questionably awful -- not only in term of its rather dated special effects but just about everything else that spells "disastrous". 

The story centers on Kidd Zhao (Andy Lau), a dedicated cop from the year 2080. When he receives a breaking news that genetically-enhanced cyborg Kalon (Fan Siu-Wong) and his gang are out to kill Dr. Masterson (Ma Jing-Wu), who is also known as the "Father of Solar Energy" for his cheap method to replace fossil fuel with solar energy, he sets up a special team of future cops to protect him at all cost. But during the opening ceremony at a museum Masterson is attending, all hell breaks loose when Kalon and his gang arrives in a time travel device. A fierce battle ensues and many cops are killed, especially Kidd's wife, Millie (Fan Bingbing) who died while trying to protect Dr. Masterson. Kidd goes for a revenge but Kalon and his remaining gang member, Fiona (Tang Yi-Fei) manage to get away in the end. Angered over his wife's death, Kidd demands to be sent back in time -- at the year 2020 -- to protect Masterson when he was a 12-year-old kid. This is when Kidd volunteers for a radical surgery to transform himself into a bionic man with mechanical arms and legs. In order to protect his secret identity, Kidd works as a police officer and at the same time, unexpectedly falls in love with a fellow police officer named Holly (Barbie Hsu). In the meantime, the oil tycoons who hired Kalon and Fiona in the first place, quickly revamped them with an upgraded version and send them back at 2020 as well, to kill Dr. Masterson at all cost.

Lead actor, Andy Lau was originally rejected the idea of appearing in this movie when he read the first script given to him. But after an amazing 19th rewrite of the script, Andy Lau finally agrees to join the cast. Given the notorious fact that a typical Hong Kong production is always all about rushed completion, it's bewildering to learn that a movie like FUTURE X-COPS which has undergone numerous script rewrites and special-effects tinkering, it still ends up a rotten piece of junk.

Responsible for this crappy movie is of course none others than the king of crap himself, Wong Jing who is obviously revisited his 1993's cringe-worthy but now cult-classic FUTURE COPS, doesn't learn a single thing of improvement for making a sci-fi genre. Make no mistake, this movie fares as worst as Wong Jing-Andy Lau's last sci-fi collaboration in the equally god-awful THE WESLEY'S MYSTERIOUS FILE. The special effects here are downright cheap and almost bargain-basement product that looks like they belong from the '90s it's plain laughable.

Adding further insult, is Wong Jing's equally crappy screenplay that is a typical mix of sci-fi, mo lei tau comedy, drama and romance -- all mashed up without an ounce of credibility, let alone originality. The romance between Andy Lau and Barbie Hsu is especially forced and unconvincing, while the story often stalls with lots of unnecessary scenarios and tired expositions it's actually a butt-numbing experience to sit through.

Despite the aid of veteran action choreographer Ching Siu-Tung, all the CG-enhanced fight sequences is hardly exciting and looks terrible at each passing moment. This is especially evident during the movie's three major action set-pieces: the museum attack, the cringe-worthy amusement park scene and the all-out awful confrontation between Kidd and Kalon.

But none of them are more bewildering than the fact a caliber of the cast agree to join in this movie at the first place. Not surprisingly, their acting are consisted from bad to plain awful. And this goes especially to Andy Lau, who remains in question of accepting such cringe-worthy role at the stage of his career. Maybe it's acceptable a decade ago when Lau is famous of tackling all kind of crappy roles given to him. But now, it's entirely different story. Time after time, Lau has grown progressively as a credible actor and seeing him in this crappy movie is just embarrassing. Either Lau is doing this a favor for his old friend, Wong Jing or he really needs a paycheck remains anybody's guess.

No doubt FUTURE X-COPS reeks of a bad movie that is hardly qualified as guilty-pleasure entertainment. Avoid this at all cost.

READ MORE - FUTURE X-COPS (2010)

IP MAN 2 (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

It's a hugely-anticipated Hong Kong movie blockbuster of the year, and expectation is running high for IP MAN 2. But as far as most typical sequel nowadays goes, the movie offers more of the same we have seen previously in the first one. Instead of the first movie's WWII setting and the Japanese occupation of China, we get a sequel's treatment set in the British colony of 1950s Hong Kong.

Still, the first half of the movie is well-paced with a few defining and attention-grabbing moments: It begins steadily with Ip Man (Donnie Yen), his heavily-pregnant wife (Lynn Xiong) and his young son moves to Hong Kong in hope to start a new life. Despite living in poverty, they remain optimistic and support each other no matter the consequences. In the meantime, Ip is trying to establish his own Wing Chun martial arts school but struggling to bring in any students. Day after day has passed, until the arrogant but naive Wong Leung (Huang Xiaoming) appears. At first, Leung never heard of Wing Chun before and even mocks Ip's fighting style. That is not until Ip teaches him a few lesson and defeats him easily. Leung isn't pleased and calls off his buddies to take him down, only to embarrass themselves in the end. But Leung and his buddies' interest for Wing Chun has finally impressed them and begs Ip to take them as students. So far so good, until other martial arts schools, particularly Master Hung Chun Nam (Sammo Hung) of Hung Ga Kuen is not pleased with Ip simply set up shop on their turf without permission. It gets worse when Leung gets into a fight with one of Hung's cocky students (To Yu-Hong) and is subsequently held for ransom. Ip has no choice but to save Leung, even though he brings no money for ransom. During this particularly memorable scene, Ip encounters a score of Hung's machete-wielding students in the abandoned fish market. The scene is no doubt a spectacular display of graceful fighting sequence. The movie grows more entertaining when Ip is invited to meet most of the martial arts master in an one-on-one duel atop a flimsy table. The catch is that if Ip survives the duel without falling off the table, he is granted permission to continue running his school. After defeating two martial-arts masters easily, Hung finally stands up. It is this movie's centerpiece where Ip and Hung's energetic showdown atop the table. Watching them fighting against each other with such speed, grace and power are a sight to behold -- it's nevertheless a true-to-form martial arts scene that is also ranked as one of the best action set pieces ever choreographed.

Up until this point, IP MAN 2 is a spectacular entertainment. If only the rest of the movie manage to sustain further. Once the second half kicks off with East vs. West match-up, it's a same old familiar route we have seen many times before (e.g. FEARLESS and TRUE LEGEND). The final showdown against a muscular English boxer named Twister (Darren Shahlavi), as expected, is less fascinating than what has shown earlier. Other than the fact it's good to see Ip has finally meet his worthy opponent that results with more blood, bruise and sweat unlike the one he used to encounter before in the first movie, it's really nothing to shout about.

Perhaps the biggest problem lies on Edwond Wong's script that goes too far for its nationalistic sentiment. In the meantime, Wilson Yip's direction is pedestrian at best, though there are time he delivers some worthy dramatic scenarios. At least he remains adept when comes to shooting action scenes, favoring lots of close-ups to create a realistic intensity for every blow all the more authentic. But for all the graceful action set piece Sammo Hung has successfully choreographed, it's quite a surprise that the glaring wire work sometimes make the fight scene looks a bit over-the-top. Other technical fronts, including Poon Hang-Sang rich cinematography and Kenneth Mak's authentic, if stagy set design, deserve some credits for re-creating the old Hong Kong of the past while evoking the heyday of yesteryear's martial arts genre.

As for the cast, Donnie Yen looks at ease in his iconic Ip Man role, though it's more of the same character we have previously seen before. Sammo Hung, on the other hand, brings dignity to the role as the never-say-die Master Hung while it's good to see the mostly neglected Lynn Xiong in a more pivtoal role as Ip's heavily pregnant wife. Cameo appearances by the likes of Simon Yam and Fan Siu-Wong feel wasted, while Kent Cheng's appearance as the law enforcer-cum-translator between the Chinese and the English is more of a carbon copy of the better-acted Lam Ka-Tung in the first movie. Rising China star Huang Xiaoming is an interesting choice to play Wong Leung. He's definitely charismatic enough to pull off such a cocky role, and he is especially convincing to hold his own during the fight sequences.

IP MAN 2 is hardly an improvement over the original, but at least it's as good as the predecessor.

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IRON MAN 2 (2010)

RATING: 2/5

2008's IRON MAN was an unexpected box-office hit during the crowded summer season. That movie was a reasonably entertaining though uneven comic-book movie, which is blessed with witty script and of course a tour de force comeback performance by Robert Downey Jr. in the title role. Not surprisingly, a sequel is immediately greenlit and huge expectation is running very high. But despite the return with most of the same actors and crew, the heavily-anticipated IRON MAN 2 is a bloated mess -- clearly a product of rushed production in favor to cash in the popularity.

At the end of IRON MAN, billionaire weapons manufacturer of Stark Industries, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) declared himself to the press as Iron Man. Six months later, Tony has become a superstar among the people, in which he has successfully bring world peace that made America a safe living place for the time being. But not so for Senator Stern (Garry Shandling), who is afraid that other countries might create similar body weapons and wants him to hand over his suit. To make things complicated, Tony is also facing competition with the arrogant military weapons expert Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who is particularly desperate to know what makes his Iron Man suit so powerful. That's not all -- Tony is suffering from worsening heart condition that will kill him if he does not invent a new healing system in time. As he struggles between his own mass popularity and personal downfall, he promotes his trusted assistant/love interest Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) to CEO of the company and hires the mysteriously sexy but tough Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) as a new secretary/consultant. Things goes bad to worse, when Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) seeks vengeance against Tony for the cause of his father's death.

Justin Theroux's script is no doubt heavy-handed, with multiple plot hanging everywhere in sight but nary a coherent whole. It's also overly ambitious to the extent of an annoying result, while Jon Favreau's "more-is-more" approach is obviously aping the same mistake Sam Raimi did before in SPIDER-MAN 3 (2007). But at least SPIDER-MAN 3 is marginally credible than this pile of scrap metal. Just about everything in this movie goes as broad, neurotic and schizophrenic as possible. Frequently annoying scenes like interplay between Tony and Pepper is now boiled with tension and arguments to the point of irritating manner as if they are acted in some Woody Allen's movie or a bad sitcom of sorts. If that's not enough, there is also a shockingly embarrassing scene where Tony and his best friend, James Rhodes, battling against each other in a armored suit to the score of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." I kid you not. What Theroux and Favreau are thinking anyway? It's like as if they are spoofing this sequel into their own brand of parody. The pacing is also another major problem -- the movie spends the bulk of time struggling to find proper footing in many occasions, only to end up dragging into nowhere. 

On the other side, there are just too many characters Theroux and Favreau trying hard to lay focus it's simply feel too crowded for its own good. At the first glance, Robert Downey Jr. is magnetic and as charming as ever in his iconic role. Only this time his character is reduced to a garden-variety performance that doesn't make full use of his so-called conflicted role. In what could have been a great villainous turn by Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, he's all evil smirk and blank expression. Not only that, his appearance is more of an afterthought and looking like a caricature. It doesn't help either that he spends most of the time muttering in Russian and does little to progress his character further. Sam Rockwell's (a role originated for Al Pacino) flamboyant turn as Justin Hammer is nothing much to shout about. Though it's always fun to watch him tackling such familiar role, it's also annoying that his character is simply too broad for its own good. Gwyneth Paltrow fares less successful as the lovely Pepper Potts, who is now reduced to a thankless role. Don Cheadle, who replaced Terrence Howard, as James Rhodes, is forgettable. Last but not least, Samuel L. Jackson's extended cameo appearance as Nick Fury and Scarlett Johansson's sultry role as Natasha are criminally underused.

Still, the movie is particularly successful when comes to action sequence. By recruiting renowned animator Tartakovsky as a storyboard artist, the action is nevertheless kinetic and very epic. Among three spectacular moments are the first Iron Man/Whiplash clash at Monaco Grand Prix; the climactic battle against an army of robots; and the acrobatic fighting scene between the skintight-clad Black Widow (Johansson) against a small army of security guards. Except of course, it's very disappointing to see the would-be exciting battle scene between Iron Man, War Zone and Whiplash is sadly anticlimactic to the point of laziness. Special effects, in the meantime, is a  solid improvement over the original.

So much for the so-called huge anticipation and if anyone is still interested enough, there is a secret ending after the credits where S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) discovers a certain hammer in a crater somewhere in New Mexico.

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