OVERHEARD 2 (2011)

RATING: 3/5

The first OVERHEARD (2009) was a highly-ambitious, if half-realized thriller that focuses on the subject of eavesdropping combined with a thought-provoking look of corporate fraud, stock market frenzy and internal characters' conflict. However, it's good to know that directors duo Alan Mak and Felix Chong have finally made a significant improvement over the lackluster original with an unexpected sequel in OVERHEARD 2. Not only that, it's also a career recovery from their much-disappointed Donnie Yen's period action drama, THE LOST BLADESMAN (you can read my review here), which had shown earlier this year.

Joe (Daniel Wu) is a mysterious figure with a hidden agenda who eavesdrops on a group of stock fixers called "The Landlord's Club". Among them are Manson Law (Lau Ching-Wan), a highly successful stockbroker, who is gradually discovers that he's been under surveillance by Joe. Earlier in the movie, he tries to avoid being followed by Joe but ends up unexpectedly in a car accident. However, he manages to survive. Enter Inspector Jack Ho (Louis Koo), a Security Bureau head officer who begins to investigate the incident and discovers that Manson's sports car which suffered from the crash, is being wired with surveillance device. Soon, the mystery continues as the fate between the three men (Joe, Manson and Jack) intertwines one way or another.

Despite the same principal cast and its similar premise about surveillance and stock market, OVERHEARD 2 is really a sequel in name only. It has no relations to the original version whatsoever. It hardly matters anyway, because OVERHEARD 2 manages to succeed as an equally solid entertainment that Hong Kong cinema needed so badly especially for this lackluster year. Alan Mak and Felix Chong's screenplay is gripping and airtight than their patchy and slow-moving storyline in the original version. The first half of the movie is especially entertaining, with a classic game of cat and mouse chase between Joe and Jack as they attempt to outwit each other. Another improvement over the original is that the sequel offers more exciting action sequences this time around. Aided by Dion Lam's intense action choreography, cinematographer Anthony Pun and editor Curran Pang, there's enough thrilling moments to satisfy the viewers, particularly in a foot-chase sequence on a busy street as well as the motorcycle chase.

Acting is solid as well, with Lau Ching-Wan and Louis Koo give typically credible performances. But it is Daniel Wu who steals the limelight this time around. No doubt that Wu is perfectly cast in his role and demonstrates enough intensity and nuance to his layered performance. The rest of the supporting actors are equally top-notch as well, and it's nice to see many veteran actors (Kenneth Tsang, Wong Fung, Kong Ngai, Felix Lok and Kwok Fung) are all given ample times to shine with their roles.

Despite all the improvements in OVERHEARD 2, the sequel remains heavily flawed. Till now, Alan Mak and Felix Chong's screenplay and the way of their direction are haphazardly executed. It doesn't help either when their storyline filled with so much backstory is stretched with exposition-heavy dialogues that frequently spoon-feed the viewers, even for those who already know what's going on. Such approach often crippled the consistent momentum of the storyline, and it certainly shows during the second half of the movie. The climactic ending, which reveals all the motivation surrounding the mystery of Joe and the stock fixers at "The Landlord's Club", is especially too talky for its own good. In the meantime, the female cast are a bit disappointing, with somewhat thankless roles from Huang Yi and Michelle Ye.

While OVERHEARD 2 is hardly perfect, it still stands out as one of the best Hong Kong movies of the year.

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BRIDESMAIDS (2011)

RATING: 3/5

Hailed by critics as "the female version of THE HANGOVER", BRIDESMAIDS was a surprise hit in the summer season, grossing at $168 million at the box-office so far for 18 weeks and still counting since the movie debuted in U.S. on May 13, 2011. Despite almost five months after the U.S. release that this breakout comedy finally manages to reach to our local cinema, it's better late than never to find out what's the fuss is all about. I must say after watching this movie, BRIDESMAIDS has its few genuine moments blessed with top-notch casts, excellent comic timing and thoughtful storyline. Unfortunately, it's also an overrated comedy that works better in individual scenes than a coherent whole.

For thirty-something Annie (Kristen Wiig), her life is a huge failure -- her beloved bakery went out of business and she ends up working unhappily at a jewelry shop; she shares an apartment with two oddball British siblings (Matt Lucas, Rebel Wilson); and her so-called love life is more on having sex regularly with a handsome and insensitive rich man named Ted (Jon Hamm).

Then along comes a shocking news that her lifelong best friend Lilian (Maya Rudolph) is about to get married. She gets to be the maid of honor, and agrees to organize all of the events leading up to the big wedding day. Soon she meets up the rest of the bridesmaids including Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), a boring wife and mother looking forward to have some fun at the upcoming bachelorette party; Becca (Ellie Kemper), a naive Disney-loving newlywed who hasn't yet experienced the realities of marriage; and the groom's chubby sister, Megan (Melissa McCarthy), a rough and straight-talking government worker. Last but not least is Helen (Rose Byrne), a wicked trophy wife of Lilian's boss. Helen's presence has immediately made Annie feels threatened, who seems to have everything plan out and particularly loves to upstage her at every turn.

It doesn't take long before Annie's subsequent days during the pre-wedding preparation gradually becomes a series of disasters. On the other side, Annie begins to flirt around with a nice-guy Irish cop named Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd) after he pulls her over one night thinking she's driving drunk.

Clocking at two hours length, Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig's screenplay is chock full of various moments happen all at once. No doubt the result feels like a sitcom-variety material, which in turn, becomes one of the glaring weaknesses in this movie. Veteran director Paul Feig (TV's The Office) seems to have a lot of ideas and loves to mash everything up he can think of, but doesn't quite know how to hold back when he needs to.

However, if you can overcome most of the flaws, the movie remains recommended enough to watch for. The cast is mostly a knockout. Kristen Wiig, a former Saturday Night Live star, delivers a tour de force performance as the emotionally-unstable Annie. She is very good when comes to comic timing, and even during heartbreaking moments. In fact, she steals most of the limelight here with plenty of memorable scenes here and there -- a touching scene scored to Fiona Apple's Paper Bag where she bakes an ornate cupcake for herself; the scene where she share her sex life with Lilian over a cup of coffee; the scene where she and Helen become competitive by upstaging each other in their speeches at the engagement party; the scene at the airplane where she becomes too drunk and start acting crazy in front of everybody; the scene where she goes all haywire and starts spurting profanities in front of everybody during Annie's bridal shower; and last but not least -- in my opinion, perhaps the movie's best and most innovative scene -- the one where Annie goes to every length possible to break driving laws in order to get the attention of Officer Rhodes. Wiig is a true breakout star -- she is simply spontaneous and no doubt she will have a great acting career ahead in Hollywood.

The rest of the supporting actors are equally credible as well, with Maya Rudolph carries a certain depth in her genuine character as bride-to-be Lilian whose friendship with Wiig's Annie feels real and involving. The usually serious Rose Byrne is a surprising revelation -- she displays an excellent gift of comic material as the snotty Helen who loves to challenge Annie all the time. Not only that, at one point, her character also subsequently grows into a sympathetic person especially in a crucial scene she starts to confess her feeling to Annie towards the climactic finale. Melissa McCarthy is also funny and spontaneous as the chubby and sexually ravenous Megan. Like Wiig and Byrne, she also displays a sense of hidden charm beneath her tough exterior -- in one inspired scene, she make a confession where she hopes to help and befriend Annie if only she'll let her. However, both Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper doesn't give much chance to strut their stuffs. As for the male counterparts, Chris O'Dowd is charming as the good-hearted Officer Rhodes while Jon Hamm is appropriately sleazy enough as Annie's on-and-off sex partner Ted.

While Paul Feig's direction may have been uneven, he is still destined to become the next Judd Apatow (who also the producer for this movie) in the near future (in fact he is Apatow's longtime associate). Maybe he's not as polished as Apatow yet but you can see the generous mix of sentiment and raunch he put into his movie does show some valuable signs of an efficient filmmaker. Speaking of raunch, he does them well without going overboard even though they are meant to be gross-out gags. One particular scene worth mentioning for is where the bride and the bridesmaids end up in poor health condition due to food poisoning when they try their wedding gowns at a bridal shop.

BRIDESMAIDS may not be a perfect chick flick one might expect, but good enough to make this as one of the best comedies of the year.

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X (2011)

RATING: 2.5/5

From the look of the suggestive poster, it's easy to dismiss that Jon Hewitt's Australian thriller entitled X, is a sexually-charged erotica that seems to be leaning more towards exploitation. Unfortunately this is the kind that never judge the movie by its cover. Despite such title as X, this movie is more of a half-realized gimmick rather than a full-fledged erotic thriller it suppose to be.

Holly (Viva Bianca of TV's Spartacus: Blood and Sand) is a high-class call girl who is on the verge of retirement. She has finally saved enough money for Paris to start a new life. But before that, she has to settle for one last job where she requires to find another partner for three-way sex with a client. Enter Shay (Hanna Mangan Lawrence), a young girl who has just arrived in town by bus and desperately broke. Apparently she has run away from home and hoping to score some money by becoming a prostitute.

Then at an unexpected twist of fate, both of them collide and soon find themselves hooked upon each other. After a successful three-way sex job with a client, something goes terribly awry and that single night becomes a nightmare. Both of them witnesses their particular client gets shot by a violent drug dealer. They quickly flee the scene as fast as they can, only to be subsequently chased by the drug dealer who just refuse to quit until he gets both of them.

At least for the first half of the movie, X exploits the reality side of prostitution. The movie, which brilliantly utilized with Red One Camera, is sensually photographed by Mark Pugh. Among the most tantalizing moment is the first five minutes where Holly and a naked young man stripped down entirely and starts making love in front of a luxury room full of middle-aged housewives sitting in a circle. However, despite its generous amounts of sex and nudity, Jon Hewitt isn't really interested to depict them in glamorous way. In fact you can say all the sex scenes are more of an afterthought than a full-on experience. Such approach might disappoint those viewers expecting the typical erotica.

As the second half of the movie approaches, that's where the plot starts to kick in. From here, Jon Hewitt and Belina McClory's screenplay doesn't explore much other than a series of unflinching moments where the characters get humiliated, chased, beaten, bruised and battered. Everything are shot in a gritty way to depict the ugly side of a nighttime Australian underbelly. But surprisingly, the result is mildly shocking because Hewitt himself likes to withhold its violent nature as restrained as possible and mostly opted for simplistic flair. Like the disappointingly restrained sex scenes, most of the violent scenes here are also lackluster.

Jon Hewitt's direction is showy, and he certainly knows his way around with the camera and arresting visuals. But what he lacks the most is the sense of depth. It's like everything here looks visually pleasing to see except it's all mere surface.

The cast, in the meantime, is fairly credible. Viva Bianca is perfectly cast as the high-class call girl Holly who is simply mesmerizing with her sultry performance. Perhaps her extensive experience in Spartacus: Blood and Sand has made her role here feels natural and spontaneous. Too bad her character is mostly one-dimensional, which make us hard to care for her. Hanna Mangan Lawrence fares slightly better than her, as she is showcasing a timid vulnerability and reckless behavior as a young girl who is inexperienced in prostitution. As for he rest of the supporting actors, they are all strictly caricatures.

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SHARK NIGHT 3D (2011)

RATING: 1.5/5

I've got three words when I watched David R. Ellis's latest B-movie called SHARK NIGHT 3D -- JAWS rip-off. Okay, fine. As long as the movie captures its satisfying amount of guilty-pleasure moments, I'm up for it. Unfortunately even that fundamental element alone Ellis can't get it right. If that's not insulting enough, it also comes with a dreary PG-13 rating. Now can somebody tell me, since when PG-13 rating works well for a movie that features shark? Yeah, I thought so.

The plot is standard stuff: A group of Tulane University students consisting of Sara (Sara Paxton), pre-med bookworm Nick (Dustin Milligan), Nick's nerdy roommate Gordon (Joel David Moore), tattooed wild girl Beth (Katharine McPhee), art class model Blake (Chris Zylka), football star Malik (Sinqua Walls), and Malik's sexy girlfriend Maya (Alyssa Diaz), are heading for a long weekend vacation to Sara's family's secluded island chalet on Louisiana's Lake Crosby. En route, they encounter some of Sara's old friends she hasn't seen since going away to college for three years which includes Dennis (Chris Carmack), Red (Joshua Leonard) and a local sheriff named Greg (Donal Logue). At the beginning, they are having a good time at the lake until one day Malik ends up getting his arm maimed by a shark during a wakeboarding incident. Everyone starts to panic and begins to wonder the sudden existence of a shark at a lake. They try to get outside help but cell phone reception doesn't work at all. Worst, night is falling and Malik has to get to the hospital as soon as possible since he's losing a lot of blood.

At the first glance, Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg's screenplay is actually competent. They do make some efforts to polish these pretty young things into plausible human characters, despite their occasional appearance in either shirtless or stripped down to tiny bikini. That's not all, the story also attempts to be different than just a straightforward shark movie. As the movie goes by, you will notice there's a slasher genre undertones somewhere in the third act. And I have to admit, it's kind of a smart gesture. Also somewhere in the middle, there is a timely comment on today's modern society regarding about fame and pop-culture from SHARK WEEK, FACES OF DEATH and MARCH OF THE PENGUINS.

Unfortunately, at a compact 91-minute long, everything about this movie is shockingly toothless. Thanks to the PG-13 rating, it's no surprise that the action are lackluster -- yup, we hardly get our chance to see all those necessary violence during the numerous shark attacks throughout the movie (There is one though, a brief scene where we see Malik is crawling into the beach with arm already being maimed off). Even if Ellis has the intention to showcase all the shark scene mostly in suggestive moments, he's no Steven Spielberg. It's a shame that his direction remains as pedestrian as usual. He might have plenty of ideas in his head but he doesn't know how to execute them in a satisfying manner. The way he did here reminds me the same mistake he made before in 2009's THE FINAL DESTINATION and 2006's SNAKE ON A PLANE -- all interesting gimmick but poor execution.

Technical-wise, the movie is average at best while the mostly CGI-looking sharks are rather rubbery and no, they are not scary enough to register that certain uneasy feeling needed for this kind of movie.

You have been warned.

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PUNISHED (2011)

RATING: 2/5

I'm sure a lot of die-hard fans are eagerly waiting for the next Johnnie To's trademark edgy crime movie to hit theaters this year (and that would be LIFE WITHOUT PRINCIPLE which starred Lau Ching-Wan, Richie Ren and Denise Ho). But for now, let's settle for this little Milkyway-produced crime thriller called PUNISHED which is directed by To's regular protege, Law Wing-Cheong (who co-directed 2001's RUNNING OUT OF TIME 2, and also acted some of To's movies including 2008's SPARROW and 2009's VENGEANCE). The good news is, PUNISHED offers some of the edgy materials Milkyway fans come to expect -- credible performances, thematic depth, sudden burst of violence -- but it's also a huge disappointment. Blame it to Law Wing-Cheong who prefers to go by-the-book formula and pedestrian approach to round things up in a surprisingly flat-out effort.

At the beginning of the movie, we learn that real estate tycoon Wong Ho-Chiu (Anthony Wong) and his ex-convict loyal bodyguard Chor (Richie Ren) has discovered the dead body of Chiu's daughter Daisy (Janice Man) who is kidnapped and murdered. Told in non-linear narrative structure, the movie flashes back and forth on how Daisy comes to such eventual doom. Daisy is a rebellious and spoiled rich girl who likes to overspend her father's money, particularly when she is addicted to drugs. One night during her stepmother's (Maggie Cheung Ho-Yee) birthday, she wants to go to Bolivia for vacation but her father disagrees because he wants her to go for rehab instead. The following day Daisy continue to argue over the matter and ends up running away from home. Things go awry when Wong receives a phone message saying that she has been kidnapped, but he quickly dismisses it as a scheme to get money out of him. The kidnapper demands HK$50 million for ransom and Wong ends up paying the money, hoping he can get back his daughter in no time. Unfortunately Daisy ends up dead, prompting Wong to take matters in his own hand. With nothing to lose, Wong enlists Chor to help him locate and kill whoever responsible for Daisy's death.

At the first glance, Fung Chih-Chiang and Lam Fung's non-linear screenplay is a nice touch to spin an oft-told kidnap-and-revenge story with some karmic undertones thrown into the mix. Unfortunately Law Wing-Cheong executes their supposedly ambitious story into a terribly half-realized result. Most of the times, the story is heavy-handed that frequently drained out most of the tension here. But of all the flaws he made here is the lack of visual style needed badly to elevate the entire story. Sure, there are moments of well-staged action scenes (the one where Chor tortures one of the kidnappers with a sledgehammer is particularly shocking, and another one involves a tense shootout inside a factory) but there are just too little. Instead, Law Wing-Cheong prefers to go meaty by exploring Wong's psychological breakdown from an arrogant tycoon to a depressing individual who is about to lose his sanity. Again, it's a nice touch but the director fails to present that particular approach into thought-provoking manner. Other than that, PUNISHED feels strangely too static without being interesting most of the times -- something that Johnnie To does a whole lot better in his movies.

Cast-wise, most of the actors (particularly Anthony Wong and Richie Ren) are at least credible enough. But Janice Man is quite disappointing in her bratty role. Perhaps she is way too one-sided that we hardly care for her character.

Overall, I'm sad to say that PUNISHED is one of the weakest Milkyway productions in recent years.

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APOLLO 18 (2011)

RATING: 2.5/5

Dubbed as "PARANORMAL ACTIVITY in space", Spanish director Gonzalo López-Gallego's first English-language feature, APOLLO 18, is a typical found-footage genre thriller with a refreshing premise that has lots of potential. No doubt it has few notable chills to look for, except that the movie suffers from thinly-drawn characters, half-cooked plot and some questionable choice of direction here. More on that later.

At the beginning of the disclaimer, we learn that NASA has unearthed the top-secret found footage of a previously-canceled Apollo 18 mission, which is edited into desired length. In December 1974, NASA has enlisted three astronauts: Commander Nathan Walker (Lloyd Owen), Lieutenant Colonel John Grey (Ryan Robbins) and Captain Benjamin Anderson (Warren Christie) on a mission towards the moon. Once there, John is in charge to pilot the orbiter aboard Freedom at the stationed command post, while Nathan and Benjamin are in charge to conduct two-day research at the moon's surface in the lunar module Liberty. During further exploration, they discover strange footprints that lead them to an abandoned Soviet LK proton lander nearby. The lander is apparently functional, except that there are traces of blood staining everywhere. Things get worse when they are shocked to discover the corpse of a cosmonaut lurking somewhere in a dark crater. They suspect something very bad is going on. What could it be?

Despite its compact 86-minute length, APOLLO 18 is admittedly a slow-burn cinematic experience but the good thing is, Gallego and his screenwriters Cory Goodman and Brian Miller manage to keep things moving in a fairly brisk pace, especially once the tension begins to cook up the surface. As mentioned earlier, there are number of suspenseful moments to keep the viewers on the edge of their seat -- among them is the eventual discovery of the corpse of a cosmonaut in a dark crater.

As for the unknown casts, two particular actors -- Lloyd Owen and Warren Christie give some effectively chilling performances as highly-frustrated astronauts on the verge of madness. They have acting credibility destined for the next big thing, but it's a shame that the screenplay doesn't give them much to flesh out their characters with more humane approach.

Some good things aside, APOLLO 18 is also a heavily flawed movie. Gallego's direction is haphazard, especially the way he and his cinematographer Jose David Montero choose to abuse the found-footage filmmaking style in a constantly annoying manner. Actually it is okay to make the footage with shaky-cam approach but too many of them are side-splitting headache, causing most of the thrilling scenes hard to make up what's going on at all. Uh... ever heard of framed and steady shots? Who says shooting documentary has to be shaky the whole time? Then there's the revelation of the going-on behind all the madness -- which is somewhat lackluster once you know what caused the particular fear of the unknown.

While APOLLO 18 is hardly the kind of burning sensation that made movies like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, CLOVERFIELD and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY so phenomenally popular in the first place, it remains a fairly recommendable effort worth watching for.

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CONTAGION (2011)

RATING: 3/5

At the first glance, a disaster movie filled with lots of A-list casts is simply hard to ignore. What's more, we are talking about Steven Soderbergh here, the director who last made two successful all-star ensembles movies -- TRAFFIC (2000) and OCEAN'S ELEVEN (2001). In his latest movie called CONTAGION, I was hoping him to pull off the same dramatic flair he did before in TRAFFIC. Make no mistake, Soderbergh's take on a viral outbreak isn't your typical sensationalistic Hollywood gloss but rather something subdued and perfectly grounded. Such approach might alienate most mainstream viewers seeking big thrills, but those who are game for something uniquely different -- CONTAGION is surprisingly good movie to catch, uh, I mean, to watch for. But other than that, it's hardly the kind of TRAFFIC-like cinematic sensation.

The movie opens in Day 2, where we are introduce to Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow), a businesswoman on her way home to Minneapolis from Hong Kong. During that time, she becomes sick and it doesn't take long before her health condition declines in an alarming rate. After died unexpectedly caused by sudden seizure and unknown virus, her frustrating husband, Mitch (Matt Damon) starts to freak out. But luckily he is immune to the spreading virus.

Soon the virus, dubbed as MEV-1, is seen spreading across the globe and an increasing rate of dead people are recorded from time to time. Head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) has his hands full trying every right measures to sustain the viral outbreak. In the meantime, his representative, Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) sets out to prepare quarantine facilities for the sick people.

Elsewhere, the World Health Organization (WHO) sends Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) to Asia, particularly Hong Kong, to identify the source of the virus where she is lead to a Chinese victim named Li Fai (Tien You Chui).

Then there's Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law), a cocky English blogger based in San Francisco, has particularly opposed whatever decision he heard from the media given by the U.S. government regarding about the viral outbreak. He thinks there is some sort of hidden conspiracy between governments and pharmaceutical companies to hide the truth from the people. So he goes on a one-man crusade to uncover the truth.

Likewise, Soderbergh handles his ensemble cast well enough to hold one's attention, with subtle performances all around. The downside of his all-star cast that they lack the certain emotional punch to make us care about them deeply. On the other hand, Scott Z. Burns's supposedly exciting screenplay is lackluster. Especially given its topical subject, I was surprised Burns prefers to keep things as generic as possible.

Still, CONTAGION remains compulsively watchable. And that alone I was surprised. Soderbergh, who goes by a pseudonym name of Peter Andrews, brilliantly used the Red's new 5K Epic-X "Tattoo" digital cameras to shoot his picture with such visual intimacy it's simply an eye-candy sensation. Even scenes in the mundane-looking office and lab looks visually appealing. Rounding up from his beautiful cinematography, is Cliff Martinez's pulsating electronic score. His score is so memorable it's worth the price of admission alone.

By the way, if you are wondering how come the synopsis for this movie starts with "Day 2", you just have to stay until the end to find out what happens in "Day 1".

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CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011)

RATING: 2/5

When German-born music director Marcus Nispel first stamped his feature directorial debut in 2003's horror remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, his career looked very promising. But then came his subsequent movies, including 2007's PATHFINDER and 2009's FRIDAY THE 13TH, all of which suffered from weak and terribly uninspired direction. Now, with his latest feature, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, he continues to disappoint further. While the reboot of the Arnold Schwarzenegger-starred 1982 original does retain most of its similarities, it's sad to say that Marcus Nispel's version is disappointingly charmless and awfully pedestrian.

The movie opens with a long prologue, partially narrated by Morgan Freeman where we learn that during the Hyborean Age, a group of sorcerers from Acheron created a mask from the skulls of dead kings and sacrificed their pure blood daughters to the dark gods in order to give the mask the power to conquer the entire world. Here begins the story of Conan as a young boy (Leo Howard), who is born on the battlefield to his dying mother and raised to be a fearless warrior by his father, Corin (Ron Perlman), the leader of the Cimmerian tribe. One day, their village is attacked by a group of ruthless bandits lead by Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang), who is actually looking to find the missing piece of the Mask of Acheron in order to revive his dead wife and conquer Hyborea. All the Cimmerian tribe end up brutally slaughtered, and Corin is subsequently tortured and killed, leaving Conan the only survivor. Sworn for vengeance, he is left nothing except a mighty sword his father made for him.

Twenty years later, the adult Conan (now played by Jason Momoa) sets out to kill Khalar Zym to avenge his father's death. In the meantime, Zym and his sorceress daughter Marique (Rose McGowan) lead an army to invade an ancient temple for retrieving the pure blood of a young female monk named Tamara (Rachel Nichols), in order to fulfill the mask's prophecy.

In 1982's CONAN THE BARBARIAN, the beloved cult classic was terribly dated if viewed by today's standard but then again, for all its cheesy factors, that movie remained marginally entertaining than this muddled mess. Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer and Sean Hood's screenplay is paper-thin, with little characters development and uninteresting premise about the Mask of Acheron. For a movie that supposes to contain swords, sorcery, and such, there's nothing particularly fantastical about it. Instead, everything here feels monotonous with the same old uninspired action set pieces. There's one exception though: the exhilarating middle part where Conan faces a small army of sand creatures is particularly well-staged. It's strange that the rest of the action scenes are badly edited with lots of jittery cam.

The cast, in the meantime, is flat-out disappointing. While Jason Momoa has the idealistic look of a chiseled physique and permanent scowl, his Conan character lacks the certain charm Schwarzenegger had previously immortalized his role back in the old day. Here, he doesn't talk much and his facial expression is as awfully static as he gets. Supporting cast fares even worse, with lackluster villainous turn by Stephen Lang who's hardly intimidating at all while Rose McGowan hams it up entirely in a laughably bad performance as Marique. Of all, only Rachel Nichols injects some life to her Tamara role.

Technical credits are also lackluster, especially Thomas Kloss's muddy and badly-lit cinematography which are most of the times unpleasant to watch for. Tyler Bates's music score is instantly forgettable and anyone expecting the similar vibe Basil Poledouris composed the 1982 original version, will be sorely disappointed.

One of the most disappointing summer movies of the year, CONAN THE BARBARIAN is a huge waste of opportunity. With a $90 million budget blessed for this supposedly ambitious production to milk a franchise, is that all they got? Seriously, this reboot needs some real tuning.

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COLOMBIANA (2011)

RATING: 2.5/5

Bullet, bra, and babe -- here's another Euro trash from Luc Besson's action-movie repertoire directed by his TRANSPORTER 3 protege Olivier Megaton. COLOMBIANA is a frenzied B-grade product that apes the same old formula you expect to see from Besson's past efforts (e.g. 1990's LA FEMME NIKITA and 1994's LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL). It's nothing new at all, but it's also fairly good enough to qualify this as an entertaining guilty pleasure topped with an engaging performance by Zoe Saldana.

The movie opens with an intense half-hour prologue set in 1992 Bogota where we learn the 10-year-old girl, Cataleya (Amanda Stenberg) witnesses the assassination of her parents Fabio (Jesses Borrego) and Alicia (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) after a powerful mob boss Don Luis (Beto Benites) orders a hit against them for betraying his trust. Then came Luis's right-hand man, Marco (Jordi Malla) who notices Cataleya sitting still at the kitchen table. Apparently he wants something back her father has taken away from them, but Cataleya reacts fast enough to stab his hand with a huge knife before jumping out the window to execute a series of parkour stunts (I kid you not) throughout the slums of the city and finally disappeared somewhere under the sewer. She is then continues her journey to the U.S. Embassy, and meets a CIA agent (Callum Blue) her father told her to do so earlier on. She proceeds by vomiting out a microchip on the desk, which her father described to her as her "passport" to the States.

After escaping from federal custody, Cataleya arrives at the States and hops a bus to Chicago to find her uncle Emilio Restrepo (Cliff Curtis) to live with him. The following morning, Cataleya wants her uncle to teach her how to become a killer because she is hellbent to kill Don Luis one day when she grows up.

Fifteen years later, now played by Zoe Saldana, she is now a successful contract killer working for her uncle. Aside from her regular assignment, she is also on the quest of taking out anyone connected to Don Luis and she will ended up leaving a huge drawing of an orchid on their chest, along with a few bullet holes. So far, she has been responsible for 22 murders, which is more than enough to attract the attention of Marco and his henchmen to fly off to Chicago and locate their killer. Not only that, Special Agent Ross (Lennie James) of the FBI is also hot on the heels as well.

Not surprisingly, Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen's screenplay is formulaic at best and no cliches are left unturned. It's also a silly movie that defies logic, much like the kind from those '90s action-movie staple. But at least this movie gets thing done by playing it straight and fast-paced enough to distract the viewers from overlooking most of the flaws.

But what makes COLOMBIANA a tad watchable than most like-minded materials out there is Zoe Saldana herself. In fact, she's the most captivating reason to watch for. While her scenes always distracted by her constant choice of minimum clothing, Saldana makes a convincing presence as a lethal killer with a physical rigor. She's also particularly good when comes to emoting in some scenes where we feel her hatred, rage and trauma she has been suffering all this while. No doubt Saldana is well on her way to become the next female action star to look for in the future.

Apart from Saldana, the rest of the supporting actors are equally credible. Cliff Curtis is excellent as a father figure to Saldana's Cataleya, while Lennie James brings some thoughtful gravitas to his determined FBI agent character in an otherwise thankless role. Special mention also goes to Amanda Stenberg, who steals the limelight during the movie's first 15 minutes. The only disappointment from the cast is Michael Vartan, who plays Cataleya's artist boyfriend named Danny. He is more of an unnecessary filler than anything else matters.

Olivier Megaton's direction is fast and furious, especially he has improved a lot from his ill-fated TRANSPORTER 3 (which was also the most disappointing entry of the series). But he and cinematographer Romain Lacourbas often dwarfed the intensity of the action scenes with lots of jittery cams, quick edits and tight closeups they are sometimes hard to distinguish properly. Nevertheless the movie remains entertaining, if one can get over the flawed choice of its cameraworks. The 10-minute, elaborately staged set piece inside a prison where Cataleya disguised as a drunken woman before turning herself into a slick assassin dressed in a catsuit to assassinate a wanted target, is one of the movie's highlights. Another one is an intense mano-a-mano fight against Marco in a bathroom, which reminds me the same level of kinetic excitement previously found in a similar fight scene between Matt Damon and a hitman in 2007's THE BOURNE ULTIMATIUM. In this particular fight-to-the-death scene, we see how handy Cataleya improvises herself to overcome her enemy by using face towel, belt, toothbrush and especially the creative use of the barrel from a semi-automatic pistol.

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CARS 2 (2011)

RATING: 2.5/5

For the past decade since Pixar released their first groundbreaking animated feature, TOY STORY back in 1995, the studio had been blessed with a continuously winning streak. Even a lesser one like CARS (2006) wasn't that bad either since it still managed to make a lot of money to the tune of $244 million at the box-office, including an estimated $1 billion in toys merchandise sales. In fact, I personally thought CARS was an underrated gem deserved to be overlooked. Unfortunately after eleven animated features of top-notch entertainment, I'm sad to announce that their latest production entitled CARS 2 is surprisingly disappointing. Don't get me wrong, this unexpected sequel has all the hallmark of Pixar's must-have basic ingredients but suffers miserably from disjointed plot, halfhearted characters and most of all -- lack of heart.

Champion stock car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is now a four-time winner of the Piston Cup and he has been regularly competes around the country. One day he returns to Radiator Springs to visit his old friends, particularly his best buddy Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), the rusty tow truck as well as his blue Porsche girlfriend Sally (Bonnie Hunt) for the sake of enjoying a long break. But it doesn't take long before he is being lured back into action, especially after the arrogant Italian F1 car Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro) challenged him for three races sponsored by entrepreneur Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard), CEO of an alternate clean fuel named Allinol intended to replace regular gasoline.

So the first destination is Japan, where McQueen brings along Mater to accompany him for the race. From there, thing goes awry when Mater finds himself accidentally involved with British spies Fran McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holly Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer), who are trying to infiltrate a gang of Euro cars hellbent to discredit the new fuel source so that regular oil will remain in high demand. Nonetheless, a series of mishap follows.

The good news is, CARS 2 is a first-rate entertainment. Blessed with top-notch animation, it's certainly a visual feast to admire all the colorful and beautifully rendered locations -- Japan, Italy and England -- that it's simply to take your eyes off the screen. It's also fast-paced enough to entertain those who are looking for plenty of laughs and mindless fun (there are lots of action and car chases).

However, CARS 2 is terribly flawed piece of effort. Returning director John Lasseter and screenwriter Ben Queen spend too much time jumping scenes after scenes without taking a breather -- namely, developing characters and storyline into a cohesive whole. Instead, everything here feels rushed and jumbled up altogether. I also find it surprising that the filmmakers choose to develop the subplot involving Mater rather than focusing on Lightning McQueen's story, in which he's supposed to be the main focal point. Okay, there are times when a meaningful issue about the importance of friendship is raised, but such theme is often sidetracked by too many visual gags crammed into the screen.

Characters-wise, all the voice talents are strictly cardboard cutouts. While they are entertaining to watch for, they are sadly reduced into one-note performances. Speaking of one-note, I find it very disappointing to see Owen Wilson's Lightning McQueen character is more like an afterthought rather than anything else matters.

Overall, it's a shame such accomplished director like John Lasseter chooses to go auto-pilot with his CARS 2 here. Hopefully Pixar will learn their lesson from this movie and do it better the next time around.

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FINAL DESTINATION 5 (2011)

RATING: 2.5/5

New Line Cinema had once announced that the 2009's THE FINAL DESTINATION was the last movie in the horror series. But like how the characters have cheated deaths in the movie, they lied. But who could blame them anyway? Despite negative reviews, THE FINAL DESTINATION went on becoming the highest-grossing movie in the series with $66.4 million at the box-office, largely thanks to its 3D presentation. And here it is. Two years has passed, and along came another installment of a FINAL DESTINATION movie. I'm sure (most) of us will be asking: when is it going to end? If you (just like me) worry that this fifth installment is more of the same lazy approach that have plagued the previous two movies (2006's FINAL DESTINATION 3 and 2009's THE FINAL DESTINATION), I'm surprised that FINAL DESTINATION 5 does deliver its gruesome goods.

In this fifth installment, we learn that Sam (Nicholas D'Agosto of TV's Heroes) has an eerie premonition that something bad is going to happen en route via bus ride for a weekend team-building retreat. Fortunately for him, he manages to save himself and seven others -- including his estranged girlfriend Molly (Emma Bell), best friend Peter (Miles Fisher), womanizer Isaac (P.J. Byrne), Peter's girlfriend Candice (Ellen Wroe), Nathan (Arlen Escarpeta), flirty Olivia (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), and boss Dennis (David Koechner) -- from the grisly collapse of the under-construction North Bay Bridge.

Enter Special Agent Block (Courtney B. Vance), who begins to suspect that there are something fishy going on among the eight survivors, and he's particularly skeptical how Sam could have known ahead of time about the bridge disaster. As time goes by, Sam and his fellow surviving employees are gradually meet their inevitable doom in various gruesome fashions.

While the premise remains formulaic, a little kudos should goes to screenwriter Eric Heisserer for at least attempting something new to the dying series. You see, this time around, Death has apparently willing to bargain. If a survivor is able to kill another human being, Death may be pacified and grant the killer to live out the lifespan of the individual he killed. Then there's an unexpected twist, particularly when the movie is leading towards its climactic finale. Okay, the ending may have been subdued but it also neatly tied up to one of the previous installments in the series (I wouldn't want to spoil it for you here. You just have to see it for yourself).

First-time director Steven Quale, who previously cut his teeth working for James Cameron as second-unit director in 1997's TITANIC and 2009's AVATAR, knows well how to stage exceptionally suspenseful moments (the one involving the gruesome gymnastic scene is particularly a must-see) as well some of its creative gore-inducing carnage.

Unfortunately, the movie remains heavily flawed in term of its overall execution. All the actors are sadly lackluster, particularly from a boring lead performance by Nicholas D'Agosto. The story falters whenever it shifts focus to various subplots (e.g. Sam's troubled relationship with Molly).

Given its recent lackluster box-office performance during the opening weekend (debuted at No. 3 with a measly $18 million), it's obvious that many viewers have started to feel tired of the FINAL DESTINATION series. If the studio ever decide to pick this fifth installment as the last movie in the series, I guess it's best for them to do so.

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COWBOYS & ALIENS (2011)

RATING: 2.5/5

Genre mishmash is nothing new, except you can say that it's rare to see them in a big-budget tentpole release. Back then, there was an attempt to mix old-fashioned western genre with sci-fi trappings and the result was the ill-fated WILD WILD WEST (1999). You know, the one which starred Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek and Kenneth Branagh? Not only the movie was a flop at the box-office, it also highly regarded as one of the worst movies a bankable star like Will Smith had ever made. Now fast forward 12 years later, here's another big-budget attempt to combine western genre and sci-fi element. This time, we have COWBOYS & ALIENS, an interesting genre mash-up that combined classic western and alien invasion movie. On paper, it certainly sounds very cool. I mean, with such crackerjack premise, I'm sure a lot of people are expecting this movie to be one hell of an entertaining summer ride. Make no mistake, the movie has plenty of its moments but it's still rather a waste of opportunity that it's hardly reach to its full potential.

However, the first hour or so starts off intriguing enough: A nameless cowboy (Daniel Craig) finds himself waking up in the middle of a scorching desert with no memory of who he is or where he's from. Not only that, he realizes he's badly wounded and also discovers there's a mysterious high-tech steel bracelet affixed to his left wrist. He tries to crack it open but the bracelet refuses to come off whatsoever. After a brief encounter with three cowboys trying to mess him up, he wanders himself across the desert and subsequently arriving at Absolution, which was once a prosperous mining town. He is gradually receives a good hospitality by a sympathetic priest named Meacham (Clancy Brown). Of course, it doesn't take long before he gets himself into trouble again when a no-good rancher's son Percy Dollarhyde (Paul Dano), whose highly-influential father, Woodrow (Harrison Ford), is basically owns the tiny town. During a confrontation, the nameless cowboy made Percy accidentally wounded a deputy while trying to intimidate the townspeople by coughing up some money for him.

Things get worse when the nameless cowboy is being identified as wanted bandit Jake Lonergan by Sheriff John Taggart (Keith Carradine) and thrown in jail alongside with Percy. That very night, Sheriff Taggart is about to ship Percy and Jake off to court in Santa Fe but Woodrow arrives into town determined to free his son at all cost. But something else happens -- there are a few alien spaceships appear out of nowhere and set things ablaze. Chaos ensues as the alien spaceships are firing at them all over the place while subsequently snatching the locals, including Percy, off the air. This is where Jake's bracelet has somewhat comes to respond and he uses it to take down one of the alien spacecrafts with just a single shot.

With many of the locals went disappeared, Jake and Woodrow put their differences aside to locate and rescue their kin from the aliens. Together with Woodrow's Indian ranch helper Nat (Adam Beach), bartender Doc (Sam Rockwell), mysterious beauty Ella (Olivia Wilde) who seems to have a lot of interest for Jake, and a handful of other locals, they ride their horses across the frontier.

So far, so good. Earlier on, COWBOYS & ALIENS plays the card well with its ever-popular "mysterious drifter from nowhere comes to town" western subgenre often found in some of the best movies which starred Clint Eastwood. There is a sense of mystery and other intriguing manners as the movie takes its time to develop all of the multiple going-ons (e.g. the mysterious arrival of Daniel Craig's character, conflicts between the locals, and introduction of all the major cast involved, the sudden appearance of alien spacecrafts) as interesting as possible.

Too bad once the alien invasion element takes over most of the storyline, the rest of the movie turns surprisingly lackluster. It's kind of disappointing though, considering director Jon Favreau is no stranger for making movie with fantastical premise (read: IRON MAN). His direction is mostly pedestrian, and at most times uninspired. There are hardly any creativity in term of scope where action set-piece often plays crucial part of succeeding such genre when comes to alien invasion movie. Sure, they are plenty of explosions, running and stuff like that but they are all surprisingly repetitive. Uh, is Favreau really forgets a little thing called "imagination"? Still, there are some moments to be excited about, particularly in an intense sequence where Ella ends up being snatched away by an alien spacecraft and Jake goes all out to save her at all cost. The screenplay, in the meantime, lacks tight narration to make everything works into full circle. Despite the fact that the movie is adapted from the 2006 Platinum Studios graphic novel created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, I suspect that most of the elements found in this movie version is reduced to a mere premise with no strong backbone to support it.

Still, the movie remains watchable, thanks to its credible cast. Daniel Craig is perfectly typecast as a silent and stoic Jake Lonergan who doesn't gives a damn about anything other than someone he really cares about. He's certainly commanding enough to make him an idealistic actor to play such role in a western genre. If there's anyone to replace Clint Eastwood as the next iconic western star, he's definitely the one to go for. Harrison Ford, in the meantime, is equally captivating as well. His grizzly and no-nonsense persona works well for his character, although I have to say it's not among his best performance he's ever committed here. Olivia Wilde is quite decent as Ella, while the rest of the ensemble cast (Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano and especially Clancy Brown) have their own credible moments.

On the technical level, the movie is simply top-notch. The special effects, especially where we see the alien spacecrafts appear in the daylight blends seamlessly against the stark background. Production design and art direction are ace, while Harry Gregson-Williams's rousing music score with a hint of guitar is no doubt one of the most exciting tunes ever played in this year's summer movie. Completing the look is Matthew Libatique's attractive cinematography that perfectly captured the widescreen vistas of the vast landscape.

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HORRIBLE BOSSES (2011)

RATING: 3/5

Have you ever experienced where you have to live like hell facing with an a-hole boss, or to some extent, bosses? I bet at some point in our life, we all deal with the same problem. Now take that everyday situation and transplants it into a feature movie -- voila! You got yourself HORRIBLE BOSSES, a highly kinetic comedy filled with outlandish screwball moments, exceptionally hilarious cast and energetic direction by Seth Gordon.

Well, at least for the first third of the movie, HORRIBLE BOSSES is exceptionally great -- particular on the opening scene, which focuses on many kinds of humiliation and abuse that our three protagonists must endure everyday dealing with their horrible bosses.

The first protagonist is Nick (Jason Bateman), who have to work his ass off everyday in the office to impress his boss, Dave Harkin's (Kevin Spacey) in hoping to nail the vice president post. But much to his surprise, Dave announces to everybody that he's rather taking over the vice president role himself than promote his best employee. The second one is Dale (Charlie Day), a recently-engaged dental assistant who faces a living hell working with a nymphomaniac dentist-boss, Dr. Harris (Jennifer Aniston). She is particularly likes to harass him sexually at any manner possible, even when there is a patient around. The third one is Kurt (Jason Sudelkis), a womanizing account manager suffering from his coked-up new boss, Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell) who takes over the company after the recent death of his father (Donald Sutherland). By night, the three of them will hang out in a bar boozing away their sorrow and frustration over their equally horrible bosses. So far, so good. From here, the situations they are facing are perfectly involving and I won't be surprised you feel sympathy for them. If the movie would have follow this route realistically, HORRIBLE BOSSES might have been a masterpiece.

Instead, director Seth Gordon and screenwriters Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein opted to go as broad as possible. Yup, cue to those formulaic cliches you often find in many R-rated Hollywood comedies. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean the movie is bad. In fact, it's not but frankly, I was expecting the filmmakers could have done better than resorting into lots of tried-and-tested mainstream formula. So what follows next is a one night of drunken conversation where the three of them hypothetically agrees that their lives would be better if their bosses were dead. None of them are actually serious about that crazy plan, until Dale had enough with his own boss and decides to make it happen. So they are thinking of hiring a hitman to do their dirty work but all they can afford on their tiny budget is a so-called "murder consultant" in the form of Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx) -- no kidding, that is his name and you'll be laughing your ass off how he gets that "motherfucker" nickname in the first place -- a committed felon they met him in a shady bar who recommends them they each murder one another's bosses and make all the killings look like accidents. Unfortunately things get more complicated than they thought when one of them witnesses an unexpected circumstance. If that's not bad enough, the police begins to target them as murder suspects and they soon find themselves landing in a hot soup.

Despite the movie's eventual move into cliches territory, there's no doubt Gordon and his crew still able to crank up the picture with enough comic energy to keep the viewers occupied. Thanks to his assured direction, the movie is blessed with a breakneck pace that moves in a sustainable momentum. For most parts, the screenplay contains plenty of amusing and at times memorable moments -- the scene where Kurt does the toiletries part (you just have to see it for yourself); the hilarious parody scene of the old "leaping cat" cliche; the dream sequence where Nick had enough with his boss's antic and decides to kill him in a spectacular fashion; and some of the embarrassingly sexual moments involving Dale and Dr. Harris -- are all particularly worthwhile.

However, the movie remains the best when comes to the cast. All three protagonists -- Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudelkis -- are fun to watch for, especially with the latter two actors are destined to hit breakout roles into A-list superstars. The supporting actors, in the meantime, are even memorable. It's certainly refreshing to see the good old Kevin Spacey is back in his trademark slimy presence, playing an abusive boss like a back of his hand (His character's motto: "You can't win a marathon without putting some band-aids on your nipples! " is certainly the catchphrase of the moment). Jennifer Aniston is similarly capable, trading her usual girl-next-door type into someone who is nasty and sexually aggressive. I mean, who could have thought that Aniston manages to pull off a nymphomaniac role so convincingly, yet hilarious enough at the same time? Colin Farrell, on the other hand, scores a rare performance in a comedy role. Nearly unrecognizable in a bad comb-over and a coked-up attitude, Farrell's despicable turn is a tour de force revelation that I bet you will never believe an actor like him can pull off such a role. One thing though, his character is cut off too fast whereas he suppose to deserve more screen time in this movie. As for Jamie Foxx, he may have appeared in a small role but he often steals the show each time he appears on the screen. As mentioned earlier, his profane name alone is spot-on hilarious.

While HORRIBLE BOSSES is hardly a classic, the movie remains highly recommended for the masses looking for a hugely entertaining R-rated comedy.

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RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011)

RATING: 4/5

Ten years ago, Tim Burton has attempted to reboot the 1968's sci-fi classic of PLANET OF THE APES. Unfortunately, Tim Burton's version was heavily criticized as one of the worst big-budget remakes ever made, even though the movie did made a lot of money in the box-office. However, Twentieth Century Fox has made a wise decision by going prequel to revitalize the fading franchise. The result is RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (I have to admit, it's one heck of a long-winded title!), a surprisingly excellent summer blockbuster filled with state-of-the-art special effects wonder, engrossing storyline, top-notch cast, and spectacular action set-pieces.

The movie begins with an ambitious star scientist Will Rodman (James Franco), who has developed a revolutionary drug called "ALZ-112" to cure Alzheimer's disease. After getting positive result on one of his experimental chimpanzees named Bright Eyes (voice of Terry Notary), he finally manages to convince his boss Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo) to pitch the drug to a team of investors. But the day when Will is pitching for the drug to the investors, Bright Eyes turns amok and everything is fallen apart. As a result, the program is immediately shut down and all the test subjects are ordered to be eliminated with lethal injections. Soon it doesn't take long before Will learns the truth behind Bright Eyes' sudden rage -- apparently she had quietly given birth to a baby chimp inside her cage, and her motherly instinct caused her such behavior.

Instead of killing the last chimp, Will decides to sneak the newborn back home and takes care of him like his own child. He names him Caesar (voice of Andy Serkis) and gradually, he is impressed with his progressing intelligence within a short notice. He realizes that the drug has somehow passed from his mother to him, and Caesar gets smarter as years goes by. In the meantime, Will sneaks a couple of drugs from the lab to use his Alzheimer's-afflicted father Charles (John Lithgow) as his first human test subject. To his surprise, it works miraculously. However Charles's disease eventually relapsed and his condition becomes worse.

One day when Charles is causing trouble against his next-door neighbor, Hunsiker (David Hewlett), things turn ugly as Caesar fights to defend him. His act of violence caused him to be contained to a wildlife rescue center run by the corrupt John Landon (Brian Cox) and his sadistic son, Dodge (Tom Felton), who likes to abuse and humiliates all the apes. While Will continues to research with a more stabilized and stronger drug, Caesar becomes increasingly frustrated with all the human cruelty and decides to create an army of apes to rebel against the humankind.

First and foremost, RISE OF THE APES works well because Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver's screenplay pays a lot of attention for the story and the characters. As mentioned earlier, the cast is top-notch. James Franco is credible for the role as the relentless scientist who stops at nothing to achieve his goal. But of all the cast, it was Andy Serkis who steals the most limelight. Like his memorable performance-capture work as Gollum in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, Serkis is simply a tour de force as Caesar. His detailed expressions and telling gestures are every bit as impressive as the lifelike ape effect, which is particularly well-done by Weta Digital. As a matter of fact, you'll actually feel for his pain, humiliation and anger he is forced to go through especially after he is locked up in a cage. His character is subsequently well-developed, as we learn how he eventually adapts to the ugly situation beyond the comfort of his own home, and his troubled interactions with other apes. Seriously, the Academy should have implemented a new rule for Best Actor category that outstanding performance-capture work like Serkis deserves to be nominated!

Rupert Wyatt's direction is very efficient, especially the way he pace his picture in a consistent rhythm that keeps us hooked on the screen even though the movie takes its time to build its setup. The movie is also briskly edited by Conrad Buff IV and Mark Goldblatt, while Andrew Lesnie's fluid cinematography is simply amazing. His constantly moving camerawork, especially when he mimics all the frantic move of an ape, is a true work of cinematic art. Completing the movie's excellent technical values is Patrick Doyle's rousing music score that is both majestic and emotionally captivating at the same time.

Lastly, of course, is the spectacular cliffhanger finale once the apes escape from their prison and begin to wreck havoc on the street of San Francisco. From here, this is a first-class entertainment that the payoff is certainly worth all the wait after more than an hour of carefully-build setup. The climactic showdown on the Golden Gate Bridge is particularly memorable as the apes waged war against the local authorities.

While a lot of things works well with the movie, there are still not without the flaws. Some of the supporting characters are disappointingly cut-rate. Great talents like Frieda Pinto, who is wasted as Will's love interest, and Brian Cox, are all reduced into thankless roles. Earlier in the scene, I must admit that there is a technical flaw of the computer-generated baby chimp which feels like a halfhearted effort than the one we are subsequently impressed with the adult Caesar. All the nitpicking aside, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is one of the better big-budget prequels I've ever seen in a long while. In the meantime, don't forget to stay for the credits -- there is a minor scene where the movie is hinted for a possible sequel in the future.

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