Movie Review: City of Ember

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My Rating: 3Stars

This evening I saw the movie City of Ember at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

The well known actors: Bill MurrayTim RobbinsMartin LandauMary Kay Place, in this movie were horrible. May be that was intentional so that the young and coming actors can shine. The lead characters Harry Treadaway (Doon Harrow) and Saoirse Ronan (Lina Mayfleet) were quite good. At first I thought Treadaway was the lead, but later it turns out Ronan stole the show.

Ronan is a young 14 year old actor who only started appearing on the silver screen last year, with I Could Never Be Your Woman and was a “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” nominee at the The 80th Annual Academy Awards for her role in Atonement with Keira Knightley. I can see that Ronan is one of those actress to watch for years to come.

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Movie Review: Mirrors

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My Rating: 3Stars

This evening I saw the movie Mirrors at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong.

This is not a typical genre (Thriller) of movies I normally watch, I didn’t even put it on My Must See Movies list.

Kiefer Sutherland was surprisingly appropriate for his role. Before I went to the movie and knowing a little about the plot, I was surprised to hear that Sutherland was cast as the male lead. The last motion picture Sutherland starred in was The Sentinel and he was not so great in it.

Through out the movie I saw him as the “Jack Bauer” character from 24, which fits perfectly with the character of this movie; A stressed emotional ex-cop suffering from the brink of nervous break down with a broken family and everyone thinks he is unreliable.

There were the typical thriller scenes to classify itself as a Thriller movie, but also enough mystery moments and twists in the plot to keep Sutherland’s character, Ben Carson, occupy. Of course, one cannot have a thriller movie without scenes where the main character gets himself into situation, which a normal person would never be brave enough to put himself in. This is part of the traditional excitment of thrillers.

Since I don’t normally watch thriller movies, I cannot rate the movie on the degree of scariness. I can only rate the movie based on the suspense and degree of twists in the plot. The plot is quite shallow the movie was not too deep. Although, its ending justified the extra penguin to give this movie the three penguin rating.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it on iTunes
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Hellboy 2 – the Golden Army

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My Rating: 4Stars

This evening I saw the movie “Hellboy 2” at AMC Theater, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong.

I did not go watch Hellboy, the first episode in this franchise, at the cinema, but caught it on HBO. I did not find the first movie that interesting, so I did not put this sequel in my Must See Movies list.

Recently many of my friends gave it rave reviews after watching the latest episode in the franchise; as did RT, so it made me question my decision for not wanting to see this movie.

Tonight I was presently surprised by the movie. As with all sequels, it is always hard to balance the need to provide just enough background store for the audiences and keep the fans interested. Especially when the previous episode was four years ago. I think the director (screenplay and writer), Guillermo del Toro achieved that very well.

Another thing they did correctly, was to keep the main casts from the first episode, giving the movie a continuum that is much needed for sequels. Ron Perlman again played the adult Hellboy, Selma Blair played Liz Sherman, both Doug Jones and Brian Steele were chameleons of characters.

The special effect was done very well, it shows what four years of technology advancements in CG can do for a movie. The CG seamlessly integrated with the live action of the movie. There were many background characters and details in the sets and costumes, giving the audience much eye candy other than the story. There were one scene which reminded me of the bar in Star Wars (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope).

The story had the feel of Fantastic Four the magic of Harry Potter the mystery of Indiana Jones and National Treasure. Overall a very enjoyable movie to bring the kids to.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it on iTunes
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: The Dark Knight (2008)

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My Rating: 4Stars

This evening I saw the movie “The Dark Knight” at AMC Theatre, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong.

Another great movie! That’s two in a row, two weeks ago was Hancock and two weeks before that was Wanted. This is the best Batman movie I have seen thus far.

There was enough continuation from the last Batman movie, Batman Begins. Just the appropriate amount of draw from the plot of the previous movie in the sequel. Definitely, the best looking Batman outfit of them all.

The one thing I did not like about the movie, was the directory or set decoration to hide the city where they filmed Gotham City. In the past Gotham City has always been this make believe or futuristic city where a super hero like Batman would appear.

One of the best part of the movie, like in Batman (1989), was the character The Joker. In the 1989 version of Batman, The Joker was played by the amazing Jack Nicholson, this time it was played by the late, Heath Ledger of Brokeback Mountain fame.

Another thing this Batman movie tries to do, is to explain the origin of Harvey Dent (aka. Two-Face), this time played by Aaron Eckhart, this character first appeared in the 1989 version of Batman, played by Billy Dee Williams then again in Batman Forever by Tommy Lee Jones. As a result it is a good sequel to Batman Begins.

All I need to do is collect these Batman movies since 1989 and put them back in chronological order, I will have a complete picture of how each of the villains came about.

If you are a Batman fan, this is definitely a must see. If you are not, still go see it, you will not be disappointed.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it on iTunes
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian (2008)

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My Rating: 3Stars

This evening I saw the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” at AMC Theatre, Pacific Place, Hong Kong.

A good sequel because the screenwrite did not spend too much time reviewing the previous version of the movie, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” 3 years ago. Unfortunately, this is also the reason why I feel this is not a good movie.

This is really a movie written and designed for children. With that in mind this is a good movie, as it has the mystical elements that children likes, characters that spur the imaginations and story-line that will capture the young audiences.

Having said that the story and movie is a bit lacking for adults. If you do not have young children in your household I will suggest you give it a miss.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it on iTunes
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Beowulf (2007 – 3D Version)

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My Rating: 3Stars

This evening I saw the movie “Beowulf” at Ocean Terminal Theater, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

I was not certain that this was an animated movie until I arrived at the theater. I chose to watch the 3D version of the movie, at an almost 100% premium, which I later found out to be worth it.

They had used the same technology as in the movie, “The Polar Express“, where the actors’ movements were tracked and reanimated by the computer on screen. Hence, the liveliness of the animated characters were very believable.

Due to the digital nature of the movie I saw, the clarity was incredible. Thus far the best quality movie I’ve seen.

The story was nothing really special, typical hero against all odds fights evil, which he eventually wins but found to have given too much for the victory. A lesson was taught with the story I hope most movie goers will recognize and learn.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Transformers

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My Rating: 4Stars

This evening I saw the movie “Transformers” at Broadway Theaters, Ocean Terminal, Tsim Sa Tsui.

For some reason I was never into Transformers toys when I was a kid. Although, I did see the cartoons on TV while living in Hong Kong.

The special effects were amazing, with only a couple scenes that did not match the real picture, where the blue screen was obviously in use.

There were so many product placements, ranging from HP, Apple Inc. and GMC. Fortunately, Dreamworks did not infect the movie with too many of its typical in-your-face humor, as they normally do with their animations.

There were enough action and humor to keep the audience on the edge of their seats while just the right number of breaks in between to let them catch their breaths.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

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My Rating: 4Stars

This evening I saw the movie “Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix” at UA IMAX Theater, MegaBox, Kowloon Bay.

The most amazing part of the movie is the IMAX experience. If you live in a city where this movie is shown on IMAX you MUST choose it. I think it gives a good preview of what HD or digital projection theater movies will be like in the near future, when it becomes more prevalent.

I thought with the price of the IMAX version (almost doubled the normal ticket price in Hong Kong), there would not be so many young kids in the audience as there was. Apparently kids of a certain age did not have to pay and they were allow to sit on their parents’ laps for the movie. This definitely was not good when we have to pay such a high price for the experience.

I never finished this episode of the Harry Potter book series, even though I started the book five times over the past 5 years. For those who are not familiar with this book, it is one of the thicker one in the series, but that is not my only excuse. I cannot say that I am those who read the book before the movie, but with Harry Potter, it had been the exception to my rule until now.

This movie skipped over many parts of the book like the previous adaptations; at least for what I’ve read. Within minutes it already reached the part where I had left off (chapter eight) in the book this past 5 attempts. I guess a picture does equate to a thousand of words, and if the screenplay had stayed any closer to the book the movie would have been much longer than 130 minutes.

As with the previous Harry Potter movies, I assume it was also a very accurate adaption. The visual effects were great as usual. The plot at times were a bit slow and I found myself noticing the number of kids around me talking loudly.

The last 20 minutes of the movie was in IMAX 3D. They definitely chosen the correct part of the movie for the 3D effect.

Aside from the interruptions of the “other people’s” kids, this movie was “okay”. like the previous movie, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire“, I found this movie mostly occupied with beautiful sceneries and special effects rather than an intriguing plot. In this particular case, I cannot say if it was due to the original book or the fault of the screenplay. May be I should finish the book and find out.

Of course, trying to top the book is also a difficult thing for the director, when he has to consider the fact that majority of his audiences will have read the book, hence familiar with the plot, and would be looking for other stimuli when they watch the movie.

So, if you are a Harry Potter fan, this is definitely a movie for you, but if you had yet to read the first book in the series, you may want to consider the IMAX experience as a reason to see the movie. Then again the DVD will come out very soon.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Fantastic Four – Rise of the Silver Surfer

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My Rating: 3Stars

This evening I saw the movie “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” at JP Theater, Causeway Bay.

The first movie, “Fantastic Four” of the series was not so great. I particularly do not like the actor, Michael Chiklis who played the character “Ben Grimm”. Chiklis is most recognized for his role as “Vic Mackey” in the TV series, “The Shield“. That is the character I keep associating him with, and his character as “Ben Grimm” in “Fantastic Four” was not distinctive enough to change that for me.

One good thing about latest movie in the series, is that Chiklis was only himself; without “The Thing” makeup, in two short scenes. The rest of the plot was a bit weak. They expected the audience to have seen the first movie, which I believe is always a bad thing to assume for a sequel.

The other good thing with this movie was the CG. Unfortunately, that is the only thing one can look forward to.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean – The World’s End

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My Rating: 4Stars

This evening I saw the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: The World’s End” at UA Cinema, Time Square, Causeway Bay.

The last of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. It is definitely a good one, much better than the second one, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest“. Before I went to see this latest episode I decided to rewatch “Dead Man’s Chest”, but I fell asleep while doing so. I do admit that I did not have too high of an expectation for “The World’s End” before I went to see it.

Again “Johnny Depp” was at his usual best. The character he seems to unable to come out of since “The Curse of the Black Pearl“.

This episode has the usual CGI that we come to expect in Pirates of the Caribbean.

All in all this was an entertaining movie and deserves the 4 penguins that I had given it.

Rating Legend:
5Stars Not to be missed
4Stars Wait for the DVD
3Stars Buy from iTunes Store
2Stars Rent it if you can
1Stars Waste your time elsewhere