FINDING DORY (2016)

Genre: Animated

Running Length: 1:36

Cast (Voices): Ellen DeGeneres, Idris Elba, Sloane Murray, Eugene Levy, Diane Keaton, Ty Burrell, Hayden Rolence, Kaitlin Olson, Ed O’Neill, Albert Brooks, Dominic West

Director: Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane
Screenplay: Andrew Stanton, based on a story by Andrew Stanton and Victoria Strouse & Bob Peterson

From the trailer, one can tell the sequel to Pixar's Finding Nemo, FINDING DORY, is a role-reversal of its predecessor. I was a little hesitant to watch this film as I didn't want to accept that Pixar is in this for the cash grab - because this approach for a sequel just seems lazy. But I went anyway. 

Well, it is still a somewhat role-reversal story but there's one aspect of the story I found very interesting. In fact, Pixar is probably the only animation house around that is bold enough to explore the aspect of human emotions as the core of its stories. And by dressing it up with bright colours and frenetic set pieces, it is accessible to both adults and kids. Take examples; Up (which explores about grief), Toy Story series (about being relevant and abandonment) and last year's remarkable high concept Inside Out (literally a story about emotions). 

In Finding Dory, it explores a difficult theme of "what does it mean to have a special child?" Yes, we're talking about disability (don't confuse "special" here with the chosen one or a superhero). Although some may argue that Dory's short term memory loss is not really a disability but how the filmmakers approached this subject is otherwise. There are some really heart wrenching moments which include her loving parents doing their their best to care for her when she was young and one particularly overwhelming scene of Dory in a long drawn scene of her feeling frustrated, lost and disorientated - shot from a first-person perspective. This is some heavy stuff. 

That said, like most Pixar movies, this film is pretty well balanced out with our main characters going through a life-changing "roadtrip" filled with adventure, thrills and meeting strange characters along the way. Speaking of strange characters, the highlight for me is Hank the grumpy octopus, who has chameleon-like abilities. Whenever he's on screen, expect scenes full of hijinks, havoc and humour to come your way. In fact, the finale of Hank and Dory trying to get back into the sea is so chaotic and over-the-top, this memorable scene would probably end up as one of the most watched clip in YouTube in the future.        

Although Finding Dory feels the "same but with a different spin" overall, it is an OK sequel. I think it may work better for those who haven't seen the 2003 release as it could possibly give them a fresher movie experience. Now if only the filmmakers explored a little more on the special kid aspect.

(A special shout out to PIPER, the accompanying short animation. It's a winner because the very essence of a Pixar movie is accomplished more in its seven minutes compared to the 95 minutes of Finding Dory) 

 

Rating: 7/10

NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (2016)

Genre: Thriller
Running Length: 2.09
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Caine, Jay Chou
Director: Jon M. Chu
Screenplay: Ed Solomon, based on a story by Ed Solomon & Pete Chiarelli

NOW YOU SEE ME 2 is basically more of the same of the first one. Not that I'm complaining because the predecessor was such a guilty pleasure but I reckon the freshness is gone in this sequel. In other words, this second time round it has lost some of its magic. How many times can one get excited to see a woman get sawed into 3 parts, right?

To be fair, the filmmakers added a heist angle into this sequel to raise the stakes for our band of magicians. And the magic tricks are "bigger, better and shinier". Plus the location is more exotic; Macau and London. Somehow it feels like the studio is trying to do what Fast Five did to the Fast and Furious franchise.

Unfortunately, it didn't do it for me as some of the magic tricks are just too "kwa cheong". The scene where they tried to smuggle out a card sized god-like computer circuit board (which incidentally is the main plot of this movie) in a room full of soldiers is so over-the-top I couldn't stop rolling my eyes. Even the twist at the end of this movie feels out of place where else in the first movie, its big reveal gave me the "Wow, that was really smart!" response.

As for the performance of the actors, it felt like they were just spitting out their dialogues and having lots of fun. You would think that such a power cast of Oscar nominees and winners would at least add a touch of class to this sequel but overall, the whole experience just feels cheap. This is evident especially when the actors have to explain how an illusion is done. Mark Ruffalo is probably the only one not phoning in his performance and yes, Jay Chou IS IN the movie in a now you see me, now you don't role.

Rating: 5.5/10

THE NICE GUYS (2016)

Genre: Thriller / Comedy
Running Length: 1:56
Cast:Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Kim Basinger
Director: Shane Black
Screenplay: Shane Black, Anthony Bagarozzi

In my opinion, Shane Black (once upon a time the most sought after and highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood; Lethal Weapon series, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Action Hero) is perhaps a better writer than a director. The narrative of THE NICE GUYS has all the elements of a fun and quirky "mismatched buddy cop" movie coupled with a Tarantino-esque approach to humour. But the end product ended up not as engaging as what the trailer promises. I reckon perhaps Black was unable to draw the best out of his talented actors, especially Ryan Gosling.

Fans of Gosling will probably hate me for this, but in this movie he was overdoing the gags and was just trying too hard to be funny. As a result, his performance was bordering on the silly lawak bodoh kind. Again, I don't blame Gosling but the director.

Set in the mid 1970s in LA (think Boogie Nights), Gosling plays a down-on-his-luck detective who teams up with Crowe, a hired messenger who delivers his messages with his fists. Their job is to track down the runaway daughter of a District attorney (Kim Basinger) who's involved in the sleazy underbelly world of the porn industry. Gosling's the brain of the operations while Crowe's the brawn; both characters are flawed but they are well, nice guys.

Of course, to make this film worthy of a cinema release, their seemingly simple mission is very quickly escalated into an outrageous one involving mermaids, dead bodies and a giant killer bee. Overall, it's a welcome throwback to the good old fashioned 80s/90s commercial action movies made for adults; free of superheroes and CGI galore. But somehow, it's not as edgy as I expected it to be eventhough it's peppered with some laugh out loud moments.

Rating: 6.5/10