STORKS (2016)

Genre: Animated
Running Length: 1:27
Cast (Voices): Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell, Danny Trejo, Stephen Kramer Glickman
Director: Nicholas Stoller, Doug Sweetland
Screenplay: Nicholas Stoller

I've never laughed our loud so much recently in the cinema but STORKS brand of humour did it for me - it just hit me in all the right spots. From the same studio that gave us the very clever, fun and touching The Lego Movie, Storks is not as deep but it is equally enjoyable with its over-the-top random and ridiculous visual gags.

But it's not all just comedy as the themes explored here work for both adults and kids. There are hints of corporate culture (not as direct as The Lego Movie) and finding one's roots (similiar as Finding Dory), but in the end, this movie is really about parenthood.

Young parents will fully understand the situations presented in the movie; A male stork bickering with a human girl on who should get some sleep while the other stays up with the baby, an alpha and beta wolf fight each other for the custody of the baby and a scene involving our heroes fighting off evil penguins silently in order not to wake the baby.
 
Yes, it sounds very absurd but this is one hilarious and yet emotionally satisfying 90 minutes film thanks to its well written script and manic energy it brings to the screen.

Rating: 8.5/10

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (2016)

Genre: Western / Action

Running Length: 2:12

Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Byung-hun Lee, Vincent D’Onofrio, Martin Sensmeier, Peter Sarsgaard, Hayley Bennett

Director: Antoine Fuqua 

Screenplay: Richard Wenk & Nic Pizzolatto, based on the screenplay for “The Seven Samurai” by Akira Kurosawa & Shinobu Hashimoto & Hideo Oguni 

This updated version of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN brings nothing new to the table except to literally update it for today's generation since the original is more than 50 years old (the 1960 version was also a re-imagination of Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai (1954)).

To be fair, the first act was a good set-up where we witness the chief villain (deliciously played by Sarsgaard) struts into a church of a small frontier town with his men and forces the villagers to sell their land for cheap. Of course, things went south and helpless peasants were brutally killed. As a result, one of the widowed decided to go against these aggressors by recruiting a fighting force. The plot is simple enough to follow but yet when the credits rolled, the entire experience just felt like an exercise in futility. 

The "seven" characters were underdeveloped and thus I didn't care much at all when the odds were stacked against them in the loud and chaotic final act. One interesting thing the filmmakers could have focused on is to invest a little bit more time to give a proper backstory to our heroes so that their purpose of assembling together is more believable. It felt like Suicide Squad ie. what's in it for a bunch of misfits to get together to save the world?   

Washington is fine as the ringleader. Come to think of it, Denzel has always been playing a "cowboy" in his action movies eg Equalizer, Man on Fire, The Book of Eli. Pratt is as charismatic as ever. There are hints of the iconic score from the 1960s version (dum, dum, de-dum, dum dum dum da-de-dum) but you will have to wait till the closing credits to enjoy its full glory. 

Overall, despite its slick production, the diverse cast and fun shoot 'em up scenes, this popcorn western is forgettable. Towards the second half, I had this nagging voice in me that I should have just watched the original version or even the Japanese one.  

Rating: 6/10

TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016)

Genre: Drama / Thriller
Running Length: 1:57
Cast: Gong Yoo, Kim Soo-an, Jeong Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee, Kim Eui-sung
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Screenplay: Park Joo-suk

Right at the start of TRAIN TO BUSAN, the set up is clear where this "train" is going to take its audience. The movie's concept is a fascinating one; using a travelling bullet train (full of flesh eating zombies) as a canvas for social commentary and polarization.

After a near flawless first half, the second half felt repetitive and manipulative. Nevertheless, this is one entertaining flick especially the zombie attack scenes. The zombies we have here are not the slow moving "Braaaaainssss" genre but the 28 Days Later/World War Z variety - they are fast, focused and violent flesh eaters. And once a victim is bitten, it takes just a few minutes for them to turn. This is no Maggie. 

There are many unbearable nail-biting suspenseful sequences. So much so, an audience sitting next to me was shouting, "Cepat CEPAT TUTUP PINTU LA!" during those claustrophobic high tension moments. Thus, this movie is not really one of those horror movies which rely heavily on jump scares.

So why the 2nd half felt tiring? Well, there were just one too many escape-from-the-zombies-attack scenes. And the filmmakers were very heavy handed with their characters. I was hoping some of them would not end up as stereotypes, but instead, the filmmakers turned up the stereotyping to 11. If you never thought you could hate a character so much, wait till you see this movie. And there many instances of unnecessary emotional manipulation just to squeeze tears out from its moviegoers. No subtlety whatsoever.  

In terms of performances, two really stood out; Kim Soo-ann as the little girl and the super charismatic Ma Dong-seok. In summary, this film champions kindness during the worst and best of humanity.

Review: 7.5/10

SULLY (2016)

Genre: Drama

Running Length: 1:36

Cast:  Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney

Director: Clint Eastwood 

Screenplay: Todd Komarnicki, based on the book by Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow 

Can a 3.5 mins incident made into a full length 90 mins movie? The answer is "Yes!". Despite padding it up with backstories, side stories and the aftermath, SULLY doesn't feel bloated and the end result is an uplifting movie. Kudos to director Eastwood for his pacing and his team of editors. 

The movie is about the true story of the US Airways plane that landed safely on the Hudson river, New York in the freezing cold of Jan 2009. Known as the "Miracle on the Hudson", all 155 passengers and crew on board were safe. This film focuses on captain Chelsey ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, the emergency landing itself and an aviation board inquiry thereafter. 

Clint Eastwood movies are always simple to follow and completely engaging but somehow feels "shallow" much later after you have walked out from the cinema hall. It's like eating a box of popcorn; it's so delicious and filling but somehow you just don't feel "full" thereafter.  

In fact, I felt the narrative is over simplified and some of the scenes were heavily handed. Everyone involved in the rescue mission was surprisingly calm and knew exactly what to do. The stories from side characters especially the passengers came across as plasticky and OTT in sentimentalism. 

 

The film is at its strongest when it focuses on Hanks' character doubting his decision and dealing with "What if I have made a mistake?" when he was presented with data, algorithms and flight simulations during the inquiry. Another big highlight is the emergency landing scene itself; it's actually a miracle to be feeling anxious and on the edge of my seat when I jolly well knew all will be ok. 

Hanks have somewhat mastered such a character - the ordinary family man demonstrating courage under fire and is self-sacrificing when subjected to extraordinary danger. I call it the good old-fashioned American heroism. He practically played the same character in Captain Phillips. 

All in all, although Sully is a stretch in some scenes, it is still a feel good movie that showcases the triumph of the human spirit that will instantly make your day better. 

Rating: 8.5/10

PEKAK (2016)

Genre: Drama
Running Length: 1:36
Cast: Zahiril Adzim, Sharifah Amani, Amerul Affendi, Iedil Putra, Sharifah Sakinah, Joe Flizzow
Director: Mohd Khairul Azri
Screenplay: Mohd Khairul Azri, based on an original story by Azril Hamzah and Alfie Palermo

The arresting starting frame of PEKAK, the directorial debut of Khairul Azri, virtually stopped me in my tracks. Every shot thereafter is beautifully shot and the set up is just downright compelling. I was thinking to myself, "Wow, this is actually a very good movie!" But a strange thing happened somewhere at the halfway mark; it took an obvious nosedive into a telemovie territory.

I'm not sure what happened after such a promising first half. It's as though the filmmakers ran out of budget because it felt like two movies directed by two different directors written by two different screenwriters. That said, let's talk about the better half first.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Uda, our protagonist (played convincingly by Adzim), a deaf drug pusher who is forced to sell drugs to save enough cash for a surgery to restore his hearing. In the process of his daily job, he crosses path with Amani's character, Dara, a school girl who comes from a broken family. Predictably, a romantic relationship forms and what ensues is a Shakespearean tragedy-like tale.

Everything about the movie (well, at least the first half) is beautiful and it is has a somewhat poetic rhythm to it. The score is hypnotic. It is peppered with symbolism eg. Uda temporarily mends Dara's torn dress using a name tag with her name on it. And the build up is good where there is a genuine sense of dread and danger for our star-crossed lovers.

The casting choices are fitting as the audience could immediately relate to the characters. Very believable acting from the cast especially our supporting actors;  Affendi and Sakina. There are some risque scenes shown which are pretty bold for a local production.

Clearly, the folks behind Pekak understands filmmaking. So that's why it is really puzzling for me what happened to the second half of the film, where even the climatic resolution curiously turned into a Game of Thrones like sequence.  

In conclusion, this indie film is no Jagat but it comes pretty close.

Rating: 7/10