ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (2016)

Genre: Science Fiction / Adventure
Running Length: 2:13
Cast: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen,
Director: Gareth Edwards
Screenplay: Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta, based on characters created by George Lucas

ROGUE ONE is better than Force Awakens, not because the former is more superior but it's because the end product feels unrestrained. Probably the filmmakers do not feel overly pressurized to fit their story into the Skywalker saga. One do not really need to fully understand the universe that George Lucas has created in his trilogies to enjoy this movie.

For Star Wars fans, Rogue One is packed with easter eggs. Thankfully it wasn't distracting but more like a wink to its legion of followers. As for the narrative itself, it's a grittier fare than one would expect because this film has more "war" than "star" ie space opera. People die in Rogue One. Not just one but many.

That said, when the characters gets killed off, I didn't feel much for them, eventhough the movie took a good 50%-60% of its running length to establish its characters. Ok, I did feel a lump in my throat when one of them perished.

The 'return' of Darth Vader was triumphant. Eventhough Director Krennic is the chief villain in this film, it is Darth Vader that steals the show with the few scenes he is in. Talk about impact. As for the rest of the cast, Diego Luna's character is equally central as Felicity Jones'. And as for Donnie Yen, it's nice to see him finally getting the kind of recognition from the West he so deserves. Overall, the diverse cast is adequate.

The big standout for me was the special effects. It is very impressive especially the dogfights and war scenes. It wasn't a disorientating mess as viewers know who's good and bad. And thank God it's not a CGI fest aka screensaver, like the ones in Ep. I, II and III. And speaking of CGI, the recreation of Grand Moff Tarkin (once again portrayed by Peter Cushing, who passed away in 1994) using CGI was a distraction for me. It reminded me of Polar Express.    

In summary, Rogue One a good standalone movie and it presents a closure on why the Empire's ultimate planet killer weapon had such an easy-to-exploit flaw. And it serves well as a companion piece to the Star Wars anthology too.

Rating: 8.5/10

MOANA (2016)

Genre: Animated
Running Length: 1:43
Cast (Voices): Auli’I Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Jermaine Clement, Temeura Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Tudyk
Director: Ron Clements & John Musker
Screenplay: Jared Bush, Ron Clements, John Musker, Pamela Pibon, Taika Waititi

MOANA is the classic hero's journey story where one must overcome a series of conflict for his/her transformation to be completed. Probably that's why it feels like a throwback to the Disney hits in the late 80s/early 90s ie The Little Mermaid, The Lion King. The storytelling is linear; punctuated with songs and memorable animal sidekicks.

The film tells a tale of Moana, a teenage Polynesian girl, who has to team up with Maui, a cocky demi-god, to save her tribe. Along her journey, they have to face coconut-shaped pirates (in an engaging sequence most likely inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road), a giant narcissistic crab and a massive lava monster.

The film’s visuals are top notch. As most of the scenes involve the sea, the animated water is really impressive. The voice cast is overall rock solid (see what I did there *smirk*) with a special nod to Jermaine Clement's jewel-encrusted vain crustacean. Also, a special shout out to the opening animated short, Inner Workings which kinda sets the theme for Moana.

Although it felt long (probably because the characters frequently break into singing songs - one of the key reason why I wasn't into Disney cartoons then), I still enjoyed it more than I should have because it's entertaining.

I just hope the Mouse Factory doesn't get lazy and continue to produce such 'retro' animated flicks or even re-hashing their classics into live action. Because their recent films such as Wreck-it Ralph and Zootopia are smart and fresh.

Rating: 7/10

APPRENTICE (2016)

Genre: Drama
Running Length: 1:36
Cast:  Fir Rahman, Wan Hanafi Su, Mastura Ahmad,
Director: Boo Junfeng
Screenplay: Boo Junfeng

"The payment of sin is death..." Romans 6:23

APPRENTICE is a Singapore produced movie which debuted at the prestigious Cannes film festival this year and is currently 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. When the credits rolled, I can understand why. Everyone in the cinema hall I was in was in total silence for a good 30 secs. I believe we were deeply affected from the 90mins+ experience. It was like we went through a spiritual experience.

The story tells of a young correctional officer (newcomer Fir Rahman) who is transferred to another prison and forms a friendship with the 60+ years old Chief "Hangmen" Executioner, played by Wan Hanifi Su (a Malaysian veteran actor). When the Chief's assistant quit because he just couldn't pull the lever, Rahman's character is asked by the Chief to be his potential successor.

This film is more than just about capital punishment and the moral dilemma our junior protagonist had to face. From the movie trailer, we are given a clue to the motive behind our protagonist's decision to join the prison. But if you were to distill it down further, it's really a story about 'atonement with the father' (you can google this term and read more about it)

In essence, our 'hero' must reconcile with the ultimate authority figure in his life. And in our story here, we are given glimpses of Rahman's character trying to cancel out a wrongdoing throughout his life by doing good deeds and also to resort himself to some act of self-punishment, thus putting himself into a self-imposed prisoner of the mind.

This poetic aspect of the story intrigued me the most. Hats off to the filmmakers wanting to challenge themselves to relate such a complicated human condition to a relatively simple premise of capital punishment of 'gantung sampai mati'. Speaking of that, there is an engagingly educational scene where the Chief explains to his apprentice the technical aspects of hanging a criminal.

In summary, this performance driven movie is very well made. Even the performances of those to be hung are extremely moving. The pacing is good as it moves the movie along effortlessly. Special shout out to the cinematographer and the sound effects crew as they were able to create an immersive sense of dread and claustrophobia.
 
There are many movies out there which highlights the life of the prisoners but never have I seen anything like Apprentice which gives special attention to the life of the guards and the prisoners' family members. This is indeed an emotionally satisfying movie.

"...but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life..." Romans 6:23

Rating: 9.5/10