INTEGRITY (廉政風雲 煙幕)

Release Date: Malaysia, 14 Feb 2019

Genre: Thriller

Running Length: 1:54

Cast:  Sean Lau Ching-wan, Nick Cheung Ka-fai, Karena Lam, Alex Fong Chung-san, Anita Yuen Wing-yi, Deep Ng

Director:  Alan Mak

Screenplay: Alan Mak

When INTEGRITY, soared to the top of the Hong Kong box office during this Lunar New Year, I had to check it out because it's not your typical type of genre to be released during the Chinese New Year period. 

The holiday period is usually reserved for light-hearted comedy family type of blockbusters, not something so serious which involves corruption, crime, money laundering and cryptocurrency. Just check out the trailer below and you'll know what I mean. 

And I was also looking forward to see Sean Lau and Anita Yuen reunite on screen after 26 years. They appeared in 1993’s C’est la vie, mon chéri <新不了情> as a pair of lovers but in this movie, Sean's character will be going head on against Anita Yuen's character in court. 

Not a spoiler: Although there is only one scene they shared together in this film, I must say it was very memorable. 

With regards to the plot, I actually don't know where to start. But I'll try. King (Sean Lau) is an anti-corruption officer in Hong Kong’s ICAC (our equivalent of MACC), who is in the heat of investigating a high-profile corruption case involving a tobacco company and the customs. A key witness, the whistle-blowing accountant Jack (Nick Cheung) who is about to appear in court decides to flee the country. Another officer Shirley (Karena Lam), is tasked to look for him. 

Sounds simple enough, right? NOooo~ 

Nothing is simple when it comes to Alan Mak, the co-director of the acclaimed Infernal Affairs trilogy and the Overheard trilogy. The plot is heavy and convoluted but thankfully fairly easy to follow (at times it tries too hard to be too smart. Reminds me of last year's Chow Yun-fat and Aaron Kwok's Project Gutenberg). 

His signature atmospheric build-up and tension with the occasional humour are all present in this film  

I am really glad that Hong Kong is not giving up and is still producing such gritty drama which relies on its intricate plotting instead of the staple gun-toting loud action scenes.  Unfortunately, the film falls apart at the end leaving me unsatisfied and questioning what's the purpose of this whole movie.

But thanks to the A-list actors, this film is more than watchable. The performances from the three main leads; Sean, Nick and Karena are very good. There is a sub-plot involving King and Shirley's relationship which I thought was a nice break from the film's weighty plot. 

Also, this movie also gave me a glimpse of the intricacies of finance and creative accounting. As the film was unspooling, I just couldn't help but compare it with our very own 1MDB scandal and the integrity of every party, big or small, who was involved in it. 

RATING: 7/10

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3 (THE HIDDEN WORLD)

Release Date: Malaysia, 31 Jan 2019

Genre: Action / Adventure / Animation

Running Length: 1:45

Cast (voices):  Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Craig Ferguson, F. Murray Abraham, Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig, Kit Harington

Director:  Dean DeBlois

Screenplay: Dean DeBlois based upon the "How to Train Your Dragon" book series by Cressida Cowell 

In this last installment of the How to Train Your Dragon series, I went in with some anxiety anticipating for the worst. If you followed part 1 and 2, you would have realized that the series creators take risk. 

In the first one, our heroes Hiccup (Baruchel) and Toothless lost their leg and tail wing respectively. And in Part 2, as Hiccup finally found his mother, his father dies! 

So, going into HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 3, I had all these thoughts in my mind, "Does Toothless die?" , "Does Hiccup die?", "Do Hiccup and Astrid get married?" 

Well, all I can reveal for now is that the character arc (the transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story) of both Hiccup and Toothless is complete in an emotionally satisfying way. 

With Hiccup as head chief now, he and Toothless (being the alpha dragon) safeguard their island and keep everyone safe, both humans and dragons. However, there is a new threat to this peaceful dragon utopia where the villagers are forced to make a decision to vacate their village.  

Meanwhile, Toothless has fallen in love with another dragon, a Light Fury. 

This is where Hidden World soars. It's such a delight to see the courtship of this cute couple, from a clumsy mating dance to a no dialogue high-flying sequence official date across the clouds and beautiful "magic hour" cinematic landscape. It's one of the most beautiful and heart warming sequence for me ever created using animation.  

The visuals in this movie is stunning and accompanying score is just perfect.  

The villain (Abraham) in this installment is also much more memorable than Part 2. I swear his demeanor and voice sounded so much like John Lithgow. 

Speaking of the non-verbal, there is this powerful moment somewhere at the end where Hiccup and Toothless communicates without any words. Such an emotional scene.   

How to Train Your Dragon 3 is a fitting ending. Much better than part two, whereas the first one was still the best. 

RATING: 8/10

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL

Release Date: Malaysia, 05 Feb 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Running Length: 2:02

Cast:  Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson

Director:  Robert Rodriguez

Screenplay: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis and Robert Rodriguez, based on the manga series "Gunnm" by Yukito Kishiro

Before going into the cinema, my expectations for ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL was set really low after what I've witnessed in the trailers. It was CGI heavy, the main lead is cosmetically CGI and the action scenes were just too loud and silly. I was prepared to be bored. I mean, just look at the unconvincing poster. C'mon!

But boy, was I BLOWN AWAY!

(But more of that later)

This movie is set in a dystopian future of the 26th century where cyborgs and humans live together in a run-down city known as Iron City. Most of them aspire to reach a utopian world known as Zalem which floats above the city (like the movie Elysium). The only way for these peasants to get to 'heaven' is to win in the violent sport of Motorball.

After being saved from the scrapyard, Alita (Salazar) was brought back to life by Dr Ido (Waltz), a cybernetic doctor. He soon becomes a father figure to the teen-aged Alita as she tries to recall her past.

This film worked for me because of Salazar's performance, the convincing CGI and the thrilling action set pieces. 

In the trailer, Alita's big eyes were creepy and distracting but thankfully, her naive but powerful personality over shadowed her appearance. One just can't help but to fall for her charm as she comes across as a fully formed believable teenage cyborg girl.  

The Iron City world is an eyeful at every frame as it's packed with details. WETA Digital, you guys did it again!

And finally, the ACTION SCENES! It's thrilling, violent and bizarre at the same time. Most of the cyborg characters are much better realized than expected. Some of them are really monstrous looking with OTT enhancements. 

Something about the action set pieces reminds me of Max Max: Fury Road . Although there isn't much blood splatter, its cartoon violence is unapologetic. It has several beheading, visceral bone crunching death scenes and a shocking scene involving a four legged *gasp*

I'm glad James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez didn't waste time in being all intellectual and cerebral on the ethics and philosophy aspects of this movie (eg. Ghost in the Shell) but went straight into producing an action-packed movie. 

As entertaining as it is, there were some jarring moments which made this movie feel like a motion picture made for tweens. Perhaps it's the cheesy dialogue, the central unconvincing romantic relationship and some cartoon-like characters. 

All in all, I felt that the filmmakers really pour out their sweat, blood and heart in bringing this movie to life on the big screen. I had a good time and it definitely exceeded my expectations (keep an eye out for a few uncredited guest appearances).

RATING: 8.5/10

THE NEW KING OF COMEDY (新喜剧之王)

Release Date: Malaysia, 05 Feb 2019

Genre: Comedy

Running Length: 1:31

Cast:  E Jingwen, Wang Baoqiang, Zhang Qi, Yuan Xingzhe, Zhang Quandan, Jing Ruyang

Director: Stephen Chow

Screenplay: Stephen Chow

Based on the main idea from his 1999 film King of Comedy, Stephen Chow's THE NEW KING OF COMEDY is not really a remake. Although both films share the same premise of a struggling extra (actor) wanting their big break into the main cast, the original film is more of a romantic comedy while this new take focuses squarely on the journey of background performer, Dreamy (newcomer E Jingwen) wanting so badly to be cast as a lead.

There are two things I really appreciate about this film: No CGI and Stephen's casting of E Jingwen.

Most of his recent movies have been heavy in CGI (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7, 2013's Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons and 2016’s The Mermaid). If you know me, I cringe whenever CGI is used in Chinese films. Because for whatever reasons, the outcome always look cheap and unbelievable. So it's very refreshing to see no heavy effects were used in this production.

And the casting of E Jingwen as the film's lead was a bold move as she doesn't have the looks of Cecilia Cheung (1999's King of Comedy) or Jelly Lin (The Mermaid). However, as the movie progressed, I was captivated by her earnest performance. There's just something very genuine about Jingwen.

So, is this movie funny? Not really.

(Not that I mind)

There are its moments but I was chuckling instead of laughing out loud. Perhaps it's the distracting Cantonese dubbing as the original language is in Mandarin. (After CJ7, Stephen has stopped acting to focus on writing and directing films for audiences in mainland China).

Or perhaps, it was done on purpose. The 1999 film had a similar tone; it was a bittersweet drama + comedy. Just like the original, I appreciated the quieter moments of its characters interacting with each other. There are two standout scenes in particular: a washed-up actor Marco (Wang Baoqiang) accepting he is no longer an A-list actor and a really moving scene at the end involving Dreamy's parents (played convincingly by Zhang Qi and Yuan Xingzhe).

All in all, eventhough I appreciate the performances of the cast, this is far from a perfect film. Its pacing is uneven and the plot is half baked. And the closure felt rushed and forced.

That said, Stephen Chow is getting better as a drama-comedy director. Or maybe, he has just mellowed over the years.

RATING: 7/10

GLASS

Release Date: Malaysia, 17 Jan 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Running Length: 2:09

Cast: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan

GLASS serves as the final installment in Shyamalan's Eastrail 177 superhero universe where Unbreakable and Split exist. We see the return of David Dunn (Willis) and his "arch enemy" Elijah Prince aka Mr Glass (Jackson), as well as Kevin Wendell Crumb (McAvoy), the "villain" who has multiple personalities.    

While 2017's Split got better and better as the movie progressed (THAT hyperventilating brief moment at the very end...YAS!), Glass was a reverse experience for me. It started out strongly but ran out of gas mid-way. 

Eventhough Shyamalan said he already had an idea of how all these 3 main characters would exist when Unbreakable was conceptualized (that was 20+ years ago), this film felt like a rushed job with a mix of half-baked ideas. 

From a performance standpoint, many have praised McAvoy's acting. As good as he is here, his performance was "same-same" to me as he was in Split. There wasn't any additional layer(s) introduced to make his character more human. At times, he just came across as a caricature. 

The poorest performance to me was from Sarah Paulson. The whole time I was think if she was played by say, Jodie Foster (think Silence of the Lambs), this movie could have seriously leveled-up.

What bothered me about this film is also its excessive exposition. Characters in the movie will be illustrating out loud their intentions and motivations. 

That said, I enjoyed the slow-burn approach to such a genre (vs any other loud and CGI heavy superhero movies) as it gives its audience time to reflect and take it in. The signature Shyamalan twist was also serviceable, although some would argue it's a little tad too silly. 

In summary, Glass offers a tidy closure to these characters. It's watchable but an underwhelming conclusion. 

  

RATING: 6.5/10