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

BLOOD FATHER (2016)

Genre: Thriller / Action
Running Length: 1:28
Cast:  Mel Gibson, Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, Michael Parks, William H. Macy
Director: Jean-François Richet
Screenplay; Peter Craig, Andrea Berloff

I can now understand why BLOOD FATHER was made for VOD and has a limited theatrical release in the US and other countries (I watched it in the smallest hall in Berjaya Times Square). Eventhough the critics are praising this movie and has voiced out that it should have been given a proper cinema-wide release, I personally disagree.

To be fair, one thing this B-grade movie has working for it is - the significant presence of Mel Gibson. Without him as the lead, this movie is overall sh*t. His character is believable because he's practically playing himself; a recovering alcoholic with a colourful past prone to be a loose cannon when provoked. It's as though Mel Gibson is using this film to make up for his past sins.

The plot is along the same lines as Taken (in a desert setting) where Gibson's character has to go against a violent gang to save his estranged daughter. The movie gets really good when Gibson gives in to his rage and is willing to go for broke to save her girl. Unfortunately, there are just a handful of such showdowns throughout its lean running time.

There are some nice funny bantering moments between father and daughter but overall, it's just not cinematic enough to resuscitate Gibson's acting career. C'mon Quentin Tarantino, the king of career resurrection, please do something with Mel Gibson already!

Rating: 5.5/10

THE BOOK OF LIFE (2014)

Genre: Animated
Running Length: 1:35
Cast (Voice): Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, Ice Cube, Kate del Castillo, Hector Elizondo
Director: Jorge R. Gutierrez

Ahhh..."death", one of my favourite subjects. To be specific, it's actually the concept of mortality explored in films that has always fascinated me. So it was with great expectations I went into THE BOOK OF LIFE, an animated film (targeted at young audiences) which used Mexico's Day of the Dead celebration as the canvas to paint its story. Although it's heavily sugar coated, I must say this movie is surprisingly effective in exploring the serious subject of death. Although the narrative has many layers; the main story is actually told by a museum tour guide to a group of kids and the story narrated has 3 worlds with many characters crossing over from one world to another, it was actually quite easy to follow. However, the plot could have benefited with a "less is more" treatment as towards the second half, it was trying very hard to jam packed the remaining minutes with almost everything from the Pixar playbook; being true to yourself, sacrifice, friendship, forgiveness etc. If the writers could have just focused on the romantic triangle plot and perhaps dive deeper into the subject of mortality, it would have been a much better viewing experience. And speaking of that, this is indeed an experiential movie. The landscape is bright and colorful even though it's filled with skeletons and skulls. The characters (especially the supporting cast) are strangely shaped and odd-sized but compelling nevertheless. And the song choices are inspired and creative, especially the recognizable pop songs which are sung with a dash of Mexican flair and passion.

(The desire to experience Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations has just gone up a few notch in my bucket list!)

Rating: 7/10