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

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE

Malaysia Release Date: 25 Jan 2018

Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure 

Running Length: 2:22

Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Rosa Salazar, Will Poulter, Aidan Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, Patricia Clarkson, Walton Goggins

Director: Wes Ball

Screenplay: T.S. Nowlin, based on the novel by James Dashner 

MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE is a good send-off to conclude the Maze Runner trilogy. To be fair, the bar wasn't set very high with the first and second one, so I was pleasantly surprise at the grand-ness of this third and final installment. 

What I liked about this film is its action set pieces. At get-go, it opens with a spectacular train rescue mission (felt like it was taken out from a scene in the later Fast and Furious movies) and the action doesn't stop there. It keeps piling up right to its fiery ending. In terms of performances, only one stood out - Dylan O'Brien. Together with the recent American Assassin, O'Brien is shaping up to be a potential action star. There's still room for improvement but I must say, he gives his all into every scene.  

What I didn't like? Way too much action scenes and unnecessary plots. This film is bloated. Clocking in at 2:22, it felt like a 4 hour movie. Some action scenes are so out there you just can't help but to chuckle a little. Although the filmmakers tried to balance it out with some Korean-drama-type emotional scenes, it just didn't really work for me. And what irritated me were the tropes (it came in spades) especially towards the end of the movie. There were so many moments I went, "Wait for it...this and that will happen" and BAM, it did! 

All in all, I must say the Maze Runner series is a much more consistent outing compared to the Hunger Games franchise. While the latter started off with a bang but spluttered to a halt by the time it came to its conclusion, the former kept chugging along.

RATING: 7/10

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS (2015)

Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure
Running Length: 2:08
Cast:  Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Ki Hong Lee, Jacob Lofland, Rosa Salazar, Aidan Gillen, Giancarlo Esposito, Barry Pepper, Lili Taylor, Patricia Clarkson
Director: Wes Ball
Screenplay: T.S. Nowlin, based on the novel by James Dashner 

"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:24 

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS touches on the age-old question of whether is it right to sacrifice a small group of people to save the larger population? Just like the rest of the post-apocalyptic YA novels adapted to the big screen, this sequel expands its universe beyond the "maze" in the first movie.

This movie starts where The Maze Runner ended with our protagonist (O'Brien) and his fellow survivors are being taken to a secured location with the promise of a ticket to the promised land. Of course, not all is what it seems. And our survivors are on the run again. Although not quite like the maze we saw in the first film, but the "playground" now has expanded to include crawling through air vents, running away from zombie-like creatures through tunnels and fallen buildings and surviving severe weather conditions. The filmmakers have definitely amped-up the action sequences and some scenes are near terrifying (think Resident Evil). 

Although there are some interesting characters added to the group in this second installment, it still doesn't fare very well in the acting department. Compared to The Hunger Games franchise, the performance here rivals the bad acting we see in soap operas.

To be fair, I like what they did thematically with where all these are going, and I was genuinely entertained. However just like snacking on junk food, I was tricked to feeling full - it was just not as satisfying as a healthy gourmet dinner.

Rating: 6.5/10