Due to the pandemic, there will be no full movie review post until the cinema re-opens again. As most of you know, my reviews on this blog page are primarily movies I've seen in the local cinema (yes, a few Netflix movies would occasionally slip in).
You see, watching a movie in a cinema is a way for me to honour the filmmakers' dream and hard work. I could go on and on to point out the differences of watching a movie in the cinema hall vs at home. But that will be for another day.
But for now, if you would still like to read my reviews on streaming movies (and even series), you can follow me on Kausern Movie Reactions on Twitter. It's a condensed version of the typical review with more focus on my reactions.
Cast: Adam Sandler, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, Lakeith Stanfield, Eric Bogosian, Judd Hirsch
Director: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Screenplay: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein
The backdrop that UNCUT GEMS transpires against is not new - the gemstone industry. But the way this movie unfolds is refreshing.
The pace is relentless with shady characters and con artist talking and shouting on top of each other at any one time. I was trying hard to understand what was going on 10 percent into the movie and my head wanted to explode. I wanted to scream, "WTF is going on??! Can all of you just SHUT UP!!!"
But if you can power through and not be distracted by pausing or fast forwarding or even walking to the fridge to get something (since this is streaming on Netflix), the payoff is worth it.
Gemstone dealer Howard Ratner (Sandler) is the film’s high-strung protagonist who likes to live on the edge and is always on the verge of an eruption. He is a womanizer, compulsive gambler and all-around crook. Howard is pinning all his hopes on an Ethiopian opal that would get him out out of his debt situation. Throughout the film, he is a ticking time bomb.
This is one of those rare gems of a movie that almost everything about it, from the directing to the acting and the technical aspects of it, is flawless. Adam Sandler received so many critical praises for his performance here I had to check it out (I'm never a big fan of Adam). If I'm one of the film studio executives, I wouldn't be able to imagine Sandler in this role, "C'mon, this role is totally out of his league!"
It’s a tough part for anyone to pull off, but Sandler nails it. His character is repulsive but yet, oddly charismatic. I can't help but to root for him.
Set in New York in 2012, the Safdie Brothers successfully captures the overwhelming and chaotic energy of the city with the extreme close-ups of the characters, intentional haphazard editing and its synthesized score.
This movie is uncompromising, stressful and exhausting - but a very necessary watch.
Cast: Donnie Yen, Niki Chow, Teresa Mo Sun Kwan, Wong Jing, Louis Cheung
Director: Kenji Tanigaki, Wong Jing
Screenplay: Wong Jing, Lui Koon-nam, Ronald Chan Kin-hung
ENTER THE FAT DRAGON is a throwback to the good old days of Hong Kong movies released during the Lunar New Year. It's entertaining, funny, features recognizable cameos, has a good message and of course, a happy ending. What's missing is probably the main cast appearing at the end credits wishing the audience all the good sayings during this festive season.
The plot is fairly easy to follow. After getting dumped by his fiance (Niki Chow) and coupled with an unfortunate demotion to the basement evidence room, supercop Fallon Zhu (Donnie Yen) copes by stuffing his face. As a result, he gains massive weight (but yet, he is still agile and can pack a punch and a mean kick).
In order to redeem himself back to the squad, he agreed to take on a simple assignment of escorting a Japanese convict back to Japan. But of course, nothing goes according to plan and soon, chaos ensues with the Yakuza thrown into the mix.
There are no particular standout action scenes in this movie but overall, the kung-fu scenes are well choreographed and it comes in think and fast. There is no notable difference between Yen in a fat suit fighting bad guys vs Yen without the fat suit fighting bad guys. In fact, fat Yen's punches are much more powerful, often sending the baddies flying through the air during the brawl scenes.
One would expect the filmmakers here to pay homage to classic Bruce Lee movies, but instead, they chose to reference some of Donnie Yen's own classic fight scenes from movies such as SPL and Flash Point. And the outcome is LOL hilarious!
Enter The Fat Dragon will not go down as one of the must-see movies of Donnie Yen but if you have 2 hours to spare and some pocket money to get some popcorn and soda, you'll have a good time at the cinema.
Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Paola Nunez, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Kate del Castillo, Jacob Scipio
Director: Adil El Arbi, Billal Fallah
Screenplay: Chris Bremmer and Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan
BAD BOYS FOR LIFE Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are back. This time round, the buddy-buddy duo cops involuntarily got themselves involved with the Mexican gangsters led by a mother and son team. The long and short of it, they want Mike dead.
I really hated what Michael Bay did with Bad Boys II almost 18 years ago. I enjoyed the first Bad Boys movie but Michael Bay really turned on his Bayhem for the sequel. It was too long, the humour was offensive, the violence was gratuitous and the directing was pompous. It just left a bad taste in my mouth.
So when the 3rd one was released recently after almost two decades, I was hesitant to watch it especially after its unexciting trailer.
But I'm glad to say it was...OK. Let's just say the story justifies bringing back these characters. Although it looks and feels like a Michael Bay movie; the rolling on the ground in slow motion and the signature camera circling our two heroes, directors Adil and Billal managed to successfully craft out something they can proudly call their own.
Thank God the action scenes are coherent and the amount of violence is just...nice (?). There is enough room to breathe from one action scene to another.
The chemistry between Smith and Lawrence felt a little rusty in the beginning but over the course of the movie, they were their Bad Boys self again.
The filmmakers also did something fresh with the villain this time. In the last two movies, the villains were forgettable, but for part 3, they managed to tie in the villain with Mike's character. As a result, I could feel that the stakes were higher this round and we get to know Will Smith's character better.
All in all, it was entertaining enough for me to want to go another round with these boys if they are ever going to ride again.
The story is simple. The date is April 6, 1917, World War I.
A British
battalion is about to walk into a trap set by the Germans that will result to a potential 1,600
casualties. As the phone lines are cut, two young British soldiers; Blake (Chapman) and Schofield (MacKay), are tasked to cross through No-Man's Land and enemy territory by foot to deliver this message to this battalion in order to prevent these soldiers from their imminent death. As the caption of the poster says: Time is the enemy.
The style with which Mendes and award winning cinematographer Roger Deakins have chosen to film 1917 is to employ a seemingly unbroken single-take from the start of the movie right to the very end. Whether it's a valiant or vain approach, I'll leave it to your opinion.
With this approach, it pulls the viewers into the thick of the action when our two young soldiers travel from point A to point B. Viewers will feel as though they "are there" in real time, which lends a real sense of tension and dread.
Speaking of action, there isn't many battle scenes but what this film does really well is capturing the aftermath of trench warfare. We see the remains of human bodies (many of them in pieces and are bloated) and animals lying in the mud, and are eaten by rats.
From a technical perspective, the score is crucial in
certain scenes to heighten the danger, but thankfully, it doesn't dominate. A standing
ovation for the set designers as the set pieces are so meticulously period-accurate.
In conclusion, this movie feels almost like Dunkirk. Just like the Christopher Nolan's movie, it's technically superior. But what 1917 lacked is the emotional payout that Dunkirk delivered in the final scene. I can't help but to view this film as a theme park ride through a trench warfare, because it does feel that way.
Cast: Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Danny Chan Kwok-kwan, Vanness
Wu, Wu Yue, Chris Collins, Kent Cheng
Director: Wilson Yip
Screenplay: Edmond Wong, Dana Fukazawa, Chan Tai Lee & Jil
Leung Lai Yin
IP MAN 4: THE FINALE is indeed the concluding chapter of the popular Ip Man franchise which started way back in 2008 and have since created many spin offs and alternate versions in the last ten years. For the uninitiated, this saga is an inspired version (not exactly autobiographical) of the life of Ip Man, the famed teacher of the the Wing Chun style of martial arts and of course, the sifu of the legendary Bruce Lee.
The year is 1964, and Ip Man (Donnie Yen) makes a trip to San Francisco from Hong Kong with the purpose of enrolling his teenager son in a school there. Due to the problems of immigration, he soon finds out it's not so easy to get a place in the local schools and he needs to engage the chairman (Wu Yue) of the Chinese Benevolent Association from Chinatown to write him a recommendation letter. The chairman is not so co-operative because he is unhappy with Ip Man's student Bruce Lee (Danny Chan) for teaching martial arts to non-Chinese. And the plot also include a racist Marine officer (Scott Adkins), intolerance towards immigrants and finding your passion.
Yeah, it's a mixed bag to be honest but just like all the earlier entries, it's really an excuse to showcase a collection of
martial art duels. In terms of fight choreography, the hand-to-hand fights here are the weakest compared to the earlier episodes. To be fair, all the scenes were serviceable but none were memorable.
I was expecting an emotional "send off" since this is the finale, but I was actually more moved by Ip Man 3.
As for the performances, I still cannot brain how come Caucasians who appear in HK movies always end up as caricatures. Their dialogue are always cringe-worthy and their acting; over-the-top. No different here. I guess it's just a poor understanding on the filmmakers' end on how they view the "ang mohs". Now, who's the racist here?
A big shout-out to Danny Chan's impression as Bruce Lee. He perfectly captures Bruce Lee's charisma, swagger and his signature moves. Danny is a refreshing highlight.
The Ip Man movies have always been about nationalistic triumphs. So, it's pretty obvious the filmmakers of this movie were going for the social commentary angle aimed at the bigotry of the Trump-era. Unfortunately, it's heavy handed here. Thankfully, there is a heartfelt montage from the previous three films at the end which saved Ip Man 4 from being a below average finale.
Release Date: Malaysia, 19 Dec 2019
Genre: Science Fiction / Adventure
Running Length: 2:21
Cast: Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Carrie
Fisher, Joonas Suotamo, Anthony Daniels, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Billy
Dee Williams, Ian McDiarmid
Director: J.J. Abrams
Screenplay: Chris Terrio & J.J. Abrams, based on
characters created by George Lucas
The next paragraph is really not a spoiler if you've seen the trailer. But if you want to watch STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, the finale of the Skywalker saga, without knowing anything at all, then please turn away.
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Still here? Ok, here's the iconic opening crawl of this movie that will set the audience up pretty nicely for the following 2 hours+:
EPISODE IX THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
The dead speak! The galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast,
a threat of REVENGE in the sinister voice of the late EMPEROR PALPATINE.
GENERAL LEIA ORGANA dispatches secret agents to gather
intelligence, while REY, the last hope of the Jedi, trains for battle against
the diabolical FIRST ORDER.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader KYLO REN rages in search of the
phantom Emperor, determined to destroy any threat to his power…
(Actually for geeks out there, this "mysterious broadcast" was revealed much earlier in Fortnite (yes, the game!). And here's the message)
I am aware that fans and professional reviewers worldwide are shredding this movie into pieces at this very moment. As for me, I actually enjoyed it. It's not life-defining or anything of that sorts. I mean it's Star Wars after all.
Then it dawned upon me that I'm not a die-hard Star Wars fan after all. I mean I know the characters and the overall folklore lah but I could never really remember the storyline from any of the installment. (Perhaps, I'm just not into epic fantasy trilogies and series like The Lord of The Rings, Game of Thrones etc)
However, what I do like about the Star Wars series were all present in The Rise of Skywalker. Stormtroopers? Checked. The Force on display? Checked. Weird creatures? Checked. X-wings and Tie Fighters dogfights? Checked. Epic lightsaber duels? Double triple checked.
I mean this movie is like watching my favourite band in concert playing all of the crowd-pleasing greatest hits as their tens of thousands of fans sing-along.
Abrams really displays a firm understanding on the power of
nostalgia. He really knows what the fans want. "Forget about the plot. Just focus on creating sweeping and breathtaking epic scenes. And remember to pepper the scenes with familiar faces!" Greatest Hits indeed.
To be fair, there is a story, of course. But as mentioned, it just consists of a bunch of events and, if you
pause long enough to think through the plot, it falls apart very quickly. Probably that's why this movie is currently rated barely fresh at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes.
I think the biggest mistake Disney made with this "new" trilogy (Episode VII, VIII, IX) was to have different directors to bring forth their unique vision for the episode they helm. I mean as terrible as the "first" trilogy (Episode I, II, III) was, at least it was consistent because it was written and directed by the same person. Just look at what Johnson did with The Last Jedi?? I think all he wanted was to disrupt the
entire Skywalker saga. Thankfully J.J. Abrams of Episode VII The Force Awakens is back to helm the finale.
Hence, that's why I think J.J. Abrams and his team really tried and did the best way they knew how with what was handed to them after the disastrous The Last Jedi and of course, the unexpected demise of Carrie Fisher. For better or worse, I'm glad the Skywalker saga is over. Disney, please move on and tell other Star Wars stories.
