Review: FIRST MAN

Release Date: Malaysia, 18 Oct 2018

Genre: Drama / Adventure

Running Length: 2:21

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll

Director: Damien Chazelle 

Screenplay: Josh Singer, based on "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" by James Hansen 

What's this movie about?
FIRST MAN follows the story of astronaut Neil Armstrong on his journey to become the first man to walk on the moon in 1969.

Not only it focuses on the years leading up to that historical moment, this film also offers an intimate behind-the-scenes on his relationship with his family and what goes through his mind.

Highlights and Lowlights
Despite being a film about space adventure, I'm so glad the filmmakers didn't turn this into a special effects-loaded production. Most of the "space" scenes are from the POV of the astronauts inside the ship. And wow, David Bowie singing "Am I sitting in a tin can" in Space Oddity really rang true for those sequences!

And the moon scene is truly jaw-dropping.

In summary

Damien Chazelle's Whiplash left me breathless and it was one of the highest rated films of 2015 for me. His follow-up La La Land - man, the final act sucker punched me in the gut.

So it was with great anticipation I had for FIRST MAN, his third film. But somehow, the experience left me...emotionally detached.

I couldn't figure out what's wrong because this is a very accomplished film with good performances and technical achievement. Thus, I concluded that "it's not you, it's me". I am the problem. (Perhaps it's because I have never had any interest in the space race or even astronomy.)

That said, at least this movie sparked off some kind of interest to find out more about the Cold War. 

RATING: 7/10

EVEREST (2015)

Genre: Adventure/Drama
Running Length: 2:01
Cast: Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emily Watson, Kiera Knightley, Michael Kelly, Naoko Mori, Sam Worthington
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Screenplay: William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy

"Mother Nature may be forgiving this year, or next year, but eventually she's going to come around and whack you." Geraldo Rivera 

 

Do not be tricked into thinking that EVEREST will leave you breathless with stunning visuals and edge-of-your-seat suspense. At least that's what the trailer attempts to communicate. This is no Cliffhanger action adventure movie. Yes, the visual of Mount Everest is majestic, but this movie is more of a man-versus-nature genre. The film reminds us again that mother nature doesn't care about heroism, kindness, friendship, your family or your pregnant wife. She doesn't play by the rules.

 

Based on a true story, this film chronologized a group of climbers' expedition to the mountain's summit in 1996. Of course, not everyone made it down safely. So if you've no prior background to what really happened (who made it, and who didn't), please leave it that way when you walk into the cinema. The emotional payout will be better. 

 

And speaking of that, this movie needs to be experienced on the big screen and not on TV or worse, a tablet/phone. As good as the top notch cast are (given that their characters are fairly one-dimensional), the true stars of the movie are the director of photography, the visual effects people and of course, the mountain ranges. Audience will certainly feel like they are right there, experiencing the somber tragedy of the mountain slowly becoming the executioner and tomb for certain climbers. Although I caught the movie on the normal 2-D version, I'm pretty sure the IMAX 3D version would be more immersive.

 

As one of the characters in the movie said, "The mountain will always have the last say". 

 

Rating: 8/10

TERMINATOR: GENISYS (2015)

Genre: Science Fiction/Action

Running Length: 2:05

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Matt Smith

Director: Alan Taylor

Screenplay: Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier

TERMINATOR: GENISYS ignores the existence of Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation, and sets itself up as a direct sequel of The Terminator and T2: Judgement Day. In fact, it follows so closely to the storyline established by James Cameron that some (younger) audience may find it difficult to follow without having seen the earlier installments. Case in point, the guy sitting next to me in the cinema was providing an express back story to his young-ish girlfriend throughout the film. You know this guy was in for a ride when his gf asked him at the start of the movie, "So, Arnold is a robot-ah?" -__-

Sorry, I digressed. 

So, is this movie any good? Sadly, it's pretty bad. I was hoping it to be a "Jurassic World" where it was an updated version for today's generation while keeping the heart of the original intact. Heck, they even threw in a T-1000 in police uniform for nostalgia. But it just didn't work. To be fair, it tries to reboot the franchise by messing up the timelines (think Back to The Future 2) and having a major twist to the origins of the story. However, the more I kept thinking about it, the more headache inducing I became. James Cameron's Terminator series has a sense of realism to it ie. it can happen in today's context. Its memorable action scenes has a sense of clear and present danger; remember the cop shop killing spree and the lorry vs the little dirt bike viaduct chase scene? In GENISYS, the action is so CGI heavy it's boring; everything gets blown up and helicopters can pull 360 degree flips under bridges. Yawn. 

GENISYS is blessed with a diverse cast. Emilia Clarke's Sarah Connor is serviceable and her presence should attract a legion of Game of Thrones fans while former Doctor Who's Matt Smith should bring along his fan base as well. But this is Arnold Schwarzenegger's show through and through. He is the face of the franchise. Without his presence, this movie will be an outright disaster. The best one-liners, the best fight scenes, and even the film's comedy are reserved for Schwarzenegger. The only time this movie entertains is when Ah-nuld is doing his thing. I think the movie could have benefited if the filmmakers took time to weave the theme of predestination paradox into the storyline (A predestination paradox, also called a causal loop, is a paradox of time travel. A time traveler attempting to alter the past, intentionally or not, would only be fulfilling his role in creating history as we know it, not changing it. It's another way of saying whatever has happened was meant to happen. If it's meant to be, it will be)

Rating: 5.5/10

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DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2014)

Genre: Science Fiction / Adventure
Running Length: 2:10
Cast: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kirk Acevedo, Nick Thurston
Director: Matt Reeves

"The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own." - Aldous Huxley

In the latest Planet Of The Apes installment, DAWN OF THE PLANETS OF THE APES, the lesson of decisions and actions have consequences is explored in a tough and uncompromising way. While there are some solid action sequences, this motion picture defies the common notions of what is expected from a "summer" film. The narrative is structured like a Shakespearean tragedy; it's about love and hate, peace and war, freedom and fear - where the characters are conflicted to choose the values they are against in order to achieve the results they desire eg. in order to keep the peace, one has no choice but to fight. This film is so realistic and documentary-like (with regards to how most wars are started and fought) I didn't feel at any one time I was watching a bunch of humans interacting with CGI. And speaking of humans and CGI, DAWN is far more superior in every aspect compared to its immediate predecessor Rise of The Planet of the Apes. Besides having more depth and breadth in the narrative, the human characters here are more developed compared to the forgettable cardboard-like folks in Rise. Also, the personalities of the apes are fleshed out very well. There are some tender moments shared between apes and humans which would move even the hardest of hearts. That said, to fully appreciate DAWN, one should watch Rise first. A few words must be written about the amazing contribution of Andy Serkis for making Caesar the most compelling character in the movie despite very little dialogue (his eyes and mannerism are stunningly life-like). Caesar is a remarkable creation of human acting and CGI. While DAWN boast some big-name human stars, make no mistake – Serkis is the star. It's refreshing to see a big-budget summer movie that's more interested in telling a story than bombarding the audience with carnage, explosions and deafening sound effects.

Rating: 9/10