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

Review: SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Release Date: Malaysia, 07 Dec 2018

Genre: Animated / Adventure

Running Length: 1:57

Cast (Voices): Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Kimiko Glenn, John Mulaney, Nicolas Cage, Kathryn Hahn, Liev Schreiber

Director: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman 

Screenplay: Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, based on characters created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko 

What's this movie about? 

The animated SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE tells the tale of how Brooklyn local teenager Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) becomes the new Spider-Man. 

As he discovers his super powers, he crosses path with other "Spider-Man" from multiple alternate universe.

Highlights and Lowlights

In all honesty, there isn't many lowlights. If I need to nitpick, then I must say the villain in this movie, Kingpin (Schreiber) isn't all that bad-ass. He is freakishly king-sized here but somewhat not menacing enough. 

The main highlight to me is of course the animation. It's a breakthrough! I can't even describe what style of animation it is; 3D? 2D? Hand-drawn? Stop motion? (the animators even played with the frame rates). Here's the official music video with clips from the movie - watch it and you'll get what I mean.

I'm glad the filmmakers didn't rush Morales' into accepting his new found super powers. In fact, he goes through many moments of push and pull before he truly accepts his new responsibility. He only donned his costume in the final act. 

And this movie is funny! The jokes are smart and self-referencing aka The Lego Batman style. Spider-Man Noir (voiced by Nicholas Cage) steals the show everytime he appears on screen.  

In summary

When I watched the trailer to SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE months ago, I was mind blown with the animation. I have not seen anything like that before. 

However, I was a little hesitant walking into this movie because there are already so many versions of Spider-Man on the big screen over the recent years. I was thinking, "This origin movie may just be another one of those forgettable style over substance outing."

THANKFULLY NO!

Not only this movie is the best animated motion picture of 2018 but it's also the BEST big screen Spider-Man to date!

The animation is a feast to the eyes. The best way to describe the experience is like you're watching a living comic book. 

Eventhough this version introduced many "Spider-Man" from the different parallel universe, the plot doesn't lose sight of the origin story of Miles Morales. When Miles' Spider-Man is fully formed and realized at the end, his hero moment was so much more impactful than Aquaman's emergence from the waterfall scene. 

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is an action film with a strong comedic overtones - the self-referential satire type. But it doesn't afraid to get serious either. 

This movie is a blast from start to finish (the trippiness starts right from the beginning with the Columbia Pictures' iconic Torch Lady to the hilarious post-credit scene)!

RATING: 9/10

HIDDEN FIGURES (2017)

Genre: Drama / Comedy
Running Length: 2:07
Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, Glen Powell
Director: Theodore Melfi
Screenplay: Allison Schroder and Theodore Melfi, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly

HIDDEN FIGURES' second half is a much more interesting watch than its first half. Granted that the filmmakers needed to quickly establish the context of this true story, I felt they were too heavy-handed in delivering the message of race and gender equality. I've seen some films which were more subtle in dealing with this subject but yet still gets the message across effectively and powerfully. In this movie, we have forceful dialogues like, "Here at NASA, we all pee the same colour!"

This movie which is set in the early 1960s, tells the untold tale of three African-American ladies who had to fight an uphill battle of racism and feminism at NASA to put the first American into space. I'm not sure how accurate this based on real events film is but I'm pretty sure the filmmakers took some liberty in the narrative especially our unsung heroes' private lives.

And speaking of that, the NASA scenes are much more engaging than the side plots revolving around their personal lives. Somehow, the performance of our trio is more authentic in the work place vs those segments revolving around their home life.

Performance wise, the filmmakers have assembled a strong cast. Our protagonists give solid performance and the supporting cast is serviceable especially Costner. He does seem to get better as he ages. There is this rather peculiar and prolonged segment where we see Taraji's character dashing half a mile in high heels in a cartoonish manner to the bathroom. After a while, it felt like one of those, "Ok, I get it. Now get on with it already, will ya?" segments but the resolution to it is by far the movie's most satisfying scene.

Overall a light-hearted and feel-good drama which tells how race played an important role in the US vs Soviet space race in the 1960s.

RATING: 7.5/10