AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (Malaysia, 25 Apr 2018)

Genre: Action / Adventure
Running Length: 2:29
Cast:  Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Pratt, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Bradley Cooper, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Don Cheadle, Karen Gillan, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Wong, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista
Director: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo
Screenplay:Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely

Passage taken from the Scriptures regarding the Rapture:

"Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come."  Matthew 24:40-42

Indeed AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR was a spiritual experience for me! It felt like watching Armageddon unfold in-front of me, where the conflicts and battles are of Godly proportions. And the lives of the human race and other beings in the universe are at stake as our heroes are running out of time to save them.

What's this movie about?

Earth's mightiest heroes and other heroes from the galaxy have to team-up to prevent Thanos (Josh Brolin) from acquiring five infinity stones; which, if united, will give him so much power he could wreck the entire universe with the snap of his fingers.

What I like about this movie?

• The wait (10 years in the making) was worth it! This overall film is just one big satisfying climax. 
• Thanos. A protagonist is only as good as the antagonist. To me, this is actually Thanos' movie. He is not your traditional big bad villain who's out for power and dominion as his higher calling for his madness is definitely debatable. He's like this tragic Shakespearean figure. He's way more complex than what we've seen in the trailers. Brolin's performance here is very memorable. 
• The danger is real. I was complaining that Captain America: Civil War had no consequences whatsoever. Despite the massive trashing and bashing, no one really died. But in this movie, there are major deaths right from the start (kinda reminds me of the animated motion picture Transformers opening scene) and it sets the tone for the entire movie. Whenever Thanos appears, you know sh t is going to happen.
• The continuity is excellent. All the superheroes from Thor to the Guardians of the Galaxy carried the same style they had embodied in their standalone movies. These characters just picked up smoothly where they left off. The Russo brothers deserve high praises to be able to juggle all the different characters in this mammoth of a movie while still maintaining their unique personalities. 
• The pairing choices. It's a brilliant decision by the filmmakers to put different characters in a few core groups and sending them off in their own mini missions before getting them all back together. The choice of which hero to pair with whom made a lot of difference. For example, the banter of the egos between Iron Man (Downey Jr) and Doctor Strange (Cumberbatch) was fun to watch. 
• The battle scenes. In most Hollywood movies, one can't really see the fight scenes with all the shaky and stylistic camera work. But in this movie, you can clearly see what's going on.
• Balance. There seems to be a good balance of almost everything; a solemn mood with fun bantering, loud mindless battle scenes with quieter dramatic moments. 
• The surprising ending. There was no evil "ha ha ha" gloating. Just like that, it was all over. 

What I didn't like?

• There isn't much actually except perhaps knowing that this is a comic book movie after all. I just hope the filmmakers don't undo much of the satisfying and ballsy ending of this film in the as-of-yet unnamed "Infinity War" sequel (2019).
• Okay maybe one more. I'm sure some audience who doesn't know much about the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movies could still follow what's going on but I think they will be bored out of their mind as half of the time, they would be wondering who's who. But this film was made for the fans or at least for movie goers like me who have been following the MCU movies. 

Despite being filmed simultaneously with the sequel, Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t feel like half a movie like Hunger Games or Harry Potter. Eventhough not much is resolved, it still feels like a complete movie. One thing’s for sure, I'm eagerly anticipating the sequel!

RATING: 9/10 

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 (2017)

Genre: Action / Adventure
Running Length: 2:16
Cast: Chris Pratt, Michael Rooker, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Elizabeth Debicki, Pom Klementieff, Kurt Russell, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone
Director: James Gunn
Screenplay: James Gunn

When Vol 1 was first released in Aug 2014, I was probably the minority who didn't really enjoy it. No doubt it was a fun and bright outing but I didn't find it as humourous and engaging as most laud it to be. That's perhaps why I enjoyed GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 better as I went in with very low expectations. It's still not a very good movie but it's not terrible either.

I realised it's probably because I am unable to appreciate writer and director James Gunn's sense of humour. His jokes are politically incorrect and somewhat childish (just check out his YouTube's shorts - PG Porn). Eventhough it has more pointless gags this round, fortunately, some of it does lead somewhere when it's explained at a later stage (like why Cooper's Rocket always behaves likes an a-hole)

Although Vol. 2 is significantly more CGI heavy, I'm glad Gunn also doubled down on the character development too. Vol. 1 focused on assembling a group of misfits to save the galaxy and as a result, I didn't know much back story of most of the team. But this round, there are more quite moments where the characters are given more breathing space to reveal their vulnerabilities. As a result, I care more for the characters especially Michael Rooker's Yondu and Karen Gillan's Nebula.

The final emotional scene with Cat Steven's Father And Son soundtrack - that was where everything landed beautifully.

There are a few standout action set pieces especially the introduction scene with Baby Groot doing an impromptu dance routine and Yondu's escape. As I'm not too familiar with the songs used here compared to Vol. 1, I didn't really dig it much here. In conclusion, eventhough Vol. 2 delivers more of the same provided by its predecessor, it doesn't feel like a retread. 

RATING: 6.5/10

STAR TREK BEYOND (2016)

Genre: Science Fiction / Action
Running Length: 2.00
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella
Director: Justin Lin
Screenplay: Simon Pegg & Doug Jung

I was neither a big fan of Star Trek nor Star Wars series. But I leaned towards the latter because light sabers are just too cool. Well let's put it this way, Star Wars is about a war and Star Trek is about trekking the galaxy for the purpose of exploration. And war stories are always grander in scope and the agenda is clear; good guys vs bad guys. Thus, the premise of showing the day-to-day life on the Enterprise and the crew contemplating whether to engage with foreign regimes or not seems boring...until now.

Well, the first act of STAR TREK BEYOND does just that by looking at the reality of the everyday life on the starship. Even Captain Kirk himself is questioning his purpose as the captain of the ship because, "Things are starting to feel a little...episodic, " he confesses.

But when the second act kicks in, it goes up a notch. The Captain and his crew are attacked by Krall (Alba), a vicious enemy. As a result, the USS Enterprise crashes (yet again) into our deadly enemy's territory and the main crew are separated. It is in this process of finding each other and rescuing the rest of the crew, the audience is treated to some nice character development. The highlight to me is the amazing chemistry between Urban and Quinto's character as they had to lean-on each other to survive. A shout out to Urban who usually plays tough action hero characters because in this installment, his Bones character is fully fleshed out and his against type casting as a "doctor and not a fighter" is just perfect.

Speaking of casting, many critics have argued that Idris Alba is wasted as the main villain because he is buried under all the prosthetic. But when his character's motivation is revealed, I personally felt his casting was worthwhile.    

And when the movie finally kicks into warp drive in its third act, it goes into full on explosive Justin Lin's Fast & Furious mode. In fact, now I can fully appreciate how clever it is for the marketing team to use "it" for its first trailer. Many may argue for its sheer ridiculousness but I love it!

All in all, Star Trek Beyond should appeal to the mainstream audience without alienating fans of the Star Trek series. Although it seems to draw more inspiration from Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of its treatment, I'm not complaining because this film is much more fun compared to its predecessors. And it has a good balance of piling up the action and focusing on the relationships within the crew. The humanity element which defines this series is respectfully kept in this sequel as it explores the vision of what society could become in the future if humanity learned from its past mistakes...or do not.

Rating: 8.5/10

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

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)

Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure
Running Length: 2:02
Cast:Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel (voice), Bradley Cooper (voice), Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin
Director: James Gunn

I was so looking forward to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and really wanted to enjoy this film – it seems to be a fun movie, has quirky characters, looks visually good but most of all, I was extremely curious to know more about this non-"household name" group of superheroes from the Marvel universe. But it's over-frenetic and not as witty as I imagined it to be. The CGI was over powering. And the plot involves some all-powerful orb which everybody wants is riddled with inconsistencies and a tad bloated. Thankfully, the characters develop a nice rapport and the '70s and '80s songs used was a nice touch. Speaking of characters, the cast is well chosen except the main baddie (Ronan played by Lee Pace) who isn't as nasty as I wished him to be. However, Josh Brolin's interpretation of Thanos (who makes a short appearance here) made me wish that he, instead of Ronan, had been the main villain. And finally the resolution; some may argue that it's anti-climatic and corny but I thought that was genuinely the funniest (and smartest) scene in the movie. (It reminded me of the same kind of irreverent humour used in Stephen Chow's Out Of The Dark climatic scene. Sue me...I'm corny)

Rating: 6/10