ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (2016)

Genre: Science Fiction / Adventure
Running Length: 2:13
Cast: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Alan Tudyk, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen,
Director: Gareth Edwards
Screenplay: Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta, based on characters created by George Lucas

ROGUE ONE is better than Force Awakens, not because the former is more superior but it's because the end product feels unrestrained. Probably the filmmakers do not feel overly pressurized to fit their story into the Skywalker saga. One do not really need to fully understand the universe that George Lucas has created in his trilogies to enjoy this movie.

For Star Wars fans, Rogue One is packed with easter eggs. Thankfully it wasn't distracting but more like a wink to its legion of followers. As for the narrative itself, it's a grittier fare than one would expect because this film has more "war" than "star" ie space opera. People die in Rogue One. Not just one but many.

That said, when the characters gets killed off, I didn't feel much for them, eventhough the movie took a good 50%-60% of its running length to establish its characters. Ok, I did feel a lump in my throat when one of them perished.

The 'return' of Darth Vader was triumphant. Eventhough Director Krennic is the chief villain in this film, it is Darth Vader that steals the show with the few scenes he is in. Talk about impact. As for the rest of the cast, Diego Luna's character is equally central as Felicity Jones'. And as for Donnie Yen, it's nice to see him finally getting the kind of recognition from the West he so deserves. Overall, the diverse cast is adequate.

The big standout for me was the special effects. It is very impressive especially the dogfights and war scenes. It wasn't a disorientating mess as viewers know who's good and bad. And thank God it's not a CGI fest aka screensaver, like the ones in Ep. I, II and III. And speaking of CGI, the recreation of Grand Moff Tarkin (once again portrayed by Peter Cushing, who passed away in 1994) using CGI was a distraction for me. It reminded me of Polar Express.    

In summary, Rogue One a good standalone movie and it presents a closure on why the Empire's ultimate planet killer weapon had such an easy-to-exploit flaw. And it serves well as a companion piece to the Star Wars anthology too.

Rating: 8.5/10

MOANA (2016)

Genre: Animated
Running Length: 1:43
Cast (Voices): Auli’I Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Jermaine Clement, Temeura Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Tudyk
Director: Ron Clements & John Musker
Screenplay: Jared Bush, Ron Clements, John Musker, Pamela Pibon, Taika Waititi

MOANA is the classic hero's journey story where one must overcome a series of conflict for his/her transformation to be completed. Probably that's why it feels like a throwback to the Disney hits in the late 80s/early 90s ie The Little Mermaid, The Lion King. The storytelling is linear; punctuated with songs and memorable animal sidekicks.

The film tells a tale of Moana, a teenage Polynesian girl, who has to team up with Maui, a cocky demi-god, to save her tribe. Along her journey, they have to face coconut-shaped pirates (in an engaging sequence most likely inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road), a giant narcissistic crab and a massive lava monster.

The film’s visuals are top notch. As most of the scenes involve the sea, the animated water is really impressive. The voice cast is overall rock solid (see what I did there *smirk*) with a special nod to Jermaine Clement's jewel-encrusted vain crustacean. Also, a special shout out to the opening animated short, Inner Workings which kinda sets the theme for Moana.

Although it felt long (probably because the characters frequently break into singing songs - one of the key reason why I wasn't into Disney cartoons then), I still enjoyed it more than I should have because it's entertaining.

I just hope the Mouse Factory doesn't get lazy and continue to produce such 'retro' animated flicks or even re-hashing their classics into live action. Because their recent films such as Wreck-it Ralph and Zootopia are smart and fresh.

Rating: 7/10

APPRENTICE (2016)

Genre: Drama
Running Length: 1:36
Cast:  Fir Rahman, Wan Hanafi Su, Mastura Ahmad,
Director: Boo Junfeng
Screenplay: Boo Junfeng

"The payment of sin is death..." Romans 6:23

APPRENTICE is a Singapore produced movie which debuted at the prestigious Cannes film festival this year and is currently 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. When the credits rolled, I can understand why. Everyone in the cinema hall I was in was in total silence for a good 30 secs. I believe we were deeply affected from the 90mins+ experience. It was like we went through a spiritual experience.

The story tells of a young correctional officer (newcomer Fir Rahman) who is transferred to another prison and forms a friendship with the 60+ years old Chief "Hangmen" Executioner, played by Wan Hanifi Su (a Malaysian veteran actor). When the Chief's assistant quit because he just couldn't pull the lever, Rahman's character is asked by the Chief to be his potential successor.

This film is more than just about capital punishment and the moral dilemma our junior protagonist had to face. From the movie trailer, we are given a clue to the motive behind our protagonist's decision to join the prison. But if you were to distill it down further, it's really a story about 'atonement with the father' (you can google this term and read more about it)

In essence, our 'hero' must reconcile with the ultimate authority figure in his life. And in our story here, we are given glimpses of Rahman's character trying to cancel out a wrongdoing throughout his life by doing good deeds and also to resort himself to some act of self-punishment, thus putting himself into a self-imposed prisoner of the mind.

This poetic aspect of the story intrigued me the most. Hats off to the filmmakers wanting to challenge themselves to relate such a complicated human condition to a relatively simple premise of capital punishment of 'gantung sampai mati'. Speaking of that, there is an engagingly educational scene where the Chief explains to his apprentice the technical aspects of hanging a criminal.

In summary, this performance driven movie is very well made. Even the performances of those to be hung are extremely moving. The pacing is good as it moves the movie along effortlessly. Special shout out to the cinematographer and the sound effects crew as they were able to create an immersive sense of dread and claustrophobia.
 
There are many movies out there which highlights the life of the prisoners but never have I seen anything like Apprentice which gives special attention to the life of the guards and the prisoners' family members. This is indeed an emotionally satisfying movie.

"...but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life..." Romans 6:23

Rating: 9.5/10

BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK (2016)

Genre: Drama
Running Length: 1:50
Cast: Joe Alwyn, Garrett Hedlund, Arturo Castro, Mason Lee, Astro, Beau Knapp, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Barney Harris, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, Chris Tucker, Kristen Stewart
Director: Ang Lee
Screenplay: Jean-Christophe Castelli based on the novel by Ben Fountain

I applaud Ang Lee's intent to immerse us in the reality and authenticity of soldiers going through post-war trauma with using new photo realistic technology (120 frames-per-second) to shoot it and almost filming most scenes in 'first person' pov. But his new movie, BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK turned out to be more distracting than captivating.

The story is simple enough. Billy Lynn (played by a newcomer, Joe Alwyn) temporarily returns home to Texas from Iraq (the 2004 war) for a victory tour. He is a war hero because he braved himself to save his wounded sergeant during a massive exchange of fire. His heroic act was caught on camera. As part of the tour, he and his troop are to participate in an elaborate football halftime show featuring Destiny's Child. As Billy and his band of brothers prepare for this show, the audience is taken on a journey into the mind of Billy of what he went through at Iraq.

This supposedly immersive filming experiment between us the audience and the film, comes to a climax at the half time show itself where the filmmakers cleverly drew resemblance between the chaos and exploding fireworks with what was happening at the combat scene. I must say that supersized scene itself was worth the price of the ticket because I could actually feel what Billy was going through - his discomfort, confusion and removed poise he has to put up. It was intense.

But other than this central scene, the rest of the movie is mediocre. The themes are strong but somehow it just didn't shine through. Especially the paradox of heroism - one minute the soldiers are treated as royalty and the other as toiletries. And there's also the satire of the American dream.

There's so much potential for emotional heft that could have been explored without the need to use such seemingly 'immersive' new tech.  There are some quiet moments which are powerful but those moving scenes are just few and far between.

Rating: 6/10

JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK (2016)

Genre: Action / Thriller

Running Length: 1:58

Cast: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Aldis Hodge, Patrick Heusinger

Director: Edward Zwick  

Screenplay: Richard Wenk and Edward Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz, based on the book by Lee Child

I went in to JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK with poor expectations because of two reasons: (1) the critics were bashing it and (2) Cobie Smulders, because I still can't get past her as 'Robin Scherbatsky' from How I Met Your Mother (Her starring role in The Avengers had that effect on me). But I was pleasantly surprised how entertaining this film turned out to be. 

Well, it's not perfect, in fact far from it. But it's well paced and it has some nice grounded action scenes with bone-crunching type of fist fights. And it has a little investigative work thrown into the plot. It kinda reminds me of the Taken movies. Predictable but engaging. 

As for the story, Cobie Smulders' character (Major Susan Turner) is framed and it's up to Reacher to clear her name and in the process, Reacher gets to beat the crap out of some mercenaries who's out to get them. Oh, and Reacher also discovers he may have a teenage daughter. 

As far as the screenplay goes, the plot holes are as big as the potholes on KL roads. And the dialogue is cheesy. And I'm not really sure of the relationship between Major Turner and Jack Reacher because they do get undressed a fair bit and sleeps in the same hotel room but never get past first base. And why would Reacher wants to risk his life to help her? 

And speaking of our hero, as I don't read the books, I'm not sure why he chose a solo life and just loves to get himself into hand-to-hand combat situations. So many questions but 1/3 into the movie, I just let it all go and went with the flow; cheering on as Tom Cruise shoots, punches, breaks many bones and runs...alot. Speaking of action, eventhough it's a PG13 rated movie, the filmmakers are really pushing the envelope on its level of violence. 

And as for Colbie Smulders, I'm glad to say that never was I reminded of her TV career throughout the course of this movie. She delivers in a big-way. Her tough as nails Major Turner can really kick some serious ass and more importantly, she's believable in this character. And Heusinger plays a very convincing villain so much so, you really want him to die brutally in the end.  

You can’t go wrong with Cruise as his movies are always at a certain standard. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is not as spectacle filled as any of his Mission Impossible movies but it's still a nice little action flick. 

Rating: 7/10

DOCTOR STRANGE (2016)

Genre: Action / Adventure

Running Length: 1:55

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton, Scott Adkins, Benjamin Bratt

Director: Scott Derrickson

Screenplay: Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill

I've read before film critics complaining that the recent Marvel movies are starting to feel the same. As for me, the fatigue has finally set in with DOCTOR STRANGE. Eventhough stylistically it looks different from the others, this film is still cut from the same cloth. Speaking of style, one thing I did enjoy are the trippy sequences and the Inception like building-bending fight scenes. But even so, it felt tiresome after a while. 

As for the plot, it follows more or less the same formula as any superhero origin story. Cumberbatch plays Dr Stephen Strange, a brilliant but cocky neurosurgeon who lost the precision of his hands from a horrible car accident. No longer can he practice as a surgeon, he desperately seeks healing from a mystical sect in Nepal led by the Ancient One (Swinton). 

Naturally, Strange ends up to be the "chosen" one in the sect and has to battle a band of mystical bad people (led by Mikkelsen) who are up to no good and is detroying New York and London...yet again. Thrown into the destruction this time is Hong Kong. 

From the very little I know about this comic hero, Benedict Cumberbatch definitely looks the part but I'm not sure if he nailed the character. He definitely has presence and his comic timing is good. However, the film's comedy element is bordering on silliness especially the anti-climatic finale. I felt like I was watching a gag reel. 

Marvel Studios is a well-oiled scalable moviemaking machine and they will continue to use the cookie-cutter approach to churn out its content. Doctor Strange is going to make heap loads of money in the box office anyway, so why fix it if it's not broken?

Rating: 5.5/10

THE ACCOUNTANT (2016)

Genre: Thriller / Action
Running Length: 2:08
Cast:  Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons, John Lithgow, Cynthia Addai-Robinson
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Screenplay: Bill Dubuque

THE ACCOUNTANT is one of those movies which I went, "Now that's interesting; a mashup of autism and action thriller" but the more I think about it, the more its unique narrative diminishes. To be fair, it's still an entertaining movie and it's not as intense and serious like what is shown in the trailer. It's actually quite funny at times.

Ben Affleck is fine here and is still in full post-Batman shape as his "accountant" character is indifferent, fights for injustice and possesses a deadly set of combat abilities. His character is trained in the martial art of Silat, a pro in a variety of firearms and he usually goes for headshots. And of course, he's a genius in numbers and puzzles.

The plot is pretty straight forward; our hero is a forensic accountant with autism who earns big-bucks for cooking/uncooking the books for the world's shady characters. He tries to lay low by taking on a seemingly simple contractual job at a robotics firm but is soon caught in the cross-hairs of some assassins.

The movie employs flashback to different times of Affleck's character in the past to give him more depth and motivations to who he is presently. It's definitely an interesting structural approach but what annoyed me are the unnecessary multiple twists at the end and its poorly integrated subplots involving its supporting characters. Yes, it is as confusing as it sounds for a fairly simple plot.

Rating: 6.5/10