Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Rating: 9.2/10
Genre: Action
Overall value for money and time: 9.5/10

A true blockbuster extravaganza of the year!! This sequel certainly topped the prequel with non-stop action and state of the art computer graphics. It kept me at the edge of my seat throughout the movie and I just wished it never ended. Though the story wasn't fantastic, one shouldn't expect much of it anyways taking into consideration it's adapted from a cartoon series.

Three thumbs up for excellent acting on Shia LaBeouf part but 2 thumbs down for Megan Fox. Her role felt more "flower vase" than Lin ChiLing in the Red Cliff Duology. There was excessive crude humor in the movie which lowered the quality of the comedy, but the CG alone will make this movie more worth watching than most others. It spans a good 2.5hrs and will certainly leave you satisfied like a good buffet dinner. One thing to note is that there's not an after credits scene, so don't bother waiting for it to roll till the end like I did.

Decepticon forces return to earth to control an energy source, which would lead to the annhilation of earth and mankind. It is up to our young hero and Optimus Prime to prevent it from happening. A simple and plain plot, but overall a stunningly impressive movie. A must-watch!!

The Taking of Pelham 123

Rating: 6.6/10
Genre: Suspense
Overall value for money and time: 6.0/10

Despite a star studded cast of having Denzel Washington, John Travolta and James Gandolfini, this remake didn't work for me. A group of train hijackers demanding a ransom of $10 million for their hostages has dragged everyday man, Walter Garbe (Denzel) into a whirlpool of truth and lies.

The opening of the movie was a huge turn off. The jump cuts and slow-fast motion cinematography was overly prolonged and together with the handheld-like takes, it was similar to another "Blaire Witch Project". Surprisingly, the plot picked up well and there were a handful of intelligent, cheesy lines to tickle you along the way.

Though the body was suspense gripping, the finale ended with a downside bang. It became too convenient and too hasty when the escape was finally made. Ie to say due to that, there was an accumulation of loopholes at the end. It's simply another mediocre movie and it won't be your loss to give it a pass.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Rating: 7.7/10

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Overall value for money and time: 7.5/10

A must-see, must-watch romantic movie about a modern cassanova who is haunted by his past girlfriends during his brother's wedding. Following his grandfather's footsteps as an envied cassanova, he gradually lost faith in love but was visited by 3 ghosts in a single night who would work together to "fix" this "broken" man.

If you're looking for a realistic movie plot, there's no way this movie will fall into that category - since it deals with ghosts and travelling through time. But the content of it is rich, enlightening and most of all, entertaining to watch. You will be able to have a good time, shutting off from your hectic everyday life and laugh your worries away during the span of this movie.

There's a mix of comedy, touching scenes and good advice all packed in a single movie. I love it, I love it, I LOVE IT!! It has been a long while since a movie of such calibre in this genre has been made and you won't hestitate in adding this to your list of "favourite romantic movies of all-time".

Drag me to Hell

Rating: 7.5/10
Genre: Horror
Overall value for money and time: 7.2/10

It sure is one hell of a movie. I haven't seen many movies quite like this before, where horror could be fused so perfectly with comedy. If you're looking for a good time watching a horror movie, this has got to be it. But be warned, if you're looking for a movie to scare yourself s***less (best way I can describe it), this movie will leave you cursing. It's quite an acquired taste, I didn't feel this good after leaving the cinema, but thinking back, I have to give props to the director for being able to pull something off like this. 3 thumbs up for Sam Raimi!!

A loan officer, Christine Brown, made a decision to evict an old woman out of her apartment only to later discover it was the greatest mistake of her life. Cursed and hunted down by the soul taker Lamia, Christine must save herself from being dragged to hell in 3 days. The casting wasn't perfect, and the greatest success of this movie must go to the wretched old woman.

There were many scenes of unsuspecting horror, but after jumping up in our seats, the audience would usually start laughing soon after. It was more like a roller coaster ride than a haunted house expedition. The director had a fair take on building up suspense, but most of the scares were abrupt and whizzed past just as fast. Due to the way the movie was directed, the graphic images in this movie will not haunt you sleepless nights.

On top of all that, there were great graphics which made it less scary in a way, since most top horror movies are usually those with mediocre cinematography. Highly recommended for all!! But don't you come cursing me if it didn't work out for you...

Monsters Vs Aliens

Rating: 6.5/10

Genre: Comedy

Overall value for money and time: 6.2/10

Caught this movie in 3D and it was one of the most amazing movie experience for me. Everything came to life right before my very eyes despite it being an animated film. 3D movies are a must see, as it warps you into a more realistic world of spatial dimensions. I could almost feel myself being in the movie. However, apart from the 3D effects, this movie wasn't that fantastic.

Humour was prevalent, so was plot, but the overall package lacked impact. I didn't leave the cinema feeling awed, it was just another feel good movie for me. It could be due to the dragginess in the character development of Susan (main lead), or perhaps the sound effects were a little soft in contrast with the dialogue.

A meteorite falls on an unsuspecting bride-to-be (Susan), turning her into a gigantic woman. She is then taken to a secret facility where monsters are kept. When aliens start to invade Earth, the monsters are our only last hope of survival.

Blood: The Last Vampire

Rating: 5.5/10
Genre: Action
Overall value for money and time: 5.0/10

A remake from the animation, a vampire named Saya hunts and slays demons. Enrolled into a high school as a guise in the era of post-WWII Japan, Saya tries to lure out the oldest and strongest demon, Onigen by slaying the city dwellers.

The synopsis and the trailer is the best you can expect out of the movie. Everything else about the movie is a constant downhill. It started off fine, with a considerable amount of suspense and action, but was later dominated by loopholes, cheesy lines and bad acting. This movie has got to be the godmother of intelligence-insulting movies. The story progression was rough and the fight scenes were too "artificial". The oozing of the demon's blood was fairly acceptable at the start, but gradually became a comedy element.

There are simply too many flaws in this movie, which makes it an utter waste of time catching it. The acting was so bad I wanted to leave the theatre in the midst of the movie. The only thing worth watching is the main actress, if you're a fan of hers. She most probably won't disappoint you but don't count on the other elements of the movie. The dialogue was too "forced", they could have just made it a japanese movie and have english subtitles. When the majority of the cast spoke English, it was too unnatural and barely understandable (especially Onigen), which diverted the attention span of its audience. It felt like they were trying so hard to regurgitate the lines that they forgot to evoke expressions with what they said (judging from the movie, the lines were probably memorised and the cast didn't understand what they were saying).

Here's just some major spoilers for you to back up my point. Be warned not to proceed on if you haven't caught the film and want to prove me wrong. When one of the demons was holding on to the other lead (american girl) and escaping from Saya, he jumped from buildings to buildings. When Saya finally managed to save her and the demon tried to escape, he started flying away. Why couldn't he juz have flown in the first place? Too heavy for him? When they did catch up with him, in a very random manner, the demon was slain and Saya fed him with her blood. The scene was cut. What happened after that? Was she trying to save him with her blood?

Saya was almost killed and somehow, the american girl knew how to save her by slashing her palm and feeding her with blood. So, does that mean, Saya saved the demon? And for what purpose? After all that it has been shown, there wasn't a good explanation of demons and vampires. I did catch the anime series before, and it managed to explain most of it as compared to what the movie did. The demons are actually vampires, just like Saya. Without this information, you would think of them as a different species.

The killing of Onigen was so abrupt and illogical. There was the crumbling of a silted house and the next minute, Saya's sword was driven into her stomach. If Onigen could blow a person's head off with a flick of her fingers (shown earlier), why didn't she just do that to the american girl or Saya? And when the american girl was being thrown from a few feet from the ground at the ending scene, she was so lucky to have fell right into a pool of water. Onigen was aiming to throw her there?

The survival of Onigen's right-hand man was highly laughable. When Saya pierced his eye, her master, Kato who was holding on so tightly to him for a good 5 minutes or so decided to release him once his eye was pierced so that he could run away and fight Saya another day.

There are many other ridiculous scenes in the movie and should you decide to catch it, you can challenge yourself to finding them and contributing to the comments. If this review hasn't saved you from wasting two hours of your time, I hope I'm wrong when you do actually catch it.

Night at the Museum 2

Rating: 6.8/10
Genre: Comedy
Overall value for money and time: 6.3/10

Highly entertaining and fantasy like. The only complain I have about the movie is the scene where Darth Vader and Oscar made their appearance - made it feel like a spoof movie. Apart from that, there was a good cast with convincing "comedic" acting and a wide range of different personalities which enhanced the flow of the movie.

There was sufficient character and plot development and the humour could send more than just a few tickles down your belly. Much better than the first installment. Jonah Hill (security guard) was hilarious in the movie and I thought the director should have given him a longer screen time.

Former security guard (Ben stiller) goes all out to prevent the displays at Washington Museum from coming to life. Tragedy struck when the evil Pharoah in charge planned on reviving the warriors from the underworld to aid in his domination over mankind.

It's twice more fun and "grand" in the sense that more displays come to life, adding flavor and entertainment value to the movie. The classics, such as Robbie Williams and T-rex still have a fair share of screen time. It's a battle of the "old" displays vs. the "new" displays. Recommended for a good chill out movie where you won't have to bring your brains along with you.

Angels and Demons

Rating: 6.9/10
Genre: Thriller
Overall value for money and time: 6.5/10

Despite being one of my most highly anticipated movies of the year, this film disappointed me. I know I shouldn't make comparisons to The Da Vinci Code since they are separate stories altogether, but in a way, the former built a false expectation of the latter movie. While The Da Vinci Code was filled with suspense, thrills and intriguing twists, Angels and Demons wasn't that thought provoking. It makes a decent suspense thriller, but the ingenuity of it was far from Da Vinci Code - could either be due to the director (who couldn't be entirely blamed for due to film ethics complications) or the plot wasn't that fantastic in the first place (unable to comment upon since I didn't read the book).

After the death of the Pope, the 4 likely predecessors (preferratti) are kidnapped by a supposed arch rival of the Vatican, the Illuminati - a secret society devoted to proving science. Robert Langdon, renowned symbologist, aids the Vatican in tracking the mastermind to prevent a pending annihilation of Vatican city.

I particularly liked the ending again, same for The Da Vinci Code, but the story development and progression was a little too rushed, allowing many loopholes to surface. Still, it's a recommended movie but don't set your hopes too high like I did, in that way, you won't fall too hard.