Resident Evil: Afterlife

Rating: 6.5/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Action

Before Resident Evil: Afterlife, all the resident evil sequels defied convention... because unlike most sequels which rarely top the first in its series, Resident Evil just got better and better. That was before Afterlife came out that is. Personally, I didn't like the first 2 installments. The 3rd was pretty good, surprisingly, and for the forth and newest installment, sadly it was pretty disappointing.

Alice, supposedly "invincible" because she had managed to effectively control the T-virus inside of her, turned more human in this movie. After turning up at the safe haven Acardian and finding no one but Claire Redfield, she was about to give up all hope of finding survivors when she came across a group of survivors stranded on top of an abandoned prison. Not sure if it was a pun intended, but Wentworth Miller is once again "imprisoned" momentarily in this movie.

I didn't like the graphics at all, even though they claimed in their movie trailer that it was based on new technology (no idea what it is but I thought what it was publicising was more of making the first ever live-action video-game movie in 3D). CG looked faked, and the slow-mo matrix style of filming was anything but cool. Perhaps the greatest disappointment for all Resident Evil fans out there was how Chris Redfield was portrayed. There was absolutely zero hype about him... no credit made to him, he didn't even have his own action scene. All of this despite him being one of the most "outstanding" characters in Resident Evil. Even Jill Valentine was out of the picture (cant' remember where she disappeared to).

This installment plays a pivotal role in the Resident Evil franchise because it steers the RE series away from the horror genre and more towards the action genre. And guess what, there's an enormous cliffhanger at the end of the movie... Will definitely be watching part 5 in the near future, but it's not so much of interest anymore, more of "completion's" sake. Sure hope the director will up the standards for the next sequel to please the dismayed Resident Evil fans out there.

VIllon's Wife

Rating: 6.8/10

Film Class: C

Genre: Drama

A slow-moving tale of a wife's benevolence despite her obnoxious yet talented husband. Takoko Matsu stars as the perservering, magnanimous wife who atones for her husband's thef by working at the bar which he stole money from, run by an elderly couple. Her husband, Otani, though extremely talented in poetry writing, treats his wife like little respect and is paranoid about a make believe scandal.

This is a movie that's melodramatic, slow-pacing, and even at times, unrealistic and extremely twisted. It kinda reminded me of the famous artist, Vincent Van Gogh.. talented yet eccentric... Unlike Van Gogh, Otani isn't suffering from mental illness, but more of depression... which once again reminded me of the "sekai-kai" concept from Evangelion. The japanese term "sekai-kai" sinply means that the protagonist in the anime or manga mirrors their creator life. So it was such a "dark and twisted" film that it almost felt the director himself was suffering from depression... to have been able to come up with such a warped perspective.

The movie which centers around the female protagonist, unfortunately lacked good acting. The female lead wasn't convincing in her role and she was unable to bring out her character's emotional torment. Too much forced smiles, and unsettling facial emotions which wasn't quite in synch with the scene's mood. Well, all is not loss as the most important factor in pulling me to catch the movie wasn't so much the story or the cast, but the setting. One can never get enough of such a "classic"-styled setting. It really brings you to another era of Japanese culture... and deserves high praise based solely on that (another such movie which is able to accomplish that is Ip Man 2 - old chinese era). It brought me to another world, a world of stillness, silence and despair.

But that's about it. The setting and its ability to zap me into their world, not the professional acting, nor the engaging scripting or storyplot. Didn't quite understand the purpose of adding the first scene... probably the director wanted to attempt to explain the husband's messed up childhood and the basis behind the movie title... Villon... wasn't even explained. Well, it could just be me... might work for you, but I'm sure chances are, it won't work for most. A boring movie is hard is pull off as an arty farty one unless one's delusional enough to insist on a second opinion.

Frozen

Rating: 7.4/10

Film Class: C

Genre: Thriller

Three friends are stranded on a chairlift during a weekend skiing get-together. It will take a week before the ski resort opens again and to make matters worse, no one knows that they are stuck up there. What will they do to survive the ordeal?

A terrifying and intense film about what one of the worst case scenarios to be in. Similar genre movies such as Rogue Crocodile and Open Waters have managed to deliver, but hardly astound. This is possibly one of the better movies under such categories because not only was it able to keep me at the edge of my seat, there was a good deal of character development. The story development was equally as impressive... it started from a light-hearted mood and gradually twisted into a high-paced emotional roller coster ride.

Throughout the film, the backgrounds behind the characters were revealed and though seemingly unnecessary since by then I was already feeling so much each individual character owing to the tactful buildup, it added that extra element to it. I was all prepared to give this movie an unexpected high rating but was held back when my anxiety went downhill from 3/4s of the movie. The last quarter of the movie was anti-climaxal, and I personally think it didn't do justice to the top-notch acting the cast contributed.

It may not be a totally awesome plot, but it brings realism to the situation they were in. And to really distinguish this film from similarly genre-ed movies, the casts pulled off their roles convincingly and commendably. This movie kinda felt like a meek slasher "gore" film (with all the frostbites) mixed with a good load of emotional suspense.

*spoilers ahead* The "humiliation" the lead actress felt when she had to pee in her pants and how a simple mistake of resting her bare hands on the cold bar when she was sleeping were not overly played. Despite several goofs in the movie, it's still one that is decently realistic and not overly exaggerated. Even though this is clearly a Grade C movie, as it's a fairly low-budget film with only 4 actual different settings, it delivers more than a punch... it's sure to leave you with a gritting "frozebite"...

Tekken

Ratings: 5.5/10
Film Class: C

Genre: Action

Video game remakes rarely excel... because firstly, bringing CGI characters to life with their rightful outfits might seem too flamboyant and most if not all the time, there's just no storyline to adapt. My cousin told me this movie was a brainless action-pack film... Well, I would agree to the former, but not the latter. My summary for it, this is a brainless, low-budget, plotless weak-actioned movie.

A young man by the name of Jin, living on the harsh streets of who knows where witnesses the death of his mother by an evil corporation, Tekken. Thus, he enrols himself into a yearly tournament in hope to avenge her. Well, that's as good and as detailed a sypnosis I can provide for the vague and weak storyline. I didn't even get what the director was trying to bring across, other than just senseless fighting and the idea of a Tekken tournament.

The best bits of the movie were those which featured Christie, yet another Tekken character which really spiced up the big screens. The rest of the characters looked ridiculous and an extreme turn-off. Kazuya was quite cool as the villain, but how Jin rose from being a "street fighter" to a "prestigious tournement champ" was too far-fetched. There were so many "sudden boosts of strength scenes" that it worsened the quality of the movie and its storyline.

Bottomline is, Jin is invincible because of the teachings by his late mum... cos whenever he's almost out of strength or breath, all he has to do is to think of what his mum taught him since young, and like swallowing an elixir of condensed steriods, he will be able to beat the crap out of anyone. Opps, did I expose too much? Well... you gotta know how ridiculous it sounds or will be if you're gonna watch it to waste your precious time, at least you heard it from me first.

Date Night

Ratings: 7.0/10
Film Class: B

Genre: Comedy

A bored married couple who has been together for a long time goes into the city in hope of getting seats at one of the top restuarants. However, the restaurant was fully booked but the husband Phil (Steve Carell), not wanting to spoil their "date night", decided to take the reservation of a couple who didn't turn up. An innocent date night turned out to be a nightmarish adventure for the two due to a mistaken identity and how they had to pit their wits against a crime lord and his underlings.

It was a fairly light-hearted movie despite its heavy storyline, all thanks to the hilarious couple Steve Carell and Tina Fey. Tina Fey is the bimbolic wife of an unreliable husband, Steve Carell. But through this unexpected demise, they gradually learn to see the strengths of each other and to rekindle the dying passion which once brought them together. Don't get me wrong, the couple isn't on the verge of breakup (unlike most other movies), but it carries with it a hint of truth behind the mandanity of a long-term marriage and how each partner tends to be more fixated on the weaknesses and start being oblivious to the strengths of each other (just like in a relationship).

Though the situation they were in seemed a little exaggerated, I really liked the heart-warmingly predictable storyline and most importantly, the "aw" moments and the numerous laughables scenes in this movie. Not fantastic, but an excellent movie to light up a bad day.

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Ratings: 6.5/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Crime, Thriller

The team duo is back again, computer hacker Lisbeth and journalist Mikael "teams" up yet again in this thriller after the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to uncover a sex-trafficking organisation. To complicate matters, Lisbeth is wrongfully accused for 3 murders she didn't commit...

This movie would make a bad stand-alone, independant movie because it doesn't really devote much screen time to character development despite it being a 2hr long movie. But I can't really demerit the movie because of that since it's "supposed" to be a sequel and the relationships between the characters should already have been laid out in the previous movie.

Still, because of that, it feels like it's a movie without head or tail... There were several re-enactment scenes but none too involving. They were like short trailers to piece up the major gaps in the current story plot. My advice, catch the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before setting your eyes or spending your time catching this. That way you might be able to follow more closely with the storyline.

Just like its prequel, the movie is divided into 2 major parts, Lisbeth's life, and the main case to solve. However this time, it didn't work for me. They felt like extremely separated matters and the director somehow tried to forcefully link them together at the very end. Despite having a twist in the ending, it wasn't one worth applauding. Mediocre swedish film. Didn't feel much for the characters, didn't feel much for the plot, and didn't feel much for the movie.

There were several absurdities in the movie, *major spoilers ahead* like how Lisbeth "rose from the dead" and why the "robotic" villain didn't just kill Lisbeth's 2 friends straight away with the chainsaw lying on the ground but had to burn the place down. The fight scenes weren't too exciting cos of the lack of any soundtrack to go along with it and there wasn't much of a climax in the movie. Towards the end, the mood took a twist and it almost felt like a horror movie. Its not as good as its prequel, even though the prequel wasn't that fantastic in the 1st place.

Took me a while to piece together the rationale of the title, and though it was quite an intelligent use of pun, it wasn't enough to piece together this "broken" movie. Worth a miss.