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.

Revolutionary Road

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

Though the poster gives you the impression that this movie is probably one of the most romantic movies of all time, it's not. That's why I deem it more suitable to be categorised under the genre of "drama". It has a depressing story in essence and with the aid of great casting, makes it even more convincingly depressing. Despite some truth portrayed in everyday marriages, watching this film will only make one give up the idea of settling down.

Journey through the film with the degenerating lives of a young couple as they come to terms with their personal problems. What I didn't like about the film was that there was insufficient development of their 2 kids. They felt like calefares to the film. There were a handful of cheesy and humurous lines along the way to liven up the mood but the promise of a happy ending seemed bleaker as the story progressed.

It should be a film that deserves more than a rating of "7.5" but it's just not my cup of tea. Might work for you though. The story started out by portraying Leonardo Dicaprio as the "bad" husband, but later twisted perceptions by showing that he was actually the "maker" of the relationship. Kate Winslet had a reversal of roles. At the ultimate end, everything unfolds and brings in the harsh reality of life - that no one is genuinely real. Lots of mature theme for the young audience to comprehend. Last of all, I also want to comment on the mentally unstable landlady's son. Many would view him as being the person with the clearest perspective (misled by the suggestive conversation between Leonardo and Winslet), but I would insist he was the instigator of the problem, the true "villian".

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Rating: 7.7/10
Genre: Action
Overall value for money and time: 7.7/10

This is the best installment for the X-Men series but it lacked something which I cannot identify. Perhaps the plot is too superficial, or perhaps the lines are too cheesy and to some extend "pertaining to the younger generation". Still, it was a good movie with good casting (Sabretooth did a better job in this movie than the rest of the X-Men installments). It could work as a stand alone movie for those with no prior knowledge about Wolverine.

James Logan (wolverine) is a mutant born with the ability to extrude claws from his fist. His half brother, Sabretooth, is able to extend his claw-like fingernails. They grew up side by side but eventually landed on different sides of morality. Blinded by vengence for his dead lover, he volunteers for an experiment to inject an alien materia called "adamantium" to reconstruct his bones. Deemed indestructible, Logan hunts down his brother to unveil a greater conspiracy.

It's a cool movie with an "uncool" ending, but it sticks true to the origins of Wolverine. While Red Cliff 2 had an altered ending to suit the likings of the audience, this movie stayed true to its course, even though there was a high risk of disappointment for its viewers. Hugh Jackman is still the all-charming protagonist but I'm not fond of how the director makes Scott Summers, aka "Cyclops" so vulnerable and weak. A movie worth the watch but will probably not make it as the "Blockbuster Event of the Year".

In Bruges

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

Witty and humorous dialogues, star studded cast, intelligent plot, beautiful cinematography. What do you get when all these factors come together? One of the top movies of all time! A truly hidden gem! When it comes to castings, I'm a little biased because there are a few actors or actresses which I'm not particularly fond of. A handful of those include Russell Crowe, Jack Black and Colin Farrell. Though I have to admit, there are some break through movies for these actors. Gladiator was a breakthrough movie for Russell Crowe, Nacho Libre for Jack Black and as for Colin Farrell, this is that movie. He couldn't be more convincing, utterly irreplacable.

But it wasn't just him that contributed to the huge success of this film, much credit have to go to Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes. This movie had a sufficient amount of character development for each of the leads. One would get to understand and feel for each of them, and each showed distinct characteristics and realistic character flaws. There are some seemingly "random" chain of events throughout the movie but they all piece together like a jigsaw puzzle at the very end. Though it might be commonly used for most of my reviews, this film is simply... Beautiful. It doesn't touch superficially on the characters but brings into view different perspectives. Life, Death, Forgiveness, Principles and Love.

Two hitmen are sent to Bruges (Belgium) to await their next mission. Through the course of waiting, they are exposed to the "missing" elements in their lives and starts to view life in a different manner. It's a totally different kind of movie experience that's worth every minute of your time. You can't hate this movie, either you love it, or you love it more. This movie falls under the category of "top 50 must-see movies before you die".