Noteworthy video releases

Avatar - 3 disc extended edition DVD and Extended collectors edition Blu-ray

Resident Evil Afterlife - DVD

Twilight saga: Eclipse - DVD

Inception - DVD and Blu-ray

Salt - DVD and Extended Edition DVD

Knight and Day - Extended edition DVD

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) remake review

Overall verdict: 5.5/10

The Good: better than usual acting for a horror movie, intense chase sequences, lots of blood and gore, atmospheric cinematography

The Bad: too much blood and gore, bland story, few genuinely scary scenes for a horror movie

Current Availability Status: banned in Singapore

******************************Review********************
Ah! the vast Texas countryside. Rolling plains, long stretches of road, quaint little towns. It is 1973 and what could be more fun than going on a road trip with a bunch of friends to catch the biggest Lynard Skynard concert of the decade? Nothing could go wrong. Well for Erin, Kamper, Morgan, Andy and Pepper, every "wrong" starts to happen when they come across a blood drenched and obviously traumatised young girl. Being good hearted teens, they try to seek help first from the local sherrif. However, the unreasonable sherrif suspects the teens of foul play forcing them to turn to some residents of an old house for help. But those Texas residents have a gruesome little secret hidden in their cellar, and it carries a Chainsaw. Naturally, "massacre" will follow.

Produced by Michael Bay, this remake revolves around a retelling of "actual" events involving a group of teenagers and their tragic run-in with the deranged Texan family of killers and the murderous Leatherface. In true slasher movie fashion, the characters are just there to look pretty until they get offed one by one in the most gruesome ways. The acting is actually praise-worthy, better than the usual horror film, but it suffered from an uninspired script and flat story.

As a stand alone horror movie, this Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake is actually more horrific than horror. Where the original show banked on the tension and scared by teasing one's inherant primal fears, the remake does not scare by actually scaring but by making the audience cringe in terror thanks to gratuitous amounts of gore and prolonged scenes of suffering before the eventual death Many times, the film leaves the genre of horror and falls into more a "torture porn"-like genre.

If there was anything scary about the film, it was not the Leather-face killer. Rather, it was the overall sense of helplessness felt by the main characters. As the movie goes along, the characters try to turn to other townsfolk for help. But they soon realize that the townsfolk, and even the sheriff, are not only unwilling to help, but have a much darker agenda planned.

Flipping through Marcus Nispel's short resume of films(he directed the Friday the 13th remake and Pathfinder) and Platinum dune's list of horror remakes would pretty much tell you what to expect; a tendency to focus mostly on gory killings. Nispel himself seems more capable of directing a frenzied chase scene or a bloody body carving as opposed to anything remotely scary. At least the film looks great with a stylishly worn yellowish tinge to every scene that complements the "1970s" setting.

Despite its shortcomings, the film was rather popular at the box office. Perhaps action is indeed more successful at netting a wider audience than actual horror. And like many action movies, Texas Chainsaw Massacre exists solely for that unauthodox sense of escapism. Showing it to your more chicken-hearted friends and watching them gross out is also a good way to use this movie. It is a cringe worthy thrill ride of a splatter-fest with better than usual acting. Not the best of horror movie remakes, but not the worst either.

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Go For it: if you desire a more faster moving, more savage version of the 1978 classic
Avoid it: if you were happy with the tension and fear of the original classic

Entertainment: A-
Story: B-
Acting: B
Characters: C+
Replay value: B+
"Brains": D

King of Fighters (2010)

Overall verdict: 1.5/10

The Good: guaranteed to make you laugh at how terrible it is

The Bad: It is really that terrible


******************************Review********************
Two words describe this movie. The last word is "up" and the first word starts with an "F". And no, it is not "Fighter". The two words make up an insult much like how Hong Kong Director Gordan Chan's "The King of Fighters" is an insult not just to the fans of the King of Fighters (affectionately abbreviated to "KOF") video game series, or video games in general, but it even manages to be an insult to bad video game movies.

Cue the sensless plot that completely rips-off "The Matrix" while sounding more confusing than the entire trilogy combined. The premise of this movie involves a secret tournament that is held in some alternate dimension in which fighters from around the world "log in" to via special earpieces. Think jacking into a big matrix-like video game world, complete with "I-know-kung-fu" wire fighting and bad computer composited special powers. Its all fun and games until Rugal (Ray Park doing his best Darth Maul meets The Joker impression) steals some sacred artifacts with a plot to free something called "The Orochi". Why free the orochi? Because Rugal wants to hack the alternate dimensional video game, give himself god-like powers and ultimately be the champion of the game. (Seriously) Out to stop him are undercover agents Mai, who is working for Terry Bogard in the CIA, and Iori Yagami, a man with a past connection to Rugal. Together they must seek out a third artifact called the "Kusanagi sword" which has been passed to Kyo Kusanagi, a white boy with Japanese name.

Alternate gaming dimensions, ancient snake ball demons and mythical artefacts. Oh My. To quote Maggie Q's character of Mai by saying "Its not Logical", would be a major understatement. An illogical, confusing and plodding plot is the least of this movie's problems. In trying to mix mysticism with hardcore science fiction would have worked in the hands of a skilled creative team. Here it turned out like oil and water, making the entire movie very difficult to follow and bordering on absurd.

The most basic criteria for a just "passable" video game movie is that either the story has small resemblance to the game (Silent Hill, Max Payne, Hit-man) or the character has some similar appearance to their game counterparts (Mortal Kombat, Tekken). King of Failures has NONE of these mere basic elements! The least Gordan Chan, the director, could do was to give some good ol fashioned hong kong kung fu but even that is missing making King of Failures an absolute chore to sit through.

The pacing is thrown off by having too much talk and not enough fight. The needless exposition and banal dialogue is not even interesting nor does it develop that silly excuse for a plot. Kyo's so called "hero's journey" has been done in umpteen other shows and every character's lack of charisma is made even more painful by stilted acting and laughable dialogue.

When some action does come once in a while, it is an utter let down and a complete joke especially when one knows what kind of stunts Hong Kong is capable of. The fight choreography is generally uninspired, almost dull; Many B movies have had better fights than this. Ray Park and Will Yun Lee were the only two actors who had some convincing fighting moves thanks to their martial arts training background. But the biggest sin here is Gordan Chan's wonky camera-work which uses way too many slanted angles, headache inducing tilted shots and an irritating purple lighting in the alternate dimension scenes that seems reminiscent of "Battlefield Earth".
For all the times people have lambasted hollywood for video gam movie flops like "Legend of Chun Li" and "Super Mario", Hong Kong has now topped all that. Some might argue that this is worse than the stuff from the infamous video game movie director Uwe Boll (House of the Dead, FarCry). But on a lighter note, this movie would make great subject matter to be laughed at on a boring movie night. It might even scare off video game companies who are thinking of selling the rights to make a movie.
*****************************Review End******************

Go For it: To see how horrible a video game movie adaptation can get
Avoid it: if you refuse to believe that this is a hong kong movie. Or better yet, just avoid. Nuff said.

Entertainment: C-
Story: D
Acting: C-
Characters: D+
Replay value: D
"Brains": F

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse [2010]

Overall verdict: 7/10

The Good: detailled Artwork, smooth animation, top notch voice acting, sticks relatively true to the original comic

The Bad: minor deviations from the comic, lacking much emotional aspect, truncated narrative, , relatively inaccessible to viewers unfamiliar with DC comics lore and characters.

Current Availability Status: on 2 disc special edition DVDs in singapore stores now.

******************************Review********************

The Superman/Batman comic stories' main attraction has always been the character interplay. How the two famous superheroes, different in every aspect like oil and water, lend their perspective on similar situations and in the end, pull together for the greater good. In that respect, "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" does not disappoint as Superman, Batman and even Wonder Woman bring their unique personalities to the table when they face their latest little "problem".

The "problem" in question is the unexpected arrival of Kara Zor-El (Summer Glau), Superman's cousin who crash lands to earth, disoriented, unclothed but unhurt and lost in Gotham. In perhaps an intentional homage to Glau's previous Terminator character in "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", She "procures" a coat from a trio of overly eager warehouse workers, but not before almost accidentally killing them. The unintentional destruction she causes while trying to flee from the cops alerts both Batman and Superman who take her into their custody. While Superman is overjoyed at finally meeting a fellow survivor of his home planet, Batman is skeptical and naturally suspicious (she did trash Gotham without even trying). More trouble follows when Superman tries to get Kara assimilated into earth culture but Wonder Woman has other plans for her as she too fears Kara's lack of control over her powers. But on the burning planet of Apokolips, the dreaded DarkSeid has his sights on the young kryptonian girl to be the latest addition to his warriors. What follows is a perilous incursion into Darkseid's palace with one deadly confrontation after another with the forces of Apokolips.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse adapts the "Supergirl" story arc of the Superman/Batman comic series by Jeph Loeb and the late Michael Turner. It is a rather faithful adaptation, barring a few very minor changes here and there, and as such shares both the good points and the shortcomings of its source material. For one thing, the story proceeds at a very fast pace, which is good as it keeps things from getting boring. However that means the time frame of the tale is difficult to follow. For example Kara was supposed to have been training with the Amazons for a few months but it seemed like only yesterday. We only know about the time skip thanks to some mandatory exposition.

Rather than its truncated story, it is the snappy character interplay, well written dialog and a top notch cast of actors that carry this show. Tim Daley, Kevin Conroy and Susan Eisenberg return comfortably to their DCAU roles of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Everyone else is perfectly cast, especially Summer Glau, lending much emotional weight and realism to the characters. The only role that did not seem to fit as well was Andre Braugher's unmistakably African American sounding DarkSied. The tone of voice was right but a more neutral accent would have fit better.

Judging from the way the characters are handled, the target audience is most definitely long time fans who are already familiar with the personalities of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. That is because the "DC trinity" get little character development here, allowing Supergirl to take most of the development spotlight. That is not to say that the main trio do not get their chance to shine. Their differing views on life clash often which sheds some light on their individual inner natures. There is even a dramatic introspection by one of the villians regarding Batman's questionable methods in contrast to that of superman and, ironically, more similar to that of the villian himself.

Viewers who have watched the previous "Superman/Batman: Public enemies" can treat this as a sequel despite the differing art styles. As the previous movie replicated Ed McGuinness's stylishly muscular artwork, this one manages to translate Michael Turner's bold character designs barring a slight drop in art detail. The animation by "MOI Animation" is very fluid considering the "higher-than-usual" level of art detail, with no visible short cuts and a high frame rate throughout. As a result, the intense action and superhero battles are vivid and violent. Those who love some good hero on villian brawling would love what is in store for them here.

For DC animation fans, readers who loved the Superman/Batman comics and superhero action junkies, "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" would no doubt be a hit. More time could have gone into letting the story "breath" a little or making it a smart anecdote about growing up, stepping out from under a overprotective sibling/parent's shadow and finding one's place in the world. Then again, since those themes were never present in the original comic, here is a case where straying from the original source might have turned out a better product. But no point lamenting what it could have been. Rather, enjoy it for what it is.

*****************************Review End******************

Go For it: if you are a fan of the "DC Trinity" in action, have read the original Superman/Batman comics or used to be a fan of the popular Bruce Timm DC Animated universe shows (Justice League unlimited)
Avoid it: if the name "Darkseid"(pronounced "dark Side" by the way) brings thoughts of Star Wars instead of DC comics. In other words, if you are unfamiliar with the characters, it is recommended you get acquainted first via other DC animated productions or the comics themselves.


Entertainment: B+
Story: C
Characters: A
Animation: A-
Art: A-
Voice work: A-
Replay Value: B
"Brains": C

Love In Disguise 戀愛通告(2010) review

Overall verdict: 3.5/10

The Good: Convincing acting, well cast roles

The Bad: cliche ridden, evidence of author self-glorification, bland jokes, one dimensional characters, generally uninteresting main character.

Also know as: Lian ai tong gao, 戀愛通告

Current Availability Status: coming to DVD

******************************Review********************
Either Chinese pop idol Wang Lee Hom had a breath of inspiration to try to break into the film making business, or music is not bringing in as much dough as he would like. Either way, it must take some gutsy person to make a movie, not a documentary or biopic, about......himself.

Wang Lee Hom writes, directs and stars in what is easily a glorified fan-fiction about himself. Lee plays Du Ming Han, pop idol extraordinaire with an over active imagination and adored by millions. Along with his loyal manager, Joan (played by actress....Joan Chen), each day is a routine of performances, evading the paparazzi through the use of disguises and partying at night with his band-mates. One night after giving the press the slip, Ming Han's posh Van literally runs into a female music student named Song Xiao Qing. Miraculously unhurt, Xiao Qing checks her "GuZheng" string instrument for damage. This is when Du Ming Han's overactive imagination kicks in as Xiao Qing's tune conjures up images of badly CGI-ed butterflies in his head. Immediately smitten by her, though he claims he is only her music that he is in love with, Du Ming Han and his lead guitarist Wei Zhi Bai track the talented girl to her school. Donning a couple of silly disguises, they enroll in the schools music department so that Ming Han can have the pleasure of hearing Xiao Qing play once again.

As much as Du Ming Han daydreams of flowers, butterflies and beautiful hilltops when he listens to Xian Qing's music, the entire movie seems like a wishful daydream of writer/director/main actor Wang Lee Hom. The characters that populate the story are either played too over-the-top for anyone to take seriously, are utterly unlikable or generally lack a certain presence. The first flaw falls on every single side character from the school principle (who happens to be Xiao Qing's father) to even Wei Zhi Bai. They are all played for laughs basically, and nothing more. "Utterly unlikable" goes to the character of Mu Fan, a perfectionist top music student who Xian Qing has a crush on. Played like a complete jerk rival to Du Ming Han, his eventual change of heart comes without any reason other than to move the already plodding plot along. And lastly there is Xiao Qing, played by actress Liu Yifei, who feels like a blank slate. Where the other actors ham it up to the max actress YiFei does not even seem to be trying, rendering the character of Xiao Qing an expressionless bore.

But perhaps the greatest flaw is the flawless main character himself. He is a "Mary Sue", perfect in every way. He's got the looks, the cash, the charisma, and is talented in both pop music and classical Chinese instruments. And we as the audience are supposed to like him and feel sorry for him even though it was by his own dishonest actions that put him in a spot in the first place?

Every single "twist" in the plot is easily predictable and the forced humor gets old really fast. It really is unclear whether the story is to be firmly rooted in reality or fantasy. While it gives a very satirical look into the life of a superstar, there are too many moments where suspension of disbelief has to be called into play.The story even defies logic at times, expecting the audience to believe that a person can slip out of one disguise and into another AND run from the toilet to the performing stage, all under ten seconds (unless super-speed is another talent of the main character).

There was one moment where this movie could have set itself apart. A subplot about the concept of "soul-mates" as something mutually exclusive of "lovers" could have been developed more fully. Perhaps exploring the different types of love that need not be just romantic love, or expounding on how a Soul Mate might indicate a more metaphysical connection than a merely emotional one. Instead, after a small tease, the narrative conveniently lumps "romantic partner" and "soul-mate" together again and we are back in cliché land.

As much as Clark Kent's glasses is an absurdly thin disguise for Superman, so is Du Ming Han's disguise in this film. That same thinness translates to the plot, the characters and even the dialog. "Love In Disguise" feels like a lazy vanity affair. A self promoting tale of a musical Mary Sue that offers nothing new to the genre, not even some new laughs.

*****************************Review End******************

Go For it: if you are a Wang Lee Hom fangirl or are in the mood for some extremely shallow laughs. Or if your girl pal insists on dragging you along.
Avoid it: if you are a general fan of good romantic comedies.

Entertainment: C+
Story: C
Acting: B
Characters: D-
Replay value: C-
"Brains": D+

Noteworthy DVD/blu rays of the month (OCT 2010)

NOTE: "Bare Bones" = no extras, just the movie

Iron Man 2 (single disc edition DVD or two disc edition BluRay)

Prince of Persia (Single Disc edition DVD, single disc blu-ray or "just movie" bare bones DVD)

Tekken (Single Disc bare bones DVD only)

The Karate Kid (Single disc bare bones DVD and single disc Blu-ray)

The A-Team (coming this week)

The Killers (DVD only)

Robin Hood (Director's cut DVD)

Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming (single disc DVD only)

Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic (single disc DVD only)

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

Overall verdict: 5/10

The Good: Avatar-style stereoscopic 3D, intense action scenes, stylish cinematography, contains a lot of elements from the games, excellent creature effects

The Bad: no character development, erratic paced story, over usage of slow motion, "borrows" shamelessly from other action movies, not scary as a horror film.

Current Availability Status: In Theatres NOW

******************************Review********************

It really is funny how the titles for the Resident evil film franchise are almost self-descriptive of the movies themselves. Though the first film featured none of the game's characters, it captured the intense thrill and fun of the game. Then, like the apocalypse in its title, the second one was messy, chaotic and brought on the wrath of fans who hated that their favorite game characters got sidelined for the franchise protagonist, Alice. Extinction saw the franchise like the last of its kind on a dying planet, desperately trying to stay alive by scavenging parts of other movies (like Day of the Dead and Road Warrior) but at least it went out in a blaze of glory. Now it seems the Resident Evil Franchise has not been a good boy, and we all should know where bad boys go. Thats right, the powers that be saw fit to send Resident Evil Afterlife straight to hell.

Paul WS Anderson returns to his franchise baby with a new toy. Amazing stereoscopic 3D the likes of which was used in AVATAR. And like any kid with a new toy, he goes overboard sacrificing all substance for all style. The silly excuse for a story begins immediately after Resident Evil Extinction left off. If the movie was truly a video game, Alice would be that idiotic hacker who got her hands on every single cheat code. She got "GODMODE", "AIMBOT", "/KILLALL" and even a cheat for "Allied NPC Spawn". For the benefit of non-gamers, this just means that Alice gots superpowers and a super-powered clone army too. Within the opening minutes, Alice and clones stage a daring incursion into the Tokyo facility of Umbrella corporation, causing chaos and ultimately facing down the T-virus powered chairman, Wesker. The writer, also Paul WS Anderson, must have known by now how quickly the movie would be over since Alice could just pop the guy's head like she did in Resident evil Apocalypse. So through some stupidly convenient plot device, Alice is superhuman no more and all her clones are gone. Now on the run, she proceeds to Alaska in the hopes of reaching the last safe haven where her friends fled to, a place named "Arcadia".

The mystery thickens when all she discovers is an empty landing field and a deranged Claire Redfield (Ali Karter) under the control of some weird biomechanical device. After saving Claire, the duo proceed to Los Angeles where they encounter another group of survivors holed up in a prison. With zombies all around and a new dangerous giant axe/hammer wielding threat heading their way, Alice, Claire and the survivors must find a way out ASAP. Their last hope may rest with a prisoner named Chris.

It all sounds a lot better than it turned out. Story-wise, this seems to be a very standard action movie narrative with maybe only one good twist. The characters are the main problem. Anyone who is not Alice is relegated to being a one-dimensional stock character common in zombie apocalypse movies. You have a conniving asshole in a business suit, a damsel, a rough-n-tough soldier, a big strong African American guy and a token Asian dude. Claire Redfield takes over from Alice's initial appearance in the first movie as the amnesiac who slowly regains her memory and conveniently reveals the plot twist. As for Alice, the only thing that set her part from the other characters in the past was her mysterious developing powers. Now that she has lost them, she has possibly become one of the most boring action chicks in movie history

Paul WS Anderson, the baby with the 3D, must have spent so much time making his wife look good on screen that he forgot not only to write a good story but to direct good action. He blatantly rips off The Matrix trilogy, Dawn of the Dead, and possibly Ninja Assassin. And by "blatantly" it means lifting whole scenes to the point where it should usually be considered a copyright violation. Almost 90% of the combat scenes are in slow motion, easily reminding one of Uwe Boll's "House of the Dead", complete with painful over usage of 360 degree panning and other matrix bullet time effects. As a resident evil movie, Afterlife commits the worse crime possible by having more humans fighting humans than Zombie killing action. The very sci/fi-ish set up, the CGI cityscapes, lack of Zombies and Milla Jovovich doing Gun Kata makes this feel more like "Ultraviolet 2" than a Resident Evil film.

Perhaps the one redeeming factors is how the franchise is trying its damnedest to move back on track with the games. There are numerous references especially to Resident Evil 5 and Code Veronica; the Executioner, Wesker's appearance, even that P30 bug thing just to name a few. A real pity that no explanation is given for their appearances; is the Executioner a mutated zombie or the latest Umbrella corporation bioweapon? Where did the P30 bug come from? When did Wesker start having superpowers? Anyway, Alice no longer dominates the screen as Game characters like Chris and Claire get their fair amount of time to shine. No doubt the fan-boys might be more pleased than usual about this. Oh yes, and there is Avatar-style 3D which just shows how weak the movie would be without this gimmick.

Like a shambling zombie, Resident evil Afterlife now plods through the movie underworld. A sad Frankenstein's-monster pastiche of past films with an erratic pace and no soul left in its shell. It has got action, lots of it, which when coupled with the slick 3D would no doubt please the millions of simple-minded adrenaline junkies populating this planet. It would find warm reception too perhaps from fans who desire something closer to that of the games (compared to past movies), and maybe existing fans of the Resident evil movie franchise. With the promise of a sequel, one wonders how much lower can the franchise go now that its already all gone to hell.

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Go For it: if you have an idea about the Resident evil film franchise and expect the stylish but extremely shallow, action heavy product that you are going to get. Also if you have played the REsident Evil 5 game and want to see some of the mutated creatures in live action form.

Avoid it: if you expect something that exceeds the standards of the previous resident evil movies or any form of emotion closure for the characters.

Entertainment: A-

Story: C

Acting: B+

Characters: C-

Replay value: B-

"Brains": D+