The first movie I watched in Malaysian cinemas on the second day of my summer holidays in Malaysia was no other than Blood: The Last Vampire. This movie is based on a Japanese horror animation film released in the dawn of the new millennium which I once watched when I was in my first year of secondary school. I enjoyed the animation for its fast-paced action despite its overwhelming gore, therefore I was eager to see a live-remake of the animation I once enjoyed nine years ago. Directed by Chris Nahon and produced by Ronny Yu, Blood: The Last Vampire tells the story of Saya, a 400 year old human-vampire hybrid, on her endless quest to hunt vampires masquerading as humans and their mother-of-all vampires, Onigen. Saya's hunt for vampires and Onigen is assisted by a group of Illuminati-like covert organization known as "The Council" which bears an endless strings of network and connections around the world in locating the vampires. With intelligence reports from "The Council" pointing to the presence of Onigen in Japan, Saya goes undercover as a student in a school near the Yokota Air Base to carry out her ultimate duty in slaying Onigen and the vampires alongside her. Blood: The Last Vampire presents a simple and straight-to-the-point story; nevertheless there are few unexpected scenes of betrayal, explanation and surprises which does a decent manner of twisting the plot. The cast of the movie which consist of Gianna Jun, Allison Miller, Masiela Lusha , JJ Feild, Koyuki and Lian Cunningham did a great job in delivering their respective role as their acting were simply authentic and convincing. Despite featuring a group of cast whom were rarely heard of, Blood: The Last Vampire offers grade-A acting performances equivalent to the big names in Hollywood. However Blade: The Last Vampire is restricted from entering the "must watch" categories due to several aspects that holds the movie back. First of all, the special-effects in the movie fails to impress the viewers as it clearly resembles the standards used by action movies in the mid ninety's. Second of all, the martial art choreographing which was orchestrated by Cory Yuen (the action choreographer for most of Jet Li's action movies) himself was disappointing as it demonstrated a lack of effort and originality. Lastly, the climatic battle with Onigen is simply ridiculous and it clearly shows that the film crew are so eager to end their film project without placing much dedication in presenting a good ending to the fall of the villain, Onigen. Blood: The Last Vampire gets a 6 out of 10 from me. Despite its low ratings, Blood: The Last Vampire is still passable as a movie to watch for action fans.
A few days later, the same friend of mine who took me out for Blood: The Last Vampire, had free tickets to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I thought of passing on the movie as it was just another overrated sequel to me, in addition to my lack of interest in the Transformers saga. On the contrary, I decided to go along with my friend and watch it as she wanted someone to accompany her and also it was because I had nothing interesting to do that day. I've watched the first one with another friend of mine who dragged me along as he was a Transformers fanatic, four years ago. Surprisingly it was not bad despite the ultra fast paced action which left me confuse of what's happening on the big screen back then, so I thought maybe the second one could be better thus giving me another reason to watch Revenge of the Fallen. Directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg, Revenge of the Fallen revolves around the evil Decepticon's quest to resurrect their long-trapped leader and unleash their vengeance by activating a machine on Earth that would channel the Decepticons a massive amount of energy called Energon, at the expense of all life forms on Earth. Standing in the Decepticon's way is an alliance which consist of the Autobots and the United States government. Trapped in the conflict between the Autobots and the Decepticons, is Sam Witwicky a university student who recently had visions of Cybertronian writings and is in the wanted list of the Decepticons under the orders of their long-trapped leader. Revenge of the Fallen greatly excels in its story as it does not only provides an arranged chronology of Sam and the Autobots in their fight against the evil Decepticons but it also explores the historical background of the Transformers which further enriches the story of the movie. In addition to that, the movie also details the living nature of the Transformers which makes the movie even more interesting. The cast of the movie comprise of Shia Le Beouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro did an outstanding job in performing their respective roles although there were a bit of overacting especially by Shia LeBeouf's character which slightly leaves the audiences feeling awkward at times. The special effects are truly amazing as the robots and their interaction seem very real and convincing which makes Revenge of the Fallen a must-watch for action fans who love being amazed by today's computer generated images. Soundtrack for the movie is good as it ideally compliments different scenes of the movie; the best music score for the soundtrack which is saved for the climatic battle of the movie illustrates high production and editing value of the movie. Revenge of the Fallen did a great job for its overall presentation of the movie; however there are a couple of dents that prevents the movie from getting a full score. As mentioned earlier on, the casting group's performance was simply outstanding nevertheless there were a bit of overacting especially form Shia Le Beouf's character which leaves the audiences awkward at times. The humor of the movie is most of the time difficult to laugh which further exacerbates the sense of awkwardness especially among mature audiences and there are a couple of Transformers which are dreadfully annoying as they break out lame and excruciating jokes which can be deeply annoying. It also seems that the producer and director of the movie did not learn from their previous mistakes when it comes to the combat of the Transformers; no doubt that the action choreographing is top-notch, on the other hand the pace of the action scene is too fast leaving audiences perplexed and confuse as to who is throwing their metallic fists or blasting who away. The same problem was illustrated in the previous Transformers movie and apparently audiences who suffered the same problem in the first movie have to re-experience it again in the sequel. To sum it up, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen gets a 7 out of 10 from me. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is something the kids will definitely enjoy; however the same cannot be said with mature audiences. Nevertheless, for those who are a fan of the saga and for those who enjoys a fast-paced action flick, Revenge of the Fallen caters what they need.
A month later another movie based on a cartoon series like Transformers hit the theaters in Malaysia; it was G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. I've watched the teaser of the movie when I was still in Canada and my first impression regarding the movie was bad as I thought the movie was going to be an absolute exaggerated and ridiculous portrayal of the Army Special Forces. When I was back in Malaysia the same friend of mine asked me if I was interested at all to watch the movie with her. Of course the answer was no but as always, seeing that I had no other plans for the day and since I was a sucker for anything Special Forces, I eventually followed my friend to the movies. Furthermore, my interest in flak masks was growing and apparently the flak masks worn by the villain commandos were just awesome therefore, I had an extra reason to watch the movie. After approximately an hour and a half in the cinema, I was completely amazed by the movie and I felt like an idiot the second I reflected on my first impression on G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. Directed by Stephen Sommers and produced by Brian Goldner , Bob Ducsay and Lorenzo di Bonaventura, G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra tells the tale of a diabolical Irish arms dealer and his plans to take over the world with one covert multinational counter-terrorist organization code name G.I. Joe, standing in his way from allowing him to unleash his sinister plans. As simple as the story may sound, rest assure that Rise of the Cobra has an enriched story as it can be exemplified by the main villain's family history, the operating nature of the villain's doomsday device and the structure of the G.I. Joe organization. In addition to that, almost every character in the movie has his own story or agenda which not only explains the unconnected dots of the movie but also ignite the interests of the audiences. Rise of the Cobra is one of the few great action movies that keeps viewers at the edge of his or her seat leaving him or her blown away ever since Live Free and Die Hard . The action choreographing is simply superb especially with the ninja fight scenes between eternal rivals Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. The movie's special effects and computer generated images are above average as they are convincing. The B-grade cast of the movie which comprise Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Dennis Quaid and Lee Byung Hun did a fairly good job in delivering their roles. There is nothing much to rant about Rise of the Cobra except for its disappointing cliff hanger ending which contradicts with the title of the movie; other than that Rise of the Cobra is one great movie that excels into the "must watch" movie category. G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra gets a two thumbs up from me with a rating of 9 out of 10. Rise of the Cobra is a must watch for action film junkies and definitely for the big fans of the G.I. Joe saga.
Just last week, I happened to watch the fourth movie entitled Vengeance. This movie came to my knowledge after I saw the trailer on public television a couple of times. A quick glance of the trailer which featured a slick and stylish presentation of gun action was just sufficient to get me excited. Did I mention that Vengeance is a Chinese movie? Unlike the other movies I have mentioned earlier on, Vengeance is a Chinese movie with a mix of English and a little bit of French. Directed by Johnnie To, Vengeance presents a dark and gritty story of a French chef who seeks to even the score with those who were responsible for murdering his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Traveling all the way to China, the country where his loved ones were murdered, the French chef begins his own investigation to determine those who were behind the brutal murder. However, as he begins to feel lost in the foreign land, the French chef employs a triad of Chinese assassins to help him in his investigations and his quest to return the favor on those who were responsible for the murder. Just like any action-flick regarding redemption and revenge, Vengeance itself does not present anything new as movies like these has been in the market for a long time. Nevertheless, the movie which features a bit of surprises that turns the plot inside out makes Vengeance a movie worth the watch. Johnny Hallyday, Anthony Wong, Lam Ka Tung, Lam Suet and Simon Yam are the cast of this action crime film. Like any other professional actors in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, everyone did a great job in portraying their characters. On the contrary, the dialogues between the characters which happens to be monotonous makes the movie slow and slightly boring. To make matter worst, the movie tries to deliver a stylish presentation but fails to impress the audience as there are previous Hong Kong action films which did a better job. The shoot-out scenes are simply boring and it clearly shows that no effort has been invested in the movie's action choreographing. Somehow, the trailers which I saw made the movie even interesting than the actual movie. Overall, Vengeance did not impress me and I have to say that I was disappointed with Johnnie To this time. To sum it up, Vengeance receives a 5 out of 10 from me. Perhaps those who enjoy slower paced films might find Vengeance worth watch; as for me, once is already enough.
Unfortunately this time, my visits to the big screen this summer wasn't as exciting and enjoyable as there are plenty or rants to make nevertheless, there was at least a movie which I greatly enjoy and the ones I didn't were at least passable. Compared to two years ago where I visited the cinemas in Malaysia during my summer holidays, I managed to watch a lot of great movies and I watched them more than once in the cinemas. Unfortunately for me this time, there aren't any of them which prompt me to watch it again in the cinemas except for G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobras. This fall, there are more great movies coming out and I'll be looking forward to watching it with my friends in Canada. Lets just hope the streak of movie disappointment does not continue for me this fall. Here are the trailers of the movies, I've watched. Enjoy.
1. Blood: The Last Vampire
2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
3. G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra
4. Vengeance
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