The Wolverine (James Mangold, 2013)

The man with the adamantium skeleton is back. No "X-Men" word in the title, just his name, Wolverine AKA Logan goes solo for the second time after X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Hood, 2009). The comic story arc of Wolverine in Japan is well known among X-Men-philes. So expect to see Katana wielding samurai and ninjas. 

The prologue shows Logan being held captive by the Japanese troops in Nagasaki during WW2. The American B-52 bomber was coming to drop the A-Bomb, he saved Yashida's life, a Japanese soldier. Switching back to current time, we see Logan had nightmares about his former lover Jean Grey (Famkee Janssen returned, remind me of the creepy Leonardo Di Caprio character's wife in Nolan's Inception). The remorse Logan is haunted by his past, the guilt consumes him in many ways. He went for secluded life in the wild, this is where the plot picks up after the event in X-Men: The Last Stand (Ratner, 2006).

This fish-out-of-water plot shows how Logan is called upon to bid farewell to his long time friend, a dying old man Yashida, who he saved half a century ago. Yashida is grateful for Logan's deed and wants to repay him by offering something that everyone has, except him: Mortality. The so called mortality curse possessed by Logan has already been made clear in the previous X-Men Origins movie. The idea of wiping off the Wolverine's memory is essentially the same as ending his life. Things get knotty when Yashida's grand daughter, Mariko is hunted by Yakuza gangs, this is where Wolverine cross swords (or cross swords with claws for that matter) with his opponents.

If there is one movie the bankable star Hugh Jackman guarantee to carry a movie on his own, it is the portrayal of the resentful feral mutant which makes him always watchable. From the three X-men movies, to the spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine, down to the eye catching cameo appearance in prequel X-Men: First Class. Having said that, in this latest chapter, the lack of memorable supporting casts and the decent script let him down big time. Logan's supposedly love interest, Mariko, besides he saves her from suicide and escape with her during the funeral scene, where is their sudden mutual affection coming from? Pure bad writing, period. Then there is the red-haired Yukio, bodyguard (do not ask me why) of Logan, who serves little purpose in the movie. 

I will not be the minority who think Logan fighting with the gun-trotting Yakuza members is not as exciting as fighting with another equally matched mutants, is it? The lack of worthy villains soften the intensity factor. The blonde who played the forked tongue mutant, who I reckon her special ability is ..... spreading disease (?) and superhuman strength (?), hardly a third tier X-Men character in special power hierarchy. Are we suppose to believe she can challenge Wolverine's superiority? Then there is this finale's villain (the name I should remain a secret) disinterested me by the time the plot got to there.

The funeral set piece is one of the highlights and the prologue is the best scene in the entire movie, it just went down hill afterwards. The plot does not bring anything new to the table, aside from he is in a culturally different territory and temporary loses the self-healing power. I yawned as much as Wolverine's adamantium claws pop out from his fists throughout the movie. As far as a X-Men theme movie goes, I am surprise by the bland effort.









1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it

2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution

3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre

4 stars = Excellent, strongly recommended

5 stars = A classic status? Only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List

Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013)

* * * * *

Jor-El: You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders. 

* * * * *

Jonathan Kent:        You are the answer, son. You are the answer to "are we alone in the universe".

Young Clark Kent : Can I just .... keep pretending I am your son?
Jonathan Kent:        You are my son. And I have to believe that you were sent here for a reason. And even if it takes the rest of your life, you owe it to yourself to find out what that reason is.

* * * * *

Jonathan Kent: [to young Clark Kent] You are not just anyone. One day, you are going to have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, it's going to change the world.

* * * * *

Look, it's a no longer a bird, nor is a plane......it's Superman Begins! For decades since 1970s, Christopher Reeve was the person who made us believe a man could fly on the screen. The moment our favourite Kryptonian son dons the blue suit with red cape, bearing the "S" symbol on his chest, he is among the most recognized icon in the world. Bryan Singer briefly revived the immortalized superhero in 2006 but not quite able to make a lasting impression from the mainstream audience notably the comic book geeks.

The movie studio has a massive task to make a Superman movie without the heavily potential cheesy factor. We all know he is the beacon of Hope, Truth and Justice, he is the saviour of mankind, the Mr Nice Guy. He has no weakness, virtually indestructable (OK calm down, kryptonite does not rear its head yet). Deep down he did not suffer from childhood trauma unlike Bruce Wayne, who has tragically lost his parents during early days, Batman was a vigilante blinded by the rage and vengeance he vowed to take. Contrariwise, Superman is always portrayed as a jolly good fellow inside out. Let's be honest, a do-gooder character is boring, modern sophisticated audience wants to know how and why is the do-gooder's inner struggling with, or has he got any dark secret waiting to be unveiled.

Zack Snyder, who was handed the directorial task, must have expect a walk in the park. After all he directed the visually astounding 300 and Watchmen movies. The gestation of Man of Steel actually came from the teaming of Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, the powerhouse that brought us The Dark Knight trilogy. Does that mean we can expect the same dark and gritty approach of re-booting Superman? Well, not really. What Goyer and Nolan did was to emphasize Kal-El as an isolated alien, not merely instilling him as a superhero from planet Krypton. Man of Steel is a loosely retelling of Superman I and II movies (in 1978 and 1980) minus the villain character Lex Luthor. The prologue was panned out as in 1978's version, planet Krypton was on the brink of destruction, the newly born Kal-El was forced to send away to Earth by his biological parents. In this new version, we get to see more of the Kryptonian's world and their technology. We get to find out about their social structure as well. It is notable to mention that the Superman suit underwent a major facelift. The suit was revamped to darker coloured with textured surface, ditching red undergarment (hooray to that!) and yellow belt although the red cape remains.  the "S" crest was engraved.

Briton Henry Cavill gaves a self assured Superman-esque performance, Christopher Reeve would have nodded with approval. He looks muscularly imposing in the newly designed suit, and the alter-ego gawky Clark Kent portrayal is nowhere to be seen yet. The two patriarch figures portrayed by Russell Crowe as Jor-El and Kevin Costner as Papa Kent are my favourite parts. Despite not having much screen time, they certainly left a lasting impression. Hope to see more of them for the coming sequel.

I am all for non linear narration depicting what makes Superman the person he is, how the lonely descendant of Krypton was nurtured by his adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha in a small town farm from Kansas. While trying to find out about his true identity and his purpose in this world, he was cautioned by papa Kent not to reveal his super human abilities eventhough lives may be at stake. Those tiny details such as the first time the very young Clark discovered his power and could not control it added a nice touch to it. The way the screenplay panned out in the first half, told in bits and pieces flashbacks makes this movie such a winner. The riveting first half is about the destruction of Krypton planet to how Clark Kent embarking on quest to discover his true origin. The latter part is all about the arrival of villains General Zod et al and how the world discovered an alien has been living among them.

I do felt the movie suffered from narrative pacing problem in the second half of the movie, where the big fighting sequence between Superman and General Zod et al is a tad overkill. I have not timed it, it could be a straight 20 minutes of Superman and General Zod punching each other out. See how Metropolis' skyscrapers tumbling down, people fleeing and perishing, it is the same old, same old stuffs like watching Transformers movies. I would trade Superman and Zod punching each other scenes with Clark Kent character development scenes in a heartbeat.
 

This movie could be the classic in the making if not marred by the never ending CGI fighting sequence at the end. Man of Steel is now the definitive version in modern time to tell the story of Kal-El origin. In fact I boldly proclaim that this movie is going to be better with repeated viewings, as what I thought of Batman Begins (Nolan, 2005)

Unforgettable scene: It gave me a shiver to see the Clark Kent kid with the red cape plays with the dog under the watching eyes of papa Kent, it is so poetically awesome, the signature fists-on-his-hip pose with the fluttering cape!

1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it

2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution

3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre

4 stars = Excellent, strongly recommended

5 stars = A classic status? Only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List

Iron Man 3 (Shane Black, 2013)

Back in year 2008, the first Iron Man movie was introduced to the cinematic world. It kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), paved the way for the character of Hulk, Thor, Captain America to star in their standalone movie under the banner of Marvel Studios. Phase 1 of MCU ended with a bang in The Avengers (Whedon, 2012).

So now what can Iron Man 3 offers to us apart from having to face new villain? The latest installment has Tony Stark suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, he has nightmare sleeping at night or not sleeping at all. You may wonder why a super wealthy guy having a girl he loves and who can literally build anything any man can built has anything to worry about? Well, simply put, he is just a man in a can after all. The entire chapter in The Avengers was a whole new ballgame for Tony Stark. He discovered about alien invasion, demi-god from other dimension (Thor and Loki). He went into wormhole, fought with alien and almost die from it. Bear in mind in pre-Avengers movie timeline, since his escape from the Afganistan cave, he only fought with terrorist and mortal human beings with armour.

The new nemesis, in the form of The Mandarin, I love how the great Ben Kingsley portrays the menacing and wacky role. He has a significant different origin and character compare to the comic books. The dashing looking Guy Pearce plays Aldrich Killian, the inventor of Extremis virus and which may or may not has close allied with The Mandarin. The twist plotline about The Mandarin and Aldrich Killian may not goes down well with comic book purists, I admit it kind of take away Mandarin's authoritative presence in the end, despite the cleverness of the disguise plot. Then of course Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Tony's love interest Pepper Potts, who has a bigger role this time. Happy Hogan who was no longer a body guard to Tony Stark anymore, What? Tony Stark needs a bodyguard? War Machine was re-painted in red, blue and white, in case you do not aware of the flag-waving spirit, it was renamed to Iron Patriot for the sake of the obviousness.

Jon Favreau, the director of first two Iron Man movies replaced by Shane Black, who I did not notice stamping any distinctive directorial mark in the movie, however as a co-screentwriter, his snippy one-liners are reminicence of his 1980s & 1990s buddy cop movies. You can really see the technology advance of the metal suit throughout the Iron Man trilogy, frrom the crude prototype from Afganistan mountain cave to the brief case-like Suit as in Monte Carlo scene in second movie. Now Tony Stark is able to use neuro-controlled headgear to command his armour suit assemble to his body piece by piece. Moreover, he has a whole army of unmanned Iron Man at his disposal.

The middle act of the movie is set in a small town during Christmas season (in fact the whole movie is). Tony Stark takes shelter befriends a boy, need his assistance to recharge his iron suit. Here is where the storyline strip off his armoury complacency. When he is in the Iron Man suit, there is nothing onslaught that he cannot address (just remember what he went through with his Avengers fellows). Take away his hi tech suit, all left underneath is his resourcefulness to turn things around, a side that we seldom get to see.

 

I will never get tired of watching Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, I would bring up the old cliche of "he was born to play this role" if I have to, seriously I just cannnot see other actor who will be as charmingly arrogant as he is. "I am Iron Man", he quipped. What stand out from other Iron Man story is, Tony Stark does not hide behind the mask of Iron Man, he does not shy away of letting the whole world knows that he is Iron Man indeed. It is important to know that at the end the movie, I am still eager for another chapter of Tony Stark story. The viewing experience of Iron Man 3 is marginally enjoyable than the pedecessor, while the first and original Iron Man movie is still my favourite among three

 

 

 

1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it

2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution

3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre

4 stars = Excellent, strongly recommended

5 stars = A classic status? Only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List

The Dark Knight Rises (Christopher Nolan, 2012)

Christopher Nolan does not make simple movie anymore, does he? I was emotionally exhausted right from the start to finish in this captivating 2 hours and 45 minutes of viewing, I barely have time to digest the richness of its storytelling and it lingered in my mind long after experienced it.

The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) is a fitting epic ending to the most compelling, ambitious superhero movie trilogy ever. In term of audaciousness, the closest I can think of is another DC Comics, Watchmen (Snyder, 2009), without a doubt you are looking at the pinnacle of superhero comic movie adaptation in these two. Both have equal brooding style, Watchmen has a superior narrative style because it is benefitted from a direct existing material while Nolan's Batman trilogy punches pure entertainment with accessibility to both general audience and comic geeks.

By the 3rd part of trilogy, gone are the days of the main characters' introduction, where we are straight to the engrossing pay off time.Batman's vehicle evolved from Tumbler who looks like tank to a two-wheels Batpod to The Bat that fly with ease (yes, Lucius Fox confirms that it comes in black colour). The story sets 8 years after the event of The Dark Knight where Bruce Wayne went into long hiatus. The newcomer Anne Hathaway plays the role of Catwoman. Under normal circumstances, she and Catwoman do not belongs to the same bracket, but somehow she pull it off with the seductive performance coupled with the touch of insecurity from her. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays as a closed aide to Commisioner Gordon. Meanwhile, Marion Cottillard is an important figure in Wayne Enterprise.

The main villain, Bane is played by Tom Hardy where his presence on the screen is downright menacing. He is physically tough and hulky. He may not be as intimidating as Joker, but somehow I fear for anyone who is near to him because he seems like he would snap the neck of the person standing next be it his henchmen or enemy. I really felt for Batman during one of the brutal knuckle fight with Bane. He absolutely gives Batman a painful thumping. On the grand scale, he masterminded a sinister plan for the downfall of Gotham City. He strikes the people of Gotham with fear, he actually gives the Gotham citizens some faint hope before striking it down with furious vengeance, all before the eyes of a helpless Bruce Wayne. Given the fleshed out background story, it is obvious Bane is the most complex villain in TDK trilogy.

I am pleased that we are now at the second decade of the golden age of superhero comic movie adaptation where there are plenty of choices we are spoilt of. The sky is the limit as far as CGI is concern, nowadays no matter how transcendent the comic is, the cinema medium just easily lift the concept from the comic book panels. While Joss Whedon's The Avengers is fun, loud, a kind of borderline juvenile stuff, TDKR on the other hand is a serious, realistic, brooding, gothic feel drama. It stings to say this because I am a huge follower of Joss. Let me reiterate that The Dark Knight Rises is an epitome to action-orientated movie; not just limit to superhero comic adaptation genre. Whoever wants to remake a movie about Batman after Christopher Nolan, I wish him/her best of luck.

1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it

2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution

3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre

4 stars = Excellent, strongly recommended

5 stars = A classic status? Only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List

The Amazing Spider-Man (Marc Webb, 2012)

With new reboot comes great expectation.

Amazing? More like The Immature Spider-Man to me. Wait, do not get me wrong, it is not a slander remark by any stretch of mean, I was trying to point out that it is basically a re-telling of our beloved Peter Parker's teenage life, how he cope with the death of his Uncle Ben and more importantly how he dealt with the newfound arachnoid power.

Years ago, the Sony Pictures announcement of the new Spider-Man reboot had us crying out "What? Reboot again? It was too soon for that!" In fact, it has been only 10 years since Sam Raimi's own version of Spider-Man movie, which lead to 2 more sequels completing a satisfying trilogy. Instead of continue with Part Four, Sony Pictures chose to revamp the whole franchise by starting all over again. Which bring us The Amazing Spider-Man (TAS-M) helmed by the relatively newcomer Marc Webb. He has so far brought us the indie (500) Days of Summer (2009) which I am impressed by the quirkiness of it.


I have great time in Raimi's sunny, glittering Spider-Man trilogy. Cinematically, he introduced one of the most iconic Marvel's superhero character to non-comic Spidey fan like me and the story of the web shooter too won the heart of many comic fans. My write-up here is probably has to do with a lot of comparison between Raimi's original Spider-Man and the latest instalment. This time, Instead of shooting the web from his wrist, Spider-Man invented the mechanical web shooter just like in the comic. There is no Mary Jane Watson character as Peter's love interest, replaced by Gwen Stacy which is akin to the comic timeline. We will also find out more about Peter's parents. Then, there are no appearances of Osborne members although their organization Oscorp formed the backdrop of the plot. Dr Curt Connor is the villain better known as Lizard as his alter ego. He is the leading research scientist in Oscorp on the verge of biotechnology breakthrough based on reptiles' DNA in regenerating new human tissue for amputated limb like himself. What I missed most from 2002 version is JK Simmons as the wacky chief editor of Daily Bugle.




Rhys Ifans as Dr Curt Connor AKA Lizard

Another significant difference with this latest TAS-M is the overall darker and grittier tone.  I noticed Uncle Ben's demise here has somehow less impact on Peter's anguish motivation. The loss of his uncle should be the incident inspiring him to use his unique ability to fight the crime. Compare to Tobey Maguire, does Andrew Garfield look a tad to pretty to be a nerdy Peter Parker? If you look past that, his flourishing romance scene with the Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is chemistry spot on.

We are reminded on numerous occasions that the wall crawler is actually no more than a geeky Peter Parker in suit; I find it hilariously genuine when he is in full spandex suit, he still carry backpack; he received calls from Aunt May asking him to buy organic eggs, he played with his cellphone while waiting for The Lizard.... his actions evidently showing he was merely an orphaned teenager who discover his newfound superpower, Wolverine he is not. Whenever the gravity defying masked crimefighter in full swing action, the fair share of it happen during glitering night of New York City. Again, bridge is used as location to one of the action scene.

The most common argument against the reboot Amazing Spider-Man is: It does not bring anything new to the table; it is a blatant, soulless money grabber. But then after the cold reception of Spider-Man 3 (2007), the continuation of Sam Raimi's part 4 may seems like heading towards nothing short of wearing itself out. After watching the latest instalment, I felt I do not have to bash the previous version to like the current TAS-M, they are both worthy in their own way in adapting the story of web swinger from the comic. TAS-M is a refreshing approach to explore the origin of Spider-Man, and that is certainly NOT the backhanded compliment I gave.






1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it
2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution
3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre
4 stars = Excellent, strongly recommended
5 stars = A classic status? Only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List

X-Men: First Class (Matthew Vaughn, 2011)

For those who debate on whether the latest turnout from Marvel's Mutant is a reboot or prequel, will whole heartedly agree that it need to be better than the last dismal X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Hood, 2009). In fact the feral mutant feature tarnished the X-Men movie brand so badly, it needed Logan's superhuman healing ability to revive the X-Men franchise.

For that noble reason, we go back to the 1940s and 60s, where we find out more about the two pivotal mutants. Before the principal of X-Men known as Professor X, he was Charles Xavier; before Magneto becomes the magnetic field controller, he was Erik Lehnsherr. First Class tells the story of the early years of two most influential mutants, how the young Charles met the blue shape shifting Raven, who became his few and far between best friend; meanwhile somewhere in German concentration camp, Erik was one of million victims of Nazi's atrocious regime. 



Erik Lehnsherr AKA Magneto

20 years later, follow by years of Nazi's imprisonment, the vengeful Erik search and trackdown his all-powerful evil guardian Sebastian Shaw (played by the evergreen Kevin Bacon), Kevin played the new villainous Sebastian, the leader of another mutant group, known in the comic as Hellfire Club. Kevin Costner starred in Thirteen Days (Donaldson, 2000) may have presented a more historical accurate version of the Cuban Missile Crisis, First Class certainly re-creates the more intriguing alternate history by interlacing the involvement of the X-Men in the notorious Cuban Missile Crisis. The war between Homo Sapiens and Homo Superiors is always been the backbone of X-Men movies, the leaders of two mutant groups, who fight for the same course. i.e. to protect their own kind against the human's onslaught and discrimination. The subtext of skepticism in self-acceptance is even more noticeable in the subplot of Mystique and Beast. 


Charles Xavier AKA Professor X

Here in First Class, we witness the first of many to come encounters between Charles and Erik, mind you, it is not all sparks and flares when two of them met, by contrary, they share some of the tear jerking moments such as where Charles delves into the fond childhood memory of Erik in order to amplify his metal control ability. The truth is, there are more than enough material to make a feature length movie about Erik and Charles, let alone the inclusion of Sebastian Shaw and the first ever intake for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster, hence bring us the movie title, X-Men: First Class. Rising stardom actors James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender wear the Cerebro device with ease as they handle their roles as the young Charles and Erik convincingly. Their hands are not tied by the need to impersonate the older counterpart characters in the movie sequel. However, rest assure that you will be able to relate them to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as you re-visit the sequels.

Take my review with a pinch of salt if you only want to hear from a diehard comic X-Men fan, be that as it may, I do not have a faint idea whether this movie is faithful to the comic. All I knew is, in some aspect, it is slightly contradicted timeline in previous X-Men movies, does it matter to me?  No, when I witness the cameo which is many times funnier than Stan Lee The Marvel Comic God. Does it upset me when they contradicting the age of Moira MacTaggert as in X-Men 3? I forgot about it when I look at the amazing bar scene where Erik tracked down the Nazi "pig farmer" and "tailor", a heart pounding built up suspense before one of them makes the first move.



Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw

What makes First Class so special is, there is a collective of indie aura, a seductive 1960s vibe attach to it, suspiciously due to the teaming of director, the Brit Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman the co-writer. It reminds me of Vaughn's Kick-Ass (2010), another comic book adaptation movie whom leaps out of the big studio artistic confinement. It does not only rely on money shot climatic battle, the way Charles and Erik compliment other so well, I will watch it even without the the sub-plots of young mutants' recruitment and Sebastian Shaw orchestrating the nuclear war.

Unlike most superhero comic movies, It belongs to the same Superhero comic movie hall of fame, along side with Christopher Nolan's two Batman movies and Bryan Singer's double X-men. Yes, you heard me there, it is THAT inspiring! Hey, all the while I thought in a X-Men movie universe, it is a cardinal sin without Wolverine playing the main lead, well, I was gladly wrong. What happen next with this exciting beginning, there are lots of potential to be fulfilled, uncharted territory can be explored. Let us celebrate the re-born of the franchise, roll on First Class: Graduation Year.

1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it

2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution

3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre

4 stars = Excellent, strongly recommended

5 stars = A classic status? Only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List

The Green Hornet (Michel Gondry, 2011)

Miscast, irritating, tepid are the unkind words that spring to my mind for one of the main actor in the movie. No, it is not Christoph Waltz, although it fair to say he is regrettably wasted his talent here as the arch villain. We knew what he is capable of, say, a proper direction comes from the meticulous Tarantino. If the opening of Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino, 2009) shows Christoph in deadly threat of table talking, then here, the movie opens with the lame introductory of him (as the chief underworld Russian mobster) threatening his victim. Not even an engulfing flame from a blast explosion shows as much intimidation.

No, neither those unkind words is directed at Jay Chou, an established singer/actor superstar in the Far East. He fills the big shoes' role as Green Hornet's sidekick Kato. Following the footsteps of the late legend Bruce Lee who previously donned the same martial art expert character. Although he may at times murmuring his english lines when (a) he is not at each other's throat with his partner-in-crime, or (b) busy cover his P-I-C's ass during crimefighting. Nevertheless this nerdy looking Jay unknowingly exceeded my expectation. Kato is Green Hornet's late father's trusted mechanic and servant, who become the worthier half of the vigilante costumed duo. The brainy Kato is also an inventor to some very cool gadget, just look at the heavily armed Chrysler Imperial car, the Black Beauty.

Those stinging words at the beginning of this write up: miscast, irritating, tepid are aim at Seth Rogen, the playboy who inherited the newspaper publishing syndicate from his murdered father, the egotistical loser who bullies Kato, the spoilt brat who is the other "expendable" half of the costumed crimefighters, Throughout the movie until the end, the Green Hornet character has no redeeming features.

Cameron Diaz has aged rather...hmmm... to put in nicely.....indelicately. she looks much older than I thought. Her golden years of hot chick role is inevitably behind her now. Here in the movie they even make fun of her old age. The role she is playing as the love interest will be as fine as it was other newbie actress. By the way, what is Michel Gondry doing here? He is clearly having a Fish-Out-of-Water Syndrome. This big budget superhero action vehicle is not exactly the type of the director famed for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Is he in those deal with the movie studio where Michel need to helms The Green Hornet in return of they will fund his next artistic flick (artistic, read: lower audience turnout). Apart from the occasional trademark visual flair, this is all but a bland effort. For Michel Gondry, the Oscar co-winner of Best Original Screenplay, I hope it is not the case of how the mighty have fallen.

Well, I have to admit that as part of the contemporary audience, I am a novice for any existing materials of The Green Hornet which dated as far back as half a century ago, but I cannot get over with the notion of such childlike hero, Tell me the original Green Hornet is nothing resemble to it. What is seemingly a money making movie franchise has been washed down the drain when Seth Rogen carried his usual slapstick antic from his previous movies. Even the idea of making the spin-off movie of Kato alone is a better choice! The Green Hornet afficionado should not be too upset by the usage of bullet time technique during Kato kicking goon's ass, because It is understandable that Jay's Kato does not fight with the deftness of Bruce Lee, after all it is the highlight of otherwise an uneventful outing for the costumed crimefighters.Kato's Bullet-time-vision , the retro Black Beauty, weaponary Gas Gun barely save this from being in the same league as Howard the Duck (Huyck, 1986). It got so much potential, it could have been an awesome twosome masked heroes feature, but ultimately paying the price of having a child-like uninteresting actor in the lead role. To sums up my thought for the Green Hornet character, I share what John Mills from Se7en (Fincher, 1995) said: "You're no messiah, you're the movie of the week, a f**cking T-shirt, at best."

1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it

2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution

3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre

4 stars = Excellent, strongly recommended

5 stars = A classic status? Only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List

Iron Man 2 (Jon Favreau, 2010)

Year 2008 is the year where 2 comic adaptation superhero movies dethroned X-Men 2 (Singer, 2003) as my favourites. One of them is the sequel to the reboot DC Comics Batman series, The Dark Knight (Nolan), the critical acclaimed and arguably the greatest superhero movie ever made to date. On the other hand, the lesser known Marvel Comics' Iron Man burst onto movie screens for the first time and won the heart even the most cynical fan. I, for one, from knowing nothing about Tony Stark, to collecting the metal armoured hero's merchandize products, I also delved into the comic's timeline history from other reading material, that is how the movie does to me. Also I think I am the minority who laud Iron Man over The Dark Knight. Neither the fact IM has a less epic feel (compare to TDK) does not diminish its status, nor a less threatening villain reduces my love for the movie.

So now Round 2, the often cited as the difficult middle part of any trilogy. Prior to watch Iron Man 2, I am anxious, I know it WILL NOT surpass the 1st movie's awesomeness, deep down in my heart I hope it will not embarrass and destroy the 1st movie legacy, that is how I lower my expectation. Like any 1st sequel bridging the trilogy, the protagonist always deal with bigger issues. Since Tony Stark revealed the real man behind the mask to the world, everyone wants a piece of the arc reactor powered armour suit. The pressure from US government, his rival business entrepreneur, Justin Hammer (played by Sam Rockwell) to its own gain, try to emulate the technology that help Tony to preserve the peace. That was not the only problem Tony is facing: the arc reactor planted in his chest plate that keep his heart beating ever since the near fatal injury, is slowly poison his body. Failure to find an alternative component affects him mentally as well.

Meanwhile, the romantic tension between Tony and his personal assistant, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) continues. But sadly the ever present flirtation is best seen during the original movie. Remember in the past James Rhodes said to himself that he will wear the suit next time? Well, this is the time, he is the War Machine teaming up with Iron Man. Don Cheadle played the role of Rhodey this time, replacing Terrence Howard due to alleged contract dispute. I prefer Terrence's portrayal of Rhodey. He had a great chemistry with Robert Downey Jr. He can shows a straight face with doses of playfulness underneath. I am delighted by Mickey Rourke's performance as the villain, the development of the character, Ivan Vanko draws a parallel similarity to Tony Stark, but with opposite direction. They both have brilliant minded father, and inherited their knowledge. Only the contrast upbringing makes the difference.

Iron Man 2 did not improved from the 1st movie, I guess the director, Jon Favreau did not try to up the ante, I mean, ask yourself, how do you surpass the 5 stars rated Iron Man 1? You can't, *gasp* you can only stick with the Unofficial Rule of 2nd Part in a Trilogy as follows:

1) Bigger production budget
2) Larger casts

3) Bigger explosion (applicable, if any)
4) Expanding plotline
5) Darker tone
6) Main character faces bigger issues

Compare to its precedent, Iron Man 2 has less action, more talky scenes, I am all for that, but the middle act is sluggish, with direction-less feel to it. Too bad the drunken brawl scene was done comically, stick out like a sore thumb. The final battle is yet another machine vs machine, the only difference is the plural of it. Give me a more "organic" villiain in the next installment OK?

Like it or not, while we are waiting for final part of the Iron Man trilogy, you do not need a comic book geek to tell you that the appearance of Nick Fury, Agent Coulsen, the teaser of Captain America's Shield and Thor's Hammer are all part of the bigger Marvel Comics' universe. Plus the coming up full length features of Captain America and Thor, all these are and will be paving the path to the colossal The Avengers movie. By the way, can anyone tell me where was Stan Lee's cameo this time? Or do not tell me *another gasp* he did not make any appearance?

You may notice my comment for Iron Man 2 so far is less enthusiastic, yes i am slightly letdown by the latest outing, save for only the man himself, Robert Downey Jr. who once again shines as the womaniser billionaire, a heart of gold genius. His flamboyant body language, often carry a smirk on the face and never feel the need to hide his alter ego side. It may sound cliché, but Robert Downey Jr. is born to play high-handed Stark Industries CEO, he is the one who carries this movie steer it away to become another generic superhero movie.

1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it
2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution
3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre
4 stars = excellent, strongly recommended
5 stars = A classic status? only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List

Hancock (Peter Berg, 2008)

Having watch one too many superhero movies these few years (not that I complain though), it’s refreshing to see an unconventional superhero movie.
Will Smith played John Hancock, as the obnoxious superhero who always “saves the day” with a heavy price. Unlike Superman and Iron Man, he can fly at supersonic speed without a cape or an iron suit. The problem is his landing, he will smash uncontrollably into the ground (feet first of course), therefore damaging the roads. He got super strength, invulnerable, can easily thwart robbery attempt, but along the process, causing public millions dollar in damages. He is cocky, he lived like a bum, he drinks like a fish. Above all, he is the most hated person in the city.

One day, he saved Ray from train accident, he is a Public Relation consultant played by Jason Bateman. To return the favour to Hancock, Ray managed to convince him to change his public image to a likeable superhero. Ray’s wife is played by the stunningly beauty, Charlize Theron.
About halfway through the movie, the story dramatically change it course from a comedic superhero theme to a likeness of Greek myth, the relationship of the married god and goddess - Zeus and Hera. Never a movie has divide the story in half so evidently, in fact watching it remind me of Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket or Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn. But to discuss the second half of Hancock without spoiling anything seems like an uphill task, once again, all I can say is: it is reminiscent of Zeus and Hera, the god and goddess in Greek Myth.
The movie defies the traditional superhero versus supervillain plot, think of Man of Steel versus arch nemesis Lex Luthor. Kudos to the script writer for avoiding such cliché and the movie studio for having balls to finance the movie.

As usual, the charismatic Will Smith carries the movie almost on his own. He may act like jerk, but deep inside he is a sympathetic lonely person who has no memory of his past. One of the earliest memories he has, is when he was discharged from the hospital (after suffered from amnesiac), the nurse asked him to put down his “John Hancock” on the discharge note, and he thought his name is John Hancock! Curiously, I notice the movie director, Peter Berg (of The Kingdom fame) choose to portray the actor/actress’ face in close-up shots countless of times.

***Heavy spoiler ahead*** The ending is rather weak, suggesting that the original script was revised to a clearly forced happy ending. I would prefer it ended with the demise of either Hancock or his partner, Mary, hence create a stand out, downbeat ending just like a tragic Greek myth *wink* ***End of heavy spoiler***


bullet point summary:
- it’s a refreshing, non-traditional superhero movie;
- the plot split into half, akin to Full Metal Jacket;
- Will Smith is likeable as usual; - The words “John Hancock” is a metaphor of a person’s signature. Example: I need you to put down your John Hancock on these legal documents.







1 star = Pathetic, SowYau feel ashamed of watching it
2 stars = Off the mark material, approach with caution
3 stars = Generally good, you should watch it if it's your favourite genre
4 stars = excellent, strongly recommended
5 stars = A classic status? only time will tell. But it is definitely in SowYau's Hall of Fame List