Transformers

Transformers
Director: Michael Bay
140 minutes
2.39:1


It’s the cars. Chicks and dicks love the cars.

In a time where original ideas do not sell in Hollywood, the move to greenlight Transformers was not surprising at the time. Like many other TV properties, the animated series that was first aired in 1984 has a built-in audience of boys and girls. That same group of people grew up to be men and women with sizeable disposable incomes. Hollywood loves built-in audience but will the audience love Transformers? Yes they will.


Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is trying hard to get the teenage American dream – a hot car and a hot babe. Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) is certainly hot but not his babe. So Sam is hell-bent on trying to change that with the help of his own ride. Ron Witwicky (Kevin Dunn) however is not helping much, buying his son a beat-up yellow ’74 Camaro as a present instead.

Meanwhile somewhere in Qatar, Army Captain William Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and Staff Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson) of the Special Forces Rangers have just returned from a mission. They are expecting a quiet night in when an unidentified bogey lands on their base and launches an attack without provocation and warning. The men have to find a way to stay alive and tell their incredible story to the Pentagon.


Having Michael Bay helm any movie does not inspire confidence. However, with a solid producing team behind him including Lorenzo di Bonaventura of Shooter, Tom DeSanto of the X-Men series and Ian Bryce of Saving Private Ryan and of course executive producer Steven Spielberg, Bay’s effort here works staggeringly well. There are his trademark twirling camera moves and bleached contrast look, but that can be forgiven when his kinetic style is matched by the cinematic battles in the film. Director of photography Mitchell Amundsen frames his shots amazingly to create thrilling and beautiful moments.

Smartly the core of the story belongs to the human beings and how they must cope with the arrival of the Autobots and the Decepticons. Most of the dialogues between the characters are simple but convincing. The opening monologue and some later scenes are expositionally heavy, however that is unavoidable for a sci-fi fantasy film. Credit for the screenplay goes to Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, based on the story by John Rogers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Editors Paul Rubell, Glen Scantlebury and Thomas A. Muldoon manage to capture the essence of Bay and elevate it. While some locations have been used by Bay himself in his other films, production designer Jeff Mann successfully created other visually-interesting sets as well as securing roads, highways and the Hoover Dam for the action sequences.


The transforming sequences are Transformers geeks and fans’ wet dreams come true. It is spectacularly well done! From the transformation and the animation to the composition of the CGIs with practical effects and human actors, these sequences are simply jaw dropping. Nothing in these shots looked fake. Kudos to the VFX team specifically ILM that did the bulk of the CGI work and Digital Domain, as well as the practical effects team at KNB EFX Group for creating the illusion of mass carnage.

The sound design and mixing team complemented the visuals with an incredible and inventive work. Just like the VFX, the sound mix is a joy to listen to. The voices of the Autobots and Decepticons sound better than ever. Not forgetting are the pumping bass from the guns, the many explosions, the choppers and the fighter jets. The action sequences are simply sonic orgasms! Sound designer and editor Ethan Van Der Ryn, a Lord Of The Rings alumni, and his team should be proud of themselves. Both the VFX and the sound crews should expect an Oscar nod next year.


The cast played it straight as they should, given that this is no cheesy B-grade movie. LaBeouf gave another engaging and likeable performance, critical to ground the movie for non-Transformers audiences. Fox is a beautiful young actress and hopefully she will bloom into a solid performer. Dunn and Julie White as Judy Witwicky are a great comedic pair. Rachael Taylor as Maggie Madsen, Anthony Anderson as Glen Whitmann, Jon Voight as Defense Secretary John Keller and John Turturro as Agent Simmons round up the rest of the live-action cast that provide another subplot and half of the comic relief to the story.

The voice cast for the Autobots and Decepticons are well cast. However the actors don’t have much dialogue in the film. This cast is led by Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and Hugo Weaving as Megatron.


With the right creative team, an okay concept can turn out to be a great film. That is what happens with Transformers. Both fans and non-fans alike will like the movie as well as movie-goers of all sexes and ages. It has a winning combo of cars, robots, action and good looking casts. This will be the summer movie to beat this year.

Fast cars are skin deep but Transformers is more than meets the eye.

Die Hard 4.0

Die Hard 4.0
Director: Len Wiseman
125 minutes
2.39:1

The following review has been rated R.

Unlike Hollywood series of the 1920s and 1930s, not many modern film franchises go beyond three with the same lead actor. Finding the right spark that made the first film popular is hard to begin with. Doing it beyond two sequels is really fucking hard. To get to number four, both the actor and character must have a great bond with the audience. Bruce Willis and John McClane in the Die Hard franchise are it.


16 years have gone by and John McClane (Bruce Willis) is still an NYPD cop. He’s mostly content to read the Miranda act to Lucy Gennarro’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) dates. Enter Matt Farrell (Justin Long), a white hat (good hacker) who had just uploaded a program to an unknown client. This algorithm is meant to test secure networks. Before you can even type U R PWNED!, the FBI cyber intelligence system is hacked and the Feds are pissed as fuck.

Director Bowman (Cliff Curtis) sends local detectives across the nation to track down all the black and white hats for questioning. That is how John and Matt meet and they soon discover a group of terrorists led by Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) is the cause of it all.


Let’s lay down the controversy first - the ratings. Twentieth Century Fox’s executives need to get serious kicks on their balls for this fucking mess, if they had them to begin with. No, the film is not a mess but the drive to get a PG-13 rating is. Even though they removed the blood splatters, and edited and ADRed scenes to censor every fucking expletive, the fact of the matter is this movie is still violent!

Many people die violent, on-screen deaths and this should be the main reason to keep the film’s rating at R. 13 year olds should not have easy access to this film. To beat a dead horse yet again, the MPAA’s system is fucked. The film has received BBFC’s 15 rating in the UK - “Suitable only for 15 years and over” - while the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia has given it an SG-18 – “For 18-years and above. Film contains elements of violence and horror that are not excessive.”


The fans of Die Hard are not die-hard fans of the F word. What they are fans of is the iconic character of John McClane. Age has an effect of mellowing people to tone down their language in real life. However in tense situations as depicted in a movie, it is completely believable and understandable that stressed people, and not just McClane, will blow off some motherfucking steam with the F words peppered in their conversations.

Censoring the foul language out of Die Hard 4.0 is just fucking dumb.


With this being his third film, director Lens Wiseman shows that he has a good sense of action, drama and comedy to pull off action movies. Working with a tight script by Mark Bomback - story by Bomback and David Marconi, and based on John Carlin’s war-games article “A Farewell To Arms” – Wiseman wisely gives enough hacker details to the story to create tension early on. Wiseman however trimmed down McClane's signature wisecracking nature significantly. He and director of photography Simon Duggan designed dynamic camera movements in the thick of action scenes that are fucking impressive. The aerial photography unit also did an amazing job at capturing beautiful and exciting shots. Editor Nicolas De Toth keeps the pace quick and moving with enough sense of backstory and comedy, though the scenes where “fuck” is uttered a lot are sloppily edited and sometimes do not match the ADR.

Production designer Patrick Tatopoulos must have one of the harder jobs in the production in trying to recreate NYC, DC and Baltimore by masking L.A. locations with props. In spite of not pulling that feat off consistently, he and set decorator Robert Gould did a great job with the sets of the FBI, the terrorists’ hive, and the action set pieces, both practical and CGI. The work by digital film colorist Siggy Ferstl and digital conform Alex Romano must not also be forgotten for they are responsible in stringing together scenes from different locations to look the same. Kudos must also be given to the under appreciated departments of make-up and costume for without them, McClane’s and Farrell’s roughed-up state just won’t be believable.


No modern action film can get by without the help of digital visual effects. To their credit, the VFX by The Orphanage do not scream for attention or look too fake. The augmented scenes have enough believable animation detail that they don’t detract from the movie experience. With additional work by Riot, Pixel Magic, Amalgated Pixels, as well as computer screen simulation by Digital Dimension, and miniature effects and miniature visual effects by New Deal Studios and Cinema Production Services, the VFX of the film as a whole is cohesive. Interestingly enough, it is the non-action green-screen driving sequences that feel fake. How the fuck did that happen?

Sound Designers Ai-Ling Lee and Jason W. Jennings and Sound Effects Editor Randall Kelley did a great job at creating soundscapes that are enveloping and alive. No doubt their work is also affected by the need to conform the film to a PG-13 rating. The sound of the gunshot wounds do not sound as wet and bloody as they normally would. Still, it is a bang-up job by the sound department.


Finally, the cast is great. Willis’s performance is the one that most people may overlook. His McClane is an aged McClane and that performance requires some intimate knowledge of the character. It may not scream Oscar-worthy but it is a great work. As the instant sidekick, Long’s characterization is also noteworthy for he had to be vulnerable without being annoying and still fulfill his tiny arch in the end. Olyphant as the bad guy gives a great performance with his minimal facial and eye expressions, and some really snappy lines.

Curtis’s Fed man is commanding, decisive but sympathetic. Winstead as the daughter gives an interesting and fiery performance that nails down the essence of John McClane. Maggie Q as Mai is just a bad-ass cunt; she must have had a great time chewing her scenes during the shoot. Last but not least is big nerdy bear Kevin Smith as the Warlock. While it may not be as endearing as his performance in Catch And Release, the scenes he is in are just fun to watch. His scenes alone probably would jack up the ratings and no doubt a lot of them ended up on the virtual floor of the cutting room.


In the end though, Die Hard 4.0 is a kick-ass action movie. It is similar in structure to Die Hard With A Vengeance than the original film. But let’s face it. Die Hard is in the top 5 action movies of all time. Even without the F words this movie fucking works.

Hopefully when the Blu-ray Disc and DVD are released later this year, Fox execs would come to their senses and release the truer version of the film, with the realistic, expletives-filled dialog put back in. Until then, action film lovers are just going to live with and hopefully enjoy the violent and kids-friendly Die Hard 4.0. Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!


Die Hard 4.0 is the international title to Live Free Or Die Hard.

Surf's Up

Surf’s Up
Directors: Ash Brannon and Chris Buck
85 minutes
1.85:1

A paradigm describes this colorful CGI movie: understated.

For a while now, these two things are synonymous: penguins and tent-pole summer movies. Because of this, there is a sense of apathy towards Surf’s Up. It is another CGI animation feature that has penguins as the main cast. In spite of this handicap, Surf’s Up serves up.


For Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) is an aspiring surfer in a dead-end job. The one thing that drives him everyday is his love for surfing. His hero is Big Z, the first surfer that made a career out of the sport. However, everybody in the chilly town of Shiverpool is unsupportive of him, including his own mother Edna (Dana BelBen) and his brother, Glen (Brian Posehn). It wasn’t until Mikey Abromowitz (Mario Cantone), a surfing scout, comes down into town on a slow whale to Antartica that Cody realizes he could live out his dreams.

Together with best pal Chicken Joe (John Heder), they got picked for a surfing competition organized by Reggie Belafonte (James Woods) and they all head up to Pen Gu Island. There he meets his biggest surfing foe Tank Evans (Diedrich Bader), the girl he fancies in Lani Aliikai (Zooey Deschanel), and her bum of an uncle, Geek (Jeff Bridges).


What makes Surf’s Up stand out from the rest of the CGI features so far is the fact that it is a mockumentary on the rise and slide of Cody’s career. Yes you read it right: mockumentary.

Most other CGI features have done a few scenes that had the shaky look documentary films have. In Surf’s Up, most of the scenes had that unsteady camera shot. It is not just the shots either that created the feel of a documentary. It is also the cross-cutting of different scenes back and forth as well as the ubiquitous filmmaker’s voice prodding his subjects on that made it feel real. Directors Ash Brannon and Chris Buck must be credited for breathing fresh air into an over-hyped animation style.


However, even this technique wouldn’t have worked if not for the genuinely affecting story and the very funny dialogues. To this, writers Chris Jenkins and Christian Darren, who came up with the story, and Don Rhymer & Ash Brannon, and Chris Buck & Chris Jenkins must be thanked. Their contributions are immense.

The thankless job the animators did is terrific. To animate a scripted performance is hard enough but to portray a supposedly spontaneous action is another. The nuances coming out of the characters were a joy to watch. On top of that, the cinematography is spectacular. The ocean is filled with waves, wakes and mists. The lighting effects courtesy of the sun and fire is gorgeous. The realistic looking coconut trees and forest fauna are incredible. To top it all off, the pseudo black-and-white shots, the 8mm and 16mm shots make Surf’s Up a joy to watch. Hats off to Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Imageworks!


The voice cast is amazing. The repartee between the characters is absolutely funny. LaBeouf, who is simply in every hit movie this year, delivers another winning performance here. Deschanel just oozes love and care. For some reason, Woods plays slimy characters really well but at least here he’s funny. Posehn, Bader and Heder simply have to make a movie together. Reed Buck, Reese Elowe and Jack P. Ranjo, the kid actors who play Arnold, Katey and Smudge, should also do the same. And if you loved the Dude in The Big Lebowski, well you’re in for a treat!

It is clear that the studio had trouble marketing this movie. The initial tagline from the teaser trailer was “A True Story” had changed to “A Major Ocean Picture,” courtesy of the marketing department. Then there’s the penguin effect. Regardless of how the trailers looked or how over-exposed penguins have become, you can’t avoid this one. It is sea-breeze fresh, wickedly funny and the surfing sequences are beautiful to watch. So far the best animated movie this year belongs to Surf’s Up.

Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3
Director: Sam Raimi
140 minutes
2.39:1


This little spider spins a tangled web indeed.

The film adaptations of the Spider-Man and the X-Men comics have kept the genre prospering to levels unseen before. Apart from the X-Men films, the Spider-Man films have also made this genre respectable due to the depth of their dramatic arcs. (These same arcs also contributed to the less than stellar reviews of other film adaptations of comic books even though those films stayed true to their origins.) Spider-Man 3 simply continues the intricate storytelling tradition of the previous Spider-Man films.



Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has got a good thing going. His Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) is sorted out in a nice apartment, his grades at school have improved, his love life with Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) is just sparkling and at long last, Spider-Man has become a beloved NYC hero. Peter can sing “Oh What A Beautiful Morning” for a Rogers & Hammerstein revue and meant every word of it.

Trouble however is brewing just underneath the surface. His best friend Harry (James Franco) is bearing a deadly grudge against him. Peter finds out that Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church), his uncle’s actual killer, has escaped from prison. Peter also faces a fierce competition against Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), a dangerously determined freelance photographer, at The Daily Bugle. To top it all off, a gooey stringy black substance from space has grown attached to Peter. Can he handle all of this by himself?



Working with writers Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent, who also worked on the first two Spider-Man films, director Sam Raimi once again tells a great story that is full of drama and action. In fact, with a running time of 140 minutes and all of the plot points and new characters, it almost feels like the movie would collapse under its own weight. Almost, but thanks to Raimi, it didn’t. Some of the scenes were laugh out loud moments while some of the action sequences were enough to give you sweaty palms and acrophobia.

Helping Raimi to sustain the look and feel of this alternate New York that Peter Parker lives in is the production team. Director of photography Bill Pope makes each scene look fresh and beautiful every time, even in Peter’s crappy apartment. Production designers Neil Spisak and J. Michael Riva’s work is invisible most of the time because it can’t glaringly pop-up, with the exception of two nail-biting cliffhangers. Costume designer James Acheson delivers in spades again, not only for the non-descript wardrobe for the entire cast but also for the creation of the tough-to-shoot black Spider-Man and Venom costumes, and the not-so -green New Goblin costume. Editor Bob Murawski must have had a tough time to deliver scenes that are concise yet full of meaning and impact at every level.



The visual effects of Spider-Man 3 also reached dizzying heights, figuratively and literally. Visual effects supervisor Scott Stokdyk and visual effects designer John Dykstra brings a new look and feel to the film’s many effects shot. Created mostly by Sony Pictures Imageworks, the effects are almost seamless and realistically done. Using signature elements from Danny Elfman’s original Spider-Man score and his own, Christopher Young crafts a score that helps sustain and create tension and drama. Supervising sound mixers Kevin O’Connell and Greg P. Russell, and supervising sound editor/designer Paul N. J. Ottosson deliver a powerful sonic rush as well as subtle environmental cues that make the film come alive.

The original cast is excellent and that is to be expected, having comfortably performed the roles in the first two movies. Even so, Franco finally proves that he is an actor worthy of praise after all, at least in these films. His character has more range than before. Grace and Church’s performances are great, delivering subtlety and quiet sadness in their very short and few scenes. Another great performance comes from Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy, Peter’s lab partner. Unlike most of her other film roles, she is vamped up as the beautiful and smart blonde.



The world that Peter Parker lives in may never be normal and permanently free of danger. That is the beauty of these Spider-Man films, in that it is a reflection of the everyday struggles of regular people striving to be happy and stay happy to the best of their abilities. That is why the first two films were blockbusters.

With Spider-Man 3, another fantastic trilogy is complete. Assuredly more sequels are being planned, but whether or not the actors or director involved will come back is yet to be seen. Regardless of the outcome, Spider-Man 3 is a great and satisfying film that bookends these incredible stories of a humane superhero.

Sunshine

Sunshine
Director: Danny Boyle
110 minutes
2.39:1


What this movie needed most is an extended director’s cut. It is not a bad movie. In fact, it is a great movie. However, it could have been perfect.

Sunshine tells the story of a crew of eight scientists aboard a giant space ship. Their goal is next to impossible: recharge the sun so that it doesn’t collapse into itself. Failure would result in a black hole sucking in the entire solar system. Success would mean life continuing on Earth.



The premise is intriguing scientifically, sociologically and also psychologically. What director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland explored in the movie is mainly the psychological effects of this dooms day scenario, coupled with a healthy dose of science. What would have made the movie resonate more is the sociological perspective of how the human race is forced to deal with this scenario and why these scientists chose to be a part of this mission. The back stories may be haunting and illuminating. Hence, it would have been perfect if the film was just a little bit longer.

Otherwise, Sunshine is a stellar production. Production designer Mark Tildesley created a believable late 21st century space craft and filled it with the right things. Costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb provided the finishing touch with her subtly futuristic designs, complemented by make-up and hair designer Christine Blundell’s work. The visual effects by the Moving Picture Company, headed up by visual effects supervisor Tom Wood, is amazing to watch.





Capturing all of this is director of photography Alwin Küchler who made it all devastatingly beautiful. Accompanying the visuals are the work of sound designer Tom Sayers and the thrilling score by John Murphy and Underworld. Putting all of this together is editor Chris Gill, who maintained a sense of isolation and danger in every frame. Simply put, Sunshine is a visual and aural feast.

The cast is small and brilliant. Lead by Cillian Murphy who plays Capa, they crafted their silent scenes to speak volumes. Apart from Murphy, stand out performances to watch out for are Christ Evans as Mace, Rose Byrne as Cassie, Michelle Yeoh as Corazon, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Kaneda. Cliff Curtis as Searle, Benedict Wong as Trey, and Troy Garity as Harvey round off the main cast.




Sunshine in its 110-minute running time is a must-see movie, even though the cerebral nature of the story predetermined its destiny as a cult sci-fi film. Boyle and Garland did a great job at bringing to life this scientifically possible story. Hopefully just like what 20th Century Fox did with Ridley Scott’s Kingdom Of Heaven, Fox Searchlight will eventually release the extended director’s cut of Sunshine on Blu-ray Disc sometime in the future.

300

300
Director: Director: Zack Snyder
117 minutes
2.39:1

In the last decade, there have been many outstanding adaptations of comics for the big screen. However, few of which accurately represented the look of the comics. It took the Wachowskis’ The Matrix to remind audiences of the beautiful, expressively drawn panels that these movies were inspired from. Ironically The Matrix itself is not a comics-based film even though it was heavily influenced by comics and manga. Since then, more directors have embraced this intricate visual style.

300 is based on Frank Miller’s 300, a graphic novel that explores the Battle of Thermopylae, a devastating battle between the Spartans and Persians that occurred in 480 B.C. King Leonidas, played by Gerard Butler, was informed by a Persian emissary that King Xerxes, a self-anointed God from Persia, will be landing on the Grecian shores soon. The emissary gave the king two options: submit to King Xerxes and receive clemency and support, or fight to suffer a certain defeat and the obliteration of Sparta. Like all great leaders with back bones, King Leonidas chooses the latter and a great story is born.



The only drawback to 300 is that Snyder has not managed to squeeze the emotional core of the story. There is a lack of connection between the audience and the Spartan warriors’ fight ethic. But was there one from the graphic novel to begin with? That is a question only those who have read Miller’s 300 could answer.

Otherwise, Snyder must be commended for executing this movie almost perfectly. Beautiful in its cinematography and art design, courtesy of DP Larry Fong, production designer James Bissell and costume designer Michael Wilkinson. Enhancing the look of Greek topography and ancient battles falls under the direction of visual effects supervisor Chris Watts, and make-up and creature effects supervisors Shaun Smith and Mark Rappaport.



300 also owes its visceral impact to aural manipulation. Sound effects supervisor EricA. Norris and his team of sound effects editors – Derek Vanderhorst, Jon Mete, David Werntz, Brad North and Rick Hromadka – augmented the action with an involving sonic delights. Finally Tyler Bates provided the rousing score that doesn’t overwhelm.

The cast gave a great performance. Butler’s King Leonidas has enough charisma and frailty. Lena Headey’s Queen Gorgo shows resolve and courage. Dominic West as Theron has a devious charm. Rodrigo Santoro’s King Xerxes is an enigmatic and creepy figure. Tom Wisdom as Astinos, Vincent Regan as the Captain, and Michael Fassbender as Stelios were given limited acting range but they acutely portray the dedication of the Spartan army. David Wenham as Dilios carries the most burden as both a high-ranking Spartan soldier and the narrator of the tale. Another thing to note is that all of them looked great in every single frame they are in.




Like Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City, Snyder’s adaptation works brilliantly with an amazing palette of color and violence. It is an instant classic among its target audience. Whether 300 can withstand the test of time like the Battle of Thermopylae, may be decided in just a few years.