Watching Movies

Last Friday, me and my colleague went to Pavilion to catch The Storm Warriors...

It's the sequel to The Storm Riders, which was shown years ago. It is based on a comic (which has been translated into Malay - Pedang Setiawan)...


This time around, evil Lord Godless has taken over China. Cloud (Aaron Kwok) and Wind (Ekin Cheng) are not strong enough to fight him. So they went to seek more power. One decided to go evil for a power upgrade while the other did it the hard way, with the help of a martial arts master.

Of course the heroes would defeat the bad guy... but then, who's gonna stop the good-guy-turned-evil? Looks like it's gonna be a battle to the death between the two heroes...

I enjoyed watching The Storm Riders. Technically, The Storm Warriors is the better film. It obviously has a bigger budget because the film looks fantastic. The effects are great and there are even sequences that are reminiscent of 300. For a minute, I thought I was in Sparta, not China... very stylized...

But that's all there is to it I guess. I did enjoy watching the movie but something's missing. Maybe it's the fact that the main villain is disposed of half way through the movie? Maybe it's because the heroes' upgrades are too easy? Maybe it's because the female characters are not substantial enough? Anyway, now I know why Cloud's sword has a hole near the hilt... :)


On Saturday, I went to see Jump at Pavilion. It's a Chinese movie directed by Stephen Fung (Gen-X Cops) and is backed by Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer).

It stars Kitty Zhang as a village girl going to the city to follow her dreams of becoming a dancer. She and her friends got a chance to go to the city to work in a factory, while she moonlights as a cleaning lady in a dance studio. But of course, it's not that easy for her because the city folk all look down on her because she's a cleaning lady and from the village...

The movie's nice enough but there's something wrong with the dubbing. It doesn't seem to tally throughout the movie. It appears that the actors are not actually speaking the lines properly...

And, just for your info, Leon Jay Williams came in to replace Edison Chen in this movie. All of Edison's scenes had to be reshot and edited out. Yup, because of his erotic photos scandal.

Leon Jay Williams

Stephen Fung, Kitty Zhang, Edison Chen

And then, on Sunday, I went to Pavilion with a friend to catch The Princess and the Frog, a Disney traditional animation film.

It's nice to see Disney going back to its r oots. Iremember the day when Disney movies were all that and a bag of chips. Remember Aladdin? The Lion King? Beauty and the Beast?

Those were the days... TPATF is a throwback to those times when characters would break into song and dance around and stuff.

TPATF takes place in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the 1920s during the jazz age. The princess (Anika Noni Rose of The Dreamgirls fame) kisses the frog but instead of him becoming a prince like in the fairy tale, she becomes a frog! To get changed back they have to go through bayou country to find Mama Odie, a good voodoo priestess. They are, of course, guided by a firefly and an alligator who plays jazz.

This movie is a lot of fun. Nice enough to take the kids, although there are some creepy parts in it... but still, pretty entertaining... :)

New Movies

Movies that opens today (10/12) (according to GSC)...

THE STORM WARRIORS

Cast: Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng, Charlene Choi, Nicholas Tse, Simon Yam, Tiffany T.

Japanese evil warlord Lord Godless desired to conquer China. He imprisoned a large number of martial artists and tried to make them subjugate. Among the prisoners were Cloud and the martial arts elder statesman Nameless. Wind came to the rescue. The trio was badly wounded by Lord Godless's evil martial arts attack. Chu Chu was also knocked out when she blocked Cloud from Lord Godless's strike.

The remaining martial artists sacrificed their lives to save the trio, in the hope that the trio would beat Lord Godless one day and save the country.Chu Chu was badly wounded and stayed unconscious. Cloud was filled with remorse and vowed to take revenge. Wind chose to take the evil way to quickly boost up his martial arts skills, so that he could protect the people. During his training, he met the girl who changed his life, Dream.

Meanwhile, the troop of Lord Godless came to attack. Wind's training was interrupted when he tried to save Dream from Lord Godless's assault. After some killings, Wind ran away and disappeared... Lord Godless took The Emperor in captivity and stationed his troops in Heaven Cave. Cloud arrived alone and started a combat with Lord Godless. Lord Godless had the upper hand.

In the meantime, the half-evil Wind appeared and joined the battle. During the fight, they inadvertently discovered the secret of the sovereign. The real intention of Lord Godless's invasion was related to an ancient tomb, a forbidden ground buried with the Royal family's secret. The truth was finally revealed. At last, how would the battle end? Who would eventually rule over the country?

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
Cast: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Jenifer Lewis, Keith David, Oprah Winfrey.

A prince named Naveen (Bruno Campos) from the land of Maldonia is transformed into a frog by the evil scheming voodoo magician Dr. Facilier (Keith David). The frog prince asks a waitress named Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) to break the spell by kissing him. However, the kiss doesn't break the spell, but instead turns Tiana into a frog as well. Together, the two of them must reach the good voodoo priestess of the Bayou, Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), while befriending a trumpet-playing alligator and a hopelessly romantic firefly along the way.

ZOMBIELAND
Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin.

Zombieland revolves around a mismatched pair of survivors who find friendship and redemption in a world overrun by zombies.

SANTAU
Cast:Esma Daniel, Putri Mardiana, Riezman Khuzaimi.

Halim and his family are blessed with happiness and wealth gained through his own growing business. On top of that, he has an understanding wife Nina who stands by his side and a lovely daughter named Tuti. Near Halim's home, there is an unrented house. Ever since the neighbour moved out from that house, Tuti sees mysterious happenings until a point where Nina begins to experience weird incidents that have never happened before. Nina's character soon changes drastically, where she becomes a lazy and hot-tempered person. Halim does not believe Nina and Tuti's story on the existence of the paranormal until one night; Halim rushes home upon hearing his wife being possessed.

Info: GSC