Review - Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa

Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa... saw the trailer... got kinda excited... it's quite rare that Malaysians attempt epics... the last one I recall was Puteri Gunung Ledang... that one was not without faults, so I was under the impression that KRU Studios might've learned a thing or two...

HMM tells the story of the title character, and how he came into his own kingdom, the Kingdom of Langkasuka... started out with an anecdote, between the Chinese and the Romans, went through India, straight to Siam/Kedah/Langkasuka (but was nameless back then)... and then to Gerouda Island... Told in story form by one of his descendants...

My colleague got the invite for the premiere and asked if I would join... of course I would... I had seen the intriguing trailer and had heard of Stephen Rahman's excellent work in PGL The Musical...

As far as I can tell, it was a good effort but can't shake the feeling that HMM was more like a mash-up between Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings, but achieves neither feat... which was quite a shame...

Not too sure who's to blame for some of the things that went wrong with the film... the actors? the producers? the directors? the script writers? hmmm...

Don't get me wrong... it was enjoyable enough... I wasn't yawning or plotting deaths or going out of my mind or anything like that... but some tiny minute details bothered me and brought the movie down a couple of pegs... which was quite a shame really...

Let's break it down... Stephen Rahman Hughes... the star... the one who has the meatiest role and would be on screen for most of the movie... yes, he is handsome and has nice physique, but his Malay delivery was quite bland/bad... and that pretty much ruined it for me coz he spoke Malay more than half of the movie... so who's to blame? Stephen? The director for letting him speak monotonously and without feelings? The writers who wrote his lines?

Not to say that he is a bad actor... he was quite lively when he spoke the English lines... unfortunately (and am not sure where the fault lies for this one) the attempts to make a funny kinda fall flat... it seemed that Merong, in English mode, was painted up as a cardboard cutout of Jack Sparrow... Stephen Rahman is definitely no Johnny Depp... but to be fair, Stephen Rahman did embody the charisma of a monarch... and very believable as a warrior...

Hmm, guess KRU is really trying to be the Weta of Malaysia. All of their movies have CGI and special effects. Unfortunately for this movie, you can totally see it's CGI. It's not clean. And that annoyed the hell out of me... but then again... nah, not gonna go there...

Other than that, the movie's okay... and the local actors did quite a good job actually, Gandalf and all... although there is a slight tendency for them to be a bit over the top like the Indian Bapak Ayam... Manomaniam I think...

And just as a side note, the Roman prince looks like the late Heath Ledger and Mr Fantastic... Ioan Gruffurd... like their secret love child or something, hehehe...

KRU Studios is boldly going where no Malaysian studios have gone before... attempting such monumental tasks like superhero movies (Cicakman) and Malay myths (Magika) and now tackling epics... for me their endeavor has been mostly 50-50... but one has to applaud their efforts... :)

Watching Movies

Over the long New Year's weekend, I caught a couple of movies. I know, I know, holidays equals many people. We went to catch the movies at MBO in Galaxy, Taman Dagang.


The first movie we saw was Did You Hear About The Morgans?, featuring a very type-casted Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker.




I did not really wanna watch this movie. Mostly because of Sarah Jessica Parker. I liked her before Sex & The City. She was in Hocus Pocus, one of my fave movies... :)



I have not seen Sex & The City. But I have this aversion for all the S&TC girls... I dunno why... I just don't get them... Kristin Davis was in Will & Grace and Friends but I don't get her. She was in Couples Retreat and I did not get her... sigh...

Anyway, I am glad I decided to go and watch The Morgans coz it's quite a good movie. Fish out of water stuff but not like the rest. The witty banter is enjoyable. I think it's due to the chemistry between SJP and Hugh and of course the script. The Sarah Palin joke had me laughing out loud.

SJP and Hugh Grant got ample support from Mary Steenburgen and Sam Elliott as the deputies in charge of putting up with them...

Next, and when I say next, I mean, the same night... we saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus or as I like to call it, Parnasium...

As most of you would know, this is the late Heath Ledger's final movie. This fact alone was reason enough to go catch the movie.


The first time we saw him in the movie, he was hanging by neck on a noose. Chills...


Terry Gilliam, who made 12 Monkeys, is the director. The movie also stars Christopher Plummer and Verne Troyer.

Again, as you may have known, Heath passed away before he could complete the movie so the movie had to be tweaked and his role was finished by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.

The movie itself is a bit trippy and weird but not in a bad way... in its own way, it's a movie about the eternal battle of good and evil...




After the weekend, I was at Times Square and had some time so I decided to watch Cirque De Freak (in English meaning Circus of Freaks, I think). This is the third movie in a row I've watched that I haven't at least read up on. Going in blindly worked quite well for The Morgans and Parnasium.


It worked well for this movie as well. I really enjoyed this movie. I hope there would be a part two in the works.


Cirque De Freak is about Darren Shan, a boy who volunteered to be a vampire to save his best friend.


CDF has plenty of star power and awards calibre actors, except for the lead, he's not really been in that many movies.

For example, we have Oscar nominees John C Reilly (Chicago), Salma Hayek (Frida), Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) and Willem Dafoe (Shadow of the Vampire)... then Emmy nominee, Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) and finally, Josh Hutcherson, who is all grown up now and was in Journey to the Center of the Earth and Zathura.

Movie-wise, it's a cross between drama and comedy, with some action and supernatural stuff thrown about. Quite nice.

All in all, this was a good way to start out the movie-watching year... :)

Eddie Murphy And Shia LaBeouf To Star In New Batman Movie

Move over Jim Carrey - Eddie Murphy has been tapped to play the role of the Joker in the next Batman film after seasoned actor Johnny Depp turned down the role.

The film, set for a 2010 release, will also include Transformers star Shia LaBeouf, 22, playing Robin. Christian Bale will return as Bruce Wayne, while Michael Caine will play Alfred.

British actress Rachel Weisz has been cast in the Catwoman role.

Director Chris Nolan had been unsure about the future of the Batman films after the January death of Heath Ledger who is set to receive a posthumous Oscar for his role as The Joker in Batman Returns.

Murphy is enjoying somewhat of a comeback these days after several years out of the movie making business. He has just completed "NowhereLand" due next June about a financial executive who can't stop his career spiral and is invited into his daughter's imaginary world, where solutions to his problems await.

Also due in 2010 is "Shrek Goes Fourth" with funnyman Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas about the further adventures of the giant green ogre, Shrek, living in the land of Far, Far Away.

Currently in production is "The Incredible Shrinking Man" also due in 2010, an updated version of the best-selling novel and blockbuster movie, it tells the story of Scott Carey who shrinks to an incredible small size and must face the danger that he runs into.
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