Movie Review:
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
Here we go again with this last installment of the vampire werewolf love saga that has encapsulates millions and millions of teenage fans worldwide and has made the 3 stars of the shows, Robert Pattison, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner a major overnight sensation. This is the last book from Stepenie Meyer’s ground breaking series, Twilight and it also the most heavy in terms of plotline. Well, we all know what happens during the last scene of Eclipse, Bella decides to accept Edward’s proposal. The opening scene of Breaking Dawn showcases the lavish wedding of the two lovelorn lovers and from there on, we will see both of them engaging in a lovers paradise mood throughout. Let me just give my sense of view of the show. Personally i think its an improvement in terms of ejecting drama and suspense even more and also developing the already strong relationship that Edward and Bella have. However, there is still some flaws that should be worked out between the director and the casts. Pattison and Stewart still have not convince me that they can actually be more emotional when sharing the same scene together. All they do is look at each other intensely and keep on kissing all the way. Its nerve wrecking watching it throughout though. Taylor’s character this time around is pretty much on the emotional wreck side after learning that Bella is pregnant with a Demon baby and that baby is devouring her from the inside and here we will see Bella’s thin form which i think is pretty good CGI being created. The downside of CGI is still the wolves. I mean, after earning billions of dollars in the box office, im sure they can create a much realistic CGI wolf. Instead what we get is a cheap looking effect. The first part of the movie definitely didnt get me going overdrive, but the last 20 minutes, the birth scene, that is pretty intense to watch. Its grotesque and pretty disturbing. Hence, the baby is born, but Bella did not survive. She was soon change by Edward who bit her and here we will see the same sequence like in Spiderman where the Spider’s venom filled up Peter Parker’s blood stream. I thought i was watching a spiderwoman movie! If you think that’s the most disturbing part of the movie , then you’re wrong. The most disturbing is when jacob, learning that Bella is already dead, plans to abolished that baby himself but upon walking towards her, they had a click moment where he had a vision. Apparently, a single male wolf, once had a click moment with a born child, he will be conjoined with the child to be it’s protector, brother and also lover. That to me is the most drastic moment of the movie. Simply weird.
Towards the end, we will see Bella regained her normal form after the vampire genes has already been filled up on her blood streams and we will see her opening her eyes, all red and bloodied. The movie ended and we will see how she will get used to her new found power and vampire addictions next fall.
Overall, its a mix balance for me. The pace is sometimes slow and sometimes fast. I hope with the Volturi making an appearance in the next movie, it will balance itself well and conclude the long ongoing saga of this modern vampire tale. It’s time to move on, seriously. Maybe Hollywood should consider doing a zombie romance next?
2 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Don’t look down upon a sister who’s not wearing hijab. Remember you were once in her shoes. None of us were born in the womb with a hijab. There are some acts that are purely easy for some but may be hardships for others.
(Source: dropsofknowledge)
Fad Chee-Chak’s Music Review:
Blue - I Can
The boys of Blue are back and this widely popular boyband from the UK is out and running with this latest single, I Can which is UK’s entry for Eurovision song Contest where they came in 4th. Reviewing this song, i would say this is typical Blue material, with Lee Ryan screeching vocals to make more impact on the song itself, to Simon Webbe half-rap through out the song, and the chorus which blends all four vocals together to make it more orchestra sounding, is not bad at all. The lyrics are deemed powerful enough to last a 2.4km run throughout. A pity for such a great song, the video is drab. They should make it more valiant and exciting to show their fans that they are back. But i guess they need to make the money first before making good videos right? Since they have been out of the scene for a while, i’m sure the money they earn during their pinnacle years in their boyband careers have all been washed up and it’s time to get right back from the beginning, just like how they started with their very first single from their debut album, All rise. But still, a great catchy song that i would want to consider running to, in this year’s Standard Chartered Marathon.
Fad Chee-Chak’s Rating:
3 out of 5 stars.
(Pretty decent stuff)
Fad Chee-Chak’s review of:
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
Well, this is it folks, the final one, the end of an era, the end of magical tranquility, the end of watching a scrawny bespectacled boy wizard, finding his destiny, to vanquish evil once and for all, it’s the end of the road, for Harry Potter. What a journey it has been, 10 years on, and now, the final one, how time flies eh. Finally we get to see the final showdown between Harry and Voldermort (the fiancee just plainly describe him as the “botak” guy) and what a showdown that is. This movie is filled with tons of spectacular effects that will blow your mind away, the last battle in Hogwarts is simply amazing and breathtaking. A few main characters perished during the fight scenes in Hogwarts but Director David Yates prefer not to showcase that, instead he just show them up lying motionless the morning after with mourners aplenty. One of them is the Weasley twins, Fred. Remus Lupin perished as well in the heat of the battle.
Part 2 will focus more on Harry, Ron and Hermoine quest in finding the remaining Hocruxes which they will have to destroy in order to destroy Voldermort once and for all. Severus Snape, for all his villainous traits, instead of having this feeling of hate for him, you will feel sad, because he is just one misunderstood human being. and seeing him being attacked and mauled by Voldermort’s snake, Nagini is painful to watch. It’s good David Yates showcase the scene behind glass walls, just to make the impact on viewers more riveting. And his last words to Harry, ” You have your mother’s eyes”, you can’t help but feel for the guy.
The movie moves itself quite nicely until this one part which got me scratching my head. After Harry was given the Avada Kedavra spell by Voldermort and came back, Lucius Malfoy’s wife went over to check if he is dead or alive. But all she did was look at him and pronounce him dead? I’m like, shouldn’t you check the pulse or something? Puzzling me.
Whatever it is, the ultimate last battle was the key interior of the movie. And who would imagine, Neville Longbottom, the geek who is all meek and squeaky all the time, stood out on his own and almost steal the scenes from Harry himself. He had this energy and courage in him that we have never seen before and when he killed the last Hocrux which is Nagini, Voldermort’s snake, you just would want to stand up and give Neville Longbottom a big pat on the back for a job well done.
A job well done indeed for David Yates who is being entrusted by the producers to end this epic saga on a high note. The last scene, we will see Harry, Ron and Hermoine , all grown up, taking their kids to King’s Cross station for them to be sent to Hogwarts is beautiful. Harry named his son Albus Severus Potter, named after two of the most important people in Harry’s life. A fitting finale to an epic saga in which we have to say goodbye to, thank you Harry, for making us believe that magic do exist in all of us. I still miss Hedwick the Owl most.
Fad Chee-Chak’s rating:
3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Fad-CheeChak Review: Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
Well, the long awaited follow-up to the 2009 film, Revenge of the Fallen is here and thankfully it’s a mass improvement from the 2009 flick which has a lesser story line but more rampage and carnage all around. This time around, Michael Bay has opted to give a more riveting story line to bring the movie some decency in terms of balance. Not much battle scenes in between the film, he saved it for last and what a way to end it all. Mayhem all around and never has a city imploded into such catastrophic state by a bunch of heavy metal , gun slinging steel warriors. In this edition, viewers will be able to witness old returning autobots and decepticons and also some new ones which sadly, didn’t get much character development as the movie progresses.
One of them is Sentinel Prime, Optimus Prime’s predecessor who in the end, became one whacked out robot who decide to use power as his main agenda in conquering earth. Another notable mention is Shockwave, one of the Decepticons. This is one robot you wouldn’t want to mess with, it will destroy anything, skyscrapers you name it, total rampage. It makes Megatron, who is being downsized in this movie to scraps of used metal look like, well, scraps of used metal.
Optimus and Bumblee is still as awesome in this movie, however, i felt that not much screen time is given to Optimus as he is being side shifted here by all the other developments in the movie. He came truly alive in the final battle scenes, where he sliced tons of decepticons robots and blast off Sentinel’s head as well as ripping off Megatron limbs, i mean wires, or something like that.
Now, moving to the humans, we will see Sam (Shia Leboef) struggling to get a job after graduating from college , receiving a medal from the president and also landing a hot new girlfriend. Well, to me , that is the one weakness point in this whole movie, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. The Victoria Secret model was chosen to replace Megan Fox in this 3rd installment and boy, does she not fit in the frame at all. I mean, to be fair to her, yes, this is her first movie gig but for a big action flick like transformers, we would expect at least give a credible performance but instead, she is in it to just parade herself like how she did on the catwalks. She and Shia just does not go well together. Period.
Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson also makes a return to this franchise and it’s interesting to see the human drama that evolves between the elite forces. You will see military guys jumping off planes gliding through while evading decepticon bots. Jon Torturro returns to the helm as well reprising his role as the former Secret Service formerly known as Sector 7, now Sector 8, as what it was told by him and indeed, his presence in the movie is needed to add some light hearted moments.
Ken Jeong (The Hangover) too makes a brief cameo in this one and boy, did he have us “fly” down with him in that one scene, which is ironically his final scene.
The 3D effects are awesome and seeing the bots transform with those glasses are just breathtaking. Overall, enjoyed the show and thankfully, a much better version than Revenge of the Fallen, but still way further compared to the success of the first movie. Some people may say that the movie is a waste of time etc etc, but to me, understanding the movie is the only way you can judge whether the movie is good or bad, Dark of The Moon, is not that bad. Autobots, Roll OUT!!
Fad CheeChak ratings: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
