Adapt or Die.

Just another DVD to fill the remaining days of holiday. Tonight's choice is Hanna, starring Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones, crappy film by the way), Eric Bana (Troy) and Cate Blanchett (long list of quality movies) with Joe Wright (Atonement!!!) directing. Should be good entertainment, I'm expecting good action too. It's not released in Indo and haven't been released in Singapore, so hell yeah.

The story is about Hanna (Ronan) who's being trained by her father Erik (Bana) to fight and adapt, or die in the deep forest somewhere in Europe. She's trained to be the perfect soldier for one mission. The purpose of the mission is to kill one who's named Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett) whose past implicate with Hanna's family and existence.

This is a very simple film, really. I mean the plot is just that simple, but it is very stylish indeed. Especially taking places in various locations in Europe, the tone is very.....European. It's not your normal shoot-bang-revenge movies, its more human. The way Hanna discovers technology and electricity it's heart-breaking really. Seriously smooth acting shown by Saoirse Ronan and those martial arts moves were done well. Her performance in The Way Back also stole the movie, she's gonna be a great actress one day. Eric Bana is aging but never looked better. Cate Blanchett here reminds me of Irina Spalko of the latest Indiana Jones film, maybe because of her hair. But she is one of the actresses who could play both protagonists and antagonists well. I have always had in faith in Joe Wright since the superbly wonderful and heart-breaking Atonement, although The Soloist didnt match Atonement's quality it's still good. Wright proves he doesnt only excel on drama but also action/thriller. Every action scene hits the mark. Not to forget the kick-ass score by The Chemical Brothers, i'm lost for words for it, on download as I'm writing. Hanna: rated B+

Robots Finale

The wait is over! My family rushed to Mall of Asia in Manila to buy advance screening tickets of the extremely anticipated Transformers: Dark of the Moon with hopes we would catch it in IMAX 3D. Well apparently it's all booked and we had to settle with the normal 3D, still advance screening though on June 28 (nationwide on June 29). Judging from the trailers, this gotta be the biggest, most badass Transformers movie ever. I've expected cooler robots in actions and of course the newbie Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. It has new casts too like Patrick Dempsey, John Malkovich and the sometimes-funny-sometimes-overkill Ken Jeong.

It's so funny that President Kennedy gets so much screentime in 2011 movies, his mission to send human to moon landed him on this movie and so do Nixon. It's said that the landing on the moon was to investigate a strange alien thing on the dark side of the moon (there's the title). Neil and Buzz found the Ark, a Cybertronian spaceship along with the captain, Sentinel Prime (voiced by the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy). As a result of the space wars with Soviet, some cosmonauts brought back an alien part to Chernobyl and tried to figure it out. Result: nuclear radiation in Chernobyl. Optimus and the other bots  knew that the Ark carried a device, only known by Sentinel that can win the war between Autobots and Decepticons back in the great war. Some parts of the device, named space bridge, is missing. Looks like the Megatron is finally having his revenge. Sam (LaBeouf), who was given a medal of honor by Obama, now with his new gf Carly (Rosie) wanted to be a part in this great war, taking place on Earth helping their alien friends Autobots.

The story was highly interesting up until Chernobyl but then it started to fall apart, rushing to make things in motion for the final war. It's still watchable and permissible unlike the strangeness of TF2. The jokes in TF3 is funnier and it works and it's not dumb nor do annoying (well some moments with Ken Jeong are dumb). Sam Witwicky became a little bit irritating since he's now trapped in a classic Datsun instead of Camaro and he doesnt have a job. Sam wanted big things in his life, but never chase  those big things. It's tiring, but Shia manages to make it forgettable with his charm. Whereas Rosie, she could act. Not as brilliantly as Megan Fox did but yeaahh adequate for a newcomer, a model newcomer. She totally lost it when she left Sam for a while. But she's still a sight for me :) The Carly character isn't like Mikaela who seems to love Sam so much. I didn't see that infatuation in Carly. Mikaela is more badass too! Remember she's a criminal for grand theft auto and she could drive skillfully with Bumblebee towed at the back (It's TF1). All things considered, Mikaela should still be here, the story would have been better with familiar people who knew and experienced the events from the original Transformers. The action scenes with the robots are incredible and cool, just like we expected. Not to mention the wingsuit men, totally jaw-dropping. It's a pity for Megatron, who's actually in this final stand should've been fiercer but he's not. He's just "Sentinel's bitch". Also Shockwave, who's appearance is dreading but not that dreading in action, his pet is but just like Devastator in TF2 (you know what happened to Devastator). Oh and the ending is a downer, am not gonna talk about it to avoid spoilers, but it flunked. As the last entry to the trilogy and the series, it should've had a killer ending, a cool one. Instead we got a short, unsatisfying one. What could you expect anyway? It's Michael Bay, explosions come first. It feels so rushed, but at least it's better than TF2 but never nearing the ultimate masterpiece quality of the 2007 original. Transformers: Dark of the Moon: rated B-

here's the first scene from the movie that features Carly

Too Green Will Kill You

It's day two at Manila and it's day two for superheroes. This time we take on the first DC hero besides Batman and Superman, it's green, it's Green Lantern. The first thing that lured me to watch this is Blake Lively, 'nuff said. The trailer for Green Lantern didn't get interesting until the four-minute footage from Wonder-con (click here for the Wonder-con footage!). It sure have a different experience from the earthly Batman or the God-like Superman but still, it doesn't offer a new thing in general. But let's give it a go. It's directed by Casino Royale's Martin Campbell and stars Marvel's Deadpool Ryan Reynolds and Mark Strong (oh yeah!)

The story is about a test pilot Hal Jordan who forced himself to believe that he doesn't know fear because it's in his job description. His destiny became fulfilled when he met the dying Abin-Sur who is a great warrior from the Lantern Corps but didn't have the intelligence to lock the warriors' nemesis, Parallax. Before he died, Abin-Sur's ring chose Hal Jordan to be the next Green Lantern. Next thing he knew, Hal was in Planet Oa with other Lanterns, Tomar-Re (voiced by Geoffrey Rush), Kilowog and Sinestro (Mark Strong in his usual power). Abin-Sur's founded body was examined by Dr. Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard) who gets exposed to Parallax's fear entity, which makes him able to move things with his mind (telekinesis? maybe).  Hal tried to carry the burden as Abin-Sur's successor and also protect his planet from the planet-consuming Parallax at the same time.

The thing about this movie is the timing. To reach this level of special effects it needed this new decade but for the quality of the story, it should have been released in the 2000s. The superhero genre is now evolving thanks to another DC hero, Batman and many Marvel heroes like Iron Man, X-Men, and Spider-Man. Superhero is not about the action and the coolness rating, but also depth. What kind of hero would easily back-off when others told him he's not a hero? It's Hal Jordan apparently after losing a training battle with Sinestro. He enjoy being Green Lantern but he quits the corps. Strange huh? It's like being a pilot with no aircraft. But Ryan Reynolds did a great job here, but his character wasted him. Blake Lively is stunning and her Carol Ferris character is smarter than Lois Lane; she realized Hal's cheekbones! Whereas Lois remained clueless about no-glasses Clark Kent.  Mark Strong is soo goood as usual, he's very fitting to the role. The Will vs. Fear story is kinda shallow, for the sequel, it's gonna repeat the theme. As for Hal, I think the ring requires you not only to overcome fears but also have better imagination (race tracks? machine guns? jets? why not rockets?) As Sinestro said, "How human." Also, from all those Green Lantern corps, the most active one is only Sinestro. How come? And how did a newbie defeat a huge enemy alone when the group, even Abin-Sur failed? It's a strange heroic act. The timing is not quite good for me either after watching X-Men: First Class the night before. It's so different in quality. However, it's still an okay entertainment at the cinema, offering smooth effects and new take on superheroes. I wished it's better, that's all. Green Lantern: rated C+ 

First in Class

During my family's holiday in Philippines, we spared our time to watch some movies that aren't being released in Indonesia. One of them is X-Men: First Class directed by Matthew Vaughn of Kick Ass fame and starring James McAvoy (to me his most memorable role isn't the loser in Wanted but as the Tumnus faun in Narnia) and Michael Fassbender (Lt. Archie Hicox of Inglourious Basterds). The other supporting casts are also promising: Kevin Bacon (Hollowman), January Jones (Mad Men), Jason Flemyng (Benjamin Button's dad), Rose Byrne (remember Troy? no? Insidious then) and also Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence. There's also Lucas Till, Taylor Swift's boy in her VMA-winning-Kanye-West-interrupted music video. That's what you call promising.

The other title for this film must be X-Men Origins: Professor X & Magneto because this is the story of their origins. The story begins with young Erik/Magneto in a Nazi concentration camp, so similar to the original X-Men, the one where he moved the metal gates. This time, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) saw that event. Don't want to spoil the fun, fast forward to a couple years later, Erik (Michael Fassbender) went on a hunt for Shaw to France, Argentina until he end up at US. Meanwhile, Charles (McAvoy) was asked for help by CIA agent Moira McTaggert (Byrne) to help her investigate a mutant problem dealing with Shaw. Then, Erik and Charles met in an event and aided by the secret CIA facility, search for other mutants using beta Cerebro, a device which proved to be useful and dangerous later. They found a group of mutants and with this small army, trying to battle Shaw's even smaller, but more skilled mutants including the telepath Emma Frost, teleporting-red-skinned-version-Nightcrawler Azazel, and also the mute Riptide at the staged US vs Soviets nuclear war.

One word for this movie: amazing. The best X-Men movie so far. Especially Michael Fassbender. He stole every minute with his performance. The Argentinian bar scene is just so cool (knife/hand/stomach/hand! ignore this). He's menacing, human, cold and cool at the same time. That persona can't be matched by James McAvoy, but still Professor X's bigger role in this movie helped him a lot. Unlike in the original trilogy where the professor would only be preaching, teaching and sometimes used. The other members is just amazing as well. The effects are top class. The idea of combining history with X-Men universe is incredible. The only shame is that the X-Men movies are way to connected. There's Moira in X-Men: The Last Stand and she doesn't seem to age. Mystique/Raven also have something wrong with her age in later films. There's also Emma Frost but in different transformation in X-Men Origins, or maybe it's best if we just forget Origins. Nevertheless, as a stand alone this is the best superhero film of the year, and maybe the best of the summer. Just one wish: no sequels to this please. X-Men: First Class: rated A.

here's one of the coolest scene from X-Men: First Class

Stop Pirating

This is my first summer movie ever to be watched in some low quality, Russian-filmed, pirated DVD. The irony was  I was watching a pirated copy of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. First of all, I'm a huge Pirates fan. I love At World's End so much that I despise the idea of having the third sequel. With all those trailers and clips, I'm not still interested. But, let's check it out.

The story picks up where it left off where Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) was in quest for The Fountain of Youth. No Will Turner, no Elizabeth, no Cotton, no Marty. He suddenly met his former arch-nemesis Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) who is now in under the command of the King (Richard Griffiths, uncle Vernon) who also desire the Fountain. A few unimportant details later, Jack boards the Queen Anne's Revenge, thanks to Angelica (Penelope Cruz). It was Blackbeard's (Ian McShane) ship, going for a race to the fountain with his sword-controlled ship and zombie crews. They will encounter mermaids, an awkward-Will Turner-ish missionary, and Spaniards in order to get there.

This gotta be the worst Pirates movie ever. All those billion dollars collected throughout the world was for nothing. Pirates are bound at sea, where's that 'my love is for the sea' thing? But here they only sailed for a couple of minutes. There wasn't even the Jack Sparrow entrance song! It's an outrage! No Black Pearl, the Black Pearl was in a bottle. Blackbeard wasn't devilish enough to match Davy Jones or even Lord Cutler Beckett. He never showed up on his ship before but then after Jack came, he even walk with his zombie crews! Hans Zimmer at the scoring is lazy he's using songs from the previous movies not at the right time. He suddenly put the Beckett finale in a mermaid scene, Up is Down on another. It's not creative, it's not recycle, it's lazy. This is just a chapter worth telling from Gibbs' mouth, not worth filming. Just like that hurricane in Tripoli with Norrington (see Dead Man's Chest). Johnny Depp's charm as Jack is failing, it's like he didnt even want to be here. What's up with all that powder on Barbossa's face? The pregnant Penelope is also visible, her face is getting chubbier within days. Don't let me start on that Philip missionary.The 3D shots are silly (pointing your sword to the camera is not cool, Blackbeard, nor do your skeleton hands). The only interesting part was the mermaid scene, courtesy of Gemma Ward and the thrill, other than that, nothing. since they werent even at any tides, it's not stranger tides, it's a mistake. It's way better to make your own story than to loosely adapt a book. It's a theme park adaptation, not a book adaptation anyway. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: rated D+