Zookeeper (US) - Second-rate Dr.Doolittle wannabe (yawn!)

Zookeeper
Synopsis:
This movie is about a zookeeper, Griffin Keyes (Kevin James) who takes care of a the animals in the zoo with care and patience. When his girlfriend, Stephanie (Leslie Bibb) rejected his marriage proposal due to his less ambition and work as a zookeeper, he decided to quit his work. However, when all the animals in the zoo got to know about this, they decided to hatch a plan to bring Griffin together with Stephanie who happens to visit the zoo and found that both still has some feeling for each other although Stephanie is now with his ex-boyfriend, Gale (Joe Rogan). During one unfortunate incident, Griffin Keyes stumble upon a meeting with animals where the animals spoke english and panic. However, after knowing their intention, he went on a hilarious journey under the advice of the animals to win Stephanie back.  
Review:
During a lazy afternoon, i decided to watch this movie after purchasing it for few weeks. The reason is because I do not have much expectation of this movie simply because it should be a predictable plot where the zookeeper lost his love, win his love but lost his identity and animal friends, win back his identity and his real love, the end. And i was not wrong on that aspect. However, i am more into what kind of hilarious scenes that the filmmaker is able to churn out from this old favorite storyline. And the verdict is not so much. I felt that Kevin James tries hard to make himself comical by doing some comical fall every now and then but its not really funny unlike the versatile Eddie Murphy in Dr.Doolittle. I felt that the supporting cast did a much better role such as Joe Rogan character, Gale. He is very hilarious and with his presence, the movie is more alive and funnier. I cannot believe that the once host of "Fear Factor" has great potential to be a comedian actor. Now for the animals, all are quite bored with the exception of a gorilla named Bernie who steal the scene from all the animals and human actors. The best scenes were Bernie and Griffin chilling out together in TGIF. That is the best scene of the whole movie. Other than that, there is nothing worth mentioning.

Verdict:

I give this movie just a 2 out of 5 and the points were given to both the gorilla named Bernie and Joe Rogan. 

Mysterious Island (China) - Poor Acting, Poor Story, Poor Cinematography

Mysterious Island
Synopsis:
The movie started with a young mother and her son escaping from some invisible evil force that has attacked them from . The mother is thrown out from the building and killed while the son managed to hid in a small hole inside the jungle. However, it shows that the evil force manage to found him. Then, the movie forward to the present day where a group of people - 4 men and 4 women traveling to an island on a sailboat together with a crew of cameraman and TV presenter to take part in a survival game with the winning pair get US$1 million. Each were given a map with the target location to seek while surviving days in the jungle-island. When traveling near to the target island, their sailboat is knocked-down by an invisible evil force and the group of people is stranded at the island with only 1 pair, Shen Yilin (Mini Yang) & Peng Fei (Jordan Chan) manage to hold-on to the map. However, the rest of the groups tries to steal the map away to win the competition and leave the island but along the way, they were attacked by wild boars and bees. This leave some of the group members separated from each other but somehow manage to find their way to an old house with each of the group members name dangle together with individual urn. The message stated that if the urn is broken, then the name of the person from the urn will surely be killed. At first, all dismiss this as a joke but when Peng Fei was attacked by a mysterious force and thrown from the hill, all became suspicious of each other & also a leper ghost. One by one, the group members started to disappear and got killed until remaining Shen Yilin. She found the hole in the jungle with the skeletons of a nun and another person. Could it be the boy who disappear or a ghost searching for vengeance?
Review: 
Lets move straight to the point. The only reason why people flock to the theaters or even buy the movie is because of its star actor, Jordan Chan and this is consider as China's first supernatural movie or some sort. But beyond the star actor who does a horrible job of actin, the movie looks of cheap budget, horrible supernatural effect, loud and nonsense soundtrack and all actors are horrible in their acting. Lets dissect each category because i sure love to complain on horrible movies that is not up to par for screening. Firstly, HK star Jordan Chan who is famed for acting alongside Ekin Cheng in Young & Dangerous series, seems like only interested in milking money from China movie production. In this movie, he doesn't put in much effort in the acting and furthermore acting goofy and jokingly that it almost seems like i'm watching some sitcom comedy movie or something. Next is the cheap budget looks in the entire movie. The cinematography is so cheap that it looks like the movie has been shot a decade earlier. I do understand that if the budget is an issue, the director should at least get a decent camera and shot beautiful scenery to plug other loopholes like storyline or acting. Next, horrible supernatural effect. In today's world of film making, effect of white smoke and the camera moving in and out to reflect that there is some supernatural is so child's play and cheap. It ruins the whole movie with such sequences and even spoil further with its loud soundtrack. I notice that mainland films tends to shock people with its high pitch sound effect. It doesn't matter if the scene involve scary scene or not, they just turn up the volume every now and then to shock viewers. Instead of being shocked, i had to run the extra mile to turn down the volume and the up the volume when there is dialog again. Now, lets come to their acting in this movie. The acting for all the actors including Jordan Chan is so bad that you tend to just switch off the movie after 10 minutes in. The mainland actresses in this movie seems to take off their shirt every now and then to show their curvature features in bikini. Perhaps the director of the movie felt that its more sell-able with hot girls in bikinis but it doesn't. Also, i still do not understand the logic of a Japanese participant in the group who do not speak chinese is able to understand and reply in Japanese while the other participans are able to understand and speak to him in chinese?? Perhaps if you found out the logic behind it, you can tell me.

Verdict:

I give this a 1 star out of 5. Overall movie is poorly done and shouldn't be done without proper storyline & acting.    
   


 

Nine Dead (US) - An interesting puzzle but lame ending

 Nine Dead
Synopsis:
The movie started with a hooded & masked kidnapper kidnapping various individuals while they are eating, with friends, in car basement, and etc. A total of nine strangers are being caught and held in an enclose room in an abandon warehouse. The kidnapper then inform all the 9 strangers that they have 10 minutes to discuss and tell him why they are all here. If the strangers are unable to answer his question, then each one will die and the clock will reset back to 10 minutes and the same question will be posed again. All nine people will be killed if they are unable to find out the answer in time and if they managed to answer it, then the kidnapper will surrender to the police and release them. The 9 individuals are an (1) actor (wannabe), (2) deputy prosecutor, (3) cop, (4) stripper owner, (5) black guy with criminal record, (6) pedophile, (7) insurance agent, (8) chinese lady who doesn't speak english  and (9) a priest. As the clock is ticking ,all of them overcome their background and their differences to find out why they were locked up by provided information on what they had done previously that might have cause this.  As each tries to solve the puzzle, one-by-one, the kidnapper came in, shot and killed one of the strangers but not before whispering to them the answer. So, are they able to solve the case before they are being killed or manage to uncover the secret that lies behind their kidnapping.
Review:
The premise and the set-up of the movie is nice. The story is also quite interesting and the characters are never dull. Of course in the beginning, the movie likens Saw franchises but it is never heavy on the gore but more on the solving of the puzzle. In the beginning, the movie looks a bit amateur and looks a bit cheap like a made for TV movie while the kidnapping is going on. But as the 9 individuals are being held, then the movie starts to look promising. There are some quirky dialogue and intelligent one liners. However, i felt that some of the individuals are not being used enough and do not have much script to work on. So, some of them merely picking on their handcuff and some just walk around and i thought that they were going to find a way to escape. I felt that Melissa Joan Hart acting is not so good in this movie, in fact i felt that she talks way to fast and almost sounded like she was bitching rather than talking. At one point, some of the story does stray, basically to fill-in the time slot of the movie but luckily it didn't sway that much. Also, due to its cheap budget, i saw a deja vu where they show the abandon warehouse with a car passing by, then again the same clip of the warehouse and car passing by. This is pretty lame and cheap. Overall, this movie is not as bad as i thought it would be. In fact, i was kept guessing why the 9 people are locked up and i did guess the answer correctly during the final quarter of the movie before it was reveal. The end is quite lousy and it should have ended with a good big bang, but it falls short.

Verdict:

I give this movie a 2.5 star over 5.

Go For It - Cliche Storyline with Weak Dance Routine

Go For It (US)
Synopsis:
This dance flick revolves around Carmen who is from Mexico, now living in Chicago with her parents, dad (works as a garbage collector), mum (housewife) and 2 brothers (older & younger). Her family is pinning on her to be more successfully than them, by getting an education and perhaps makes a good living than them. However, Carmen has a great interest in dancing and mostly out dancing in the underground clubs thus, affected her education and got into troubles with petty issues. However, Carmen's professor saw the potential in her and encourage her to enrolled in a prestigious dance school in California. But Carmen is not interested because of a new found love in Jared from same class and staying together with her best friend, Gina. However, when things turns for the worse with Gina's death due to severe beating from her cocaine-smoking boyfriend and Jared's cheating on her, she decided to finally improve her life by attending the audition for the dance school, much to the delight of her parents, brothers and her professor.   
Review:
For quite awhile, i kept thinking when will we have a good dance flick which combines good / decent storyline and a good dance routine. I doubt this will happen soon by judging from this movie goes. In fact, i think it will be a long long time before we see any good dance flick. Step Up 2 was an okay movie with cool slick dance but still the same cliche' story line. Go For It! is also the same tempo - with rag to riches theme of a girl with no hope for the future but a good dancer searching for her dream.  Is all dance flick all about rags to riches? There must be some good decent story that they can churn up. Lets move back to this movie acting by first pointing out that Aimee Garcia as Carmen does not looks her age as a student, her looks are more of a 24 to 28 years old and her acting is extremely bad. I felt that Gina Rodriguez as her best friend, Gina is more quirky and portray better emotional expression than Carmen amid only few screen time. So, perhaps with the bad acting and weak storyline, the dance routine will cover-up all the weakness in this film. Most dance flicks banks in on their dance routine to make the movie more sell-able. But, the dance routine in this movie is bad. There are only 4 dance routine - including Carmen's solo audition and out of these, only 2 dances are worth mentioning (final dance battle & Carmen solo). Amid all the dances are performed by females, but the energy is not there and the dance routine were made like a copy-cat Step-Up 3D: In your face style routine but failed miserable. The only one good thing about this movie is the capturing of the movie itself - it looks expensive and almost have Hollywood kind of production.  
Verdict:
I give this a 1 star out of 5.

The Reef (Aust) - A Bloody Good One - Shark Alert!

The Reef (Australia)
Synopsis: 
The movie started off with a couple (Matt & Suzie) together with Matt's sister Kate going for a sail in Luke's sailboat in Queensland. Luke was once an item with Kate but they broke off due to Kate's insecurity and went back to Sydney. So, Luke thought that perhaps he is able to rekindle with Kate during this trip. While sailing, their sailboat hits an underwater rock and suddenly the boat is thrown upside down. Based on Luke's experience, the boat is slowly drifting away to the open sea , away from the island (Turtle Island) that they were previously snorkeling around. So the only alternative is to make a swim back to the island which they target is about 10km while they have the strength and still not drifted too far out. Luke's co-sailor, Warren decided to stay on boat due to his phobia as a fisherman that he fears the sharks in the water.  So, Matt, Suzie, Kate and Luke makes the journey to the island but lurking in the waters in the Great White Shark. One by one, they are being attacked and pick-off.
Review:
This movie started off slow with a bit of character development but it's main focus was the capturing of the beautiful sea and island. The action begins after the sailboat incident which is roughly after 15mins~20mins. When the action start, it does not let off until the credit finishes. The action is not the raw action that you find in Jaws or other Hollywood action movies but the action and scare is very realistic. With minimal sound and effect and all the actors are in the water, it almost felt like we are also in the water. Director Andrew Traucki really works his magic in terms of capturing the fear in the unknown water and being haunted by the deadliest creature in the sea. The shark movement is very minimal, in fact you will not really see much of the shark and its attack, but you will somehow felt it and felt the fear of this fearful fish and its teeth. The actors are very good in the acting and the showcase of fear, panic, anxiety are well portray by these 4 fine actors and the actions are also very local in real life. To act in a movie with only the ocean around is very difficult and to keep the suspense and the plot so well together makes this a good movie to watch but patience is needed to enjoy this movie.

Verdict:

Overall, I give this movie a 4 star out of 5 for being realistic and for being the best shark movie with realistic, suspense and great acting cast.

Ironclad (US) - The Final Stand minus Inspiration Theme

Ironclad (US)
Synopsis:
The movie is during the medieval times (around year 1215). During that time the barons of England forces King John out of the throne due to this tyranny and the lust for power. Before his ousted, King John and the barons signed an agreement called the Magna Carta, to upheld the rights of free-man. However, King John betray the agreement and began his quest of conquering back his country and killing everyone who has betrayed him. In his path of destruction, there is the Rochester castle that stood in the middle between King John and victory. In order to stop King John's march, the barons send out a team of knights to stop him at all cost and to ensure that the Rochester castle does not fall else the whole country will fall. During that time, the barons has seek out the French help and hope that they will arrive time.
Review:
I do not particularly love medieval movies, i enjoy the gore and the war of it but i felt that most of this movies do not have much substance and a lot of this movie are more towards real life event and region overtone. For those who do not know the history of it will be drown of confusion most of the time. The only medieval movie i love the most is probably Mel Gibson's Braveheart. However, i am quite interested to watch this movie since i heard much of its violence and gore. The movie story is easy to watch, where we see King John played brilliantly by Paul Giamatti going haywire by killing and slashing in way through using his troops. Paul Giamatti has the enigma of playing a psycho killer and in this case, a psycho king with love of power and violence. However one cannot be said for the lead knight for the church / baron, James Purefoy. He has the enigma and almost looks like Thomas Jane / Hugh Jackman in certain angle. With so many films under his belt, i would presume that his acting would have been good but i felt that he didn't manage to show more of himself during the screen time. He didn't show the charismatic of a hero knight that is suppose to save the castle. Also, director, Jonathan English did not bring the awe & the emotional rush that Mel Gibson brings / or even Peter Jackson LOTR - The Two Towers when the orcs swarmed Rohan castle and Aragon, Gimli, Legolas making a final stand. That emotional and inspirational feelings needs to be achieve to create in such a movie where the theme is the final stand. But all we get is the gore, fighting and clashing between guys in knight amour. The gore and the fighting are quite well executed but i guess that is not enough to complete me.

Verdict: 

I give this a 3 star out of 5

Iron Doors (US) - Running on 100m but Losing Gas before Finishing Line

Iron Doors (US)
Synopsis:
Its a simple story of a man woke up after having some heavy drinking (although not shown) inside a locked steel door room. The steel door looks like a bank vault and there are nothing inside the room but a steel locked cupboard. The man begin to think that its a joke done by his friends and treat of it as a joke until he realized that he has been trapped and played a sinister game by someone or something on the other side of the door. He tries to escape but unable to, so he manage to pry open the cupboard and inside it contain a hammer, chisel, a blowtorch, 2 canister of gas for the blowtorch, goggle for protection. There are no food and no water, only one dead rat, maggots and flies. So, he began his quest for freedom using the tools but the tools have its specific purposes - the blowtorch is unable to be used to melt the iron doors. After giving up on burning through the door, he manage to chip bits by bits of the wall using the hammer and a small chisel. However, the walls are separated by an iron fence - thus the use of the blowtorch. With hunger & thirst beginning to wear down the guy, he began to feast on the maggots on the rats and also drink his own urine to survive. Finally, he is able to break the wall and reach to the other side of the room. However, the other room is also similar with a locked vault. But, instead of the cupboard, he found a coffin and a standing lamp. Inside the coffin is an girl of an african origin who is unable to speak english. So, both are trying to figure a way out but communication makes it difficult for them. Again, they used the same method of hacking down the walls but found that the iron doors automatically open when the didn't look at it. So, after using this solution, they manage to open the doors but found another door again. Without food, without water and almost on verge of dying, they give up trying and at that instance, the door manage to open. And both walk out to a very beautiful jungle, almost like a nirvana.

Review: 
That this is an independent movie that i picked off from the DVD shelf not too long ago. It has a few logos mark on the front cover where it indicates of this film getting some awards or being selected for some film festival. It looks promising with just a simple title / storyline. So, i was thinking why the heck not. This movie is engaging in the beginning, almost look like a Saw movie with gadgets for you to find our way out, and the grossness of eating maggots and drinking your own urine. But after awhile, you found out that this looks like a one man movie. The actor Axel Wdekind is quite good considering that he is the only one acting for much of the movie until another actress Rungano Nyoni joins him. Half of the movie, we see Axel whining and complaining while hacking his way out. It can be quite annoying after awhile and feels the need to fast forward your video while he keeps on whining. But i would say that it was quite an engaging movie for much of the 2/3 of the movie, anticipating who is the person locking them up, whether he is able to escape their games, and etc. However the last 1/3 of the movie and the finale will totally make people curse because the director just lets the audience think of the end. The end of the movie shows that both walks out to the jungle and then the end credits begin to roll. I for one jumped out of the sofa and shout WTF. So, the viewer can think that the couple manage to escape to a place in the jungle while i for once do not think so. I think the couple finally had their last breathe and the things they saw is the other world. Anyhow, the director should just let us out of the misery and tell us how it ends especially after all we have to endure of the whining.
 Verdict:
I give this movie just an average 2.5 out of 5 star and mainly due to its engaging story and a one-man show. But the ending left much to be desired. Its like running a 100m race but before the finishing line, we lost all momentum.