Review: It's Good To Be Back!

Well, today is the premiere of Iron Man 2, me and Atles go to Penang to watch it... If you are in the US, sorry, you guys have to wait until 7th of May... HAHAHA!!!

I love the first Iron Man, it ranked 2nd in my list after The Dark Knight, replace my old time favourite, Spider-man 2. The first Iron Man is a surprise hit, when I walked into the theaters I was like, meh. But after come out, I actually like it a lot.

After the unexpected success of Iron Man, in 2010, there's a sequel to Iron Man, called Iron Man 2 (duh!)

Actually for me, this movie is better than the first one, but just a bit... The director, Jon Favreau played safe using the same formula, playboy lifestyle of Tony Stark, lots of Iron Man, lots of action and rock music! But I guess the formula works for me.

The story is ok, it's just the simple plot you expect from a popcorn. The story is about Tony Stark's struggles after he announced he is the Iron Man. Then there are copycats and those who wants him to fall from grace and those want to be on his side. But I don't expect the story to be a blast, considering that the first one didn't have a good story at the first place. The humours are very smart and very funny, Atles and I actually spent more time laughing than quietly sit down. Maybe it was those other viewers don't understand those jokes (practice your English man!!!)

The visual effects is a small leap from the first one. Kudos to people at ILM at this department, the graphics are so seamlessly fused into the real world that you rarely recognized any flaws of the visual. It is that good and flawless. Combining those graphics with action sequences, stunts and the whooshing sound effect, I had a blast and totally entertained...

The new characters like the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) and the new Lt. Colonel James Rhodes/War Machine (played by Don Cheadle after Terence Howard left the role) is blended in perfectly into the movie, so they won't feel alienated, which is smart, consider that many movie failed to do that...

In the end, Iron Man 2 is a good popcorn movie with good pacing of story, nice visual effects, stunts and sound effects keep audience entertained and remind people how good is the first movie. And, I want to defend the movie against the critics that say the story is boring and stupid, Consider this critics, don't ever compare Iron Man to The Dark Knight, those two are different movies even though it is the same genre. The Dark Knight is artistic, dark and smart plot, Iron Man 2 is light-hearted, funny, and it is all about entertainment. So stop saying Iron Man 2 plot is rubbish, because it is simple and is not written to be good and smart at the first place.

Pros: Easy to follow plot and have a very good pacing, visual effect is seamless, great sound effects, more actions (YAY!!!), new characters don't feel alienated.

Cons: Although fun, the surprise factor from the first movie is lost, due to we watched the first movie...

Verdict: 4.8/5

P.S.: Don't leave the cinema until the end of the credits, there is a small clip setting up for a potential sequel to Iron Man 3!!!

Luke, I'm Your Fans

This year is the 30th year anniversary of the premiere of sequel of a big franchise, Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back. In my book, Empire Strikes Back is the best movie ever made, the balance between plot, actions and the effects are absolutely perfect.

Empire Strikes Back also had one of the movie industry biggest surprise at that time, that is when Darth Vader said, "No, I am Your Father!". This may seem neh right now, but at the time no one expect the Dark Lord to speak out words like that to Luke.

To bring back the feel of the 80s, I presents you the trailer at the time:

Iron Man 2 Trailer 2

This is better than the first trailer:

American Idol 9 Top 7: Winner Prediction

This week double elimination, we said goodbye to Andrew Garcia (poor) and Katie Stevens (decent).

Nevertheless, the show has to move on... Here's my prediction for the potential winner so far:

Potential Female Winner: Crystal Bowersox
Based on week by week performances, she is always the front runner of the competition. She knows what she is doing, she performs song she is comfortable with. With Siobhan Magnus (the other remaining female on the show) struggling to put on a good show, Crystal has the better chance now...

Potential Male Winner: Lee Dewyze
This is a tough one, because one or two other male contestants are so close... Although shy, his performance throughout the show is consistant and above expectations. But seriously, he needs to control his nerve when performing, he looks like a statue when perform...

Let's Celebrate The Beautiful Game

Football, is one of the biggest sports known to mankind and FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event in human history. Along with the Olympics, World Cup is also one of the sporting event that truly unite people from all around the world to celebrate this amazing game and share a common language, "GOAL!!!". The 19th FIFA World Cup will be hosted by South Africa and the hype is building already...

The main theme song of this year World Cup is Wavin' Flag by K'Naan, this song got the flavours of Africa and unity... Enjoy the song below:

First Crysis 2 Trailer is Up

Every gamer knows Crysis, a game that set the graphics benchmark for video games history, just like Avatar did to the movie industry. Original Crysis is a power hungry software, and will laugh at almost every computer hardware thrown at it, developer Crytek said that the sequel will less demanding the the old ones...

In case, you don't know about Crysis. The first game tells a story about a group of special forces were sent to a remote tropical island to save scientists from North Korean hand. During the mission, the alien forces hidden under the island woke up and attack the humanity...

The sequel will now set in war torn New York, where alien has taken over the city. Trust me, the graphics will be even better and more epic...!!!

Review: Everyone looks like Liam Neeson

Just watched Clash of the Titans, a "pure" remake of the 1981 film of the same name. For me the movie was just okay nia la.

The movie is based on Greek mythology that human raged war against the gods, Zeus and the Olympus. The movie stars Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator: Salvation), Liam Neeson (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Batman Begins), Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter) and Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time), which are a very good list of cast actually.

For me, the story was like "Really?", the story is too simple and the ending is ridiculously lame. When the final battle scene between Kraken and Perseus was too short and too simple. But, kudos to those people who make the story is predictable and boring yet able to let viewers want more.

Visual effects is really normal for movie this budget, it didn't look fake at all, but it's doesn't look great compared to other blockbusters. The makeup is not good either, especially when everyone looks like Liam Neeson, that's my major complaint here. I don't mind they make a blockbuster with bad story just for the pure sake of entertainment, but can they at least make everyone more noticeable?!

hmmm... This face can be too common in the film

Sound effects is really worth the THX system of the Gurney cinema, when those monsters and gods moving around, you can really hear the noise going through your back and really let you have the feel of those moments.

Clash of the Titans is just a summer blockbuster film that stripped out all those great story and great characters just for the pure fun of action and humour. It might not be the film of Oscar rank, but I will place it in front of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (which is the film just for pure graphics and entertainment, nothing else)

Pros: Great sound effects, great monsters design, predictable blockbuster films, humour is good, beautiful scenery
Cons: Visual effects can be bad when compared to movies with same budgets, poor story and characters, lame ending, some humour is a bit corny, ridiculously poor makeup...

Verdict: 2.7/5