'Penguins of Madagascar' Review

Penguins of Madagascar review:

Meh

BY IAN TAN

Because a TV series wasn’t enough, the Penguins of Madagascar finally get their very own movie, courtesy of the people at DreamWorks Animation. Gone are Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria and in are Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. The four penguins were a nice surprise in the original Madagascar films, stealing and chewing scenery every time they appeared on-screen. However, as much as they worked in the few scenes they had in the Madagascar films, they just don’t seem big enough to earn a movie of their own, much like how I still don’t think having a solo Minions (of Despicable Me) movie is a good idea. I mean, these films are just Hollywood cash-grabs anyway.

In this film, the titular Penguins are on a mission to stop a revenge-driven octopus from kidnapping and mutating all penguins around the globe. Yes, the plot does sound pretty ridiculous, and a little like that of Despicable Me 2.

I actually quite liked the first Madagascar film, and I honestly thought that the penguins were the best part of it, much like how I, and many others, felt that the Minions were the highlight of the Despicable Me movies. However, as the Madagascar film series continued to its second and third instalments, I began to lose interest in the films. In fact, I was even less interested to see this one. With that being said, how does Penguins of Madagascar fare?

"Hey guys, anyone else find it funny that we all sound and speak like adults?"

Well, it felt pretty mediocre to me, even with my low expectations. There are a number of good things to point out in the film, of course. For one, the voice casting is pretty solid, with the voice actors of the Penguins really getting a chance to shine as characters in this film more so than in previous ones. Private, the youngest member of the team, is especially more developed as a character here, and provides the film with some of its most heartfelt moments, which is a plus. The dialogue is also witty and face-paced, and I can see why children would love it. There are a couple of celebrity references thrown in to Dave’s (voiced by John Malkovich) dialogue, which was a nice little touch. There’s also one sequence where the Penguins jump from one flying aeroplane to another that I can imagine would be a joy to watch in 3D. In addition to that, the inclusion of North Wind, an undercover inter-species task force led by Classified (yeah, that’s his name, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) is a nice addition to the roster of Madagascar characters, even though they don’t get as much screen time or character development as hoped for. Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be having fun with his role as the wolf Classified, and it’s always fun to know when actors enjoy the roles they play, or in this case, voice.

Benedict Cumberbatch and his posse of animal pals

Of course, Penguins of Madagascar doesn't come without a few disappointing parts. One of which is that the end of the film can be easily predicted within the first ten minutes of dialogue, with obvious and generic character arcs and backstories given to the titular characters. Also, the plot and action sequences that tie the story together, although nicely animated, are a bit too over-the-top and (I hate to say this, but) childish. Combine that with a plot so ridiculous that it could’ve just been downgraded to an episode for the TV series, and you have a movie that kids would probably love, but one that teens and adults would just roll their eyes over.

In totality, Penguins of Madagascar is great fun for kids, but not so much for teens and adults. It’s witty and filled with some neat action sequences that would look great if seen in 3D, but I’d much rather recommend you go see Big Hero 6 a second time instead of watching this film.

"We gotta catch that plane"

Final Verdict

Penguins of Madagascar gets 6.3 out of 10 stars – Here’s to hoping the Minions solo film will be better.

'Annabelle' Review

Annabelle Review:

Plastic, Dull & Forgettable Horror

BY IAN TAN

Promotional Poster: Scarier than the actual
movie

This much-anticipated prequel to 2013’s horror          hit The Conjuring leaves little for audiences to remember it by. With the absence of James Wan behind the camera, Annabelle feels more like a wannabe of his films, but rarely succeeds at being as good as any of them. James Wan’s collaborative cinematographer John R. Leonetti sits in the director’s chair for this horror flick.

Annabelle is set a few years prior to the events in        The Conjuring, showcasing the origins of how the titular doll became the infamous creepy critter we all know her to be. The story begins with expecting couple John and Mia. To celebrate, John (men, take note) gifts her a doll that she has long been searching for to complete her collection. This, as the audience knows, is a terrible idea. Nobody in the right mind would ever purchase such a doll, even in its non-possessed, spotless, clean form. Anyways…

Unlike The Conjuring or other James Wan films, Annabelle struggles to find logicality to drive its characters’ sometimes downright stupid decisions. The acting and script is rather bland, with a few standout characters in the form of Father Perez and bookstore owner Evelyn, both of whom are given fine performances by Tony Amendola and Alfre Woodward respectively. The main couple of this movie however, is serviceable to say the most. Annabelle Wallis, who plays Mia, tries to inject some emotion and depth to her character, but simply isn’t as engaging to watch compared to female leads in other horror films. This is especially an issue when the horror sequences start building up.

"Oh don't mind me. Just needed to rest my head a little."

In terms of scare value, Annabelle pales in comparison to The Conjuring by a long shot. Although very obviously inspired by the filmmaking style of James Wan, with wide shots of dark, shadowy rooms and violin-heavy music, much of Annabelle feels all too familiar to Wan’s previous works, to the point that audiences are able to tell when a scare is going to happen and where. It is respectable to see Leonetti pay homage to Wan, but the film would have benefited more from a few bolder steps in the horror department. The titular Annabelle doll, for instance, does not seem as frightening or as threatening as it did in its first big-screen appearance, nor does it provide the film with the same eerie presence it did before with The Conjuring. Here, Annabelle feels more like a prop piece, with the real enemy being the demonic presence that has latched itself onto the doll, but this demonic presence isn’t present enough to generate many scares from the audience. There was one hallway sequence, however, that was quite chilling. Apart from that one truly intense sequence, most of the film relies on jump scares and close-up shots of the doll doing, well, nothing. The ending of this movie too, is … “meh”, with its connection to the beginning of The Conjuring feeling rather lackluster. This is one of those prequels that doesn’t do a good job at tying into its predecessor in a way that allows audiences to recognize the references, foreshadowing or relation to it. The foreshadowing part is there, but it’s so poorly done that I feel even James Wan would be disappointed by it.

"Stare down, you and me."

To begin with, I really wished that this film had focused purely on the three siblings that encountered this doll (you know, the ones in the beginning of The Conjuring), rather than the married couple that had the doll before them. The sibling encounter story would have been something interesting to see on screen, but alas, we’re given this movie instead.

On the whole, Annabelle comes off as quite a disappointment for fans of The Conjuring, and fans of horror in general. With rarely any memorable scares, dull characters, and a lack of originality or genuine creepiness, Annabelle fails on almost all cylinders as a horror film. Annabelle’s ten-minute intro sequence in The Conjuring is without a doubt more fulfilling, terrifying and scare-worthy than this unfortunately dull horror affair.  

 

Master on the right, apprentice on the left.

Final Thoughts

Annabelle gets 5.5 out of 10 stars – Wan wouldn’t be proud.

'The Maze Runner' review

The Maze Runner review:

A-Mazing Race

BY IAN TAN

The Maze Runner is the first entry in the film series based off James Dashner’s best-selling book trilogy of the same name. At this point in time, a book series-turned-film is a sure-fire box-office cash grab for Hollywood. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll be getting a good page-to-screen adaptation. While some of these adaptations succeed at pleasing fans as well as general audiences alike (Harry Potter & The Hunger Games films), some are an insult to both factions of viewers (The Twilight Saga). Then there’s the “meh” camp of these movies (this year’s Divergent). With that being said, where does The Maze Runner fit within these categories?

Surprisingly, The Maze Runner manages to be a very well made first entry in a potentially successful film quadrilogy (sigh, gone are the golden Trilogy days), ala The Hunger Games. Sure, it lacks the star-power of The Hunger Games, but new faces, as long as they’re good looking and have good acting chops, are always welcome. Just look at how far Marvel got using that strategy. Who would Tom Hiddleston be if it weren’t for Loki, or Chris Hemsworth if it weren’t for Thor?

Here, several familiar faces, namely Will Poulter (Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader & We’re The Millers) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Game of Thrones & Phineas and Ferb) really make a name for themselves and seal themselves as memorable talents we’d like to see in future films. Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf) takes on the lead role in this film as a bewildered Thomas who is unexpectedly brought to The Glade, a field of grass surrounded by an elaborate maze of gargantuan proportions. The habitants of The Glade have been trapped for over 3 years, with ‘Runners’ taking charge every day to work out the intricacies of the Maze in hopes of finding an escape route.

As previously mentioned, the acting talent involved here is pretty good and are likely to be newfound fan-favourites. Dylan O’Brien has a commanding presence as Thomas, striking a fine balance between dead-set bravery and inquisitive curiosity. Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s Newt is likely to be audiences’ favourite supporting character of the bunch, while Will Poulter channels a more mature version of the bratty Eustace Scrubb from Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader as the arrogant Gally in this film. The one that will most probably leave a mark on most audiences however is Lee Ki Hong, of Wongfu Productions fame, who plays the experienced Runner, Minho. Although there isn’t all that much depth given to his character in the film, he makes the most out of his scenes and proves to be a firm and likable action star, which is quite the departure from his She Has a Boyfriend and This Is How We Never Met days. Good news, girl moviegoers, you have now found your next Taylor Lautner, and he’s not a bad actor ;)

           
            Oh, and Kaya Scodelario’s character Teresa is rather wasted here, and seems like just an excuse to have a female player in the battlefield. The Teresa character really has no purpose in the story, and whatever elements she brings to further the story could have easily been given to Thomas. Hopefully she’ll have more to do in the sequels.

Story-wise, this film does a good job at keeping audiences interested in the events that unfold, which is primarily due to the nicely done character development of the main players, which was something I wasn’t really expecting from this movie. I even found myself on the edge of my seat during certain intense action sequences, which is always a plus. Although several pivotal characters are given a good amount of dialogue and screen-time, many of the other members of the Glade seem to fade into the background and are given little for us to remember them by. But that’s all right, because we’d rather have a film with a good small number of main characters than one with a clutter of poorly developed, uninteresting ones.

In terms of production value, the titular Maze is quite impressive, but overall, the film does suffer slightly from the typical sub-par visual effects and set pieces most first entry films do (remember the awful fire effects and terrible shaky-cam in the first Hunger Games?). Although the action in The Maze Runner is thrilling for the most part, it does rely on quick-cut editing and some shaky-cam to hide some of the unpolished CGI, most apparent during several Griever attack scenes. But this is a minor nit-pick in what is an overall enjoyable, good time at the cinema.

To sum it up, The Maze Runner delivers an engaging first entry film in its series, with some compelling characters and memorable performances. And although the production design and other technical elements could have been improved, it is forgivable considering that this is the first in its series, and if it manages well with audiences and the box office, a bigger budget will likely be given to its sequel, which we all hope will be the next Catching Fire of book-to-movie sequels, because in my opinion, this film is already better than the first Hunger Games movie.

Final rating

The Maze Runner gets 7.9 out of 10 stars

– A great kick-starter to a potentially successful book-to-film series.

'The Hundred-Foot Journey' Review

The Hundred-Foot Journey Review:

Slightly Undercooked, But Tasty Nonetheless

BY IAN TAN

The Hundred-Foot Journey follows the Kadam family and their hopes to open an Indian restaurant in France, much to the disdain of Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren). Things start heating up when tastes of two cultures collide, and as Hassan starts to appreciate French cuisine and begins learning its craft.

There are a couple of good things you can find in The Hundred-Foot Journey, one of which is the acting. The Hundred-Foot Journey is filled with fine and dandy performances from its Indian, British and French cast. Helen Mirren is great presence as always, and does the film favors as Madame Mallory, even if she serves only as a supporting character. This is not an issue, as the two young leads, namely Manish Dayal as Hassan and Charlotte Le Bon as Marguerite, give likable performances and add charm to the script. Much of this charm is what may keep audiences interested in the proceedings and help us ignore some of the film’s flaws.

Besides the acting, the overall feel-good vibe the film has will likely leave you coming out of the theatre satisfied, but craving for more. The film has some nice-looking shots of French morning markets and streets, but there simply isn’t enough of France seen here to give it that extra dose of feel-good-movie escapism. In addition to that, the shots of food in this film rarely make your mouth water, which is a bit of a negative considering that this is a food-based film. The number of scenes featuring French and Indian food preparation here are surprisingly low, with some of the dishes served up not looking as scrumptious as you might expect. Other food-related films like Ratatouille or even the Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs movies left us with hunger cravings as we exited the theatre. The Hundred-Foot Journey however, does not.

Besides that, the film has some pacing issues, and may feel a wee bit draggy at times, with one too many scenes that seem to set up a conflict, but ending with a one-sentence catch phrase or comedic event to end it. That left me a little annoyed as I wish there was more dramatic weight to these scenes. I’m not saying I want Korean-drama level emotion, but some form of an issue that turned the tables would have probably made for a more engaging film and story. Okay, there is one event that tries to do that, but the film’s editing doesn’t allow audiences to fully sink their teeth into the gravity of it. Thankfully, as previously stated, the likable characters and performances allow audiences to overlook these issues and have a relaxing time at the movies.

As a whole, The Hundred-Foot Journey feels like a meal at a sub-standard fancy restaurant – having the ingredients that could make for a wholly satisfying experience (in this case, a good cast, a pretty country and two cuisines of food), but bogged down by the lack of a couple of spices that could have enhanced the overall flavor.  Now, where’s my Ratatouille DVD?

Final Verdict

The Hundred-Foot Journey receives 7 out of 10 Michelin Stars

- A nice treat for a lazy Saturday evening :)