REVIEW: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

If there's anything that can wake me up from my hiatus (even if it's only temporarily), it's this film. Because what kind of movie critic would miss the chance to review the return of the most iconic film series of all time?

I'm just gonna say this right here, right now: at it's core, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is basically a remix of A New Hope. In terms of characters, plot, it's quite obvious that SWTFA is an homage, a throwback to the nearly 40-year-old film, although with a little of its own slight changes. Some things don't change: the opening crawl is still there, still the same; wipe transition is still a thing; the soundtrack is still big and loud and grander than ever. Other things are different, but you can draw parallels between this film and the original Star Wars. Finn (John Boyega) is Luke Skywalker, the young hero with a heart that just wants to do the right thing; Rey (Daisy Ridley) is Leia, strong-willed, courageous and independent who needs no saving; and well Kylo Ren is so obviously a Darth Vader knockoff in a new mask and a cooler lightsaber.

(And when I say knockoff, I mean that in the fondest of ways)

Also, R2-D2 is now made of two spheres with a new coat of paint and renamed to BB-8. Easily one of the cutest things I've ever laid eyes on.

But I'm not saying that the similarities is a bad thing. I loved the fact that I could pick out element that came out of the original films, there were scenes that echoed some of the most memorable parts in the episodes IV, V and VI. It was nostalgic, perhaps even more so for those who have been fans of the series since the very beginning.

Hello, it's me.

I absolutely adore the writing in this film. Pacing is good, and there's hardly a dull moment in all two hours. The script is original, natural, and witty. Just like in the original films, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) basically gets all the best lines in the film, with Finn being a close contender. 

As the leads of the film, both Boyega and Ridley carried their roles incredibly well. Even Adam Driver who plays a character who's quite literally Darth Vader's successor was excellent in portraying a powerful antagonist, but is impulsive and unstable. Basically, Adam Driver is what Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker could have been, should have been. Partnered with veterans of the series such as Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, the acting and characterization are simply on point.

Kylo Ren's gonna give Darth Vader a run for his money.

Watching TFA while being shrouded in so much mystery was a great experience. To go into the movie almost blind, not knowing what was going to happen—not because I avoided any trailers and what-nots, but because there was little to nothing that I could find out about it before actually watching the film itself. This is when I got to experience what the audience might have felt when watching the original trilogy all those years ago, since every big twist in the original films were spoiled way before I even got around to watching them. But with TFA, I get it. I get how big deal it must have been back then, with revelations of Darth Vader's identity, and the true relationship between Luke and Leia. I never did get the full impact of those scenes. Until now, that is. And trust me on this, TFA has some pretty strong tricks and twists up its sleeves.

I know a lot of you might decide to go into TFA without watching the previous films, especially the original trilogy since it's old and the special effects are basically wonky and outdated by now, but I implore you to take some time and marathon them. TFA might be the first installment of a new trilogy with a largely different cast, but it is does take place decades after the incidents in Return of The Jedi, it is at its core a sequel to the original trilogy. It would be hard to understand the significance of some of the things and characters in TFA. For one, when Han and Chewie first appeared on the screen, it just felt so good and amazing seeing them back that it got such a loud reaction from the audience.

Am I being a little preachy? Maybe. But seriously, don't watch TFA without ever having watched the original films. A lot of fun gets lost when that happens.

Han: Chewie, we're home
Me: *sobs uncontrollably*

Feel free to ignore the prequels though. Trust me, at this point we really can forget that train wreck ever existed.

Me when I think about the prequel trilogy.

From the hands of director J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the comeback that fans of this series—new or old—truly deserves. All the hype that built up to this were not wasted, and it's very well worth the wait.

2017 cannot come soon enough.

Brb, gotta go hunt down BB-8 merch.

Other trivial musings : I'm terrible disappointed with Gwendoline Christie's Captain Phasma. I mean come on, you cast Brienne of Tarth and that's all there is to her role??? ಠ_ಠ


 TL;DR : Excellent revival of the series, solidifying its status as one of the greatest movie franchises of all time. Overall a great, fun ride to a galaxy far, far away.

I rate it : 8/10 stars

Should you watch it? YESSS but only if you watch the original trilogy before.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)

Genre : It's Star Wars. It's an entirely new category on its own.

Runtime : 135 mins

Director : J.J. Abrams

Cast : Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscaar Isaac, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher

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REVIEW : Transporter Refueled (2015)

On the left, Daario Naharis the First; on the right, Frank Martin Jr.

Guys, we've found Daario Naharis the First. Seems like he decided to take a bit of a career change along with a different name.

Then again, I guess it's kindda still the same job, just in a drastically different world.

It's 2010 in the French Riviera, and Frank Martin (Ed Skrein) gets hired as a getaway driver/muscle by a prostitute, Anna (Loan Chabanol), who is out to enact vengeance on her Russian pimp, Arkady Karasov (Radivoje Bukvić), along with three other girls who have suffered the same abuse and exploitation as her. Frank doesn't agree to it at first, since it wasn't exactly the deal he signed up for, but then the senior Frank Martin (Ray Stevenson) who's supposed to be a "sales representative" for "Evian water" (read between the lines here people), gets kidnapped, so Junior here is out to save the day. Rejoice.

It's a stupid plot, but it's your typical action-no-brainer-plot.

I actually really like the actions scenes in this movie, which is pretty rare for me these days unless you're Mad Max: Fury Road. They're well-paced and don't feel too drawn-out, and they're creative. You have Frank beating thugs in a narrow hallway with cabinet drawers, with a battleaxe, with his bare hands and the wheels of an unmanned car casually rolling behind him. Basically just very creative ways to kill people.

And then you planes, and yachts, and Frank riding a jet-ski in a suit before driving it onto land and hurling his body through the windows of an SUV. Good stuff I tell you.

See, what did I tell you. Same job, different universe

But the thing is, movies like this really demands that  you suspend what you know about the world, and all the logic and common sense that governs the world. Sure, when there's a bunch of people wanting to beat you up, they'll totally take turns. Sure, crash into a bunch of things and there won't even be a single scratch on your car. Sure, your bank absolutely knows in real-time when unauthorised transfers occur, and will even be able to pinpoint the exact location on your yacht where this is being carried out.

Suuuuuure, this is totally still 2010. /s

With all that said, so long as you know what you're in for, you probably won't end up hating this film.

#DealWithIt

 TL;DR : A convoluted Audi commercial in disguise.

I rate it : 4.5/10 stars

Should you watch it? Mmm, sure. Why not? Watch it, then proceed to forget all about it.

TRANSPORTER REFUELED (2015)

Genre : Action

Runtime : 96 mins

Director : Camille Delamarre

Cast : Ed Skrein, Ray Stevenson, Loan Chabanol

REVIEW : Ant-Man (2015)

When you really think about it, Ant Man's basically Iron Man without all the metal. I mean, both of them are superheros because of their suits. But then, Tony Stark is the famous genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist, while Scott Lang is the infamous skilled-poor-noble-criminal.

So perhaps Ant Man is the anti-Iron Man, I guess?

Paul Rudd joins Marvel's evergrowing team as their latest superhero offering, as Scott Lang, and as the titular Ant-Man. While he's determined to put his life of being a cat burglar behind him after being released from prison, it's easier said than done as employment is hard for someone with a criminal record to his name, and he's not allowed to visit his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson) before settling child support payments. It's not that he doesn't try, but life's not cutting him any slack.

Before becoming the Ant-Man, he was already the hero in his daughter's eyes. Brb, crying ugly tears

Thus. Scott resorts to the one thing he knows best: pulling off a big score once and for all. With the help of a few friends (Michael Peña, T.I, David Dastmalchian), he breaks into the house of Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), with some really mad skillz might I add, only to find not the riches he was expecting, but a strange red suit and helmet. He soon finds out that the suit is able to shrink him to the size of an ant, and also that him stealing the suit was all part of Dr Pym's plan for him to steal a similar suit from the hands of his now estranged protege, Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), with the help of his estranged-but-not-really daughter, Hope Pym (Evangeline Lilly). You know, save the world from chaos and all that shebang, the usual.

"This is not the score I was looking for."

It's a breeze to sit through Ant-Man, considering the fact that it doesn't even break the two-hour mark. It's nice how they decide against dragging Scott's transformation into becoming the real Ant-Man, and instead just take us through with training montages of him throwing punches and talking to ants.

The writing isn't great, that I won't deny. It's formulaic and thus predictable, the deus ex machina trope is thrown into the film every chance it is needed; it's everything you've seen, and nothing new is brought to the table. But if there's one thing that sets it apart from films the likes of The Avengers, Iron Man, Ant-Man is actually pretty funny. I mean, Marvel films are pretty lighthearted generally speaking, but think giant Thomas the Train crashing out of windows, and Rottweiler-sized ants skittering down the street.

Now that I think about it, it's more creepy than funny, isn't it? But with context, it's quite hilarious. 

Squad goals, but with all else considering, not really. 

Sometimes the movie plays out like a self-aware parody of the genre it belongs to, doing things and saying stuff as if they're trying to tell the audience "Yeah I'm aware how silly all these 'high-stakes' seem, but bear with me". Pretty sure Paul Rudd has a line in the film that is somewhat to that effect. Maybe the comedy's expected considering director Peyton Reed is more commonly associated with films like Bring It On, The Break-Up, and Yes Man. 

(Then again, with a superhero named Ant-Man, I don't think they could have pulled it off if they wanted to walk down a more serious road with the movie.)

I mean, Ant-Man, really? Ant-Man???

Acting is very much meh in Ant-Man with every character  but I guess the actors did the best they could with the script they were handed with. Everyone from Scott to Hope to her dad Pym Senior are typical figures that are just vessels to move the plot along. Not even Rudd's charisma translates here as he just comes off as bland. Poor Michael Peña's basically playing your good ol' stereotypical Latino gangsta. 

Let me tell you who really stole my heart though: Cassie and Luis. The moment either of them first came onto the screen—especially Cassie—right off the bat I knew I love them already. Cassie, because no one can resist those puppy eyes; Luis because he's that funny, comic-relief of a sidekick that every superhero needs, even if he's a gross stereotype.

Cassie/Abby Appreciation #1

But hey, mediocre writing and even more mediocre acting aside, Ant-Man is entertaining and fun, and that's pretty much all superhero blockbusters really need to be. 

Other trivial musings:  

• That one comment about the Avengers being too busy dropping cities out of skies had me in stitches. 
• What's up with blockbuster female leads and The Lob (See: Bryce Dallas Howard in Jurassic World)
• Why can't these movies learn from the likes of Mad Max or Pacific Rim on how a film is perfectly fine even if you don't force a romantic relationship into it???
• That's it, Abby Ryder Fortson wins the "Cutest Kid on Screen Award". Hands down.

Cassie/Abby Appreciation #2

TL;DR : A fun but typical superhero flick  that's refreshingly small when compared with all the other behemoths of MCU. 

I rate it : 7/10 stars

Should you watch it? Yes. Even if you're a little sick and tired of all these superhero films, give Ant-Man a try. For one thing, it's different, and the fact that it's hilarious doesn't hurt.

ANT-MAN (2015)

Genre : Action Comedy Superhero

Runtime : 117 mins

Director : Peyton Reed

Cast : Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll

REVIEW : Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Warning 1: This post contains a lot of GIFs.
Warning 2: I might have sunk into just an abyss of fangirlism. So proceed with caution.

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If you've watched the trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road, you're probably very weirded out by now. And yes, this film is so weird. And it's absolutely bonkers. What you see from the trailer is practically in the first 30 minutes of the actual movie itself. Think the trailer is crazy?

Trust me, it only get crazier from there.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world in the future, civilization has pretty much crumbled. One cult of remaining humans that still roam the earth are ruled by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Bryne), a despot who controls the people as he controls the water supply, and he has an army of bald, pale-white War Boys at his disposal. It's the War Boys that capture Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), and it's a War Boy named Nux (Nichoals Hoult) that Max has to serve as a blood bag to. At one point, Max is even chained to the hood of Nux's car to continue feeding him his blood.

But while Max is the titular hero, it's Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa that carries the weight of the film on her shoulders. She's Immortan's best fighter, revered by all. But when he sets her out to scavenge for more resources, in reality, it's a guise for her to smuggle Immortan's Five Wives out from the citadel, as they are treated as breeding livestock that will carry his heirs. It is on the battlefield where all our main characters come together.

Max Bane? Bane Max?

The setting of Fury Road is undeniably bleak and desolate, a wasteland that's essentially a demolition derby. The land has turned sour, and little to no vegetation are allowed to grow. I went into the cinema with a slight hesitation, as I feared that the imagery of the film would be off-putting, despite the critical acclaim and 98% standing on Rotten Tomatoes. But in the hands of director George Miller, it transforms into something that's nothing but beautiful.

I don't know where to start singing praises for Mad Max: Fury Road because this is perhaps the most perfect movie I've watched so far in 2015 (then again, there isn't much competition up until now; and I'm most likely exaggerating my socks off). There are elements in this movie that I would worship but I wouldn't know where to begin. But I'll try, and I'll probably fangirl to the brink of no return.

Ready? Okay, good, Let's go.

I haven't watched the previous Mad Max movies because to be completely honest, I've never even heard about them before Fury Road, and the only George Miller film I've watched was Happy Feet back when it came out. I remember it was good, it was cute because penguins!, and I was still a kid, But in terms of serious work, no, so I didn't know what his films are like.

It's easy to focus on all the louder things in Fury Road: the car chases, the fighting, plenty of things that go boom. But to me what stood out was the ones that were much more silent. Miller could probably teach Christopher Nolan a few tips and tricks on how to be subtle, and how to make the audience be in the loop of things without spoon-feeding them with information. No one really explains how things in this grim post-apocalyptic future work, but the audience still figures them out through the bits and pieces littered all around.

There is beauty in Fury Road's brutality.

Characterisation is especially solid in Fury Road; no one in this film (except maybe Immortan Joe) feels trope-y. Be it Max, Furiosa, Nux, or even the supermodel wives, it's easy to love them because of how real they are. It's Max's offhanded comments about War Boys stealing his car and the grumblings under his breath that made Max likable, despite the lack of actual dialogue he has. Or maybe that's just Tom Hardy being Tom Hardy. (I may or may not be bias) You feel for Nux, and in extension, all the other War Boys when you realise that they're just delusional, deceived into thinking that a grand afterlife awaits them when they sacrifice themselves for a cruel tyrant. But be warned: on more than one occasion, George Miller is like George R.R. Martin, just when you think you're starting to love one character, Miller kills it off in an unflinching fashion.

One does not praise Fury Road without touching on the subject of the stunts and cinematography. Did you know that most of the action in Fury Road are practical effects as in real stunts and there's mnimal CGI? #nowyouknow It's amazing how at it's peak where things are the most chaotic, even when it's all explosions and fires and people launching themselves into midair while clutching onto a pole, it's still easy to make out what's happening. There's never a sense of things being too cluttered in Fury Road, nothing gets muddled together despite how insane things will get.

Composed by Junkie XL, Fury Road's score is of epic proportions. It's loud, and raw, and so exhilarating to listen to, even on its own. But the most important thing is how fitting the entire score is in the background of the film, making the film so much more immersive. I'm usually acutely aware of a film's score for two reasons: it's either absolutely awful, or mind-blowingly good. In Fury Road's case, it's simply mind-blowingly epic. Part of me just couldn't stop thinking: Holy balls, the score is love; the score is life.

It's a rock concert e'rybody

But the icing on the cake for Fury Road has got to be the female characters in this film. Sure you have your guys in Max, in Immortan Joe, his sons and those who fight alongside him in the battle to reclaim his wives, in Nux and the War Boys. But except for a few, they all blend together at some point in the movie. (Like I said, Immortan Joe and co. are quite trope-y and cliched) But the women: the wives, Furiosa, and the Vuvalini women they meet in the latter half of the movie, stand out as individual characters. Women in Fury Road are powerful, they make the movie. Not to mention all of them are just badass af. It's not something you find that often in action blockbusters like this.

I could go on, but I believe this article sums up my view on Fury Road's feminist sentiments quite nicely.

WE ARE NOT THINGS.

To some, Mad Max: Fury Road is one messy affair of monster car chases in an ugly and barren land; to me and many others, it cannot be more perfect. It may be an action-packed summer blockbuster–albeit an unconventional one–but I'll be damned if it doesn't deserve an Oscar nomination for its ingenuity, if not the actual award itself.

Mad Max: Fury Road - Like Fast and Fruious that's very much high.

I rate it : 10/10 stars

THE GOOD : Everything

THE BAD : Nothing

WATCH IT IF YOU...

• Don't watch it if you're not a fan of just generally very loud actions, but if you don't mind them, THEN THERE IS NO REASON FOR YOU TO NOT WATCH THIS FILM

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015)

Genre : Action Adventure

Runtime : 120 mins

Director : George Miller

Cast : Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz

REVIEW : Helios - 赤道 (2015)

The one thing that sets Helios apart from other Hong Kong action movies is how big it is. Spanning half of northeast Asia and boasting an impressive multinational cast, director duo Longman Leung and Sunny Luk return from their 2012 film Cold War with something extremely big and incredibly loud. Helios is nothing if not ambitious; some might even argue it’s overambitious.

The Koreans have built he world’s smallest nuclear weapon in the form of DC8 but all hell breaks loose when it is stolen be the infamous criminal, Helios (Chang Chen 张震) and his sidekick/assistant who is never given a name (Janice Man 文咏珊). Ji Jin-hee and Choi Si-won enters the game as two agents from South Korea tasked to retrieve the WMD that has been brought to Hong Kong. The two are joined by Counter Terrorism Response Unit inspectors Lee Yin-ming (Nick Cheung 张家辉) and Fan Ka-ming (Shawn Yue 余文乐) to track down and recover what was stolen. Physics professor Siu Chi-yan (Jacky Cheung 张学友) joins the ever growing team as a consultant.

And then there are also Chinese official Song An (Wang Xueqi 王学圻) and his assistant Yuan Xiaowen (Feng Wenjuan 冯文娟) who play the part of Great China, the wise big brother that swoops in and cleans the mess up, all with the greater good in their thoughts, even if their methods might not be everyone's favourite.

I hope I haven't lost you so far.

Eye-candies from Korea cast for very obvious reasons.

It’s hard to say who the main focus in this movie is since there are so many characters to juggle in the span of around two hours; it’s easy to say that the producers of this film have obviously bitten off much more than they could chew. The cast is huge with each name carrying a heavy bit of weight, filming locations are spread out in numerous countries, more twists and turns and plot points were added as the story progressed. The plot gets tangled up and it becomes convoluted very fast, and it doesn't help that there is almost zero character development since everyone's fighting for screen time. The big names are useless here as everyone plays stock characters with stock personalities that are as two-dimensional as characters get. You can easily replace the two Cheungs with someone of lighter credentials and it probably wouldn't change much.

Except losing the fame and attraction that comes with the big names.

Highly replaceable in terms of acting; not so much in terms of fame and popularity.

I’m not going to lie: I personally enjoyed Helios, even if it is loud and flashy. I think this is largely due to the well-choreographed fight scenes by Chin Ka-lok, especially the one between Nick Cheung and Janice Man. Girl can seriously kick some ass while Cheung fights back with the skills learned from his 2013 MMA film Unbeatable. The action sequences in the second half of the film is riveting once you learn to ignore and forgive the incredulity of everything—such as robbing a nuclear plant and smuggling the weapon into Hong Kong by commercial flight. Fighting in Helios, whether it be with fists or with guns, is rapid, it's brutal, and it can get very gory for a Hong Kong action movie.

For someone with no name and little to no dialogue, Janice Man(Left) is the perfect kick-ass sexy-hot babe who is not to be trifled with.

There's a little bit of everything in this movie: robbery, nuclear warfare, epic gunfights, political bickering, and the likes. Of course, no Hong Kong crime action film will be complete without some treachery, But I won't spoil that bit for you.

Helios probably won't win any points in the writing department, but it is highly entertaining. I will probably be anticipating the sequel promised by how the ending is set-up . As said in the epilogue, Helios is only the beginning.

As they say in Chinese: better to offend a villain than a woman. Things get even worse when that person is both.

I rate it : 8/10 stars

THE GOOD : It's pretty high on the entertainment factor; fight scenes are sleek and well-choreographed

THE BAD : Zero character development; things get real complicated real quick, quite unnecessarily might I add.

WATCH IT IF YOU...

• ...fancy a good, new Hong Kong film of the genre.
• ...want to watch Nick Cheung gets his ass kicked by a very pretty (read:hot) girl.
• ...are not going into JUST for the Korean actors -coughSiwoncough- Things will not end well for you emotionally. 

HELIOS - 赤道  (2015)

Genre : Action Crime

Runtime : 118 mins

Director : Longman Leung, Sunny Luk

Cast : Jacky Cheung, Nick Cheung, Choi Si-won, Ji Jin-hee et al.

REVIEW : Furious 7 (2015)

Cars don't fly, mate. But in the magical universe in which the Fast & Furious franchise is set in, they sure do. All. The damn. Time.

Former Black Ops agent Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) is out for blood, namely the blood of those who put his baby brother into a coma in Fast 6. Starting with Han (Sung Kang) who's death we've already witness in Tokyo Drift, post-credits scene in the last movie, and once more in this, he's ready to crush the rest of the team one by one. So what do you do when a highly trained ex-military psychopath is hot on your heels? Put the wife and kids somewhere safe, then take matters into your own hands of course. But things are not that bad since their goals align with the government's, they have help in the form of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). I mean, Dom (Vin Diesel) and Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) may be indestructible, but they still need unimportant military personnel to act as cannon fodder. 

So off they go, Dom, Brian (Paul Walker), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), driving cars out of planes, driving cars out of skyscrapers before crashing into another skyscraper in Abu Dhabi, miraculously without anyone in the crew dying. You know, business as usual. 

Furious 7: Making more miracles than Jesus ever did.

I could spend a lot of time and a lot of words picking apart the logic that holds this movie together; things that don't make sense, or cases where common sense is apparently not that common. In the ultimate showdown, the crew is hunted by Mose Jakande (Djimon Hounsou) in a military-grade chopper on the streets of Los Angeles. Here's the thing: no government would have allowed an unauthorised military chopper roam any city at street-level, not to mention that we are talking about 'Murica over here. You and I both know that it would have been shot out of the skies before it could even reach the borders of the country.

And lets talk about Dom. Here's a tip: when you have a very obvious advantage over your mortal enemy, chucking it out of the window for the sake of your bravado is not the way to go. At the final face-off, Dom had a loaded shotgun pointed at Shaw's head. He could have fired it and be done with that pain in his side for once and for all. But what does he do instead? Empty his gun to the skies and challenge Shaw to a brawl, mano a mano.

Could have been avoided if Dom had just fired his gun at the target. Then again. where's the fun in that?

But nope, not going to pick it to shreds. Nope. Absolutely not. You do not go into a Fast & Furious movie expecting realism. In fact, action movies like these are the last place you should bring your thinking caps to, lest you end up with a piercing headache.

Before that, can we just talk about Letty getting her memories back just by having a car crash through the roof? I don't think that's how amnesia works.

Okay. Sorry. I'll shut up now.

Tej Parker and Roman Pearce, arguably the best thing in the entire movie.

All that aside, Furious 7 might not adhere much to the rules of logic, overall it is still an entertaining ride, even if it's a little long with over-the-top and drawn-out action sequences. If that's your thing, by all means, go for it and you probably won't be disappointed.

The people behind the franchise could be bashed for a lot of things, but if there's one thing they deserve a standing ovation for, it is how they decided to handle Paul Walker's character after his death back in 2013. If you don't already know, the cast was only halfway done with filming when Walker died in a tragic car crash. They could have killed Brian O'Conner as well, in fact in Furious 7, you would have held your breath more than once, thinking to yourself, "Is this it? Is this the end for O'Conner?" But no, just like Dominic and Hobbs, O'Conner proves to be indestructible. Instead, they opt to have Paul Walker's brothers stand-in for the unfinished scenes and with the magical fairy dust that is CGI, it felt like Paul was always still there.

As Brian drives off onto another path, an epilogue with montages from previous movies of him is played as a tribute to the late actor. For Paul, indeed. He may not walk among us anymore, but at least in the world of Fast & Furious, Paul Walker is alive and well. In Brian O'Connor, he is immortal.

See you again, Paul.

I rate it : 6/10 stars

THE GOOD : That last scene tho

THE BAD : Pretty much any trope in any action movie you've ever seen is in this movie. All of them.

WATCH IT IF YOU...

• ...would like to watch The Rock vs The Transporter.
• ...would like to watch Vin Diesel vs The Transporter.

• ...just want to bid a last farewell to Paul Walker/Brian O'Conner.

FURIOUS 7 (2015)

Genre : Action

Runtime : 137 mins

Director : James Wan

Cast : Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Jason Statham

REVIEW : Insurgent (2015)

And the Divergent series is back, this time with a longer and clunkier official title of The Divergent Series: Insurgent. But if I'm being completely honest, it came back with less bang than the first movie did.

Insurgent picks up from where the previous film left off: the main character Tris (Shailene Woodley), her very hunky boyfriend Four (Theo James), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) who runs funny, and the very annoying git that is Peter (Miles Teller), have escaped with their lives and are seeking refuge in Amity camps. On the other side of town, the bad guys that are led by Erudite leader Jeanine (Kate Winslet) have found themselves a box that was guarded by Tris and Caleb's now-dead parents, a box that is rumoured to hold an important message from the Founders on what to do in case of a crisis. And there is no other way to open it than by using a Divergent. (It is only after watching the movie and refreshing my memory by reading the book's summary did I realise that this box and the tests needed to crack it open do not exist in bookverse. Apparently, it's not the only big difference there is.)

This whole thing? Doesn't happen in the book.

Be warned though : Insurgent is not a movie you can go into without watching Divergent first. The closest you have for a summary is Jeanine on monitors on the side of police trucks, explaining how every last Divergents—those who fit into too many boxes in their Faction society—must be hunted down because "they are a threat to the fabric of the Faction society.

I loved Divergent. I've never read the book, never planned on watching it in the first place since one can only take so much YA dystopian fiction before feeling completely nauseous. And maybe it's because of that, maybe it's because I never had much of an expectation in the first place, I was blown away by Divergent. Perhaps that's the beef I have with Insurgent; I was so blown away by Divergent that a certain level of expectation has been fixed, I needed something more, something better from Insurgent in order to be impressed. I thought Divergent was amazing simply because I had no expectations going in and it was easy to impress me. Insurgent had to try harder this time and it's sad to say that it didn't.

Naomi Watts plays Four's mother; it's just disconcerting that she looks like she's the same age as him.

It's not to say that Insurgent is bad; as someone who watched it because she loved the first movie, it was decent at best. Everything was just all right. The writing is just all right; the world that the series is set in seems to be a little less all right than in Divergent for some reason. If there's something in this movie that is better than all right, it would be Shailene Woodley's acting, and the special effects in Tris's dreams and the countless simulations she's thrown into. 

If there's one thing that fundamentally wrong with Insurgent when you compare it with Divergent is the soundtrack, or the lack of it to be more precise. I won't deny the possibility that the reason I love Divergent as much as I do was partly because of its killer soundtrack, scenes with Ellie Goulding crooning in the background or M83's ballad sending shivers down my spine, nothing of that sort exists in Insurgent. Who knows, maybe they spent most of the budget on special effects and allocated little to none for the music department.

In short, Insurgent is a much poorer sequel to Divergent on many fronts. Maybe they're trying to emulate the book series since each book becomes progressively worse in terms of quality and plot. But hey, that's a story for another day.

Raise your hand if you have ever been kissed by Shailene Woodley.

I rate it : 6/10 stars

THE GOOD : Shailene Woodley's acting and the special effects, that's pretty much it.

THE BAD : So much wasted talent in one movie (Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, even Maggie Q who returns from the first but has an appallingly short time onscreen in this installment); almost everyone seems to be an asshole in this movie

WATCH IT IF YOU...

• ...are a fan of the first movie. (Just don't get your hopes too high up)

• ...are a fan of the book series (Obviously)

• ...would like a reunion of Shailene Woodley's famous onscreen boyfriends.

INSURGENT (2015)

Genre : Sci-Fi Adventure

Runtime : 119 minutes

Director : Robert Schwentke

Cast : Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort