Movie review for ‘Army of the Dead’ and drama review for ‘Shadow of Justice’.

Not long after Zack Snyder’s Justice League version is released, another one of his works is out to the public this year too. It is ‘Army of the Dead’, a zombie heist film that follows a group of soldiers who plan a Las Vegas casino heist amid a zombie apocalypse. The film starred Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Theo Rossi, etc.

It is a fairly entertaining and enjoyable zombie movie to watch especially on a comfortable Saturday’s night at home. We have got to spend most of our time now at home again due to the current ‘heightened alert’ of Phase 2 reopening in Singapore which saw increased number of daily Covid-19 cases in the community and more restrictions kicking in including ban on dining-in.

Let’s get back to the movie. The gore is there, the visuals are great and the actions are cool. However, the movie is lacking emotional punch extensively; I couldn’t feel the characters including the story arc between the main lead, Ward with his estranged daughter. The runtime of the movie is also extremely long (it’s nearly 2 hour and 30 minutes long, untypical for a zombie movie). I have to skip some of the unnecessary scenes.

Out of 10 points, I would rate ‘Army of the Dead’ a total of 7.1. It’s stylish and quite entertaining but even with a ‘zombie tiger’ in it, it still hasn’t manage to cross the line yet.

Recently, I have been watching three TVB series concurrently; ‘Shadow of Justice’, ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’. As mentioned earlier, more time at home means more time for movies and TV series. The first of out of the three to end is ‘Shadow of Justice’ (伙記辦大事), a 32-episode crime drama starring two TV kings, Bobby Au and Joe Ma. The drama also starred Joey Meng, Jeanie Chan, Mat Yeung, Pierre Ngo, Winki Lai, Timothy Cheng, etc.

I am purely disappointed with this drama. I am expecting to see more screen time of Bobby showing his intelligence in solving difficult cases and his chemistry with Joey. However, the drama is overly filled with Jeanie Chan’s love relationship with Joe Ma and Mat Yeung. It looks like as though Bobby is just playing a supporting role here. Jeanie is more suited for supporting role and she isn’t ready for leading role yet. Instead, she was given the most amount of presence here in this drama and it mostly revolves on her absolutely boring love storyline with Joe and Mat (also not to mention the huge age gap between Joe Ma and her which made the whole thing awkward too).

Both Joe Ma and Joey Meng delivered nothing to the show, thanks to their very stiff expression and poor acting. I still can’t get over how Joe Ma can win best actor few years ago over Dicky Cheung in that year. The one who shines in this series is not any of the main actors but a veteran actor who played an antagonist role here as a pervert rich businessman. He is Timothy Cheng, and he nailed the role.

The story development of the drama is also a mess. Bobby get to have his own story arc, Joe Ma has its own part too and it is up until 20 episodes only then they start to bump into each other. It is way too slow. People are expecting to see the dramatic clash between the two and it only started after two third of the whole series. That’s lame.

Out of 10 points, I can only rate ‘Shadow of Justice’ a total of 5.0. The lowest rated drama of the year so far (also among the lowest in recent years). It is bad…near to being awful. The drama should be called ‘Shadow of Love’ rather than ‘Shadow of Justice’. Jeanie Chan’s super frustrating, awkward and boring love storyline occupied 80% of the whole series. The clash between Bobby and Joe came in too late. Poor use of Bobby Au’s talent. What a waste. I’m glad this series is finally over. ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’ are way better.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

TVB drama review: Dead Wrong (2016)

‘Dead Wrong’ (致命復活) is a Hong Kong television drama by TVB that revolves around Vincent, a man who was abducted and imprisoned on a deserted island in Vietnam for ten years. After being rescued, he struggled to adjust to his new life, but soon learns that there was more to his abduction than it meets the eye. It is the last of the three anniversary dramas this year to celebrate TVB’s 49th anniversary. It is also the last drama this year in contention for the TVB Anniversary Awards to be held tomorrow.

Before the series started, I look forward to watch it because I read a number of news about it, highlighting that Roger Kwok (portraying as the main lead, Vincent) has filmed several challenging scenes particularly on his abduction and has also purposely lose down weight for this role. There was hype even before this drama’s release and everyone is anticipating for Roger Kwok’s performance in this one.

Yes, Roger did well in this drama. His acting experience and determination to get into the character enabled him to shine again. However, I have to say that this is not a breakthrough role for him as he is already professional enough and has set a bar that is almost impossible for him to achieve further. He nailed the abduction scenes, he nailed the skinny look, he nailed the crying times, and he also nailed the scenes when he has to carry out his revenge. However, there are times when I find that he overacted slightly and that some of his expressions are a bit forced and exaggerated. Just a bit. But that’s the bit that pull him down in best actor race tomorrow. Well, that is just my opinion. He still stand a strong chance as a dark horse contender for the best actor race tomorrow in the TVB Anniversary Awards while Ruco Chan is the current frontrunner. He has won the prize three times in the past, and so I think it is better to award best actor to Ruco this year for his equally well-received performance in ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’.

Joey Meng also did very well in ‘Dead Wrong’. I don’t really like her in her past TVB dramas but this one changed my mind. She is also a great actress and she still looks young despite her current age. Vincent Wong also did incredibly well as the supporting character who helped Vincent (Roger) a lot in this storyline. He is one young talented actor that I think TVB can give more opportunities to him than many other ‘younger-generation’ artists who are not up to the standard yet. Kenny Wong, taking on the villain’s role in the story, is as expected, unlikable. I don’t enjoy seeing him in any dramas as I always find his acting to be slightly wooden. I would prefer other actor to replace him for this role.

As for the storyline, the first few episodes look quite intense. However, the plot goes slow and draggy after that unfortunately. This series tried too hard to extend the whole story into a 28-episodes drama. It would be better if they shorten it to 20 or 25 episodes so that there would be something intense or exciting for audiences to catch on in every episodes. Hence, it started to feel a bit boring in the middle. The final 2 episodes aired just now was good and saved the day. It was a good ending and the plot twist at the end there is quite shocking yet predictable too.

Overall, this drama still has chance for best actor award (Roger Kwok), and Vincent Wong is snubbed for a nomination in best supporting actor race from his role here, and in the end not the quality yet for best drama honour. I also find it annoying to keep seeing flashback scenes repeating over and over again. Those were too much. I think I saw flashback of the abduction scenes for more than twenty times throughout the whole series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Dead Wrong’ a total of 7.6.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013)

Just few days after receiving news of the death of Paul Walker, one of the main actors in the highly popular Fast and Furious film franchise, today we woke up to another tragic news. Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, died on 5th December at his Johannesburg home after a prolonged lung infection. He was 95. He was one of the most influential political figures in our generation and his contribution to democracy and social freedom stretched beyond possibilities. 

 

(Image source: http://www.blackouthiphop.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1459661_10152069427379841_746948027_n-540×317.jpg)

He was that famous not only just because he was the former president of South Africa, but also for being the pivotal figure on bringing justice, hope and reconciliation to his country. The anti-apartheid icon had since became an inspiration to the worldwide. Let us look back to a little of his background that made him a respectable global icon. Mandela, the country’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon, emerged from 27 years in apartheid prisons to help guide South Africa through bloodshed and turmoil to democracy. 

Mandela rose from rural obscurity to challenge the might of white minority apartheid government – a struggle that gave the 20th century one of its most loved figures. He was among the first to advocate armed resistance to apartheid in 1960, but was quick to preach reconciliation and forgiveness when the country’s white minority began easing its grip on power 30 years later. He was then elected president in landmark all-race elections in 1994 and retired in 1999. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, an honour he shared with F.W. de Klerk, the white Afrikaner leader who released from jail arguably the world’s most famous political prisoner. As president, Mandela faced the monumental task of forging a new nation from the deep racial injustices left over from the apartheid era, making reconciliation the theme of his time in office.

 

(Image source: http://www.leparisien.fr/images/2013/12/05/3380569_c4382497ccdb7f99ce80a4c78fe9cc2008ab756a_545x341.jpg)

In 1999, Mandela handed over power to younger leaders better equipped to manage a modern economy – a rare voluntary departure from power cited as an example to African leaders. In retirement, he shifted his energies to battling South Africa’s AIDS crisis and the struggle became personal when he lost his only surviving son to the disease in 2005. Mandela’s last major appearance on the global stage came in 2010 when he attended the championship match of the soccer World Cup, where he received a thunderous ovation from the 90,000 at the stadium in Soweto, the neighbourhood in which he cut his teeth as a resistance leader.

Upon hearing news of his death, many of worldwide political leaders expressed their grief and condolences for the loss of an honourable man. Out of various notable quotes from Nelson Mandela, I find this to be the most touching; 

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – from his 1994 autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom”

Earlier, I didn’t know much about him, but I do know a little of how great this man had work for his country and inspire others. And when I researched more about him today, I truly admired him for his strong values in passion, humility, humanity, and his tireless struggle to freedom. He was a legend and needs no further explanation. I had even took a photograph with him (I mean his wax figure in Madame Tussauds Wax Museum) early this year. 

Rest in peace, Nelson Mandela (1918 – 2013)

(Information sources: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/12/06/Nelson-Mandela-Dead.aspx, http://www.thestar.com.my/News/World/2013/12/06/Factbox–Nelson-Mandela-in-his-own-words.aspx)

Breaking news of the day: Obama announced that Osama is dead

This morning, I am a bit frightened by the breaking news of the day as I would check on online news from The Star Online daily. The title of the breaking news is simple yet it gives shock not only to me but to everyone else as well. ‘Osama is dead’. Yes…the leader behind the terrorist attack on 11th September 2001 was killed recently by US army.

There is few months left before the 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in history that killed almost 3000 people and brought down the twin towers of World Trade Center. Finally, it’s a sign of joy and relief for the people of United States as the people behind all these sinful deeds is finally punished and killed in 1st May 2011. It’s been 10 years already, but people would still be sadden by the tragic events in 911. But for now, people of US especially at New York erupted to joy and happiness.

Current President of United States, Barack Obama announced not long ago to the worldwide media that Osama bin Laden is dead. It doesn’t seems to me as a successful revenge; it appears more to be like a sinful people stopped from doing bad things again that would harm the people and the world. Anyway, justice is still done! Even the whole Al-Qaeda movement should be vanished to prevent trouble from happening again. I think by now US should withdraw its troops there to stop their intention of evoking wars. World peace comes first.

One is the current leader of United States and one is the leader of terrorist attack to United States, both people from totally different background, and yet they share very similar name (Obama and Osama)….Osama’s death is definitely the breaking news of the day which is still a holiday to all of us, as a replacement of Labour Day yesterday that falls on Sunday.