Uperman lives!
enchanting new neighbour Zara (Cristina Suzanne Stockstill) comes into his life.
For the good people at LAB, however, there’s no turning back on the deal…. Will Akil come out in one piece at the end of it all? What deep secret is Zara keeping from Akil? And just where does maverick mulleted film director Johan Iskandar – the man behind such flops as Dunia Tanpa Esok – fit into all this?
The answers are duly revealed in KIL’s understated, but never less-than-engaging manner. The slow-burning romance between Akil and Zara develops very much along these lines too, with the two leads sharing an easy chemistry that is helped along by Stockstill’s channelling of her inner Zooey Deschanel, soulful eyes, whimsical ways and all.
To be sure, not everything about KIL works – a couple of plot turns seem too conveniently contrived – but all is forgiven because the whole flick is just so thoroughly likeable. This is the type of film, however, that can all too easily slip under the moviegoer’s radar, which would be a shame. KIL is a world removed from the big brash Hollywood blockbuster but that’s no bad thing, not when what it has to offer is a generous helping of unassuming, endearing, charm.
LeanKa-Min
After Earth
Watching this movie makes abundantly clear the gulf in acting skill that lies between Will Smith and his son Jaden.
Jaden, who plays lead character Ranger cadet Kitai Raige, bears the responsibility of carrying this movie, but unfortunately, he’s not quite up to the task.
This is partly because Kitai is a teenager at the height of his annoying, angsty, unlikeable phase, and partly because Jaden is so bland onscreen.
In contrast, Will, who plays Kitai’s father, the legendary General Cypher Raige, is able to lace his performance with nuances that still make his extremely stoic and emotionally distant character relatable.
The Raiges are the only survivors of a spaceship crash on Earth – a planet long abandoned by humanity after their activity caused its ecosystem to go haywire.
With Cypher’s legs both broken, Kitai must travel 100km across hostile terrain to the other section of the broken ship to retrieve the distress beacon.
In addition, the spaceship was transporting a genetically-engineered alien killer that detects humans through their fear pheromones.
These aliens were responsible for the death of Kitai’s sister Senshi (Zoë Isabella Kravitz), which he witnessed helplessly as a young boy.
Despite the premise, the movie is fairly slow-moving with periodic bursts of action. The visual aspects are done very well, especially in the creation of humankind’s new home, Nova Prime.
However, some aspects of the story are either unexplained, or don’t make sense; like, why would everything on Earth evolve to kill humans when there are none left on the planet?
Basically, this movie will take some patience to sit through, and with so many highly-anticipated movies opening every week, view-
This may seem like a movie with an ensemble cast, but really, the focus is on two characters: Morgan Freeman’s Thaddeus Bradley and Mark Ruffalo’s Dylan Rhodes.
You might think that The Four Horsemen, consisting of magicians Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), who commit seemingly impossible robberies during their show, are the main characters of the movie, but after their initial introductory scenes, their development just kind of loses steam.
After the first magic show-cumbank robbery, the movie quickly becomes all about FBI agent Rhodes trying to figure out how they did it, with the help of French Interpol agent Alma Vargas (Mélanie Laurent).
Along the way, he tries to tap into Bradley’s expertise as a former magician who now specialises in exposing other magicians’ tricks.
Thankfully, Freeman and Ruffalo do a good job of drawing the audience in, even though Ruffalo does seem to be channelling a bit of the Hulk with his constantly pissed-off Rhodes.
With magic shows being all about showmanship, viewers can definitely expect entertaining sequences, especially from McKinney’s mentalist tricks.
The plot itself is certainly intriguing enough, with enough little twists and reveals, as well as one major twist that I, at least, didn’t see coming, to keep viewers engaged.
It also reminded me a little of The Prestige (2006) in terms of how some of the more mystifying illusions were revealed to be performed.
However, it also had a totally irrelevant romance, an ending that leaves the audience hanging, and never explains why The Four Horsemen do what they do (it may seem obvious, but I think it needed a stronger premise).
Overall, an entertaining watch that is a little let down by certain minor, but important details. TSC