Wednesday, June 19, 2013

World War Z | Movie review

LABEL(S):

World War Z large movie poster keyart
Release date in Malaysia: 20 June 2013
Rated: P13
Genre: Horror, action
Running Time: 113 minutes
Director: Marc Forster
Writers: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof
Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, and Matthew Fox

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Max Brooks, the story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt), who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatening to decimate humanity itself.


Verdict: An enjoyable and considerably fresh apocalyptic zombie film. World War Z may be completely unfaithful to the original novel (which totally defeats the purpose of its epic title), it may have average to bad acting (which leads to poor emotional engagement), a predictable ending and (definitely) overused Muse's "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" track, but the film does deliver the most important thing for a zombie movie - thrilling fun. The zombies here are all quicker, agile, more aggressive and their numbers are more than any other previous zombie films. And in every scene with undeads, it has a different challenge for the protagonist to overcome, very much like a video game.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

UFC 161: Evans defeats Henderson, Roy Nelson beaten | Results & recap

LABEL(S):

Dan Henderson punching Rashad Evans at UFC 161

Just a quick recap 'cause there isn't much I feel like talking about. It was one of the less exciting UFC cards. Interim Bantamweight Championship main event was removed from the card, leaving the night without any title or a 5-round bout. Even the intended co-main event was pulled out. Good guy Sonnen wanted to replace Rogerio Nogueira but couldn't apparently due to visa issues with Canada. That would've been something at least.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

MIMMA Grand Finals: Sexton ends Davis' winning streak | Results, recap & review

LABEL(S):

Ariel Sexton vs Peter Davis in the cage at MIMMA Grand Finals ONE FC Superfight

Majority of the crowd at Stadium Negara Kuala Lumpur last night probably hoped that Ariel "Tarzan" Sexton's strong built body and Gracie Jiu Jitsu black belt advantages would be cancelled out by our home boy Peter "The Pistol" Davis' longer reach, unorthodox striking and confidence gained from his winning streak... but unfortunately it didn't. Sexton got the referee stoppage win with 10 seconds left in the first round. The grappler beats the striker in this one. It was the perfect debut for the newly signed ONE FC lightweight fighter.

Friday, June 14, 2013

MIMMA Finals Weigh-In Results: Sex., Pistol, all ready to rock Stadium Negara

LABEL(S):

Peter Davis vs Ariel Sexton MIMMA Grand Finals ONE FC superfight weigh-in

Fighters successfully made weights for their respective bouts, ring girls with their boobs forcefully pressed up, domestic political rally postponed, venue ready... the first ever MIMMA Grand Finals is all set to entertain the Malaysian crowd at Stadium Negara KL tomorrow!

To view photos from the weigh-ins, click here.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Man of Steel (2013) | Movie review

LABEL(S):

Man of Steel 2013 film movie poster malaysia
Release date in Malaysia: 13 June 2013
Rated: P13
Genre: Action
Running Time: 142 minutes
Director: Zack Snyder
Writer: David S. Goyer
Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue, Russell Crowe

Synopsis: A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.


Verdict: This reboot lacks of genuine originality, largely an improved and improvised adaptation of the previous franchise's first two Superman films (1978 & 1980), with similarities to the style of Nolan's Batman films (not as dark though) and the alien invasion setting in Transformers 3 and Marvel's The Avengers. Snyder also carelessly left out humour and the deeper play of philosophical differences between characters (something which I'm sure Nolan wouldn't have missed if he was the director). However, even with all that being said, Man of Steel is still a great Superman movie. It fixed most of the plot holes in the previous franchise's films, it's very emotional, and it has the best (and longest) live action Superman action sequence to date.