> Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Yahoo! Movies Rating : B

Who says that fat guy can’t jump? Not you ey!? Well never mind because trust me, somebody did.

Well, if any of you guys and gals out there have ever seen the TV weight management program titled The Biggest Loser, then I’ll bet that you’ll change your mind.

When this movie were aired in the big screen in 2008, i did not manage to watch any of the teaser nor the trailer before I went to the cinema, so when the show started, I was puzzled, the first 5 - 10 minutes introduction of the movie seems like it’s not done in 3D animation but the traditional Cartoon Network toon series instead. I was discouraged...mmm... ok, maybe discourage was not the right word but i felt like the movie was not as I expected, I felt down a bit but then when the introduction past, I was relieved, it is in modern 3D animation.

The panda was, in my opinion, made around Jack Black’s character and believes me when I say this, that guy is a really funny dude.

The story circles around this panda figure who were stuck in his daily life helping his dad in their noodle shop but deep inside he aspires to be a legendary kung fu figure. He worship the town champion called the Furious Five. Yes! Worship! J He even has their toy figurines in collection.

As the story goes, the panda simply named Po in the movie (funny that all other character was simply named as who they are, eg: monkey, Mantis, Tigress, Crane and hmmm...ouch! I didn’t remember the snake guy name... :P) was chosen to be the Dragon Warrior, the chosen one to fend all evil in this world throwing everyone’s expectation way off, even his sifu didn’t believe that he should be the chosen one.

When words that he was chosen as the dragon warrior got out and reached a heavily guarded prison (which by the way only holds one prisoner. J hey! It’s a cartoon, who cares about common sense), the mighty prisoner Tai Lung, who was the Hamster sifu’s adopted son which was brought up believing that he is the Dragon Warrior and then only to be denied the only thing that he grows up believing in by the Master sifu Oogway (he’s a tortoise anyway), he felt that he have to challenge this newly celebrated Dragon Warrior, it’s that kung fu master’s complex syndrome I guess, everybody just have to challenge everybody just to prove that they’re better.

Tai Lung broke out of prison in a very magnificent way, the graphic was really excellent and the movement is something that put every audience to awe (In fact, the graphic was excellent throughout the whole movie).

The movie is really entertaining, funny, an eye candy and suitable for all adults and children.

The movie presentation is good and you should be ashamed of yourself if you did not see it yet, my advice, get the DVD (oh! It’s already in Bluray too) and prepare to be entertained.

As always, my ramblings does not provide all the detailed info about the movie (just a brief review anyway) so, if there is ever a need for its complete info, do visit Wikipedia.

> The Dark Knight (2008)

Yahoo! Movies Rating : A

Who cares what Yahoo! Movies rating says, to me this movie rating should be A+++

Woohooo....!! The best (Batman) movie evaaaarrrr!!!! it could not have been better. period.

I remember coming out of the cinema while rushing and pushing through the crowd along the small cinema exit lane, thrust my hand into my pocket, reach my mobile phone and start texting everyone in the phonebook to get their butt up and go watch the movie. My heart was beating crazily and my stomach were filled with not just butterflies but with pinball balls, yes! not just one but a few of them.

I cant forget the rush, the excitement, the high the movie gave me. To me, it was really, truly beyond good.

The late Heath Ledger inexhaustibly gave his 900% performance and made a typical super-villain into a legendary ultra-villain. The psychotic merciless mass murdering sociopath with no typical bad guy attitude really made the movie a big hit.

In my world, The Joker was the main cast and Batman was just an extra in this movie. The character is so damn real and scarily unpredictable and one in a billion and so on and so forth.

Wooohooo!!!...*breath*

Yep! the movie has that much of an impact on me.

Enough with the uncontrolled rush! *sigh* ...this movie was a 2nd movie directed by Christopher Nolan for the Batman franchise, the first being Batman Begins. The story progress from the introduction of Bruce Wayne into Batman, from villains such as Ra's al Ghul and the Scarecrow towards meeting his arch-nemesis, the super famous villain in all of Batman's comic book series, The Joker.



Tired of all the typical money mongering bad guy, the Joker rises in Gotham city to show the world of how a bad guy should really be. the movie start showing him stealing money from a mob controlled bank and then burn all of it simply because he wants to make a statement. the peak of the movie shows him blowing places in Gotham and even hospitals just to push Batman to come forward and bow to him.

"Why so serious!!?" Heath "the joker" Ledger (2008)

This quote were so famous that it has a series of its own T-shirt collection.

This really is a movie worth watching even after a 100 millenia to come. So, enough ramblings, pick your butt  up and get to the nearest DVD stores immediately. Enjoy!!

For more info on the movie, visit wikipedia.

> Musa (Korean - The warrior) : 2001

Yahoo! Movies Rating : B+

This was the movie that pulls my interest towards the Korean movie industry. Only now that i know that it was a really big budget movie that took 5 years to make.

This movie is about a failed Korean political envoy who were force to disarmed and captured for they were mistaken as spies by the Chinese. They were outcast into the desert escorted by the Chinese soldiers who were then massacred by the Mongols. Since the Mongol feud were only with the Chinese, the Koreans were let live to fetch for their own fate in the desert. In their struggle to get back to their country, the Koreans again stumbled upon the Mongols at a desert market only to notice that the Mongols have captured a Chinese princess. The plot then thickens when the envoy's escort general decide to rescue the princess in a last hope to redeem their failure and reconstitute their ties with the Chinese.

Do look for the honorable characteristics shown by enemies respecting each other in the movie as I believe,  like any other epic movie tries to project, in hope that we, in real life, would still show respects to our foes regardless of whatever differences we have towards each other. In my understanding, it's a warrior's duty to kill enemies but its mankind birth requirement to respect others and be respected.

This is the first Asian movies that I see people of different races speaks their mother tongue (in the earlier days, for example, everybody would speak English if it was an American movie or everybody would speak Cantonese if it were a Hong Kong movie). I notice that at least three language were spoken in this movie namely, Korean, Mandarin and Hindi. this really interest me, it makes the presentation more believable.

The characters in the movie were presented nicely, each one of them brings their act together which in my opinion made the movie great. in other words, all the main character and the supporting cast were alive and well developed. Though the hero does not talk much but he did a lot of memorable action fitting the actions of a former slave with a bit of a warrior background. 

Zhang Ziyi carried the princess character into such realism, a cocky and spoilt little princess who  had never have a rough live but now have to endure the difficulty of someone who is hunted and on the run. If China are still ruled by emperors, she would be an epiphany of how a Chinese princess would be, complete with the looks and the attitude. Well, my guess is her wedding would be an 88 days event covered by all the news channel in the world. *sigh* such beauty. :P

It may be hard to get the DVD for this movies in some countries but in worst case, try to downloads any torrents file available on the web (not that I condone such act as I believe, if we like something, support it, buy original so that the person involved in such great movies are properly compensated which in turns would encourage them to make better movies). 

The main cast were Jung Woo-sung, Ahn Sung-ki, Ju Jin-mo and Zhang Ziyi.

Enjoy the movie guys and gals as believe me, I do.

Check out more info about the movie at wikipedia.

> The Matrix - The Complete Trilogy (1999 & 2003)

The year was 1999, I'm still in varsity days, my 2nd year to be exact, in Malaysia, the buzz over information tech  and computer science had just started a few lecture years ago, its the time when i had my first mobile phone, a real life half brick size nokia 3210, yeah!  really! its that big :)

I was already a movie goers then, a light one anyway, yeah! youth, its the time of your life, there's always too much to do and too little time.

The Matrix movie came out with a staggering thought provoking life concept, it made a great impact on me, i look at myself as a thinker then, less now but back then the movie really provoke my thoughts on what a movie is and how it impact our knowledge growth. I started to see movies more than just a simple entertainment tools, there really is more to it rather than just effecting how one's feel. it allows one to think or if not everyone, at least a person like me whom I have to say, is not really into books, reading is not really my thing back then and that shows in my grades ahahahaha :P

"What is the Matrix?".

The movie captures the concept that we mankind, going along on our daily chores with all the conceptualize acceptable social norms are actually living a dream world created by intelligent machines and computer programs which we have artificially created, unaware that we are actually batteries for these machines, our worlds has actually ended where industrialization had kill the earth and pollution has covered the skies till no sun light may rush through, thus being an intelligent being, no matter how artificial they may be, these machines use the heat from the human body to generate power as their life support.

Well, think! the concept is not impossible! you, me, him or whoever doing whatever right now may not know this, we could all live in a dream right now channeling heat energy to power up some super computer as we speak.

As the story goes, well, a very well presented one i must say, since we all are living in a dream world, everything is possible, yes, everything, since a dream only happens in the mind thus whatever the mind may come to believe may be realize, every action that happens in that movies were well explained by the dream concept itself, jumping over a building, evading bullets or punching through brick walls becomes believable. but still, what makes the concept much more real was that there are limits, a person  capability depends very much on each persons' mental strength wahaaaa... there you go, a virtual concept backed by actual real life fact and conceptual-ism, back to one simple truth, everybody's mental strength differs from each other. the stronger it is the better a person will be.

In 2003, 2 sequel came out, The Matrix - Reloaded and The Matrix - Revolution. These sequels strengthen the story that was told in the first movie, of how the chosen one, Neo, a person with a really high mental strengths are able to go deep into the machines conspiracy and had a discussion with the computer program that control...or should i say manage the matrix known as the Architect.

Well! you just have to watch these movies, the visual effect were really good considering the first movie were release at the end of last millennia. the concept may came to be a bit confusing to some thus my advise take up some reading to understand it better. it really makes the watching experience better.

Oh! i've rambled a lot about the movie and i seem to forgot about the cast and the acting. the lead was Keanu Reeves supported by Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Ann Moss, Hugo Weaving and Joe Pantoliano.

Some of todays generation may not know this but Keanu Reeves is already a good actor then and I must say that I really love the character carried by Hugo Weaving, the formidable Agent Smith, he really completes the hero character and  I dare say that at times he's much better.

So, not a time to waste, get to your nearest DVD stores and get all three episodes as last I check, there may be a 4th movie coming.

I have no idea of how true it is yet but if it is, it will really be a great compliments to these three sequels. really is worth waiting for.

Check out more info about these movies at wikipedia.