Category: Media

American’s longest-running animated comedy featuring a dysfunctional family continues to delight and entertain a generation of fans for the last 18 years and with the film version based on The Simpsons, you would expect the magical formula of providing witty jokes and visual gags would work on the big screen.

Unfortunately, The Simpsons Movie provides little joy which is disheartening compared to the sublime half-hour show on Springfield. It seems the team of writers were having difficulty on how to adapt the popular cartoon series into a feature-length picture, as every pop-culture references and situations have been done before… After all, why would you buy a ticket when you can watch it on television?

The lack of jokes hits you hard. It’s unbelievable to discover that the movie is more like a mediocre episode from the current season, only this time it is stretched over eighty minutes… And it certainly doesn’t help that some of the inhabitants of Springfield have only very brief cameos including Monty Burns.

Speaking of characters, Homer J Simpson never reaches his true absurdist extremes you come to expect. Rebel Bart Simpson is lost in a dull storyline of being neglected by his father’s love and turns to Ned Flanders for a sense of well being… Lisa falls in love with a random Irish boy. As for Marge, she continues to despair over her husband’s antics while Maggie… well, she does say her first words.

Don’t get me wrong, the movie is still entertaining and the quality of the animation is more advanced over the cartoon show, but you can’t help but feel a little under whelmed. It still has it charms and Homer continues to make you laugh at his stupidity, but by ‘Simpsons’-standards it’s just not good enough.

Based on a toy franchise by Hasbro, Transformers tells a story of an epic intergalactic war between the Autobots and Decepticons. In this live action movie directed by Michael Bay, the giant robots are fighting over a cube, the Allspark.

The Allspark holds the key to the Autobots and Decepticons as the relic can bring mechanical objects to life. In fact, anything that is exposed to the Allspark can both repair Cybertronians and convert Earth electronics and vehicles into Transformers.

But to locate the cube, first the robots need to acquire a map and thanks to the Internet plus eBay (yes really!) Optimus Prime and his group of Autobots track down a teenager who has it. The item in question turns out to be a pair of glasses, which happens to have an imprint of the location on the lens!

Rising Hollywood star Shia LaBeouf plays Sam Witwicky, who receives his first car from his father. The car was no ordinary vehicle however, but it turns out to be Autobot Bumblebee! But unlike the original cartoon series, the yellow car with black racing stripes is based on a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro instead of a Volkswagen Beetle.

The alien robot is tasked to protect Sam, who is in a possession of something his great-great-grandfather (Captain Archibald Witwicky) owned. If the item falls into the wrong hands such as the evil Decepticons, then the world and mankind will be destroyed.

Meanwhile, as the US military led by Secretary of Defense John Keller (Jon Voight) and his team of advisors are trying to figure out who is hacking into their computer system and stealing classified files, Sam and his girlfriend Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) must evade the Decepticon Barricade as well as Agent Reggie Simmons (John Turturro) from the secret government group Sector 7.

Being a Michael Bay movie, the action scenes speak louder than words and it is not surprising that the CGI-heavy fighting sequences take centre stage in this two-hour plus film. The poor dialogue, humour and a lack of plot doesn’t help but to make up for that are some of the most impressive special effects thanks to the creative geniuses at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). The detail of each robot when transforming are stylish and far more complex compare to the original.

Overall an entertaining film that will please fans but for others, a lack of character development and its ridiculous story will put off many.

Yippi-kay-yay! Bruce Willis is back as detective John McClane – the all-action American hero – as he single-handling takes down a group of computer hackers set to terrorising the United States by crashing all transportation, telecommunications, financial and power networks.

Inspired by a magazine article in Wired, “A Farewell To Arms”, by John Carlin, the plot to this exciting movie describes a likely-scenario in which the country is under cyber-attack. Willis reprises his 19-year-old role as the super New York cop set out to kick some bad guys ass and with it cause as much destruction as possible!

Deadwood’s star Timothy Olyphant plays computer guru Thomas Gabriel, who is hell-bent on seeking revenge against the US government that shunned him. Gabriel’s mission is to show how vulnerable the country’s security system is by systematically taking down major parts of the network causing chaos and mayhem.

Enter John McClane, to sort out the mess! The detective is called up to do a “favour” by picking up a student (Justin Long) who happens to be computer wiz-kid. When the student, Matt Farrell, becomes a target for the terrorist group under Gabriel, McClane is drawn to the same old routine once again.

Working together, McClane and Farrell attempt to stop Gabriel from basically “resetting” the entire country. Add into the mix of McClane’s daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) being kidnapped by Gabriel to keep John in line, and the conflict gets much more personal.

Underworld director Len Wiseman has produced a stunning and adrenaline-filled motion picture with some of the most impressive (and outrageous) stunts ever seen this year. These include: Driving a SUV down an elevator shaft after ramming into Mai Lihn (Maggie Q), smashing into a helicopter with a car (because he didn’t have any bullets…) and pulling off a wheeling with a big trailer truck under missile attack from a fighter jet!

The spectacular results of Wiseman’s efforts makes Die Hard 4.0 a ludicrously but entertaining popcorn movie. But despite the fun, it showcases the chilling and scary concept of what might happen if virtual terrorism took effect. Imagine the panic that might ensure when traffic signals go wrong, broadcast media and phones are hijacked, bank accounts evaporate and the electricity cutting out…

Live Free or Die Hard would have worked as a dark thriller on a post 9/11 world – but thanks to its unique blend of humour, including those witty McClaine’s one-liners, makes this a thrilling ride for the viewer.

The final instalment of the popular Pirates of the Caribbean movie proves to be hit and miss, despite the best efforts from Johnny Depp in the role of Captain Jack Sparrow. The plot is extremely difficult to follow, leaving the viewer dazed and confused as to what the hell is going on.

It doesn’t help that the film involves lots of twists and turns, with everyone double-crossing and backstabbing each other. However, the action sequences are pretty spectacular with some of the most impressive CGI effects this year. It’s just a shame that the charm and personality from the 2003 original – The Curse of the Black Pearl – are cast aside with a hollow and uninspiring narrative.

Despite the poor storyline, you can’t fault the performances by the leading players. Johnny Depp is superb and it was amusing to see multiple Jack Sparrow as he suffers from his hallucinations. Depp’s enthusiasm carries the whole weight of the film with some of the best dialogue and comic timing you come to expect.

Geoffrey Rush also provides top quality entertainment in the role of Hector Barbossa and it was great to see the two captains upstaging each other over who gets to command the Black Pearl. Davy Jones makes a reappearance, played by the talented Bill Nighy, along with Hong Kong action star Chow Yun-Fat as the evil Captain Sao Feng, though this character was underused in the story.

And what about the two ‘eye-candy’ stars, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom? Both seem to be enjoying themselves but you can’t help but notice that Keira and Orlando were being upstage by a multi-talented monkey! The simian even had more screen-time than Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards playing Jack’s father…

As for the action sequences, the cinematography is a work of art in itself with some truly beautiful imagery. So is this the end for Pirates of the Caribbean? Well, the final scene in this epic 168-minute film might suggest a possible fourth sequel, so it all depends how well it receives in the box office. But for the viewer, At World’s End can be seen as a high sea adventure with action and humour in the company of the charming Jack Sparrow.