Monsters University & Despicable Me 2

I'm an adult and I'm a fan of animation movie. Never mind that, coz there's a lot like me! Quite recently I watched Monsters University and Despicable Me 2. One is a prequel while the latter is a sequel. In 2001, we have enjoyed so much of the hilarious Sully and Mike and the over-the-top cuteness of Boo in Monster's Inc. Now I would never imagine that 12 years later the Disney/Pixar studio would make a prequel of it, hence the production Monsters University this year. And yeah...it's also great!

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 In Monster's Inc., we have established the relationship between James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski as best buddies personally and one of the top scare teams in Monster's Inc. And we also established the fact that both of this monsters have a mutual arch enemy, Randall, the scary and bitter monster with a chameleon-like ability. In the prequel, we would see how these three monsters started to know each other and what made them as they were in the first movie.

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In Despicable Me 2, the story picks up from where the first one left off in 2010; Gru is a now a willing and loving father of the 3 girls he adopted in the first movie and already retired from being 'the world's greatest villain'. But when the world is threatened by a formidable villain that 'came back from the dead', there's no one who can stop him other than Gru, the notorious thief who once had stolen a moon! Or at least that's what the Anti-Villain League (AVL) thought when they send an agent to recruit Gru for help. It's fun to watch the minions, they are adorable even when they become purple with evil. And Gru, while still having his villainy instincts intact when pursuing his mission, still has to dwell with his daughters teenage love and mother figure issues. (Agnes is sooo adorable!) And love is in the air for Gru as well.

 

Overall, both movies are entertaining and so fun to watch. I can't help but noticing how strong the message in Monsters University in teaching the audience, especially young people about how important it is to know who they are and be who they really are, and not be someone else that you are not just to be accepted by other people. Also, each person has their own unique strength and ability. And in Despicable Me 2, it's all about family.

 

Aaaah..I wish I have children of my own whom I can teach all this while watching such fun movies....haha!

 

 

it's epic!

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Today I watched a very fun and entertaining new animation film, epic, which was directed by the same man who directed the hilarious Ice Age. It's a fantasy film with comedy and drama elements in the package, adapted from William Joyce's children novel entitled The Leaf Men and The Brave Good Bugs (1996).

The teenager Mary Katherine aka MK went deep into the forest where his estranged and eccentric scientist father lives to stay with him after her mother passed away. Apparently MK's parents divorced many years ago because her mother couldn't stand her father's tenacious-to-the-point-of-madness study about a world of tiny people living in the forest. After giving up on discussing with her father about stopping to pursue his study, MK decided to leave the house when his father's dog, Ozzy, suddenly ran out of the house into the woods. MK then also ran into the woods to find Ozzy.

Meanwhile, deep in the forest, in the Moonhaven kingdom, there exists a group of little soldiers called the Leafmen, who are the only creature in human form that function as the protectors of the Queen, and that also means, the forest. The Leafmen is led by Ronin, their leader. Nod, is Ronin's dead friend's son whom he tried to mold into becoming one of the Leafmen soldiers but Nod just not interested and insists to live independently. Queen Tara, is the queen of the forest and the main power who controls and protects the various life and creatures living in the forest. On the other side is the Boggans, the hideous creatures led by Mandrake who oppose the kind of balance the Queen is protecting and do nothing but rot and kill the forest.

So all these characters will soon have their paths cross one another when it's summer solstice and the time comes for the Queen to choose the new heir for the forest. The first part of the ceremony is for the Queen to choose a suitable leaf pod from a lake. These pods are nursed and guarded by a pair of slug and snail, Mud and Grub. When the Queen finally made her selection, the Boggans ambushed the ceremony, intending to kill the Queen and the pod. In the process, Mandrake's son was killed and the Queen was fatally wounded. On her last moment, she fell near MK who's looking for Ozzie and managed to transfer her powers to the pod and gave it to MK, at the same time shrinking her into tiny size and told her to take the pod to Nim Galuu.

From this part onward, it's a spectacular journey for MK to get the pod to Nim Galuu, assisted by Ronin, Nod, Mud and Grub while she tries to come into terms of being tiny and then surprisingly thrusted into the world that she didn't believe before and that her father has been searching for so long. The group has to dodge and secure the pod and themselves from the relentless attacks by Mandrake and his Boggans who after the death of his son, now wants to steal the pod for himself to create his own Dark Prince.

This is a very fun and entertaining story and you couldn't help but laughing at Mud and Grub with their funny dialogues. And watching this movie in 3D is really awesome. This film encompasses some good morals to discuss with your children. The first being the relationship between family members as shown in MK and her father's relationship. The second being the importance of protecting the environment and maintaining the balance in the nature's cycle of life (at one part Mandrake told his son that the forest is not built in one day, and his son replied that they can destroy it in a day...which is so true..). The third is about teamwork and even though everybody lives as individuals, no one should be alone. There's quite a lot of wisdom quotes in this movie. You can never go wrong with this type of movie, although this one is not the rolling-on-the-floor kind of funny but it has a nice amount of humour in it and the story is good, sensible and entertaining. The animation is also so beautiful. Recommended.

 

The Great Gatsby

Gatsby. Who or what is Gatsby? To me, the name is quite familiar when I first heard of it. The first thought I had was the famous hair gel brand ... and also, Takuya Kimura (remember the interesting commercials he did for the brand?).

So, this Gatsby I'm talking about is not about the hair gel. It is actually a film currently showing in local cinemas near you. The film is basically adapted from a novel of the same name, authored by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was published in 1925. What a long, long time ago. Anyway, I haven't read the novel before but since this is an adaptation from a popular book, I won't write a lot about the story. Just a simple 'googling' and you can read the whole story in a jiffy.

Firstly first, I didn't know that this movie is from a book. So, I just watched this with zero anticipation and expectation except hoping that it would be a good movie. In a nutshell, I can simply say that this story is about hope, specifically, the hope of a man to rekindle his long lost but not forgotten love towards the girl of his dream. That man is Jay Gatsby, a mysterious young millionaire who owns a great mansion by the lake in the West Egg. He became friends with Nick Carraway, a young Wall Street hopeful, who rented a small cabin just beside his mansion. Across the lake, in the East Egg section, is the mansion of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Daisy is the 'second cousin once removed' of Nick (can someone tell me what's that supposed to mean?).

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The love story brewed since 5 years back between Jay and Daisy. Difficult situations ensued and drifted them apart. Since that, Daisy married Tom and Jay ... is mysteriously hiding in his many tales, but when Nick knew him, he is already a big millionaire who throws extravagant parties every weekend. How he came to possess that many fortune, no one really knows but it is demystified as the story unfolds. Everything in the story is about Jay. Who is he? What does he do? What is his motivation behind all the fame and fortune? This story is about a man so driven to re-possess the love he once had but had to let go because of some difficulties and hopes that he can return the time (and everything else) back to how it was before. In the end of the tragic finale, we can perhaps sympathize with Jay, or perhaps Daisy ... We might feel sorry for Daisy, who finds herself torn between an old flame or an infidel husband, or maybe we feel even sorrier for Jay, as he sacrificed everything to the one love he has but it led him to his doom. Sad love story, isn't it?

Anyway, the movie is also available in 3D. With all the extravagant colours of the festivities portrayed in this movie, it might be exciting to watch it in 3D (I didn't, just sticking to 2D). One last comment before ending this piece...why on earth Amitabh Bachchan was cast to play a Jewish character? I am so not getting it...Anyway, overall ... I am just liking the story, though it's sad, and it was enjoyable to see the acting ... but, I think some parts are just way too dramatic and maybe too weird. It's like a musical but not a musical. Modern era songs in a 1920s era movie, I don't know..maybe it's the director's style. Anyway, still...an entertaining film.

Bunohan (Murder)

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Bunohan is a gripping tale of 3 estranged brothers, Ilham, Bakar and Adil, whose fates crossed each other's life and brought them back to Bunohan, their home village in Kelantan. Set in the rural setting of Southern Thailand - Kelantan area, the home base of muay thai (kickboxing), wayang kulit (shadow puppet play),  mak yong and main puteri (traditional musical drama play), this tragic story of love lost between the brothers and their ailing father portrays each man's struggle to overcome the years of estrangement and family issues intertwined with elements of danger, corruption, betrayal and murder.

Ilham, the eldest brother, son of Pok Eng, a shadow puppet master and Mek Yah, a Mak Yong primadona of her time, ran away and went astray after his parents' divorce. A former sailor turned hitman, he comes back to Bunohan after more than 20 years away, trailing Bunga Lalang, a runaway fugitive - the target he is hired to kill by a Thai gangster. By coming back, Ilham also faces painful recollection of the past, especially about his late mother, who was exiled from the village after the divorce.

Bakar, the second brother, was born after Pok Eng married his second wife, Mek Ani. A school teacher, but also a cunning and ruthless businessman on the side, he is the actual 'puppet master' in the story, scheming his way for power and control of his father's and the villagers' land for a lucrative development deal.

Adil, the youngest of the three, is a kickboxing fighter rising to fame in Southern Thai. In a what supposed to be a fight-to-death match in order to settle a debt with a gangster, he was rescued mid-way after getting badly injured by his childhood friend and brought back to Bunohan.

I give a thumbs up for the story. The story of men with scarred souls due to unhappy childhood led them away from each other and resort to violence, physically, mentally and psychologically. It is a story of family relationship and friendship and how violence, betrayal, and greed make a mess out of everything. Yes, it's rated PG-13 so viewers' discretion is advised but it's not as violent and gory as Hollywood's horror and violent movies.

Another thumbs up should be given to the cinematography. I love all the scenes and camera angles in this movie. The view and the background, the angles ... all that I would like to capture as still photos. The dialogues - true to the setting - almost entirely spoken in Kelantanese dialect. The special features in the dvd also includes photo gallery, an interview with the director Dain Said, The Making Of and deleted scenes.

One of my favourite dialogues :

(Between Bakar and Adil)

Bakar : Tanah kita ... ada orang nak beli. Kalau jual sekarang, boleh menolong keluarga kita.

(Our land ... some people want to buy. If we sell now, it could help the family.)

Adil : Keluarga binatang apa?

(What damned family?)

Bakar : Boleh menolong kau juga. Tak perlu kau berpatah tulang bertinju di seberang.

(It could help you too. It's better than breaking bones across the border.)

Adil : Tulang patah boleh sembuh. Masalahnya kau tu! Patahkan semangat orang.

(Broken bones can mend. The problem is you! You break people's spirit.)

There's also a little bit of mystical element in the story, giving the glint of creepy feeling although this movie is nowhere close to a typical horror movie. I think this element is inserted because of the old folk's tale in the traditional community and the spiritual and ritual elements in the wayang kulit, mak yong and main puteri plays during the early days.

Anyway, this is a good work of art. The moral of the story: Life is full of choices. Everything depends on how you choose.

Head on to www.bunohan.com for information of this movie's achievements.

Wreck-It Ralph

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Wreck-It Ralph is quite a fun movie with very positive values and good for all age range. Its setting of video game characters in an arcade having an "after work hours" life, socializing and even have in-game-out-of-game rules is very creative and interesting. The smooth story line and funny dialogues, not forgetting some 'emotionally intense' moments kept me glued to my seat and entertained me. Although I can't say that Wreck-It Ralph is better than any other animation movies thus far (I still think Toy Story 3 and Tangled are my personal favourites), it's not a bad one either. In fact it's a very good one.

To those who haven't seen it or don't have any idea what's it all about, the story is basically like this; Ralph (full name Wreck-It Ralph) is a video game character in 'Fix-It Felix' game. His job in the game is of course to wreck things which later will be fixed by none other than Fix-It Felix Jr. (Felix). In other words, Ralph is the big bad guy and Felix is the hero. After 30 years of wrecking things, Ralph feels tired of being the bad guy and being alone, and feels under-appreciated by his game colleagues as they ostracized him.

A wrecked party and a challenge later, Ralph sets out of his game to be a hero and most importantly, to be liked and to have friends. This landed him in another game, Hero's Duty. After unintentionally creating a havoc, Ralph somehow crash-landed himself in another game, Sugar Rush, where his path came across Vanellope von Schweets, a challenging yet adorable character in the game who turned out to be a 'glitch' or a 'bad code' (that's my own interpretation). Ralph finds himself making a deal with her, as each of them has a personal goal to achieve.

With that, the adventure (and trouble) continues in the form of the other racers and King Candy, whom at first we cannot be sure whether he is a devil or genuinely care for Vanellope. Felix, on the other hand, is facing his own adventure when searching for Ralph because as Ralph leaves and then stuck in Sugar Rush, the Fix-It Felix game can't be played and the game is going to be unplugged. Follow their adventures with ups and downs moments and later discover the truth about Vanellope and how Ralph finally learns his lessons and earns friends for the first time.

For me, the story teaches a person to be true to his/her own nature, be confident and respect other people. Find good in oneself and hone it to benefit the others. One thing though, there's a lot of swearing in this movie .... but not the expletives ones .. haha. Nice movie.

Studio Ghibli Craze Pt. 2

I remembered that last year I wrote about the Studio Ghibli's animated movies that I've enjoyed in my post Studio Ghibli Craze, and then noticed that I haven't really finished writing it, since there are more movies that I have seen and enjoyed. And so, here comes the second part of it...for me to share with you. :)

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Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

Kiki is a young witch whose mother is the resident herbalist in the village where they live. Ever since she turns 13, Kiki always waiting for the chance to go out of her village as it is the witch's tradition that when a witch turns 13, she has to travel for a year for training to become a resident witch. So, finally Kiki settles herself with her black cat Jiji at a nice town by the sea. Although having a hard time at first, she finally finds a friend and shelter in the home of a cheerful baker woman, Osono. To support herself, Kiki has to make use of her skill and since she only knows how to fly with her broom, although not proficiently, she finally decided to become a delivery girl (by flying), while stationing herself in Osono's bakery. In the meantime, a young boy named Tombo took a liking to Kiki as he is interested in aviation (and so interested in Kiki's ability to fly) and also because Kiki is a different kind of girl. After encountering a bad experience with some of Tombo's friends, Kiki's ability to fly and speak with Jiji suddenly disappear, causing her to feel down. Another friend of Kiki, Ursula, invited her to stay at her forest cottage, and after being there and through Ursula, Kiki's spirit becomes a little bit uplifted and she believes that after a series of things that turned wrong, she would find a new purpose that she can work on and probably from there she can get her powers back. One day, an accident occurred where Tombo is involved, and driven by her strong will to save him, Kiki finally recovers her flying power and able to save Tombo in the nick of time. Afterwards, Kiki becomes the hero of the city and finally settles there for good to continue her practice.

In this movie, the characteristics of being independent and having a strong will to overcome life obstacles are perhaps the main things to learn, especially for young people. Good things doesn't come easy, eh .. And also, if you dream to do something, you can realize the dream if you work hard enough. This is shown in Tombo's persistency in inventing a kind of flying device from a bicycle, because of his dream to fly. An inspiring movie. For note, this movie is loosely based from a novel by a Japanese author, Eiko Kadono.

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Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Ohh....I watched this one many times haha. Maybe because of the romantic element? Or the voice actor for Howl is so kakkoi..haha. Anyway, this movie is also based from a novel of the same name, from a British author Diana W. Jones.

Sophie, is a young hatter, who I think, feels insecure of herself because of her plain look with brown hair (but I consider her as very cute) compared to her mother and her sister who's considered prettier than her ( imagine..blond hair and blue eyes). Anyway, as she's on the way to visit her sister who works at a bakery, she encounters 2 soldiers who try to hit on her but then saved by a mysterious guy. However, as the guy escorts her, they are followed by some blob men (got the name by the English subtitle though...) and to avoid them, the guy suddenly rise up to the air with Sophie and start walking on air to safety. Once Sophie gets back to her house, she's visited by the Witch of The Waste. It seems that the blob men are servants of the witch, and the mysterious guy before is actually Howl, a young wizard whom the Witch is trying to find. The Witch casts a spell on Sophie, changing her into an old woman. Sophie is terrified at first but then slowly cherishes her old form as it makes her feel less insecure. Sophie somehow feels that her old form frees her from being scared and self-conscious, even makes her feel more cunning than before. And so, Sophie run away from the city until at the mountains where she saves a scarecrow with a turnip head and encountered Howl's moving castle.

And that is the beginning of Sophie's journey that leads her into meeting other magical characters. Inside the castle are Howl's himself, a brilliant but insecure young wizard, Calcifer, a fire demon who keeps the castle moving, and Markl, a boy wizard in training. The story has several other subplots that all intertwined very nicely to create a wholesome magical fantasy story. Somehow, apart from the love that grows between Sophie and Howl, the wizards and witches, and the war that occurred because of a missing prince, all plots in the story, there's something to be learned as well.  

  

My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

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My Neighbour Totoro is like the cutest movie filled with cute and adorable characters. Two young sisters, Satsuki and Mei, very active girls indeed, moved to a modest house in the countryside with their father, who is a professor, to be near to the hospital where their mother is treated from an illness. At the new house the sisters encountered 'dust bunnies' and forest spirits called Totoro. The main part of the story centered around the girls' encounter of the forest spirits and how the spirits responded to the girls innocent and honest behaviours, in helping Satsuki finding Mei after Mei gone missing. What I love about this movie is how the animation is full of texture, bringing the feelings of softness and comfortable, as I would love to roll around inside the Catbus and hugging or lying on the big Totoro for real. I also like to see the portrayal of father-daughter relationship in this movie as the girls' father, sportingly, kindly and lovingly treated his daughters well and with respect. A heart-warming story. 

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The Borrower Arrietty (2010)

I just watched this recently. Yup, it's kinda new. The story is based on a Mary Norton novel, a British author, where it dwells about a family of little people called The Borrowers as they borrow things belonging to the humans for a living. The plot revolves around the Clock's family, who live under the floorboards of a house in the countryside. One day, the father, Pod, takes his 14-year-old daughter, Arrietty, on her first borrowing trip. However, while trying to 'borrow' a tissue paper, Arrietty was accidentally seen by a human boy, Sho, who happens to be staying in that house (his aunt's house) while waiting for his heart operation (he has heart condition since birth). Although not seeing her very well, but the fact that a human already know of their existence in the house, Arrietty's family plans to move to other place, as it is a rule that the little people should never been seen by the humans, obviously, for their safety. However, Sho is a kind boy, and later on, both Sho and Arrietty do meet and have conversations. Unfortunately, the budding relationship between the two is sensed by the housekeeper Haru, who, unfortunately feels that the presence of the little people is annoying (she thinks of them as thieves, while on the little people's view, they are just 'borrowing' things that the humans would not miss, such as a single cube of sugar, a piece of tissue paper or a pin). In a sequence of events, Haru found the Clock's house and kidnapped Homily, Arrietty's mother, and locked her up in the kitchen store. Although Sho helps Arrietty in finding her, Arrietty's parents really think that they should move away to someplace new. Although both are sad, Sho and Arrietty parted well. From their short relationship, Sho, who at first almost feel helpless with his with dying condition, feels a lot better after knowing and seeing Arrietty's fight for survival.

The animation is very brilliant in colours, vibrant, very detailed and full of textures. I am somewhat amazed by the animated perspective of the human world from the little people's viewpoint. The flowers, the leaves, even the things in the doll house inside Sho's room, everything is detailed to perfection. And it is very interesting to see how the Borrowers make use of the things in the house as their tools. I also love the music at the start and the end of the movie, it seems ethereal. The movie is simple but very nice.

So, there they are...another 4 movies produced by Studio Ghibli that should be enjoyed by everybody. They are heart-warming, inspirational, enjoyable, fun and makes you feel good. Enjoy.  

Seefood

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Recently, I watched an animated movie called Seefood. Being an adult doesn't mean I cannot enjoy kids movies, right? And anyway, most animated films are made to suit all range of viewers age (and some are even specifically for adults, you know..), and I have written quite a number of reviews of animated films in this blog. Part of the reasons that made me interested to watch this movie is due to the fact that it is the first Malaysian-made animated film in English language and that the movie has been shown in ..er...90 countries, if I'm not mistaken before it finally came back to its home country last March. After some reading, I found out that Silver Ant, the company that created this movie has started this movie project since 10 years ago but only able to finish it and release it after Doha-based network company, Al-Jazeera, provided financial support for its Children's Channel.

In a glance, Seefood is about environmental awareness and friendship. After watching, I, as a viewer, could see that this movie is obviously trying to send messages about shark's fins hunting, marine life protection and environmental pollution. Basically, the story is about Pup, a bamboo shark, who determined to save his brothers and sisters (bamboo shark eggs) from the ruthless shark's fins fishermen. Concerned about his safety, Pup's best pal, Julius, a kind-hearted white-tip shark, along with Mertle, an old turtle, and Octo, an octopus who is a genius inventor, all together helping him during the trip on Man's land for the mission. Along the way, Pup and his friends also meet other friends and foes.  

What I can say about the main story is that it is a very good one. The animation? Superb. The colours are beautiful, the voice over and the animated movements match perfectly. The characters itself are beautifully created, and Pup is sooo cute and adorable. However, it's quite boring. The story moves in a slow pace, quite draggy I'd say. And there are some parts, or subplots, that I don't quite understand, or maybe, a bit under-developed. First, why do the deep sea creatures want to go out from their abyss, which is definitely their natural surrounding, into the upper part of the ocean? Second, why does Spin the ray fish meet the deep sea creatures? And third, why is there a factory by the sea? After thinking a bit hard, I could come up to some assumptions which might explain the questions. However, I think the story itself should not be so complex and giving hard time to viewers. The story-telling lacks understandable, explainable dialogues and scenes. Some part of the dialogues also lacks the element of fun, and some parts also lacks dialogues or sounds that you'd normally hear in real situation. In other words, it is not quite 'lively'. However, I think the roosters are quite interesting, as well as the interactions between Julius and his three 'servants', and the coconut crazy crabs. 

Whatever it is, at least I've learned from this movie, that a bamboo shark can breath on land up to 12 hours, isn't it cool? All in all, apart from the boring factors I mentioned above, this is actually a good movie. But it would be a better movie, a movie that we can't forget and wanna watch over and over again if with smooth plot and spot on dialogues to match that excellent animation.

My favourite thrillers...PART 2

Welcome again to the second part of my favourite thrillers list. In addition to PART 1, there are several more thrillers that are worthy of your attention. So, lets get on with it, shall we? ....

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The Sixth Sense (1999)

Bruce Willis is Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, who at the start of the film we learn that he is shot by a young man who breaks into his house. The young man is actually a former patient of Dr. Crowe, whom he treated when he was a boy for having hallucinations. Then the film introduces Cole, a 9-year-old boy who has similar problems. Cole kept saying that he 'can see dead people walking like regular people', so he is always afraid and because of that he doesn't have any friends. Dr. Crowe of course thinks Cole is delusional but dedicated to stay close to him as he remembers his failure with his former patient. Meanwhile, Dr. Crowe is sometimes seen as having problems with his wife, as if they are uncommunicative due to his dedication to work. As the film progresses, Dr. Crowe finally knows that Cole has the ability to see ghosts (and perhaps his former patient too), and tries to convince Cole that there might be a reason the ghosts keep haunting him and so ask the boy to communicate with them. Cole follows his advice and in the end solving some mysteries that finally give peace to the wandering souls. Cole finally accepts his abilities as a gift and also be at peace with it. With this success, Dr. Crowe finally finds himself at home, looking at his wife sleeping. In his wife's grasp, there's a wedding ring. When he realizes that he's not wearing one, finally the cold truth comes to him. What's the truth? Ahh, you guys already know...but I'm saving it to those who haven't seen this movie. Kinda sad...actually. Although this one is ghostly-themed, it is not the same as other horror movies.  

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Trauma (2004)

Those outside Malaysia may not know this suspense-thriller, because this is the product of a Malaysian director, Aziz M. Osman. Nurul (Amy Mastura) is a traumatised woman who's trying to get a grip back to her normal life. The reason of her trauma is an accident in which she accidently hit a man while driving and the man died. Her husband (Azhar Sulaiman) and her younger sister (Sharifah Aleya) have been very supportive and help her a lot in her effort to make a comeback. However, things slowly changes when she hires Jeslina (Nasha Aziz) as her personal assistant in her office. Being utterly efficient, caring, honest and reliable, Jeslina gains Nurul's trust until one day Nurul invited her to stay temporarily at her house while she tries to find a place to stay. It seems that Jeslina isn't what she seems to be. Nurul starts to be haunted by the trauma of her past again, and due to certain events, her husband and sister is convinced that Nurul should be sent to the psychiatric award for medication. Little do they know that it's all the works of Jeslina. How does she do it? Who is Jeslina? What is the reason behind it all? Can Nurul prove that she is not insane and overcome her trauma? For me, this is a good thriller. Too bad there's not many of this kind nowadays (locally). 

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Blood Diamond (2006)

An adventure thriller, and some reviews also call it a political-thriller. The background of this story is based on true events of the unimaginably difficult situations in African countries such as Sierra Leone, where there's civil wars, humanity is foreign, people enslaved into diamond minings to satisfy the greediness of corrupted leaders and businessmen. Archer is a white Rhodesian diamond smuggler, arrested while trying to smuggle diamond, and Vandy is a Sierre Leone's fisherman, whom, after being captured by rebel armies, is enslaved as diamon miner (a bit lucky, since other captives are being maimed). Vandy found a valuable pink diamond and hid it for his own, however he's captured when the mine he works at are attacked by other army. In prison, the two persons meet and after a chain of events, they become acquainted and go through the adventure together. Archer wants the pink diamond that Vandy found. Vandy wants to find his family, especially his son, who is separated in the earlier army raid. While at it, they meet Maddy, a journalist and humanitarian, and through her, they manage to go to some places to achieve their goal. During the process, Archer and Vandy share a bond and we know that both of them are just victims of war. Archer assisted Vandy until Vandy is reunited with his family, retrieve the stone and leave the country, while Maddy continues the effort to reveal the bloody trade on the conflict diamonds until it reaches the court of law. There are both happy and sad ending, but in the end, it's the issue that matters. A good movie staying true to its main blood diamond topic, makes us realize what's happening to the other side of the world, and what blood diamond means...

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Shutter Island (2010)

A mind-boggling psycho-thriller indeed! I just didn't know which/whose story to believe right until the end. This movie is an adaptation from a novel of the same name (and the author also wrote the novel Mystic River, which is also turned into a film). U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is sent to Shutter Island with his partner, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), to conduct an investigation of a missing patient, Rachel Solando in a psychiatric facility there. Rachel is admitted there after drowning her own children. While investigating, Daniels feels that the director of the facility and some of the staff are not giving him a 100% cooperation. Furthermore, he is forbidden to enter one ward inside the facility. Daniels also have recurring dreams and visions about his late wife, who died in a fire in their apartment caused by an arsonist, and also about his past missions in Germany. He also suffers migrain attacks while in the facility. Somehow, after a sequence of events, he begins to set the course of his investigations into finding the arsonist after finding out that he is on the island. The 'real' Rachel Solando is formerly a psychiatrist in the facility but being held as a patient after she finds out that the facility is performing some kind of dangerous and illegal experiment to the patients. But, is this really true? Is Daniels really who he thinks he is?

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Inception (2010)

I watched this one two times in cinema. With that, it means great! And I have reviewed it here. An extract from my previous writing;

... Inception is about a group of thieves, and they steal ideas from the victims' mind inside their dreams. There are rules of sharing the same dreams, there are dreams within dreams and in due process of their mission, they must not lost their minds in the layers of dreams and they have to keep in check which is a dream and which is reality.

Each of the group members has a role in the mission. There's The Extractor, The Point-Man, The Architect, The Forger, The Chemist and The Tourist.. (..like Ocean's 11...anyway, this movie is about a heist anyway, albeit a different kind..). Usually, they steal the idea, but on this mission, they have to 'plant' an idea in someone's mind. That's what 'inception' means in this movie.

 

A brilliant story.

 

And so, that concludes my list. Perhaps there are more....but, at the moment, these are the ones that are close to my mind and memory. Hopefully, my friend will be able to enjoy it as much as I have. And to you guys....what are your favourite thrillers? :)

 

My favourite thrillers...PART 1

I have a request from a fellow friend, Iejan, to list out my favourite thrillers. Well, after listing my favourite Disney movie songs, I guess....why not for thrillers! So, (drumroll please...) I present to you my dear readers, my favourite thrillers, unsorted...

Ok, but before that, let me tell you what this list is all about. First, it is my personal favourite list. So, please do not compare it with other professional movie listers or top charts because it is not the same. Second, all the movies are the ones that I've watched before somewhere in my life, of course, I don't put  any movies that I haven't seen, right? Third, the list is unsorted in terms of least-most favourites, since I find it hard to put a certain kind of numerical value in it, I just love it! However, I still sort it but according to the year it was produced, ok. And fourth, by favourite, I mean, a thriller movie that is very thrilling, gluing me to my seat, then beaming on it and cannot forget about it after watching it, and the ones that give me some kind of satisfying or overwhelming (and still sane...) feeling afterwards. So, here's the list...

Rear Window (1954)

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I remembered borrowing this movie in VCD from my boss when I worked in a DVD/VCD shop many years ago, just because the director is Alfred Hitchcock. And it turned out a thrill as I expected. It tells about Jeff (James Stewart), a professional photographer who is confined in his apartment due to a broken leg. Having nothing to do, he spends his time watching his surroundings through his window. And that makes him becoming knowledgeable and attentive to his neighbours and their routines. One day he notices that a couple had an argument, and some time later he hasn't seen the wife anymore. He also notices that the husband picking up some sort of crates one evening plus other questionable things. As Jeff becomes suspicious, he continues to spy on this neighbour and began investigating with the help of some of his friends since the police cannot take any action without having evidence. So, can he finally be sure that a crime has been committed? Will he succeed in finding out the truth? The husband's innocence/guilt is only confirmed at the end of the movie.

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Misery (1990)

I have reviewed on this movie here. It is based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. Talking about the Master of Thrillers! Paul Sheldon is a famous novelist who, while on the way to send his latest manuscript to his agent, involves in an accident on a heavily-snowed road. He is rescued by a nurse, Annie Wilkes, who happens to be one of his fans. Although suffering massive injuries, he recovers little by little under the nursing of Annie, although still has a lot of difficulties to move. However, as time pass by, Paul feels that he is trapped in her home and it turns out that Annie is a really obsessive fan (and a psycho one too). Afterwards, Paul has to think of a plan on how to rescue himself from his manic rescuer.

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Se7en (1995)

Aww...Brad Pitt is still a budding handsome young star alongside the more experienced Morgan Freeman. And that is also how their characters are, one is a veteran cop and another a young detective, called to team up together to solve a series of cold-blooded and sick murder done by a sicko. This movie is where I first know about the Seven Deadly Sins, that is wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony. The murderer chooses his victims according to the sins that they make

as shown by how he kills them and and how the body is found. The cops take on this seven deadly sins theory as they find each body and tries to capture him using this psychological profile (sort of  Criminal Minds lah kan..). This one is really psycho...and with a tragic end indeed.

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The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Another brilliant story of a sick mind, I guess. Awesome too. This movie is an adaptation from a novel. Matt Damon is Tom Ripley, a normal man, perhaps an underachiever, who, in a sequence of events, finds himself trusted by a rich billionaire to go to Italy to find his son, Dickie (Jude Law) and convince him to return home. Now, Ripley, is a brilliant man, unfortunately, as we go along the story, we will learn that he is a master of impersonation, forgery and above all, a dishonest man. Scene by scene, we watch in horror and cringe in fear, although this is not a ghost story, to see Ripley plays his cards and turn all events to his advantage, gaining trust from Dickie and his girlfriend, Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow), just to maintain the wealthy lifestyle Dickie has provided him. When Dickie no longer interested in his continuous company, Ripley manages to spend one last time together on a boat trip that ends in a tragedy. Later on, Ripley takes on Dickie's identity but as he goes along, it is becoming more and more difficult for him to maintain that identity as he stumble upon Marge and other friends of Dickie. Will Ripley survive is acts? Or will he claim another victim? Uff, I hate Ripley more and more until the end of the movie.

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Fermat's Room (2007)

In Spanish, La Habitación de Fermat. I watched this movie on Astro by accident. It's a Spanish movie and of course dialogues in Spanish, but thanks to subtitles, I could enjoy this brilliant thriller. 3 mathematicians and an inventor received a mysterious invitation to a house on a quest to solve an enigma, a mind boggling game. But they have to use pseudonyms for communications based on famous historical mathematicians. So, they become Évariste Galois, Oliva Sabuco, David Hilbert, Blaise Pascal and the host himself uses Pierre de Fermat. When they are all at the house, they finally meet Fermat but shortly as when they start to discuss, Fermat received a call and has to leave. While that, the 4 people left in the room receive a message from a PDA that is left in the room. It is a puzzle and they have to solve it within one minute. They solved it but exceeded the 1-minute given, and they realized that the room shrinks a little bit. Then come more and more puzzle from the PDA, which they have to solve within the given time or else the room will further shrink and becoming smaller. During this, the story behind each people slowly unravelled and we can understand that each of them is linked in some way or he other. They later find out that Fermat is actually invited there too with specific instructions and thus wondering who is the real culprit. Are they all sent there as participants of a math game...or is there more sinister motive involve? Will they find the real culprit? What is the culprit's reason for trapping them there? What really happen to Fermat? Will they all die in the room?   

So, how's the list so far?

Alrighty, I don't want to write a very long post....so, see you in PART 2!

Geez, I'm dying to watch all these movies again!

The Woman In Black

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I like thrillers. Especially action thrillers and psycho thrillers, but not ghostly horror thrillers. Be it Korean, Japanese, Thailand or Malaysian horror movies, it's just the same. Why? Because I won't be watching them good enough...as part of the scenes can only be seen between my fingers. I find it not beneficial to needlessly scare myself with gross images and aimlessly shocking my heart. A bad horror movie, to me, is the one laced with comedy, and those that is full with shocking elements without any solid story lines. 

So, I kinda regretted my decision to watch The Woman In Black without properly knowing that there's ghosts involved. However, I could still accept it (except some that were blocked with my fingers). There's a sensible story line, albeit a simple and direct one, actually, but digestible to the mind. Shocking elements? Not excessive, but good. The proof is the amount of screams by fellow viewers. So, lets go to the story...

I'd say that there are only one main character for the whole story. Arthur Kipps. Kipps is a young lawyer in the 19th century London, troubled and not having peace since the death of his wife while in childbirth. However, their baby survived and is now a cute and adorable 4 year old Joseph. One day, Kipps is assigned to manage an old manor called the Eel Marsh, remotely located on a small island in the marshes, near a village. However, since his arrival to the village, Kipps never receive a warm welcome from the villagers, except for Mr. Daily. 

While working at the house, Kipps is disturbed by many mysterious occurrences, including the sightings of a woman clad in a black dress. However, as he works on the papers in the house, he finds out the secret behind the family who owned the house before and the deaths occurred near the house. The house owners were Alice and Charles Drablow, who lived there with their 7-year-old son. However, their son died because of drowning in an accident in the marshes. The body was never recovered. From the documents in the house, Kipps finds out that there is more in the story of the death and the relationship between the woman in black and the Drablow family.

Meanwhile in the village, child deaths occurred right after the Kipps mysterious sightings of the woman in black. It seems that in the past, there has been many deaths occurring involving the children of the families in the village, including Mr. Daily's son. Those children seems to die in accidental situation, but everybody know that it is not what it looks to be. Little by little, Kipps and Mr. Daily, although he doesn't want to believe it, know that these deaths has everything to do with the woman in black and the hideous history happened in the house before.

Prior to the visit, Kipps has arranged for his son and the nanny to join him in the village. Knowing the story, and the danger that comes with it, Kipps tries to stop them from coming but cannot give them the news. Now, he has to do something to avoid his son from harm. What can he do? Will he succeed? But first of all, what is the story behind the mysterious deaths of the children, and who is The Woman In Black?

In the end, it is rather tragic. However, there is a positive element in the negative outcome. As i would like to conclude, that Kipps is actually doing the woman in black a favour, and the woman in black repays his favour. If you are going to watch this movie, try to see if you will agree with me.

Not bad. And not bad to see Daniel Radcliffe in another suit other than Harry Potter's. Oh, and this movie is actually based on a novel of the same name, authored by Susan Hill and has been adapted in stage plays and television film prior to this movie (source of this statement: wiki).

Haywire

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Haywire is a story of a diabolical scheme gone awry a.k.a. haywire. Mallory Kane is an ex-mariner who works as an agent in a private firm. The firm's boss, Kenneth, who's formerly Kane's boyfriend, assigned her and several other agents, on a covert hostage rescuing mission in Barcelona. Apart from a little slip caused by the capturer's attack, which is then skilfully terminated by Kane, the mission is a success. The hostage, Jiang, is then delivered to the firm's contact, Rodrigo.

The Barcelona mission is supposed to be Kane's last mission with the firm as she wants to resign, but her plan has to hold as Kenneth asks her to take on one important mission before she resigns. She is to pose as a wife to a British agent, Paul in Dublin, as the latter carries his mission with a guy named Studer. Perhaps Kane is having her own doubts as to who Paul really is and what is his actual mission, her own investigations leads her to a barn in Studer's house and found Jiang, the hostage she had rescued before, dead, and on the scene, there's a planted evidence to incriminate her for the deed. Since then, Kane knew that she's been double-crossed. And since then, her mission is becoming personal, as she tries to find out who is actually betraying her, what is the plan and what's the motive, using all her might and abilities.

This movie is an action-thriller in fast pace. It boasts of many famous names such as Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGreggor and Magneto's Michael Fassbender, among others. Gina Carano as Mallory Kane is unknown to me. What I like about this movie is that there are two things less shown in this movie compared to other Hollywood movie of similar genre. One being the over-sensualisation and sexualization of the female character, and the illogical fighting choreography with gravity defying moves or unworldly special effects. To my untrained eyes, the fight scenes are rough but clean, and exciting. The dialogues kinda flat though, and not enough emotion on Kane's character. Probably because she is supposed to be a toughen up ex-mariner or commando.

At the end of the movie, we get to finally know who is the double crosser(s), how they plan it, but motives? Hmm, a little under-developed for a movie which only takes about 90 minutes. But I would like to think that since the higher people in the firm made a double-end deal, both with the government and also the criminal thugs, they need to destroy all related link involves in the process and that means the brightest, strongest and highly skilled agent they have which is Kane. The movie doesn't have enough weight for thinking matter, but enjoy the action! 

The Great Magician

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Famous actors, catchy tagline, got nothing better to do, OK...lets see this movie...without first knowing what kind of movie it is, and so with no expectations other than to be entertained.

Starring Lau Ching Wan, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Zhao Xun, with the theme set around old China of perhaps in the 18th century weaved with a speck of magic and optical illusion, The Great Magician seems to be promising a great story....but, after watching it, for me it's just a light fantasy movie good for releasing stress. So, it's a fantasy movie, don't take it seriously.

Chang Hsien (Tony Leung) is a scholar turned magician (or conjurer) who comes back to China after being abroad for so many years, training in the arts of magic. He returns to set free his old mentor and his mentor's daughter, Yin (Zhou Xun) who is supposedly to be his wife if he didn't go abroad. However both are in the clutches of an 'evil' warlord, General Lei (Lau Ching Wan). The mentor is a prisoner in Lei's castle while Yin has become Lei's 7th wife. Chang Hsien accommodates a run down theater house and turn it into a new and attractive magic show place with his team, while setting the baits to get the general, which scheme is also involving Japanese spies who's all bent to get the general too.

'Evil' warlord as he is, General Lei is also such a sensitive and kindhearted guy when he is around children and especially when he is around Yin, who he tries so much to capture her heart and make her fall for him (but unsuccessful to this day). So much for 'evil' right? Still cares for a woman's feelings. However, Yin, having no love for the general she is forced to marry but stand it anyway for the sake of finding her father's fate and his whereabouts, she managed to somehow 'control' the general from touching her. The general seems to care for her the most while managing his other six wives.

However, General Lei might not be all evil as most of the 'evil' works are done by his right hand man, who is actually the one who holds the mentor in captivity. His motives, other than politically-motivated, also involves finding the scripture of 7 magical wonders. We will find out soon who is the real Japanese spy in question, and who's actually the one who wants to topple General Lei so much. 

For, Chang Hsien, General Lei and Yin, the relationship of these three characters somewhat changes from the earlier part to the end of the movie, when things didn't go exactly as planned and when each character gets to know each other more. And the ending? Darn! This movie is all about fun and good laughs. So don't expect to be awed so much. However, it's still enjoyable with good acting and great CGI. Fun!

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows...hmmm, what can I say about this movie. I am familiar with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's beloved detective, having read quite a number of his Sherlock Holmes stories and enjoy them so much. I haven't seen the first Sherlock Holmes movie in 2009, being a little doubtful about whether it's a direct adaptation from the books or non-related at all (I'm talking about the ones Guy Ritchie directed, played by Robert Downey Jr.). However, I've come to terms with it, so direct adaptation or not, I'll watch it anyway.

True, the characters, the settings, the base of the story has its grounds on the actual series of books but the storyline itself is stand-alone and independent from the previous movie or any of Sherlock Holmes' stories. It's action-packed, smart and funny (on Holmes' eccentricity). In this one, Holmes and Watson face Prof. Moriarty, an evil professor in his attempt to take monetary advantages through the instigation of a world war.

For me, I like the cinematography and The Matrix-like slow-mo (forgive my lack of movie-technical knowledge) in certain parts of the movie. One of the slow-mo scene enhances the portrayal of Holmes' sensitive observation and another scene that I enjoyed was when Holmes and Moriarty is fighting on a balcony, referring their every moves to chess game and then Holmes make a mental analysis on how the fight would end up by considering his disadvantages (due to his injury) and his adversary's strength. I think it's brilliant.

Although Guy Ritchie's version of Holmes in his movie is a man of action and perhaps, adorably crazy compared to the cool, reserved, action-is-saved-for-the-last literature personality, the movie is endearing to watch, and so, I wish to see the previous movie as well. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows? Enjoyed.    

Note: This review lacks so much of worthy description due to the fact (from my point of view) that Sherlock Holmes has a very deep and complex character and personality and this movie version of him is somewhat straddling between his well-known traits and the foreign nature. Please feel free to read this other review, as I totally agree with the writer and he wrote it so well. Enjoy.

Budak Kelantan

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My brother lent me this dvd a long time ago but I only watched it just about 3 weeks ago. I haven't heard of this movie until then. Probably because I was not in the country at that time (the movie was produced in 2008). Anyway, I will write a little bit of the story in here.

From the title, it is unmistakable that the whole story revolves around Kelantanese people, with full Kelantanese dialect spoken by an all-Kelantanese cast. Perhaps I can only recognize Danny (X-Factor) and Bienda from the casts list, the rest I haven't heard before, and one of them might probably be an ex-primary schoolmate of mine. However, acting-wise, I'd say good and natural. 

The story is said to be based from a true story. It tells about 2 Kelantanese young man, Buchek and Jaha, best friends in their childhood reuniting in Kuala Lumpur (KL) after so many years separated. Buchek is a good, pious young man, just graduated from university and selling burgers in KL while looking for a better job. Jaha, on the other hand, is a 'graduate' from Henry Gurney School (a school for juvenile delinquents), living in KL selling drugs and pimping. The story starts with introductions of the two main characters in their own life, until they two meet by chance at Central Market, both unaware of each other activities. For old times sake, Jaha invited Buchek to hang out with him and stay the night at his house. From there, Buchek finally got the gist of Jaha's activities. As he tag along, Buchek experienced being beaten by some rival thugs, tasted cough syrup mixed with drug and saw Jaha picking on women. However, with all that, Jaha still respects Buchek and let him perform his daily prayers.

The climax of a-day-with-Jaha-experience for Buchek is when Jaha and his friend tries to kidnap a Chinese woman who's jogging alone. During the getaway, they have to stop the car as the petrol is running low. While both Jaha and his friend are out of the car, Buchek, who they entrusted to take care of the woman, let  the woman free. Friendship turned cold. At other time, Jaha tries sweet-talking a girl, not knowing that the girl is actually Che Nor, Buchek's girlfriend. Jaha, feeling guilty towards Che Nor and Buchek, wishes to apologize. Buchek, who values his friendship so much and wants to help Jaha to return to the right way, senses that Jaha has a heart with Che Nor. Supressing his own feelings, he tries to coax Che Nor to meet Jaha and to give a chance to Jaha to mend his mistakes but Che Nor (being a sensible woman, to me) adamantly refuse.

After an unfortunate event that leads Jaha into killing a man one night, Jaha is being tracked by the police. While riding away from the police, Jaha met with an accident and died. With Jaha's death, the story ends, (and so is Buchek and Che Nor's relationship, I guess). From the start until finish, the story goes along with Buchek's narration about life and relationships between people and people with its Creator.

In short, the story revolves around the good friendship between two people, who although each lives a different life, they still respect each other and value each other for old time sake. Jaha, who probably never finds true love or meet a woman with high principle such as Che Nor, is perturbed, intrigued or even touched by her, so much so, that it leads Buchek went as far as asking his own girlfriend to accept Jaha (kinda outrageous to me). Buchek, although witnessing his old friend's dark life, instead of shunning away from Jaha, he still tries to save him. From the story too, I think people like Jaha and his friends are a confused lot. As depicted in some scenes, they have no qualms ruining other people's life but they are like vigilantes when a sister of one of their own is disturbed by some thugs.

This story is a real life drama. A reality that is not supposedly related to Kelantanese people only. It's a global reality. Life is all about choosing....of which way to take, or to stay...or to get out of a wrong choice.

Ladies, I am more cautious of my surroundings after watching this movie.

Misteri Jalan Lama

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Sometimes I make a decision to watch a movie based on my 'trust'. It may be the trust on the director, the actors or the producer. Based on my trust to Afdlin Shauki's working mind, I went to watch Misteri Jalan Lama. Afdlin may have said that his latest movie has a sombre tone, different from his other movies, but it didn't make me leave the cinema feeling sombre. Instead, I left feeling entertained.

Two brothers of different personalities undertake a journey back to their hometown for their father's burial. However, in the middle of their journey, they meet with an unexpected accident (not a car accident, ya). Lost, or so they seem, they try to resume their journey despite encountering mysterious people and creatures beyond their (and our) understanding. But finally, we will come to understand the story. It's quite a straight-forward one, actually. Indra and Ilya are the brothers grimm. However, Indra has been estranged from his family for a long time. When their father passed away because of a car accident which happened mysteriously, Indra received a letter previously written by his father to drive Ilya back to their village. Prior to the accident, his father left Ilya a birthday present (which is supposedly to be on the next day, he will be 25), and the present being a strange looking locket. When Ilya hold the locket, it shines and made Ilya sees some kind of vision that he cannot understand. And so, the journey. Indra is portrayed as an ex-car racer turned loser who's always in trouble due to his gambling habits. Ilya is the hope of the family and he helps his father's company to grow and succeed. However, Ilya has several health problems and he also cannot drive. That's why they have to go back together. An unfortunate event caused them to lost their car and they have to continue on foot. In the middle of the forest, scary things happen as well as encounters with two different kinds of ghostly creatures. They seem to be waiting for them, but each with different intentions. What are those creatures? How are they related to the brothers? What is the secret behind the locket...and their father's instruction? We would know it at the end of the movie. But we would have guessed it as the story goes on. We would wonder, does this person actually knows more than what he seems to show?

The story? Quite straight-forward as I have said before and understandable. The actors? Great, the two male leads are not disappointing. The dialogues? Nice and at some point, can make you laugh. Yup, some scenes that are meant to be scary, they do scare me. There are elements of surprise. And some dialogues that are meant to be funny, they do made me laugh. However, I'm kinda intrigued by the scenes at the climax of the story. There is a war. There is suspense. However, I couldn't stand the costume. It made me laugh. Oh, Afdlin...are the costumes meant to make us laugh? Because I did. Personally, I think he could make the costume better and nicer, I think the scenes there deserve more serious tone and perhaps induce some jaw-dropping moments from the audience.

But anyway, a good and entertaining movie. An mystery-fantasy tale of two brothers. 

Alamak...Toyol!

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Desas-desus mengatakan filem ni best! Asalnya aku langsung tak berminat nak tengok cerita ni, boleh terpengaruh pula nak tengok. Lagipun dapat tengok secara percuma, apa salahnya...kalau betul-betul best, aku tak akan teragak-agak untuk tengok sekali lagi walaupun berbayar. (Tapi teragak-agak jugak le kot kalau takde bajet..heheh).

Namun...secara keseluruhannya, filem ni biasa-biasa je. Alamak...Toyol! adalah bergenre komedi tetapi bagi aku, bolehlah gelak sikit-sikit tapi tak sampai pecah panggung perut. Pengalaman menontonnya..hmm, agak menghiburkan tetapi adakalanya aku rasa tak sabar nak tunggu ceritanya habis. Macam bosan sikit. OK, itu secara keseluruhan. Seterusnya .... 

Ringkasan jalan cerita

Pak Umar nak bela toyol supaya dia boleh cepat kaya. Dia beli toyol yang paling murah je dan rupanya tak berbaloi. Disebabkan perjanjian yang telah dipersetujui, Pak Umar tak dapat 'refund' balik toyol tersebut, maka terpaksalah Pak Umar cari pengganti. Fakhrul dan Kudin pula adalah 2 orang pencuri dan peragut yang tidak kompeten dan sentiasa bernasib malang. Suatu hari mereka terjumpa dengan Pak Umar dan dipendekkan cerita mereka mengambil Toyol untuk kepentingan mereka. Dan selepas itu bermulalah episod-episod malang seterusnya bagi Fakhrul dan Kudin bersama toyol mereka yang tidak pandai mencuri itu. Dalam kes yang lain. Farah adalah pembantu kepada Daniel di sebuah syarikat. Suatu hari Farah dapat tahu rahsia hitam Daniel dan cuba untuk membongkarnya tetapi tidak berjaya. Sebaliknya, tindakannya itu meletakkan nyawanya di dalam bahaya kerana konco-konco Daniel memburu Farah untuk membunuhnya. Dalam satu insiden, Fakhrul, Kudin, Toyol dan Farah bertemu. Fakhrul dan Kudin ingin memulangkan Toyol kepada Pak Umar lalu mereka semua mencarinya. Setelah berjumpa, dan berjaya memaksa Pak Umar untuk menerima Toyol kembali, Farah telah diculik oleh si konco-konco. Terus tak jadi pindah. Akhirnya mereka bersatu untuk menyelamatkan Farah. Berjaya atau tidak usaha mereka itu, dan akhirnya milik siapakah toyol itu, boleh tengoklah filemnya.

Jalan cerita, boleh tahan. Pelaksanaan jalan cerita, hmmmmm.

Lakonan

Lakonan adik Toyol boleh dipujilah sebab walaupun dia tak ada dialog pun, gaya dan mimik mukanya berjaya menyampaikan karakter. Lakonan aktor-aktor lain secara individu sebenarnya ok juga. Tetapi entah kenapa tidak ada yang berkesan di hati. Aku berkata sedemikian sebab mungkin aku mengharapkan cerita itu sangat kelakar tetapi hasilnya taklah kelakar sangat. Mungkin juga kerana tiada 'punchline' yang betul-betul berkesan. Mungkin juga kerana elemen-elemen lawak yang ditunjukkan dah ketinggalan zaman.

Apapun, filem ini adalah filem komedi ringan yang 'nonsense', dan kesannya bergantung kepada tahap ke'sensitif'an anda terhadap lawak jenaka. Tiada mesej yang jelas di dalam cerita melainkan sekadar untuk dijadikan sebab, jangan bela toyol kerana ia menyusahkan anda je.

Sekurang-kurangnya, solekan adik Toyol tu boleh dipuji...

Last but not least. the ewww parts...(takde pun takpe lahh) :
a. Adik Toyol menghisap puting Fakhrul
b. Aksi 18SX di rumah Farah, apabila Farah terkejut tengok toyol di depan mata...

...mengenangkan Toyol tu dilakonkan oleh seorang kanak-kanak, aku jadi tak sanggup kadang-kadang nak tengok scenes tersebut..(walaupun point (b) tu takdelah budak tu betul2 tengok ye tak...)

Please...please...i wish for something that could make me go "Wow, this is so funny, yet so brilliant!!".