Been wanting to see how this anti-hero movie develops and ends, and true to most of the reviews I read online, disappointing.

Hancock tells the tale of a superhero who is very much like Superman (minus the x-ray eye and ice breath) who uncharacteristically does more harm than good to the city he yearns to protect. Thus, come the story of redemption only to find that while it could be done, he is never alone.

At first, it definitely sounds great, but once the cliche of the plot and novelty wears off, there really ain’t much too see as yet another summer flick. Actions are mundane, and dialogs boring.

I’d only rate it a 5.0/10.0

Why so serious?

I really do not feel like penning down my miserable take on this movie for I know I’ll do it no justice at all. At all! Every single minute of the 153 short minutes were worth double the ticket price. It was simply mind blowing, a perfect concoction.

The last time I watched a superhero movie with more than one villain (think Spider-man 2 & 3), the plot and storyline went awry. It was as if the writer couldn’t decide on whom the focus should be on. This however, with so many other sub stories going on at the same time, managed to pull everything together.

But overall, think as many on the world wide web has echoed, Heath Ledger performance as The Joker was simply brilliant! Definitely made all the previous Jokers looked like, well, clown.

I really wish to continue writing my take on this, but the tremendous pleasure and excitement that continues to linger in me after more than 24 hours of watching it, I think I should stop writing.

After all, WHY SO SERIOUS? 9.5/10.0

Maybe we have really watched them all, maybe just.

Yet another comic book adaptation. Not going to go into lengthy review of this. Just want to highlight that, 30 minutes into the show, you should start seeing similarities in the plot, framing, characters development, choreograph, heck even the CG monsters! Maybe it’s really because there is an overdosed of fantasy films for the past decade. Or maybe it’s because it’s by Guillermo del Toro Góme who brought us Pan’s Labyrinth.

But nevertheless, it’s quite entertaining if you are able to forgive all the above have-seen-it-all. A weak 5.0/10.0 from me I guess.

Raw actions that put WWE to shame! Really!

The Incredible Hulk

The story continues from the dismay first episode by Ang Lee. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton), now hiding in Brazil, while searching for a cure of his gamma infection, learn jiujitsu for his breathing technique and work in a soda factory. It’s only up to fate that a single drop of his blood made it to an old man (cameo by Stan Lee) refrigerator in the state that he is traced. So the hunt began – and so we see Green Hulk again!

Then come Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), 39 and feels that it is no fair fight for him against Hulk. Unfortunately, a mistake by the over zealous General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt), Blonsky is transforms into a super soldier.

The round 2 of the fight is perhaps the most fun as it happens in the open area of a university and much more clearer. Of course, Hulk wins the day only to further anger Blonsky to go all the way to round 3.

Round 3 is all raw power which reminds me of how similar it is to Iron Man – a fight against the bigger version of itself. Yes, the Abomination is simply the bigger (and uglier) and stronger version of Hulk. Then on, it is all brute strength against each other!

To me, the selling point of the movie is all the strength displays (or CG) couples with all the overwhelming sounds of fist clashing, cars exploding and innocent passer by screaming! The second will be how streamlined Marvel controls over the movie is – it begins with Stark Industry making an appearance in the weapon blue print and ends with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) inviting General to the team!

For all the raw fight, I’d give it a weak 5.5, but probably the possibilities of finally seeing everything being pieced together, it’d get notch up another .5, 6.0/10.0 from me!

If you think this is yet another coming of age story, well, you’re right! But don’t brush it off just yet! (And that’s my warning to you.)

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda is about the noodle making Panda, aptly named Po (Jack Black) who is pretty much useless when it comes to every other thing in life – except of course for dreaming to become a Kung Fu master. For one reason or another, Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) decided that he should be the Dragon Warrior who should ultimately bring peace to the Valley of Peace (duh!).

True to how ancient master of Kung Fu speaks, Oogway is more Yoda than Yoda himself; full of mystery and subtle guidance waiting for you to find out your own path.

Then there are the Fearsome Five – Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Jackie Chan) & Crane (David Cross) – along with their Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), a red panda. No doubt, Tigress is the most disappointed character with the appointment of this fat panda as the Dragon Warrior while Shifu remains very disturbed.

Then there is the ultimate incarnation of evil who shares a beloved tale with the Shifu. And that’s - Classic. Chinese. Style. Kung Fu. Paradigm! The Snow Leopard, Tai Lung (Ian McShane)!

So in the end, the tale is complete when Po does indeed come to age delivering peace for the valley and Shifu’s. Nice setup? Well, I’ve a few take away points.

First, what really strike me on how entertaining the movie is how well the Chinese Kung Fu/Wu Xia elements are properly presented in the movie! It’s certainly one notch up all the previous Chinese Kung Fu wannabe Hollywood productions! The effort is something which I fore mostly appreciate!

Second, the jokes are HILARIOUSLY funny - which was definitely very surprising for me (at least). I was definitely expecting a comedy, but never such level! The jokes are slaps on your face, but they are simply funny because they are simply a slap on your face. Not trying too hard may be the right way to describe them! And the other best part is on all the subtle jokes throughout the movie – like the fact that all the villagers are either pig, goose or rabbits, and why is a panda’s dad a goose?!

Third, animation is just top notch. Not a single moment was I losing focus from the big screen (though my friends and I were on the unfortunate first row).

And the moral of the story? Be yourself!

To sum it up, I won’t hesitate to bestow it a high 8.0/10.0 for all the ingredients are in the right place and brewed to its best!

The Summer (of Superheroes) 2008 began with Iron Man. I was impressed, but not blown away.

Iron Man - 2008

Tony Stark was definitely a good character to follow. Witty at all time, genius at every other corner. Heck, he was even cool when facing predicament. A millionaire weapon maker who later became a prisoner of a terrorist group, only to build himself an Arch generator to keep himself alive, and finally built the first prototype for his escape. After escaping, he realised what the world needs and how he can help it. Thus, we’ve iron man!

Throughout the whole show, it was very enjoyable to watch the character, Iron Man, being built. Tony Stark was developed, not Iron Man. All the CGs were great and definitely an eye feasta. The details are so great, that at times, I really believe such a suit can exists.

The fight scenes (of course, this is a superhero movie, there’s definitely fight scenes) were great. Though I only really enjoyed the one against the two F-22. Not the finale against the bigger prototype. Think it was just too plain and straight brute force at the end. The F-22 chase scene on the other hand was very interesting and kept me surprise at almost all times. Heck, the phone calls were one heck of a laugh!

Thought having said so much, pardon me one thing though, my initial contact with Iron Man was through some crappy animated cartoon from the 80s/early 90s. That’s all I know. Guess there’s much to learn!

Maybe next time, we’d see War Machine. This time round, 7.5/10.0. Hope it’s a good start of Summer (of Superhero) 2008!

This is definitely one great summer to be looking forward to. Last year, we had Fantastic 4/Silver Surfer, X-Men, Spider-man , Superman, Ghost Rider, Harry Potter and Transformer. Arguably, only Transformer delivered for me. Kind of disappointing isn’t it, out of so many big names that is.

Anyway, being optimistic, I hope this summer, Summer (of Superheroes) 2008, will deliver! To start the list rolling, we’ve the following.

1. Iron Man
2. The Dark Knight
3. Hulk
4. Hancock
5. Indiana Jones
6. Hellboy 2
7. Speed Racer

Lets keep a close watch on these shall we?