Monday, July 31, 2017

Wonder Woman 2017


Released Year: 2017
Directed by Patty Jenkins

Casted by:
Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
Chris Pine as Steve Trevor
Robin Wright as Antiope
Danny Huston as General Erich Ludendorff
David Thewlis as Ares
Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta
Elena Anaya as Isabel Maru / Doctor Poison
Lucy Davis as Etta Candy
Saïd Taghmaoui as Sameer
Ewen Bremner as Charlie
Eugene Brave Rock as Chief Napi
Lisa Loven Kongsli as Menalippe
 Story:
In present-day Paris, Diana Prince receives a photographic plate of her during World War I, which prompts her to recall her past. The daughter of Queen Hippolyta, Diana was raised on the hidden island of Themyscira, home to the Amazonian race of warrior women created by Zeus to protect mankind. As a young child, Diana wants nothing more than to train like the rest of her people. Hippolyta shares the Amazonian history with Diana, including how Ares became jealous of mankind and worked to orchestrate its destruction. When the rest of the gods from Mount Olympus attempt to stop him, Ares kills all but Zeus, who manages to hurt Ares enough to force a retreat. Zeus leaves the Amazons a weapon, the "Godkiller", in case Ares should ever return.

Initially forbidding Diana to train, Hippolyta agrees to allow her sister Antiope to train Diana, so long as she trains her harder than any other warrior in the army. As a young woman in 1918, Diana rescues American pilot Captain Steve Trevor after his plane crashes off Themyscira's coast. The island is soon invaded by a German cruiser pursuing Trevor. The Amazons engage and kill all of the German sailors, but Antiope sacrifices herself to save Diana. Interrogated with the Lasso of Hestia, Trevor reveals that a war is raging in the outside world, and that he is an Allied spy. He has stolen a notebook with valuable information from the Spanish chief chemist Isabel Maru, who is attempting to engineer a deadlier form of mustard gas under the orders of General Erich Ludendorff from a weapons facility in the Ottoman Empire. Believing Ares is responsible for the war, Diana arms herself with the "Godkiller" sword, the Lasso of Hestia, and armor before leaving Themyscira with Trevor to find and destroy Ares.

When the two arrive in London, they deliver Maru's notebook to the Supreme War Council, including Sir Patrick Morgan, who is trying to negotiate an armistice with Germany. Diana translates Maru's notes and reveals that the Germans plan to release the deadly gas at the warfront. Although forbidden by his commanders to act, Trevor, with secret funding from Morgan, recruits spy Sameer, marksman Charlie, and smuggler Chief to help prevent the gas from being released. When the team reaches the Western Front in Belgium, they are halted by the enemy lines. Diana pushes alone through no man's land and rallies the Allied forces behind her to liberate the village of Veld. The team briefly celebrates, while Diana and Trevor grow closer romantically.

The team learns a gala will be held at the nearby German High Command. Trevor and Diana each infiltrate the party, he intending to locate the gas and destroy it, she intending to kill Ludendorff, believing he is Ares and that killing him will end the war. Trevor stops her to avoid jeopardizing the mission. Ludendorff unleashes the gas on Veld, killing its inhabitants. Diana blames Trevor for intervening and pursues Ludendorff to a base where the gas is being loaded into a bomber aircraft bound for London. Diana fights and kills Ludendorff but is confused when his death does not stop the war.

Morgan appears, revealing himself as Ares and tells Diana that although he has subtly given humans ideas and inspirations, it is ultimately their decision to cause violence as they are inherently corrupt. Ares destroys the sword, revealing Diana as the true "Godkiller", and Zeus' daughter. Ares fails to persuade Diana to help him destroy humankind to restore paradise on Earth. While the two battle, the rest of Trevor's team destroy Maru's laboratory. Trevor pilots the bomber carrying the gas to a safe altitude and detonates it, sacrificing himself in the process. Ares attempts to harness Diana's rage and grief at Trevor's death by convincing her to kill Maru, but her memories of Trevor cause her to decide that humans have good within them. She spares Maru and kills Ares.

Later in Trafalgar Square, the team celebrates the end of the war. In the present day, Diana sends an e-mail to Bruce Wayne thanking him for the photographic plate of her and Trevor, and reaffirms her mission to protect the world.
 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment
First of all I would like to apologize for not updating this blog such a long time. I even forgot to blog about this movie which I have watched in the cinema. Well, this movie can be said to be the first ever Wonder Woman movie that ever shown in the cinema. The 1974's Wonder Woman is a television film while 2009's Wonder Woman is an animation. 

Since 1996 when the beginning of producing the movie of Wonder Woman, many actresses have been said to be chose / cast / self-recommend to be this superhero: Sandra Bullock, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mariah Carey, Lucy Lawless "actress of Xena the Warrior Princess", Angelina Jolie & Beyonce... However, there's a lot of obstacles which has cause Wonder Woman not able to be on the cinema. Years later the beautiful Gal Gadot becomes the luckiest girl and finally crown herself in the character of Diana Prince.

I'm not really a big fans of DC and definitely i'm not familiar with Wonder Woman's background; all i know is that she's from Amazon and she's kinda the character that was created by DC to fight for market share against Captain America. The whole movie is awesome and the story flow fluently without making the audience feel sleepy (at least I feel so)... Of coz beside appearing in Batman vs Superman, Wonder Woman definitely is the one and only female superhero character in Justice League. Hopefully there will be a second movie of Wonder Woman itself, and Gal Gadot is so hot :) 

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster 葉問 2: 宗師傳奇

 Released Year: 2010
Directed by 叶伟信 Wilson Yip

Casted by:
甄子丹 Donnie Yen as 葉問 Ip Man
洪金寶 Sammo Hung as 洪震南 Nam
黃曉明 Huang Xiao Ming as 黃梁 Leung
熊黛林 Lynn Hung as  張永成 Sing
任達華 Simon Yam as 周清泉 Chuen
樊少皇 Louis Fan as 金山找 Chau
鄭則仕 Kent Cheng as 肥波 Fatso
Darren Shahlavi as Taylor Miller "Twister"
Charles Mayer as 華萊士警司 Wallace
 Story
Wing Chun master Ip Man and his family move to Hong Kong in the mid-1940s after their escape from Japanese-occupied Foshan. There, Ip desires to open a school to propagate his art, as well as make a living during the difficult times, but he has difficulty attracting students due to his lack of reputation in the city. One day, a young man named Wong Leung appears and promptly challenges Ip to a fight, but is easily defeated. Wong leaves humiliated, only to return with some friends to gang up on him. Ip beats them as well. Stunned and impressed by his skills, Wong and his friends become Ip's first students, bringing more disciples to help the school thrive.

Wong is later caught posting promotional posters for the school by some Hung Ga students. One of them challenges Wong to a fight and loses, but his friends take Wong hostage in revenge and demand a ransom from Ip. Ip goes to the local wet market as directed, but the meeting ends in a confrontation with a growing mob of Hung Ga students. Ip and Wong fight their way outside to meet Jin Shanzhao, a martial artist and former bandit, who comes to their rescue with his own gang. The students' master and head of the coalition of Hong Kong martial arts clubs, Hung Chun-nam, arrives to break up the fight. Ip introduces himself, and Hung informs him that before setting up a school, he needs to attend a special fighting ceremony to test his worth. Ip, Wong and Jin are subsequently arrested by Officer Fatso for disturbing the peace but are later released on bail. Hung and Fatso are then shown to be acting as reluctant collectors for the martial arts schools (including Hung's) as part of a protection racket headed by Superintendent Wallace, a corrupt officer in the Hong Kong police.

Ip attends the ceremony and defeats his first challengers, before striking a draw with the last challenger, Hung. Ip is allowed to keep running his school on the condition that he pay his monthly protection fees, but he declines. Hung thus has his students loiter in front of the Wing Chun School and harass anyone interested, causing a street brawl between them and Ip's disciples. Ip is thus forced to close up and move the school nearer to home. Ip soon confronts Hung, who blames him since he wouldn't pay his protection fees, whereas Ip criticizes Hung's management of his students. Hung insists that he is doing what he must and also insists they finish their fight, but during this encounter, Ip stops Hung from accidentally kicking his son as he suddenly appears, earning respect from him. Ip leaves, and the next day, Hung invites him to a British boxing match he has helped to set up, quietly coming to terms with him.

The boxing competition allows for a demonstration by the various martial arts schools to help promote themselves and their Chinese culture. However, the event's star boxer, Taylor "The Twister" Miller, an arrogant, racist and brutal man, openly insults and attacks the students, causing chaos as the masters try to restore order. Hung accepts Twister's challenge to a fight so that he can defend his culture. Although Hung has the upper hand at first due to his wider range of skills, in the second round he suffers a devastating blow that severely disorientates him. As he fights on, he begins to weaken from his asthma and is eventually beaten to death by Twister, as he refuses to concede and allow the man to insult his culture and people. News of Hung's death rapidly spreads throughout the enraged Chinese populace, causing a scandal that spurs Wallace to hold a press conference where he lies that Hung's death was an accident and that he was a weakling who died after a few punches. Twister announces that in order to clear his name he will accept any challenge from the Chinese to participate in a fair, public boxing match, but proceeds to proclaim that he could kill every Chinese boxer in Hong Kong and that he doubts any of the Chinese are brave enough to fight him. Ip Man has already arrived to challenge Twister to a fight.

As his wife goes into labor, Ip finishes training and begins his fight with Twister. Ip exchanges blows with the boxer and seems overwhelmed by the westerner's sheer muscle at first, but begins to make a comeback using his more diverse techniques and great speed. He receives an illegal punch from Twister after the second round's bell, and is also told that kicks would not be allowed due to the judges changing the rules during the match. When it looks like the end, Ip remembers Hung's patriotic spirit and is spurred to go on. He changes his strategy and attacks the boxer's arms to disable him. The fight is brought to a climactic finish as Ip Man rains blow after blow into the knocked-down Twister's face, with flashbacks reflecting the latter's killing of Master Hung. While the Chinese celebrate, Wallace is arrested by his superiors for corruption, as Fatso has secretly reported him. Ip then gives a speech to the audience, stating that despite the differences between their race and culture, he wishes for everyone to respect each other regardless of their status. Both the Western and Chinese audience give him a standing ovation while Twister's manager walks away, unhappy at the defeat. Ip goes home and reunites with his family, including his newborn second son, Ip Ching.

A final scene shows Ip being introduced to a boy named Bruce Lee who wishes to study Wing Chun in order to "beat up people [he does not] like". Ip smiles and simply tells the boy to "come back when [he has] grown up".
 L² Scored: 9/10

L² Comment:
Comparing to the first movie, this time the rival change from Asian to Caucasian. Both Karate & Boxing master has loss to the ultimate Wing Chun. Lol, it might be true or it has been make it up, but this definitely has make a strong impression on Bruce Lee, Ip Man's apprentice, and all his movie was toward this kind of storyline.

Hiroyuki Ikeuchi & Gordon Lam are out from this second movie, replacing by strong and good acting Sammo Hung, Huang Xiao Ming & Kent Cheng; while Darren Shahlavi is a British Persian actor who is actually an expert in Judo. *Note: Darren Shahlavi has passed away in 2015 at his age of 42yo by a fatal heart attack, RIP.

Same comment I'm gonna give since the first movie's review, both Simon Yam & Lynn Hung should be out from the picture as their character is useless and I believe paying them are not cheap as well. I can understand Lynn's character is a continuous, but Simon? He appear less than 3 minutes in the whole film, but maybe he is on a guest appearance form, who knows?

Friday, May 12, 2017

Sara 雛妓

Released Year: 2015
Directed by 邱礼涛 Herman Yau

Casted by:
蔡卓妍 Charlene Choi as 何玉玲 Sara
任達華 Simon Yam as 甘浩賢 Yin
柳俊江 Ryan Lau as Raymond
Sunadcha Tadrabiab as Dok-My
孫佳君 Pauline Sun as 湯媚 May
何華超 Tony Ho as 郭華 Wah
Story:
Sara was sexually abused by her stepfather, Wah during her teenager time and her mother, May kept silence and did not rescue her. Sara runs away from home, earns her own keep and spends her nights in various location with other young girls, including country parks and fast-food joints that stay open 24 hours. While hanging around the Tsim Sha Tsui East promenade late one evening, she meets the gentlemanly, middle-aged Yin. Sara offered Yin a blowjob in terms that Yin has to get her into a good school and a new life she wanted to have.

Both Sara & Yin started this complicated relationship which was well hidden in the society as Yin is a politician and he is married as well. They were together for many years and the relationship has transformed into some sort of love which Yin started to jealous of Sara communicating with other younger guy in her university; Sara not happy that Yin only visit her just for sex... Sara beg Yin to attend her graduation day, while arriving at the university, Yin saw Sara talking to the younger guy and angrily left without Sara noticing, But actually during that time Sara was rejecting the guy and saying that she has a boyfriend whom she love very much. Sara is not happy that Yin did not attend and confronted with him and argument happens...

Sara started her working adult life as a reporter. Year later, she was attached with Raymond but found out he betrayed her on work. Angrily, Sara flew to Chiangmai by herself and met Dok-My who is a prostitute. Sara pity Dok-My and paid her some money for telling her story so that Sara can write an article on it. Sara was surprised when Yin came to look for her but ends up telling her that he is on the final stage of cancer and ask her not to attend his funeral because others might discover their relationship and hurt her instead. Feeling sad on the news but happy to know that Yin still loves her and care about her, she attends Yin's funeral in the end.

Dok-My went to look for Sara in her hotel and realize she has cut her wrist and soaked inside the bath tub. Dok-My safe Sara by getting her to hospital and both girls bond closer to each other. Sara tried to buy Dok-My from the gangster but ends up running from getting kill.  Raymond came all the way from Hong Kong to get Sara back, Sara bid goodbye to Dok-My and received a kiss from Dok-My. Sara proposed her points to the magazine director in writing an article of prostitution and get full support on it. Wah came looking for Sara and tell her that May will be passed away soon. Sara went hospital to look for May; May apologize for not being a good mother and did not protect her during the rape. Sara forgive her and May finally close her eyes forever...

Sara went back to Chiangmai to look for Dok-My but she was no where to be found. Missing Dok-My, Sara went to Dok-My's hometown in Maesai and realized there's a lot of young girls who will be facing the same destiny like her and Dok-My...
L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment
A good movie and first time ever, Charlene shows that she can act. Frankly speaking, I ain't saint, main motive of watching this movie in the first place is for the sex scenes of Charlene & Simon, coz i heard that its damn hot. Well, the sex scenes are ok, but just that it might be Charlene's first time, but it is nothing too spicy about; but the storyline is great as the story was written by 李敏 Erica Li, a famous HK novelist. This movie also won both Charlene & Simon as the best actress/actor in Macau International Movie Festival.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

 Released Year: 2017
Directed by James Gunn

Casted by:
Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord
Zoe Saldana as Gamora
Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer
Bradley Cooper as Rocket
Vin Diesel as Baby Groot
Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta
Kurt Russell as Ego
Karen Gillan as Nebula
Pom Klementieff as Mantis
Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha
Chris Sullivan as Taserface
Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord
Michelle Yeoh as Aleta Ogord
 Story
In 2014, Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Baby Groot are renowned as the Guardians of the Galaxy. Ayesha, leader of the Sovereign race, has the Guardians protect valuable batteries from an inter-dimensional monster in exchange for Gamora's estranged sister Nebula, who was caught attempting to steal the batteries. After Rocket steals some for himself, the Sovereign attacks the Guardians' ship with a fleet of drones. The drones are destroyed by a mysterious figure, but the Guardians are forced to crash-land on a nearby planet. The figure reveals himself as Quill's father, Ego. He invites Quill, who is accompanied by Gamora and Drax, to his home planet, while Rocket and Groot remain behind to repair the ship and guard Nebula.

Meanwhile, Ayesha hires Yondu Udonta and his crew, who have been exiled from the greater Ravager community for child trafficking, to recapture the Guardians. They capture Rocket, but when Yondu shows reluctance to turn over Quill, his lieutenant Taserface leads a mutiny with help from Nebula. Taserface imprisons Rocket and Yondu aboard Yondu's ship and executes his loyalists while Nebula leaves to track down and kill Gamora, whom she blames for all the torture inflicted on her by their father, Thanos. While imprisoned, Rocket and Yondu bond. Groot, together with Yondu's loyalist Kraglin, frees Rocket and Yondu and they destroy the ship and its crew as they escape, though not before Taserface tips off the Sovereign fleet.

Ego explains he is a god-like Celestial, an immortal consciousness that manipulated the matter around it to form the planet with itself at the core. Forming a human guise, he traveled the universe to escape his loneliness and discover a purpose, eventually falling in love with Quill's mother Meredith. Ego hired Yondu to collect the young Quill after Meredith's death, but the boy was never delivered and Ego had been searching for his son ever since. He teaches Quill to manipulate their Celestial power. Nebula arrives at Ego's planet and tries to kill Gamora, but fails and the pair reach an uneasy alliance when they discover caverns filled with skeletal remains. Ego reveals to Quill that in his travels he planted seedlings upon thousands of worlds which can terraform them into new extensions of himself, but they can only be activated by the combined power of two Celestials. To that end, he impregnated countless women and hired Yondu to collect the children; Ego killed them all when they failed to access the Celestial power. Ego forcefully uses Quill to activate the seedlings, which begin to consume every world. Quill fights back after Ego reveals that he deliberately caused Meredith's death, as his love for her distracted him from his purpose.

Ego's pet empath, Mantis, grows close to Drax and warns him, Gamora, and Nebula of Ego's plan just as Rocket, Yondu, Groot, and Kraglin arrive. The reunited Guardians reach Ego's brain at the planet's core, and fight the Sovereign's arriving drones. Rocket makes a bomb out of the stolen batteries that Groot plants on Ego's brain, while Quill battles Ego with his newfound Celestial powers to allow the other Guardians to escape. The bomb explodes, killing Ego and causing the planet to disintegrate. Yondu sacrifices himself to save Quill, who now realizes Yondu did not deliver him to Ego in order to spare him from the fate of Ego's other progeny, and that Yondu was Quill's true "daddy". Having reconciled with Gamora, Nebula still chooses to set out and attempt to kill Thanos. The Guardians hold a funeral for Yondu, which is attended by dozens of Ravager ships, acknowledging Yondu's sacrifice and accepting him again as a Ravager.

In a series of mid- and post-credit scenes, Kraglin takes up Yondu's telekinetic arrow and control fin; Ravager leader Stakar Ogord, inspired by Yondu's sacrifice, reunites with his ex-teammates; Groot starts growing back to normal size, exhibiting typical teenage behavior in the process; Ayesha creates a new artificial being with whom she plans to destroy the Guardians, naming him Adam; and a group of uninterested Watchers listen to their informant discuss several experiences on Earth.
 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:
Wow, I remembered when I watch the vol.1 movie in the cinema, it is awful and I slept most of the time. When I know that the vol.2 is on the big screen, I was like "whatever" and rather wait for Alien instead. But luckily i went to watch the vol.2 in the cinema as well, and kapow, this is so much better than the first movie.

Beside the usual fighting in action scene, the movie has the comedy element in it as well. The whole movie is a bit draggy still, but at least not that boring anymore. Hopefully a pretty well vol.3 will ome out soon~

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Driving Miss Daisy

  Released Year: 1989
Directed by Bruce Beresford

Casted by:
Jessica Tandy as Daisy Werthan
Morgan Freeman as Hoke Colburn
Dan Aykroyd as Boolie Werthan
Patti LuPone as Florine Werthan
Esther Rolle as Idella
 Story
In 1948, Mrs. Daisy Werthan, or Miss Daisy, a 72-year-old wealthy, white, Jewish, widowed, retired school teacher, lives alone in Atlanta, Georgia, except for an African American housemaid named Idella. When Miss Daisy wrecks her car, her son, Boolie, hires Hoke Colburn, an African American chauffeur. Miss Daisy at first refuses to let anyone else drive her, but gradually gives in.

As Miss Daisy and Hoke spend time together, she gains appreciation for his many skills. After Idella dies in 1962, rather than hire a new maid, Miss Daisy decides to care for her own house and have Hoke do the cooking and the driving.

The film explores racism against black people, which affects Hoke at that time. The film also touches on anti-semitism in the South. After her synagogue is bombed, Miss Daisy realizes that she is also a victim of prejudice (religious). But American society is undergoing radical changes, and Miss Daisy attends a dinner at which Dr. Martin Luther King gives a speech. She initially invites Boolie to the dinner, but he declines, and suggests that Miss Daisy invite Hoke. However, Miss Daisy only asks him to be her guest during the car ride to the event and ends up attending the dinner alone, with Hoke insulted by the manner of the invitation, listening to the speech on the car radio outside.

Hoke arrives at the house one morning in 1971 to find Miss Daisy agitated and showing signs of dementia. Hoke calms her down. Boolie arranges for Miss Daisy to enter a retirement home. In 1973, Hoke, now 85, retires. Boolie and Hoke drive to the retirement home to visit Miss Daisy, now 97. As Hoke feeds her pumpkin pie, the image fades, with a car driving away in the distance.
 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment
I have been wanting to watch this Oscar Best Picture for a long time and yes it was one of the recommend movie in Etihad and I happily watch this during my flight time. This movie had gotten a lot of negative criticism of not being great enough to win the best movie that year. Well, beside having soft competitors that year, this movie is not too epic enough comparing to other Best movie that has ever won the title.

But for me, this is just nice... Not necessary all the Best Movie has to be "EPIC" right? The storyline is warm and loving and the title of this movie is enough to attract people's attention. Beside Best Movie, Jessica Tandy's great performance has won herself Best Actress as well... This movie also won Best Screenplay & Best Make-up, total of 4 won in Oscar. :)

Monday, April 24, 2017

Moana


 Released Year: 2016
Directed by Ron Clements & John Musker

Voiced by:
Auli'i Cravalho as Moana
Dwayne Johnson as Maui
Rachel House as Tala
Temuera Morrison as Tui
Jemaine Clement as Tamatoa
Nicole Scherzinger as Sina
Alan Tudyk as Heihei


 Story:
A small pounamu stone that is the mystical heart of the island goddess, Te Fiti, is stolen by the wind and sea demigod, Maui, who plans to give it to humanity as a gift. As Maui makes his escape, he is attacked by Te Kā, a lava demon of Earth and fire, causing his power-granting magical fishhook and the heart of Te Fiti to be lost in the ocean.

A millennium later, Moana, daughter and heir of the chief on the small Polynesian island of Motunui, is chosen by the ocean to receive the heart, but drops it when her father, Tui comes to get her. He insists the island provides everything the villagers need. Years later, a blight strikes the island as fish become scarce and the island's vegetation begins dying. Moana proposes going beyond the reef to find more fish. Tui rejects her request, claiming that sailing past the reef is forbidden.

Moana's grandmother, Tala, shows Moana a secret cave behind a waterfall where she finds boats inside and discovers her ancestors were voyagers, sailing and discovering new islands across the world. Tala explains that they stopped voyaging because Maui stole the heart of Te Fiti, causing monsters to appear in the ocean. Tala then says Te Kā's darkness has been spreading from island to island, slowly killing them. Tala returns the heart of Te Fiti to Moana, which she had recovered after Moana dropped it.

Tala falls ill, and with her dying breaths, tells Moana to set sail. Moana and her pet rooster, Heihei, depart in a drua to find Maui. A manta ray, Tala's reincarnation, follows. After a typhoon wave flips her sailboat and knocks her unconscious, she awakens the next morning on an island inhabited by Maui, who traps her in a cave and takes her sailboat to search for his fishhook. After escaping and catching up to Maui, Moana tries to convince him to return the heart, but Maui refuses, fearing its power will attract dark creatures.

Sentient coconut pirates called Kakamora surround the boat and steal the heart, but Moana and Maui retrieve it. Maui agrees to help return the heart, but only after he reclaims his hook, which is hidden in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters. At Lalotai, they retrieve it by tricking Tamatoa, a giant coconut crab who collects rare sea treasures. Maui teaches Moana how to properly sail and navigate. They arrive at Te Fiti, where Te Kā attacks. Maui is overpowered and Te Kā badly cracks his hook and repels their boat far out to sea. Finally having enough of Moana's meddling and fearful that returning to fight Te Kā will destroy his hook, an angry Maui abandons her.

Distraught, Moana begs the ocean to take the heart and choose another person to return it to Te Fiti. The spirit of Tala comes to her and encourages Moana to find her true calling within herself. Inspired, Moana retrieves the heart and returns to Te Fiti alone. Maui, having had a change of heart, returns and distracts the lava demon, but his hook is destroyed in the battle. Realizing that Te Kā is a corrupted Te Fiti without her heart, Moana asks the ocean to clear a path for Te Kā to approach her. Moana then sings a song to help Te Kā remember who she truly is, and she allows Moana to restore her heart. Te Fiti returns and gives a new boat to Moana and a new magical fishhook to Maui before returning to her island form.

Moana bids farewell to Maui and returns to her recovering island with Heihei. Later, the villagers and Moana (who becomes their new chief) begin voyaging and set sail in search of new islands, as Maui and Tala accompany them in their giant hawk and manta ray forms, respectively.

In a post-credits scene, Tamatoa, who has been stranded on his back during Moana and Maui's escape, tells the audience they would help him if he was a Jamaican crab named Sebastian.


 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment
A great production from Disney again :) This time a Polynesian's myth was brought into the cartoon. The myth is actually the demigod Maui, but disney as usual, they will focus more on a female character, that's why Moana's character occur...Love the storyline as its not like the usual Disney "princess & prince", but a bravery of a girl attracted me... And it has gross a lot, nice job :)

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Pokémon 4Ever: Celebi - Voice of the Forest 劇場版ポケットモンスター セレビィ 時を越えた遭遇(であい

Released Year: 2001
Directed by 湯山邦彥 Kunihiko Yuyama

Voiced by:
 松本梨香 Rica Matsumoto & Veronica Taylor as Ash Ketchum (Satoshi)
飯塚雅弓 Mayumi Iizuka & Rachael Lillis as Misty (Kasumi) 
上田祐司 Yūji Ueda & Eric Stuart as Brock (Takeshi) 
戶田惠子 Keiko Toda & Tara Sands as Sam (Young pro Oak) 
 林原惠 Megumi Hayashibara & Rachael Lillis as Jessie (Musashi) 
三木真一郎 Shin-ichiro Miki & Eric Stuart as James (Kojirō)
犬山犬子 Inuko Inuyama & Maddie Blaustein as Meowth (Nyarth) 
 Story:
The film focuses on Celebi, who travels to the future with a boy named Sam while being chased by a hunter. Meanwhile, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu are on their way to the next gym in their Johto journey and get a lift from a man named Maki, who takes them to his hometown of Arborville. They see a Suicune (who was actually the first Pokémon Ash saw in Johto). When they plan to enter a forest that is claimed to have many unusual and rare Pokémon, they are warned by an elderly lady about the "Voice of the Forest", which may carry a person off to a different period in time unless those hearing it stand still.

Ash finds Sam alone in the forest, as Celebi has fled. Sam awakens and discovers he is forty years in the future from when he was. He, Ash, and the others search for Celebi and they find it in a tree. After some convincing, the gang manage to gain Celebi's trust. They run into a high-ranking member of Team Rocket, the Iron Masked Marauder, who has been trying to capture Celebi. Jessie, James, and Meowth also team up with the Iron Masked Marauder to capture Celebi.

The heroes take Celebi to its home, the Lake of Life, where it is healed by the water. The group spend the night in the forest. The next day, Celebi is captured by the Iron Masked Marauder and is turned evil by the Dark Ball, a ball with special powers that turns the captured Pokémon evil, and immensely strengthen and magnify all of their abilities to the highest power level. Ash attempts to save Celebi by climbing the Marauder's robot, which falls over and throws them both out. Ash lands on the ground, but the Marauder begins to step on his hand; it keeps doing this until Ash falls unconscious. The Iron Masked Marauder orders Celebi to create a giant monster from parts of the forest, as he reveals his true plan is to overthrow Giovanni and take control of Team Rocket now that he has a legendary Pokémon to destroy him for good. The heroes chase after Celebi in Maki's flying boat, but are brought down by the evil Celebi's attacks. The Iron Masked Marauder tries to kill Ash and Sam, but Suicune saves them. Brock sends out his Onix, and it and Suicune do battle with the Masked Marauder's evil Tyranitar, while Ash, Sam, and Pikachu clamber into Celebi's creature and manage to get Celebi to remember its memories, successfully bringing Celebi back to normal, and destroying the Iron Masked Marauder's Dark Balls in the process, releasing his Scizor, Sneasel, and Tyranitar.

With the collapse of the giant monster, the Iron Masked Marauder falls into the lake. The other heroes rush to the lake's edge and find Ash and Sam with Celebi, who suddenly falls limp. Ash and Sam realize Celebi is dead and everyone weeps, while the Pokémon of the forest howl in grief. However, the Voice of the Forest materializes in the sky and numerous of Celebi appear and resurrect Celebi. The Iron Masked Marauder suddenly appears and kidnaps Celebi and flies up with a jetpack, but Ash and Pikachu hold onto him as he flies away. Pikachu destroys the Masked Marauder's jetpack with a "ThunderBolt" attack and they fall to the ground, but Celebi saves them. The Iron Masked Marauder falls onto the forest floor (losing his mask and Dark Balls in the process) and is confronted by the old woman, her granddaughter Diana, Maki, and all the Pokémon of the forest.

Celebi prepares to bring Sam back to his own time. He has an emotional farewell with Ash and departs with Celebi. Before Ash leaves the town into his next journey, he talks to Professor Oak about what happened, and muses about the story. Professor Oak tells a sad Ash that he and Sam are going to be friends forever as true, strong and close friendships can withstand the test of time.

Ash, Brock, and Misty realise they never told Professor Oak Sam's name, but are soon distracted by the departing boat. Professor Oak is then shown with the sketch-book from earlier in the film, revealing that Professor Oak (whose first name is Samuel) is the grown-up Sam. He finally reveals it happened like it was only yesterday, after musing on a sketch he drew of a sleeping Pikachu and Celebi.

At the end of the film, Jessie (who got caught in Celebi's powerful wind when it was ordered to create the giant monster from the Marauder's control) is seen laying in the Lake of Life and feeling relaxed. Then, James and Meowth arrive on a raft to rescue her. Suddenly, the Tyranitar (who still has its powers increased to the highest level) emerges from the lake and attacks them, destroying their raft. As the Tyranitar swims away, the Scizor and Sneasel watch from the trees as they both leave and disappear into the fog. Team Rocket all come out of the water with Meowth saying he's all tingly, including James. As all three lay together in the water, they all say "Looks like Team Rocket's floating away," and all make a refreshed "Ah!"
 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment
The 4th movie of Pokemon and it brought out the gen 2 legendary pokemon - Celebi & Suicune. Entei has shown itself in the 3rd movie as the only one legendary pokemon in the movie. Though both legendary occurs, Celebi is carrying a much more important role and shown its greater power (after being evilize) and it can simply beat down Suicune. 

One thing I feel a bit weird on this movie is about Ash. Of course he is still the main human character in the movie, but his feeling to Celebi seems to be much greater than Sam, another boy who save Celebi... Indirectly i feel its kinda fake lol~