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 :) 

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?

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~

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

 Released Year: 2016

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson

Casted by:

Milla Jovovich as Alice

Ali Larter as Claire Redfield

Shawn Roberts as Albert Wesker

Ruby Rose as Abigail

Eoin Macken as Doc

William Levy as Christian

Iain Glen as Dr. Alexander Isaacs

李準基 Lee Joon-gi as Lee

Rola as Cobalt

Ever Gabo Anderson as Alicia Marks / Red Queen

Fraser James as Michael / Razo

 Story:

Picking up three weeks after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice awakens in the now-ruined White House, after being betrayed once again by Albert Wesker. While searching for survivors, the Red Queen appears and tells Alice that she must return to the Hive in Raccoon City within 48 hours, where the Umbrella Corporation has developed an airborne antivirus, which will kill every organism infected by the T-virus, before the remainder of humankind is wiped out. When asked why she's betraying her creators, the Red Queen simply says that she will tell Alice once she arrives at The Hive. During flashbacks, it is revealed that Dr. James Marcus, the original founder of the Umbrella Corporation, had a daughter who was dying of premature aging. Marcus, desperate to save her, developed the T-virus as a way to cure all diseases on Earth. After having had his creation taken away from him, Marcus' business partner Dr. Alexander Isaacs tried to convince Marcus to use the T-virus for military purposes. When he refused, Isaacs ordered Wesker to kill Marcus.

On her way to Raccoon City, Alice is captured by Isaacs, long thought to be dead. Isaacs tells her that the one she killed was a clone, and decides to toss her to a horde of zombies trailing his armored vehicle, but Alice escapes via a motorcycle carried within it. Alice later arrives in the now-destroyed Raccoon City and is captured by a group of survivors, consisting of Doc, Abigail, Christian, Cobalt, Razor, and Claire Redfield, who is revealed to be alive after the attack on Arcadia. After learning that a group of armored vehicles and a horde of zombies is coming their way, the group prepares to make their last stand. With the help of Abigail, they manage to defeat the enemy forces, although Cobalt is killed in the process. The group later realizes that a second horde is coming in their direction.

With no defenses left, Alice and the crew decide to get to the Hive entrance, located at the bottom of the atomic bomb crater which destroyed the city. However, Wesker, having taken control of the Hive, releases mutated guard dogs, killing Christian. Upon arriving at the Hive, the Red Queen appears again and explains the reason of her betrayal. It is revealed that someone uploaded a video recording of the Umbrella executives, including Isaacs, formulating a plan to release the T-virus on purpose in order to cleanse the world, save the rich and powerful with cryogenic capsules hidden in the Hive, and later rebuild the world in their image. The Red Queen, although programmed to never hurt an Umbrella employee, was also programmed to value human life, which is why she enlists Alice's help in order to stop Isaacs. The Red Queen also warns Alice about one of the group being a spy for Umbrella.

Upon entering the Hive's air chamber, Wesker activates the power, causing the fan to spin and kill Abigail. In the ventilation ducts, Alice and Razor fall into a trap, pitting them against a BOW. Razor is devoured by the BOW, but Alice kills it. Meanwhile, Claire falls into a glass confinement cell but manages to escape. Alice reunites with Doc, plants bombs in the Hive's core, and comes face to face with the real Dr. Isaacs, only for her and Claire to be captured by Wesker and Doc, who is Umbrella's spy. A cyrogenic capsule opens, containing Alicia Marcus, co-leader of the Umbrella Corporation and daughter of Dr. Marcus. It is revealed that Alice is a clone of Alicia, which explains her lack of memories before she awoke in The Hive. Isaacs also reveals his plans to eliminate Alicia and take over as the sole leader of the Umbrella Corporation. However, as Alicia is still in control, she "fires" Wesker, causing the Red Queen to recognize him as a civilian and crush his legs with a security door. Doc tries to shoot Alice, but his gun is empty - as Alice had deduced his treachery earlier - and he is shot dead by Claire.

Encouraged by Alicia's words, Alice and Claire fight Isaacs, who is genetically enhanced. Alice detonates a grenade in Isaacs' pocket, causing it to severely injure him. Alice retrieves the antivirus and heads outside. As she tries to release the antivirus, Isaacs, still alive, stops her, but the Isaacs who met Alice en route to Raccoon City - yet another one of his clones - arrives and kills him before being devoured by the zombies. With a few seconds to spare, Alice releases the antivirus, killing all the zombies and presumably herself. The bombs planted within the Hive explode, killing Alicia, Wesker, and everyone within it.

Claire later wakes Alice, revealed to be alive. The Red Queen explains that the antivirus merely killed the T-virus within Alice's body, ensuring her survival, and gives Alice an upload of all Alicia's memories of childhood, granting her a fully human existence. Alice drives off on an Umbrella motorcycle, stating that the antivirus could take several years to reach all corners of the globe and until then, her mission isn't over, as several BOWs pursue her.

 L² Scored: 10/10 

L² Comment: 

Though we only able to watch this movie at the big screen near the end of January 2017, this movie has actually being released in Japan on 26th Dec 2016, so I have to indicate the released year as 2016 in my blog here. Same as "Underworld", this series of movie has come to an end for total of 6 installment since 2002, 1 extra movie comparing to Underworld.

Of course Resident Evil is a much more better movie comparing the both, having the game released all these while with the movie has easily boost up the ticket selling worldwide.This finale movie explained the root of the T-Virus and Ali Larter was back as well :) I'm a bit relieved when I didn't see the bitchy Michelle Rodriguez but a bit disappointed of Lee Bing Bing not appearing instead. The producer still consider about the Asian's market and plot in the Korean celebrity Lee Joon Gi in it this time. The whole movie has begin with a good start and brought several peak moment in it, finally ends well. Good Work Milla Jovovich, hope that we will able to see more of her great work coming but not only the Resident Evil series :)

Underworld: Blood Wars

Released Year: 2016

Directed by Anna Foerster

Casted by:

Kate Beckinsale as Selene

Theo James as David

Tobias Menzies as Marius

Lara Pulver as Semira

James Faulkner as Cassius

Charles Dance as Thomas

Bradley James as Varga

Clementine Nicholson as Lena

Peter Andersson as Vidar

Daisy Head as Alexia

Story:

The remaining vampire covens are on the verge of being wiped out by the Lycans. Both species are searching for Selene: the vampires seeking justice for the deaths of Viktor and Marcus, and the Lycans, led by Marius, intending to use her to locate Eve, whose blood holds the key to building an army of vampire-werewolf hybrids.

Semira, a council member of the Eastern Coven, wishes for Selene to be granted clemency so that the latter can train the Eastern Coven's neophyte Death Dealers. To that end, she enlists Thomas to plead Selene's case before the full council. Thomas succeeds and Selene arrives at the Eastern Coven with David. Selene is betrayed by Varga, Semira's ally and lover, who poisons the former and slaughters the Death Dealers at the behest of Semira. Semira begins draining Selene of her blood, which she intends to drink to gain Selene's power, but is interrupted when Thomas and David come to Selene's rescue. In the ensuing fight, Thomas is killed delaying Semira and Varga so that David can escape with an incapacitated Selene.

The pair seeks refuge with the Nordic Coven. They are pursued by Alexia, an Eastern Coven vampire dispatched by Semira, who consumes the blood from Selene and strengthened by its ingestion but unfamiliar with the enhancements. Selene and David arrive at Vador, the stronghold of the Nordic Coven, where Vidar, the Elder, reveals that David was the son of the High Elder Amelia, making him the legitimate heir to the Eastern Coven.

The Nordic Coven is attacked by Marius and the Lycans, who were alerted by Alexia, Marius's mole and lover. The Nordic vampires, led by Vidar's daughter Lena, fight with Selene and David. Selene engages in single combat with Marius, who demands to know Eve’s location; Selene insists she does not know the location, being confirmed by Alexia by tasting some of Selene's blood. Marius sounds the retreat for his troops and Selene, no longer wishing to live, slides herself under the now-broken ice of the lake.

Upon Alexia's return to the Eastern Coven's castle, she informs Semira of the events at the Nordic Coven. Semira kills her, revealing to have always known of Alexia's treachery, and has been manipulating Alexia for her own ends. David returns to the Eastern Coven and presents himself as its rightful heir. Semira is arrested by none other than Varga, whose ultimate loyalty is to the rightful leadership of the coven. She is subsequently imprisoned in the dungeons. The coven comes under attack by Marius and his forces. The Lycans blow holes in the castle's walls, letting in sunlight, killing most of the vampires. David continues fighting, only to find himself face to face with Marius. Selene suddenly reappears, wearing a Nordic appearance and coat over her normal Death Dealer uniform. It is revealed that the Nordic Coven revived her and in doing so enabled her to develop new abilities. She swiftly begins dispatching the Lycans, as the rest of the Nordic Coven, led by Lena, join the fight. While Selene is making her way through the castle, the guards in the dungeons are killed by Semira, who then escapes from her cell. Selene and David find Marius, but David is waylaid by Semira. As Marius and Selene's fight continues, a drop of Marius's blood lands on Selene's lips. She is suddenly flooded by a series of blood memories in which Marius finds Michael. She sees Marius capturing Michael and slitting his throat in order to collect his blood and consume it. Believing that Michael is dead, she bites her own wrist, using her own blood memories of the time she has spent with Michael, Eve, and David to fuel her rage. Although Marius has transformed, Selene rips out his spine, killing him instantly. David manages to kill Semira. He shows Marius's severed head to the Lycans, who decide to retreat.

In the aftermath, Selene, David, and Lena are chosen as the new Elders. It is revealed that after being resurrected at the Nordic Coven, Selene was reunited with Eve, who has been following her mother.

L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

This should be the final installment of this movie which i finally scored it a 10/10 on this one and only movie out of the whole series. To me, Underworld all these while is a good movie but not really that great comparing to others series of movie. From the first movie 2003 till 2016, 13 years have passed and our Beckinsale is getting older, maybe its better to end the series after all when it is doing well instead of leaving us a bad memory instead :)

Underworld: Awakening

 Released Year: 2012

Directed by Måns Mårlind & Björn Stein

Casted by:

Kate Beckinsale as Selene

India Eisley as Eve

Theo James as David

Michael Ealy as Detective Sebastian

Kris Holden-Ried as Quint

Charles Dance as Thomas

Stephen Rea as Dr. Jacob Lane

 Story: 

Six months after the events of Evolution, both the government and the general public have become aware of the vampire and lycans existence. A program to study and potentially harness their powers soon escalates into an all-out genocide. Shortly after the "Cleanse" begins, Selene and Michael are captured by humans. Due to her enhanced vampiric traits, she is imprisoned in cryogenic suspension.

After being frozen for twelve years, during which both species have been hunted to the brink of extinction, Selene manages to escape. She soon learns that another subject, whom she initially believes to be Michael, has also escaped. While making her way through the high-tech facility, Selene has visions from someone else's point of view. Believing that Michael is mentally guiding her, she follows these "visions", leading her down a garbage chute into a labyrinthine series of basement tunnels. Here she encounters a young vampire named David, who has been tracking her. They quickly realize that the tunnels are infested with Lycans, who are hunting the subject Selene is connected with. Determined to reach Michael, Selene fights her way through the Lycan pack until she reaches the second escapee: not Michael, but a frightened and confused young girl named Eve.

Using David's van, Selene, David and Eve make their way out of the facility, only to be attacked once again by a trio of Lycans. David manages to shoot a lycan while Selene stabs another; the third smashes its way into the rear of the vehicle, where it bites Eve's shoulder. This triggers Eve's partial transformation, revealing her hybrid traits, as she savagely rips the creature's head in half. Selene realizes that Eve is her and Michael's daughter. Eve is believed to be the key to ending the war by "curing" both the vampiric and lycanthropic "infections". However, despite her hybrid nature Selene soon realizes that Eve's bite wound is not healing and she is rapidly growing weaker. David agrees to take the pair to his coven.

The remaining vampires realize that Eve’s weakness is due to her having not fed in a long time. After reluctantly drinking some blood, Eve's wound heals. Recognizing that the coven does not want her there, Selene gets ready to leave. David tries to convince her to stay and help them start an offensive against the humans by training some Death Dealers, but before she makes up her mind, the coven comes under attack by Lycans. Selene joins the fight and kills many lycans. She then finds herself facing a "Super-Lycan" that heals instantly and is not affected by silver. She is knocked unconscious and awakens later to find that Thomas, David's father, has surrendered Eve to the Lycans in return for them leaving. David dies but is resuscitated. Selene confronts a human detective named Sebastian, who is sympathetic to the vampires due to his now dead wife being a vampire. Sebastian confirms that the Lycans have been traced to Antigen, the corporation dedicated to killing off the immortal species. It is also revealed Antigen run the facility from which Selene had earlier escaped.

Selene discovers that Antigen is actually run by Lycans, who have been posing as humans in order to trick the world's governments into believing the Lycans are extinct. The director of Antigen, Dr. Jacob Lane, is trying to perfect the Lycan race and wants Eve's DNA to do so. The "Super-Lycan" Selene faced earlier is identified as Quint – Lane's son and the prototype for Lycan modifications. Selene and Sebastian infiltrate Antigen to stop Lane's plan and manage to save Eve. Selene comes across Subject 0, she then realizes it to be Michael and attempts to free him by shooting his cryogenic tank. Selene is forced to leave the thawing Michael in order to stop the Lycans from escaping with Eve. After confronting Lane and his son, Selene and Eve return to Michael's tank and find it empty with the ice shattered. Selene states that the world will be hunting Michael and the pair vow to find him first.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

When I stepped into the cinema and watch the final installment movie series of Underworld, I realized that I have not watch the forth installment of this series at all. So I cheated and postpone the post that I should be blogging on "Underworld: Blood Wars" until I watch this :p hehe

Well the 3rd installment movie, Selene was not the main cast which is a bit upset me. But seeing Beckinsale back in here is a big excitement. The time flew and it was 12 years later after the previous 2nd installment movie. Selene was in her deep sleep and never realize her lovable man has gone; but luckily they fuck enough to have a new hybrid baby of their own. The series added in some new character especially Theo James whom is much more hotter than Scott Speedman :) Eve, Selene's daughter appearance has spice up the whole movie as well. But all these while I have feel some scenes or action of Underworld are familiar, after this installment, I confirmed that it is so "Resident Evil" lol~ but of coz Kate Beckinsale definitely hotter than Milla Jovovich.

The Great Wall 長城

Released Year: 2016

Directed by 张艺谋 Zhang Yi Mou 

Casted by:

Matt Damon as William Garin

景甜 Jing Tian as 林梅 Commander Lin Mae

Pedro Pascal as Pero Tovar

刘德华 Andy Lau as 王军师 Strategist Wang

Willem Dafoe as Ballard

鹿晗 Lu Han as 彭勇 Peng Yong

张涵予 Zhang Hanyu as 邵殿帅 Commander Shao

彭于晏 Eddie Peng as 吴将军 Commander Wu

林更新 Lin Gengxin as 陈将军 Commander Chen

黄轩 Huang Xuan as 邓将军 Commander Teng

 Story:

During the Song dynasty, a few miles north of the Great Wall, William, Tovar, and three other survivors from a European mercenary group searching for black powder are pursued by Khitan bandits. Upon escaping they seek refuge in a cave, but are attacked by a shadowy monster, leaving only William and Tovar alive, the former having slashed off the monster's hand. The next day, they stumble upon the Great Wall and are taken prisoner by Chinese soldiers, who are led by General Shao, General Lin, and Strategist Wang. The officers have been preparing for a monster invasion which happens once every sixty years. However, they are frightened upon seeing the monster's hand, identified as a member of the Taotie species, as they believed the invasion was still weeks away. Suddenly, a wave of monsters attack the Great Wall, and the soldiers respond with archery, ballistas, and catapaults which throw burning rocks. Lin leads a company of female soldiers who jump off the Wall and are pulled back with elastic cords. The monsters are more intelligent and numerous than the soldiers' expectations, but are repelled with William and Tovar's assistance, which earns the soldiers' respect. Later, William and Tovar meet Sir Ballard, a European who, like them, had ventured east twenty-two years ago in search of black powder, which might be sold for a fortune back in Europe. However, Ballard was also taken prisoner, and has been serving as an English and Latin teacher. The three men discuss plans to steal black powder from the store-room and flee while the soldiers are occupied by battle.

During the night, two monsters manage to climb the Great Wall and kill a guard. Shao and Lin lead a platoon to investigate, but they are ambushed and Shao is killed, leaving Lin in charge. Around this time, an envoy from the capital, Bianliang, arrives with an ancient scroll, which suggests that the monsters are pacified by magnets. To test this theory, William suggests that Lin should capture a monster alive using harpoons laced with sedatives, and delays his escape plans to help. At the next battle, several monsters are ensnared, and William bravely slides down a chain to ensure that an ensnared monster is not freed by other monsters. Tovar delays his escape to assist William, to Ballard's disappointment. The soldiers resist the monsters by fighting vertically along the Wall while tied to a chain, and by using spinning mechanical blades. As the monsters are too numerous, Lin resorts to using black powder rockets, whose existence had been a secret. After the battle, the captured monster is taken to the capital by the envoy. A short while later, a hole is discovered in the base of the Great Wall, which the monsters have used as a bypass, a reflection of their cleverness. While Lin investigates, Tovar and Ballard try to escape, and knock William unconscious for resisting. Some distance away, Ballard abandons Tovar, stealing his horse, but is captured by the Khitans, who accidentally ignite a bomb killing themselves and Ballard. Tovar reclaims the horses, but is captured by Chinese riders.

Knowing that the monsters are nearing the capital, Lin orders the use of an unstable technology, namely hot-air balloons, to reach the capital more quickly. Most of the balloons catch fire and the soldiers fall to their deaths. William boards the last balloon with Wang, following Lin to the capital, where they find most of the city already ruined. However, they think of a plan to kill the queen monster by tying explosives to the captured monster from earlier, and giving the monster meat to deliver to the queen. The three people climb a tower to shoot a black powder rocket to detonate the explosives, during which Wang is killed. Two rockets fail, but the third succeeds, after William throws a magnetic stone at the queen right before the rocket hits. In the aftermath, Lin is promoted to regional marshal, and William forgoes a reward in exchange for freeing Tovar. The two are allowed to return to Europe and a contingent of cavalry are sent to protect them.

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

This is the first english-language movie that is directed by Zhang Yi Mou in his 33 years of being a director. He has won a lot of awards in Asian but can he won one from the Western country by this movie, let's see... Using the same concept of his 2002 movie HERO, he used sharp colors to differentiate the team of army in this movie.I love the storyline of the movie, very exciting and new while the way of defensing The Great Wall are fascinating as well. Matt Damon still look superb, being the few only western actor, he managed to shine together with the Asian actor but not overly outcast-ed his fellow actors in the same film, which i think is quite important as well... Of course this movie also let a lot of the Asian actors & actresses has the chance to show their face in Hollywood, good work Zhang Yi Mou :)