Maleficent

 Released Year: 2014

Directed by Robert Stromberg

Casted by:

Angelina Jolie as Maleficent

Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora

Sharlto Copley as King Stefan

Sam Riley as Diaval

Imelda Staunton as Knotgrass, a pink pixie

Juno Temple as Thistlewit, a green pixie

Lesley Manville as Flittle, a blue pixie

Brenton Thwaites as Prince Phillip

 Story:

Maleficent, a powerful fairy, lives in the Moors, a magical forest realm bordering a corrupt human kingdom. As a young girl, she meets and falls in love with a human peasant boy named Stefan, whose affection for Maleficent is overshadowed by his ambition to better his station. As they grow older, the two grow apart, and she becomes protector of the Moors. When King Henry tries to conquer the Moors and obtain its treasures, a grown Maleficent forces him to retreat. Fatally wounded in battle, he declares that whoever kills Maleficent will be named his successor and marry Princess Leila, his only daughter. In response, the grown Stefan visits Maleficent in the Moors, where he drugs her but cannot bring himself to kill her. Instead, Stefan uses an iron chain, which burns fairies, to cut off Maleficent's wings. He then presents them to the king as evidence of her death. Maleficent awakens to find herself wingless. Anguished by Stefan's betrayal, she declares herself Queen of the Moors, forming a dark kingdom with Diaval, a raven to whom she gives human form. He acts as her wings, spy, and confidant.

Sometime later, Diaval informs Maleficent that Stefan, who is now king, is hosting a christening for his newborn daughter, Aurora. Bent on revenge, Maleficent arrives uninvited and curses the infant princess: on her 16th birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, putting her into a deep sleep from which she will never awaken. When Stefan begs for mercy, Maleficent offers an antidote: The curse can be broken by true love's kiss. Stefan sends Aurora to live with a trio of pixies until the day after her 16th birthday, while he destroys all the spinning wheels in the kingdom and hides them in the castle dungeon. He sends his army to find and kill Maleficent, but she surrounds the Moors with an impenetrable wall of thorns.

Despite her initial dislike for Aurora, Maleficent begins to care for the girl when the incompetent pixies inadvertently put her in danger. After a brief meeting with the young Aurora, Maleficent watches over her from afar. When Aurora is 15, she encounters Maleficent and, aware of being watched over, calls her "fairy godmother". Realizing she has grown fond of the princess, Maleficent attempts to revoke the curse, but she cannot. Aurora later meets Prince Philip, and the two are smitten with each other. Diaval suggests that Phillip could be the solution to Maleficent’s curse, by giving her true love's kiss. Maleficent disagrees revealing to Diaval that the reason that she cursed Aurora the way she did is because true love doesn't exist. Unable to share his feelings with Maleficent, Diaval argues that Aurora has the choice to decide her own fate. On the day before Aurora's 16th birthday, Maleficent, hoping to avoid the curse, invites her to live in the Moors. When the pixies inadvertently tell Aurora of her parentage and of Maleficent's true identity, a horrified Aurora runs away to her father's castle.

Meanwhile, King Stefan, mad with paranoia, sits in his castle talking to Maleficent's severed wings, and even refuses to see Queen Leila on her deathbed.

After a brief reunion with Aurora, Stefan locks her away in her room for safety. However, she is drawn by the curse to the dungeon, where a spinning wheel pricks her finger and she falls into a death-like sleep. Intent on saving her, Maleficent abducts Phillip and infiltrates Stefan's castle. Diaval remarks that Stefan has prepared for this moment and if they go in the castle they will never come out alive. Maleficent acknowledges this and asks him not to come, saying it is not his fight. Seemingly offended by this, Diaval decides to stand by her and go anyway. Maleficent and Diaval manage to get Phillip to the three fairies who have him kiss Aurora and break the curse, but Philip's kiss fails. Alone in Aurora's chamber, Maleficent apologizes to Aurora, swears no harm will come to her, kisses her forehead, and breaks the spell, with Maleficent's motherly concern for Aurora constituting true love. Aurora forgives Maleficent and they attempt to leave the castle, but Maleficent is trapped in an iron net and attacked by Stefan and his guards. Maleficent transforms Diaval into a dragon, and he lifts the net off her, but is driven back by the guards. Stefan beats and taunts Maleficent, but before he can kill her, her wings, freed from his chamber by Aurora, fly back to her and reattach themselves. Maleficent overpowers Stefan and carries him onto a tower, but cannot bring herself to kill him. Stefan attempts once more to kill her, and they both fall from the tower. Maleficent is able to break herself free and Stefan falls to his death.

Soon after, Aurora is crowned queen of the human and fairy realms by Maleficent, unifying the two kingdoms, with Philip at her side. Maleficent returns to her role as protector over the kingdoms with Diaval by her side. Maleficent and Diaval fly above the Moors into the sunset.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Well, I miss this movie last year, kinda sad that time. But after watching the movie now, I don't really feel sad again. Y? Its because its totally different from the Sleeping Beauty (cartoon make in 1959), which I watched so many time! 

First, I won't ever agree Maleficent is somebody good. Second, Wings? Third, the good become the bad or useless (eg: King Stephen, 3 fairies & Prince Philips).

Other than the storyline, this movie actually attracted me, if i never watch Sleeping Beauty before. Love the costume and the magical land. Overall its still ok, but I'm just afraid Walt Disney will continue to make those villains become a good person instead... I can't accept it :p 

Kungfu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom

Released Year: 2011
Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Casted by:
Jack Black as Po
Angelina Jolie as Master Tigress
Gary Oldman as Lord Shen
杨紫琼 Michelle Yeoh as Soothsayer
Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu
成龙 Jackie Chan as Master Monkey
Seth Rogen as Master Mantis
Lucy Liu as Master Viper
David Cross as Master Crane
James Hong as Mr. Ping
Story:

Long ago, Lord Shen, heir of the peacock clan that ruled Gongmen City in China, sought to harness the power of fireworks as a weapon with which to rule the entire country. When he learned from the court's goat soothsayer that "a warrior of black and white" would one day defeat him, Shen assumed she was referring to the giant pandas and had them exterminated to avert the prophecy. Shen's parents were horrified at this atrocity and exiled Shen, who swore revenge.

Thirty years later, Po is living his dream as the Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five, but is told by Master Shifu that he has yet to achieve inner peace. While fighting off a pack of wolf bandits who have been stealing refined metal for Lord Shen, Po is distracted by a symbol on the head wolf's armor, which causes Po to have a flashback of his mother and allows the wolves to escape. Po asks his goose father, Mr. Ping, where he came from, but all Ping can tell him is that he found Po as an infant in a vegetable crate and adopted him.

Afterward, Shifu receives word that Master Thundering Rhino, leader of the kung fu council protecting Gongmen City, has been killed by Lord Shen with his newly developed weapon, a cannon, which threatens to destroy kung fu tradition. Po and the Five go to stop him, reaching Gongmen City to find it under the control of Shen's forces. The heroes find two imprisoned council members, Masters Storming Ox and Croc , and ask their help to liberate the city, but both masters cite their helplessness against Shen's weapon and refuse to escape. Po and the Five are then discovered by the wolf leader, who they chase to prevent him from alerting Shen, only to be captured.

Upon being brought before Shen in his tower, Po and the Five free themselves and destroy Shen's cannon. However, Crane burns his wing and Po is again distracted by a flashback upon seeing the same symbol as before on Shen's plumage, allowing Shen to escape and destroy the tower with an arsenal of cannons. After escaping, Tigress confronts Po over his distraction. Po explains that he remembers Shen's presence on the night he was separated from his parents, and wants to question Shen about his past. Though empathetic, Tigress orders him to stay behind for his own safety. Po regardless breaks into Shen's cannon factory to confront Shen, inadvertently foiling the Five's attempts to destroy the factory. Shen claims that Po's parents abandoned him before he blasts Po out of the factory and captures the Five.

Po is rescued by Shen's soothsayer, who has been exiled by Shen to the ruined village where Po was born. Guided by the soothsayer to embrace his past, Po remembers that his parents had endangered themselves to save him from Shen's forces, his mother hiding him in a crate before she was subdued. Attaining inner peace, Po returns to Gongmen City to save the captive Five from being executed by Shen at the city harbor. During the ensuing battle (in which Shifu participates after having persuaded Ox and Croc to do the same), Po uses his inner peace to gauge Shen's cannon fire and redirect it against Shen's armada. He then urges Shen to let go of his own past, but Shen refuses and attacks Po until Shen inadvertently slashes the ropes holding up his last cannon, which falls and crushes him to death. Victorious, Po returns to the Valley of Peace and reunites with Mr. Ping, declaring him to be his father. At the same time, Po's biological father is shown to be alive in a hidden village inhabited by surviving pandas, sensing that his son is also alive.

L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

Love the 1st movie, the 2nd one... hmm~ ok la... not as good as the first one. Watch this movie with Bubu and enjoy laughing together. The whole movie is more pack than the first one and it reveals the background of the panda and how he was adopted by the geese.

A great movie which you should watch in the big screen :)

Kungfu Panda

Released Year: 2008
Directed by John Wayne Stevenson
& Mark Osborne

Vocal by:
Jack Black as Po
Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu
Angelina Jolie as Tigress
Ian McShane as Tai Lung
Jackie Chan as Monkey
Lucy Liu as Viper
Seth Rogen as Mantis
David Cross as Crane
Randall Duk Kim as Master Oogway
Story:

The story is set in the Valley of Peace, a fictional land in ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. Po, a young, clumsy, overweight panda, is a kung fu fanatic who idolizes the Furious Five – Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Crane – a quintet of kung fu masters trained by Master Shifu to protect the valley. Because he works in his goose father Ping's noodle restaurant, Po is unable to achieve his dream of becoming a kung fu master himself.

One day, Shifu's mentor, the elderly tortoise Master Oogway, has a vision that Shifu's former student and foster son, the evil snow leopard Tai Lung, will escape from prison and return to the Valley of Peace to take revenge for being denied the Dragon Scroll, which is said to hold the secret to limitless power. Shifu holds a kung fu tournament for the Furious Five so that Oogway may identify the legendary Dragon Warrior, the one kung fu master worthy of receiving the Dragon Scroll and capable of defeating Tai Lung. Forced to take a noodle cart to the tournament, Po arrives after the doors to the tournament arena close and is unable to enter. Desperate to see the Dragon Warrior be chosen, Po straps himself to a set of fireworks and rockets into the sky. Po crashes into the middle of the arena at the moment when Oogway is to point out the Dragon Warrior, and to the surprise of everyone present, Oogway chooses Po, seemingly by accident.

Unwilling to believe that a big fat panda could be the Dragon Warrior, Shifu attempts to get rid of Po by berating and ridiculing him into quitting his training with the Furious Five, who similarly despise and mock Po for his lack of skill in kung fu. After receiving helpful advice from Oogway, however, Po endures his grueling training and slowly begins to endear himself to the Five with his tenacity, culinary skill, and good humor. Meanwhile, Zeng is sent to Chorh-Gom Prison to have Commander Vachir double the amount of guards to prevent Tai Lung's escape. When one of Zeng's feathers falls into his cell, Tai Lung uses it to escape from prison (as foreseen by Oogway). After taking down Commander Vachir and the guards, Tai Lung spares Zeng so that he can carry a message to Shifu. Oogway makes Shifu promise to train Po before disappearing. Still unable to grasp the basics of kung fu and confessing a crippling self-loathing, Po despairs that he has no chance of defeating Tai Lung. Shifu, however, discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food. Using food as positive reinforcement, Shifu successfully trains Po to incorporate these feats into a makeshift yet effective kung fu style.

Meanwhile, the Furious Five set out to stop Tai Lung themselves only to be overwhelmed and defeated. Shifu decides Po is ready to receive the Dragon Scroll, but the scroll reveals nothing but a blank, reflective surface. In despair, Shifu orders Po and the Five to evacuate the valley while he delays Tai Lung as long as possible in a fight to the death. The dejected Po finds his father who, in an attempt to console him, reveals that the long-withheld secret ingredient to his famous "secret ingredient soup" is nothing, explaining that things become special if people believe them to be. Realizing that this concept is the point of the Dragon Scroll, Po returns to the Jade Palace to confront Tai Lung, who has reached the Palace and nearly killed Shifu. Po proves to be a formidable challenge for Tai Lung as he tries to protect the Dragon Scroll. Though the Dragon Scroll eventually falls into Tai Lung's grasp, he is unable to understand or accept its symbolic meaning, and Po ultimately defeats him using the secret Wuxi Finger Hold. Po is praised by the Valley of Peace and earns the respect of the Furious Five, who fully acknowledge him as a true kung fu master. Shifu, exhausted but alive after his fight with Tai Lung, is finally at peace with himself now that peace has returned to the valley.

At the end of the credits, Po and Shifu are eating together under the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, just as a new sprout is seen growing from the seed Shifu planted earlier before Oogway's disappearance.

L² Scored: 9/10

L² Comment:

Bravo bravo to Dreamwork production for trying very hard to get into the China animation market which i believe is a success :) This animation use China's precious animal - Panda as the main character is a wise choice, especially with Jack Black as the vocal. Beside this, they also used up a lot of Asian artist to features on the sounds characters such as Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Randall Duk Kim & James Hong.

A very meaningful cartoon and i hope the part 2 will be as good as the part 1~

The Tourist

Released Year: 2010
Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Casted by:
Johnny Depp as Frank Tupelo/Alexander Pearce
Angelina Jolie as Elise Clifton-Ward
Paul Bettany as Inspector John Acheson
Timothy Dalton as Chief Inspector Jones
Story:

A woman named Elise is being trailed in Paris by French police working with Scotland Yard. At a cafe, she receives a letter from Alexander Pearce, a former lover, with explicit directions to board a train to Venice, Italy, pick out a man who resembles him and make the police believe that this man is Alexander Pearce. A mysterious stranger, not involved with the police, also seems to be watching Elise. Elise burns the letter and boards a train.

She takes a seat beside Frank, an American tourist reading a spy novel. Frank is instantly attracted to her. The train arrives in Venice, and they take a boat to the Hotel Danieli. At dinner, much to Frank's dismay, Elise admits to having feelings for another man, presumably Alexander Pearce. They share a kiss, witnessed by the men following her.

The next day, Frank awakens to find Elise gone. Men suddenly try to break into the hotel room. Frank barely escapes but is caught by the Italian police. A sympathetic detective listens to Frank's story that he does not know why these men are after him. He takes Frank from the jail and tells him that his story checks out, and that the men after him were Belarusians who have placed a prize on his head and who believe Frank to be someone else. The detective however then delivers Frank into the clutches of these same men, in order to collect the money they promised.

Elise appears suddenly to rescue Frank, fleeing on a boat. Elise finally tells Frank that all this is happening because she kissed him and made the police believe that he was Alexander Pearce. Frank learns that Pearce stole two billion from a gangster named Shaw and is wanted by the British Government for tax evasion. Stunned by the news, Frank says he still does not regret kissing Elise.

Elise apologizes for getting him involved at all and tricks Frank off the boat. Frank says he loves her. Elise goes to a government building. She turns out to be a secret agent for Britain. She sees her fellow British agent Acheson, who was among those following her in Paris. Elise was supposed to work undercover against Pearce but fell in love with him and had disappeared from her job until now. She tells Acheson that she is ready to help him find Pearce now because she wants to prevent anybody else from getting hurt.

Elise goes to a ball Pearce has invited her to attend, wearing a wire. She is handed a letter by the same mysterious stranger from Paris. The letter is from Pearce, saying where to meet him. As Elise turns to leave, Frank is standing in front of her. They dance. Elise leaves to find Pearce and agent Acheson's men apprehend Frank. They both watch on surveillance equipment as Elise walks into a trap set by the gangster Shaw. The gangster threatens to kill her unless she returns the money Pearce stole from him. Agent Acheson doesn't help his colleague Elise, confident that Pearce will show up to rescue her.

Elise reveals the safe's location but does not know its code. Frank watches in horror as Elise is threatened yet again. Seeing that Acheson won't help Elise, Frank picks the lock to his handcuffs and escapes to help her. Frank pretends to be Pearce. Elise begs him to stop or he will be killed. Frank, acting as Pearce, tells Shaw that he will get his money but only if Elise is first released and safe. As Frank pretends that he is about to open the safe, Elise mouths "I love you."

All of a sudden, Chief Inspector Jones gives the order for the police snipers to shoot Shaw and his men. Frank and Elise are unharmed. As the police survey the scene, agent Acheson can't believe that Pearce did not save Elise and Jones is furious with him for exposing her to danger. Jones then informs Elise that she has been terminated from the force. A police report informs them that Pearce has just been caught. As the room clears, Elise and Frank embrace. He asks her if she loves both him and Alexander Pearce. Elise answers yes. To spare her from this dilemma, Frank reveals that he is the real Alexander Pearce by entering the correct code for the safe. Pearce had gotten plastic surgery, so he could have a new life.

The arrested man believed to be Pearce explains to police that he was paid to pretend and that he is just a tourist. Elise and Frank/Pearce leave on a boat with the money, finally being able to be together. In the safe, police find a bankers check for the ₤744 million in back taxes Pearce owed the British government.

L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

Florian is a Germany director who does not directed much, but this film is definitely a good try for him. Angelina is still hot as usual, but her acting is kinda so so in this film while Johnny Depp does not show much of his talent in this film as well.

A remake of a french film in 2005, The Tourist has achieve quite some nomination in a few academy awards but does not win any awards at this moment.

Salt

Released Year: 2010
Directed by Philip Noyce

Casted by:
Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt
Liev Schreiber as Ted Winter
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peabody
Story:

CIA agent Evelyn Salt (being coached from behind the glass by fellow agents Winter and Peabody) interrogates a Russian defector, Orlov, who tells her about "Day X", an operation organized by a powerful Russian spymaster during the Cold War, which will bring about the destruction of the United States. Orlov claims that for this purpose, during the 1970s an elite group of Soviet agents were trained from birth in such a rigorous way that their psychological conditioning makes them "unbreakable". He mentions that at the funeral of the recently deceased US Vice President in New York City, the visiting Russian President will be killed by Russian spy Evelyn Salt, whose real name is Chenkov.

Salt, shaken by the accusation, attempts to contact her husband Mike, a German arachnologist, fearing for his safety. Meanwhile, Orlov escapes, prompting Salt to bolt — causing the CIA, and especially Peabody, to think she is a spy. She flees to her apartment and finds her husband missing. Salt quickly grabs essentials as well as a venomous spider. After barely escaping a pursuit on the busy Washington, DC expressways, Salt takes a bus to New York City. The next morning, now disguised, she sneaks into the heavily guarded St. Bartholomew's Church where the Vice President's funeral is being held and shoots the Russian President. She is then confronted by Peabody and surrenders but soon escapes the NYPD.

A series of flashbacks show Salt growing up in the Soviet Union where Orlov taught her and many other children to obey him and ingratiate themselves to the American government. Then, when it came to Day X, he would command them to strike from various positions in the US. In New York, Salt meets Orlov, who congratulates her on her killing, but questions her unauthorized decision to marry a foreigner, who might be a distraction from her mission. He takes Evelyn to a river barge, where he tests her allegiance by having another agent kill Mike in front of her. Salt appears to be unaffected by this, thus passing Orlov's test. He then tells her Part Two of Day X, which would involve seizing the United States' stock of nuclear weapons. The enraged Salt, who had gone to Orlov in an attempt to save her husband, kills Orlov and everyone else on the barge in revenge. She then goes to the rendezvous set up by Orlov to meet a NATO mole, Shnaider, whom she recognizes from her childhood trainee days under Orlov.

Shnaider and a disguised Salt go to the White House. Once inside, Shnaider suddenly starts shooting at Secret Service agents and detonates himself. The Secret Service, along with Winter, rush the President to the lower bunker of the White House. Meanwhile, the President, believing Russia is preparing a nuclear strike against the US, begins to transmit the launch codes from the nuclear football. Salt infiltrates the bunker and incapacitates the bodyguards. At the last moment, Winter suddenly picks up a gun and kills everyone but the President, whom he knocks unconscious.

Winter explains to an astonished Salt that he was also one of Orlov's Day X trainees back in the Soviet Union, and therefore part of Orlov's plan all along. Winter then uses the nuclear football to start the sequence for launching nuclear missiles at Tehran and Mecca, in an attempt to provoke the Islamic world to wage war. Salt asks Winter to let her in but before he opens the door, a TV news report reveals that the Russian President is not dead, but only placed in a near-death state from spider venom. Winter realizes that Salt is not on his side, but she manages to break in to the bunker, and after an intense struggle, she succeeds in knocking him down. Just after she manages to abort the nuclear missile launch set up by Winter, agents break in and arrest her. Winter, whom no one suspects as being a double agent, initially goes free, but moments afterward, Salt uses her chains to strangle him to death.

Salt is put on a helicopter with Peabody, and explains everything to him. A skeptical Peabody finally accepts she is telling the truth after he receives a text message saying that her fingerprints were found at the barge, confirming her betrayal of Orlov. They both know that there are more of Orlov's moles, and Peabody agrees to let her escape, so she can find and kill them. He uncuffs her and Salt jumps into the Potomac River, free once more.

L² Scored: 5.5/10

L² Comment:

Its a bit boring in this movie, maybe i have enough of Angelina fighting girl style after the tomb raider... Jolie definitely looks better in black hair than blonde... so weird looking at her in blond... but her man's look not bad either :)