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 :)

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 :)

The Secret of NIMH

 Released Year: 1982

Directed by Don Bluth

Voiced by:

 Elizabeth Hartman as Mrs. Brisby

Derek Jacobi as Nicodemus

Hermione Baddeley as Auntie Shrew

John Carradine as The Great Owl

Dom DeLuise as Jeremy the Crow

Arthur Malet as Mr. Ages

Peter Strauss as Justin

Paul Shenar as Jenner

Story:

Mrs. Brisby, a timid widowed field mouse, lives in a cinder block with her children in a field on the Fitzgibbons' farm. She prepares to move her family out of the field as plowing time approaches, but her son Timothy has fallen ill. She visits Mr. Ages, another mouse and friend of her late husband, Jonathan, who diagnoses Timothy with pneumonia and provides her with medicine. Mr. Ages warns her that Timothy must stay inside for at least three weeks or he will die. On her way home, she encounters Jeremy, a clumsy but friendly crow. They both narrowly escape from the Fitzgibbons' cat, Dragon.

The next day, Mrs. Brisby discovers that Farmer Fitzgibbons has started plowing early. Although her neighbor Auntie Shrew helps her disable his tractor, Mrs. Brisby knows she must devise another plan. Jeremy takes her to visit the Great Owl, who tells her to visit a group of rats that live beneath a rose bush on the farm and ask for Nicodemus, their wise and mystical leader.

Mrs. Brisby enters the rose bush and encounters a tough and aggressive guard rat named Brutus, who chases her away with a battle axe. She is led back in by Mr. Ages (who now has his leg bandaged up) and is amazed to see the rats' use of electricity and other technology. She meets Nicodemus and Justin, the Captain of the Guard, and a ruthless, power-hungry rat named Jenner. From Nicodemus, she learns that many years ago her husband, along with the rats and Mr. Ages, were part of a series of experiments at a place known as NIMH, the National Institute of Mental Health. The experiments boosted their intelligence, enabling them to escape, as well as extending their lifespans. However, they are unable to live only as rats, needing human technology to survive, which they have only accomplished by stealing. The rats have concocted "The Plan", which is to leave the farm and live independently. Nicodemus gives Mrs. Brisby an amulet called "The Stone", that gives magical power when its wearer is courageous.

Because of her husband's relationship with the rats, they agree to help Mrs. Brisby move her home. First, they need to drug Dragon to sleep so that they can complete the move safely. Only Mrs. Brisby can do this, as only mice are small enough to fit through the hole leading into the house; Jonathan was killed by Dragon in a previous attempt, while Mr. Ages broke his leg in another. That night, she puts the drug into the cat's food dish, but the Fitzgibbons' son Billy catches her. While trapped in a birdcage, she overhears a telephone conversation between Farmer Fitzgibbons and NIMH and learns that the Institute intends to exterminate the rats the next day. She escapes from the cage and runs off to warn Justin and the others.

The rats are moving the Brisby home, with the children inside, using a rope and pulley system during a thunderstorm. Jenner, who wishes for the rats to remain in the rose bush, sabotages the ropes with his reluctant accomplice Sullivan, causing the assembly to fly apart and kill Nicodemus. Mrs. Brisby arrives and tries to convince the rats that NIMH is coming and they must leave, but Jenner calls her a hysterical liar, attacks her, and attempts to take the amulet from her neck. Sullivan alerts Justin, who rushes to Mrs. Brisby's aid. After mortally wounding Sullivan, Jenner engages Justin in a sword fight, which ends in Justin stabbing him. Justin then addresses the other rats to prepare for their departure from the farm. Jenner recovers and advances on an unaware Justin, but the dying Sullivan hurls his own dagger into Jenner's back, killing him.

The Brisby house begins to sink into the mud, but Justin and the rats are unable to raise it. Mrs. Brisby's will to save her children gives power to the amulet, which she uses to lift the house and move it to safety. The rats depart to Thorn Valley with Justin as their new leader, and Timothy begins to recover. Jeremy eventually meets "Miss Right", another crow who is just as clumsy as he is, and the two fly away together.

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment: 

I'm so thankful to Ellie coz she has been mentioning about this animation to me for more than 10 times. I never watch this anime before and since I went over to her place last night to take something, I decided to watch it when she ask me to.

This movie is based on the children book of Robert C.O'Brien "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH". The movie follow exactly the original story of the novel except changing Mrs Frisby to Mrs Brisby due to the trademark concern of the Frisbee disc. This movie has make a hit back in 1982, it has beaten down a lot of famous movie such as Poltergeist, Rocky III, Firefox, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; but it still lose to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It has also won Saturn Award's Best Animated Film.

Though it has some fantasy in this movie, but it never hide anything that was not suppose to "occur" in the children movie such as "killing" & "dead", which is impossible to occur back in those days. The storyline is great of meaningful morals and yet it is not boring. The graphic might look dull if you watch this old 1982 movie, but a reboot of this movie has been announce in 2015, but not sure when it will be release then... 

Marley & Me

Released Year: 2008

Directed by David Frankel

Casted by:

 Owen Wilson as Johnny "John" Grogan

Jennifer Aniston as Jennifer "Jenny" "Jen" Grogan

Eric Dane as Sebastian Tunney

 Story:

Soon after their wedding, John and Jenny Grogan escape the brutal Michigan winters and relocate to a cottage in South Florida, where they are hired as reporters for competing newspapers. At The Palm Beach Post, Jenny immediately receives prominent front-page assignments, while at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, John finds himself writing obituaries and two-paragraph articles about mundane news like a fire at the local garbage dump.

When John senses Jenny is contemplating motherhood, his friend and co-worker Sebastian Tunney suggests the couple adopt a dog to see if they're ready to raise a family. From a litter of newborn yellow Labrador retrievers they select Marley (named after reggae singer Bob Marley), who immediately proves to be incorrigible. They take him to Ms. Kornblut, who firmly believes any dog can be trained, but when Marley refuses to obey commands, she expels him from her class.

Editor Arnie Klein offers John a twice-weekly column in which he can discuss the fun and foibles of everyday living. At first stumped for material, John realizes the misadventures of Marley might be the perfect topic for his first piece. Arnie agrees, and John settles into his new position. Marley continues to wreak havoc on the household, providing John with a wealth of material for his column, which becomes a hit with readers and helps increase the newspaper's circulation. Jenny becomes pregnant, but loses the baby early in her first trimester. She and John travel to Ireland for a belated honeymoon, leaving the rambunctious dog in the care of a young woman who finds him impossible to control, especially during the frequent thunderstorms that plague the area. Soon after returning from their vacation, Jenny discovers she is pregnant again, and this time she delivers a healthy boy, Patrick. When she has a second son, Connor, she opts to give up her job and become a stay-at-home mom, prompting John to take on a daily column for a pay increase. Due to the crime rate, the couple decides to move to a larger house in the safer neighborhood of Boca Raton, where Marley delights in swimming in the backyard pool.

Although she denies she is experiencing postpartum depression, Jenny exhibits all the symptoms, including a growing impatience with Marley and John, who asks Sebastian to care for the dog when Jenny insists they give him away. She quickly comes to realize he has become an indispensable part of the family and agrees he can stay. Sebastian accepts a job for The New York Times and moves away.

John celebrates his 40th birthday and later goes skinny dipping with Jenny in their swimming pool. Increasingly disenchanted with his job, he decides to accept a position as a reporter with The Philadelphia Inquirer with Jenny's blessing, and the family moves to a farm in rural Pennsylvania. John soon realizes that he is a better columnist than reporter and pitches the column idea to his editor. Life is idyllic until the aging Marley begins to show signs of arthritis and deafness. An attack of gastric dilatation volvulus almost kills him, but he recovers. When a second attack occurs, it becomes clear surgery will not help him, and Marley is euthanized with John at his side. The family pay their last respects to their beloved pet as they bury him beneath a tree in their front yard.

 L² Scored: 9/10 

L² Comment: 

This movie has been always in my top rank of "must-watch" movie; coz i'm a dog lover and a big fans for both Anniston & Wilson. Reason of not watching it so many years ago is because I insists to read the novel first before the movie. I have bought the novel many years already and it has been full of dust now and i still have no time to read it lol~ Well, i just couldn't wait but watch it just now.

The movie is based on John Grogan's same name novel in 2005, its simple and sweet. All these while you can see Marley has been part of the family and he occurs in all the things that they do. But of coz there's some scene which shown that this un-tame dog makes Anniston frustrated and she angrily ordered Wilson to give it away, but then she regret and feel sorry for what she has said. 

Dog's lifespan is much more shorter than human being. As Marley grew old, it sadly escape from the house and decided to die alone, out from its' master sighting. As the movie moving towards the end, it was very touching and i almost burst into tears. After this movie, i went out to hugged my two dogs... I love you guys too :)

Resident Evil: Retribution

 Released Year: 2012

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson

Casted by:

Milla Jovovich as Alice

Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine

 李冰冰 Li Bingbing as Ada Wong

Michelle Rodriguez as Rain Ocampo

Aryana Engineer as Becky

Shawn Roberts as Albert Wesker

Johann Urb as Leon S. Kennedy

Story: 

Alice and the others on the Umbrella Corporation freighter Arcadia face an attack by a fleet of tiltrotors led by Alice's former ally, Jill Valentine. Alice is captured in the attack, while the fates of Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield and K-Mart are left ambiguous.

Alice awakens in an underground facility and is interrogated by Jill. During a power failure, Alice escapes her cell and the laser grid, finding herself in a simulated Shibuya Square, Tokyo. Fighting her way out against zombies, she enters a control room and encounters Ada Wong, one of Albert Wesker's top agents. Ada explains that they no longer serve Umbrella and the power outage was staged by Wesker hacking into the facility's computers. Wesker appears on a screen, revealing that the Red Queen now controls Umbrella. Ada explains that the facility is underwater, located in Kamchatka, Russia, that served as a former Soviet naval outpost. The facility was designed by Umbrella in manufacturing clones and created simulated outbreaks to show the effect of the T-virus. Ada and Alice plan to rendezvous with a rescue crew, which includes Leon Kennedy, Barry Burton and Luther West, Alice's ally from the prior film. Leon's team plants explosives near the entrance of the facility, which will detonate in two hours to ensure the facility's destruction. The group plans to meet with Alice and Ada in the Raccoon City suburbia area. In a New York City simulation, Alice and Ada defeat two Axemen. Leon and his team enter a Moscow simulation, but are attacked by armed Las Plagas Undead.

In the Suburban setting, Alice and Ada encounter Becky, the deaf daughter of another Alice clone who mistakes the real Alice for her mother. They also encounter clones of Alice's former compatriots the One, Rain Ocampo and Carlos Olivera, sent to capture them. Ada gives Alice her smart glasses so that she and Becky can find their way and become split up. They encounter another clone of Rain, who was a friend of Becky's mother and Alice gives her a weapon. She then rescues Leon's surviving crew from the barrage of zombies and a giant Licker. Once united, the heroes head for the facility exit but are assaulted by the clones and Becky is captured by the Licker. Alice rescues her, using Leon's bombs, kills the Licker and allows the heroes to escape. The good Rain clone and Barry are killed - while the rest escape.

However, on the surface, their snow-mobile is knocked over by Jill Valentine's submarine. They confront the heroes with Ada as their hostage. Jill and Alice begin fighting each other, while Rain - now also enhanced with Las Plagas, fights Leon and Luther West, killing the latter. Alice is able to tear the mind-controlling scarab from Jill's chest and sinks Rain through the ice where she is dragged down by zombies. Alice, Ada, Becky, Leon, and Jill travel to Wesker's headquarters, the heavily barricaded and fortified White House, staffed by S.T.A.R.S. and the United States Military. Alice meets Wesker in the heavily-barricaded Oval Office, where he injects her with the T-virus, returning her superhuman abilities; as only Alice successfully bonded with it, she is the ultimate weapon. On the roof, Wesker explains the Red Queen is trying to wipe out humanity, and all of the remaining uninfected are in the base; it is humanity's last stand. A pull-away shows the military defending the White House alongside the remaining Umbrella Corp. soldiers against enormous hordes of T-virus abominations swarming all over the walls. 

 L² Scored: 8/10 

L² Comment: 

Finally Resident Evil is back on the "good-to-watch" track again... Not sure why Michelle Rodriguez is back into the movie but luckily her part is not that heavy, kinda hate to see her nasty face lately~ As the Asian market is getting wider, the production decided to add in asian superstar Li BingBing in this movie as well. However, Li BingBing's style in this movie is kinda weird and look like those 70's shanghai hooker as well, totally spoil her nice image. The story wise is not bad, kinda love the scene when Alice is being chased by many zombies, so cool~ :)

Independence Day

 Released Year: 1996

Directed by Roland Emmerich

Casted by:

Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller

Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson

Bill Pullman as Thomas J. Whitmore

Margaret Colin as Constance Spano

Vivica A. Fox as Jasmine Dubrow

Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson

 Story:

On July 2, 1996, an enormous alien mothership that has one fourth the mass of the Moon enters orbit around Earth, deploying 36 smaller spacecraft, each 15 miles (24 km) wide, that take positions over some of Earth's major cities and military bases. David Levinson, an MIT-trained satellite technician, decodes a signal embedded in the global satellite transmissions that he determines is a timer counting down to a coordinated attack. With the help of his former wife, White House Communications Director Constance Spano, Levinson, and his father Julius, gain access to the Oval Office and warn President Thomas J. Whitmore that the aliens are hostile. Whitmore orders large-scale evacuations of New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., but it is too late; the timer reaches zero and the ships activate devastating directed-energy weapons, killing millions. Whitmore, the Levinsons, and a few others, narrowly escape aboard Air Force One as the capital is destroyed, along with other locations over which the ships are positioned.

On July 3, international military leaders begin ordering individual counterattacks. Their aviation forces attack destroyer ships positioned above the ruins of the cities, but they are protected by force fields. Each destroyer launches a swarm of attack fighters, which wipe out the human fighter squadrons. Captain Steven Hiller of the Los Angeles USMC squadron survives by luring his attacker to the enclosed spaces of the Grand Canyon and sacrificing his plane, forcing the alien to crash-land. He subdues the injured alien pilot and flags down a convoy of refugees, hitching a ride with former combat pilot Russell Casse. They transport the unconscious alien to nearby Area 51 where Whitmore's group has landed. Through Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki, they learn that a faction of the government has been involved in a UFO conspiracy since 1947, when one of the invaders' attack fighters crashed in Roswell. Area 51 houses the refurbished attacker ship and three alien corpses recovered from the crash.

When eccentric scientist Brackish Okun examines the alien, it regains consciousness and attacks. It telepathically invades Okun's mind and uses his vocal cords to communicate with Whitmore before launching a psychic attack against him. Whitmore begins seeing visions of the aliens collecting resources by moving from planet to planet and exterminating all life. After Secret Service agents and military personnel kill the alien, he reluctantly authorizes a nuclear attack; a B-2 Spirit fires a nuclear cruise missile at a destroyer positioned above Houston, but the ship remains intact.

On July 4, Levinson demonstrates that the key to defeating the aliens is deactivating their force fields, and devises a way to do it by uploading a computer virus into the mothership. He proposes using the refurbished attack ship to gain entry which Hiller volunteers to pilot. The two are able to implant the virus and deploy a nuclear weapon on board. With military pilots in short supply, Whitmore enlists the help of volunteers with flight experience including Casse and leads an attack on a destroyer ship bearing down on Area 51. Although the fighters are able to inflict damage, their supply of missiles is quickly exhausted. As the destroyer prepares to fire on the base, the last missile jams and Casse decides to sacrifice his own life. He flies his plane kamikaze-style into the directed-energy weapon port, which results in an explosion that destroys the ship. Human resistance forces around the world successfully destroy the other craft using this vulnerability. As humankind is rejoicing in victory, Hiller and Levinson have returned to Area 51 unharmed and reunite with their families. They and military officers nearby accompany Whitmore and his daughter in watching the wreckage from the mothership burn up, resembling a fireworks display as it enters Earth's atmosphere.

 L² Scored: 7.5/10 

L² Comment:

I didn't watch this movie 20 years ago and honestly, i didn't even notice about this movie at all... Until recently the second movie is out, i stopped myself from going to the cinema to watch this movie because everyone say the 2 movies are some sort link to each other... Well, after few months only i manage to find this movie. Overall the storyline is ok but not too excited really...

Star Trek Beyond

Released Year: 2016

Directed by Justin Lin

Casted by:

Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk

Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock

Karl Urban as Lieutenant Commander Leonard McCoy

Zoe Saldana as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura

Simon Pegg as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott

John Cho as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu

Anton Yelchin as Ensign Pavel Chekov

Idris Elba as Krall / Captain Balthazar Edison

Sofia Boutella as Jaylah

Story:

Three years into its five year mission, the USS Enterprise arrives at Starbase Yorktown, a massive space station, to resupply the ship and shore leave for her tired crew. Struggling to find continued meaning in their mission, Captain James Kirk has applied for a promotion to Vice Admiral. He recommends Spock as the new captain of the Enterprise. Meanwhile, Hikaru Sulu reunites with his husband and daughter, Spock and Nyota Uhura have amicably ended their relationship, and Montgomery Scott works to keep the ship operational. Spock also receives word from New Vulcan that Ambassador Spock has passed away.

An escape pod drifts out of a nearby nebula. The survivor, Kalara, claims her ship is stranded on Altamid, a planet in the nebula, and the Enterprise is dispatched on a rescue mission. The rescue turns into an ambush when the Enterprise is easily overwhelmed by a massive swarm of ships and is quickly torn apart. The swarm's alien commander, Krall and his crew board the ship, and unsuccessfully search for an alien artifact called the Abronath that Kirk had obtained on a recent mission. The swarm demolishes the Enterprise, and the saucer section crashes to the planet as the crew abandons ship in escape pods.

On the planet's surface, Sulu, Uhura and other surviving crew are captured by Krall. Kirk and navigator Pavel Chekov, accompanied by Kalara, find the wreckage of the saucer section. Kalara is discovered to be Krall's ally when she attempts to retrieve the Abronath for him. To escape Krall's soldiers, Kirk activates the still functional boosters, causing the saucer to lurch forward and killing Kalara as it flips over on itself. Meanwhile, a wounded Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy search for the other survivors. Spock tells McCoy that he intends to leave Starfleet to continue the late Ambassador Spock's work on New Vulcan. Meanwhile, Scott is rescued by Jaylah, a scavenger who previously escaped Krall's encampment. She takes him to her makeshift home, the wreck of the USS Franklin, an early Starfleet vessel that went missing over a hundred years ago. With Scott's help, the ship is repaired and powered back up. Scott, Kirk, Chekov, McCoy and Spock are reunited and use the ship as a base. The group plot to raid Krall's camp to rescue the crew and transport them to the Franklin, then escape the planet. Meanwhile, Krall coerces a member of Kirk's crew to hand over the Abronath that she had kept hidden for Kirk. The Abronath is the missing half of an ancient bioweapon, created by the planet's original inhabitants, that can disintegrate a humanoid lifeform in seconds. With the device now complete, Krall intends to attack Yorktown and kill its inhabitants, and, using its advanced technology, go on to attack the Federation. Kirk and the others free the crew as Krall launches from the planet with the bioweapon, leading his fleet to Yorktown.

The Enterprise crew pursues Krall in the Franklin. Scott transports Spock and McCoy into one of Krall's drone ships. After ejecting the pilots they discover how the drone vessels coordinate. Krall's communications is disrupted with VHF transmissions, causing mass confusion that results in the fleet's destruction. Krall and his three remaining officers crash in Yorktown. As Krall escapes into the city, Uhura and Kirk discover from the Franklin's logs that 'Krall' is actually Balthazar Edison, the original captain of the Franklin. A pre-Federation human soldier, Edison became disillusioned after peace was established throughout the Alpha Quadrant powers - believing other alien races will always be potential threats. When he and his two remaining crew were stranded on Altamid by a rogue wormhole, he believed the Federation had deliberately abandoned him. Having prolonged their lives with the vampiric technology of the planet's extinct natives (at the cost of their human biology), and re-purposing that species' dormant drone workers into the swarm, he now plans to destroy the Federation in revenge. Kirk pursues Krall, who has consumed enough human life energy to pass as a human, into the Yorktown's ventilation system, where Krall activates the bioweapon. Before the bioweapon can be unleashed, Kirk causes the weapon and Krall to be ejected into the vacuum of space, where Krall is consumed by the bioweapon. Spock and McCoy save Kirk seconds before he is also blown into space.

Kirk is offered the promotion to Vice Admiral, but he opts to remain as captain. Spock chooses to remain in Starfleet and resumes his relationship with Uhura, while Jaylah is accepted into Starfleet Academy. As the crew celebrates Kirk's birthday, they view the construction of their new ship, the USS Enterprise-A.

L² Scored: 9.5/10

L² Comment:

This is the third movie of Star Trek's Reboot Series... Now only i realize that I have never watch the first & second movie from this series, what a shame :p Not only this, I didn't even watch any single movie of The Next Generation Series; while only the first two movie of The Original Series were watched and blogged at here...Under this kind of circumstances, I cannot call myself as the "fans" lol~ Well, overall the movie is nice and the excitement keeps on coming without a second to lose. I think I better buck up my movies lately or else I will be very outdated dy...

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Released Year: 2009
Directed by Michael Bay

Casted by:
Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky
Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes
Josh Duhamel as Maj. William Lennox
Tyrese Gibson as CMSgt. Rob Epps
Isabel Lucas as Alice
John Turturro as Seymour Simmons
Ramón Rodríguez as Leo Spitz
Kevin Dunn as Ron Witwicky, Sam's father.
Julie White as Judith Witwicky

Voiced by:
Peter Cullen voices Optimus Prime
Mark Ryan voices Bumblebee
Tony Todd voices The Fallen
Hugo Weaving voices Megatron
Charlie Adler voices Starscream

Story:

In 17,000 B.C., the Seven Primes traveled the galaxy to create Energon with star-absorbing machines called Sun Harvesters. The Primes followed a rule in which to never destroy planets with life, but one of them, Megatronus Prime, later called The Fallen, deceives the others by building an army in secret and sets up a Sun Harvester on a planet with abundant life, Earth. After defeating ancient humans, The Fallen is confronted by the other Primes who defeat and imprison The Fallen before he can harvest Earth's sun with the Matrix of Leadership, and shortly afterwards sacrifice themselves to hide the Matrix.

Two years after Megatron's demise, the Autobots join the U.S. military to form the Non-Biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty (NEST), a classified task force hunting down surviving Decepticons, led by William Lennox and Rob Epps. During a mission in Shanghai against the Decepticons Sideways and Demolisher, Optimus Prime learns of The Fallen's return from Demolisher's dying words: "The Fallen will rise again", but is unfamiliar with the name. National Security Adviser Theodore Galloway scolds the task force for their destructive tactics, reminding them that Megatron's corpse is still in the Laurentian Abyss and the last known AllSpark shard is locked up in NEST's headquarters. The Decepticon Communications Officer Soundwave hacks into a U.S. military satellite, eavesdropping for information and sends Ravage to retrieve the shard.

Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky prepares to attend college, leaving his girlfriend Mikaela Banes and guardian Bumblebee behind. While preparing for college, he gets a call from Mikaela. While on the phone, he removes an old jacket from his cupboard; a smaller AllSpark shard falls from within it. He picks up the shard, accidentally channeling its knowledge into his mind, causing him to see Cybertronian symbols and bringing the kitchen appliances to life. After Bumblebee destroys them, Sam gives the shard to Mikaela, who later captures the Decepticon Wheelie when he tries to steal it. The Constructicons resurrect Megatron by using the shard retrieved by Ravage and killing one of their own allies to provide parts for him. Megatron then flies to a moon of Saturn and reunites with his master, The Fallen. The Fallen orders Megatron to capture Sam alive and kill Optimus, who is the last of the Primes and the only Transformer who can defeat him.

Sam, Mikaela, and Leo, Sam's college roommate, are targeted by the Decepticons. Alice, a Pretender Decepticon, first attempts to seduce Sam and then tries to attack him, but Mikaela and Leo enter the room and help him escape. They kill Alice, but are captured by Grindor under the orders of Megatron, who says that the symbols in Sam's mind will lead the Deceptions to a new Energon source. Megatron orders Scalpel to remove Sam's brain, but Optimus and Bumblebee arrive to rescue them. Bumblebee, Leo, and Mikaela escape as Optimus engages Megatron, Starscream, and Grindor in a vicious fight in the forest. Sam watches the three Decepticons overpower Optimus, but Optimus eventually gets the better of Megatron and Starscream; also killing Grindor. As Optimus attempts to find Sam, Megatron mortally stabs him. After encouraging Sam to run, Optimus dies. This forces the humans to retreat as Autobots repel Megatron and Starscream.

The Decepticons prepare for The Fallen's arrival by launching an assault on many areas around the world simultaneously; after landing on Earth, The Fallen, now informed of the death of Optimus, hijacks Earth's telecommunications systems, asking for Sam. In return, the assurance of mankind's survival. Sam, now an international fugitive, enlists the help of Seymour Simmons, who reveals that the Transformers visited Earth eons ago and the most ancient, known as Seekers, live in secret. With the help from Wheelie, they track down an elderly Decepticon turned Autobot named Jetfire, helping the group get to Egypt to find the Matrix of Leadership, which will revive Optimus. Simmons contacts NEST, telling them to bring Optimus and the other Autobots to Egypt.

Sam's group finds the Tomb of the Primes hidden in Petra, but the Matrix disintegrates into dust in Sam's hands. Undeterred, Sam places the Matrix's remains in his sock. Megatron orders the Decepticons to assault the area around the pyramid, leading to a full scale Decepticon attack. NEST and the Autobots land, but they are attacked by a large force of Decepticons. During the battle, Sam reunites with his parents (having found out about the Transformers existence) before getting rescued by Bumblebee, who ends up killing Ravage and Rampage in the process. During the battle, Devastator demolishes one of the Pyramids of Giza, revealing the Sun Harvester inside, before being killed by a strike called in by Simmons. With the Decepticons gaining the upper hand, Lennox and Epps call in an airstrike, which kills a large portion of the Decepticon ground forces. However, Megatron manages to shoot Sam in the confusion, seemingly killing him, before being forced to retreat to the Sun Harvester. Nearing his death, the Seven Primes contact Sam through a vision, telling him the Matrix is earned, and that he earned the right to bear it. They restore Sam's life and the Matrix, which the latter is used to revive Optimus.

The Fallen, sensing the Matrix's restoration and the resurrection of Optimus, teleports to their location and steals the Matrix from Optimus, then returns to the pyramid with Megatron and activates the Sun Harvester. The military assaults the pyramid but are no match to the telekinetic powers of The Fallen, who all but destroys the attack force. A wounded Jetfire sacrifices himself in order for Optimus to gain his parts which gives him immense strength and the ability to fly. Optimus takes to flight and knocks The Fallen and Megatron off the pyramid, destroying the Sun Harvester in the process. The Fallen and Optimus fight ferociously until Megatron appears and attacks Optimus from behind. Optimus uses his new strength to severely injure Megatron, knocking him through a wall and disabling him. Optimus re-engages The Fallen who begins to tear Optimus' new armour apart, but Optimus gains the upper hand by disarming The Fallen and using his own spear against him, impaling him through the shoulder. Wounded, The Fallen attempts to escape, but Optimus rips his face off and crushes his spark out of his chest, finally killing him, while an injured Megatron watches in horror. Vowing vengeance, he retreats with Starscream. Victorious at last, the Autobots and their allies return to the United States as Optimus ends the movie with a victory speech.

In a mid-credit scene Sam, and Mikaela continue their relationship by kissing on a motor-cycle, In a second credit scene Sam returns to college, were the professor says "Thank you for joining us Mr. Einstein"

L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

The 2nd movie of Transformer is still as good as the 1st movie. Sexy Megan Fox on the superbike is like a symbolic pose for a sexy beast like her. The storyline is exciting, a lot new transformers appear in this second movie for the good guys so as the bad guys. Love the fighting scenes between the autobots & decepticons; it almost blew me away watching it :) Too bad, when I thought about the 3rd movie later on "Dark of the moon" is not as good as the first two movies make me feel a bit sad... that is also the reason why i stop watching Transformer in cinema anymore... :(