Connected 保持通話

 Released Year: 2008

Directed by 陳木勝 Benny Chan

Casted by:

古天樂 Louis Koo as 阿邦 Bob

徐熙媛 Barbie Hsu as 王海晴 Grace

張家輝 Nick Cheung as 余振輝 Detective Fai

劉燁 Liu Ye as 霍德能 Detective Nang

張兆輝 Eddie Cheung as 張督察 Detective Cheung

樊少皇 Louis Fan as 唐 Tong

貝安琪 Ainke Beilke as Michelle

陳慧珊 Flora Chan as Jeanie

 Story:

While Grace Wong is driving her vehicle, her car is knocked down by another vehicle and she is abducted from the scene. The kidnappers, led by Fok Tak-nang, return to Grace's house, where they kill her maid, and start searching the place. Grace is then taken to an abandoned house, where she manages to repair a destroyed telephone. With the phone, she manages to contact Bob, a single father and debt collector. Bob has promised his son, Kit-kit, and his sister, Jeannie, that he will meet them at an airport, before Kit-kit boards a flight to Australia.

While talking to Grace on his cellular phone, Bob agrees to help Grace and hands his phone to patrol officer Fai, who believes that the distressing phone call is a prank, due to Bob's reckless driving. Grace is interrupted from the call when Fok and his men enter the room, having abducted her brother's friend, Joe. Fok forces Grace to contact her brother, Roy. After listening to Roy's answering machine, Fok kills Joe and leaves with his men, now planning to go after Grace's daughter, Tinker. Grace persuades Bob to head to the school and find her daughter before Fok's men do. When Bob arrives, he is distracted by the school's headmaster, and minutes before the school's class dismissal, he finds Tinker too late, when she is abducted by Fok's men. Bob goes after the abductors, but winds up losing sight of them in the struggle. After crashing through a truck, Bob later finds a handgun left in his car by a fellow debt collector.

Realizing that his phone has a low battery, Bob heads to a phone store to buy a cell phone charger. After losing his patience with the flirty service clerk, he holds the store at gunpoint and pays for the charger. After Bob is caught on camera at both the school and the phone store, Fai heads to Grace Wong's residence. He is still convinced that the kidnapping situation is a prank, having talked to Michelle, a woman impersonating Grace. Fok then decides to go after Grace's brother, Roy, who is in a hospital.

Fai decides to call Grace's house, after realizing the real Grace Wong is a Mandarin-language speaker, while the impersonator he met speaks Cantonese. At the hospital, Bob manages to distract Grace's abductors, who are revealed by police to be Interpol agents. The agents, however, succeed in kidnapping Roy and take him to a hill where he has hidden a camcorder. Bob intervenes, grabbing a hold of the camera and fleeing from the agents; unfortunately, he loses connection with Grace.

Fai heads to Grace's house, where he confronts and kills Michelle, realizing she was also an Interpol agent working for Fok. As Grace tries to contact Bob, she is caught by one Fok's henchmen. Grace kills the henchman and manages to find her daughter. However, while planning to escape, Grace and Tinker are caught by Fok. Bob looks at the evidence on the camcorder. The footage, captured by Roy, reveals Fok brutally executing several American drug dealers and stealing their contraband. Bob calls Fok, and tells them to meet him at the airport in an exchange for the evidence and the hostages, while attempting to keep his promise to his son.

At the airport, Bob's plans to meet his sister and son are foiled as Fok conveniently stands between them and Bob's hiding place. After telling Fok to go towards the parking lot, he demands that Grace, Roy and Tinker be released. They flee to a patrol car that is also in the lot. Unfortunately, Bob is caught by Fok and his men, and fights against them until Fai catches up to them. Fok and his men are arrested by Detective Cheung and his Serious Crimes Unit. After Bob hands the videotaped evidence over to Detective Cheung, Fok and Tong, one of Fok's henchman, appear, and Cheung reveals that he was working with Fok. Fok deletes the footage on the videotape, and a violent confrontation ensues in a loading dock in the airport where Fai and Bob take on Fok, Cheung and the corrupt Interpol agents. Cheung is shot to death by Fai after attacking the patrol officer with a forklift truck.

Bob confronts Fok on a scaffolding. After Bob reveals he still has videotaped evidence on his cell phone and threatens to send it to the police, Fok kicks Bob off the scaffolding. A net manages to save Bob's fall, but sends Fok falling to his death. While this was going on, a member of Fok's team rekidnaps Grace and her family and prepares to kill them, but Grace manages to defend her family long enough for the police to arrive. When Bob returns, Fai talks to him, feeling the glory he once had as a police officer, and wishing that they never meet again after their ordeal. Bob then meets Grace for the first time in person. Grace thanks him, and Bob concludes their meeting by saying, "If you're gonna call for help, no thanks! If you want dinner, then I'll consider." Bob is then reunited with his son, who is happy that his father kept his promise.

L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

My friend recommend me this movie for quite sometime ago and I've forgot about it, maybe the title of the movie itself does not make me feel interested at all... But i just happen to remember this movie when i went to my friend house and saw the DVD...

Basically this movie is a remake of 2004 "Cellular" movie but in asian version. Its quite excited but some of the part does not make sense at all! For example, a man in reality world will straight ahead shut down his phone when he heard such call, right? But since this is just a movie, so the action of Louis Koo can be said as brave or idiot should i say...?

Mechanic: Resurrection

Released Year: 2016

Directed by Dennis Gansel

Casted by:

 Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop

Jessica Alba as Gina Thorne

Tommy Lee Jones as Max Adams

杨紫琼 Michelle Yeoh as Mae

Sam Hazeldine as Riah Crain

 Story:

After faking his death, Arthur Bishop has been living quietly in Rio de Janeiro with the name Santos. He is approached by a woman who states that her employer wishes for Bishop to kill three targets and stage them as accidents. Bishop takes a picture of her and fights off her mercenaries before escaping. Bishop goes to Thailand and takes shelter at the beach house of his friend, Mae. He investigates the woman and learns that her employer is a man named Riah Crain.

An attractive young woman named Gina Thorne arrives at the shore and, when she asks Mae for some first aid items, Mae notices a split lip and bruising on her arm that suggest she is being treated badly. That evening, Mae notices the young woman being attacked in her boat and convinces Bishop to go out to help. He boards the boat, but his attempts to warn off the man go unheeded and in the ensuing altercation the man falls, hits his head on a piece of the boat's equipment and is killed. Mae arrives, to take Gina to shore, and Bishop quickly explores the ship for clues before setting fire to it to cover his tracks. Bishop learns that the young lady is called Gina, and is working for Crain and confronts her, who reveals that she was working in a children shelter in Cambodia and Crain threatened those children and forced her to arrive at Bishop’s location. Bishop deduces that Crain’s plan was to make him fall for her before she is kidnapped and thus Bishop will be forced to accept the mission. Later, Bishop notices Crain’s operatives watching him and gets intimate with Thorne. He reveals to her that he and Crain were sold to a gangster when they were orphan children. They were trained as warriors until Bishop escaped. Bishop and Thorne end up having sex before they are both abducted the next morning. Bishop is brought to Crain, who gives the identities of the three targets.

The first target of Bishop is a warlord named Krill, who is incarcerated in a Malaysian prison. Bishop travels to Malaysia and gets himself imprisoned to access Krill. Bishop gains Krill’s trust by killing a man already planning on killing Krill. Bishop meets with Krill inside his little hut, where the former kills the latter and escapes the prison with the help of Crain's operatives.

Bishop is informed that he only has 36 hours to kill the next target, Adrian Cook, who runs an underage trafficking ring in Sydney, Australia. Cook goes for a swim in his glass pool outside his high-rise apartment. Bishop breaks the glass, causing the water to spill out with Cook plummeting to his death. Once again, Bishop makes a clean getaway.

Bishop finds the boat Thorne is held and attempts to save her, but fails. He is informed that he has 24 hours to kill the last target, Max Adams, who is an arms dealer in Bulgaria. Adams and Bishop decide to work together against Crain. Bishop fakes Adams’ death and tells Crain that the job is done. They arrange a meeting; but Crain is revealed to be planning to have Bishop killed.

Bishop kills Crain’s men before heading toward Crain's boat, where he engages more mercenaries before getting to Crain. He finds Thorne, and they discover that Crain has the boat rigged to explode. Bishop puts her in a chamber to let her escape and engages Crain. The former runs away moments before the boat explodes, killing Crain. Thorne is told that there have been no survivors.

Thorne returns to Cambodia to continue her work. She is surprised when Bishop shows up. The last scene shows Adams reviewing security footage, which shows Bishop escaping in another chamber. Adams deletes the video to fake Bishop's death once more.

L² Scored: 9/10 

L² Comment:

On the same day I watch "Train to Busan", I decided to continue my movie journey with Mechanic: Resurrection. All these while I'm not really a big fans for Jason Statham, but the thriller attracted me especially the scene where he killed one of the guy in swimming pool.

I did not watch "The Mechanic" which happens to be the first movie before this back in 2011, I never know this film is so cool and the storyline was not bad as well~ No doubt Statham & Alba still hot as before, but they don't really look match together for me. And how much did they paid Michelle Yeoh in this movie? I think Michelle Yeoh is quite costly but her character can simply be replaced by any Asian woman, right? Her character didn't seems to be "important" at all~

Train to Busan 부산행 釜山行 / 屍速列車

 Released Year: 2016

Directed by 延相昊 Yeon Sang-Ho

Casted by:

孔劉 Gong Yoo as 徐錫宇 Seok-woo

金秀安 Kim Su-an as 徐秀安 Su-an

鄭有美 Jung Yu-mi as 成景 Seong-kyeong

馬東錫 Ma Dong-seok as 尹相華 Sang-hwa

崔宇植 Choi Woo-shik as 閔英國 Young-guk

安昭熙 Ahn So-hee as 金珍熙 Jin-hee

金義聖 Kim Eui-sung as 容錫 Yong-suk

 Story: 

Train to Busan is a harrowing zombie horror-thriller that follows a group of terrified passengers fighting their way through a countrywide viral outbreak while trapped on a suspicion-filled, blood-drenched bullet train ride to Busan, a southern resort city that has managed to hold off the zombie hordes... or so everyone hopes. But throughout the whole journey, we can see humanity of people in frienship, working out together and even being selfish... As the zombie attack, only Seong-kyeong brought along Su-an to the safe place at last...

 L² Scored: 10/10 

L² Comment:

Wow, I never ever expect Korea will able to film out this kind of incredible zombie film. Not only the whole film is full of excitement, it totally make me breathless and a few times i got freaked out by the zombie attack. Its a very good zombie film and it definitely has push Korea's film industry into zombie area haha....

Lakeview Terrace

 Released Year: 2008

Directed by Neil LaBute

Casted by:

Samuel L. Jackson as Abel Turner

Patrick Wilson as Chris Mattson

Kerry Washington as Lisa Mattson

Jaishon Fisher as Marcus Turner

Regine Nehy as Celia Turner

Story: 

Abel Turner is a twenty-eight-year veteran of the LAPD. A single and widowed father, he is particularly strict with his two children, Marcus and Celia. As his kids leave for school, the new neighbors begin moving in next door. They are a young interracial couple, Chris and Lisa Mattson, who are recently married and buying their first home.

Chris’s first exchanges with Abel have somewhat hostile undertones, with Abel making comments about Chris’ smoking (which Chris hides from Lisa) and listening to hip hop music. The following night, Chris and Lisa have sex in their swimming pool. Unknown to them, Abel's children are watching. Abel arrives home to see this spectacle and is upset, so he repositions the home security floodlights so they shine into Chris and Lisa's window, keeping them awake. When Chris confronts him, Abel claims that the lights are part of his security system to prevent crime and says that it is a complex process to shut down the system and the lights.

Abel attends a housewarming party hosted by Chris and Lisa. He is garrulous but has an edge, and criticizes Chris and his friends for their liberal political and social tendencies. He also exposes Chris' smoking to Lisa, as Chris has been discarding his cigarette butts on Abel's lawn. As he leaves, Chris tells Abel that he is starting to take offense to him, but does not plan to move. One evening, they hear noises downstairs, and find the tires of Chris' car slashed. They suspect Abel and call the police. However, because of Abel's status within the LAPD, the arriving officers are unable to do anything.

Chris and Lisa have dinner with her father, who warns them that acrimony with a police officer may cause trouble. Chris buys his own floodlights and shines them into Abel's bedroom. Lisa later reveals that she is pregnant, which causes conflict as Chris does not yet want to have children. Chris later finds out that Lisa skipped birth control pills to force the issue, and when he confronts her she accuses him of being shortsighted. Meanwhile, Abel is suspended without pay for his abuse of a suspect on the job, which brings even more fury out on him. He hosts a loud bachelor party while the kids are away with their aunt. Chris arrives to complain about the music, but Abel taunts him.

Chris plants trees at the fence between their houses, which leads to an almost violent exchange between the two neighbors, as Abel refuses to have their trees hanging over his property without permission. Later Chris goes to a local bar, and as he finishes his drink, Abel enters and tells Chris that he lost his own wife, when a car hit her on a highway. Abel makes a last cryptic comment about his wife, wondering what she was doing out in that area, at that time with her white boss, when she was supposed to be working, implying she was being unfaithful to Abel.

Both Abel and the Mattsons attend a barbecue in a home down the hill. Abel's informant Clarence Darlington (Keith Loneker) is sent to trash their home, as another means of making the Mattsons uncomfortable in the neighborhood. Lisa goes home early, surprising Clarence. They struggle, which leads to Lisa being knocked out; but not before she triggers the alarm. Chris races home upon hearing the alarm, followed by a frustrated Abel. Chris rushes to the injured Lisa, while Abel comes upon his hired criminal trying to escape and shoots him dead in the pool. The Mattsons go to the hospital, where Lisa is found to be okay.

Wildfires are raging in the hills surrounding the community and the residents of the neighborhood are instructed to pack their things and leave their homes. Abel remains at his house, hosing off his roof, as he does not want to leave his home. With the Mattsons at the hospital, Abel enters their home, hoping to retrieve a cell phone which Clarence left behind, as he is afraid his call to the perpetrator could be traced, implicating him in the break-in. Before he can find it, Lisa and Chris unexpectedly return from the hospital and Abel returns to his home. Chris thanks Abel for helping him during the break-in, trying to express a sense of community with Abel. While the Mattsons are packing to leave, Chris discovers the cell phone under their bed and picks it up. He dials the last number logged on the phone and hears Abel answer. Chris realizes Abel is responsible for the break-in, and Abel realizes Chris has discovered the phone.

Abel comes over with his gun drawn, trying to convince Chris that the perpetrator was trying to set him up. He and Chris struggle and Chris tells Lisa to take the car and the cell phone to the police. Abel shoots Lisa's car and she crashes into a parked car. Chris tackles Abel and gets his gun. After pistol whipping Abel and seemingly knocking him out, Chris runs to help Lisa out of the car. This leads to a standoff, with Chris securing Abel's 9mm semi-automatic handgun and Abel drawing his backup revolver from his ankle holster.

Deputies from the LA County Sheriff's Department arrive. Abel hides his gun behind his back and tries to convince them Chris is unbalanced due to the break-in and attack on Lisa earlier that day. Chris refuses to drop his weapon until Abel puts his down, but Abel raises his arms and insists that he is unarmed. Chris finally throws Abel off, by asking about his wife's death and how he was unable to recognize that she had become unfaithful to him. Infuriated, Abel shoots Chris and is promptly gunned down and killed by the deputies. Chris is taken to an ambulance with a gunshot wound to the chest, but is told he will live. He and Lisa later talk about their pride in their home, neighborhood, and soon-to-be family.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment: 

Well, this might not be a very popular movie outside of USA, but it is not bad. I don't really remember whether Samuel L Jackson portraited any bad guy character before in any movies, but he is really good in this movie. Being a hardcore racist guy, he kept on mentally & physically attacked Patrick Wilson & Kerry Washington throughout the movie. I'm impressed on his acting skill and he is still one of my favorite black actor so far :)

Jaws 2

 Released Year: 1978

Directed by Jeannot Szwarc

Casted by:

Roy Scheider as Chief Martin Brody

Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody

Murray Hamilton as Mayor Larry Vaughn

Joseph Mascolo as Leonard "Len" Peterson

 Story: 

Prior to a new hotel opening on Amity Island, an enormous great white shark ambushes and kills two divers who are photographing the wreck of the Orca, the late Quint's boat. A couple of days later, their camera is recovered, and the shark goes after a female water skier and speedboat driver, devouring the skier while the driver fends off the shark using a gas tank and flare gun, causing the boat to explode, which kills her and severely burns the shark's face.

Along with these disappearances, a killer whale bearing large wounds is beached. Police Chief Martin Brody believes these events are the work of a shark. Brody explains his concerns to Mayor Larry Vaughn, who doubts the town has another shark problem. Later, Brody finds a piece of the destroyed speedboat in the surf just off the beach. He wades over to retrieve it and uncovers the boat driver's burnt remains.

The following day, at the beach, Brody sees a dark shadow that approaches the swimmers. Thinking it is a shark, he frantically orders everyone out of the water and causes a panic by firing his gun. However, the shadow is revealed to be a school of bluefish, making people think Brody's insane. His fears are later confirmed when he acquires a close-up picture of the shark from the diver's camera. The Amity town council, including local developer Len Peterson, deny the evidence and vote Brody out as Police Chief.

The next morning, Brody's teenage son Mike disobeys his father by sneaking out to go sailing with his friends after his love interest Jackie Peters goads him to, but his younger brother Sean catches him, and encourages Mike to bring him along. After an argument at the dock, Marge, one of Mike's friends, playfully lets Sean come in her boat with her, and after a couple other grouping arrangements, they head out, going past a team of divers, led by instructor Tom Andrews. Moments after going underwater, one of the divers encounters the shark. Panicking, he rushes to the surface, causing an embolism. Soon after, the shark hits teenagers Tina Wilcox and Eddie Marchand; Eddie falls in the water and is killed by the shark.

Brody and his wife Ellen follow an ambulance to the docks, where they find Tom as he is put on a stretcher; the divers suspect something scared him underwater. Deputy Len Hendricks, Brody's replacement, tells them Mike went sailing with his friends, so Brody, along with Ellen and Hendricks, takes the police boat to rescue them. While searching, they come across Tina's boat, and find her hiding in the bow; she fearfully mentions the shark's presence. Hendricks and Ellen take Tina to shore, where the truth is revealed, while Brody goes on to find the kids.

Meanwhile, the shark attacks the other kids, hitting one of their boats and causing most of them to capsize and crash into each other in the ensuing panic, throwing several of them, including Mike and Sean, in the water. The other teens help them out of the water while two of them pull Mike out as the shark goes for him and head back to get help. Sean and the others remain adrift on the wreckage of tangled boats. A Coast Guard marine helicopter that Brody contacted arrives to tow them to shore. Before the pilot can tow them, the shark attacks and sinks the chopper, and then knocks Sean into the water, but Marge sacrifices herself to save him from the shark.

Brody runs into Mike, who tells his father that Sean is with his friends, drifting towards Cable Junction, a small island housing an electrical relay station, and apologizes for not knowing about the shark. Brody accepts his apology while telling him to get to safety and quickly finds them, but when the shark reappears, he panics and maroons the police boat on Cable Junction. He then tries to pull them with a winch but hooks an underwater power cable. The shark's next attack sends most of the teenagers into the water, and they swim to Cable Junction while Sean and Jackie are trapped on the boats. Using an inflatable raft, Brody hits the power cable with an oar to attract the shark and encourages it to bite the cable; the shark is fatally electrocuted, and its corpse sinks to the bottom of the sea. The shaken kids rejoice as Brody picks up Sean and Jackie and they join them on Cable Junction to await rescue.

L² Scored: 4/10

L² Comment:

This is the second movie of the Jaws series movie and apparently the movie is getting more and more boring compare to the first movie. As mentioned in my previous blog entry on the first movie, the movie only gets a bit better towards the ending part... But this second movie, even with the shark attack, it did not bring that much exciting feeling to me at all compare to the first movie~

Olympus Has Fallen

 Released Year: 2013

Directed by Antoine Fuqua

Casted by:

Gerard Butler as Mike Banning

Aaron Eckhart as Benjamin Asher

Morgan Freeman as Allan Trumbull

Rick Yune as Kang Yeonsak

Angela Bassett as Lynne Jacobs

Dylan McDermott as Dave Forbes

Finley Jacobsen as Connor Asher

Melissa Leo as Ruth McMillan

Ashley Judd as Margaret Asher

Radha Mitchell as Leah Banning

 Story: 

Former Army Ranger Mike Banning is the lead U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to head the U.S. Presidential detail. Banning maintains a personal, friendly relationship with President Benjamin Asher, First Lady Margaret and their son Connor. During a snowy Christmas evening drive from Camp David to a campaign fundraiser, the car transporting the First Family spins out of control on a bridge; Banning pulls Asher from the vehicle, but Margaret falls to her death while inside the car.

Eighteen months later, having been removed from the presidential detail, Banning works at Treasury headquarters. During a meeting between Asher and South Korean Prime Minister Lee Tae-Woo (Keong Sim), terrorists led by Kang Yeonsak, a North Korean terrorist driven to reunify Korea, mount an air and ground assault that results in the capture of the White House. The group is aided by treasonous members of the prime minister's own detail, including Dave Forbes, a former Secret Service agent. Asher and several top officials are held hostage in the White House bunker; South Korean Prime Minister Lee is executed on live video. Before his own death, detail agent Roma alerts the Director of the Secret Service Lynne Jacobs that "Olympus has fallen".

Kang seeks to use Asher's hostage status as leverage to force U.S. officials to withdraw the Seventh Fleet and U.S. forces from the Korean Peninsula, removing American opposition to a North Korean invasion of South Korea. He also seeks to destroy the American nuclear weapons stockpile by detonating them in their respective silos across the country, turning the U.S. into an irradiated wasteland as revenge for the death of his family. To accomplish this, he requires the access codes to a system in the bunker called Cerberus, which are held by three top government officials within the bunker, including the President. Asher orders the other two officials to reveal their codes to save their lives, certain that he will not give up his code.

During the initial assault by Kang's forces, Banning joins the White House's combatants. He falls back into the White House, disabling the internal surveillance and gaining access to Asher's satellite ear phone, which he uses to maintain contact with Jacobs and Allan Trumbull, the Speaker of the House, now the Acting President. Authorized to proceed, Banning’s first act is to save Connor, whom Kang plans to use to force Asher to reveal his Cerberus code. Banning finds Connor hiding in the walls, thanks to the training Banning had given him, and sneaks the boy to safety. Banning begins reconnaissance and reduces the terrorists' numbers. Banning kills Forbes, first convincing the traitor to report to Kang that Banning is dead. Meanwhile, Army Chief of Staff General Edward Clegg convinces Trumbull to order an aerial SEAL assault on the White House. Kang deploys an advanced anti-aircraft gun system in his possession. Discovering the system, Banning advises Trumbull and Clegg to abort the mission, but the new weapon system annihilates the assault force before Banning can stop it. Kang retaliates for the infiltration by killing Vice President Charlie Rodriguez.

After Banning disables Kang’s communications, Kang tries to execute Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan outside the White House in front of the media, but Banning rescues her, taking out several of Kang's men in the process. With his forces dwindling, Kang fakes both his own death and Asher's by sacrificing several of his men and the remaining hostages. However, Banning believes that Kang has faked his death and will attempt to sneak away. Kang eventually cracks Asher’s code using brute-force attack and activates Cerberus. As Kang attempts to escape, Banning kills the remaining terrorists, but Kang shoots Asher in the abdomen when the President tries to resist. Banning and Kang confront each other and a climactic fight breaks out, in which Kang quickly maintains the upper hand. Eventually, Banning kills Kang by stabbing him in the head with a knife and then disables Cerberus with the assistance of Trumbull, with only seconds to spare. During daybreak that day, Banning walks out with Asher and is received by the soldiers posted to await their arrival. After the events, the U.S. begins to heal from the attack, while Banning once again heads the president's security detail. President Asher addresses the public while Banning, Jacobs, Clegg, and Connor observe.

 L² Scored: 8.5/10

L² Comment:

There's really not much fate between me & this movie actually. I remember the first time when I bought the movie ticket to watch this movie, within the first half an hour, a friend called me and say he needs help due to an accident, i ditched the movie and went for rescue. The friend whom i offered my help treat me to cinema to watch this movie on the following week, but i was forced to cancel it because i got high fever at that time...

When i wanted to watch this movie with my friends after a year through blu-ray, when we open the DVD, we realize it was not "Olympus Has Fallen" in it, instead it was a thriller movie that time lol~ Finally when i was alone in a quiet night, i managed to finish this movie :p

It was nice, very exciting as well. But of course i understand this is just a movie, but the attack of the terrorist is too powerful and it make me scared ~ Gosh... who can protect us if the US white house is down too? Lol~ i'm just being a bit too drama myself haha...

Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky 力王

 Released Year: 1991

Directed by 藍乃才 Lam Nai Choi

Casted by:

樊少皇 Louis Fan as 賀力王 Lik Wong / Ricky Ho

大島由加利 Yukari Oshima as 黃泉 / 西倉天王 Huang Chung / Rogan

樊梅生 Fan Mei-Sheng as 單眼蛇 / 副所長 Assistant Warden Dan

何家駒 Ho Ka-Kui as 典獄長 Warden

陳國邦 Chan Kwok-Bong as 阿沙 Sha

陳治良 Frankie Chin as 嗚海 / 北倉天王 Hai / Oscar

杉崎浩一 Koichi Sugisaki as 泰山 / 東倉天王 Taizan / Tarzan

黃貴雄 Wong Kwai-Hung as 白神 / 南倉天王 Baishen / Brandon

葉蘊儀 Gloria Yip as 瑩瑩 Keiko / Anne

 Story: 

The plot closely follows the events depicted in the original Japanese comic and its anime adaptation, with some minor modifications in certain instances.

By the year 2001, all correctional facilities have been privatized. Lik Wong/Ricky Ho, a martial artist and former music student, is sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter after killing a crime lord who was indirectly responsible for the death of his girlfriend Keiko/Anne. Flashback scenes reveal that a group of thugs had captured her after she had witnessed their heroin deal. Anne was so scared in captivity that she ran upstairs and then leapt off the roof to her death.

One morning in the prison bathroom, an elderly inmate named Ma/Omar is viciously beaten by the captain of the cells, Wildcat/Samuel. As Samuel leaves, Ricky trips him, and Samuel falls on a piece of wood with nails on it, hand and face first. As Samuel devises a plan to get back at Ricky, one of the inmates suggest that they should have Zorro, a dangerous, morbidly obese inmate, kill him. Omar is later informed by the guards that they turned down his probation after Samuel tells the guards that Omar was spreading rumors although this was untrue. Stricken by grief, Omar hangs himself.

The next day, Zorro attacks Ricky, but is quickly and horribly killed along with Samuel. Shortly after, a member of the fearsome Four Heavenly Kings (Gang of Four in the English dub) named Hai/Oscar, the leader of the North Cell, suggests that Ricky should see the sadistic one-eyed Assistant Warden Dan. After Ricky confronts Dan, he suggests Oscar to kill Ricky. Outside the prison yard, Oscar and Ricky engage in a fight, which ends with Ricky defeating and killing Oscar.

Later on, Ricky soon discovers that the Gang of Four is growing illegal opium for profit. Huang Chung/Rogan, leader of the West Cell, discovers that Ricky had set the poppy garden on fire and they both fight. As the fight goes on, Brandon, leader of the South Cell, throws his needles and ties Ricky up with them, leaving him defenseless. Meanwhile, the guards report to Dan that the Warden is returning from his vacation in Hawaii, prompting Dan to raise the Zero Alarm. While the fight continues, Tarzan, leader of the East Cell, interferes, claiming that he wants to fight Ricky. As the Zero Alarm goes off, Ricky and the Gang of Four part ways for now.

The next day, the Warden and his spoiled, overweight son return from their vacation. Dan informs the Warden about the incidents during his absence, including the poppy garden which infuriates the Warden. Dan escorts the Warden to Ricky's cell. As the Warden questions him, Tarzan bursts through the wall and fights Ricky once again, which ends with Ricky brutally defeating Tarzan. The Warden then activates a ceiling trap to crush Ricky. As Ricky struggles to stay alive, Tarzan regains consciousness and saves him from being crushed by the ceiling, at the cost of Tarzan's life.

Later, the Warden orders the inmates to bury Ricky alive, which they reluctantly obey. The Warden claims if Ricky survives by staying underground for a week, he will consider freeing him from prison. As the week quickly passes by, Ricky survives, but the Warden does not free him. Later that night, Ricky is chained in his cell. A fellow inmate, named Freddy, brings him food so Ricky can regain his power. However, another inmate sees this and informs Dan about it and in response, Dan mortally wounds Freddy. Dan, dragging Freddy's body with his hook, then opens Ricky's cell to show the body to him. However, Dan and the other inmate find that Ricky has broken free from the chains, and Ricky kills the inmate and knocks out Dan's remaining eye. As the guards rush to the scene, the inmates rebel and violently ambush Dan.

In the kitchen, Ricky, the prisoners, and Dan burst through the wall and the Warden shoots Dan with a gas-pressured bullet, causing him to inflate and violently explode. Rogan and Brandon then confront Ricky one last time, which ends with Ricky gravely injuring Rogan. Brandon, realizing Ricky is far too powerful for him, flees from the scene, but not before the Warden shoots and kills Brandon. The Warden, revealing that he too, is a martial artist, transforms into a grotesque creature and battles Ricky. The fight quickly ends with Ricky crippling and throwing the mutated Warden into a meat grinder. In the finale, the prisoners rebel once again and start to attack the guards. Ricky then breaks the prison wall, allowing all the prisoners and himself to go free.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment: 

This movie is based on the Japanese famous violence comic of many years ago. I was surprise when I was able to found this on a website and its not censored after all... The gruesome and violence is shown exactly how it was portrait by the comic itself. And it was also the first time i ever watch Yukari acted as a male and a villain in a movie :) 

Helios 赤道

 Released Year: 2015

Directed by 陸劍青 Sunny Luk & 梁樂民 Longman Leung

Casted by:

張學友 Jacky Cheung as 肇志仁 / 赤盜 Professor Siu Chi-yan

張家輝 Nick Cheung as 李彦明 Eric Lee Yan-ming

池珍熙 Ji Jin-hee as 崔民浩 Choi Min-ho

崔始源 Choi Siwon as 朴宇哲 Park Woo-cheol

王學圻 Wang Xueqi as 宋鞍 Song An

張震 Chang Chen as 金燾年 Gam Dao-nin

文詠珊 Janice Man as 張怡君 Zhang Yiyun

余文樂 Shawn Yue as 范家明 Fan Ka-ming

顧美華 Josephine Koo as Sophia

 Story: 

South Korea's top most wanted criminal, nicknamed "Helios", and his assistant, nicknamed "Messenger", have successfully stolen a mass destruction weapon secretly developed by the South Korean military, the portable nuclear explosive device DC8 along with sixteen raw material spheres. The police forces of Hong Kong, China and South Korea were informed that "Helios" will hold an underground trading in Hong Kong.

An emergency response team was set up in Hong Kong. Its members, chief inspector Eric Lee Yan-ming of the Counter Terrorism Response Unit, senior Chinese official Song An, and two South Korean weapon experts Choi Min-ho and Park Woo-cheol, work together to trace the whereabouts of the weapon. Lee also specially invites Physics professor Siu Chi-yan of the University of Hong Kong to serve as a special adviser for the operation.

Hong Kong, China and South Korea face the same objective, but with different purposes. Choi wants to hunt down "Helios" to take back the weapon to make sure not to divulge secrets of South Korea. In the position of the Chinese government, Song wants to resolve the current crisis in Hong Kong and halt any terrorism activities in Chinese territories. Lee and Siu face pressure from the two countries and have to deal with the greatest challenge since the establishment of Counter Terrorism Response Unit, with the situation getting more tense.

As times passes by each second, with "Messenger" arrested and DC8 falls into the hands of the Hong Kong Police Force, China and Korea fight for the right to possess the weapon. On the other hand, "Helios" appears in Macau, with plans to retaliate and repossess the weapon. During the last stand, conspiracies are gradually revealed, with everyone caught off guard.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Its been quite sometime since I have watch a good HK's crime movie, a bit too bad coz I missed out this movie in the cinema last year. Few surprises in this movie such as Jacky Cheung first try on such character; actors from China + HK + Korea + Taiwan can be found in the same movie; Janice Man got the potential to be fighting actress; the most most surprise is to see Josephine Koo after so many years...

Storyline of this movie started a bit exciting & fast, just when you thought you can relax a bit in the middle of the movie, the story twisted & brought another peak part of this movie till the end. The only problem is that i need to read the chinese subtitle when the Korean actors & actresses communicate...

Race to Witch Mountain

 Released Year: 2009

Directed by Andy Fickman

Casted by:

Dwayne Johnson as Jack Bruno

Alexander Ludwig as Seth

AnnaSophia Robb as Sara

Ciarán Hinds as Henry Burke

 Story:

An alien spaceship crashes near Searchlight, Nevada, outside Las Vegas. Project Moon Dust, a secret Defense Department unit led by Henry Burke, arrives in black helicopters. Men in Black seize the ship and search for its passengers.

Jack Bruno is a former mob get-away driver who drives a cab to avoid returning to jail. One of his passengers is Dr. Alex Friedman, a failed scientist who is in Las Vegas to speak at a UFO convention at the Planet Hollywood hotel.

After resisting two thugs who seek his services for a mob boss, Bruno finds two teenagers, Sara and Seth, in his cab. They offer $15,000 to drive to a certain destination. Burke's men follow the cab; Bruno believes that the government agents are more mob thugs, and evades them with his driving skills. Seth's ability to vary his molecular density helps the group to escape.

When they arrive at an abandoned house, Bruno follows them out of concern and curiosity. The teenagers retrieve the device they were looking for within a hidden underground laboratory, but the three are attacked by a "Siphon", a powerful armored alien assassin. The Siphon pursues the group until its spaceship crashes into a train and the creature is wounded. The three again escape Burke's agents, in part due to Sara's telepathy and telekinetics.

The teenagers explain to Bruno that they are from a dying planet 3,000 light years from Earth. Its government intends to invade Earth, despite the idea being unpopular among the majority of their race, so that their kind may survive. Seth and Sara's parents are scientists who sought a way to save their planet without invasion but were arrested before completing their experiment. The teenagers came to retrieve the successful results, but the alien government sent the assassin to stop them. To save both worlds, they must retrieve their spaceship and return home.

Bruno brings Seth and Sara to Dr. Friedman at the UFO convention, who realizes that the teenagers are what she has been searching for and joins the group. Fellow UFOlogist and conspiracy theorist Dr. Donald Harlan tells them that the spaceship was taken to the secret California government base Witch Mountain. Harlan and his men distract the soldiers with Bruno's taxi while the others escape to Witch Mountain on Harlan's RV. The group arrives at the base but are captured; Burke orders that the teenagers be prepared for vivisection, but frees the adults as no one will believe them.

The Siphon attacks Witch Mountain and battles the soldiers, allowing Bruno and Friedman to infiltrate the base and free Seth and Sara. They launch the ship, escape through the mountain's tunnels, and finally kill the assassin who has stowed away on the spaceship. The teenagers give Bruno and Friedman a tracking device that will allow the aliens to always find them, tearfully wish them farewell, and return to their planet.

Bruno and Friedman become successful authors of Race to Witch Mountain: A True Story. They promote their book and knowledge on the UFO convention circuit, explaining that the publicity protects them from government reprisal. As they leave a convention the alien device activates, implying that the teenagers may be returning to Earth.

 L² Scored: 7/10

L² Comment:

This is a remake of Disney film 1975 "Escape to Witch Mountain". I missed it in the big screen that time, hey wait a minute.... it was almost 8 years ago!!! and WTF, i have been blogging on this movie blog for so long already ?!? 

Alright, back to the movie, kinda nice but just feel some part can be more excited, such as the part where they fight along with Siphon... Of course Dwayne Johnson still looks good but Alexander Ludwig is so yummy even though he was just 17yo in this movie; I just google his recent photos & he was fucking hell good looking, gosh~ Don't forgot about AnnaSophia Robb who looks stunning too in this movie & she is the young version of Carrie Bradshaw lol~