RoboCop (2014)

the story took place in a futuristic world, where OmniCorp was the most popular organization that focused on robot technology. Alex was a perfect husband and officer. however, he was critically injured in the line of duty. OmniCorp took this as the greatest opportunity to create a part-man, part-robot police officer. with all the surveillance footage and criminal information uploaded into RoboCop's memory, he was able to detect any ongoing criminal activities or capture wanted fugitives in record timing. however, when the robotic side started to take over the human side of Alex, things became dangerously threatening for himself as well as the city.

the film felt like an introduction to the RoboCop character. despite the advance technologies, we found ourselves unimpressed by the typical flow of the storyline. it took us quite a while to understand the connection between the Dr and the OmniCorp spokesperson. there were so much dialogues before the film got started with Alex. then it became over-exaggerated with how perfect he was robot-wise. the human side rarely did come out no matter how much they told us that it was in motion. with minimal facial expression, he just wasn't believing enough to convince us nor made us love him. the story became such a drag that we were just glad when it finally ended.

Blitz (2011)

Tom was a tough police who was assigned to a case, where a serial killer was determined to target police officers, killing them one by one. they named the serial killer the Blitz. he managed to slip through being captured every single time, making him a very dangerous threat to the police force. Tom was determined to bring down the Blitz, especially now that the lives of his colleagues were in danger.

the film was very slow moving and it took us quite some time to understand its flow. action wise, it was deliciously gory, making every confrontation a feast. however, it often took a longer time chasing down the criminal than to see any confrontation. at some point, we felt that the film was again another replication from his previous film. the bad cop character that he wore was again nothing special in comparison. from the numerous films that accumulated thus far, it was sad to find that he had lost his charm along the way, especially now that we had gotten so used to it, there were just no surprises left.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

after the events took place in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), Bilbo was still travelling with Thorin and the Dwarves. the Orc party was still tracking them, forcing them to seek out Bolg, a skin-changer for help. when Gandalf discovered a graffiti imprinted on a ruin, he left to investigate. the group lost their way and was captured by giant spiders. their escapes landed them in the Elves' sanctuary. from there, they set out to complete the journey to the Lonely Mountain, hoping the Secret Door would give them access to the treasures guarded by the dragon Smaug.

having watched the previous installment almost a year ago left us forgetting what the story was about. fortunately, their journey continued to be overwhelming, with plenty of scenes changes, from escaping the giant spiders' nest, to being captured by the elves, to being washed down by the river. the film was again about enjoying the ride than truly remembering the story. in this installment, the part where Bilbo continued using the magical ring was no surprise for us. but the part where he always managed to save the dwarves still remained difficult to stomach after all these times. having watched all the trilogies from LOTR to The Hobbit, the series had stopped impressing us but still managed to provide fair entertainment nonetheless.

The House of Magic (2013)

when his previous owner moved, Thunder the cat was abandoned. seeking shelter from a storm, Thunder came across a seemingly haunted house. while frightened by many of the automatons coming alive, Thunder found the owner, an old magician a soothing sight. everyone was eager to accept Thunder into their home, but Jack the rabbit and Maggie the mouse were eager to evict him. the situation worsen when the magician landed in a hospital and his nephew, Daniel took the chance to sell the mansion for some extra cash. determined to keep the house until the magician returned, Thunder led the group towards keeping outsiders from being interested in the house.

the film had a very pleasant animation, making Thunder so fluffy and inviting. despite the simple plot, the whole adventure in overall was highly entertaining. having two sets of villain were unexpected for an animation, one being Jack and Maggie, another being Daniel. Jack and Maggie, Thunder had to win over; while Daniel, he had to get rid off. the first glance of the house was spooky only because it was so huge and had so many abandoned prop collected from the magician's work. it was satisfying to see how some of these seemingly useless junk was later put to use, creating hilarious effects. character wise, Thunder had become a favorite easily after the film started. even Jack and Maggie were stunning in their roles, making it somewhat difficult to dislike them.

Vampire Academy (2014)

Rose was a Dhampir, a half-vampire trained to be a Guardian. Moroi were vampires that co-existed peacefully among the human, having the ability to control the four elements and drinking only from wiling donors; while Strigoi were evil vampires that drink only to kill. Princess Lissa was a Moroi, also the last of her line. Rose had an unbreakable bond with Lissa, making them best friends. with many aimed to harm the Princess, Rose must protect Lissa by all means.

Vampire Academy was a series by author Richelle Mead. first adaptation remained mostly true to its book. Rose became a character a bit too loud to our liking, but she did her part well by protecting the princess. a few characters here and there, who seemed to have a higher rate of becoming a villain didn't turn out to be a villain. on the contrary, the seemingly innocent one turned out to be one. although that didn't come as a huge surprise, it was pleasant to find some twists. it was a pity that the guys seemed to not stand out from one another. taking less effort to identify them would have been perfect.

300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

the Persian Army won against Leonidas' 300 men army. with his father dead, Xerxes took over the throne, persuaded by Artemisia, a commander that twisted King Darius' last words. convinced, Xerxes then declared war on Greece. Themistocles tried to convince the council to provide him an army to fight off the Persians at sea. however, facing many obstacles, he only managed to form a small army with his old friends. they learned about Artemisia painful past and her hatred towards the Greeks, which was also the reason the war was declared.

despite the effort to perform better while still retained the visual of its prequel, Rise of an Empire (2014) only managed to to do the latter. it was almost empty plot wise, where the focus was on Artemisia and her frightful ways. she would do anything just to destroy Greece. Themistocles was nowhere a comparison to Leonidas, he didn't have the heroic aura nor fierceness expected in a leader. we were disappointed to see so little of Xerxes, especially after he dramatically emerged from the pond, looking so breathtaking. the most engaging person among all the casts, was Artemisia. despite being the bad guy, she stood out with her background introduced, where character development became possible. Themistocles on the other hand, was just another guy among the guys, whom we knew nothing about.

Elysium (2013)

the story took place int he future, where humans were divided into two classes, the wealthy who lived on Elysium, a man-made space station; and the poor, who lived on the ruined Earth. the people from Earth tried to get into Elysium by any means they can, therefore spacecrafts from Elysium were often hijacked. one day at work, Max got locked in the highly poisonous room, causing him to have only 5 days to live. while he couldn't do anything about his conditions, he was offered a chance to create equality for the poor.

not being a huge fan of science-fiction, i had a difficult time going through the film. the huge difference between the two classes of humans weren't exactly realistic either, making it hard to believe. Max character had no significant personalities, making him unrelatable and emotionless. to make matter worst, he was so sick when he discovered his condition and can barely walk, almost too soon later, he was all over the place, fighting off professionals even, all the way up into the space. other than the ridiculous contradictions, there were no character developments whatsoever. despite the effort, it was difficult to feel anything at all for any of its characters.

Homefront (2013)

Phil was a former agent who resigned after his undercover case with a biker gang went wrong. he moved to a small town with his daughter, Maddy, hoping for a peaceful life. one day, Maddy defended herself from a school bully, whose mother returned the favor by asking her brother, Gator, the local drug lord for help. when they failed to scare Phil off, Gator started investigating about Phil's background. when he started to get the biker gang's involvement, things went out of hand, for both Phil and Gator.

we put the film aside when it reminded us too much of Safe (2012). however, when the chance came and we finally watched it, we found out how wrong we were. with Sylvester Stallone involved in the film making, the film seriously couldn't get any down time. it was intense and even surprisingly, very emotional engaged. it was actually fun seeing how Gator's gang fell apart, especially when he tried so desperately to stay off the radar. Maddy was a believing child, making it easy to root for her. her tough personality was an add, especially for her to be brought up without a mother. together with Phil, who did everything he could just to protect her daughter, the duo was simply lovable. with plenty of actions, the film was an excellent entertainment that we fortunately, did not missed out on.

I, Frankenstein (2014)

Dr. Frankenstein created a monster patched together with corpses, then rejected it later. the monster returned to kill his creator while being attacked by demons. gargoyles appeared, saving him and brought him to their Queen, who named him Adam. Adam refused to join the gargoyles, but agreed to banish demons from the face of the earth to protect humanity. Adam continued to do so throughout the centuries. one day, a police officer was accidentally killed and Adam was again summoned by the gargoyles. the Demon Prince heard of Adam's tale, employed a scientist to conduct experiments to reanimate corpses, while instructed an army of demons to capture Adam, so he could unlock the secret of giving life.

while we were already familiar with the idea of Frankenstein, the story took that knowledge and added some twists to it. in this installment, Adam was caught in the battle between the gargoyles and demons. the film focused more on actions that its dark theme reminded us of the Underworld (2003-2012) series, especially since it was from the same producers. unfortunately, with its short airtime, it didn't have as much character development as the previous series. it was difficult to expect more from the film, seeing that the character practically had no facial expression but constantly reminding us that he had so much anger and hatred buried within. the moment he started developing a seemingly impossible romantic feeling towards the scientist, he lost us all together.

Voodoo Possession (2014)

Aiden witnessed the gruesome suicide of her mother during his childhood. grown up into a man now, he decided to make a trip to an insane asylum in search of his missing brother. when he arrived, he discovered that the inmates, even the hospital administrator were possessed by bloodthirsty voodoo spirit. Aiden was thrown into the spirit world again and again while he try to rescue his brother trapped within, or they will both be trapped for eternity.

the film was bad, seriously bad. there were so much dialogues, some amateur scares that we saw coming miles away. the characters were so bland that it was impossible to even remember their names. the plot was a mess, everything was everywhere and confusing. when the monster finally appeared, it felt like some man in an oily costume trying to strangle the life out of the characters. it was so difficult to focus or enjoy on the film. not to mention any good scares, even a good plot was difficult to find in the film.

The Wait (2013)

Angela and Emma were two sisters who just lost their mother. however, a phone call from a psychic mentioned that their deceased mother will be resurrected. Emma believed it and was determined to keep their mother's body in their house; while Angela opposed it. she wandered about and encountered a chance at love. it gave her hope that everything was possible.

after reading the plot for the film, we held great expectant towards it. we waited for the resurrection since the very beginning, which was also what ruined the whole experience for us. the mystery kept the suspense high, but the plot kept veered off into multiple subplots, which turned out to be so frustrating. there were also other subplots that involved the neighbors' boys, which were equally unrewarding. at times they were haunting, but another time just some normal boys, the confusion never quite left.

Carrie (2013)

Carrie was a shy and socially awkward girl, outcast and bullied by everyone. her mother was deeply religious, but always felt that Carrie was a devil child. one day, having her first period, Carrie asked for the other girls for help, thinking that she was bleeding to death. the other girls ridiculed her, one even recorded the event and uploaded the video online. one of the girls, Sue, regretted taking part and asked her boyfriend, Tommy to ask Carrie to the prom. in the meanwhile, Carrie found out that she had telekinesis, an ability to move things with her mind.

the film was adapted from Stephen King's novel of the same name. being a classic and very popular book, we held great expectation for the film. despite the terrifying poster, it was somewhat a relief to find out that the film wasn't exactly a horror. however, seeing how Carrie stood up for herself in the very end, no matter how terrifying it was, was a pleasant experience. having not found a chance to read the book, i found myself enjoying the film despite the seemingly less in depth storyline.

Once Upon a Time (2013) 王宫灿烂

6000 years ago, in a land where the Emperor ignored his people, lived many unhappy people who were bullied by the rich. one day, a rebellious group attacked the palace, trying to overthrow the Emperor. his loyal followers, Yufa and Takzi protected the Emperor and entered a forbidden room, where a concubine vanished many years ago. the trio vanished into the future, where they learned to live in the modern society. by going through time, the trio discovered that they became immortal.

compared to their previous production, My FM had done better work than this. their previous Chinese New Year movie was impressive and most certainly drew tears into our eyes. this time around though, it was hardly humorous nor heartwarming. the father and son relationship that seemed promising turned out to be just typical, where else the confrontation with the missing concubine, who was also eager to banish the trio back to the past, took place so fast and the tension never did build.

Hantu Gangster (2012) 鬼老大哥大

there were three gangster groups, one made up by Malay, another by Chinese, and the last one by Indian. for 50 years they ruled a local town in peace. after the mysterious death of these 3 leaders, their son who now took their father's place in the group felt a growing hatred towards each other. they tried to take over each other's territories. the three dead leaders returned from their graves, approached Tesai, who had the ability to see spirits, with the hope of bringing the town together again.

the film was a horror comedy directed by Namewee. it wasn't exactly impressive, but it was entertaining enough to get us through the film. having so many casts and subplots, it was difficult to focus or build any in depth backdrop for any of the characters, which was a disappointment. as much as we wanted to learn more about Tesai and his son, maybe even understand what happened to his wife, there were simply no time for this. the focus was mostly spent on a Malay who secretly stirred things up between the three groups with the hope of controlling everyone in the end.

Frozen (2013)

Elsa was a princess who had the magical ability to create ice and snow. one night while playing, she accidentally injured her sister Anna. since then she was kept locked in her room, causing the girls to grow apart as they grew up. after the King and Queen were killed in the sea during a storm, Elsa was to be their new Queen. however during a confrontation with Anna, Elsa released her powers and set the kingdom in eternal winter. Anna was determined to find Elsa, teaming with with a mountain man Kristoff and his reindeer Sven.

it was odd waiting for Elsa to take the spotlight then finally realizing Anna was the main character. the love pouring from Anna to Elsa was overwhelming, it was moving and quite different from what we were used to see in Disney movies. the adventure was beautiful and engaging only if we weren't waiting for Elsa to appear. it was quite disappointing to be seeing so little of Elsa comparing to Anna, who was just human. Elsa remained mysterious until the very end, hidden along with her magical abilities. fortunately the animation was captivating enough to get us through until the very end.

What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)

the film followed 5 couples whose lives were turned upside down by the challenges of parenthood. from knowing each other, to some accidental and some planned pregnancies, to giving birth and taking care of the children. Jules was a fitness guru and Evan a dance show star. they were eager to start a family together and was surprised with the demands of pregnancy. Wendy was an author who was desperate for a child of her own, her husband Gary struggled with his competitive father, who was expecting a twins with his new wife, Skyler. Holly was a photography prepared to travel the globe to adopt a child, her husband Alex wasn't quite sure and entered a support group to deal with his issues. Rosie and Marco were owners of food trucks, they had been rivals since the very first day of their job, but after getting to know each other and sleeping together, they found themselves face to face with an unexpected pregnancy as well.

we looked forward to the film because it had so many huge stars in it. we were surprised to feel disappointed with its outcome. the film felt rushed, focusing from one couple to another. sometimes trying to be hilarious, sometimes trying to get us to cry. everything was a gigantic mess. half way through the film, we were already frustrated and was more than happy to throw it behind us.

Anna Karenina (2012)

Anna was an aristocrat, who traveled from St Petersburg to Moscow in order to help save the marriage of her brother, Prince Oblonsky. the Prince recently had an affair with his housemaid. Anna herself had a cold marriage with her husband, Count Alexei, whom she had a son with. one day, Anna met with Count Vronsky, an officer at the train station, and they felt attracted by each other. she learned that Vronsky will be proposing to Kitty, who was the sister of her brother's wife. after the dance, Anna started an affair with Vronsky and soon faced a tragic fate.

despite the attraction at first glance, i failed to fully understand the film. the relationship the characters shared was so confusing that i wasn't sure who belonged to who. at some point i wondered if they film was only trying to have a theatrical effect to it rather than a storyline. the characters no matter how close they said they were, even for those who shared an affair together, felt so cold against each other. they had no chemistry at all, just some perfectly beautiful looking figurines placed together. the film was such a disappointment as it was so difficult to find a film taking the backdrop of the 19th centuries.

A Dark Truth (2012)

Jack was a former CIA agent that became a political talk show host. one day, he was hired by Morgan, one of the owners of Clearbac. to gain the secret behind the massacre in a South American village, he need to find Francisco, a man who broke into a Clearbac office and stolen their files that identify Clearbac as the culprit behind the typhus outbreak that killed many of the villagers. Morgan's brother, Bruce denied what happened, dismissing her and caused her concern, leading to her taking actions behind him.

with the different characters and scenes introduced at the beginning, it took us quite a while to get how the story went. first the jungle, with the natives running for their lives as soldiers shot them down, then the scenes suddenly switched to a fancy looking office with a few men in coat talking urgently, disturbed by a lady also in coat. equally sudden Jack was introduced, hosting a show that seemed to be talking about what happened with the natives. the whole load of information was thrown on us, which we almost gave up trying to connect these points together. fortunately, they started meeting each other and the part each character played started to get clearer. in overall, the film felt like a drag, barely captured our interest. when it ended, we happily forgot about it and moved on.

Ogre (2008)

the story took place in a town that was struck by a terrible plague. the only means of surviving was to sacrifice one person every year, to the vicious beast known as the Ogre. one day, a group of teenagers wandered into the forest, crossing the boundaries into the village and found out that its people had been stuck in time since the 1800's. the villages wouldn't grow old and couldn't give birth to new life. soon they found out that the mayor had placed a spell on the village and its people, for him to be immortal.

despite the unbelievable Ogre, the story was perfect if not involving the group of teenagers. they were frustrating to look at but probably important to show that the village had been stuck in time. it was no surprise that the mystery was finally solved by those from the village, where else the teenagers were just useful for the screaming and perhaps some gore scenes. though labeled as horror, it was hardly the case. though not exactly a great film, it was enough to stir up some curiosity and get us through its airtime.

Ender's Game (2013)

the Earth was intruded by the Formics, an alien race the was determined to destroy humanity. 70 years later, the people of Earth had form troops to defend themselves against the Formics. Ender was a quiet but intelligent boy. he was monitored and soon recruited into the troops. he was separated from his families and brought into a battle school in orbit. he was trained and tested to become a killer. he despise what he did the moment he found out that the stimulation he was put through was actually an ongoing battle against the Formics.

Ender was originally a lovable character, especially the way he stood up for himself in school, against the bullies. he showed excellent adaptation in his classes, directed perfect battle strategies against other teams. but to think that he couldn't accept the reason for him to go through all the training, was simply naive. it should be more than obvious enough to realize that battle school trained its troops for battles. but with his smart mouth and arrogant attitude, he went around defying orders and simply decided to quit after the experience of having bloods on his hands. he became such a distasteful character it was impossible to agree with him. fortunately the film in overall was very entertaining and engaging, making it a fun adventure to have.