The Adjustment Bureau

Rating: ★★★ 1/2

I'm going to have to be honest, first of all. I saw the movie poster when I was waiting for a friend to turn up to a rendez-vous with Jay Chou & The Green Hornet and the image of Matt Damon tugging along a very confused-looking Emily Blunt intrigued me. It's confession time: I'm a hopeless romantic. This looked romantic. Hence, I was officially on board TAB's bandwagon. Then I saw the trailer, and was even more excited - it promised "a cross between Inception and Bourne", neither of which I'd seen, but knew enough about to know that they'd both been highly successful and very well received.

Plus, it was Matt Damon. And Emily Blunt. And I was seeing it with my fave movie-goers, V & S, so what more can I say? I entered the cinema wholly biased and très excited.

The central plotline is probably what could've made the movie a winner: I can already see the endless debates and 'what if's' - the idea that every being on the planet is part of some bigger, celestial Plan that we have no say in, can raise an infinite number of questions. However, I felt the focus was more on the love-at-first-sight romance between David Norris (played by Matt Damon) and Elise (Emily Blunt,) and I think that's where the potential for this movie to be much Bigger fell apart. There were also a few tidbits here and there that didn't quite fit into the intelligent plotline: like the bowler hats (you'll have to see it to understand!,) the fact that these severe bureau-men (which I didn't quite get - are they implying women are too emotional to be part of an all-seeing group of human controllers?) develop attachments to their subjects, and The Ending.

Oh, the ending. Despite all my misgivings above, I actually found the entire film thoroughly enjoyable and very thrilling. Matt Damon and Emily Blunt did a stellar job igniting the chemistry of their on-screen characters and convincing the audience (or me at least) of the depth of their love, and I think this is what really saved the film in the end. I won't ruin the ending for those of you who've yet to see it, but I can say one thing: it was clearly very obvious that whoever scripted this movie was trying desperately to balance an Inception-like audience effect with the sort of satisfaction that romantic movies try to achieve. So I felt it didn't really tie in to the whole set-up of the film.

But hey, I came out of the cinema feeling like I'd had a pretty damn good time and even recommended it to a few friends at Uni yesterday, so it can't have been all that bad :) I think it does everything the trailer promises, except a solid finish. Other than that, really - it's Matt Damon, which the girls will love, and Emily Blunt, which the girls will love even more. A very satisfying girl's night at the movies is guaranteed!

Until next time,

Ngoc :)

All Tangled Up

★ ★ ★ ★
Length: 1hr 40mins
Rated: PG
Sypnosis: A smart, modern revamp of the classic Rapunzel fairytale - complete with the world's most kick ass chameleon sidekick and the next best weapon to a stiletto: The Saucepan.

My excuse is, I have an 8-year old sister. And ok, I'm a sucker for happy endings. But I think for the first time ever, Disney did a pretty good job of fooling me into thinking they were ditching their standard happily-ever-after ending for their last ever (sob!) fairytale (but we'll get to that later.)

I loved the animation, it was absolutely stunning (especially's Rapunzel's huge green eyes!) The new tweaks to this classic fairytale were great, what with the not-so-princely Wanted thief Flynn Rider unexpectedly stumbling across Rapunzel's hiding place and being subsequently assaulted with a saucepan, a complete transformation of the evil witch/mother model, and a central theme running more on the lines of chasing after one's dreams rather than the usual damsel-meets-prince-charming stereotype.

It was a real winner with my sister, so grab your nearest kid and swing by the movie theatre - Tangled is sure to guarantee many laughs, a few tears, and one hell of a good time!

P.S. Re: What I said earlier, I read in The West magazine that apparently Disney will not be producing any more of it's well-loved fairytales, as it believes they're no longer what audiences are looking for. However, after Tangled's success, perhaps they'll have a change of heart?

Much love,

Ngoc

Megamind's Megabucks



Image source: Google Images

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

Length: 1hr 35min

Rated: PG

Sypnosis: When Megamind kills off the city's favourite hero, Metro Man - much to the surprise of everyone, including himself, he suddenly finds that having everything he wants isn't so much fun when no one's trying to fight him for it. Naturally, he devises an ingenious plan using the deceased Metro Man's DNA to create and train a new hero to fight against him. Unfortunately, when his DIY-hero strays from the plan, and the situation is further complicated by an unexpected romance and a fallout with his best-fish, Minion, Megamind finds himself having to decide whose side he was really cut out to fight for.

Ok, so I promised a review of Megamind in my last post. I actually wanted to share my first experience with Boxing Day Sales today/what I got for Christmas yesterday, but I really can't be bothered uploading the photos now so that can wait for later :)


I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, even though we missed the opening few scenes trying to sneak in some popcorn and ice-creams, and even though I was really confused as I thought we were seeing Megamind II (there isn't one. That was just me being a retard because I saw adverts for Megamind a millenium ago featuring Metro Man saving the city, and then I saw the recent ads featuring Megamind wanting to become a good guy so I got a bit confuzzled :P)


I loved the storyline, and I loved the characters. I loved EVERYTHING! There were laughs all the way through to the very end and even though I suppose the essence of the plotline has been done before, I really don't think you feel that way coming out of the movie. It wasn't just another kids holiday movie to me, there was something very endearing about the characters and the exploration of what was going behind the facade that people had built up for them which made it thoroughly plausible and extremely enjoyable to watch. And I loved the fact that an unlikely hero saves the day in the end. All in all, it was an excellent film and I definitely recommend everyone to see it these holidays, if you can find a little kid to rent for the day. If not, I really do think everyone in the theatre will be too engrossed in the screen to care that you'll be the oldest person there aside from the pensioners taking their grandkids.


Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!


Take care,


Ngoc