Fifth time's the charm

Question, any movie which has reached its 4th sequel but still watchable and worthy of your time? Hint: exclude Star Wars and James Bond please...Not many rite? 'Saw' series has lost its path, 'Final Destination' is not getting its 'final'. While others have been rebooting themselves (a.k.a starting fresh), and they haven't even reaching no.5 yet. The remarkable U-turn of 'Fast & Furious' (FF) series was when they recalled all the original cast into making FF4. Producer has learned from no.2, Paul Walker is not a solid main action hero. While no.3 has failed to introduce a fresh start. In the end, it was concluded that FF is soulless without its main star, Vin Diesel. FF 4 was a huge hit, and its open ending was giving a new storyline to tell.

10 years since the release of 'The Fast and The Furious', here comes no.5, using the same recipe, using not just the old, but all previous characters. Now Diesel gets 8 people to do the so-called last big heist job. Of course to make it better, Diesel needs a proper nemesis from the white side. Meet Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, as ruthless and fierce super agent Hobbs. Yes, FF 5 feels like the bad-ass hip-hop metaphor of Ocean's Eleven, just with cars and guns.

Don't expect a logical storyline, cause you won't find it here. As careful as they can be, they always leave lots of wreckage. The car racing and chasing never fails to impress, so they make it even better (or becoming more nonsense). Just watch the last car chaing scene involving big vault, then you'll get what I mean. Some scenes are ridiculously cool, you even don't have time to comment 'that is so bullshit'! Changing the scene to Rio provides some variations, and it helps the story also regarding the main villain character plot. Clearly, to take out the most powerful drug lord whose money was put into police station is clearly a mere stupid and brainless idea, but not according to Dominic Torreto (Diesel). He appears to be invincible, cocky, and arrogant...but he is THE man, you can't deny it. After all those misfire, Diesel is back to do what he does best, being a total jack-ass. O'Conner (Walker) is a grown up and more mature character, especially now he is joining the 'other' side. Mia (Jordana Brewster) is given a stronger and more important role. The rest? Well, they are good complements, every one gets their own moments to shine (even their own endings). But surely for me, Elena (Elsa Pataky) and Gisele (Gal Gadot) provide the eyecandy everytime they show up (synonym = hotties). The only downside is the unrealistic $100 million catch, which is so unambitious (even Dr. Evil made a ransom of that same value last decade!), I bet Danny Ocean will choose to walk away from this job.

It would be wasteful if you have 2 big guys but not caging them altogether, rite? Don't worry, you'll get spoiled with old fashioned macho big brawl between Diesel and Johnson, something that has been missing in modern action movies. (Ridiculously, even all of the cuts and blood on Hobbs and Dom disappear immediately after their fight). I can say this is the most suitable character Johnson has ever been playing, it looks like his muscles are ready to explode anytime.

As I mentioned before, shallow and predictable storyline are not big issues, since they are covered nicely with spectacular and well-choreographed (read: over the top) action scenes. You won't even realized that this flick runs for 2 hrs 10 min, thanks mainly to its fast pace story-telling. Overall, FF 5 is rollercoaster ride with mind numbing experience, testosterone overflown, visually absurd yet entertaining, but last but not least, it delivers what it supposed to. The upside is that the journey does not end here (hint: easter egg after credit title+surprise hottie introduction). The downside? Making drag racing even more cooler...watch your kids!

My Rating: 8.5/10

I need a horse!

Since the announcement that Thor was gonna be made into the big screen, it has been raising some eyebrows. 1st, who the hell is Chris Hemsworth? 2nd, Kenneth Branagh on the director seat? FYI, that guy is famous for making Shakespeare movies. And 3rd, last but not least, I heard lotsa people asking me, who the hell is Thor? Is this some kind of old mythology thingy? No worries, when u finished watching this 114 minutes flick, you'll be get more satisfying answers and Hemsworth's 6-pack (and the girls go 'whhooaaaaa')

Meet Thor, son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), future leader of Asgard, a one bastard arrogant prince, likes to have fun and kicks asses. While his brother, Loki, is the anti-Thor, and holds lots of grudge deep within his heart (a.k.a. jealousy). After years of peace between Asgard and Frost-bite, Thor just simply drops by, creates havoc and useless brawl. Then, feared he will misuse the power, Thor is cast out to the Earth realm (along with his mighty hammer, Mjollnir), hope he can learn from his mistakes. Turns out, he got hit by a hot chick/researcher, Jane (Natalie Portman), and her gang, Erik and Darcy (Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings). Together, they try to find the hammer, and things just get a bit out of hand when, S.H.I.E.L.D interferes. Back to Asgard, Loki has his own agenda, and just like any other cheesy villain master plan, he's up to no good.

Well, among the Avengers (I assume you all already know what it is), I must say Thor is one of the strongest guy, but probably not as famous as Iron Man or Captain America. Nevertheless, his most prominent feat is that he's the son of Odin (simply he's a god). Now my friends, Thor is the answer of that easter egg right at the end of Iron Man 2 credit title (if you waited long enough back then). Luckily, Thor does not suffer from the 'Avenger hype' which happened on Iron Man 2. I still hold the grudge on Tony Stark 2.0, since it does not represent a true comic book movie (it only has 2 action scenes and 1 lousy domestic disturbance). It was like a more pre-Avenger movie afterall. But I can assure you, Thor provides more eye-candy and spectacular scenes. Well, not as grand as Avatar perhaps, but consider this is a mere superhero movie, the result is magnificent and beyond expectation.

Hemsworth clearly is the main attention as the Thor himself, and he is not disappointing after all. I like the additional beard, since the original does not have any. It adds the more manly appearance, and also to cover the boyish face of him. Natalie Portman may not gives her Oscar performance, but hey, this character is an easy money for her, but still captivating. The addition of 2 senior actors (Hopkins and Skarsgård) clearly brings some quality which we don't usually see in a typical comic hero movie. However, the goddess of the movie is clearly Jaimie Alexander, as one of Thor entourage crews, even hotter than both Natalie and Kat. So guys, rest assured, you also get your eyes get some hottie treatment. For easter egg, yes, we get a glimpse (but wasteful) of Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and last but not least Nick Fury himself (Sam Jackson).

I really enjoyed the whole Thor experience, I admit that I clearly underestimate this before hand. Kudos to Branagh who did a great job, I guess he adds some of his Shakespearean chops texture into the movie main elements: pride, paternity, and honor. Thor also has its balance in term of seriousness and funny moments (some of the lines are really really hilarious), and it has also some touchy moments, regarding father and son relationship. Thumbs up also for the CGI team, to deliver magnificent Asgrard mythical realm and those action fighting scenes. Thor has all the elements and wow factors to be the next super hero franchise. And by Odin's beard, I really hope the Avenger won't screw it in the end. Suddenly, Hollywood just transforms the second-string superhero into the A-list.

My Review : 8/10