But these rodents were pretty well engineered and looked real enough, and definitely cute enough. Yes, even the mole. But that shouldn’t be any surprise after Stuart Little.

Best thing I can say for this movie was that adults could enjoy it just as much as children. The jokes, the pace, the script were all entertaining and fun to watch. Especially the CGI which was flawless. But the story really wasn’t anything to shout about. It was very lightweight and predictable, just enough to move things along. And a strong protagonist was missing from start to finish. It was certainly a different approach but still wasn’t strong enough.

The actors didn’t have to do much here. Bill Nighy just had to look enthused about his creation, Zach Galifianakis was just to support the rodents, and Will Arnett didn’t have a lot of lines or jokes; he looked a little uncomfortable while trying to look serious.

But the voice actors however were spot on, except Penelope Cruz who I found quite distracting in her accent. I couldn’t recognise Nicholas Cage too so that was very well done.

Rating: 6 / 10

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First, the characters. The old man and the young boy were both extremely lovable characters. One for his youthful exuberance and innocent and the other for his initial single-mindedness and love.

Second, the colours and the graphics were incredible and breathtaking. Pixar has never disappointed and at this rate, it probably never will too.

Third was the story that just kept getting better and better with each development and scene. The excitement also kept building right from the start, just like the house on balloons going up higher and higher.

What’s most amazing was how good this animated cartoon was even when it’s a lot more talky than other cartoons that usually rely on sensory-bombardment. There never was a dull moment here. And compared to last year’s Wall-E, seems like Pixar can do no wrong once again whether if it’s dialogue-filled or not.

Lastly, as usual, there were some great messages to take home too; be it for the young ones or the old-timers, and everyone else in between.

Rating: 9 / 10

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The writers did a fine job creating the swashbuckling character of Buck who entertained to no end and did not steal the limelight from the original cast. His loony even brought out the funny from the rest of the characters.And having Simon Pegg voice this role was nothing short of perfection even though there’s no real good reason for Buck to have a British accent.

The action in this instalment was spectacular, from combat on land to high-speed chases in the air. The highlight of it all culminateed with one daring rescue attempt aboard a pterodactyl with other flyers in hot pursuit. The adrenalin rush induced here even rivaled the best action movies this summer had to offer.

The beautiful and breathtaking animated landscapes created, especially when the herd first stepped into dino-land, reminded a lot of The Land Before Time.

The directors have also avoided pop culture references that have plagued so many other animated movies out there, but they had cleverly injected playful use of allusions, like the unforgettable Tango sequence involving the Scrat and his new found appeal.

This latest instalment of Ice Age showed that even with bigger characters and bigger action, if done properly, it can be a bigger and better movie. Even Scrat’s acorn has a bigger role this time but in all the appropriate scenes.

Rating: 9 / 10

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Compare this to Monsters, Inc., this one didn’t stand a chance. But as it is, it’s entertaining enough.

I would say this movie was aimed more at the kids than adults. The characters are cute at best but the CGI work was commendable. There were a lot of action sequences and as an animated movie, the creators came up with a few thrilling action pieces, though nonsensical as they may be.

As for the laughs, it wasn’t downright hilarious. It was just entertaining and once-in-a-while funny. And that must be the most disappointing part because the trailer looked really good. It had interesting monster characters, an interesting premise (who can resist the idea of monsters versus aliens?); but the plot just didn’t come through enough as it bordered on boredom more than a few times.

The side plot of Susan and her fiance, Derek, was annoying to watch. It just wasn’t entertaining nor interesting and it was the main side plot of the movie, so perhaps that’s another reason why this movie didn’t sit so well with me. Especially the character of Derek voiced by Paul Rudd, who usually plays the annoying guy. But this time the character was overdone and, with Rudd in the mix; he’s like a vacuum sucking out all the fun from the movie.

But other than Rudd, the rest of the cast was good, with the right voice actors. I particularly liked Will Arnett, but perhaps only because he’s still quite unknown and not popular enough to be pegged into a cliche role.

And what the movie as a whole did very well was paying tribute to the old school monster movies. The older generation would find that very enjoyable.

Rating: 5 / 10

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Not that anyone was betting on him to deliver another brilliant idea like Tropic Thunder, but with the sequel of Night At The Museum, it’s as if he didn’t even try.

Though understandably this wasn’t completely his fault since he didn’t direct or write Battle Of The Smithsonian, but it would be hard to believe that he had no say whatsoever in the production of the movie.

As a sequel, the movie overflowed with big names and bigger special effects. Statues and bobbleheads came to life, paintings on the wall offered alternate worlds, and to every fangirl’s dream, the Jonas Brothers showed up as three little singing cupids. Well, not literally, but a reaction is almost a definite effect.

The Smithsonian Museum was one of the main attractions of this movie but didn’t mean that cinemagoers were going to learn a thing or two about history. Accuracy and logic weren’t exactly the main concerns, especially when Kahmunrah spoke in a lisping British aristocratic accent by Hank Azaria.

However, Azaria as the Egyptian pharaoh is one of the highlights this movie had to offer. He gave a hilarious and entertaining main villain and also lent his voice to Abraham Lincoln and The Thinker, whose Bronx accent may or may not have been a little insulting.

Amy Adams impersonating the famed aviatrix with a screwball-heroine twist was perhaps the best character here. She was the only one who was really giving acting a go, portraying Amelia as charming, likeable and a delight to watch.

But there’s no way she could have saved the entire script from being lazy and brainless. It’s as if the main concern of director Shawn Levy was to just reproduce the first movie with a few new faces and more computer generated images to make it fresh again.

Even the jokes failed to stimulate as they felt more like an afterthought. The writers must have tried hard to be original while mixing in pop-culture with historical characters that the end product felt fragmented and rushed; and often with lack of continuity in story progression.

Things happen for convenience sake and usually with no good reason. Why did Stiller and Adams had to run away from the army when all they were trying to do was to retrieve a bobblehead? Why couldn’t they just explain?

And with so many new players involved, the older talents like Steve Coogan and Robin Williams had nowhere to shine and no way to form a connection, or make the audience care.

Rating: 5 / 10

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To be fair, Hollywood can do a lot of things right. But they also never seemed to learn from mistakes. This is one of the times ( the other being The Forbidden Kingdom and Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li) when Hollywood should have allowed Asian actors to thrive in the movie, instead of placing an American in the forefront to lead the movie. How do you address a Caucasian “Goku” with a straight face anyway?

If nothing else, Memoirs Of A Geisha has already proven that a full headcount of Asian actors can work. But the producers probably already knew that they didn’t have good enough a script, or a director for that matter, to pull it off.

At the helm is James Wong, and again he has received a sizable budget for the movie; unfortunately he is still as lost as his last movie, The One. All he seemed to be able to do this time was to put in shots of cleavages whenever he can, almost to a point of being disgusting.

The plot itself is weird, vague and confusing. What made it worse is the lack of pacing for the entire movie. The scenes jump from one to the other without much development. Hence the actors suffer from some serious amateurish acting and character crisis.

The lovely and talented Emmy Rossum from a promising elevated performance as Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera somehow landed herself in this role with the most hideous outfit and hairdo. The great Chow Yun Fat has been reduced to that weird and sleazy uncle who refuses to dress his age and who nobody in the family wants to invite to family functions. Even though he’s Asian, he is the most miscast of the lot. Kind of reminded me of the director being a sleazy uncle always on the lookout for cleavages.

The production design as well was amateurish. The fantastical locations never looked real and somehow in a strange way that complemented the characters and all the lines the actors are forced to throw out; because everything just looked fake.

Coming out of the cinema, you don’t feel like you’ve just watched a Dragonball movie. It’s as if this isn’t the real movie but an imposter.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2 / 10

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We each took turn at the joystick, battling it out with our favourite Street Fighter character against one another. The winner gets to fight on while the loser is replaced by another who is eager to show off some of the special moves of a particular character.

Those special abilities were not easy to execute without constant practise. They came in the form of a combination of joystick movements and button-punching; but when executed properly, they deal massive amount of hurt to the opponent.

Back then; that was it – the best game in town. That was “street fighting”. And it sure was fun.

You don’t have to have played the game to expect some street fighting. Just by the title alone, you would go in expecting some street fighting. The director Andrzej Bartkowiak brought us Jet Li’s first lead Hollywood movie, Romeo Must Die, and then Cradle 2 The Grave. Those weren’t so bad. So it’s only natural to expect some cool fight scenes from this one. In fact, one would expect more.

But it was such a huge let down. There’s just no “street fighting”. Ok, to be fair, there were two. One was when Chun-Li kicked the butts of some street thugs, that was before she had undergone further martial arts training so that was OK in all sense of the situation – watchable choreography and not much moves to wow the audience but still entertained enough for that first fight scene.

Then Chun-Li encountered Vega on the second one. But where’s the menacing, wall climbing, acrobatic Vega that us fans know so well? Plus, he’s supposed to be a pretty boy, hence the face mask; not the other way around. And Chun-Li went on to wipe the floor with him. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the fight scenes were good, but they were horrible. Even the last fights between Chun-Li and Bison and Balrog and Gen do nothing for the adrenalin.

Coming in at a close second at being horrible is the appalling dialogue. Chris Kline suffered the most with this, overdoing every little thing by portraying a grease ball Interpol agent, Charlie Nash. His acting here was just as appalling as the dialogue. At least he got the bad acting right to dish out the bad script. And Nash only relied on his handgun so again, no “street fighting”.

Third is the story which makes no sense at all, starting with why Bison kidnapped Chun-Li’s father, to why Gen had to be so mysterious, and then there’s that bizarre story of Bison’s origin. Crazy, just crazy. This was just a badly written piece that no director can salvage.

But credit is given where credit is due. Bartkowiak does capture the grit and grime of the game in the streets of Bangkok. Kreuk does well in her part as Chun-Li though sometimes she overacts and her narrative needs more practice.

But there’s no “street fighting”.

Rating: 2 / 10

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Honestly, I expected worse from this movie. I cannot remember enjoying the first movie with Steve Martin, not even the slightest. I do remember how I didn’t think he was funny and how bored I was. But this time around, I found myself more accepting of Martin’s portrayal of the character.

However, Reno this time was still as under-utilised as before. It’s such a stupid role he should just quit because he’s not bringing anything to the table, nor doing himself any favours. Garcia as well wasn’t memorable.

The rest of the sub-cast like Alfred Molina and Emily Mortimer delivered as needed. Aishwarya Rai may have stolen scenes here and there but only because everyone else was less than inspired or inspiring.

The story is a typically plotless and predictable one. But the difference this time for me personally was that I found myself laughing a lot more than expected, though credit mainly goes to Martin. There were good comedic timing and so boredom was minimised and I found myself enjoying it unexpectedly.

Rating: 4 / 10

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Inkheart is another failed adaptation from a bestseller. The potential was all there, just that the script and delivery failed the book.

Director Iain Softley did not have enough focus on his characters. Though he told the story fine, he didn’t make the audience care for the characters unfortunately so by the end of it, we don’t really care what happen to say Dustfinger or if Mo can get his wife back.

The many characters introduced into the story from other fantasies such as Rapunzel and others were never really properly incorporated. They appear once in a while to keep things interesting and then nothing more on them or their fate in this fantasy. Worst of all, they do not give you the sense of wonder and marvel that would usually come with fantasy characters.

Rating: 3 / 10

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The movie showed why the novel is a bestseller but failed to do it any justice. Right from the start, the story progression was like a sprinter racing to get to the finishing line.

Director Gil Kenan, whose only other credit is the animated movie “Monster House” two years ago, made a rather weak transition from animation to live-action feature movie. Kenan failed to capture the emotions of his characters and the drama of the story as he tried to fit everything else in.

There were also many issues not addressed that may not sit well with the audience. For instance, the various conceptual flaws of a city underground for so long and how it survived without everyday necessities. Who produces toiletries and stationery? What about sewage and hospitals?

But even more so, how did the people of Ember become so naive and incurious? Why is everyone taking things so easily when their very existence is in the brink of extinction? There should have been a coup.

And what about those rodents and insects introduced into the story, how did they evolve into gigantic creatures? These issues should have been addressed to give the story more depth.

Fortunately for the movie, it was able to attract a great cast to play some colourful characters. Oscar-nominated Ronan is expressive and a dear to watch; Treadaway although was not as effective but played his part well enough. The supporting cast from the veterans like Bill Murray, Martin Landau and Tim Robbins provided the funny and the suspense.

Whether it’s the studio’s jurisdiction to keep the running time short or the lack of experience from the director that failed the storytelling, it was still a valiant effort from both parties. The background music also was a big help in setting the tone throughout each individual scene.

And Kenan’s vision for the city of Ember came through with very detailed imaginations. From the narrow and dank streets to the inside of Lina Mayfleet’s apartment, Kenan successfully brought them to life.

It is quite clear that “The City Of Ember” is a very interesting and exciting fantasy-adventure story, but it is just unfortunate that the movie rushed through all that.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6 / 10

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