THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)

Norton’s Hulk looks way superior compared to the previous one (definitely better hair). This time the green superhero looks decent, rather handsome with sparkling eyes. This version of Hulk should be used as future Hulk reference and the previous one should never again be mentioned!

Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) lives as fugitive because the gamma radiation he got from a university experiment makes him unable to control his emotions. Every time his heart-pulse increase, Bruce is transformed into an angry monster. Living far from the people he knows helps him to keep calm. Unfortunately, an incident at his work in Brazil leads the army to spot his location. Bruce is now racing to find the person who can cure him, while the army is one step behind to capture him.

It’s good that the movie balances the actions with showing Banner’s life while in exile. How hard he tries to control his emotion, living as normal as possible without making a scene, he tries every possibility to get the cure. Norton’s soft face is perfect to play the man with so much pressure and secret on his chest. Hulk gets a real match when Major Blotsky (Tim Roth) is transformed into Abomination, a combination of heartless and ambitious man with superpower.

The Hulk never looks this good both as a monster and as a fugitive.

My rating: 4/6

GET SMART (2008)

As a terror analyst at Control, a spy agency similar to CIA, Maxwell Smart is one of the best. However, his deepest dream is to become the real field agent, just like the inspirational Agent 23 (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson), the charming mojo at work. Recently, Control Headquarter was attacked and undisclosed information about all its agents has also been compromised by terrorist group K.A.O.S. Have no other choice, Control’s Chief must now send Smart to be an agent partnering with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) whose identity is still intact. They must find out K.A.O.S plan and stop it.

When an expert agent meets an agent-wannabe, all they care is about who’s leading who and who has better gadgets, until they realize that it wasn’t so bad to work together, especially because Agent Smart is ready to give whatever it takes to prove that he’s worth a true agent.

With Steve Carrel on the spotlight, we can be sure to get many slapstick acts to trigger laughter. I was skeptical that this movie will do good, surprisingly it actually does, not much to keep the claps flowing but it is entertaining. The first quarter was a bit boring though, so be prepared not to give up too easily.

Anyway, the movie posters are total crap. Whoever designed it, has purposefully covered one face in there either with hairs or a tie or a gun. Bah. Is that’s supposed to be funny? I rather think it’s a bad design. Let me just put the one that has full faces in it, that’s the best one so far ^.^

My rating: 3/6

KUNG FU PANDA (2008)

Who would believe that Po, the fat lazy Panda, is the Dragon Warrior? He could hardly move between the noodle tables, he struggles to climb the thousand stairs to the Valley of Peace, and he’s the son of a noodle seller. But somehow, Master Oogway points his finger to Po when choosing the Dragon Warrior. According to the wise master, there’s no such thing like coincidence. Everyone was amazed. Blown with shock, to be exact.

Trained by Master Shifu and the Furious Five, their mission is to get rid of the humiliating presence of Po in the valley. There’s no way a fat lazy Panda could be trained in such a short time, be given the big responsibility to hold the secret to everything, and to defeat the infuriated Tai Lung, a snow leopard warrior that excel above and beyond his own master.

As if we don’t have enough everything that made in China, now we have to believe that Panda is actually a warrior hahaha… Kidding :) His butt may be huge, but Po is a very determined Panda. They can hit him, insult him, burn him, acupuncture him… and he just laughs! Hahahaha… And there’s another thing that’s good in him besides his love for his birdie father (do you really believe that’s Po’s father??), Po will do anything for food! Well, at least his motivation comes from inside right?

Po is suitably voiced by Jack Black, Master Shifu by Dustin Hoffman, the sharp Tigress is voiced by Angelina Jolie and Tai Lung by Ian McShane and the movie is directed by Mark Osborne and Jack Stevenson.

Loaded with may good messages for both kids and adults, Kung Fu Panda is perfect to start the summer movies parade and the school holiday. It’s hillarious, colourful, and very cute! A must watch. Just never judge a Panda by the looks and its butt size.

My rating: 5/6

CLOVERFIELD (2008)

This is one of few most extraordinary action movies I have watched. The plot is simple, the main characters are around 5 people, but the settings, the effects and the ending are fabulous.

Some best friends are trapped in the middle of Manhattan, NY, when the whole city is attacked by a giant monster that came out of nowhere. They have to make decisions: to run away, or to save friends and come back for the ones they love. Tough choice.

What makes this movie such an interesting one is one of the characters, Hud (TJ Miller) also acts as a cameraman. He holds a regular video camera most of the time and with a lot of shaking and blurry focus, the audience feels like watching an amateur movie (like the ones we often do at Youtube). This gives the movie a realistic feel.

Hud is also accompanied by Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), Rob (Michael Sthal-David), Lily (Jessica Lucas), Beth (Odette Yustman), and Jason (Mike Vogel).

My Rating: 4/6

I AM LEGEND (2007)

Robert Neville (Will Smith) has survived an epidemic in New York City. He’s a a military scientist and he never gives up trying to find what caused all the chaos. The epidemic has turned most victims into monsters, the ones he has to avoid all the time.

The way he plays a character, as usual, is outstanding. He goes around the city looking for his daily needs during the day, since the victims are so sensitive to the sunlight. He also broadcasts the information he has on the radio, hoping that some people out there would eventually listen to it. This movie somehow reminds me of The Cast Away, where the main character has to keep talking to a volley ball for the sake of staying sane. The difference is, Nevile has the conversations with his dog.

My Rating: 5/6