e-ramblings

Director: Bill Condon

Writer: Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner

Running Length: 117 minutes

Synopsis: In Breaking Dawn Part One, the vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) and human Bella (Kristen Stewart) are finally getting married, but an unexpected turn of events during their honeymoon threatens to unsettle their life together. Meanwhile, werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) is torn between loyalty to his wolfpack and his devotion to Bella. 

Review: The Twilight series is practically critic-proof – there’s a whole bunch of rabid Stephenie Meyer fans who want nothing more than to see the books come to life on the big screen, and then there’s the “Twi-mom” phenomenon where normally rational women go absolutely gaga over Robert Pattinson. Who cares about storyline, thespian skills and quality when box office triumph is assured? Well, certainly not Summit Entertainment, who has deemed it fit to split the final installment of the Twilight series into two movies in an obvious money grab, even if the material does not justify such a move. The film is not a total wash – the last reel is actually pretty well done – but so much of the movie feels so perfunctory that it’s hard to look past the movie’s many shortcomings.
 
If compared to the previous Twilight films, Breaking Dawn really is marginally better – because there’s actually something else going on other than endless teenage angst that plagued the previous installments. However, the much vaunted bedroom-destroying sex scene is so tame it’s almost laughable, the showdown between Jacob and the wolf pack is actually laughable, and only the climactic delivery of Bella’s half-vampire baby actually manages to (pun intended) deliver.

There’s really no acting talent to be found here, even if the actors themselves have shown thespian quality in other films (except Taylor Lautner who’s really not much of an actor in any movie so far). And although the film’s budget is not small, the CGI is somewhat questionable, especially the wolves which just doesn’t seem at all realistic. Given the blah screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, even a lauded director like Bill Condon can’t do much to elevate the movie to anything beyond mediocre.

It’s probably not very fair to judge Breaking Dawn Part 1, since well, it is not a complete movie. However, extrapolating what has already played out on screen, it’s hard to imagine Part 2 being much improved over Part 1. That probably won’t matter, since this far down the road in the Twilight franchise, only die hard fans should even consider watching this movie, and would probably find the experience a worthwhile one.

Rating: ** (out of four stars)

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Ehren Krueger

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, John Tuturro, Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich

Voice Cast: Peter Cullen, Leonard Nimoy, Hugo Weaving

Running Length: 157 minutes

Synopsis: Picking up from where the last Transformers movie left off, the Autobots are now working with humans to fend off the Decepticons and also help to battle (believe it or not) terrorists in the name of world peace. However, when Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) discovers a secret that the US Government has been hiding from them on the moon, this sets off a chain of events that begins with the revival of the powerful Autobot Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy) and eventually to a secret from Cybertron’s past that causes the future of Earth to hang in the balance.

In the mean time, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is finding difficulty adjusting to a normal lifestyle after graduating from college, and is not even able to find a proper job, despite being in a relationship with yet another hot girlfriend, Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). He uncovers a Decepticon plot but has difficulty getting anyone to listen to him, much less believe in what he says. In desperation, Sam tries to put his motley crew back together, including the now-wealthy conspiracy theorist Simmons (John Turturro), but they have to get past the no-nonsense FBI Security Director Mearing (Frances McDormand) first.

Review: It’s perhaps redundant to review Transformers: Dark of the Moon as essentially nothing has changed since the movie franchise started, and the exact same flaws that plagued the previous two films are back in the third. However, since Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was such a terrible film, there was really no way to go but up. So yes, Dark of the Moon is a better film than Revenge of the Fallen, but is that saying much?

Michael Bay himself had expressed disappointment in the screenplay of Revenge of the Fallen, but in all honesty Dark of the Moon doesn’t fare much better. Running at a very bloated 157 minutes, Bay and screenwriter Krueger spend almost an hour on largely pointless exposition, punctuated only briefly by much-needed action sequences. Is there really a need to see Sam getting relationship advice from his parents? Or stilted, emotionless scenes in which Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley try to convince the audience (unsuccessfully) of their deep love for each other? The entire film shudders to a halt repeatedly due to these superfluous sequences, and any hope of Dark of the Moon being able to tell a compelling story dissipates in this first hour.

The human actors are all deeply unimpressive, and this includes (much as it pains me to say) Frances McDormand and John Malkovich, who are obviously slumming it for the money. In fact, the human performances are so weak that all of them could have been wiped out without me feeling much for their plight. This is particularly true of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, whose complete lack of acting skills makes Megan Fox’s vapid performances in the first two Transformers seem like thespian masterpieces in comparison. It’s quite telltale that the most emotionally affecting scenes in the film are those that deal with the Transformers. In fact, the bro-mance between Sam and Bumblebee comes across as being more believable that the romance between Sam and Carly, and it’s due to Bumblebee’s emoting, not LaBeouf’s.

Michael Bay isn’t known, of course, for his storytelling ability, but one thing he manages to do well is in action sequences. The action in Dark of the Moon is thankfully less confusing than before, with Bay actually managing to slow down most action sequences that they become discernible, something that was sorely lacking in Revenge of the Fallen. And the special effects and CGI are really top notch, with the most memorable being the scene where the main characters are trapped in a crumbling building –almost reminiscent of 9/11, and is easily the most visceral of the many, many action set-pieces in the movie.

Bay had recanted on his initial decision to eschew 3D midway through production, and it shows in the finished product. This is possibly the least 3D film I have ever seen, and it’s easy to forget that one is watching a 3D film in long stretches, not because the environment is immersive, but because there’s no sense of the third dimension at all. My advice is to save the money and the eye fatigue and go with normal 2D instead.

In the end, Dark of the Moon would probably have worked better if Michael Bay had elected to keep it short and sweet instead of trying to aim for an “epic”. Though the action sequences work well, viewer fatigue quickly sets in when so much of it is crammed into the movie. Add to that the unnecessarily lengthy exposition, and Dark of the Moon becomes a numbing cinematic experience that goes on far longer than it should have been. If there’s a fourth movie in the franchise, let’s hope that Bay would finally be able to exercise some self-restraint and not turn it into another overburdened behemoth.

Rating: * * (out of four stars)

Genre: Action Comedy

Director: Michel Gondry

Writers: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, based on the radio series by George W. Trendle

Cast: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz

Running Length: 119 minutes

Synopsis: Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is the son of a wealthy and recently deceased media mogul who seems to be the epitome of badly behaving moneyed offspring. However, Britt and his sidekick Kato (Jay Chou) transform into masked superheroes at night, posing as criminals and pitting themselves against corrupt District Attorney Scanlon (David Harbour) and crime lord Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz). However, because they are pretending to be criminals, the police are also hot on the masked duo’s trail. Apart from Kato, Reid’s only other ally is his personal assistant Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz). Eventually, the conflict between Reid and Chudnofsky come to a head, and a battle of wits and brute force (more of the latter, though) ensues.  

Review: Other than a number of sequels, the past couple of years have been pretty quiet for the superhero movie genre. This is set to change in 2011 with a deluge of superhero movies, and the first salvo is that of Michel Gondry’s re-imagining of The Green Hornet. Given the unconventional release date of January, it’s quite obvious that this particular superhero movie doesn’t pack big guns. And while that is true, The Green Hornet still offers up some decent entertainment, but suffers from an overlong running time and a lack of focus.  

Unsurprisingly, The Green Hornet will be viewed very differently in Hollywood compared to here in Asia – after all, Jay Chou can be considered one of the most well-known celebrities in this part of the world, and The Green Hornet will very much be seen as a star vehicle for him. This actually bodes well for the film because Jay Chou is the best thing in the movie. Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet is simply put, Seth Rogen wearing a mask, and as a central protagonist he is so annoying at times that I occasionally found myself rooting for the villains. This allows Jay Chou’s Kato to stand out as the more sympathetic character, and simply put, Jay Chou just does more with his role and characterization, poor English enunciation notwithstanding.

The biggest issue with The Green Hornet is that it’s just too unfocused throughout its too-long 2 hour running time. The screenplay cannot decide if it wants to be a superhero movie or a spoof of a superhero movie. While it’s not necessarily a negative to have a little bit of everything, this is only true when the proceedings are interesting. This could be one of the most boring superhero origins stories of all time (basically it’s two people deciding to put on costumes while performing vigilante work), and to spend almost half of the movie on this aspect doesn’t work.

It’s also a pity that the usually visually inventive Michel Gondry limited himself to just a couple of sequences – there is an absolutely brilliant telephone montage that employed split screens like I’ve never seen before.  However, the usage of 3D in the film (apart from the end credits) is very minimal, and Gondry, who is an expert in employing visual tricks, does not make use of the third dimension at all.  There is a good possibility that if given freer rein and a tighter script, The Green Hornet could have been a good, if not great, superhero movie, but now it’s merely passable entertainment, especially so for fans of Jay Chou. 

Rating: * * (out of four stars)

Genre: Sci-Fi

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Writers: Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, Michael Sheen

Running Length:  127 minutes

Synopsis: Set in the present, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) - the original hero of TRON - has been missing for over two decades, disappearing shortly after announcing that he has discovered a breakthrough in his research of cyberspace. His son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) becomes primary shareholder of ENCON, but has no interest in running the family business. His pseudo-presence in the company is not welcomed by anyone except for Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner), an old family friend who is still looking out for the Flynn family’s interests. When Alan receives what seems to be a message from Flynn, Sam goes to Flynn’s Arcade to investigate, but is accidentally transported into cyberspace, where he discovers the world is now ruled by Flynn’s alter-ego, Clu (also Jeff Bridges). Sam finds that Flynn is now a recluse, aided only by the enigmatic Quorra (Olivia Wilde). Joining forces with his father and Quorra, Sam needs to find a way to escape cyberspace, and also to stop Clu from crossing over to the real world. 

Review: While a fair number of viewers will look upon the original TRON fondly, it really isn’t a masterpiece by any measure - apart from the (then) amazing visuals, the film’s storyline and pacing were not great, and seen years down the road, TRON doesn’t stand up to the test of time. However, TRON has evolved into a cult classic, and understandably expectations were high for this sequel 28 years later. While TRON: Legacy would have probably been perfectly fine as a typical sci-fi action movie, it is weighed down by an overly self-important script that seems to want to elevate the film into greatness, but the attempt fails spectacularly. TRON: Legacy is watchable for its visuals, an excellent soundtrack and a handful of good action sequences, but with the confusing plot, middling performances and plodding pace, the resulting film is a very average one indeed. 

Although spiritually a sequel to TRON, the look of the grid has evolved a fair bit due to the advancements of CGI, but it’s a change for the better. The environments are mostly enshrouded in darkness, punctuated only by bright neon strips of light in white, blue and orange, but it’s a very clean look that works very well in context. However, the simplicity of the environment also means the 3D is neither immersive nor very impressive - in fact, the 3D effect is so subtle in many scenes that it seems almost non-existent. As a film that was specifically shot in 3D (like Avatar), it’s a little disappointing that so little was done with it. Technology was also employed to render the young(er) faces Tron and Clu, and while it’s quite impressive, it hasn’t crossed the uncanny valley yet. 

It’s arguably true that a movie of this nature doesn’t require much of a plot or thespian skills, but TRON: Legacy is sorely lacking in both. The film tries to be epic but falls far short - the plot is an incomprehensible mess, far more complex than it should be and explaining way too little, perhaps in an attempt to seem profound. While Jeff Bridges is perfectly serviceable as Flynn, Garrett Hedlund is unfortunately quite wooden in his portrayal as Sam and Olivia Wilde’s character is so one-dimensional she is reduced to being merely a pretty face and a pseudo love interest.  

What TRON: Legacy manages to do reasonably well is in its action sequences, especially those found in the first half of the movie. In the second half, sadly, the action tapers off and is replaced by interminable chunks of dialogue and pointless exposition that just kills the pacing of movie entirely. Another highlight is the excellent soundtrack by French electronica duo, Daft Punk. Surprisingly, most of the score is still a classical one, but with electronic flourishes. It’s perhaps the only component of the film that successfully feels epic, but the rest of the film simply doesn’t match up. 

Rating: * * (out of four stars)

Genre: Comedy

Director: Todd Philips

Writers: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, Adam Sztykiel, Todd Philips 

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis

Running Length: 100 minutes

Synopsis: Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is a stressed-out businessman who is trying his best to get home in LA from a business meeting from Atlanta in time to catch the birth of his first child, but a chance meeting with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) and a series of unfortunate events later, the unlikely duo is forced to pair up for a very eventful road trip across America. 

Review: If you were Todd Philips, how will you choose to follow up the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time (The Hangover)? The obvious answer is The Hangover 2 (which of course is coming our way in 2011), but in between the two Hangovers, Philips had found a chance to squeeze in Due Date, which in many aspects is almost like a 21st century update to Planes, Trains and Automobiles. 

Starring one of the hottest leading men in Hollywood, as well as a rising star in the comedy genre, Due Date seems like a movie that cannot fail. However, the end product is a little iffy – while much of Due Date is entertaining and there are a good number of laugh out loud moments, the pacing of the film is off and the conclusion of the film is a textbook definition of the phrase “fizzle out”. While I don’t think Philips was gunning for the same success as The Hangover, this is quite apparently a quickly hashed out movie designed to make some box office bucks before the Oscar big guns and year end blockbusters start arriving at the cinemas. 

That in itself is not a crime, of course, but I just wished that Due Date could have stepped up its game a little more – both Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis are more than adequate for their roles, but there is so little character development that all the potential chemistry between the duo is lost in the film’s two dimensions. The screenplay’s attempts to inject some sentimentality into the film don’t really work well either, and come off feeling half-baked and forcefully played out. What’s worse, however, is the way events unfold in the final reel, stretching credibility to the max and ending the film on a very limp note. This is possibly one of the worst denouements in any comedy I’ve seen this year, and that’s saying a lot. 

However, Due Date is definitely not a total wash – there are enough funny (though rather expected) scenes to fill the film’s running time, with the best moments in the film coming from the scenes where Peter loses control of his emotions and lashes out at Ethan in one way or another. There are also a fair number of action sequences in the film, and these surprisingly are quite effectively shot. On top of that, Due Date manages to work in some really picturesque shots of the drive across America, and it also features an eclectic, fun soundtrack, something which many people feel is a prerequisite of any good road trip movie. If you’re into buddy movies, Due Date is decent, middling fare – here’s hoping Philips will be able to achieve something greater when The Hangover 2 comes around. 

Rating: * * (out of four stars)

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Director: Michael Patrick King

Writer: Michael Patrick King

Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Chris Noth, Evan Handler, David Eigenberg, John Corbett

Running Length: 146 minutes

Synopsis:  It’s been another two years since freelance writer Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) has finally married the man of her dreams, John Preston aka “Mr Big” (Chris Noth). However, beneath the marital bliss lies some discontent – Carrie is afraid that the spark has gone out of their relationship, especially since Big seems more intent to stay home and watch TV then to go out and paint the town red. Her three best friends are also each having problems of her own: Samantha (Kim Cattrall) enters menopause and is trying her best to beat the clock with handfuls of vitamins and supplements; Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is overworked and underappreciated in the law firm she works in; and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) finds her two children to be more than she can handle, and though her buxom nanny is a great help, she’s afraid that the nanny’s presence may cause Harry (Evan Handler) to stray. After a chance meeting with a sheik, the girls are whisked off to an all expenses paid, one-week vacation in Abu Dhabi, where Carrie chances upon old flame Aidan (John Corbett), and old emotions bubble once again to the surface. Will Carrie’s ever after be as happy as she envisaged it would be?

Review:  I’ll be the first to say that I am a big fan of the Sex and the City series, and even though the first movie had quite a few flaws, I was more than willing to let them slide and to go along for the ride. The huge box office success of the movie practically ensured the existence of this sequel, but one cannot help but wonder if it was a good idea. In the first movie, all four women had storylines of their own, which at least managed to justify the epic running length. In this second film, however, none of the women have very substantive storylines, and Samantha and Miranda are both reduced to being nothing but plot devices (just like all the men in the movie) – yet the movie is only 2 minutes shorter than its predecessor. It’s an incredibly bloated and indulgent movie, and there’s so little narrative progression and so much excess that it becomes overwhelming.

And “excess” is truly the keyword that permeates the entire movie. Sure, the out-of-reach fashions and accessories may be interesting, but this time round costume designer Patricia Fields seems to have been equipped with an ugly stick, as some of the fashions are truly gaudy and hideous. A purported $10 million wardrobe budget doesn’t manage to buy good taste, unfortunately. And yes, it’s supposed to be an escapist fantasy, but sometimes it stretches believability a little too much, and throughout the twelve-year lifespan of Sex and the City, it has never been this apparent.

And then there’s the sojourn to “Abu Dhabi” (actually Morocco, and it’s easy to see why Abu Dhabi declined to be part of this movie), which to me is the lowest point in the entire Sex and the City franchise. The name of the game after all is Sex and the City, and the characters do best when they are on their home ground of NYC, not a foreign country. This sequel makes the mistake of keeping the ladies on a foreign land for what seems like more than half the running length, in which all they do is go from tourist locale to another tourist locale. Was this meant to be a travelogue? The Mexico interlude in the first movie was somewhat acceptable because there was a fair bit of plot development, but the way the ladies behave in Abu Dhabi, particularly Samantha, crosses the line of comedy and enters into the realm of bad taste and crassness. It’s so belittling of the Muslim faith and the cultures and traditions of a foreign land that I felt mildly apologetic simply by sitting through it. Sex and the City is supposed to be fun, but it should not be at someone else’s expense.

There are still some brighter moments in the film, where what made the TV series so good comes to the forefront – an example would be the scene where Miranda and Charlotte commiserate about the difficulties of motherhood over Cosmopolitans, and for a moment one is transported back in the better days of the franchise. Unfortunately, too much of the movie is like the (rather painful) Liza Minelli performance of “Single Ladies” early on in the film – everyone looks older, and although their presence is somewhat appreciated, it eventually feels a little too desperate and sad, even for fans. Here’s hoping that Michael Patrick King finally realizes that Sex and the City’s shelf life is up, and to quit while he’s ahead, before the franchise makes a seamless transition to Golden Girls: The Movie.   

Rating:  * * (out of four stars)

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Director:  Garry Marshall

Writer: Katherine Fugate

Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Biel, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey, Jessica Alba, Eric Dane, Hector Elizondo

Running Length: 125 minutes

Synopsis: About 20 different characters populate the various stories that are told in this movie, set (of course) on Valentine’s Day and in the city of Los Angeles. The central storyline revolves around Reed Bennett (Ashton Kutcher), a florist, who has just proposed to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba), who unfortunately has commitment issues. His best buddy Julia (Jennifer Garner) has hidden away her romantic feelings for Reed, and instead is involved with a philandering doctor, Harrison Copeland (Patrick Dempsey). Separately, TV sports news reporter Kelvin Moore (Jamie Foxx) has been tasked to do man-in-the-street segments on love for Valentine’s Day, but is a cynic and doesn’t believe in love. However, he is suddenly presented with a potential love interest in the form of Kara Monahan (Jessica Biel), who is the agent for star quarterback Sean Jackson (Eric Dane). Sean seems to be troubled by more than the fact that his football contract is ending, and decides to call a press conference to announce exactly why.

Other tales abound: two strangers on a plane (Bradley Cooper and Julia Robert) manage to make a connection during a 14-hour flight; an old, happily married couple’s (Hector Elizondo and Shirley MacLaine) marriage suddenly doesn’t seem quite as happy to one of them when a secret is revealed; a secretary (Anne Hathaway) who is also working as an “adult phone entertainer” finds that her side job is interfering with the budding relationship she has with her boyfriend (Topher Grace); two young couples (Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift, and Carter Jenkins and Emma Roberts) contemplate the possibility of engaging in pre-marital sex before their high school graduation; and a young boy (Bryce Robinson) has to deal with his first crush in school. (Phew.)

Review: It’s a huge morass of interconnected plot lines and characters, all revolving around the theme of love. However, the one biggest failing of Valentine’s Day is how little comedy and romance there is in this supposed rom-com. Many of the storylines are not even given a decent amount of screentime, and are so perfunctory that they almost seem like a desperate attempt to up the star wattage of the movie to pull in more moviegoers. It doesn’t help that the central storyline is so boring and uninspired that the film sags every time these so-called central characters are featured.

There are a few stories that show more potential – the airplane story works because Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts are immensely likeable in their roles and display some chemistry (which is sadly not the case in most of the other pairings), and Anne Hathaway has an absolute ball with her “adult phone entertainer” role and hams it up to the max, although the actual romantic development with this storyline is somewhat lacking. And then there’s the “surprise!” subplot that would potentially blindside some audiences – although it didn’t manage to “fool” this jaded moviegoer. Sadly, these storylines are not given enough time to fully develop, and it can get vexing when so much time is wasted on other inconsequential subplots, or worse, the insipid central plot. Valentine’s Day is a movie that would have benefitted immensely from some restraint and editing.

It’s interesting to see how Garry Marshall managed to somewhat drop the ball on this project. It’s a formula that has been done before (see Love, Actually for a far better take on the same theme), and Garry Marshall had practically made his name exclusively in this genre. Whilst Valentine’s Day is not a bad movie, too much of the film feels tired and uninteresting. The few bright spots and funny moments are unable to outweigh the flotsam and jetsam that make up the rest of the movie. The number of stars involved will probably still ensure this is a commercial success, helped somewhat by the fact that this is the only love-related movie released over this Valentine’s Day long weekend, but if you really want a romance fix this holiday period, why not try renting Love, Actually instead?

Rating: ** (out of four stars)

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Director:  Stephen Fung

Writers: Stephen Fung and Tsang Kan-Cheung, based on an original story by Stephen Chow

Cast: Kitty Zhang, Leon Jay Williams

Running Length: 87 minutes

Opens:  14 January 2010

Synopsis: A young village girl by the name of Phoenix (Kitty Zhang) leaves for the big city to pursue her dreams to become a dancer, but reality bites and she almost loses hope of ever fulfilling her ambitions. That is, until she becomes a part-time cleaner at a dance school, and sparks fly between Phoenix and Ron (Singapore’s own Leon Jay Williams), the wealthy and handsome playboy owner of the school.

Jump, like 99% of romantic comedies out there, brings nothing new to the table, and in this case the chemistry between Kitty Zhang and Leon Jay Williams (who was brought in to replace Edison Chen following his sex scandal) isn’t even particularly strong. However, what manages to save the movie is Kitty Zhang’s spirited performance, which is so earnest that one can’t help but root for her success.

Although Stephen Chow is credited as simply providing the original story of which the screenplay is based on, there seems to be more than a fair share of “Chow-isms” in the film, which most memorably includes a really zany musical number at the beginning, and the running gag of a transgendered village “girl” who can’t seem to stop scratching her own boobs. The humour in Jump tends towards the lowbrow, but I find it’s entertaining enough to warrant some laughs (especially if you’re a fan of Stephen Chow’s brand of humour).

What I also appreciated was that the “believe in yourself” message that Jump carries is delivered with some modicum of finesse, unlike many Asian films that love to make it as blatant and blunt as possible (yes I’m looking at you, Jack Neo). Once again it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before, but at least Stephen Fung doesn’t try to smack audiences senseless with the message.

Unfortunately, the central theme of the movie is also the film’s weakest aspect. The dancing, I’m sad to say, ranges from average to plain bad. Kitty Zhang purported learned to dance specifically for her role but her moves come across as being rather stilted and unnatural. It doesn’t help that her stand-in is painfully easy to spot even in the shortest of scenes. Even the final showdown lacks the visual punch of typical dance movie finales, and the overly rapid editing used in the finale does not help at all.

Jump is a relatively decent comedy that is almost an even mix of hits and misses, and whilst it’s by no means a great movie, it isn’t entirely a waste of time either, unlike many Asian releases of late.

Rating: * * (out of four stars)