Review: Fright Night (2011)

Fright Night 2011 is a remake of the 1985 original, featuring teenager Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) and his battle against new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell) - a vampire.



Jerry the vampire is responsible for a string of recent deaths. One by one went missing, including his best friend, Ed, who knew that Jerry is a vampire but Charley wouldn't believe initially.



When no one he knows believes him, Charley looked for Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a self proclaimed vampire killer and Las Vegas magician, to help him take down Jerry.



Together with his hot sexy girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots), Charley went on a mission to annihilate the vampire. Vincent chickened out at first, but later on decided to help out.



But as Charley became braver and more daring, Jerry was left with no choice but to hunt him as well. Since vampires couldn't enter a house without being invited, he literally set Charley's house on fire to get him out.



Charley, together with Amy and his mum managed to escape in their car. But Jerry wasn't far behind as he was driving behind them as well.



The car chase came to a halt on a road out of nowhere and Charley started to use his anti-vampire tools to kill Jerry, but he couldn't. Jerry was so much stronger. However, he managed to hurt Jerry so badly that they were able to escape again and fled to the nearby city.

Later on, Amy was Jerry's victim too. But after a combination with Vincent, both of them (equipped with weapons and tools) stormed into Jerry's territory and managed to kill him. All those victims who have turned into a vampire transformed back into human after Jerry was dead. Happy ending. The end.

Overall, it was an interesting movie. According to sources, the original Fright Night was scarier than this remake but since it's released and distributed by Disney, it must have customized and rewritten to suit a general audience. Kids could actually watch it too, I think. There aren't much horror and trill in the plot.

The story line is predictable, a minor number of suspenses. Colin Farrell is sizzling macho, there are some sense of humor, and a modern setting with references such as eBay.

Oh yeah, it's definitely better than the Twilight saga.

Noobie Rating: 6/10 (Not bad for a vampire movie)

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Review: Johnny English Reborn

Johnny English Reborn is about Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) returning to the role of the accidental secret agent who apparently doesn't know fear or danger.



In his latest adventure, the most unlikely intelligence officer must stop a group of international assassins before they eliminate a world leader and cause global chaos. In the years since MI-7's top spy vanished off the grid, he has been honing his unique skills in a remote region of Asia - possibly at Tibet or China.



But when his agency superiors learn of an attempt against the Chinese premier's life, they must hunt down the people responsible. Now that the world needs him once again, Johnny English is back in action. With one shot at redemption, he must employ the latest in hi-tech gadgets to unravel a web of conspiracy that runs throughout the KGB, CIA and even MI-7.



With mere days until a heads of state conference, Johnny English must use every trick in his playbook. For him, disaster may be an option, but failure never is.

Discussions where held to completely stop the Vortex team for assassinating their next target - the leader of China during a private conference discussion with the British Prime Minister.

As usual, comedic Johnny English made common silly mistakes while his sidekick Agent Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya) tried to discover the truth about a double-agent within MI-7 itself, which was Simon Ambrose (Dominic West). Unfazed by Tucker's attempt and accusation of Ambrose, English eventually committed the biggest mistake by trusting Ambrose and handing over the Vortex key to him.

Together with Kate Sumner (Rosamund Pike), both of them managed to discover the real truth and tried to stop Ambrose from being successful with his evil plans.



As the plot unravel, Vortex is actually a liquid drug which is used for mind controlling of its victim, which can only be controlled by Ambrose's voice of commands. MI-7 Agent Pamela Thornton (Gillian Anderson) was supposed to be the victim to assassinate the China leader but English drank the spiked drink.

Eventually English was under Ambrose's control and Ambrose commanded him to kill. But with his internal will and strength (and also recalling what his Chinese master has preached), he managed to fight the poison and prevent himself from killing anyone. He died for a while, a predicted outcome after drinking the drug. But with a kiss by Kate Sumner, he eventually became alive and gain consciousness.

In the end, Ambrose was killed by English and it's more or less the end.

Overall, Johnny English Reborn is just another action comedy show. Rowan Atkinson's talent in acting dumb is probably the main attraction of the movie, as he's already well-known as another character - Mr. Bean. The storyline is predictable, and despite being a spy movie - it's just an average movie.

There was no suspense and the bad guys are so easily to be identified. It's just a matter of time before silly Johnny English realizes it. On and off, there were funny scenes - laughable, mainly on silly actions.

If there's any consolation to the movie, it would be the appearance of beautiful Kate Sumner. She's professionally hot and elegant in a way. However, didn't expect her to fall in love with a bloke like English though.

Noobie Rating: 6/10 (Watch for the laughter)

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Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows Official Poster and Trailer

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, or also known as Sherlock Holmes 2, is about Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and his sidekick Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) join forces to outwit and bring down their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty.

This is the Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows official poster, featuring Robert Downey Jr. with a pistol.



This is the Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows official trailer.



With Robert Downey Jr. back on the Sherlock Holmes sequel, it's gonna be interesting.

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Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol New Poster

The new Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol poster, or also known as Mission Impossible 4 poster, is revealed.



It features the face of Tom Cruise, the main actor as Ethan Hunt, with almost transparent columns and rows of numbers - perhaps a representation of a protocol.

This is the Mission: Impossible 4 Ghost Protocol official trailer.



It will feature locations in Dubai, Moscow, Prague and Vancouver.

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Review: Final Destination 5

In Final Destination 5 the survivors of a suspension-bridge collapse learn there's no way they can cheat Death.



Another thriller by the Final Destination series, it promises that death has never been closer.

At the beginning, the usual story begin. A group of colleagues are on a trip to somewhere (can't remember), and Sam Lawton (Nicholas D'Agosto) has a vision, or premonition, that his colleagues and himself are about to die in a horrific accident.

Once waking up from the "dream", he started to get nervous and got a few people out earlier, the vision came true and they're safe and sound.



But that wouldn't last long, the remaining survives get mysteriously killed one by one. First, starting with Candice Hooper (Ellen Wroe) who died in a freak accident while she was practicing her moves at the gymnasium.



This first death has a lot of suspense scenes. The fan's wire were exposed and water dripping down from a ventilation fan above. But she didn't die from electrocution.

Then, one of the screws from the ventilation fan cover was loose and fell directly on the gym equipment when Candice was making her moves on it. Thought she would step on it and somehow die, but no. She didn't.



With so much suspense in this scene, I know she's gonna die soon - but just can't figure it out. And in the end, while she was practicing on the bar, another gymnast accidentally stepped on the screw, fell from the equipment, knocked on the flour pot, the fan blew it towards Candice, she couldn't see anything and she swung directly toward the ground, broke her back and died in an awkward position.

That was how crazy it was.

The next death scene involving Isaac (P.J. Byrne) dying in a Chinese massage outlet.



He eventually died because of the needles, fire and the Buddha statue fell and knocked his head.

Then another death scene worth mentioning is the lasik surgery scene with sexy Olivia Castle (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood). Midway through the preparation of the surgery, with her head properly placed under the laser, the doctor had to leave because he was given the wrong figures that should be entered into the machine.



So the doctor left, some water cup spilled onto a power socket, the electric circuit went problematic, the machine got triggered to a high measurement (or some sort) and laser beams were shot directly onto her helpless eyeball. Even her hand got lasered when she tried to block the laser.

Sam reached in time and Olivia was still alive as she managed to escaped from the machine. But unfortunately she tripped off the glass window and fell directly onto a car outside the building. Her other eyeball got popped out onto the road, and a car drove over and smashed it.

Well other than that, the other death scenes were predictable. The death scene with Sam and Molly Harper (Emma Bell), his girlfriend who actually survived the whole ordeal, is related to Final Destination 1 - where the airplane exploded in the air after take off.

Sam and Molly was actually one of the passengers in the plane when he witness a few people arguing. According to the stewardess, the group were misbehaving because one of them saw a premonition that the plane will explode. And since Sam isn't the one having it, he eventually experienced the whole explosion. Molly was sucked out from the plane.

Nathan (Arlen Escarpeta) who thought he survived everything, eventually died too when a part of the plan came smashing into the bar he was in. The end.

Overall, it was gory, but not as gory as the previous Final Destination series. Why? It's because there were lack of interaction with heavy machines. In the previous shows, there were lifts, car engines, bullet guns, roller coaster, escalators and what not. For Final Destination 5, the worse is just a huge iron hook.

Noobing Rating: 5/10 (Watch for the gory fun)

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Review: The Smurfs (2011)

The Smurfs is about the tiny blur Smurfs who were chased out of their village by the evil wizard Gargamel. They then tumble from their magical world and into ours by smacking dab in the middle of Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.



Being happy all the time, the colony of Smurfs was living happily - that's until Clumsy started the whole problem. By leading evil witch master Gargamel to their secret home portal, the Smurfs were forced to evade and run away.



However, thanks to Clumsy again, he ran the wrong pathway and got some of them over to the big city of New York. Gargamel eventually followed with his loyal expressive cat and continued his pursue to gain a Smurf particle for his magic potion.



Gargamel, played by Hank Azaria, is pretty evil and at the same time, funny and silly. Despite being the villain of the movie, Gargamel possesses a funny character that brings laughter to the audience with his hilarious characteristics and actions.



Lost in the big city and being so tiny, they eventually stumble upon an average couple - Patrick and Grace Winslow. Patrick didn't like the presence of the Smurfs as he thinks they're such annoyance with their stubbornness and happy song. But he changed his mind later on.



Grace, played by Jayma Mays from Glee, on the other hand was loving her new found tiny blue friends, especially with Smurfette. She took care of them, even making Patrick believe that they bring good luck - which could be true in some sense.

Clumsy's carelessness is actually a blessing in disguise for Patrick Winslow's marketing career. His boss is very proud of his work.



As usual in a fantasy cartoon movie, the villain almost got his way but eventually got defeated. Plain predictable cartoon story line, very easy to be understood and comprehend.

Overall, the movie was just a mediocre one for the adults while the kids would think that it's really entertaining. I thought it was childish at the start, but then enjoyed the rest of the movie.

One couldn't expect much from it. It isn't mind-boggling, nothing spectacular and the graphics were just fine. It's always best to watch the 3D version with animations but I didn't. Wasn't willing to spend the extra money on some kiddy animation.

The Neil Patrick Harris and Jayma Mays combination is a good one. Both looking suitable as a loving couple with blue annoying "kids" bugging them all the time. Hank Azaria excelled well with his Gargamel character. The movie was funny at certain parts. Certainly a light-hearted show suitable for all ages, but if you're not a fan of such animation, you should just give The Smurfs a pass.

Noobie Rating: 6/10 (Watch is just for fun)

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