Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Label: Review, Action, Hollywood

The newest Indiana Jones adventure begins in the desert Southwest in 1957 - the height of the Cold War. Indy and his sidekick Mac (Ray Winstone) have barely escaped a close scrape with nefarious Soviet agents on a remote airfield.
Now, Professor Jones has returned home to Marshall College - only to find things have

gone from bad to worse. His close friend and dean of the college (Jim Broadbent) explains that Indy's recent activities have made him the object of suspicion, and that the government has put pressure on the university to fire him. On his way out of town, Indiana meets rebellious young Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), who carries both a grudge and a proposition for the adventurous archaeologist: If he'll help Mutt on a mission with deeply personal stakes, Indy could very well make one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in history - the Crystal Skull of Akator, a legendary object of fascination, superstition and fear.



But as Indy and Mutt set out for the most remote corners of Peru - a land of ancient tombs, forgotten explorers and a rumored city of gold - they quickly realize they are not alone in their search. The Soviet agents are also hot on the trail of the Crystal Skull. Chief among them is icy cold, devastatingly beautiful Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), whose elite military unit is scouring the globe for the eerie Crystal Skull, which they believe can help the Soviets dominate the world ... if they can unlock its secrets.



Indy and Mutt must find a way to evade the ruthless Soviets, follow an impenetrable trail of mystery, grapple with enemies and friends of questionable motives, and, above all, stop the powerful Crystal Skull from falling into the deadliest of hands.

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Iron Man (2008)

Directed by Jon Favreau
Produced by Avi Arad, Kevin Feige
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard
Label: Review, Action, Hollywood
Iron Man is an great entertainment machine. It's lead Robert Downey Jr. is the right choice to play Tony Stark. Well, who better to play a middle-aged, flamboyant playboy than Robert Downey Jr. anyway?



It is a bold move to cast an actor over-40 to be a superhero. Most studios would have said, "no, change the story and make him younger so we can sell this to younger audiences". Maybe because it's Marvel Studio, Favreau could convince the studio to get Robert Downey Jr. to play Stark. I truly can't think of anyone better suited to the role and he proves it.

Downey stars as Tony Stark, a charming billionaire celebrity industrialist whose company is one of America’s primary defense contractors. Visiting Afghanistan to demonstrate the company’s latest technology, a cluster missile. Then, he is kidnapped by a group of terrorists (Taliban?)who are using Stark’s weapons. While on captivity, he creates a powerful armor and manages to escape. Returning to America, he recreate his armor 'Ironman' and begins a new life as superhero Iron Man.

Also join the fun are Gwyneth Paltrow as loyal assistant Pepper Potts, Terrence Howard as a Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes allied with Tony and Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane who is Stark's second in command.

The movie’s plot, will no doubt raise questions about how it sees America’s role in the world. The film is not anti-war, or anti-America, although maybe anti-WMD.

Te other best thing about the film is the visual presentation, both in live action and CGI. The Iron Man suit itself looks cool. The view from inside the Iron Man helmet is even better. In one scene, while he’s flying, it looks like he’s watching the world through an advanced version of Google Earth.

One complaint about Iron Man, it's a slow build up to the action. True, some time they’re fun, but sometimes it's unecessesary. And sometime the action are not worth to take such a long time to wait.

Iron Man is not a perfect film, nor even a perfect comic book adaptation. Bit's one of the best comic adaptation so far. (reviewed by DL/ 2008)

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The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)

Label: Review, Action, Hollywood
The characters of C.S. Lewis's timeless fantasy come to life once again in this newest installment of the "Chronicles of Narnia" series, in which the Pevensie siblings are magically transported back from England to the world of Narnia, where a thrilling, perilous new adventure and an even greater test of their faith and courage awaits them.

One year after the incredible events of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," the Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to discover that more than 1300 years have passed in Narnia time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has become extinct, Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who rules the land without mercy.

The four children will soon meet an intriguing new character: Narnia's rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne. With the help of the kindly dwarf, Trumpkin, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians, led by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian, embark on a remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz's tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.

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Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Directed by Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Produced by Melissa Cobb
Written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Starring: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan.
Label: Review, Action, Comedy, Animation, Hollywood
DreamWorks Animation once again produces a computer animated film that contains martial arts, action, ancient China setting, animation, and comedy. Surprisingly Kung Fu Panda is not contain Shrek routine like anachronistic joke and managed to be a worthwhile family entertainment.



Jack Black voice as Po, a tubby panda who is a big fan of kungfu but his career prospects boil down to inheriting his father's noodle stand. That is, until turtle Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) appoint Po to be the "Dragon Warrior," a kungfu champion who will defend the valley from the wrath of mighty leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane).

How can a chubby novice such as Po compete with Tai Lung? How could Po gain respect from Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and his students The Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross)? Well, it would be too much spoilers if I tell you the story.

Jack Black was a good choice for the main character, Po, and I even get a sense of the real Jack Black. Dustin Hoffman also equally good in his role as Master Shifu, the kung fu master charged with training Po in martial art. However the other voice actors/ actress are replaceable, proving they were brought in merely to sell the film.

The animation is beautiful, the actions are well done, the fight scenes were fun to watch, althought it's not too violent. Emotional moments sometimes gets a little too sentimental. Still, they help us to understand the problems of the characters and the way they had to dealt with their shortcomings.

Some people might complain about the message to "always following your dream" tells kids to be dissatisfied with ordinary jobs. The other might complain about the story has no surprises at all and Kungfu Panda just use usual formula. Still, Kungfu Panda is fun, so who care! (reviewed by DL/ 2008)

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