Happily Ever After?

Fans are rejoice and haters seek cover as the fourth installment of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga is here. Wedding bells fill the air and smiles are everywhere as we finally bear witness to the long-awaited union of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. Surely this must be the happy ending to the story? Well, far from it actually. In Breaking Dawn: Part 1, we learn that forever after is only the beginning...



I'm sure by now haters will just not bother while fans will be waiting to catch it irregardless of reviews. Twilight's film franchise has grown from strength-to-strength, and with favourable reviews for Eclipse, expectations are high for the adaptation of the final book, Breaking Dawn. Split into two sections due to its length, we will be treated to Part 1 first, followed by Part 2 next year.

So we start off with Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Bella (Kristen Stewart) finally tying the knot with a grand wedding as poor Jacob (Taylor Lautner) can only watch.



The newly-wed couple then go honeymoon-ing off Rio in Brazil and after exhaustive persuasion, Edward agrees to make love to Bella in her human form. All's fun and laughter until the impossible happens - Bella gets pregnant. The unborn baby then starts a chain of havoc. Edward and Jacob want to get rid of it quick as it may actually kill her by draining from within, while the Quileute wolf clan wish to kill Bella to rid off the fetus, which they believe is a demon that will unleash terror upon the clan and folks of Forks - ending the peaceful treaty they have with the Cullens. Yet Bella wishes to keep the baby, irregardless of the consequences. With all the tension mounting, how exactly will this end?



First off, this installment marks a departure from the TV-movie feel the film franchise had since the beginning. With improved cinematography, the movie looks and feels great. Fans wishing to know how the much-anticipated wedding scene turns out may sigh in relief as it is nothing short of beautiful. With the lush romantic setting, heart-tugging music and that oh-so-gorgeous wedding dress, it will bring many a tear to viewers.



In my opinion, it was good that they showed this highlight, as it contrasts well with the tense scenes that follow later.  There were also many nods to the book (which fans will have fun spotting) and even a blink-and-miss cameo by Meyer herself.

Acting-wise, it's pretty much the same, although it's evident that the actors were getting more comfortable and confident in their roles now. Kristen Stewart deserves special mention here as it was pretty much her that keeps the film together this time.



The emphasis on Bella in Breaking Dawn - her nervousness in getting married, losing her virginity, facing pregnancy and determination to deliver her child no matter what - is all portrayed with such believability. And wait till you see how she looks when pregnant! I'm glad Stewart's finally getting the chance to truly spread her wings in this movie. As for Edward and Jacob, they seemed a little less restrained this time while the rest, particularly Charlie Swan (Billy Burke) and the gorgeous Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) seemed to have been fully absorbed into their characters. I rather enjoyed the fact that the other humans, vampires and wolves received more screen time too.





There are also notably more laughs this time around and that quite balances the serious tone the film undertakes later on.



It should be warned too, that due to our censorship guidelines an important scene gets snipped... TWO scenes in fact. The second was cut-out almost entirely, so you'll be left trying to figure out what just happened, although I believe the ending pretty much explains it to you if you pay attention. There's really not exactly much of a choice here, but I really am curious as Breaking Dawn: Part 1 gets a PG-13 rating in the States, just as it does here.



The storyline on the other hand, or rather evident lacking of it in the middle, does affect the pacing a little.



The honeymoon chapter seemed never-ending, enough to even make you wonder if they stretched this in order to make two movies possible, but I was told that this was a part described in much detail in the book. Do check out the neat chess metaphor though.



Things also happen rather predictably, and if you've seen the trailer, you can pretty much know what to expect. Most is forgiven though, due to the brilliant second half, which blends tension with anticipation, coupled with the aforementioned performance by Stewart. It all leads up to an well-laid, heart-thumping ending which will leave you hungering for the next, and final installment of the saga. Bring on Breaking Dawn: Part 2!



And oh, stick around a while after the credits or else you'll miss the ending.

3 1/2 Stars (out of 5)

3D Shark Feast

Name a creature that makes you not wanna go into the water and I'm very sure the word 'shark' appears at least within the Top-3 of the list. So much is misunderstood about these beautiful creatures to the point that an average person believes every shark species will look at them as sushi. While much of this can be attributed to Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws', the latest shark-flick Shark Night 3D isn't planning to change that perception.



Shark Night 3D tells a tale of Sara (Sara Paxton) who has her friends over at her family's lake-side house to celebrate her friend Malik's (Sinqua Wall) good results with the help of protagonist Nick (Dustin Milligan) as his tutor. 




So here come a whole bunch of good-looking individuals that even include American Idol finalist Katherine McPhee having a fun time at a remote lake-house. 



Things go awry almost right away as they get attacked by various sharks (yup there's more than one breed) in the salt-water lake. 




And of course their only method of escape gets blown up in the most spectacularly unlikely manner.



To add to the mess are locals Red (Joshua Leonard) and Sara's ex-boyfriend Dennis (Chris Carmack), who are just too disturbingly creepy to not be ruled out with having something up their sleeves themselves.



First off, it's no secret that the film is a B-grade Jaws rip-off... in 3D. Good thing it doesn't try to be something it's not. With a title like Shark Night 3D, you pretty much get what you expect (the film was almost called "Untitled 3D Shark Thriller).



There's the usual 'innocent-victim-gets-killed' intro (albeit pretty cliche by now), a pretty cast with minimal clothing, some killer sharks and you'll even easily guess who-dies-and-who-doesn't. 



Too bad Piranha 3D did all this a whole lot better. For a water-based horror flick, there isn't much suspense, nor enough skin or gore for that matter. 



It feels like a rather toned-down creature-flick even for a person who gets freaked out by horror films like me.



However, Shark Night 3D does have some good things going on for it. The bunch of unknowns playing the various characters were actually pretty decent in the acting department and also rather likable.





But it's just hilarious how the film-makers went to great lengths finding numerous ways to get these people into the water.  



I also found it kinda funny that the resident nerd, Nick's gamer roommate Gordon (Joel David Moore) was actually hanging out with a group that looked like they belonged to modeling magazines. 




And oh, Sara Paxton is just so totally hawt in every single scene (plus she's in a lil blue bikini almost the whole time). 





The sharks were pretty alright too, having a variety of species instead of stereotypically just one was a nice touch - this included bulls, tigers (albeit oddly shown as sand-tigers instead), hammerheads and the all-famous great whites. 



Some love were even given to the cookiecutter, a childhood favourite of mine (feel free to Google them up). Despite the occasionally-dodgy CGi, the use of 3D in this flick was pretty good, and many will give you jumps - debris fall onto you and sharks jump out of the screen. 



And as an added bonus, if you're not a fan of Katharine McPhee, you get to see her get munched-up as shark-snack.



The story however, borders on the absolute ridiculous. The twist halfway is so nonsensical that makes you wonder if the film-makers were trying too hard explaining a shark-infested salt-water lake scenario. 



This is made worse by some scenes that are just absurd, like how one guy is out hunting sharks just moments after he was seen almost dying from losing an arm, blood-loss and shock. 



With a few changes and a slightly bigger budget, this could have been a much better film. The camera angles used were pretty alright, and often gave sufficient suspense to scenes. It is still a rather fun flick, after all how can you not enjoy watching hot young peeps turning into shark food in friggin' 3D?



And oh, do stick around till after the credits for an extra that's as ridiculous as the movie's plot.

3 Stars (out of 5)

When Time is Everything

These days, our everyday lives are filled with monotonousness. Often it's the same deal working from day to day, earning our little salaries. Like they say money makes the world go around, right? But what if our everyday lives depended on something else... something a little more basic like... time? That's exactly the scenario in the action thriller In Time.



In In Time, the currency that makes the world go around is time. Yes time, the same one we stare at watches and clocks. You see, in the far future, humans are genetically-engineered to the point that they stop aging once they reach the age of 25. Basically meaning you'll get to look young and pretty forever. But that's also when your 'clock' starts.



You'll have to 'earn' your time like how we earn money, and every form of expense is in measurements of time. If your clock runs out, you die. Simple as that. Avoids overpopulation they say...



So Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) is just your average joe with an insanely hot mum (Olivia Wilde) who lives his life day-by-day.



One day he unknowingly inherits a fortune's worth of time and is thus hunted by corrupted time police called 'Timekeepers'. Upon exploring his new-found 'wealth', he stumbles across rich tycoon Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser) and is introduced to his hawt... i mean rebellious... daughter Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried).



The two then later decide to turn full-on rebellious (oh, forgot to mention his hawt mum timed-out before he could share his century's worth of time) and go all Robin Hood with the time system.



Undeniably, In Time has a great idea going on. The concept of 'time is money' is utilised rather well, and we are shown how almost every part of our daily life is affected by it. However the film somehow loses it's way a little around two-thirds of the way and ends in a rather ambiguously unsatisfying manner. And is it just me or does everyone hybrid-converted drive vintage American muscle cars? Except our hero who instead drives a cool Jaguar E-Type which must be really ancient by that time. However the film it is still very enjoyable, as the mood, setting and action will keep you glued to the screen. Justin Timberlake was surprisingly not bad and Amanda Seyfried was simply stunning.



Perhaps they should have gone easy with the whole cat and mouse game, which gets tiring when the duo is chased by Timekeeper (Cillian Murphy) for the umpteenth time.



If you can ignore these little shortcomings, In Time is still a fun sci-fi flick with a creative concept and plenty of good-looking 20-somethings. And you can't go wrong with that.

3 Stars (out of 5)

Pocket Cili Padi

Perodua's Myvi needs no introduction. Hate it or love it, the local compact hatch has been selling like hot cakes nationwide. But having a best-seller in their hands didn't mean Perodua rested on their laurels. In March, they discontinued the Myvi after a mere 6 years of service, replacing it with a second-generation model based on the new Toyota Passo/Daihatsu Boon. However, rumors were already circulating of a separate, higher engine-capacity model, with spy-shots to match. All those were put to rest with the launch of the new 1.5-litre range of the Myvi, which comes in two guises, the Special Edition (SE) 1.5 and the one I managed to test-drive, the Extreme 1.5.



The Japanese car that the second generation model was based on was more feminine as it was targeted at women. With its curvy roof-line and lamps, bench seating and cosy interiors, it would make many ladies feel at home.



I was lucky enough to have a feel of the Toyota Passo last year in Tokyo, and I admit it certainly fitted the 'cute and comfy' description. It was available in two specs - the cute 'Passo' and the slightly sportier 'Passo + Hana'.



However Perodua needed their car to be unisex in order to make the numbers, so unlike the previous generation Myvi, this time they did a rather thorough redesign of the car's exterior and interior. Gone was the look of the rear, replaced with a design echoing the previous model. Changed too was the rounded front, replaced with sharper-angled projector-based headlamps and grille.



In my humble opinion, the headlamps and grille of the 1.3L model didn't quite gel together and made it look like a cross between the Perodua Viva and the previous generation Hyundai Accent. The side mirrors get neatly-designed integrated signal indicators as well.

 

Out goes the bench seats, replaced with more conventional ones, and the dash takes on a totally different design, with the gear on the dash (for automatic transmission models) instead of the stalk in the Passo/Boon. The funky instrument panel is gone, but in its place is an Optitron unit not unlike something you'd find in a Toyota or Honda.

Onwards to the new 1.5L model. In keeping with the Malaysian demand for more power, the Myvi was further developed to incorporate a 1.5 litre engine and transmission. The 1495cc twin-cam DVVT-equipped 3SZ-VE engine is similar to the one found the Toyota-Daihatsu-Perodua stable like the Perodua Nautica, Perodua Alza, Toyota Avanza and Daihatsu Gran Max to name a few.



You would have noticed that all the other vehicles listed are considerably heavier than the Myvi, which meant that the Myvi 1.5 would have the best power-to-weight ratio among them. This, coupled with electric steering (which doesn't sap power from the engine) should provide adequate 'oomph' to the vehicle. The exterior gets a slight revamp to differentiate the new model from its smaller-engined sibling. The front gets a redesigned bumper and a gunmetal-colored grille that actually gels better with the overall front design. The rear gets a new bumper too with an integrated 'diffuser' design. Dubbed the Special Edition or SE, it's easy to see the link with the previous model. The reviewed Extreme model however, gets further add-ons to the exterior, notably an aggressive lip extension up front...

 

...and more radical diffuser at the rear.



It also gets lower side-skirts, chrome door handles, additional side-moulding and an racier wing.



The rims on the vehicle on the other hand are minuscule 14-inch units (with equally skinny tyres) that are one-directional - meaning they roll backwards on the left side of the car.



The colors available are Majestic Yellow...



...Ebony Black...



and Ivory White.



Inside the Myvi Extreme 1.5 gets the full-black treatment for the dashboard and seats (now with leather covers) and also the same six-inch multimedia-ready LCD touchscreen as the 1.3 Elegance model.



The LCD unit on glossy piano black surface is a joy to use and has pretty decent touch sensitivity.



And if you wish you can also control the stereo via buttons on the neat leather-wrapped steering wheel.

 

Sound quality from the four speakers however isn't as good as the Clarion units in Proton. Like the previous-generation model, the tiny front speakers are only 4-inches wide! And on the dash, the Optitron unit now glows bright red to match the sportier nature of the car.



The door panels however get only fabric covers instead of leather and tacky silver mock carbon-fiber textures.



The car also gets full tinting for all windows, although I suspect it isn't really high end to reduce costs. Seat space is pretty good for its class, with adequate legroom in the rear due to improvements with the new model's configuration.



However, this comes at the expense of boot space in the rear, which is noticeably smaller than the previous model.



How is it like to drive the Extreme? Well, upon starting up the engine, the instruments 'glow' to life in a pretty cool manner, and I must say that gives a much upmarket feel to the car. Upon stepping on the pedal and accelerating, the boost in power is immediately felt, and the car feels rather zippy and eager to climb to 100kmh. However it should be noted that the car is still a Myvi and is no hot hatch. Hit the corners and the car leans quite a bit. The steering is light and smooth, but suffers slightly from the lack of feedback notoriously associated with electric steering. The ride is firmer (albeit still comfy) than before, but might still be 'floaty' to some. For a range-topping flagship model (especially with a name like Extreme), you'd expect Perodua to put at least a little more into the handling to better suit the sporty image and new-found power. Nevertheless, I'm sure tuning companies will be coming up with numerous upgrade packages for this model soon enough.



Overall the Myvi Extreme 1.5 is a pretty decent car for its class. The new 1.5-litre engine really makes its presence felt and will prove handy for when you need that little extra 'oomph' during city driving. While some may say the RM5k premium over the SE model might be pricey, I say for those in the market for a Myvi, it's a justifiable cost for the little extras that make a difference and that slight exclusivity on the road - there aren't as many Extreme units running as the SE... at least for now that is.



Perodua should however note that the Myvi is now entering competitive new territory, with it being closely-priced to offerings from fellow national car-maker Proton, like Satria Neo, GEN.2 and Persona, or even their own Alza. Some buyers seeking a better car might even opt to top-up a little and go for the sportier Ford Fiesta or Suzuki Swift instead.

The Myvi Extreme 1.5 price ranges from RM58,200.00 for a solid-colored manual to RM61,700.00 for a metallic-colored automatic. Waiting period ranges from 2 weeks to a month.