Friday, November 26

Tag: Sequel

Review: Coming 2 America (2021)
10Mar By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Movie Review

Review: Coming 2 America (2021)

Coming to America is a surprising cultural touchstone. Eddie Murphy, possibly the greatest showman of that era, leads an all-Black ensemble of casts for a feel-good titular journey. He's portraying Prince Akeem Joffer from Zamunda, a wealthy African monarch country whose on-screen luster precedes Wakanda in recent history. The film's bold guts to choose how a Black community is portrayed and represented is a landmark of its own, even when its broad slapstick and shades of misogyny often draw egregious legacy. (more…)
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Review: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
17Dec By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Movie Review

Review: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Diana Prince a.k.a. Wonder Woman, portrayed as eloquently as ever by Gal Gadot, makes a sweet come back in Wonder Woman 1984, set in the titular year at least 66 years after she's last seen in the Armistice of 11 November. The heroine is currently living a serene routine as Smithsonian Institution expert in Washington while cautiously and secretly helping people and fighting crimes. When an ambitious con-artist, Max Lord (Pedro Pascal), comes up with a foul plot that might cause ridiculously mythical cataclysms around the world and turn an innocent gemologist and Diana's colleague, Barbara Minerva (Kirsten Wiig), into an apex predator like never before, she must take her super-heroine mantle once more even when she's faced to the ultimate vulnerability she doesn't know she has. (more&...
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Review: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020)
9Nov By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Movie Review

Review: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020)

Stephen Hillenburg's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) was supposed to be the series finale for its third season (and possibly for the whole show for good). The commercial and critical success of it, however, has rekindled interests towards the franchise before finally sparking tons of additional contents (commonly described as land-sliding seasons in terms of quality). Nobody from the 2004 production might have predicted that the story continues and sparks many seasons plus two movies, including Paul Tibbitt's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) and, the latest, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. (more…)
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Review: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
25Oct By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Movie Review

Review: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)

Nobody has the idea that Sacha Baron Cohen has been cooking a follow-up to his shamelessly controversial yet hilarious shockumentary, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan as simply known as Borat (2006), until a few months before its release on Amazon Prime Video. When it arrives, it arrives as timely as possible bearing a predictably longer title than the predecessor, albeit eventually known simply as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. As it arrives, it takes everybody by surprise by going where nobody has dared to think of. (more…)
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Review Sebelum Iblis Menjemput: Ayat 2 (2020)
29Feb By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Focus: Indonesia, Movie Review

Review Sebelum Iblis Menjemput: Ayat 2 (2020)

Evil Dead's distant prodigal cousin, Sebelum Iblis Menjemput (May the Devil Take You), has finally gotten a tougher, grittier, and more fucked-up sequel dubbed as Sebelum Iblis Menjemput: Ayat 2 as if it's a chapter in a demonic bible. In the follow-up story, writer-director Timo Tjahjanto does not really bother with narrative merits as he's busy sacrificing souls to the cinematic god of death (as in The Night Comes for Us). Compared to the predecessor, the second chapter is way nastier, campier, and more frivolous with the "nightmares exist out of logic" credo held dear. The myth still follows the protagonist of the first movie, Alfie (Chelsea Islan), who has succumbed to sedative drugs in the aftermath of the first taking. The news of her survival from the cataclysmic nightmare has s...
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Review: To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020)
19Feb By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Movie Review

Review: To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020)

A rom-com sequel is a thing of rarity. Happily ever after, which supposedly comes after rom-com ends, does not always need expositions. However, To All the Boys I've Loved Before, the 2018 surprise hit adapted from Jenny Han's novel is a part of a trilogy. The story of a Korean-American girl, Lara Jean (Lana Condor) dealing with the mess after her well-kept letters got sent into the boys she used to love is only the beginning of it all. To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You extends, if not stretches, the story a little longer; but, it eventually feels like a mere victory lap. By the end of the first movie, Lara Jean finally sorts out the mess and, in a twist of turn, finally gets herself a boyfriend, Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo). This is all new to her—having an actual boyfriend, be...
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Review: Akhir Kisah Cinta Si Doel (2020)
29Jan By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Focus: Indonesia, Movie Review

Review: Akhir Kisah Cinta Si Doel (2020)

The third and final movie in Si Doel trilogy obtains the official title, Akhir Kisah Cinta si Doel (trans. The End of Doel's Love Story), for one apparent purpose> It lets the audiences finally learn that this is the endgame. This is the real finale to Si Doel's chronicle that has been going on for 27 years, starting off as a telly phenomenon before spawning television movies and pointing out at this very moment. Taking off where the second movie left out, this final part—like the previous movies—slowly crawls around the protagonist's mundane life in Jakarta suburbs as Doel (Rano Karno) ponders on the bizarre love triangle between him, his wife, Zaenab (Maudy Koesnaedi, ), and the wife who left him, Sarah (Cornelia Agatha). Meanwhile, Little Dul (Rey Bong), Sarah's son, sets out to...
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Review: Bad Boys for Life (2020)
18Jan By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Movie Review

Review: Bad Boys for Life (2020)

It's been 25 years since two Miami detectives, Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) teamed up in Michael Bay's directorial debut, Bad Boys—a highly reinvigorated buddy-cop comedy with high levels of violence, explosions, and profanity. And apparently, it's been 17 years since Bad Boys II turned up to be a catastrophe—two hours of offensive and derivative sequel where the boys proudly sang "bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do when they come for you" when there is not a single thing to be proud of. Only after a series of development delays, the third movie, Bad Boys for Life, has finally arrived without Bay getting attached to the production, except for a short cameo. Involving none from the previous productions behind the steering wheels, it's clear that Bad Bo...
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Review: Habibie & Ainun 3 (2019)
23Dec By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Focus: Indonesia, Movie Review

Review: Habibie & Ainun 3 (2019)

Habibie & Ainun franchise has quite a storytelling development. While the first movie revolves around the glorified love story between the titular couple—former Indonesia's president and the First Lady, the follow-ups are aiming to be somewhat prequels with an overlapping timeline. The second movie, deliberately titled Rudy Habibie, follows the story of Habibie (portrayed excellently by Reza Rahadian) during his academic years in Germany before he reunites with Ainun (previously portrayed by Bunga Citra Lestari). Meanwhile, the third movie follows a subversive story of young Ainun (now portrayed by Maudy Ayunda) before finally reuniting with the love of her life. While mostly treading on familiar grounds which has either been mentioned or shown in the previous movies, Habibie &...
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Review: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
7Dec By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Movie Review

Review: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has changed the conduct of the game and created a franchise out of the classic holiday flick, Jumanji. In brief, it's way lighter and more carefree than the original. While the magic of the board game (eventually morphed into a video game console) still becomes the epicenter of the story, the magic of the story has gone astray. With an only two-year gap, Jumanji: The Next Level feels more closely to the 2017 movie than to the original one. When Sony decided to green-light the sequel, they have instead rebranded the franchise—leaving only the spirit of Chris van Allsburg's novel remains. Even when Jack Black confirmed via YouTube that Zathura is a part of the canon, the treatment for the whole franchise has taken sharp turns. The new direction for the fran...
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Review: Frozen II (2019)
26Nov By Paskalis Damar2 Comments
Movie Review

Review: Frozen II (2019)

Back in 2013, Frozen was a surprise giant. Continuing the streak of past-participle-titled Disney princess’ movies, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck’s animation is a warm tale about the snow queen, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell). While formulaic, the movie makes a breathtaking breakthrough—introducing two Disney princesses at once, powering the story with the shade of feminism, and shooing away the notion of Prince Charming. Critics, studio execs, and audiences jeered over with excitement back then. After several one-shots, including Frozen Fever and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, the sequel is a certainty. Eventually, we are back to the Kingdom of Arendelle once more—where Queen Elsa rules alongside Anna. Frozen II moves further back before the events in the first movie,...
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Review: Doctor Sleep (2019)
8Nov By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Movie Review

Review: Doctor Sleep (2019)

To call Doctor Sleep a direct sequel for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining might somehow be unfair. Based on Stephen King's 2013 novel of the same title—which indeed is a sequel, this silver-screen adaptation takes the visual references from Kubrick's film. Here's the complication. King openly sounds his disagreement upon Kubrick's adaptation, citing their contrasting beliefs on some characters' motivation to be the source. However, King also approves the harrowing imagery the director had created1. Writer/director/editor Mike Flanagan (one of the finest working horror-directors for Oculus, Hush, Before I Wake, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald's Game, The Haunting of Hill House) takes those complications as an advantage; hence, his excellent, blockbuster-y adaptation. Doctor Sleep sets in the...
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Review: Love for Sale 2 (2019)
1Nov By Paskalis DamarNo Comments
Focus: Indonesia, Movie Review

Review: Love for Sale 2 (2019)

Back in 2018, Andibachtiar Yusuf's Love for Sale offers an enticing lover-for-hire premise and introduces us to the ever-enigmatic yet iconic character, Arini (Della Dartyan). The first movie, written by Yusuf and M. Imran Ramly, lies confidently somewhere between absurdity and melancholy. The combination of a bitter storyline—about the game of love, loneliness, and what follows—and sexy chemistry between the leads resulted in an emotionally invested picture. Love for Sale 2 seeks not the re-emulation of the formula; instead, it seeks to expand the universe, making it whole. Dartyan returns as Arini, the chameleon lover, in a completely different setting. Love for Sale 2 is not a direct continuation of the first movie even when, chronologically, the event happens after Arini sent Marte...
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Review: Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
31Oct By Paskalis Damar2 Comments
Movie Review

Review: Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

There's no doubt that The Terminator is an instant classic when it comes to sci-fi bravado with lauded action sequences and a compelling narrative. It was an accomplished mission impossible. When Terminator 2: Judgment Day came off in 1991, however, it immediately cements itself as the epitome of sequels that outdid the original. Aside from the bigger, tougher and grittier action sequences, the most pivotal step in engineering T2 is Cameron's bold move to grant Linda Hamilton her wildcard. Making Sarah Connor a more vital role than even the Terminator is inarguably the reason why T2 matters. Both Cameron and Hamilton did not return in any sequel that came after Sarah Connor ' canceled the apocalypse.' From there, the franchise only went downhill with long-awaited sequels (Rise of the M...
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