Mr. Bean's Holiday (Review)

Wow, yet another movie this year that surprises me. To be honest I thought this new Mr. Bean flick is going to suck like the previous one which broke all the "tradition" what Bean is known for, almost zero dialogue and tons of slapstick fun. So honestly, I had zero to none expectations for this movie at all and boy, I am glad that I am dead wrong.

Well the movie is about Mr. Bean winning a holiday trip (along with a video camera) to Cannes (you know the small town in France known for its annual Film Festival?). Well as you can expect from Bean himself, he got into a hell lot of trouble during his trip there.

This movie had brought back the "tradition" and spirit of Mr. Bean, the one that we had grown up loving. There is almost no dialogue, even if there is it is not really that important as most of the laughs is generated through Bean's hilarious antics. The movie played out something like Monty Python and the Holy Grail where it is a story being made up by many comedy skits minus the Python's trademark surrealism and the play of the English language that is. Think of it as your typical Mr. Bean series but it is all added up to tell a tale of Bean's misadventures, which packs a lot of laughs and there are some "skits" where I found myself my tears almost roll down my cheeks because of laughter.

If you had been a fan of Mr. Bean and had been growing up watching his silly antics I strongly recommend you to watch it. For those who had never even seen a single Bean episode first ask yourself "Where had you been?" and go watch the movie. It's never too late to be a Bean fan ^_^

Overall score: 8.5 over 10

300 (Review)

Just watched the movie and there's only one word to describe this swords-and-sandals masterpiece: BEAUTIFUL.

Set in 480BC and is loosely based on Battle of Thermopylae where King Leonidas led a group of 300 men to defend their lands from the incoming (estimated) 1 million-men Persian horde led by the megalomaniac Xerxes, the ruler of 100 nations a.k.a the King of Persia.

Plot-wise it is pretty straightforward but that's what makes this film amazing in the first place. A simple plot with lots of details been taken to the characters and a whole lot more is given to the visuals. Every single frame of the movie (not counting the opening credits) is a work of art. The movie is presented in a lack-of-colour comic book style that it is like watching a comic book coming to live.

The action scenes are amazingly detailed and it is perhaps the most accurate depiction of the violence of war during ancient times than any other movie I had watched. Slow motions are applied so frequently and with beautiful timing in action sequences that pulls me right into it. Every single thrust of a Spartan's spear into Persian flesh is depicted in extreme detail and every single action scene choreograph beautifully that it is as if you are watching a very beautiful dance rather than watching half-naked man in underwear slaughtering overdressed barbarians.

This is definitely going to be one of my Film of the Year candidate for this year. Only one complain though. Why is ultra violence deemed ok by the Censorship Board (most of it, if not all is not cut at all) while artistically done sex scenes are not? Weird double standards there....

P.S: Now if only Zack Snyder can direct the upcoming Warcraft movie.... hmmmm....