I Want My Mummy!

To Hell with those who gave a thumbs-down to the third installment of The Mummy. If I had a third thumb, I'd give it a three-thumbs-up!

Well...maybe a two-and-a-half thumbs-up will do. Rachel Weisz' non-reprisal of her character, Evy O'Connell, did take a toll on the movie. Her great chemistry with Brendan Fraser in the first two movies was among the reasons why the movie was such a hit, despite the tired plot of mummies being raised from the dead. Weisz as Evy was so pert, full of life, and quite naughty -- a perfect blend to Brendan's Rick O'Connell who was strong, stubborn, and somewhat trigger-happy. With Maria Bello taking over what Weiss had left, she came off as a bland wannabe with that thick fake British accent. I couldn't see any fireworks between her and Fraser, even during their more tender moments.

Nonetheless, it was worth my time and my 115 pesos to watch The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. It was just great to see the O'Connells going through their swashbuckling routine again after they defeated both the cursed Egyptian high priest Imhotep and the Scorpion King. This time though, our band of heroes are off to China to defeat a power-hungry Chinese conqueror who was brought back to life by his modern-day counterparts so they could "rule the world." (Yup, same old formula.)

Yeah...I know, I know...as usual, the plot is just as flimsy as ever, but if you are going to watch The Mummy to make an in-depth comparative analysis of the film's veracity against historical events, then you'd better watch a documentary, Dude. Watch The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for the following reasons:
1. Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. Spectacular martial arts and all those flying Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon effects. Need I say more?
2. Don't you guys wanna know what has become of Alex, Rick's and Evy's son? The kid turns into some kind of archaeologist himself who works on the dig in search of the Dragon Emperor. Obviously, he was successful. The only problem I have with Alex (played by Luke Ford) is that when he was still 10-years old in The Mummy 2: Legend of the Scorpion King, the kid was talking with a British accent. Many years later in The Mummy 3, he has turned into your all-American fluffy-haired boy. Was it those years in boarding school that did the trick? We may never know...
3. The Mummy 3 still keeps it coming in terms of slam-bang-wham action, and that's exactly what I was expecting.
4. Jet Li's character has managed to master the elements, but has yet to conquer the last frontier: death. It is this pursuit of immortality that turns him into the greedy monster that he is. Thus, you'll be seeing a formidable Jet Li spewing fire through his hands, controlling the elements, yadah, yadah, yadah. If there are Avatar: the Legend of Aang followers out there looking for a cinematic overview of Aang's live actions scenes in the upcoming movie, then this is where you can get the basic idea.
5. The legendary Yeti (three of them, to be exact) will figure prominently in the movie. Whether they're good guys or bad guys, just watch the movie to find out.
6. Watch out for the very last scene of the movie where Jonathan O'Connell leaves for Peru, a place where he believes "there aren't any mummies." Something tells me that this will give us an idea where the next Mummy movie will be set.
7. I have to admit: one simply has to admire the fact that many years later after the last Mummy installment, Brendan Fraser as Rick O'Connell still looks as yummy as ever. Maria Bello looks old beside him. I cringe whenever they do some lip-locking. Like I said earlier, no chemistry whatsoever. (Oh Rachel W., where are you when we need you?)
8. The CG battle between the fallen warriors who have been wronged by Jet Li's character and the terra cotta soldiers is something worth watching. It's kinda like a cross between Narnia and Night of the Evil Dead. It's great for laughs, too.
9. Fluffy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone does a cameo role as one of Jet Li's three-headed monster transfigurations. Woohoo!
10. Our heroes find the lost land of Shangri-la. (No, not the hotel!)

Unlike the last Indiana Jones movie which was one terrible letdown for me, I was not at all disappointed by The Mummy 3. It provided great entertainment, another round of laughs, a steady stream of edge-of-your-seat cliffhangers, action to the max, and great thrills. Never mind that the story is so loosely sewn together, or that the modern minions of Jet Li's character provide no great shakes at all: The Mummy 3 still gives the audience what it wants: knee-slapping fun and action.

Watch, watch!

Somersaulting to Pierce Brosnan's Singing in Mamma Mia

Pierce Brosnan has been one of my all-time crushes, alongside other distinguished gentlemen like Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. (Lord knows why I have a thing for debonair older men with smoky eyes.) He has been my crush since his early days as the dashing Remington Steele. I've seen him outrunning a volcano, playing a psychopath terrorist, being a father...

...But Pierce Brosnan belting out a cheesy ABBA song?!

This is what got me doing somersaults when I watched Mamma Mia, the movie adaptation of the West End musical with the same name.

Topbilling the cast were the likes of Meryl Streep, Brosnan, Stellen Skarsgard, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski, and Amanda Seyfried. Of course, who wouldn't be familiar with Streep and Brosnan? The name, Julie Walters, may not ring a bell to you. In fact, when you see her onscreen as the vivacious writer, Rosie, she will only remain remotely familiar. But if you're a Harry Potter fanatic, you'll know that Julie Walters actually plays the big-haired Mrs. Weasley, mother of Ron and Ginny, in the HP movies!

Considering that Mamma Mia is an adaptation of the musical which made use of tunes made popular by the 70s pop-rock group, ABBA, audiences will have to contend with cheesy ABBA videoke music. However, I find it forgivable, given the fact that it is a cast of topnotch actors and actresses who were obviously having a lot of fun doing the film.

Mamma Mia brings us to an exotic Greek island where Donna (Streep) owns a ramshackle inn named Villa Donna. All is busy with the forthcoming marriage of Donna's daughter, Sophie (Seyfried), but somehow, Sophie seems to be more consumed with something other than her marriage.

Sophie has grown up never knowing who her father was. When she stumbles upon her mom's old diary, she finds out that she has three possible dads: Harry Bright (Firth), a British banker; Bill Anderson (Skarsgard), a Swedish novelist; and Sam Carmichael (Brosnan), an American architect. She hatches a plan to find out who her real father is by inviting all three men to the island to her wedding. All this goes on without her mother's and her fiancee's knowledge.

As the story dictates, all three men do arrive at Villa Donna, and when Donna finds them in her goat house, her perfect little world turns upside down.

It seems that 20 years ago, Donna and Sam had a beautiful love affair that ended abruptly when Sam left Donna because he was already engaged to be married to someone else. This devastated Donna who eventually found solace in the arms of Harry and Bill -- at different time intervals, of course. However, even Harry and Bill left Donna. Soon enough, she found out that she's pregnant, and thus decided to raise the child (Sophie) on her own.

Now the past is haunting Donna bigtime. As the movie progresses toward the climactic wedding scene, audiences will wait with bated breath as the identity of Sophie's father will be revealed -- or will it?

Please allow me to react to Meryl Streep's character in this movie: grabe, ang haaaaaaba ng hair niya!

Once again, Meryl Streep has proven her versatility as an actress. After her rich, proper, and bitchy role in The Devil Wears Prada, I see her again in the type of role where I like her most: laidback, rugged, wrinkled, with unkempt blond locks framing her face. She plays her age in Mamma Mia, and I'm somehow reminded of her character in Bridges of Madison County, only that this is the singing version of her character. This movie may show her wrinkles, but boy, does she still have the moves! Streep may be no Ginger Rogers, but given the fact that she can still execute a mid-air split. I'd say that she's still one helluva dancer who's far from being afflicted with osteoarthritis!

The singing in Mamma Mia doesn't provide any great shakes, but with the likes of Brosnan and Streep belting out the tunes, that really counts for something. I already heard Streep singing in another movie, the title of which eludes my mind already, so I knew that she'd handle the singing task pretty well. But Brosnan? My jaw literally dropped when he started singing "Our Last Summer" with his fellow potential dads; moreso when he belted out "SOS" with Streep. His voice isn't Pavarotti- or even David Cook-quality, but at least he wasn't out of tune. In fact, he did sound...decent. I don't foresee any future concert performances topbilling Pierce, but I gotta hand it to this guy for actually trying everything before he dies. LOL! (Give me a chance with my evaluation of Pierce's singing: I'm still reeling in shock as of the moment that I'm writing this blog.)

For those who haven't seen Mamma Mia yet, don't leave the theater as soon as the credits roll. There's still something worth watching there. And if I may say so, that last performance of the main cast truly encapsulated their sentiments toward the shooting of the film. They were all there for one heck of a good time.

Down with Superheroes in Tights: Hancock is Here!

Take heed, all ye who have since grown out of those childish superhero-worshipping days! I implore upon you enlightened souls to watch Hancock!

Yup, fellow mortals who barf at the sight of flying men in tights, Hancock is the movie to watch, primarily because it's not your typical superhero movie. In fact, it actually scoffs at superhero stereotypes. The slogan says it all: Hancock, not your average superhero.

And what a choice for an actor to play the lead role: Will Smith! I loved this guy from Day One when he was still in those confused-teenager-rapper-brotha-in-the-hood stages of his career. Now, the movie gods have bestowed superpowers on him and he's flying like a drunk (Wait: he really IS drunk!) gull on amphetamines, whizzing over Los Angeles and creating damage on anything he touches. No bit of sarcasm here: Will Smith's got the Up-Yours personality really down pat as Hancock!

I understand that this movie will be receiving mixed reviews, considering that there are those who still adhere to the principles propagated by the likes of Batman and Wolverine. Oh heck, let them stick to the boring run-of-the-mill superheroes -- I'll have Hancock any day!

Audiences will be seeing Hancock doing more damage than good -- but it's not really what he intends. Well...yeah, he intended for those mishaps to happen, but let it be said that the whole point underneath those careless adventures was noble in nature. There were a bunch of gun-toting kids racing along the freeway -- Hancock skewered their car to a building's spire. A guy was stuck in the middle of traffic, and his car was about to be pummeled by a train -- Hancock smashed the train to a stop and one-handedly flipped the doomed guy's car over to avoid the crash. (Well yeah, he could have flew upwards carrying the car with him, but that's not his style.) He drinks like there's no tomorrow, his mouth is in desperate need of soaping, and he has the remarkable ability to send even school kids flying to the heavens upon utterance of the word, "asshole." Yes, Hancock's an asshole, and that's why I love him! Let the angsty Bruce Wayne and the lovestruck Peter Parker beat that!

In the middle of the movie, the same guy Hancock saves from the train mishap tries to "remodel" his image from good-for-nothing drunkard with superpowers to the superhero everyone will be calling for. In one scene, Ray (the PR guy from the train mishap) brings Hancock to his house and shows him covers of superhero comic books. Here is their gem of a conversation:

Ray: (Holding a comic book with a flying superhero) What comes into your mind when you see this?
Hancock: Hmmmm...homo.
Ray: (Shows next comic book cover) What about this?
Hancock: Homo in red?
Ray: (Shows another comic book cover. Superhero in picture has wavy blond locks) How about this?
Hancock: Norwegian homo?

If you are into political correctness, Hancock is not the movie to see.

Ray's wife, Mary, has surprises of her own. She is introduced in the movie as a woman who dislikes Ray's sudden connection with Hancock. I don't want to reveal what happens next, only that Mary apparently has a stronger connection with Hancock than her husband. Oh, and I should mention that the role of Mary is played by the beautiful Charlize Theron. This gal has one weather-altering secret that only Hancock will be able to bring into light.

Unlike other superhero movies with a climactic fight-to-the-death scene toward the end, this does not happen with Hancock. Instead, one will find a mortally-wounded Hancock doing the only thing he knows to save the one woman who mattered to him in his entire life -- leave her.

Like I said, this isn't your typical superhero movie. They usually get the girl in the end. Hancock doesn't. Nonetheless, all's well that ends well. Roll out the credits.