>>> Black, white and chop socky...

... with curving bullets, explosions and insanity.

Two movies in two weeks, at ten bucks a pop 'coz of Friday rates, may be killer on the wallet but so satisfying for the soul.

Bloody amazing.

First up, the new animated film from Dreamworks: Kung-Fu Panda.

And for those who've managed to catch it before me, do not start cackling.

Or the Wuxi Finger Hold will wipe the floor with you, haha!

The opening of the film was to put it mildly, different. A rather flat, 2D-ish, cartoon-like but vividly-drawn approach was used, like that of Samurai Jack, which therefore concludes that hand-drawn methods have not died yet, haha! But it was so tres cool!!!

The opening basically indicated to me that this was going a bloody good watch.

And it was!

You get the emotional vibes from the characters, even though it is an animated film and the characters are nothing more than animated silicon polygons. For example, the scene with the disparaging comments by the Five about Po.

And the humour, though quite a bit of it was lame, was able to pull laughs from the audience, even from this humble [and rather jaded] reviewer.

Also, there were some lessons about life weaved into the movie through the screenplay, but I'll leave it to you to figure out what exactly I'm talking about.

Overall, Kung-Fu Panda was an enjoyable experience and it guaranteed to pull a few laughs from even the most hardened, unfeeling criminal.

Final Rating: a cool seven-point-five [7.5] out of ten [10], due to the sheer campiness prevalent at times.

Next up on the list, the motion picture from Universal Pictures, Wanted.

Though I think it really does deserve to have the title in capital letters.

So, let's try that again...

... the motion picture from Universal Pictures, WANTED.

There much better.

A cliche whiny newbie to master in under two hours of filmtime was saved from mediocrity by a few factors.

Firstly, it stars Angelina Joile and there are way too many Jolie fetishists out there who can't resist her. I honestly don't quite fancy her, but she is a rather good actress... and it was too damn awesome when her character kills everyone with a single bullet, including herself. "GOODBYE", now that was brilliant, betcha no one saw that coming!

Secondly, McAvoy, as Wesley, is a change from the usual Hollywood leading man syndrome. And he can apparently act the part of a geeky, whiny, underachieving coward of a man quite well. His transformation from that into masterful assassin is quite interesting, with a hint of evil malice in his confidence.

Thirdly, the plot twists are fantastic, even if somewhat transparent. Yeah, I saw some of it coming. But it was still a beautiful mindfuck.

Fourthly, the gun-fu and fast-paced action. Enough said?

Lastly, which is my ultimate favourite, the breakage of the fourth wall at the end of the movie with Wesley so-called narrating to the audience with the question of "What the fuck have you done lately?", or something to that extent. My favourite portion of the whole movie.

All in all, a nutty, action-packed, fast-paced, thrill ride to nowhere, probably written by a pack of juveniles and so loosely based on the comic series, that that claim shouldn't even be there at all. It should've been "inspired by", not "loosely based on". YEESH.

Final Rating : a slightly above average six [6] out of ten [10]. Definitely not something that I'd buy to watch again unless I have pack of juvies at my crib to keep entertained. Mebbe rent, but probably not buy.

Go watch these movies if you're really bored or have the time to spare, but they're not a must-see kind of deal.

'Nuff said.

See ya at the next review!