(2021) End Game - A Refreshing Andy Lau's Dark Comedy Movie

As new month approached, I always liked to see what new movies would be released on cable TV or streaming platforms. This time around, I noticed that on Celestial Movies channel, there would be a new Andy Lau movies to be released on Sunday. So I decided to watch this one last night. OK, why don't we get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Zhou Quan (Andy Lau - Chasing the Dragon, Shock Wave etc) was a well known professional hitman known as Mr. Z. After his recent work, Mr. Z went to a public spa on his way back home where he briefly met with Chen Xiaomeng (Xiao Yang - Sheep Without a Shepherd etc), a failed actor who had lots of debts and just tried to kill himself. When a freak accident happened to Zhou Quan, he somehow lost his memory while Xiaomeng took his expensive personal belongings and resumed Mr. Z identity, not knowing that he was a hitman.

Shock Wave 2 - A More Action Packed Stand-alone Sequel of the 2017 Hit

Somehow I found out about this movie going to play on Celestial Movies channel on Sunday, and as I have watched the 1st movie before, I definitely wanted to see this sequel. Plus it also still starring Andy Lau, one of my favorite Hong Kong actors. OK, let's get on with it.

Brief Story Line

Poon Sing-fung (Andy Lau - Chasing the Dragon, Saving Mr. Wu etc) was a member of the Hong Kong Bomb Disposal squad who was close with his partner Tung Cheuk-man (Sean Lau - The Bullet Vanishes, Overheard etc). However, Fung had to retire early due to some reasons which also made him broke his relationship with Pong Ling (Ni Ni - The Warriors Gate, The Thousand Faces of Dunjia etc), the Chief Inspector of Counter Terrorism unit.

A Witness Out of the Blue - An OK Action Thriller with Some Good Performances from the Cast but a bit Dissatisfying Case Resolving

Last night on Celestial Movies, there was a First and Exclusive premiere of new Hong Kong film that seemed interesting based on the synopsis available. As it has been a while since I saw a good quality movie on that channel (and because it was not released in Indonesian cinemas), I was intrigued to give it a try. Well I will go straight to it then.

Brief Story Line

When a jewelry store robber was found murdered, the gang leader Sean Wong (Louis Koo - Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch, The White Storm etc) became the primary suspect. Captain Yip (Philip Keung - Trivisa, Shock Wave etc) was adamant that Sean was guilty, hence he was very upset when his lead detective Larry Lam (Louis Cheung - L Storm etc) seemed to be less suspicious and focused on the only witness to the murder, a talking parrot.

A Better Tomorrow 2018 - An Almost Identical Remake of John Woo's 1986 Classic

I mentioned in 1 of my previous posts that while I was on holiday trip with my wife, I was able to watch 2 1/2 movies and one of them was this. I was intrigued by the title as it is clearly a remake of the hit 1986 classic which I loved a lot. So I opted this as my second movie of the day, and I was excited as I would be able to see this without interruption. Well here goes more on the movie.

Brief Story Line

Zhou Kai (Wang Kai - Railroad Tigers, Ode to Joy TV series etc) and Zhou Chao (Ma Tianyu - The Founding of An Army, Ice Fantasy TV series etc) were 2 brothers who were very close but were having the complete opposite line of work. Zhou Kai together with his right hand man Ma Ke (Darren Wang - Legend of the Naga Pearls,  Suddenly Seventeen etc) were members of a smuggling ring and specialized in the route between China and Japan. Meanwhile Zhou Chao was a rookie police and never knew about his elder brother's activities.

Namiya - A Chinese Adaptation of Popular Japanese Novel

It had been 2 Saturdays in a row that I watched a new movie on Celestial Movies cable TV channel. I was intrigued by the movie as it seemed to have a unique plot and it had my most favorite Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan. So what was the movie all about? Let us find out, shall we?

Brief Story Line

On the new year's eve of 2017, three young orphans consisted of Ah Jie (Dong Zijian), Xiaobo (Karry Wang) and Tong Tong (Dilraba Dilmurat - Mr. Pride vs Miss Prejudice, The Flame's Daughter web series etc) were taking shelter in an abandoned general store. Later they found a letter dropped through the door which said to be written from 1993 seeking advice from the store owner. When they wrote a reply to the letter and suddenly received another response, they realized that they have stumbled into something "magical" and decided to proceed with giving responses.

Operation Red Sea - A Very Long War Action & Second All Time Highest Grossing Chinese Movie Till Date

Few days ago I found out that this biggest Chinese movie of 2018 would be playing in the Celestial Movies channel, so I decided to give it a try. I read it was a war action movie so should be fun. It premiered for the first time last night at 9 PM and I was ready for it fifteen minutes earlier as I do not want to miss the beginning. Well we shall move on to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

The country Yewaire near Africa was on the verge of a potential civil war between the rebel group who were planning to coup and the official government and army. There were quite a number of Chinese personnel and workers in that country whose lives could be in danger. A small team from the Chinese Naval army called Jiaolong Assault Team led by Yang Rui (Zhang Yi) was assigned to infiltrate the country and evacuate these Chinese citizens to board the vessels outside the country.

Wolf Warrior 2 - The Biggest Chinese Blockbuster Movie of 2017

I had read about this movie breaking so many records commercially and surely wanted to see what the fuzz was all about. But it did not play in Indonesian cinemas when it premiered last year. Few days ago I saw that one of the cable TV that I subscribed was going to play this movie during the Chinese New Year holidays and I already marked my calendar to remind me not to miss this one out on its premiere date. So last night at 9 PM, after we came back from our weekend staycation, I got myself ready to watch it on my TV (but not before I saw the original movie first). Let us get on with the movie now, shall we?

Brief Story Line

The movie started with Leng Heng (Wu Jing - SPL: Sha Po Lang, Invisible Target etc) the former soldier of special ops forces called Wolf Warrior, fighting off some pirates in African sea. It would be revealed later the reason why he was wandering around Africa and no longer working with the Chinese military. He befriended with a young African boy who referred to him as his god-father.  When a military coup against the existing government happened, all the Chinese people working or doing business there had to seek refuge in the Chinese embassy, including Leng Heng and his god-son.

Shock Wave - The Cool 2017 Action Movie Featuring Andy Lau

I have seen first half of this movie while on my way back from my family trip to Pontianak 2 months ago in the in-flight entertainment of Batik Air. I was having difficulty in seeing the second half and conclusion (perhaps as I was not serious enough looking for it). Luckily in the Celestial Movies cable TV, it was promoted that the movie would be playing in December. Last night was the day the movie premiered for the first time in that channel and it so happened that the hotel we stayed in during our weekend staycation have this channel so I could see it again till finished. Well without further ado, let us move on with the movie.

Brief Story Line

After almost completely stopping a robbery attack led by Peng Hong nicknamed Blast (Wu Jiang - Monster Hunt, 1911 etc), an undercover Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Bureau agent named Cheung JS (Andy Lau - Chasing the Dragon, The Great Wall etc) was highly appreciated by the police department. During his undercover assignment, Cheung's handler was officer Chow (Felix Wong - 1983 version Legend of Condor Heroes TV series etc) and he also worked closely with chief Kong (Philip Keung - Trivisa, Beast Stalker etc). 

Duckweed - A Unique Comedy Drama of A Man Going Back in Time to Meet His Young Parents

I was aware about this movie playing in Celestial Movies channel since beginning of the month, as it was promoted as part of their weekly premiere of new movies. The synopsis of the movie seemed very interesting as it suggested some kind of time travel and I know the main lead's comedic appearance earlier which should be fun. So I told my wife that I wanted to see this one last night and we had to be back before 9PM when the movie started. Well let us get on with the movie then.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the year 2022 when Xu Tailang (Deng Chao - The Mermaid, The Breakup Guru, etc) won his first ever trophy of China Rally championship. Lang invited his father Xu Zhengtai (Eddie Peng - Rise of the Legend, Operation Mekong etc) to witness his triumph but he also had hidden personal agenda with his father. When Lang asked Zheng to accompany him in the car and experience first hand how it felt inside the speeding car, they had an accident where Lang would later be transported back to the year 1998 in the small town where his family lived. This would be the start of something very fun for Lang as he could explore and find out his family history.

The Beauty Inside - A Unique, Touching and Lovely Romantic Korea Drama Movie

It was a rare Sunday night when I was at home and suddenly got the urge to browse through the cable TV channels. I accidentally stumbled into this Korean movie in Celestial Movie where it just started. The very brief synopsis really intrigued me so I told my wife about this, but apparently she had seen it before. She said it was a lovely movie, and naturally I decided to watch this. What was this movie about? Let us move on to the story now.

Brief Story Line

Kim Woo-jin (voiced by Yoo Yeon-sook - Whistle Blower, The Royal Tailor etc) was a man who was having a very unique condition. He would wake up every morning in a different body, be it a male, female, young, old and even as foreigner. Regardless of the gender, age or nationality, he was still Woo-Jin inside. This condition was only known by his best friend Sang-baek (Lee Dong-hwi - Reply 1998 TV series, Confidential Assignment etc) and also Woo-jin's mother.

The Mermaid - Another Stephen Chow's Lovable Film

Labeled as the Top Grossing Movie in the history of China's box office has intrigued me to watch this movie. Knowing that it was directed by Stephen Chow whose previous films such as Kungfu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer and various other movies from 1990s and 2000s made me even more excited. I have to admit that I am a fan of Stephen Chow as I can always have a good laugh in most of his movies.

So when it finally came to Indonesia, I had made a decision that this is a must watch movie for me.

Last night, when my wife (@yennymakanmulu) is having a very rare spare time, we watched this together at 7pm after I left from work.

The opening scene shows an old guy who was making a "show" about various weird animals and findings including his ultimate finale, a mermaid. Story later moves to the scene of auction for Green Gulf, a reserve for wildlife such as dolphins and other sea creatures. The property was finally purchased by Liu Xuan (played by Deng Chao) after some serious bidding war competition particularly from Ruo Lan (played by Zhang Yuqi).

Apparently Liu Xuan wanted to do reclamation on the green gulf and made a fortune on it by building theme parks etc. Ruo Lan managed to persuade Liu Xuan to become his business partner in this project as she sees a big profit from this. They later on had a party to celebrate the joint partnership, where a girl with very bad make up insisted that she is a fan of Liu Xuan and gave him her name card. Shan (played by newcomer Lin Yun) is actually a mermaid in disguise who works at a chicken stall in a fun fair.

Shan was living in a wrecked ship located at the side of the green gulf together with other mermaids and an octopus (played by Show Luo). They were taking refuge there due to the very dangerous sonar equipment placed by Liu Xuan's team which can kill any living thing in the sea trying to return to the green gulf after reclamation. Due to this reason, Octopus has arranged Shan to seduce Liu Xuan, and bring him back to a place where the rest of the remaining mermaids can kill him for revenge.

When Shan finally get the chance to kill Liu Xuan in his office, there were lots of hilarious moments where all her efforts fail spectacularly. In fact, later on Shan seem to fall for Liu Xuan. Meanwhile, Ruo Lan still tried to get Liu Xuan's attention and affection.

So can the mermaids have their revenge to Liu Xuan? Will Shan be able to choose between the other mermaids and Liu Xuan? Will Ruo Lan have any impact in their relationship? Can all the mermaids be saved? Find them out when you watch it. It's playing in all the cinema chains in Indonesia (to my surprise).

My wife and I really enjoyed this movie. There were three scenes that all of us in theater were laughing very hard. It's been long time since we had this much laughter until we had teary eyes. Even after the movie finished, we were still laughing from those various epic scenes. However, aside from all the laughs, the movie actually sends a quite heavy message about not messing with the environment. 

So I had a great moment watching this film. I can say that Stephen Chow did it again.

The only flaws that I can think of is the way the cameos were being "forced" to be inserted in the earlier scene, and the special effects were not 1st class.

But overall it is an enjoyable movie. If you have watched Stephen Chow's other films, then you would love this one, even if he is not playing in it. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out 5 stars