(2025) Troll 2 - An Entertaining Sequel to the Norwegian Hit Monster Movie

When I saw the poster of this film in the Coming Soon section of Netflix, I was immediately excited as it seemed to promise something epic. But when it was released, I was away for holiday and did not want to watch it on small screen of my tablet. So I decided to wait till last night when I was already at home to see it on my TV. OK I'll get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

Three years after the events of the first movie, Nora Tidemann (Ine Maria Wilmann) had quit her previous job and lived in seclusion till her old friend Andreas Isaksen (Kim S. Falck-Jørgensen) sought her advice on something related with her expertise. Nora later met with a group of scientists that included Andreas' wife Sigrid (Karoline Viktoria Sletteng Garvang) and few others led by Marion Rhadani (Sara Khorami). 

Wolf Man - A Werewolf Movie Told from Different Angle that Should be a Nice Addition to the Genre

This week there were two new Western movies released in Indonesia but only this one that I was interested in. My wife who is not a real fan of horror genre was not truly excited to see this one. However, since it's not a supernatural horror type, she was willing to accompany me yesterday. OK, why don't I just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Blake Lovell (Christopher Abbott - Kraven the Hunter, The Sinner TV series etc) was having strained relationship with his father Grady (Sam Jaeger - Why Women Kill TV series, The Eyes of Tammy Faye etc) due to his difficult childhood time. But when Blake got news about Grady after falling out for years, he decided to go to their old house together with his wife Charlotte (Julia Garner -  Ozark TV series, The Royal Hotel etc) and their young daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth - Subservience etc).

Godzilla Minus One - A Kaiju Movie with Interesting Story and Well Created Visual Effects

I have known about this movie for quite some time and was a bit confused why it did not play in Indonesian theaters. Fortunately after months of release in Japan and various other countries, it was finally available in Netflix. Since I was finishing another series earlier, I only watched this yesterday. OK, I'll get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki - Your Name, xxxHolic etc) was a former kamimaze pilot who had survivors guilt after returning home safely to Tokyo when the World War II ended in 1945. He met with Noriko (Minami Hamabe - The Promised Neverland, Ranman TV series etc), a young woman carrying a baby girl who also survived the Tokyo bombing and they all later lived together like a family. Due to difficulty in looking for well paid jobs, Shikishima finally decided to be part of crew on board a small vessel captained by Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki - Hancho TV series etc) and other crews, former Naval officer Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka - Dr. Coto's Clinic TV series, Fukushima 50 etc) and young crewman Mizushima (Yuki Yamada - Pending Train TV series, High & Low movies etc) doing dangerous work of sweeping mines left from war.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - The Type of Movie that Just Need to be Experienced on the Big Screen with Great Sound System

After finding out there would be another movie in this franchise, I was obviously excited to see it, especially when I saw its trailer. I wanted to experience this in a studio with Dolby Atmos system on the weekend to avoid the tired feeling after working on weekday. So my wife and I went to one of our favorite cinemas with such sound effect to see the film. OK, let's get into it now.

Brief Story Line

Few years after the events of Godzilla vs Kong, Kong was now living by himself in the Hollow Earth trying to search for possible others like him, while Godzilla remained on the surface to protect the humans against Titans. When a signal seemed to be coming from down below, Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall - Tales from the Loop TV series, Resurrection etc) the researcher in Monarch decided to investigate further. She was accompanied by the veterinarian Trapper (Dan Stevens - The Rental, Beauty and the Beast live version etc), security head Mikael (Alex Ferns - Eastenders TV series etc), podcaster Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry - Class of '09 mini series, Bullet Train etc) and her young daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle).

(TV SERIES) Monarch: Legacy of Monsters - A Wonderfully Created Series that Managed to Tie In Many Aspects of the MonsterVerse Movies

I have known a bit about this series since it was released through Apple TV+ from mid November 2023. However, just like other original series from this platform, they opted to show only one episode per week (except in first week). So it took quite some time to have the whole season finished. Anyway I began watching it on the day after its final episode released 5 days ago and completed it last night. OK, I will dive into it then.

Brief Story Line (warning possible spoiler)

In 2015, a year after the appearance of Godzilla in San Francisco, Cate (Anna Sawai - Ninja Assassin, Giri/Haji TV series etc) who survived the catastrophe went to Tokyo to find out more on her father Hiroshi who was presumed dead. Unexpectedly Cate met with Kentaro (Ren Watabe) who was just as surprised as her when she appeared. After further digging on Hiroshi's past, they found some hidden encrypted data & they enlisted the help from Kentaro's ex girlfriend May (Kiersey Clemons - The Flash, Angie Tribeca TV series etc) to find out more. 

(TV SERIES) Gyeongseong Creature Season 1 - A Nice Combination of Action Thriller with Horrifying Monster and Dramatic Moments

When this series was promoted on Netflix few weeks ago, I thought it looked interesting especially with a premise that has something to do with creature/monster. But when it was only released partially in the end of December 2023, I decided to wait till the remaining was available earlier this month and finally finished watching yesterday. OK, I'll get into the series now.

Brief Story Line

Story was set in the spring of 1945 when Gyeongseong was still occupied by the Japanese army. Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon - The Marvels, The Divine Fury etc), who owned the largest pawnshop never wanted to be involved in politics and focused on his business. This survivalist approach was always challenged by his best friend Jun-taek (Wi Ha-joon - Squid Game TV series, Midnight etc) who was part of rebel group. In his day to day matter, Tae-sang was assisted by the deacon Mrs. Nawol (Kim Hae-sook - Her Story, My Demon TV series etc) and butler Mr. Gu (Park Ji-hwan - The Roundup movies, Our Blues TV series etc). 

(2022) Troll - A Norwegian Mythical Creature Movie with Some Awesome Special Effects

I completely forgotten that this movie was going to be released on Netflix few days ago and realized it a bit late. But between new movies released in various platforms and full days out of the house during weekend, I only got the chance to watch it last night. All right, why don't I just get right to it.

Brief Story Line

When a railroad was being built through Dovre mountain in Norwegia, it resulted a quite major catastrophe in the area. The Prime Minister Moberg (Anneke von der Lippe) together with team of people from various divisions in the government were trying to find out the reason and how to solve it. Moberg's advisor Andreas (Kim Falck) decided to enlist the help of paleontologist professor Nora Tidemann (Ine Marie Wilmann) to join the team.

Godzilla vs. Kong - Simply Epic and Spectacular!

This was one of the movies that I have been highly anticipating and was waiting excitedly for few years. But unfortunately it was released during the pandemic, so my wife and I opted not to see it in theaters. However, last week the movie was already available on Catchplay+ for a certain fee. Anyway, even if it's a bit late as most audience have watched it, I would still like to write about it.

Brief Story Line

Set few years after the events in Godzilla II: King of Monsters, the Apex Cybernetics head quarter was suddenly attacked by Godzilla, making everyone worried about the danger from Titans. The CEO of Apex, Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir - The Midnight Sky etc) was looking for ways to counter Titans' strength and recruited Dr. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgård - The Legend of Tarzan, Big Little Lies TV series etc) to search for power source in the Hollow Earth where Titans originated. To find the location, Lind suggested to use Kong to guide them. Despite her reluctance, Kong's expert Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall - The BFG, Christine etc) decided to accompany Lind in this trip together with her adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), and Apex executive Maia Simmons (Eiza González - I Care a Lot, From Dusk till Dawn the Series etc).

Love and Monsters - A Nicely Done Post Apocalyptic Adventure Comedy Movie

I cannot remember where I saw the news about this movie before, just that it was one that I hope would be available in Indonesia soon due to its quite high critical and audience ratings. And so I was very excited when I found out it was going to be released through Netflix. Last night I immediately watch this movie as soon as I have the chance. Well now let's dive into it. 

Brief Story Line

After an incident that wiped most of the human population while at the same time creating monsters on earth, the remaining survivors were hiding in various bunkers and created small colony. Joel Dawson (Dylan O'Brien - Bumblebee, Teen Wolf TV series etc) who has been living with one colony for 7 years was separated from his girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick - Underwater, Game of Thrones TV series etc) and decided to go on a journey to find her, despite his lack of survival skills.

(TV SERIES) Sweet Home Season 1 - Intense, Suspenseful Sometimes Melodramatic Monster Action Series based on Popular Line Webtoon

I have noticed this series a while ago but chose to skip it as I was finishing other series or watching new movies released on various platforms. Few days ago though, my wife's friend asked whether I had seen this and I decided to give it a try, since the premise did seem interesting. OK, let's head down to the series now.

Brief Story Line

Hyun-soo (Song Kang - When the Devil Calls Your Name, Love Alarm TV series etc) was a suicidal high school student who just moved to a new apartment. One day, the apartment was suddenly put on lockdown along with other buildings, in what appeared to be precaution due to monsters attack in the whole country. A very composed and calm man named Eun-hyuk (Lee Do-hyun - 18 Again TV series etc) realized the best way would be to keep themselves safe in the apartment and tried to keep everyone inside including his rebellious younger sister Eun-yoo (Go Min-si - Secret Boutique TV series etc). 

Godzilla II: King of the Monsters - One of the Most Visually Entertaining Monsters Movie I have Ever Seen

I was really looking forward to see this movie since I saw its trailer few weeks ago. However, since there was an office function on its premier date, my wife and I could only see it yesterday during public holiday. We decided to see this at my favorite cinema with Dolby Atmos system not far from our home to enjoy the awesome sound effects. Without further ado, below are more details of the movie.

Brief Story Line

Set five years after the events of the 2014 Godzilla movie, the group of scientists who worked with Monarch, the organization dealing with monsters aka Titans which included Dr Emma Russel (Vera Farmiga - Captive State, Bates Motel TV series etc), Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe - Detective Pikachu, Batman Begins etc), Dr. Vivienne  (Sally Hawkins - The Shape of Water, Blue Jasmine etc), Dr Coleman (Thomas Middleditch - Silicon Valley TV series etc), Dr. Stanton (Bradley Whitford - Get Out, The Darkest Minds etc) and Dr. Chen (Zhang Ziyi - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of a Geisha etc) were looking for ways to ensure the Titans could coexist with humans.

Monster Hunt 2 - A Funnier Sequel to the Biggest Box Office Chinese Movie of 2015

During the Chinese New Year holiday, there was a bunch of new Chinese movies released. One of them was already playing in Indonesia cinemas since last Thursday, but alas it was only playing in very few cinemas in Jakarta and all of them were a little bit far from our home. So when another movie premiered yesterday, which not only played in 1 but all Indonesian cinema chains, it was much easier for my wife and I to see this. It was a sequel to the 2015 hit which we have not seen before but we knew it was funny movie. Hence we searched for the original movie online and luckily it was available. Now let us move on with the film.

Brief Story Line

Story started not long after the events from the first movie where Song Tianyin (Jing Bo Ran - Time Raiders, Love O2O etc) and Hua Xiaolan (Bai Baihe - Go Away Mr. Tumor, Love is Not Blind etc) were off to the world trying to catch bad monsters. During their journey, they also met with the Bureau of Monster Hunter with a senior member named Yunqing (Tony Yang - My War, The Founding of an Army) who were trying to capture all monsters. Both Tianyin and Xiaolan were of course still longing to see their beloved cute baby monster Wuba who was living with other monsters. However when Wuba was separated from his group, he was all alone trying to find his human parents. 

Colossal - A Bit Depressing & Too Weird Monster Movie

When this movie's trailer was shown many times during 3 or 4 months ago, I was rather intrigued to find out what it was all about. But then the trailer was never shown again and it seemed to be put on the shelf by the cinema chain in Indonesia. Until suddenly last week while my wife and I were on our staycation, I noticed in the cinema 21 website that it was already playing in some theaters. So yesterday we decided to see the movie at the 7.15 PM show. The cinema was a bit crowded but not fully booked. Anyway, we shall move on to the movie now.

Brief Story Line

After having her relationship broken, Gloria (Anne Hathaway - The Devil Wears Prada, Brokeback Mountain and many more) returned back to her hometown where she met her childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis - The Angry Birds Movie, Horrible Bosses etc). With no money and no job, Gloria accepted the offer from Oscar to work at his bar as a waitress where she would meet with Oscar's 2 best friends Joel (Austin Stowell - Stratton, Bridge of Spies etc) and Garth (Tim Blake Nelson - Syriana, The Incredible Hulk etc). 

KONG: Skull Island - Reboot of One of the Most Iconic Monster of All Time

This is another film that has caught our attention for the past month or so. It was telling the story of one of the most iconic monster for many decades, i.e King Kong. In addition, the trailer to the movie that has been playing for many weeks added an element of excitement and buzz which made my wife and I very enthusiastic to watch it. Which is why when the movie premiered yesterday, my wife had immediately bought the tickets in the morning via online. It was actually the first time we used online mode to buy tickets to a movie. A little bit late, right? But better late than never. Anyway, we shall start with the movie now.

Brief Story Line

It was 1973 when the US government had just stopped the Vietnam war and decided to pull out all their armies from Vietnam back to the US. Randa (John Goodman - 10 Cloverfield Lane, Patriots Day etc) an agent of Monarch which was a secret government body, and his colleague Brooks (Corey Hawkins - Straight Outta Compton, 24: Legacy TV series etc) who was a geologist, were able to convince the senator to have an expedition in a new found island in the Pacific ocean. The island was called Skull Island and was hidden all this time due to heavy rain and storm surrounding it.