X-Men First Class

(U)
Release Date: 2nd June 2011
Language: English
Running Time: 132 mins
Genre: Action, Adventure
Director: Mathhew Vaughn
Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence
Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Onlookers,

X-Men First class is a prequel to the future series reavealing the origin of the X-men. It began with the hatred of Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) towards Sebastian Shaw, who had killed Erik's mother to acccentuate his magnetic abilities. As he matured, he set off to avenge his mother's death. When he found Sebastian Shaw in Argentina, Professor Xavier, who was also in pursuit of Sebastian together with the CIA, saved his life. Thus, began the rounding up of the young mutants with the help of Cerebro, created by Hank McCoy (Beast).

5 young mutants, Raven (Mystique), Darwin, Angel, Havok, and Banshee were gathered to be trained to fight against Sebastian Shaw, together with his sidekicks, Azazel, Riptide, and Emma Frost. Their collision caused some casualties and Magneto subsequently vowed to fight against human and not with them as aspired by Professor X.

Very good summary of a long story about the founding of the xmen. superb visual effects and cast. Nothing much to say, except that the Xmen series never failed to amaze ;)

4 of 5

Kung Fu Panda 2

(U)
Release Date: 26th May 2011
Language: English
Running Time: 91 mins
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Director: Jennifer Yuh
Cast: Jack Black (Po), Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Dustin Hoffman (Master Shifu), Janckie Chan (Monkey)
Distributor: Dreamworks

Onlookers,

In Kung Fu Panda 2, Po is living his dream as the Dragon Warrior, protecting China from evil and villains alongside Master Shifu and the Furious Five (Mantis, Monkey, Crane, Tigress and Viper). This time, they had to confront Lord Shen, who was banished by his own parents from his kingdom, because he had planned to misuse the art of fireworks into explosives to conquer the world. Lord Shen was gathering metals from villages for his quest, until one day they reached the villages where Po and the gang lived. The two forces collided and fight to know which is superior between kungfu versus metallurgy.

Throughout the movie it was either awe or laughter. I couldnt recall any moment that was uninteresting. Although a sequel, the storyline actually can stand on its own, which means, you dont have to watch the first movie to enjoy this sequel. (But if you did, it'd be an advantage for you to better understand the movie) ;).

The animation was magnificent and the storyline well presented. The classic chinese drawings to tell the stories of Lord Shen and Po's first few moons of life added colour to the movie. Fighting scenes were fast and awesome, bringing out the best features of each animal characters. Po in his younger years was SUPER CUTE!

I dont even know where to begin, regarding the hilarious punchline. Laughed my heart out especially during the dragon costume scene, the soothsayer and her silk fetish, and even the wolf gang leader's dialogue with Lord Shen about the Year of the Peacock is tummy tickling.

This sequel is definitely much better than the first. Standing ovations, its a 5 of 5.