Oh Merong Mahasuasa -- eh, Mahawangsa!

Thursday has been my 'escape' day for quite some time now.  The beau is on-leave for that particular day -- and since I can basically have any days that I desire nowadays to be 'on-leave',  so, Thursday it is.  I think I should really buck up and try to spend time on my own, instead of waiting for other people to accompany me for any hangout sessions.  Did that back then -- but, I find it more entertaining to have somebody to respond to whatever silly things that may crossed my mind at that particular time.

Anyway, Thursday would normally be our movie day.  I've been meaning to write a short review of whatever movies we have watched -- but then, once delayed -- will forever be delayed then -- (in my case!).  As of today -- and as many Malaysian would've anticipated -- we watched Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa -- mainly driven by the 'wow gila gempak' kind of impression we had while watching the trailer.

So -- here goes.

I'm not sure if it's just me, or if there's any technical discrepancies with the cinema hall movie setting -- but the first thing I noticed is the movie resolution and the painful imbalanced exposure and hue of the scene during the opening act.  The thing about watching movies at cinema with those humongous slide is that you can basically see every single pores clearly -- not that I want to see the actors pores (no pun intended) -- but I meant the sharpness and the utmost satisfaction of watching a movie at wide cinema screen may be driven by something that is similar to that.  So, I would assume the blurriness came from the cinema setting since the trailer have better colour balance and spoiler photos captured more amazing details that can't really be seen during the whole cinema preview.  Too bad for us.  Besut would've looked so much amazing.  Maybe they over-CGI-ed it that it kills those beautiful details it initially intended~

See this amazing trailer!

Putting that little thing aside, I would say it is indeed a great leap and attempt from Malaysian movie maker to produce something different and out of our normal cinta-tiga-segi-tak-berbalas (lovey-dovey) or kisah hantu busuk hati (ghost story) kind of thing.  It's like a breath of fresh air -- but subliminally saying, with better filter, we can get 'fresher'air.  

I would be very bias in trying to review the entire movie since any related movies we watched last time would be in the form of 'Season of the Witch' and 'Shaolin' -- with gruesome and realistic fighting scenes with crude people.  So, since the movie is about a collision of the big players from Rome and China, I might expect some war scenes incorporating the Roman and/or Chinese martial arts.  But -- it's 'Merong Mahawangsa' style all the way, and trying to be positive, well, it IS about Merong Mahawangsa after all.  At certain scenes, you will wonder, 'eh, kenapa tiba-tiba semua orang jatuh bergolek??'

Storyline is interesting.  But the shift from one scene to the other is a little too abrupt that sometimes I felt that 'eh, kena sensor ke ape', and I'm still wondering why Merong have to go berserk and hug Embok when she told him about the prophecies received by the chief shaman.  Body language wise -- a bit too cartoony and too acted out that it looses the natural greatness of the character.  Merong is trying too hard to be funny while fighting and saying all those one-liners that at a point I may feel a bit irritated.  And the wig of the chief shaman looks so 'wig'-gy!

Anyway -- as a whole, I kinda like Merong's character, I like the way Stephen Rahman Hughes plays it, and how he recite the pantun or any Malay lines -- some might find it painful, but I found it soothing instead.  It felt classic.  So much better then the time he played Hang Tuah in Puteri Gunung Ledang theatrical act.  I like his body -- it is right for the character.  Khir Rahman too stands out as 'Kemawas'.  The Rome prince and the Chinese admiral?  Ah, they come and go and doesn't seem too significant.  Hey, that's why it's entitled Merong Mahawangsa after all! Remember that! (Haha!)

Kudos kudos kudos though for the great effort.

Although mungkin I seem 'un-patriotic' criticising tiny little details, but me and the beau goes 'ok laaa' after watching the movie.  So, head out to your nearby cinema and do support our local product!  It is better than those silly drama cinta tiga segi tak berbalas kind of thing :-)