About Me
Archive for September 2015
This, to me, is a fascinating movie. Not because of the story but because of it's commercial value. It seems that local producers are beginning to adapt to modern commercialization. Instead of making short ads, why not a whole movie?! No, no, no, it's premise didn't turned me off, it really did intrigued me. Besides, I enjoyed Google's The Internship and that movie has been labeled as a huge Sell Out by most American critics. Hey, it starred Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn so of course it would be a simple fun movie. Thus, with tons of sponsorship from big companies, let's review Jejak Warriors.
KELANTAN AT HEART
Coming from a Kelantan family, the dialect really hit me; it was very engaging and natural. The rhythm and poetic lingo of Kelantan dialect put me in a good mood and I wished I could've watched it with my family (Alas, I was watching it alone). We're straight away introduced to the Red Warrior's history through a Dikir Barat (A traditional singing performance from Kelantan). Of course, that is expected and it didn't bothered me much.
...AND THEN IT WENT DOWNHILL
We're introduced to a young boy with a deceased mother and a conservative father. The father detest his fandom of football by forcing him to burn his posters and magazines. Whoa, harsh. A few minutes later, his father died.
WHAT?! ...why?
There were just a lot of sudden dramatic beats in this film.
PRODUCT PLACEMENTS
Sigh. It's a simple movie. A boy travels across states to meet his dream football team. How could you screw that up? Then again, how could you not? It's an absurd corporate movie so expect them to screw it up. The product placement definitely drives the Plot and story. In every turn where the product highlights aren't needed, they put it there anyway. They've build up to such a simple, good and engaging character. I'd assume that they, at least the cast and crew, would know better. There was also this absurd JDT and Red Warriors rivalry backstory that's ridiculously shallow; as if it was written by an angry RD fan that haven't been outside of Kelantan his entire life.
COMMERCIAL VALUE
Alright, so I can poke fun at this movie scene by scene but let's cut to the chase. So, does this movie, at least, lived up to it's hype as a 1 hour ad for RD, Hotlink, Air Asia, UniKL..etc? Well, it didn't performed well in the box office nor did it made an impact at their niche audience (Yes, I do count it as a niche based film). How could they? Kelantan doesn't even allow cinemas in their state. But to be honest though, film marketing in Malaysia is confusing and sad (With all of the shallow mainstream media and all). So, to a certain extent, I think it's unfair to blame it's marketing. I hoped that this movie could have made a big commercial impact (Since that's what it's going for) but it didn't. It's mind boggling, if you ask me. With such a simple premise, how could some Malaysians not be all over this? Well, it did made JDT hire Ahmad Idham to make their own movie. Wonder how that would turn out? -_-
VERDICT
Yep, I'm being optimistic in this review. But no matter how much sympathy I give, it all comes down to the story. Maybe if the story had actually been written passionately about Malaysia's football then it could've made a good impression; critically. Fret not though, next year, we're gonna get Ola Bola! Directed by Chiu Keng Guan, the guy who brought us The Journey! And his pairing up with Astro Shaw again. Yeah! Moneyh! :p
I, with much weariness, give Jejak Warriors a sad 2/5. But I'm not giving up on it just yet. I still feel like I should watch it with my family. Again, Salam and thanks for reading!
So, there's rumors and 'news' about film production companies wanting to make a Keluang Man movie; even claiming that it's confirmed (At this stage? I highly doubt it). The reactions have been positive reactions so far though I wouldn't call it a solid demand in the local film market. If it ever gets made (I sure wish it doesn't or I wouldn't even care if it did), I'm absolute positive that it will fail critically and financially.
WHO THE HELL IS KELUANG MAN?
No, it's not that I've never heard of him before. I did watch a handful--though my memories a bit hazy about it--of Keluang Man episodes. What I meant is that both audience and filmmakers have no idea who Keluang Man really is; what he represents and what are his aesthetics. We're all blinded by nostalgia and childhood innocence. It's hard enough that filmmakers have to figure out the story but it makes it twice as hard when the audience themselves cannot identify with Keluang Man with a proper aesthetic besides Batman Malaysia, Superhero Malaysia and nostalgic values. Do you make a Western Superhero Parody? I think local movie-buffs would be turned off. Do you make it fun and action-packed? Well, did you liked Cicakman or KL Gangster? What about a serious story? Keluang Man doesn't even have a proper mythology that's decently unique or engaging.
Please, for the love of god, watch it again and with an open, mature mind! I've revisited a few episodes. It had a more fluid animation compared to Anak-anak Sidek. But the filler dialogues and Batman villain rip-off shows that is still needs to age longer before it can turn into a movie. Now that I've revisited him, Borhan (Keluang Man) now reminds me of Goku. He's fun, oblivious to the nature of his surroundings and villains always want to challenge him.
IS THERE HOPE?
I'm up for it if there's passion involved. Perhaps, it's not the source material that I lack faith in. And I always like to think of myself as the guy who fights for the audience :P
But as stated above, both filmmakers and audience still lack identification with Keluang Man. Dare I say, even the hardcore fans. We always need more content regardless if it's old. So, I can see Keluang Man being revived as a new animated series and definitely as an ongoing comic book. If it was up to me for the reboot, I'd get rid of the Batman villains. Johan Hitam and that Samurai Guy (I forgot his name) would definitely stay. Borhan's fun nature will still stay the same but I'd give him more backstory as to why he's in a mental institution in the first place. But he's definitely not a symbol of a serious Malaysian superhero.
Salam and thanks for reading!
WHO THE HELL IS KELUANG MAN?
No, it's not that I've never heard of him before. I did watch a handful--though my memories a bit hazy about it--of Keluang Man episodes. What I meant is that both audience and filmmakers have no idea who Keluang Man really is; what he represents and what are his aesthetics. We're all blinded by nostalgia and childhood innocence. It's hard enough that filmmakers have to figure out the story but it makes it twice as hard when the audience themselves cannot identify with Keluang Man with a proper aesthetic besides Batman Malaysia, Superhero Malaysia and nostalgic values. Do you make a Western Superhero Parody? I think local movie-buffs would be turned off. Do you make it fun and action-packed? Well, did you liked Cicakman or KL Gangster? What about a serious story? Keluang Man doesn't even have a proper mythology that's decently unique or engaging.
Please, for the love of god, watch it again and with an open, mature mind! I've revisited a few episodes. It had a more fluid animation compared to Anak-anak Sidek. But the filler dialogues and Batman villain rip-off shows that is still needs to age longer before it can turn into a movie. Now that I've revisited him, Borhan (Keluang Man) now reminds me of Goku. He's fun, oblivious to the nature of his surroundings and villains always want to challenge him.
IS THERE HOPE?
I'm up for it if there's passion involved. Perhaps, it's not the source material that I lack faith in. And I always like to think of myself as the guy who fights for the audience :P
But as stated above, both filmmakers and audience still lack identification with Keluang Man. Dare I say, even the hardcore fans. We always need more content regardless if it's old. So, I can see Keluang Man being revived as a new animated series and definitely as an ongoing comic book. If it was up to me for the reboot, I'd get rid of the Batman villains. Johan Hitam and that Samurai Guy (I forgot his name) would definitely stay. Borhan's fun nature will still stay the same but I'd give him more backstory as to why he's in a mental institution in the first place. But he's definitely not a symbol of a serious Malaysian superhero.
Salam and thanks for reading!
I love learning about the progress of storytelling in all
mediums; books, comics, TV and films.
While the latest generation (or people in general) will always complain
the lack of originality with the constant adaptations of books in films, I
believe it is the life cycle of every story; from story to history, legend or
mythology. So, in this article, let’s
highlight the current growing evolution of storytelling in Malaysia, Maple
Comics.
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| Serious doh, aku tunggu title nih sejak Sekolah Menengah...bapak ah, mcm tk logik jugak dengar XD So much has changed since then :P |
Yeah, they’re still new and with barely enough content to
get noticed. But they’re growing! And that’s super exciting to me, to be able
to observe and support this huge possible success. But why and how did this
company started? What are the primary reasons? Well, you can basically Google
that information; reading interviews of the founders. But here, I’d like to point out the answers
by relating it to Malaysia’s history of storytelling (Of course, limited to my
observation and opinions...but feel free to share yours too!)
FIXI
From the Harry Potter books to a major film franchise and
now even a theme park! Every influential story has to start somewhere whether
directly or indirectly. I believe Maple
Comics was inspired by the bold and daring FIXI; a novel publishing company
that is known for its Urban and taboo themes.
Of course, I believe the company itself just wanted genuine good stories
but this trend compliments just what Malaysians are facing and yearning for;
hence forth the generalization of fans and re-occurrence of themes from
writers. FIXI continues to grow but
slowly. They started out by popping out
in events and conventions; opening up a small stall for their books. Now they have their own bookstore with a
strong fan base of their own. Indeed,
FIXI is now a niche, a cult following and this compliments another side of
Malaysians. But will Maple Comics follow
their footsteps or trend in terms of content?
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| Haven't had a chance to visit their shop |
CONTENT
Here’s where it get hazy and highly opinionated but dang
it! I just got to share this fan theory of mine! The titles that are available
now under the Maple Comics publishing are Invasi (I’ve waited for this since
High School!), Kuala Terengganu in 7 days, Taubat Si Tanggang and 5 days in
Beijing. There’s a pattern here, it is
very clear they have a specific target audience. Trust me, it’s very hard to find an audience
at first and you can only make assumptions of what the masses will respond
to. And according to these titles, Maple
Comics are targeting mature audiences; most likely from 18 to 25-ish, 30
max. Titles such as Invasi, a Sci-fy
action comic, and Taubat Si Tanggang, a re-imagined folktale of Malay values,
are very easy to identify as I can personally say I’m intrigued by them; being
a fan of stories that are imaginative and escapism in nature. However, it’s the other two that I’m hoping
to kick-off a new trend in storytelling.
I believe these two light and easy titles really compliment Malaysians
as a whole. We like our local content
light and you can definitely see that in our film industry; with comedy
constantly being slapped into any possible serious stories. This is different
and more honest. Both book plays around
with travelling, a very universal topic for youths (Hence my confidence with
their target audience) and with proper marketing, it can go big. This little hope of mine doesn’t stops here
as more facts come to mind with their future projects.
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| Their current books on sell, check it out here: http://maplecomics.com.my/ |
FUTURE CONTENT
First and for most, you should really follow their Facebook
page. They are constantly updating with up-coming
projects. You can know if they’re
attending any events or having any important meetings with talented artists. One of those projects is an original comic
from Malaysia’s own Marvel Comics artist, Alan Quah. Famous among higher ranks of Malaysia’s comic
book fans, Alan Quah is working on a short comic that centers his personal life
as an artist, husband and father. Again,
this type of content compliments the light and easy print. Haha...they should label that in the
future. Another title, which was recently
announced, is Paradigma Guru. This comic
is a continuation from its short comic online.
It was published for free under Supreme Comics, an online platform for
up and coming local comic book artist.
It’s interface works just as those pirated manga websites. The move was very bold and innovative,
finally bringing new talents from fresh sources; something that people in the
film industry seems to fail at. Of
course, like Alan Quah’s title, Paradigma Guru is also light but with a strong
influence of Anime and Manga (Which is always a welcomed style if done
right). Paradigma Guru tells the story
of a young teacher who’s coping to find purpose while teaching in school; with
a woman as the main character (A very attractive one at that) and it’s
adaptation of manga’s quirky and fun style of character expressions, I believe
many will be able to relate to reading a story that takes us back to high
school.
SIGNATURE PRINT/GENRE FOR MALAYSIAN COMICS
General audience in Malaysia (And even Americans) think that
the U.S only offers superhero with their comics. That’s sad because there’s tons of innovative,
vulgar and unique title that exists now.
But that’s the nature of an ongoing business and franchises; overflowing
with the same genres and titles. I’m
hoping that Malaysian comics can build their own genre. I hope that the light and easy print can
become a big thing because of its cultural value and nostalgic engagement. People from around the world can learn more
about Malaysia’s culture. I really wish
it can be lucrative too because, of course, this can give birth to more opportunities. That's not to say I ignore other genres. Of course, I hope there would be more room for artists and audience to produce their desired content.
Here's hoping for better days in Malaysia's Creative Industry! Thank you for reading.
