Nadia Cheung

creative portfolio & blog

  • Film Review: The NeverEnding Story (1984)

    One of the definitive fantasy films of the 1980s, Wolfgang Peterson’s The NeverEnding Story is a classic in so many different ways. Based on about a third of Michael Ende’s children’s novel, The NeverEnding Story follows young Bastian (Barret Oliver) and his adventure into the alternate world of Fantasia through reading The NeverEnding Story—a book that is more than it seems, and an adventure begins for not only the characters in the film but for the audience, too.

    Upon opening the book, and despite being the initial protagonist, Bastian and the film follow Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), whom, in a sense, could be read in a number of different ways, but I like to think of him as Bastian’s alter ego in some omnipotent way; because it’s Bastian who ends up having control and intervenes in the happenings of Fantasia without actually physically being there. The juxtaposition between Bastian and Atreyu is interesting in that we experience the adventure through Bastian reading the book and the initial story becomes the film—what started as a seeming family drama warps into a cheesy synth-fused fantasy with all sorts of wild and tacky characters you could never forget.

    Fantasia is threatened by the Nothing—a mysterious destructible force—because the Childlike Princess (Tami Stronach) is sick and about to die, resulting in the destruction and eventual end of Fantasia. What I love about a hero most is when a hero fails; and Atreyu, the warrior and chosen hero to save the day embodies this failure completely. But that’s okay because the film is all about fantasy and imagination and everything works out in the end if you believe it will: the best moral lesson ever.

    My favourite dragon character always will be Falkor (Alan Oppenheimer), the Luckdragon. So lovable, creepy, and positive—he’s like Aslan from the Narnia Chronicles. The real hero, Falkor rescues Atreyu when Fantasia falls apart. The scene where Falkor flies with Atreyu riding is one of the most iconic because it is so dreamlike and fantastical with its backdrop of stars and the night sky as the Nothing engulfs everything because all hope and imagination are lost.

    The NeverEnding Story does not have the best acting, special effects, or page-to-screen adaptation, but its overall visual style, with painted backdrops and bizarre-looking characters, look like no other film, and it was all still pretty impressive for 1984. Even as a children’s fantasy film, I still think The NeverEnding Story deserves a chance to be on everybody’s watch list. There’s something for everyone and it certainly deserves to be called a classic. If not, then the soundtrack is pretty slick—featuring synth god Giorgio Moroder in some of its score, this film’s title track by Limahl still deserves an award for its soul, but it only reached No. 4 in the UK.

    Original article can be found here.

  • The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

    Jennifer Lawrence reprises her role as protagonist and hero Katniss Everdeen for the last time. We see all sorts of familiar faces in this last installment, especially the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died in the middle of filming in early 2014.

    A one-year wait is quite a long time to wait for the second half of a film that did not prove to have much happening plot-wise in the first place. In a way, I guess it built up anticipation for this one—especially for its loyal fans. Opening up straight from the first Mockingjay film, Katniss Everdeen, after healing from her shock-asphyxiation and almost being murdered by a “hijacked” Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), prepares to kill President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) to end the war in Panem and restore peace in its post-apocalyptic land once and for all.

    The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 set up a lot for this film, meaning that as an audience, you won’t really understand much of the film unless you have seen the previous films, which puts a lot of expectation on an audience. This can be good for returning audiences or people already familiar with The Hunger Games, because it is saved from repeating itself in order to delineate backstory, but it leaves the other prospective viewers in the cold, not knowing who, what, why and where—I imagine, this because I felt this way with the Harry Potter franchise.

    A lot of action occurs in this film. It has to. Gunshots, explosions and all sorts of war-like violence to the Capitol. A lot of familiar characters, unfortunately, die, leaving many of its associated characters in mourning. But Katniss cheats death multiple times as the Mockingjay—the icon for its rebels, led by President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), who wants to keep her safe and protected, because she proves to be a valuable asset in uniting the rebels in order to overthrow President Snow’s power in the Capitol, where most of the film’s violence (and death) is set.

    The Hunger Games trilogy became known for its love triangle thing going on between Katniss, Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and Peeta—who still has not yet recovered from being brainwashed to kill Katniss because he was convinced that she was truly evil. This final installment allows the audience the moment where Katniss finally chooses—which doesn’t really seem like a decision… since she was disappointed with one, and it had become clear since the first part of Mockingjay, how much she missed the old Peeta in the first place.

    Part 2 is not the best of its trilogy. It was a continuation from the last one, tying up the loose ends that had left you hanging in Part 1. I feel like this is sadly another cash cow film from a franchise that didn’t have enough material to make more films. This final film is more of an action drama with a twist of really predictable pre-teen romance, that reminded me of Anne of Green Gables, where you followed a protagonist, saw her live out her whole life with the bumps on the road and the events leading up to who she chooses to eventually marry and have kids with, and what she does next—which isn’t a good thing. Katniss Everdeen finally gets a rest in this trilogy. Any other option next would probably be to buy the DVD, go on Netflix, or pick up the books with Suzanne Collins’s name on. But I feel that a lot of people might not do any of those anyway. Goodbye, The Hunger Games.

    2/5

    Original article can be found here.

  • Suffragette

    If you learned anything about women’s suffrage and the militant organisations forged in order to stand for the rights of women in Britain before the First World War, you will know about this story. Carey Mulligan plays Maud Watts, the protagonist. A working woman in a laundry service, all that she’s ever known to be, other than a mother and a wife.

    Living in difficult working conditions under an abusive boss, it is fate that she meets Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff), an outspoken and proud suffragette who pulls her into the movement. Forced to testify her own working conditions and her life as part of an appeal to convince the government for the vote, she is accepted into the movement and befriends other female activists who fight against the system—literally.

    On top of that, Helena Bonham Carter stars and plays Edith Ellyn, a chemist, organiser and campaigner for the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Her drive for equality pushes her to do such things as orchestrating secret meetings, plotting action, and building explosives for militant action. She is a highly-valued asset amongst the suffragettes involved. Meryl Streep also has a brief moment on-screen portraying the leader of the suffragette movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, who is in hiding but it is determined to encourage her followers to use “deeds not words”.

    Set primarily in London, the home of the Houses of Parliament, Suffragette is the first film of its kind to be shot on location, providing a somewhat authentic feel. Though the beginning of this film is quite slow, this is necessary to illustrate the oppression of women within a patriarchal society. There are several scenes where this patriarchy is so prominent that you just cannot ignore it, and it makes you think about how different elements of British life are now compared to how they were then.

    In a sense, Suffragette certainly succeeds in getting you emotionally invested. Suffragette is a film that deals not only with the historic details of the suffragettes but also the emotional aspects, too. For the film’s entirety, you follow Maud and see how her involvement with the WSPU drastically changes her and she grows from being a passive and accepting woman, to a militant activist fighting for equal rights amongst her peers.

    I don’t want to give too much away, but what I feel I can say about a film that bases its plot on historical events in the past is that, if you know about it, then you know very much what will happen in the course of the film.

    Other than the script being well-written and the film being cathartic, it is refreshing to be taken back in time to one of the earliest feminist movements and to be able to appreciate what women’s suffrage has achieved.

    Rating: 4/5

    Original article can be found here.

  • Everest

    Baltasar Kormákur’s latest film is featured as a 3D disaster thriller, based on the real-life events of the 1996 Everest tragedy that took 12 lives—which became known as one of the deadliest years on the mountain. The plot is interesting—all or most characters have one goal to achieve, to reach the summit—which proves to be a deathly challenge.

    Between the 10th and 11th of May, two commissioning camps on Mount Everest, led by the expedition leaders, New Zealander Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) and American Scott Fisher (Jake Gyllenhaal), give paying clients the opportunity to climb the summit of Mount Everest, a very dangerous expedition. Josh Brolin plays one of the film’s survivors, Beck Weathers, a Texan Doctor with depression that he cures by climbing mountains.

    The majority of this film is set on Earth’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, where two camps aim to reach the summit. This is where the majority of the action happens, and 3D technology makes very good use of this, making you feel as if you were part of the mountaineering experience without being exposed to the danger of it.

    Being based on a real life tragedy, I would not necessarily say I felt an enormous amount of sympathy for the characters. That is not to say I did not care about them; there were, of course, moments where I had rooted for some of them, in particular, the character of Rob Hall. In fact, the character of Rob, alongside his pregnant wife, Jan Arnold, played by Keira Knightley, were the only two characters that I really felt the most sympathy for.

    I felt as though a lot of the characters in the film became predictable, which made the plot quite predictable too, because of the actions and decisions made. In fact, I felt a slight disconnect between some of the characters, particularly the mountaineers, who, it seemed, were much too concerned about their own wishes and problems, unaware of the realistic situation and unwilling to accept or face that fact, which to me was annoying. But of course, if you are paying $65,000 to get to the summit of Mount Everest, you would by any means, want to get your money’s worth—which in a way, I could empathise with.

    To summarise, I think the highlight of Everest as a cinematic experience is certainly the cinematography and vivid visuals you get through the use of 3D, which is definitely its strongest point, although the plot relies on its setting, which, in my opinion, saves the film from being extremely mediocre. A film that markets itself mostly on the idea of a 3D feature taking over such a monstrous setting like Mount Everest and translating it on screen will by all means have to focus very much on cinematography above all else to be successful—which is a very good thing because it was such a pleasure to see in 3D the details of a large snowy mountain.

    But because of the sheer focus on the visuals, I felt that in terms of the film’s overall narrative and the fact this film deals with a real-life disaster that had actually happened, it loses the sympathy you would expect to have. If, however, you’re looking for a film that gives you stunning visuals and an almost visceral experience without causing conflict over how you should feel, then this is a film well recommended.

    Rating: 3/5

    Original article can be found here.