Two Malaysian/Malay movies: Lelaki Harapan Dunia and Terbaik Dari Langit

Two months ago, I wrote about two Malaysian/Malay movies the trailer to which came out around the same time. The trailers looked rather hopeful so I made a point to catch both at the cinema.

I'm going to start this review with the one that came out earlier, and also the disappointing one of the two; Lelaki Harapan Dunia, written and directed by Seng Tat Liew. Yep, I said it outright. It's disappointing.

The movie tells the story of a group of villagers who want to relocate an abandoned house mainly due to the wish of Pak Awang who wants the house for his daughter's wedding, when a number of peculiar incidents take place which they attribute to supernatural reasons due to them moving the house. Unbeknownst to them, an African man who's a fugitive from the law has taken refuge in the house.

Sounds like a horror movie right? Or is it a comedy? Or is it drama? Therein lies the problem with Lelaki Harapan Dunia, or its English title Men Who Save the World. The movie tries to be all, without really succeeding to be any. Plot-wise there are also so many threads in it, but most of them are not really resolved by the end of the movie. They are merely teased and repeatedly brought to the fore, but no further explanation is given.

What's with the village idiot/druggie? Why is Pak Awang so insistent on refurbishing the house for his daughter's wedding? And what does he mean by his wistful remark on her getting married out of love? What about the subplot with the price of the camel intended for slaughter? By the end of the movie, these are all not solved. Even the main story is left kind of hanging.

Now that's out of the way, let's talk about the better one, Terbaik Dari Langit which I just watched two days ago. The movie, titled Nova in English, tells the story of Berg (Bront Palarae), a movie director whose obsession with the extraterrestrial and UFO impels him to ask his former school friends to come make an experimental road movie. His friends are up and coming movie star and soon-to-be-married, driver and production technician Ali, and socially-awkward school teacher Toyu. Also in tow is actress Sofea Jane (no, not the real-life actress). His plan involves travelling in a van to shoot the earlier scenes, culminating in shooting the finale at a place where Berg is confident an UFO landing is going to take place. Along the way, they reminisce about their school days and bicker about old grudges, form romance, and criticise Berg's dodgy directing.

Unlike Men, Nova handles multiple subplots better. They don't distract from the main story, and it explains the dynamics of the four school buddies in a non-intrusive way. Furthermore, Langit benefits from a steadier pair of hands in the director's chair, so even if it is funny at times, it never loses track of things.

Another aspect I enjoy about Langit, all the actors AND their characters are used well. The acting is good although nothing to shout about, but most importantly all the characters are well-rounded. Even the comic-reliefs have depth to them. The perpetually nervous Toyu hides a story behind his anxiety at being around them, Sofea is a more significant role than just a pretty face and romantic interest to one of them, the movie star doesn't feel like just another asshole, and Berg's eccentric nature and single-minded obsession is also explained. Furthermore, the young actors portraying the younger version of the leads also look rather similar to their older counterparts, and can act too in the flashback scenes. There are also cameo roles by the late Jalan Ampas era legend Aziz Sattar, and Sharifah Amani.

And in addition to this, this movie is very self-aware and when it comes to the nature of movie-making in Malaysia, taking potshots at Islamic-themed movies that are quite popular at the moment, and the average Malay (Malaysian) audience's reception to movies.

My only gripe about it is the music by the band Pitahati, which is very good, but I think somewhat under-utilised. I wanted more.

I give Lelaki Harapan Dunia 5.5/10 and Terbaik Dari Langit 7/10.

Upcoming Malay comedies

I'm quite excited about the coming two remaining months of 2014. I stumbled upon two trailers for two comedies that are going to come out in November and December, respectively. They look rather irreverent and feature quite a few stars in the local movie scene.

The first is Lelaki Harapan Dunia (English title: Men Who Save the World) which tells the story of a group of villagers who encounter an abandoned house in the village which is occupied by an illegal African immigrant. Of course they think he's a ghost, orang minyak (literally 'fuel man') to be exact.

Now if you're not familiar with the supernatural element in the region, orang minyak is a man who practices black magic in order to rape or molest maidens (or the other way around, I'm not sure, this is the 21st century), and applies oil all over his body while he's out on the prowl. So all the men in the village band together to try to move the house, and hilarity ensues (including cross-dressing).

According to its Facebook page which I've linked above, the movie has Harun Salim Bachik and Jalil Hamid, two renowned comedic actors in this country, and it is written and directed by Liew Seng Tat. According to page, it has international support, so that is rather impressive, I guess? And from the trailer below, it looks quite promising. I wonder if they're gonna come out with two cuts; one for the more conservative local market, and another, more raunchier cut for international viewing and the festival circuit.

Also from the trailer, it has something which to me is one trademark of Malay movies which I enjoy, the portrayal of community life among Malays, which is employed frequently by comedy film maker Mamat Khalid (whose Zombi Kampung Pisang (2007) I consider the best modern Malay comedy), and U-Wei Shaari (when is he going to release Hanyut?).

***********************

The second trailer I came upon was Terbaik Dari Langit. The literal English title is 'the best from the sky' or something like that, but the formal English (international?) title is Nova. This one is slated for a 25 Dec 2014 release. The official promotional Facebook page bills itself as a road trip movie, and the trailer provides the following synopsis for the plot: 

"Convinced with what he saw 15 years ago was a UFO, Berg sets on a journey with his 4 friends to capture it on film. They begin to realize that the trip is more than what it seems."

From the trailer, it looks like the movie will have one element I enjoy in movies; meta-references to the process of making a movie (or stage production), usually showing an ambitious yet clueless person at the helm. For example like Get Shorty, Adaptation, Tropic Thunder and Topsy Turvy.

It also has Bront Palarae, my favourite local actor whose movies I've never actually watched, and Sharifah Amani (nice to not see her out of a cheesy tv role for a change). It's directed by Nik Amir Mustapha who previously directed KIL.

So I'm very excited to have something to look forward to in the local film scene, for a change. I think the last movie I enjoyed was Songlap (which I enjoyed immensely and have raved about)

That reminds me, I have Bunohan and I STILL haven't watched it. Shame on me.

Songlap (2011)

Five minutes before I begin writing this review, I’ve just finished watching what is unarguably the best modern Malaysian movie I have ever had the pleasure of watching. The fact that I am writing this so soon after watching it speaks volumes of the movie; Songlap. Good god, I don’t know where to begin. The pinpoint casting? The screenplay? The acting? The colourful characters, lead and supporting alike? I’ve been simply blown away. And to think that I’ve waited this long to get the DVD, and then to have waited a little more to crack open the DVD case to actually watch it. Do you remember how I gushed at ‘Chow Kit’? This review is gush of the year, I’m telling you.

Let us start with the plot. The movie tells the story of two brothers; Am (Shaheizy Sam), a runner for a black market baby syndicate whose penchant for gambling throws away what little money he and his younger brother; Ad (Syafie Naswip) make. However, it is evident that Ad does not have the stomach for their line of work, and he has a bigger heart than his brother does, being young, naive and yet to be corrupted by years of slumming in the job. And when Ad’s best friend dies from a drug overdose, he starts thinking of escaping from the decadence and greed that he grew up in. Salvation comes knocking in the form of Hawa (Sara Ali), a pregnant teenager whose unborn baby is earmarked to be sold off by the syndicate the two brothers are working for. As usual, I’m not gonna reveal too much about the plot so as to not give it away. And because I WANT YOU TO GO BUY THE ORIGINAL DVD AND WATCH IT YOURSELF! Go on, stop reading this review and head to the local Speedy to get an original copy. This review’ll still be here when you get back and finish watching the movie. Alright, if you’re not convinced, let me elaborate just a little bit more. The plot is more complicated and layered than I let on, and this is one of the very few Malaysian movies whereby the characters’ motivations and actions are believable, instead of simply executed to advance the plot. More on this later.

Next let’s look at the cast and the characters. I want to begin with the star; Shaheizy Sam. Before Songlap, I knew him from Adnan Sempit and some other forgettable comedies. Never thought much of him. I mean, Bront Palare has more acting chops than him and Aaron Aziz is definitely miles ahead of him in the looks department. But boy was I blown away by Shahiezy’s performance in this movie or what? Guy explodes in the audience’s faces in a very visceral manner. He embodies his character perfectly, a smarmy, unscrupulous man who has to rely on his wits since he’s constantly on the lookout for easy money. The thing is, he is neither charming nor quick on the uptake, so he often finds himself at the receiving end of his bosses and associates’ blows when he fails to con them, which also makes for a genuinely amusing character who is also sympathetic to a certain extent. I don’t know whether he received coaching from the directors during filming or whether he was this good to begin with, but his solid performance carried this movie through to the very end. I wish he’d stop wasting his talents on Adnan Sempit and the likes and concentrate on more movies like this instead, but I guess he’s got to eat.

It is with great pride that I say that this is the first time that I’ve seen a Malaysian movie that pays as much attention to the supporting cast and characters as it does to the lead. Syafie Naswip (I admit I never heard of him before) who plays Ad, holds his own against his on-screen brother’s stellar performance, letting him do much of the talking, while he broods and plays the tortured teenager and conflicted crook. The directors of the movie Effendee Mazlan and Fariza Azlina Isahak, show that they were not simply content on relying on the stellar leads, by also peopling the movie with superb and colourful supporting characters who steal every scene they are in, either with their performance or simply their odd looks. Fauzi Nawawi who plays Chipun; a pimp, provides that very rare breed of nuanced comic relief which would easily be portrayed as an out-and-out funny man in the hands of a less capable director. He explains in ‘The Making of’ section of the DVD (now that’s why I buy original) that he essentially plays the same character that he’s played before, only this one is harder and more layered. Omar Abdullah, a veteran of TV3 primetime melodramas could have easily played his staple father figure characters, but in Songlap he turns in a slightly edgy performance as the taxi driver father of the pregnant Hawa who is seemingly dedicated to returning her safely home, with a dark, big reveal at the end. Also worth mentioning are Am’s best friend; Toyol who is played by Ayam Fared who I think got cast simply because the directors couldn’t resist hiring such an odd-looking actor with an even odder stage name; and a crook by the name of Man Ramos who, in the midst of beating Am up in one scene, gets infuriated at Am for making him have to get his namesake, his well-coiffed hair, tousled, and beats Am up some more.

I mentioned earlier about the plot, which I think is the tightest that I’ve seen in a Malaysian movie. The screenplay is written by Fariza, and I have to also praise this aspect of the movie. All the things that happen in the movie happen for a reason, and when they happen, they affect someone, and you bet someone is going to have to pay. No moments are wasted for the sake of slapping on a heart warming, tear-jerking scene, a big heroic speech, or comic relief. Everything is punctuated subtly and expertly, which puts Songlap miles ahead of even other Malaysian movies that I consider to be good. The characters’ motivation is very realistic and believable. You can see how Ad’s desire to escape his surroundings is not borne out of some tacky selfless ideal, but out of his need to make amends for one particular mistake he makes at the beginning of the movie. Am’s flippant attitude towards the pregnant mothers-for-hire and prostitutes are also explained towards the end of the movie; and it cleverly shows why he is who he is. And the dialogues, they are oh so delicious. From the casual insults hurled by Am at his crook buddies, to the chilling threats made by a key assassin character, to the many jokes cracked by Am (with one making a pot shot at national laughing stock ‘Dr’ Rozmey), they flow smoothly throughout the movie, making you laugh and keeping you focused on the plot at the precise moments. That and the brilliant delivery by the actors, which leads me to believe that the directors had taken it upon themselves to extensively coach the cast to deliver their brilliant vision. Clearly, the directors had already thought of how they wanted to film every single second of ‘Songlap’ before production, leaving nothing to chance. And for that, I congratulate AND thank them.

I also want to say is how excited I am for the near future of Malaysian movie industry. It seems that quite a few movies have broken new grounds, pushed the envelope and raised the standards in the last year. ‘Chow Kit’ with its in-your-face realism and frank portrayal of coarseness, ‘Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa’ with its ambitious epic scale and technical achievements, flawed it may be, ‘Songlap’ which I’ve been raving about, and just recently, ‘Bunohan’ which has garnered international acclaim (also another DVD I’ve bought but yet to watch myself). Next to come is U-Wei Shaari’s ‘Hanyut’, an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s first novel ‘Almayer’s Folly’ which currently is in post-production, from what I’ve read. Looking forward to the original Malaysian auteur’s next work. 

Also worth noting is that I’ve noticed a sort of formula for these successful new Malaysian movies. Like ‘Chow Kit’, ‘Songlap’ is to a certain extent bilingual, has a number of Chinese supporting characters who speak their native language in the dialogue, and is made by a production team comprising a sizeable number of Chinese Malaysian members. I think this is the way forward for Malaysian movies, and even if they are made for a mostly Malay market, like ‘Songlap’ with its Malay leads and main characters, the Malaysian movie industry can not shy away from being more inclusive in their production stage and in their aesthetics anymore. A movie, by nature, should be relevant, and Malaysian movies can achieve relevance and cultural significance by more realistically reflecting on inter-racial Malaysian interaction and sensibilities. Notice how I’ve avoided calling ‘Songlap’ a Malay movie? This is of course to be more inclusive, but also because I think calling it so doesn’t accurately describe the scope of the movie and its production stage.

That’s it from me on ‘Songlap’ or I’m gonna start sounding like a fanboy. Believe me when I say you should really watch it if you love Malaysian movies and movies in general. Shaheizy Sam is a revelation in it, and the performance of his supporting cast members is top notch. I also want to personally thank a friend of mine, Faiz ‘Kehek’ Fadzil for persistently convincing me to watch it, after he read my ‘Chow Kit’ review.

The GOOD: ALMOST ALL OF THE MOVIE. I mean when talking about most good Malaysian movies, there’s always an “It’s good, but...”, but ‘Songlap’ is almost perfect in every sense.

The BAD: I did say almost. The character of Hawa is a little underdeveloped and underutilised as compared to Am and Ad. She’s written to be a bit too passive for my liking.

My VERDICT: 9/10. It’s not a Malaysian movie nine either, it’s the standard nine I give to international movies.

TRIVIA: the opening scene signifies the transition for the audience from more conventional Malay movies to another kind of movie. The cameos by Lisdawati and Eizlan Yusof hint at this. But I won’t explain much on this as I read it in another Malaysian reviewer’s blog. Go read it here.

Chow Kit (2012)

Apa khabar? How have you been doing? It has been quite sometime since I last reviewed a Malaysian movie so that's what I want to do in this post, and I think you will all be pleased that today I'm going to review a movie that had just come out in the cinemas recently, around two months ago, instead of my usual fares of flicks that are more older. 

I find it odd that most of the movies that I have reviewed in this blog are the ones that I watched through random encounters such as from channel surfing on Astro, and my encounter with this movie occurred from an almost similar happenstance. I was out with my friends, and they had wanted to rewatch The Avengers. But upon arriving at the cinema, we found out that the tickets for all the showings for the rest of that day was out. Disappointed, we decided to watch another movie instead. Going through the listing, we saw the a movie titled 'Chow Kit' and decided that that's the movie we wanted to watch. Not much logic behind the call, I know, but I have an inkling that it was because of the place that the movie is set in (Chow Kit is an area which is considered to be the seedy underbelly of  KL), they might have thought it was one of those gangster movies in the vein of KL Gangster and KL Drift. Not my cup of tea, of course, but I was too tired to protest and the rest of the movies available sucked. And if I had to watch a lousy movie, I'd rather my RM 10 goes to local moviemakers.

So we went inside, and the movie started. And wow, was I surprised from the opening shots! It opened with  a cold opener of a group of children chasing a man with two by fours along the dilapidated store fronts of Chow Kit, and then into the dingy backalleys. They finally have him surrounded, but the man takes out a gun and shoots one of them in the arm. The leader of the pack drops him with a whack, and they all viciously pounced on him with their planks and by good ol' stomp on the head. It is a very visceral scene that also makes the audience wonder about the events leading up to it, and the opener effectively jolts the audience into the realisation that 'Chow Kit' is not like anything that they have seen from any other Malaysian film makers. 

The plot itself is unusual in that it deals with a subsection of the Malaysian society that is rarely featured on film; the seedy underbelly of Kuala Lumpur, drug addicts and dealers, transvestites, prostitutes and pimps and also the unfortunate children of the prostitutes. And when I say rarely featured, I mean featured in a realistic, kitchen-sink manner without glorifying nor condemning them. 

The movie itself is actually two separate stories with the  first story showing the daily lives of a group of the above-mentioned children of prostitutes, their endeavours to find money, and their reaction when one of them, the only female member in the gang, is sexually-assaulted by her mother's boyfriend. The other story concerns two friends; one a recent former convict and gangster, the other a snatch thief, who are looking to score a last payout before leaving the criminal world and to help the latter pay for his mother's surgery. But as the poet Robert Blake wrote, "the best laid schemes of mice and men go often awry" so do the two friends' plan. They are repeatedly double-crossed by the people they deal with, and their predicament keeps escalating; taking them further away from that last payout and putting their lives in danger. The two stories are only connected by the appearance of a number of characters.

Now what I love about this movie is the realism with which the the movie is presented. Malaysian films are reliant on the need to fluff them up, be it with cringe-worthy humour and comic relief, an unnecessary love interest, far-fetched drama or tear-jerker moments; which I find cheap and hammy. That is why I find it refreshing to watch a Malaysian movie that eschews all these to portray things as they are and to just simply let the audience decide for themselves what to feel. And in most of the scenes, I was left not knowing what exactly to feel, even in the more touching scenes. After all, the characters are not exactly blameless for the predicaments that they get into; they are prostitutes and criminals. That the film is successful in producing these layers of reactions and emotions is a testament to the makers' refusal to cheapen the movie by dumbing it down, and also to the depth of the writing.

Another aspect to this realism that I find refreshing is with the dialogue. Now let me just tell you a little bit about my experience as a cinephile. When watching Hollywood and foreign movies alike with adult language, I had wondered to myself whether this sort of thing is ever going to happen in a Malaysian movie. Not that I am glorifying crass and want swear words to be heard in every other line, but purely for the fact that I think it more accurately mirrors the society's speech. Let's not kid ourselves, almost everyone swear when talking nowadays, and so do I. And not just the swearing, I'm also talking about the register of our daily speech. In short, I find the dialogue in Malaysian movies; specifically Malay movies, unrealistic, as if the movies are written by non-native Bahasa Melayu speakers. Anyway, to get back to my point, I had always thought that swearing in our movies is not going to happen in my lifetime. I mean, our damned politicians banned a documentary, for God's sake. That's what you get for letting people who have no interest and knowledge in arts and film regulate any artistic branches. 

So understand my amusement and bewilderment when the first cussing was uttered in the movie; "Babi lah kau". Now you might wonder what the hell I'm giggling like a school girl for; it's just a swear word. I was kind of shocked because that line, I repeat, the first curse to be spoken by any of the characters in the movie, was uttered by one of the prostitutes' children to his playground enemy. Yup, we went straight from the text-book dialogue in our movies to children swearing in them in just one movie. The adults didn't even get a chance. It's as if a human civilisation, which has no mode of vehicular transportation, were to suddenly invent a rocketship within the duration of one lazy weekend. That's why I was really amused. Fortunately the adult characters get their fair share of swearing in the movie later, and swearing is not something that I'm not used to everyday, to actually see and hear it in a Malaysian movie is something that I was strangely proud of, in the sense that there are Malaysian film makers who want to embrace realism in their movies, instead of shying away from it and covering it with fluff.

Still on the topic of realism, this movie is also realistic in its steely portrayal of the seedy underbelly of society. To make it easier, I'll just list down most of the criminal activities that are portrayed in this movie:

- incest, sexual act and prostitution

- child rape (one of the most graphic scenes of the movie)

- drug and alcohol use

- theft and snatch-theft

- drug deals

- physical violence

- oh, there's also a severed head thrown in for good measure

I repeat, although it is quite a long list, they are not in anyway portrayed in a manner that glorifies them. The audience is simply presented with them, and it is the audience alone who should decide what to feel about them. Kudos to the filmmakers for treating us like adults who are able to think for ourselves, for a change.

Which brings me to my next point, how on earth did they sneak this movie past the censorship board?! I am simply amazed at their audacity in getting it into Malaysian movie cinemas, risking their careers and reputation so we can enjoy it. I can't imagine the furore and the pitchfork carrying frenzy the Malaysian society will get into, upon learning that a movie about this underground subsection of the society has been released. The demonstrations, the holier-than-thou Facebook status posts calling for all devout Muslims to boycott this movie, the politicians chiming in to make sure that they are seen as morally righteous by their potential voters. All without having once seen the movie. I shudder at the thought. Or maybe FINAS themselves have adapted to the times and current movie-goers' matured sensitivity and I have simply given them too little credit. After all, the musical 'The Producers' (2005) was shown uncut in Malaysian cinemas despite its overt portrayal of gay men, and that was seven years ago.

However, what happened was the complete opposite of getting the attention of the public, even the negative kind. I talked to a friend who had talked to 'Chow Kit's' producers and the people involved in the making, and he told me that the movie did not make profit. The usual course of action when learning that yet another good Malaysian movie has finished its theatrical run barely noticed by Malaysian movie-goers is to criticise them for ignoring a gem in favour of frivolous comedy or romance movies, but for 'Chow Kit', I'm gonna cut the usual suspects a slack. Prior to going to the cinema with my friends, I had known literally nothing whatsoever about it, which is unusual for me. At the very least, I would learn of the title and the main actors of any recent Malaysian Malay movies from simply being around people and listening to them talking or through the internet, even if I have no intention of catching these movies. But not 'Chow Kit', not a word nor a squeak, which means the movie lacked promotion. I wonder what's up with this. I know that it did not have a sizeable production budget which means that its promotional  budget might have been even more miniscule, but these days you need promotion to ensure the success of any project intended for an audience, and although promotional and advertising works cost money, you need to spend money to make even more money. Could it be that they avoided promoting it to avoid attracting unwanted attention, the kind I mentioned above? Who knows. I hope they are going to get the movie on DVD so I can get a copy for my movie collection.

The GOOD: 

- the lead child actor is wonderful. Brooding and quite handsome. Hopefully he stays in the industry when he grows up

The BAD: sometimes the low-budget makes the more technically challenging to shoot scenes look laughable, like the Mexican stand-off scene

My VERDICT: this movie gets a 7.5/10
TRIVIA: The soundtrack to this movie is composed by Butterfingers' Loque. Maybe that's where their promotional budget went to?

Zombi Kampung Pisang (2007)

So far I have only reviewed foreign movies. Now now before you call me a Euro-centric elitist and a 'kacang lupakan kulit', let me tell you that I do watch Malay and Malaysian movies (I even know enough about local filmsphere to not assume that they are the same, see?). It's just that it's such a small industry with a fairly clueless notion of aestheticism. All those David Teo-produced garbage which I won't bother naming here, well-meaning but misguided FINAS-funded historical epics with scripts which seem to have been lifted right out of my 13-year old brother's school history book which would eventually tank at the box office (but they never learn, funnily enough) and you get the picture.

But now and then someone who actually knows something about film-making comes along with a novel idea and you'll actually get a Malaysian film that is worthy of your RM10 and two hours of your time. And no I'm not talking about those artsy indie film types with their 10 minute dialogue-scenes and maximum budgets of RM10,000. I'm talking about people who try to combine enjoyable movie moments such as decent gags and decently-talented good-looking actors with a plot that requires the audience to think a little and also a little bit of gall and inventiveness to challenge the conventions and the norms. It's people like Afdlin Shauki, Bade Azmi, U-Wei Saari and James Lee who provide the occasional streaker action into the lamefest that is the Malaysian movie industry.

One other such Malaysian director is Mamat Khalid and what I consider his best movie so far, one that I am going to review this time; the comedy 'Zombi Kampung Pisang' which came out in 2007. I've heard people lambasting this movie left and right, and it's such a shame because it is a good movie and I believe that people who deride this movie do so without knowing an iota of film history in general and that they take everything at surface meaning. The plot is simple, an idyllic village populated by your typical kampung residents; the loafer, the ustaz, the village beauty, the junction coffee shop operator ,is plagued by a sudden infection that causes its residents to turn into mindless, brain-eating zombies. Against the threat of this non-religious, biological conversion, the non-brain hungry population of the village have to find the source of the infection before they all turn into a village-wide brain buffet and its guest at the same time, with the inept help of a rock-kapak band members (easily the scene-stealers of the movie) and a police officer played by funnyman Lan Pet-Pet.

The performance in this movie is also enjoyable, if a bit slapstick. Well, Mamat has to sell movie tickets somehow, and what other way to sell movie tickets in Malaysia than to make slapstick jokes. The main cast; Awie, A.C Mizal and Ezlynn gave their comedic best. However, as I have stated before, the show-stealer is the clueless rock-kapak band who is helmed by the late Loloq. I didn’t know he had it in him. They are funny in almost every scene they are in.

Now if it is such a simple comedy movie, why does it deserve such an accolade from me? you might ask. So I am going to tell you one important fact. Keep this in mind and tell your children on your deathbed (or the medic as you’re bleeding to death in a car accident for those of you who will not be fortunate enough): movie-makers have always made and used zombie movies to address contemporary issues. For example when George Romero made 'Dawn of the Dead', he was trying to address the issues of segregation and prejudice that was rampant in Vietnam-era America, as exemplified by the movie's atmosphere of mistrust and his decision to make the film's lead a black dude. Even his more recent zombie-flick 'Diary of the Dead' still retains this discreet symbolism, although the issues are different altogether. What shows Mamat Khalid's knowledge of film-making is his use of 'Zombi Kampung Pisang' to highlight a contemporary issue in Malaysia. I am not going to tell you what the issue is, I consider it a spoiler for those who haven't watched it, but pay attention to two scenes from the movie; one with RELA members (why RELA and not the cops?) and another with zombies in grocery shops. For me, finding out that a Malaysian director knows how to use a movie genre that is relatively alien to the Malaysian audience to convey a contemporary issue is such a sweet discovery.

The GOOD:
1) Earnestly hilarious performance by the stars especially Lan Pet-Pet and Loloq
2) The hidden meaning behind all the comedy. Watch it to get it!

The BAD:
1) The jokes are ultimately only funny to a point. After then it becomes a bit annoying and gets in the way of the plot

So my VERDICT for this movie is: 8/10.

Here's a piece of movie TRIVIA: Mamat Khalid is actually the brother of Malaysia's most prolific cartoonist Dato' Lat. I guess artistic talent does run in the family.