Movies: Transformer 4 Age of Extinction

Movies: Transformer 4 Age of Extinction

Was able to catch this blockbuster movie on the 2nd day of release and boy it was packed all the way to the first row!

It's those kind of movie like x men or spiderman that has had many previous movies before and is probably a must see just because you have seen the previous movies. For some people it's a must see because we played with the toys when we were young. Also a safe type of movie being in the action genre that allows it to appeal to the large population.

Ah dinosaurs, the caveman form of transport

Did it live up to the hype though? Read on to find out more.

Storyline 3/5

The movie, if you checked is a whopping 160 minutes long give or take a few minutes. That's more then 2 hours that you are going to spend in the theater. So is the storyline able to remain enthralling?

In all honesty, the story does stay fresh as in many new things are added to the story as time goes by. However there is very little obvious linkages to why this thing that happened previously led to the things that is happening in the current section of the movie. To put it shortly, you can try paying alot of attention to the movie and what the characters are saying but you will still find yourself confused ever so often at why things ended up this way.

The storyline is also strange in that there are many instances where something has happened such as more bots joining the fight, but then you realize that Hey they could really have done this earlier instead. Alot of things that happen are quite unbelievable or unrealistic and you feel that the writers made things this way just so that you could have a longer story. There was also a lot of unnecessary actions that were taken by the humans that in every angle of analysis is totally silly and dumb.

One clear cut example if you see the movie is, if your bots can fly, why do you still bother driving around from one place to another? And what happened to the bomb? Confused!

Character 3.5/5

Additional 0.5 points purely because there was the other bunch of transformers that was added to the movie that at least significantly heightened the entertainment value.

They introduced new main human characters to this movie as well as new bots and did try to give them some distinct personalities which was good. But overall they did not have enough screen time despite the 2 hour plus movie time to truly make an impact. It's really just a matter of creating a unique sequence for them but it was a wasted opportunity there.

Some familiar bad guys did come back with friends but bad guy friends especially didn't have any extra emphasis on scenes to make them special enough. You will realize during the movie that some characters just disappear and you don't notice till they reappear after awhile.

All in all, a lot of potential wasted type of movie.

Cinematography 3.5/5

As in typical action movies it had above average Cinematography with plenty of slow mo shots and plenty of explosions. But similar to the character section there is really alot more unused opportunity to really make the movie stand out and I would say that the action scenes were not long enough and can really be made more epic.

Music 3.5/5

Music was good in keeping the atmosphere up and the feeling of all the explosions. Nothing particularly unique in the way the music was used though.

Spectacle 3/5

Sadly, when looking from a summative view, this movie tried to tell too much story at the risk of action sequences, and yet storyline was too broad to be able to keep it coherent and flowing well enough. Hence its like a action movie with not enough action and with a rather confusing or unconvincing story.

They should have tried to tell less and shift the focus to better action scenes and focus more on what the other newly introduced bots could do. Too many new characters but too little time to make them endearing to the audience.

Overall

Storyline: 3 (At times it was hard to follow. At times it did not make sense either. Still, at least it can be considered interesting)
Character: 3.5 (So many new bots.. too little time to emphasize on them... and at times you forget about many of the bots)
Cinematography: 3.5 (Good action sequences, not particularly exceptional though)
Music: 3.5 (Music was there lending to impact and atmosphere)
Spectacle: 3 (Did not manage to intrigue or excel in both storyline nor action sequence when it clearly has a lot of potential to do so.)

Overall:  3.3 (If you are an action flick lover with not too over analyzing personality on storyline and details, this will be a fine movie for you given its exceptional playtime. If you like good and coherent storylines and your friends ask you to see this movie, keep reminding yourself... "I like bots and explosions and boomboom pewpew!". If you plan on missing this movie, don't worry about it cause it is probably a good home movie type. Just manage your expectations and remind yourself its a fair movie given its length of time.

Disagree with this review? Thought the story was fine? Comment here and I can tell you more stuff that is just strange and unnessary!

Food: Empire State Restaurant

Food: Empire State Restaurant

Good day to all, heres the first of a few food reviews that I have backed logged up to this day. This food review is on this western/italian cuisine type of food called Empire State Restaurant.Ate this at the Woodlands Branch and I am sure there are a few branches over the country that you can check out at the website below. Here is their icon or logo or something.

So is this place worth the visit? Read on to find out!

Food 2.5/5

This place is supposed to be famous for their empire burger which is pictured here

Its a giant burger that obviously will be too much for our Asian appetites but nonetheless at 22++ SGD if you are really hungry you probably can eat it. I didn't order this unfortunately so my food review will be based on what else i managed to eat which is pictured below.

Looks huge eh! Well its not as big as the burger

For me I ordered the next best choice which according the name, should also be one of their signature dishes cause its the EMPIRE HD for Hotdog! not High Def...

Look at it and it really looks very nice and cheesy but look closely you will realise that its only one portion that was with the cheese. The bacon is fine, texture and all but all in all the whole dish wasn't very special. There was no extremely strong taste of the sauce or anything and the fries obviously was just plain. The hotdog itself at best, just felt like another hot dog. Its not like those from that hotdog fast food joint with its RIPPERS and stuff. Nope, its merely just a hotdog.

Cheesy Penne

The other dish that we chose was supposed to be like some very cheesy type of penne thingy. That was what the name of the dish was supposed to be.. like 3 cheese pasta or cheesy pasta or something. Unfortunately at best, I would say that the dish didnt live up to its name. Worse of all, the pasta sauce was actually considered watery. Like someone put in sauce and added a bit too much water to it. Wasn't satisfying and at best it is just barely passable.

Fries with 4 sauces?

This was where it was totally sad for us. We ordered a fries that was suppose to come with various sauces. In the end, there was one mayonaise like sauce, another holder with chopped up tomatoes, another with olives and one more with a grand sum of 2 and a half piece of a pickle. Yep.. How is this supposed to work? ITs not a sauce is it? or is there some method to eat that I dont really know? Its probably that.. but overall, its not tasty at all... it might have been slightly cheesy but I really didnt know how those other 3 holders are sauces. The Mayo i still understand though...

Atmosphere 3/5

Atmosphere was average. It was the type of open seating whereby the seats are inside the shopping centre themselves. That means that this shop doesn't have an entrance per say and shoppers can just walk through the two eating areas as there is a walking path right in the center. Of course it has air-con and all that and I guess its just some style but all in all, there are better ways to do it.

Also given the two distinct areas belonging to the shop, the staff may sometimes be pretty hard to call over. I guess you could still sit there and buy their desserts and sit and talk but there are other choices like The Coffee Bean etc. The staff as a whole, are alright but it is obvious that they are slightly understaffed during the time we were there.

Price 3/5

Here is the receipt and the amount we spent for two people. Oh look... water is chargeable... Not sure why there is a need to charge for water in Singapore.. you can count it under service charge seriously.

Its not expensive per say, but its not really worth it. The fries for $5.90 was quite a bit and we actually didn't manage to finish everything. But overall I would say that quality to food taste, does not really match.

Accessibility 4/5

Perhaps the only good point of this eatery, its totally near the woodlands MRT station and also didn't have too many customers which means you can probably get a seat with no problems. But its most likely because the food is not distinct enough and tasty enough to attract the crowd. Still, it works in their favour...

Overall

Food: 2.5 (Overall,  its just passable. You won't be put off, but you will really expect more)
Atmosphere: 3 (Average atmosphere, you will feel that it can be improved)
Price: 3 (Charging for water? Not entirely cheap either for the quality)
Accessibility: 4 (Good location, easy to get to, probably won't have a queue so you can start your dinner faster)

Overall: 3.125 (Surprisingly the score is above 3. I would say that you could choose this place if you really wanted western food or italian food and you don't want to queue and just want to get dinner over and done with. Yea that would be the best explanation for this place at this point of time. Eat there once and see for yourself and if its ok type of food, then you can come more often. For me though, not entirely impressed and probably won't revisit unless there is a strong impetus.)

Here is its website http://empirestate.com.sg/ in case you want to try it out. Maybe try out some other dishes and tell me if it is better...

Disclaimer: Since this is a neutral or slightly negative review, I would like to say that all this is just words of opinion based on the dishes we had. Its not a professional review but the first impressions of a layman as per blog objective. So please don't be offended if you are a staff from there!

Movies: Edge Of Tomorrow

Movies: Edge Of Tomorrow

Movies concerning time and going both into the future and the past have been popping up in both the big and small screens for a while. Some TV series includes Heroes with its time travelling hero, and the present series Continuum with the female lead being thrown back in time against her will. On the large screen we have the very recent X-men - Heroes of Future Past and perhaps the more significant time travelling movie that is similar to Edge of Tomorrow would be Groundhog Day which was a comedy with the same time travelling component.

A friend of mine told me that this movie is like a how a first person shooter works. Which is you go attempt the game map, die, respawn and try again. And in many cases, this is the what the movie is about. So for those who haven't caught the trailer or seen the poster, here it is!

The two heroes of the movie!

So how did this movie perform? Read more the find out here!

Storyline 4/5

The way the story is told in this movie is actually pretty creative. Of course the underlying principle is in the end, the good guys will win, but what happens during the entire process is kept interesting my the numerous twists and focus points in each of the attempts that the main character makes. It even shows what happens if the main character stops trying and tries to run which is a pretty good representation of what we would possibly have tried out should this have happened to us.

The source of this time restarting ability is also spelt out in the movie and hence tries to be a bit more science fiction then fantasy and it also highlights why this ability is present in the first place which gives a very complete picture of the movie.

Overall, everything is pretty believable until the very end. The ending is pretty strange and didn't really feel continuous from the whole movie, seeming more like a method to just end on a happy note. If you see the movie you will know what I am saying.

Overall, the story is believable, compelling and interesting. However, being strong on storyline, you will probably need to use a bit more brain power during the movie to understand why some things happen and if you miss it you will lose a bit of appreciation of the concept of the movie such as why at a point of time in the movie, he cannot die and respawn anymore. So keep your ears sharp during the movie!!


Character 4/5

Character development in this movie is done in a very interesting way because of the ability to repeat things again and again and hence reveal stuff about the characters over time. Of course the main character clearly grows throughout the movie from a non fighter to a soldier that looks like he has some cheat code because he knows where the enemies are before they come out! Its just like how some people play their shooting games in the arcade for the 50th time! Same as those who play those music taptap games also! All a mater of practice and alot of money and free time.

Nonetheless, the characters that are on the posters are of course fleshed out pretty well and believable, but there are some other supporting characters that are clearly just there for support value and nothing else so they are pretty basic in back story. In fact, there was one asian character who suddenly appeared in one of the more important scenes in the movie and I didnt even realise he was there in the first place and how he ended up in the heli. See the movie and tell me if you know which asian guy i am talking about!

Nonetheless, this is no X-men with long extended back stories but just a one off movie that only has the time to at best focus on the two mai characters!


Cinematography 4/5

Cinematography was good! When it was action scenes it is very well shot, and there are alot of good shots and timings during the movie to add extra entertainment and even comedic value to the movie. It was very creatively done and you will enjoy the way the movie was shot.

Still, the movie is not focus on epic battles between man and machine so don't get that wrong or expect that though. Its more of small group action movie.


Music 3/5

Music was not impressive and I am probably just guessing that it was there, but as far as the experience go, I didn't really notice any additional value from the music itself.


Spectacle 4/5

Realistically speaking this movie is a bit more on story line then action to be honest. There is no particular strong actions scenes that emphasized how the humans were fighting with the aliens. Its more or less meet monster, live or die, and try again next time. Very clear cut with little extended fighting scenes.

Story line was also slightly more emphasized on to keep the story together and tell the audeince at which stage this guy is currently. Of course when you see the current timeline, the audience is kept unaware whether this is the first time the guy is in this scenario or is it the 100th time. This keeps the audience intrigued. Might have been talking a tad bit too much towards the middle of the movie but overall it did a above average job especially to keep the many aspects of this sci fi movie coherent!


Overall

Storyline: 4 (Good storyline, kept interesting by the way the director chose the timelines)
Character: 4 (Main focus was on the two characters and all supporting characters are nothing more then just supporting, could have been any other person)
Cinematography: 4 (Good shots but it was not a epic fighting movie as opposed to small group fighting movie)
Music: 3 (It probably was there, but didn't have too much effect on the movie)
Spectacle: 4 (Overall, a story line focused movie with good action elements, not the best in its arena but is definitely an above average job)

Overall: 3.8 (This score indicates that its a movie that you can see without regrets especially if you are a fan of the action and storyline genre. However, hard core action lovers or hard core storyline critics will not be totally appeased but it is really catering to the main bulk of audiences. Told in a very entertaining ways with a good mix of comedic aspects and action sequences. A good way to spend 2 hours of your time if you don't have anything significant to keep yourself entertained or busy)

Saw the movie? Missed out important components and didnt understand why certain things happened or was done? You can ask here if you are still confused and I still remember.

Movies: Maleficent

Movies: Maleficent

Another movie that I managed to catch quite soon after its release! A movie whose trailer you should have seen pretty often if you are a movie goer. If not here is the link to the creepy movie trailer.

Creepy isn't it! Yea.. its amazing how Angelina Jolie has such big lips O.o! Did you recognize the song? Here's the happy version

Ok enough of joking, this movie is retelling of the classic movie from disney a long time ago which is the story of sleeping beauty. That means that there is no dwarfs (that's snow white) or woman fighting in china (that's mulan) or fish woman ariel (that's the little mermaid) and there is also no pumpkin carriage and glass slipper (that's cinderella).

Yes, there are that many princesses so its good if you don't get mixed up. Elsa is from a different league though so there is probably no confusion there!

Anyway on to the review for this movie!

Here she is! Look at the lips!

Storyline 3.5/5

Its a pretty creative retelling of a story that some of us might have grown up with, and for those who didnt grow up with this, it would be interesting as their understanding of the traditional fairy tales are now going to be slightly different. None the less as far as the storyline goes, its pretty interesting right from the start till the end and most likely won't bore you to death.

Its not particularly fast paced and there is not too many giant twists in the movie aka, you probably will have an overall idea what is going to happen next as the movie progresses. Nonetheless the story has a good pace and does not have a really slow moment due to good injection of humor and interesting fillers.

Its however not fast paced and would probably be too slow for action lovers. In fact, this is not a pure action film so don't expect to see too much action. This is probably the problem here because the trailer showed some scenes that seem to indicate that there should be a bit more action then what is finally presented. 

Character 3.5/5

The character as played by Angelina Jolie is pretty realistic and real. She did a good job portraying Maleficent and expressing her inner most feelings. The other supporting characters have bit more minor roles but most remain distinct and somewhat endearing to the audience.

This movie is really told in a fairy tale spin which probably was meant to cater to the younger audience so you will not see people who are pure evil but rather people who are just grossly misunderstood. It overall keeps a rather surprisingly light hearted tone which may put off some people if they are expecting a pure evil witch.

Cinematography 4/5

Surprisingly for a non action film, the cinematography is actually pretty good with epic shots and good perspective shots.

There are also a lot of visual effects to emphasize the magical world they live in which adds good entertainment value to the movie.

Music 4/5

Music is well done in this movie and very prominent adding much immersion value to the audience. You will get more into the movie thanks to the good soundtrack.

Spectacle 3.5/5

This is probably a movie that emphasizes on storyline. However, if you are the kind of person who needs many twists and turns to keep the movie exciting, this movie might not be able to interest you fully. The action and epic scenes are fun and a welcome addition but none is really deeply emphasized in the movie so the hard core action lovers will not like this movie. I only highlighted this grouse purely because the trailer for this movie seems to be indicative of more action in the movie which was not what they did focus on.

In the end, I would say that it is a fun experience and somewhat interesting story line, but is not really anything out of the box.

Overall

Storyline: 3.5 (A different storyline that will intrigue you at the start, but as you start to understand what is the main thrust of the movie, there will be nothing astonishing)
Character: 3.5 (Good acting by Jolie and development of Maleficient character that adds a lot of entertainment and fun to the movie)
Cinematography: 4 (Good shots even during the action sequences but could have used more)
Music: 4 (Good accompanying music that added a lot of value to the movie)
Spectacle 3.5 (Its a interesting retelling of the story, there are some action elements but none of them are top of the class)

Overall: 3.7 (I would say this movie won't be a waste of your time especially if you have children who are interested in this story. But for adult level there is no big draw to see the movie unless you just want to see how a bad character can be portrayed in the different light. Not a show for those who want action though so take note of that.

In the end, if you were to be seeing it, just go there with the expectation of a retelling of a old fairy tale from a new perspective and that should be it. Don't expect anything else other then that or you will be disappointed. All other action scenes are just complimentary)

Will be going to see the next movie Edge of Tomorrow within the next week so if you want to wait for my review, just wait till then :) Cheers!

Movies: X-men Days of Future Past

Movies: X-men Days of Future Past

Finally! The next installment to the xmen franchise has arrived. This follows a list of about 7 movies, namely X-men, X2, X-men The Last Stand, X-men Origins Wolverine, X-men First Class, The Wolverine. Basically, if you are looking for movies that are X-men related, just search for all the movies with Hugh Jackman as the Wolverine and that would be it. As long as he is in the movie it is a related movie already. Do remember that the avengers world which is Iron man, Thor and Captain America are also related in some far way to X-men. Even the Fantastic Four and Spiderman are all related as they are from the Marvel Franchise.

Nonetheless how has this new movie performed? Read on to find out!

Heres the movie and pretty much the two mainmainmain characters

Storyline 4.5/5

I would say that especially for Marvel fans you are going to like this movie for the story line. It takes into account every single movie that has happened before this and yet in the end it does something that impacts all the previous movies. No spoilers here but really. It gets you thinking.

For those who do not follow Marvel however it is not that bad also cause the main gist of the storyline is not hard to follow with the objective being very clear from the beginning and aiming to reach the objective for the rest of the movie.

There is some thinking involved during the movie thanks to mystique and her shape-shifting prowess but nothing too hard to follow even for those not into the Marvel world.

However to be honest, to truly enjoy all the smart additions and salutes to the previous episodes, see the earlier movies by whatever means necessary. Call your friends and relatives for a sleep over cum movie night. You will see and draw links all over to the previous movie that you have seen and feel more entertained and fulfilled when you spot the links.

Characters 4/5

The x-men universe is so full of unique characters with personalities that you cannot really honestly expect any movie to introduce all of them in greater detail. This is even more evident when you realize that some characters in the movie, you might not even know his or her name. Thankfully for x-men, people generally just want to see their powers and as a result the movie can still cater to all the audience members whether they are fans or not.

An advert of the movie

See the poster above, well of all these characters, actually two of them practically just appeared for seconds. In fact... One of them on the left really literally appeared for just 3 secs. See if you know who. I also dont really remember seeing the person on the furthest left during the entire movie...So thats the problem with the X-men universe as it has too many characters that might drown off a person new to the franchise. 

There are easily another 5 characters that have substantial amount of screen time in this movie but have No lines. They just come in and show off their power and then something will happen to them... TWICE. Shall not spoil the movie and let you go see it for yourself but it is pretty funny, entertaining and sometimes even sad. Still it adds a lot to this movie. You will understand when you see it.

Cinematography 4.5/5

The movie starts off strong and shows off the varied abilities of the mutants from the get go. It then moves on to the main idea of the storyline and within the line, additional characters are shown using their powers in their own unique way.

This is where the Cinematography comes into play. There will be one scene at the earlier half of the movie where they will utilize all the tricks of the camera to highlight the true power that some mutants will have. The movie does this a few more times such as how it highlights Magneto's and Storm's immense power over metal as well as how the x-men uses their teamwork to "overcome" the odds in their own fights. 

There are a lot of epic shots as well as good fighting scenes although obviously they could be much longer to show off more. 

Music 4/5

There are some fantastic use of music to the movie that really adds to the entertainment value of the movie. You will be immersed in good surround sound to show off the impact of every mutant power during the movie and that makes the movie that much more enjoyable. Its this kind of sound effects that you must go to the theatre to experience and its a lot more expensive to try to do up at home. So do yourself a favor if you love action movies and see it in the theatres.

Spectacle 4.5/5

The storyline for X-men is strong and in terms of action and fight scenes, it does it very very well. The whole time limited idea of the movie also adds to the edge of your seat experience that adds a lot to the fun of the movie. Add to that the introduction of many new characters with wide and varied powers even if only for a short stint, the movie will keep you entertained. It did get slightly dry towards the center but the great start and exciting end makes up for the entire movie.

I would say for those who have seen the previous x-men movies, it adds a lot of additional value to the movie as you can see how some of the movies started or ended up the way they did and you will have a very complete or better view over the movie. Further more, some of the things that happened during the movie seems to be preparing the viewer for the future movies so if ever u are gonna see the future movies, you will probably benefit from seeing this one. Hence there is really no reason to skip this movie especially since it falls under the most generic action genre coupled with a good storyline. Also given its long show time, it is also money well spent.

Its a movie that gives its viewer all they would want, and more.

Overall

Storyline: 4.5 (Exciting storyline that has its fair share of twists thanks to Mystique. Even for non-fans, its easy to follow)

Character: 4 (Many new characters with exciting powers revealed. Unfortunate that some names are not even mentioned. But of course that might take too much extra and unnecessary time?)

Cinematography: 4.5 (Good shots and angles to make the movie even more immersive and exciting)

Music: 4 (Good music that adds strong movie going value to the audience)

Spectacle: 4.5 (For fans, a definite watch. For action lovers it does well in its aspects also. Even storyline is not shabby)

Overall: 4.3 (A movie that only flaws is due to its time limitation but it is pretty impossible to try to improve on one without affecting another aspect for example improve on character development without harming how exciting the movie is. Fans of the movies must see this show and for 2 hours plus show time, its a easy movie to see even if you dont like the genre. You can even go in with expectation and the movie will most likely deliver. 

But to truly enjoy this movie, I repeat again, consider seeing all the previous episodes first cause they really add a lot of value in terms of knowing the world, knowing the characters and the struggle they face. Go ahead and plan when to see this movie, you should be able to enjoy it.)

Also note that there IS an after credits scene as per Marvel movie tradition so stay till the very end. By very end i mean SIT ON THE CHAIR TILL THE LIGHTS COME ON!

Have fun!

Movies: Godzilla

Movies: Godzilla

A movie that will more likely cater more to the older audience as compared to the newer generation. With remakes of the movie starting from 1954, it has probably crept into the minds of the older viewers. With the advent of this Godzilla movie in 2014, it has made sure that the newer generation have their chance to be educated on this famous japanese icon. If you know who Godzilla is, then you are probably someone who can enjoy this movie. If you don't know who Godzilla is on the other hand... well read on and find out whether this should be your chance to know him.

For those who are unaware.. Godzilla is that huge creature in the middle spitting lazorbeams of power! HES NOT A DINOSAUR and has no relationship to Barney. Unlike Barney, Godzilla loves NO ONE!

Unlike other movies featuring characters like Iron man, Hulk blahblahblah, there is no need to see any previous Godzilla movie to enjoy this one. In fact, some might say to not see previous movies as they were horrible remakes. But is this movie in the same state?

Storyline 3/5

I would say that this entire movie storyline is just to lead up to the introduction of the above named creature. The appearance and role played by the above named creature is so essential that actually, when you reach the main climax of the movie, you don't really even bother about what the story line is about.

In fact, what the humans do in this show is completely senseless and insignificant in this show that you really don't see the need of the humans to be in this show in my opinion. Lets put it this way, the humans played zero relevance role in the fight against the monster in this show. They did absolutely nothing, but since this movie needs to start of with some human story and perspective, they did this put in a passable storyline to lengthen the time and get things started at best.

Don't come into this movie expecting amazing storyline with twists and turns.

Character 3/5

As said above, the storyline that involves the humans had little significance to the movie expect making it last longer. Add to this the fact that the movie considers almost everyone else to be expendable and does not see the need to add any background stories, there will be little affiliation to all the characters in the movie.

Add to that the fact that Godzilla is supposed to be mysterious in terms of origin and motive, you realize that at the end of the movie, you learn or understand little new things about Godzilla nor the people involved in this movie.

Cinematography 4.5/5

This is where the movie shines. In fact, this should be the reason you come and see this movie. If you wanna see how nice human technology stands up to creatures or rather, you wanna see complete obliteration of what humans can offer against these creatures, this is the movie you should see. 

The shots are epic and very awe inspiring. A lot of zoomed out shots but the way the story is told is also done uniquely. Sometimes by outward shots, and yet somethings via news reports and other times through the eyes of some of the people in the movie. This is probably the focus of the movie and the way the movie will immerse you.

Music 4/5

This movie has good music, or rather, this movie has a lot of BASS. And I mean ALOT. So much so that you might feel that Godzilla is right outside the theater stomping around. And this is probably good as it adds immersive value. The soundtrack in this movie also helps the overall feel of the movie justifying its above average score.

Spectacle 4/5

For the fans of Godzilla, this movie has provided all that has made Godzilla action so attractive to lovers of this creature. Those who don't know about Godzilla but like to feel the impact caused by huge monsters, this movie can provide that too. At the end, you will probably go off saying that this movie was "awesome". By awesome I don't mean totally great, but rather awe inspiring. You will know the difference if you see the movie.

As long as you can look past the average story line that at the end, you will probably have no feeling or regard for, you should be able to enjoy what this movie has to offer.


Overall
Storyline: 3 (Basically just the material that holds the movie together and allows progress. Nothing more then that)
Characters: 3 (No one is really important in the movie, no one is really elaborated upon.)
Cinematography: 4.5 (This is what you should see the movie for, and it was really obvious that effort was put into this)
Music: 4 (Good strong bass. Might even be too loud. But giant monsters ain't suppose to be quiet and weak sounding)
Spectacle: 4 (Fans will love it, action lovers too. Story lovers not so much. Godzilla movies was not really focused on story lines to be honest)

Overall: 3.7 (Fans of Godzilla as well as action fans will definitely like this flick. Storyline lookers not so much. For those who do not know Godzilla however, try to keep your expectations slightly lower, just expecting to see some pretty good movie shots and you should be sufficiently appeased at the end of the movie. Not a show that requires you to think too much, just a show that requires you to keep ur eyes and ears open, and enjoy the experience. If you can look at it like this, add to it the 2 hour movie price tag, it's a pretty worthwhile movie)

Agree with me on Godzilla? Comment over here if any!

Food: TomYum KungFu (Mookata)

Food: Mookata

Good evening all and a happy mother's day to all :) Finally finished some exams at school and realised that its time to get back to writing and stop being lazy. So I was looking back at all the stored pictures on my phone and found about 3 or 4 places that i was supposed to review. So I will review this one first being a nice interesting place that I been to!

When writing this review i finally understood what mookata means. Its basically the word they use to describe their unique BBQ steamboat style. So you will see many different mookata shops all around using the similar BBQ steamboat pot with different stall names! Now that we got that out of the way, lets get to the food.

Scroll down for details such as location and prices!

Food 4.5/5

Note that this place is not a Buffet style type of steamboat but rather ala carte orders. We ordered a bit too much for 2 people (unfortunately it was finishable) 

We started off with the appetizer which is this tasty little mango salad thingy! As with mango salads, its supposed to be slightly spicy and this tasted pretty good!

Appetizer to start off! Mango salad

 The next dish was some green curry chicken.. unfortunately, if you know me well you know that i am not a fan of chicken. However I am a person who is quite choosy about curry. Generally for this dish, the taste was there but was slightly watery and not strong enough. You can add it to your rice but its just ok la in terms of taste improvement.

Green curry

The next dish i ate was this one. Forgot what was inside it but it was really nice because it was crispy when freshly cooked. Unlike some other fried food like this, the portion was just nice and it didn't taste too boring or the chinese word is "NI". Not sure about the english equivalent for this.

Friend something.. suspect it was prawn i guess

 Finally, here is the main course or the main draw of the night which was the BBQ steamboat itself. Its charcoal based and you can see the soup is off at the side. This means that as you cook the food the juices from the cooked food will actually flow into the soup and make it even more tastier. I guess that's the style over here.

The highlight of the night, mookata BBQ steamboat

 You can actually choose the meats and the veggie from the menu and it is changable cause we actually didnt want to eat the prawns. So we got it changed to fish meat or something. They also gave some LARD which my friend taught me to put on the top of the BBQ first to oil the entire BBQ surface before starting to eat it. Very interesting methodology! You can see the menu choices in a picture further below.

Meat and assorted veggies!

 See the lard at the top? and see the meat get cooked! Don't worry the soup is entirely refillable at no charges. It was actually quite nice to slurp off towards the end of the meal! Note that for cooking the fish, it tends to be a bit more sticky so my friend told me to boil the fish meat slightly in the soup portion first!

Cooking in progress!!

 The meat was actually very nicely marinated till we actually ordered a second serving of meat. It was pork however if i wasn't mistaken.

Need more food and nourishment!

They had also two different choices of chilli to choose from and unlike some buffet settings both chilli choices did taste pretty nice and seems thai like. It was a good addition to the food.

Overall the taste of the food was actually pretty good and tasty and the soup also became a very nice addition to the meal.

 Atmosphere 3/5

Undoubtedly, as with many of the shops in this vicinity, space is a major constraint and you can feel this as the shop is relatively narrow although the tables are spaced to the most extreme positions already. You will be sitting either on the small chairs or on the seemingly stone benches along the walls of the place if you take a seat inside the restaurant itself. Hence once you sit inside, you are actually probably gonna be trapped by the seat and your friends so toilet breaks become a big deal!

This place tried to do something useful by actually putting a wooden board across two tables when the people are well seated to increase the eating space which is a nice move. The staff are pretty non-intrusive and they wont bother you but neither are they much of a positive or negative impact to the experience.

Overall, not the best place to sit and talk, but it is good enough for you to sit and eat and its not too tightly packed till the staff will bump into u and stuff. Hard chairs though but probably can survive for the eating time!

Price 3/5

Below is the menu for eating. Unfortunately I didn't photograph the entire menu but this shows the standard BBQ set that you can order.

Its strangely cute that for adding noodles and some different kinda prawn u need to add 5 dollars O.o.. thats why we didnt get that.. but in any cases this is the price range, not entirely cheap as these prices just add 10 more dollars and you can have buffet at some places.

Overall for 2 pax, we paid about 80++ dollars which is pretty pricey for 2 pax. Of course we did order quite a lot overall and probably overate but the food doesn't look as expensive as it looks and the portions are not entirely filling so you might order more then usual.

Accessibility 3/5

TomYum KungFu Mookata is pretty near the chinatown mrt if i am not mistaken but you probably have to walk about 5-10 minutes away. Sadly seems like the place is pretty popular so you might want to consider calling in reservation before going as you will take some time to eat and its not very big so waiting time could get significant. 

But all in all, for this end result below its pretty ok...

End result of the dinner

Overall

Food: 4.5 (The food taste is unique and pretty tasty that we had second helpings. It is an interesting experience to try and the tastes should be pretty favorable)

Atmosphere: 3 (Not entirely big shop and a bit cramp, but there are some things they did to try free up some space)

Price: 3 (Portions are not very big, and the food is not entirely cheap. Not very expensive either also for the occasional dinner especially)

Accessibility: 3 (It's near a MRT and walkable from there. Small shop leads to slight crowds though)

Overall: 3.4 (Definitely a place to try once in your life and you could go there for the rough special occasion. Not sure about other Mookata but thanks to my friend for opening my eyes to this type of food, I am sure I will visit another Mookata shop in the near future! Try it our yourself and I think you will appreciate the experience!)

For more details you could check this place for location and opening hours 

http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/tom_yum_kungfu/