A Letter to Yusry: HMM @ The Malay Chronicle: Bloodline

Dear Yusry,

First of all, I would like to congratulate you for making such a bold decision to direct this Epic film, "Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa" @ The Malay Chronicle: Bloodline. I was so excited to go and watch this great film after the huge promotions on the mass media. That's why as an unpaid movie critic, I would love to share my point of view on this film. There'll be some pros and cons BUT overall I would still say "KUDOS" to you and your crew.

Let me just start on the PROS:

1- The fighting scenes: I love most of the fighting scenes in this film. The scenes looked so real with the blood spilling and everything. The best fighting was the scene between Merong(Stephen) and Kamawas (Khir).

2- The Malay poetic lines: So in love with the Pantun used as part of Malay lines in this film. The pantun, "Sampai masa  tibanya waktu, Redup hati kamu berdua, Bila dua jasad bersatu, Hidup mati jadi bersama". Kudos to Amir Hafizi the genius script writer. (Read more HERE about his experience in writing the script)

3- The Computer Graphic Image Effects: What should I say more? You guys are the best in producing film with CGI effects in Malaysia.

4- The casts: I love Stephen Rahman (as Merong), Khir (Kamawas- one of the main villains), Dato Rahim Razali (Tok Kesum) and Gavin (as Prince Marcus) also was not so bad.


5- The injection of humor: I have to mention this too because Nell Ng (as Ling Ling) managed to inject a little bit of humor to the film just when the mood became so tensed.

6- The set: With only 8 million, you and your crew managed to build some impressive set that normally will take more than what you've spent. It's not that easy to build the harbour, a fleet of ships (though with CGI effects) and other set in the film.


So, now..............let's go to the ugly business where I have to tell you about the CONS of the film. My intention is not to condemn or really giving the bad review BUT my POV (point of view) is for you and your brothers to be able to produce higher standard of films in Malaysia.

The CONS:

1- Some problems in the Cinematography: I'm not an expert in this but as a viewer, I would like to be able to enjoy the breathtaking and high quality cinematography. Sometimes, it seems that the camera was too shaky and some views were blocked by the extra casts.

2- The love scenes were not so convincing: Merong and Embuk didn't have the strong connection and they failed to convinced me that they were in love with each other. Prince Marcus and Princess Jing Lu had more chances to show their affections.

3- The plot and the flow of the story: The plot was quite simple (this is actually good) BUT there were times when I felt some scenes were deleted and somehow that affected the flow of the story.


Okay, you can see that I can only list down 3 CONS compared to 5 PROS for this film. Again I'm not the expert in writing a movie critic and let's not forget that I'm not getting paid for this. (apa motif tah cakap benda ni berulang kali - sorry Yusry). These comments are just my humble opinion of a movie fan who always want to see of more impressive Malaysian films. I have to give 4/5 stars for this film.

I reckon more Malaysians will go and watch the most anticipated film of the year and you and your brothers don't need to worry about any critics as you guys are always being positive and want to strive for more success. Thank you for this film. I can' t wait to see more of your movies in the future.


Yours sincerely,

Transformed Housewife (not Transformer okay!)


P/S: I want to show the tickets that I bought to watch this film in KLCC this afternoon. (sekali lagi tak tahu motif apa menunjuk. Mungkin sbb nak tunjuk gambar malula sbb kami amat comot pergi tengok wayang lps habis mesyuarat dan masuk panggung pun bila cerita dah nak mula. hehehe)

Pssst: Tie, Abe Tie ni pandaila. Meme otok bijok.