Cicakman 2: Planet Hitam Gala Premiere in Singapore…

It’s been quite a happening one week, with a few events occurring to my interest, which deserve mentioning and highlighting. At least this blog is able to be updated and not meant to be a white elephant. I was still tired from my cruise trip which ended last Friday, and I had just started on my previous blog entry on the trip. Naturally, I hate to stop halfway once I’ve started on something. However, a newspaper article in last Friday‘s Berita Harian perked me up when I read that Yusry Abdul Halim of KRU fame would be in town to promote his new film “Cicakman 2: Planet Hitam“. He was not to be alone and would be joined by the gorgeous and my favourite deejay from across the Causeway, none other than Radio ERA‘s Linda Onn.

Riz Sunawan waiting for the artistes to arrive…

I looked at the schedule and saw that they were slated to make an appearance at The Cathay @ Downtown East between 1-3pm on Saturday 6th December 2008 and The Cathay @ Causeway Point between 2-4pm on Sunday 7th December 2008. As my Sunday afternoons are normally spent on playing football with my neighbourhood gang, the thought of rushing from Woodlands and back to Sengkang was not one that I looked forward to. The distance is also further compared to Sengkang and Pasir Ris and I wouldn’t want to waste my fuel for nothing. Since the movie was also being shown at 3:15pm at Downtown East and not at Causeway Point, it was decided that Saturday was the day to go. Also since both my nephew Muhammad and niece Nurin loved the first edition of the said movie, I thought it would be great if they tagged along as well.

But first things first. I had to confirm whether the one being shown at Downtown East was the full movie and not a sneak preview. Cos I did not want to be shortchanged watching a sneak preview with a few scenes deleted. That’s why they call it a “sneak preview” for those of you who dunno this. So I messaged the two “ibu pengantins“, Jihan & Janna, and asked if it’s a full movie or a sneak preview. Jihan replied and said it’s the full movie AND it’s the gala premiere so I should come. And came I did. I wasn’t keen on coming so early as past similar events had shown that the artistes’ normally don’t make their appearance right on the dot. Syahindah wasn’t back yet from Kuala Lumpur with my family and Syadiyah is too young to appreciate watching a movie, so it was just us, the kids and their mum, Kak Rashida. We left home at about 1:40pm.

When I reached the cinema lobby at Downtown East, I was surprised to see that there was not much of a crowd milling around the area where Yusry and Linda Onn were slated to make an appearance. Initially I thought the event was over, but then I saw Jihan and Janna, and they said that both Yusry and Linda will be coming out anytime soon. So it was definitely a good decision on my part to have left home slightly later. From a distance I could see the Mediacorp Malay Newsroom team led by Riz Sunawan, setting up their equipment, to interview the two artistes when they finally appear. I think it was about 2:20pm that Yusry, Linda Onn and the KRU Music Group chief himself, Norman Abdul Halim, finally came out from their waiting area.

This is not Saiful Apek…

A bit funny really that when they appeared, no announcements were made. This was because when they appeared, they headed straight to the area where the Mediacorp Malay Newsroom team had set up their equipment to do their interviews, which was aired that same night during the 8pm news. Walking towards the area, they had to walk past us and all three beamed at us, especially the two brothers which regular readers of this blog would note by now of my affiliation and loyalty towards KRU since they came into the music scene. Somehow there is always an emptiness when the joker of the pack, Edry, is not around, cos his two elder brothers are quite serious people on the surface.

Yusry being interviewed by Riz Sunawan…

Whilst Yusry was the first to be interviewed by Riz Sunawan, Norman came over to me, thanked me for supporting the event and asked how were things in life. He was surprised I did not bring Syahindah along but understood when I told him that the little one was enjoying herself in Kuala Lumpur. He was quite pleased to know that I had brought my nephew and niece along since I told him they are great fans of the first film. Whilst his attention was then diverted by his assistant AC, I took the time to walk over to Linda and asked if she remembered yours truly.

When I brought up meeting her at Nadia Mustafar‘s wedding last year, she instinctively remembered and said we also met during Umrah in 2006 and that I had gone to her family’s chicken rice shop in Ampang. Her memory’s simply amazing, and to think she has met thousands of people since the last time we saw her. The freshness of her memory was very much evident, without having to remind nor prompt her further. The wife and I were extremely chuffed to meet her again, cos this gal simply has no airs about her, even if she is being portrayed as some sort like an ice queen. She then had to excuse herself as it was her turn to be interviewed by Riz.

Surprising the “mak pengantin“, Janna…

Seeing a beeline being formed at the signature booth, Aida told me to join in the queue as it was getting quite long for our liking. And so we queued and waited for the cue for them to start the autograph signing session. Next to the signature booth, a table was set up to sell the Cicakman merchandise like the comics, colouring books, colour pencils as well as the pencil cases. Oh they were also selling the Cicakman 2 official soundtrack album as well. We called out to my niece and nephew and they showed us which of the merchandise they wanted and we bought for them the colouring books. Seeing the Cicakman 2 soundtrack album having many new singles being released by artistes under the KRU Music Group label, I was swayed into buying it as the merchandise meant for the children are not exactly my cup of tea. I thought it would be worth it and something to remember me by of this gala premiere. It was an honour to know that I was the first amongst the people in the queue to have bought the soundtrack album, thanks to AC, who had by then taken over the microphone to promote the event and merchandise on sale.

Linda Onn being interviewed by Riz Sunawan…

The KRU brothers started the ball rolling by signing autographs on the Cicakman 2 posters that were being given away free to those who had bought tickets to the gala premiere or the merchandise on sale. Once she had finished her interview, Linda joined in the autograph signing session. We took the opportunity to take photos with all of them and once we had finished, we were given three copies of the Cicakman 2 poster by Kak Latifah, who was one of the crew members helping out at the event. It was then I realised that Suria had clinched the deal to be the official TV station of the movie here in Singapore when I saw Alex, one of the familiar faces of Suria‘s Artiste Management Unit.

The Anugerah alumnus and yours truly…

Subsequently I was alerted to the presence of a few Suria artistes namely Fauzie Laily, Hyrul Anuar and Roslan Mohd. From afar, Hyrul and Fauzie were seen grinning and waving at me and I went up to them to ask how they were. And of course, it will not be complete without a photo taken together. Aida and the kids also took the opportunity to take a photograph with Norfasarie who looked extremely radiant and fresh, even in her current condition. The kids are big fans of her’s and they have never missed watching “2 X 5 Dol“, of which she is one of the two main protagonists of the series. My old friend, Fadhilah of Erlin Montel and FYI fame, was also there to cover for her weekly lifestyle programme.

Always a pleasure meeting this old friend of mine…

The show which was originally supposed to start at 3:15pm ended up being shown at 3:30pm. A gala premiere is not complete without the movie’s producer, director and actors giving a brief speech on what to expect about the movie. Apparently Norman gave an idea that Cicakman is meant to be a trilogy and that the movie is filled with a lot of cameo appearances by famous personalities in the Malaysian entertainment industry. Handing the microphone over to Yusry, the latter said that the movie this time would have less elements of comedy and more action as compared to the first movie, so as to give a more credible substance to a super hero movie. By the time Linda spoke about her role in the movie and teased being a baddie, I was all pumped up to watch this sequel.

The kids simply adore Norfa…

The movie as a whole I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars. Personally I feel that this movie is much better than the first. The CGI effects have been increased and made to look more realistic and this time the weather effects were much better sans winter. Even though it’s supposed to be make believe, I still have not warmed to the idea of a Malay country having the four seasons. Other than that, the cameos by the different people make you wonder which celebrity is next to be featured. We were pleasantly surprised to see Aida‘s cousin, Nadia Mustafar, appearing in the supermarket scene. Speaking of that scene, I find it mind boggling that Danny (portrayed by Yusry) suddenly came back to life and acted as one of the extras in the background. Blink and you’ll miss him.

If there are any flaws to the movie, it is probably due to the overacting of certain characters like Tamara Bleszynski‘s “Rrama” and Aznil Nawawi‘s “Professor Klon“. Perhaps it was very much intended by the director, as the latter’s character is meant to be a psycopath who is a little insane in the membrane. Tamara‘s cackling gave me goosebumps as her character became more like a Pontianak than a baddie hell bent on killing Cicakman himself.

Another flaw of note perhaps come from the similarities to Spiderman and Batman which we have seen lately on our movie screens. “Rrama‘s” costume reminded me of a female Batman and her weapons as well as gadgets of choice resembled the Batarangs and others associated to Batman. Cicakman‘s reminded me of Spiderman, especially now that his costume is even redder than the last movie. Even his mode of movement reminded me of Spiderman, in that he uses his tongue, rather than a websling to move from building to building. I think we’ve seen this already in the first movie.

Me and the KRU brothers…

But the storyline in itself was a joy to watch. It was compact, fast-paced and at times delved with the emotions. And what is a super hero movie without twisting plots and surprises along the way??? Help for Cicakman came from quite an unexpected form. You need to watch the movie to know what I’m talking about. Again this part reminded me of Spiderman 3 whereby the New Green Goblin came to Spiderman‘s rescue towards the end. That’s a big hint for you people out there to know which baddie suddenly became good in the end. The finale was a clear indication as to who would possibly be the baddie that Cicakman has to face in the next instalment.

Us and Linda Onn…

As for the soundtrack, there are ten songs in them, all from artistes under the KRU Music Group label. It is a good strategy to release new singles in an album like this. New acts like Pianka, Boy and Flava are given the opportunity to introduce themselves to the masses. The only ironical part is the fact that Pianka, a girl group, has a song entitled “Mau Yang Besar” (I Want It Big). Edry, the composer of the song, certainly likes to push the controversial limits accorded to him. But of course there is nothing pornographic about the song nor does it have any sexual innuendos. It’s a feel good song actually with the girls wanting materialistic stuff. Hopefully it gets played on our local airwaves.

Another special feature in the soundtrack album I also noticed is the fact that all three members of KRU have a song of their own – Edry with “Sumpah Takkan Cari Yang Lain“, Yusry & Melly Goeslaw with “Dibius Cinta” and Norman performing “Planet Hitam“. Even though the main track “Planet Hitam“, which is my personal favourite, is noted as being performed by Tyco, it’s actually just Norman himself performing it in his element. The song is energetic, pumps the adrenaline and most definitely reminded me of the good old days whereby KRU was the kingpin of Malaysian rap.

Nice to see Tyco being resurrected after eight long years. For those of you who dunno, Tyco is the cartoon version of KRU. My wedding dinner introduction, the one I came in with a bang, was a song by Tyco entitled “With You“. You can check out YouTube for that clip, both the original and my own wedding dinner performance. To end this entry, here’s the video clip of “Planet Hitam“, which is currently being shown on Suria at selected times. For the record, the movie is being launched concurrently in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei today and is the reason why I’m pubilshing this entry to coincide with its launch. You should watch this movie!!!

Video courtesy of “krustudios“

Thursday, 11 December 2008 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Aznil Nawawi, Cicakman 2, Edry KRU, Fadhilah Samsudin, Fauzie Laily, Hyrul Anuar, Linda Onn, Nadia Mustafar, Norfasarie, Norman KRU, Riz Sunawan, Roslan Mohd, Saiful Apek, Tamara Bleszynski, Yusry KRU | 7 Comments »