THE credits began to roll, I got out of my cramped space in the semi-darkened cineplex hall. Thirty seconds later, Hancok faded back into view. Hey, the movie hasn't ended yet!

This brings to mind what they did with Constantine as well which starred Keanu Reeves. That one wasn't great. I think it showed at the box office.

Hancock which received a fair amount of publicity prior to its worldwide release was touted, or so I was told, as one of this summer's biggest surprises.

Well folks, I have good and bad news for you. The good news is the CGI is near impressive. Not perfect but impressive and I have seen plenty of those. The bad news is, it is not nearly as good as the PR machine it is.

I like Will Smith. In fact, I liked him since he played that gangly youth in Fresh Prince of Bel Air back in those Jurassic days. Boy, has this boy grown up and he collected some big bucks along the way, too.

As John Hancock, superhero not extraordinaire, Smith is portrayed as a lost soul who suffers from an identity crisis.

A big reason is because he can't remember who he is, where he comes from and he's very tired of fighting criminals on behalf of the cops. Not very inspiring when the general public thinks he's a major nuisance.

Nobody really likes Hancock initially because he keeps piling up the damage caused by his reckless flying into public property. Actually, it surprised me that nobody is surprised by his supernormal powers.

He's impervious to bullets, just like superman. In superman's case, the guy is handsome.
Take for example, Christopher Reeves and Brendan Roth.

Will Smith is no Rudolph Valentino or Brad Pitt so he comes across as an anti-hero as the press release made him out to be.

 I am all for that super-muscled underdog but I thought the script over did it with the vagabond bit and all that self-destructive attitude that seems to permeate through the first 20 minutes of the show.

Then the surprise came, in the form of Charlize Theron, who plays Mary Embrey, wife of Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), the man who's destined to alter the course of Hancock's life.

 Charlize, as any man who cares to know, is a real looker, on and off screen. But in the beginning I nearly didn't recognised her.

She looked like an ordinary person who had a not-so-well-hidden beauty. Minutes later, I almost kicked myself for coming to the realisation that it was the South African beauty who has made many a man's heart aflutter whenever she appears on the screen.

The gem of the entire plot was when it was disclosed that Mary was also a superheroine, except that she has that identity under wraps for centuries.

Yes sirree, Hancock and Mary are superbeings who were put on earth (I think) to learn and live like humans.

Now the convulated storyline unentangles. Hancock and Mary were husband and wife about several lifetimes ago. The big problem was when they were together, they would both negate each other's superpowers.

So for the sake of mankind, they must stay apart, no matter how much they want to be together, or how much they were attracted to each other.

Hancock's plot, in my own humble opinion, is weak. It is entertaining but not spectacularly earth-shaking, in a superman kind of way. I guess you can call it family entertainment.

It is not as mind-boggling as the Matrix trilogy. It is several levels lower. People from all levels will find some enjoyment out of it but it is not even near the Indiana Jones' standard.

I like it to a certain degree but the person next to me gave me a disapproving look when I asked her, how was it.

 I guess that's about sums it up. See it if you have nothing to do but don't expect to think long and deep about it when the show is over.

 Save that for a book on the mysteries of life by Chinese philosopher Chuang Tze.

WHEN people ask me what I think of Jackie Chan, I usually said I like him best when he was a young, somewhat rather awkward actor making the best of his Beijing Opera training as a drunken kung fu chap.

Yes, there's no denying that Chan was quite captivating when he rolled and flipped incessantly back and forth on a rough terrain, making a fool out of a supposedly master of a deadly and obscure Chinese art of wushu.

What springs to mind at this juncture is Drunken Master which came out in 1978, precisely 30 years ago when Jackie Chan was a mere strapling 24-year-old.

Those of us who had the opportunity to see Drunken Master would remember this Jackie Chan, not so much the Jackie of Forbidden Kingdom or even Jackie of the other flick which he did with Jennifer Love Hewitt.
I believe that film was The Tuxedo (2002).

Anyway, back to Drunken Master. Chan plays Wong Fei Hung, a notable character in the Kung fu hall of fame as far as most Chinese are concerned.

The plot is rather thin, as some critics may conclude because it's about a young, clumsy man who has to master the art of drunken kung fu from an equally drunk old vagabond. But the art is deceptively simple but just as equally deadly.

 So after many cups of wine and other forms of alcoholic beverages, the body springs into action and the cinema audience is delighted with the antics of this very nimble and agile exponent who is constantly red in the face.

Who else but director Yuen Woo Ping could have pulled off such funny and yet entertaining acts of kung fu. Actually, Chan's mentor in the movie almost stole the show from him.

 He was Siu Tien Yuen. In real life he was 66 years old and the father of director Yuen
Woo Ping.

Some of the stunts pulled off by Chan and also Woo Ping were nothing short of spectacular. Even 30 years later, a kung fu movie goer would be thrilled by a young Chan going through the paces that demanded of him in the role as Wong Fei Hung.

The nemesis of Fei Hung in Drunken Master is Jang Lee Hwang. I believe he is a genuine Korean who used to be a Taekwondo instructor in the Korean Army.

And you know they don't employ amateurs there. So Jang proved to be quite a formidable opponent for Chan in many of the fighting scenes.

Even if you don't appreciate Chan's wriggly movements, you can't help but notice that Jang's powerful kicks were quite lethal and in real life could knock any opponent out instantly.

This film is a few minutes short of two hours but it is an unadulterated kung fu movie of many thrilling kicks and punches. Even at such a tender age, I enjoyed it immensely.

 I still do when I recall all those scenes in which Fei Hung (Jackie Chan) somehow miraculously managed to survive all the deadly blows by Korean Jang.

If you are a kung fu fan who loves a touch of comedy to the usual routine, this one is right up your street.

SOMEWHERE during my journey down Tinseltown, someone whispered in my ear about this Spanish film that took the film world by storm. This happened many moons ago when I was young, eager and easy to please.

I was also terribly curious when it comes to foreign movies. All it took was for some stranger to crawl up to me and said: "Amigo, this film is a must-see or you will die unhappy."

And off I go in search for that so-called holy grail. El Mariachi bounced into foreign cinemas in Spain and Mexio in 1992.

Its plot was so wacky that somehow it caught the imagination of cinema goers. Better still, it mesmerised Columbia Pictures executives into championing its cause.

That's how El Mariachi gained worldwide popularity. I recall reading about this movie in Time Magazine or was it Newsweek. It was the standard bearer for all henceforth el-cheapo indie movies.

 I think the budget for producing El Mariachi was about US$7,000. That's just slightly above RM21,000. When you compare this figure to normal movies, this tiny sum would be barely enough to buy food for the film crew.

But Robert Rodriguez the director is one determined hombre. He also produced and wrote El Mariachi. That saved him a lot of money. On top of that he used anybody and everybody he could get to expand his casting list.

 For example, he hired two persons to play prison warden and guard. They were actually real life employees of those professions.

Rodriguez also managed to persuade some youngsters to play thugs and locations for the 81-minute film were in a red light district. Again, much cost-cutting there.

The story is convoluted but Mexicans probably liked it that way. It is about this travelling musician, who lugs along guitar case.

The only problem was he was mistaken for an escaped convict by the name of Azul. Azul has a machinegun hidden in a guitar case which he uses to great effect in disposing of his enemies.

Naturally, El Mariachi becomes a target for the other side. His nemesis is Moco, the former crime partner of Azul. El Mariachi is caught up in all that madness and in the process finds time to fall in love with one sweet lady called Domino.

In the melee that defines the movie, Domino and Azul get shot by Moco. El Mariachi himself has his left hand injured by gunfire. Our hero then embarks on a vengeance trail with that deadly guitar case.

So the legend of El Mariachi takes on monstrous proportions. This film has names like Carlos Gallardo (El Mariachi), Consuelo Gomez (Domino), Peter Marquardt (Moco), Reinol Martinez (Azul), Jaime de Hoyos, Ramiro Gomez, Luis Baro, and Jesus Lopez Viejo. Actually, nobody we really know.

 That is, if you are not a Mexican and do not have any blood relations to any Spaniards.

El Mariachi went on to bag a number of international film awards. Today El Mariachi is the benchmark for all indie film producers.

 In other words, if you have a very limited budget, do not fret. Just follow the example of El Mariachi. If Robert Rodriguez can produce El Mariachi on 16mm film, you can practically conquer the world with your ingenuity.

El Mariachi went on to spawn two other sequels - Desperado (1995) and Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2003).

The production of this movie spurred Robert Rodriguez to write a book entitled Rebel Without A Crew. See if you can do better, if you are so inclined.

IF I were to reach as far back as 36 years ago, I would be able to recall some of the movies that fired my young mind. One of Shaw Brothers' best remembered films then was The Heroic Ones.

At that time, it was a movie to end all period movies. This one has all the ingredients of an epic period movie. Of course, there are two of Chang Cheh's favourite boys - David Chiang and Ti Lung.

 Both were then young men. One slightly skinny, the other muscular and handsome. Both were fine actors.

The plot was quite straight-forward. A Mongol King wants to quell some dangerous rivals. So he handpicks nine of his 13 favourite generals.

His favourite was of course his 13th "son" Li Tsun Xiao (David Chiang). Some Chinese may scratch their heads in trying to remember this movie because the English title may throw them off a bit.

The Chinese equivalent of the move title is "Shi San Tai Bao". Heroic Ones is best remembered for its fantastic fight scenes.

 Naturally, compared with today's CGI specials, it is kindergarten stuff but back in those days when there was actually nothing to compare it with, it was like watching the gigantic Blue Whale swimming right in front of you.

If you get your hands on a remastered version (DVD) of The Heroic Ones, forget about the story, just concentrate on the action scenes, and you will be wholly satisfied. I like Ti Lung in this movie. He plays Jin Su, the 11th son of the King.

 Ti Lung was just 24 when he starred in this film and already he showed the potential that would hold him in good stead for the next 25 years.

If my memory serves me correctly, both David Chiang and Ti Lung died heroic deaths but Chiang's passing was truly spectacular.

There's a saying in Hong Kong, particularly in Shaw Brothers actors' studio, and that is "if you want to be remembered by your audience, then a simple death will be bad for your career.

Better make is a spectacular passing." And that, I promise you as far as this movie is concerned, you won't be disappointed.

Ti Lung's deadly weapon in The Heroic Ones was a spear. With his magnificent physique and a fight scene involving hundreds of enemies, it was destined to be a fight to the finish.

 Since that fateful year 1971, I have almost never come across such a death scene that involved Ti Lung, his lethal spear and the scores of dead bodies around him.

What a show. Truly memorable when you think about it and youths can be so impressionable and I truly was. Got to get that DVD one day. Surely, director Chang Cheh deserves a toast on this one.