Fans of ‘XX-Ray’ will have more adventures in scientist Amir's universe, says Director Aziz M Osman.
AMIR Hamzah Othman is an iconic character in Malay film history, as its first science-fiction hero in the modern era.
He is the protagonist of director Aziz M Osman's cult XX-Ray film series, which began with XX-Ray in 1992 and XX-Ray II in 1995.
Amir is back now, and has been in cinemas nationwide since Jan 24, with his latest adventure, XX-Ray III.
Aziz says the third adventure of the "weird science guy", who invented a helmet that enabled him to see through walls, and later a time machine which took him back to 15th century Melaka, had always been in his diary.
"I never forgot about Amir. It’s just that I wanted to set his third adventure at a much later time, when he's a successful scientist and plans to guide aspiring young geniuses in his craft," said Aziz at the Press preview of XX-Ray III in the MM2 Cineplex, E-Curve, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya last Jan 16.
"After completing XX-Ray II, I received a lot of feedback from fans, and they urged me to come up with XX-Ray III. However, I didn't want another predictable story, so I decided to take my time and work on it."
XX-Ray celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2017, and during that year, Aziz started filming XX-Ray III.
"Actually, I came up with the script in 2015, but I tweaked it a little more, until it I felt that it was good enough for the big screen."
Aziz's character Amir is still the hero of the new film, but he is more of a mentor to a new "science guy" named Rayyan, played by Izzue Islam Mazlan.
"Amir has had a successful career, producing many devices that benefit Malaysian society. Unfortunately, one such device falls into the wrong hands, and malfunctions, threatening the environment and indirectly our survival."
Izzue said Rayyan is a university student who is obsessed with physics and outer space. He and his best friend and fellow student Sam (Adam John), conduct research into a strange wormhole in the sky which has suddenly appeared, and is affecting the weather.
"The two of us learn that the wormhole appeared in 1996, and caused the historic nationwide blackout then," he said.
Adam said: "Rayyan and Sam meet multi-national company researcher Lana, who tells them that the wormhole produced hundreds of strange devices known as probes, from another dimension."
Lana, played by Sabahan actress Nonny Nadirah Zainuddin, is the daughter of energy corporation moghul Tan Sri Ismail (Datuk Rahim Razali) who has been gathering the probes which fell to earth, to create new technology for the nation’s benefit.
Her elder brother, Rosnan (Dazrin Kamaruddni) is desperate to take over the business from his father, and uses gangsters to intimidate shareholders who oppose his plan.
Aziz said: "The probes begin to affect the sun by absorbing its light. This leads to more unpredictable climate change.
"Rayyan, Sam and Lana seek Amir, who is no longer working with Rosnan. Together, they tap a probe's energy to destroy the other probes and save the planet."
SCIENCE FICTION AND HISTORY
XX-Ray III also stars Ashraf Muslim, Ardell Aryana, Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan, and Saiful Apek.
Jalaluddin is reprising his role as Laksamana Hang Tuah from the second movie.
"Hang Tuah is an immortal, thanks to the magical kris Taming Sari in his hands. He has never forgotten Amir, whom he met in the second movie, and when Amir comes to seek his assistance, he willingly lends a hand, as he seems to know ancient secrets connected to the wormhole and probes."
Dazrin said his character Rosnan may be the "bad guy" of the story, but he is not a "super villain" who seeks global domination.
"Rosnan is just a greedy young man who wants to dominate the energy supply industry by ousting his father. He does not know how to run the family business, and only thinks of making money and enjoying life," he said.
Ashraf and Ardell had a "great trip" to Jordan, which lasted 10 days last year, to film some important scenes of XX-Ray III.
"We play a husband-and-wife team who work with the Malaysian Embassy in Jordan. Rosnan's company has a factory in Jordan, and Amir, Lana, Rayyan and Sam have to visit it to get hold of the probe," said Ashraf.
Ardell thanked Aziz for bringing them to an iconic destination in Jordan, the historical site of Petra, where Harrison Ford filmed Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade and where Michael Bay filmed Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen.
"It's a dream come true for all of us, setting foot where the Transformers and Indiana Jones landed!" she said.
Aziz, who is a huge fan of Hollywood science-fiction films as Star Wars, said Amir will be back in XX-Ray IV.
"Several things remain unexplained in XX-Ray III, because they'll only be revealed in the next outing. My plan has always been to have two adventures involving young Amir, and two more involving 50-something Professor Amir."
Aziz is not only a science-fiction fan, but also a history buff.
"The film is 70 per cent shot in Melaka and 30 per cent in Jordan. I chose Melaka is because it's our historical city and the home of my forefathers.
"Science fiction and history go well together, as the Transformers movies have shown. I like my films to have a Malaysian flavour, and our history and legends such as Hang Tuah make superb ingredients."
The preview was attended by Aziz, Izzue, Adam, Dazrin, Jalaluddin, Ashraf, Ardell and Saiful.