New Movies Out Today In Local Cinemas

Three movies are out this week, two of which are very interesting. The third, well, not sure if I want to get into the whole history of it.

1) Maze Runner

You can smell this movie is a young adult novel adaptation from the first look of it. After the Hunger Games, the Mortal Instruments and the Divergents, it's easy now to spot this genre from a mile away.

Maze Runner has an interesting concept. On the surface it looks somewhat different from the other young adult movies that we've seen before, though I'm sure I'm going to be proven wrong after watching it tonight. But so far, my interest is piqued.

2) The Boxtrolls

This movie has had the least amount of marketing in these parts of the world. I've never seen a single poster or trailer until very, very recently. 

Featuring the voice talents of Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Elle Fanning, Tracy Morgan and Isaac Hempstead Wright, among others; from the little that I've seen the movie looks beautiful and gorgeous. No idea what the storyline is going to be but I definitely will find out.

I am however surprised to see this being brought into Brunei. First, this is a stop-motion animation, not something that is widely appreciated by the general audience. Second, this isn't from a big production studio, and we rarely get these "indie" films. And lastly, this movie is only released later this month and yet we're getting this so much earlier.

3) Planes: Fire & Rescue

Getting a late release here, I'm probably will give this a miss. I didn't even bother with the first Planes movie. 

I don't understand why Disney made this sequel. This franchise was produced by DisneyToon Studios, which means it's supposed to be straight to DVD. However, it was then decided to have a theatrical release in 2013 to negative reviews. I suspect this movie's target audience is only the kids and not adults. That's why a sequel, and yet another theatrical release, is quite baffling.

Planes came about from Pixar's Cars concept. Another franchise with a sequel that just didn't do justice to the brand of Pixar. Cars came about because one of Pixar's owners really love cars and pushed for the movie. And the sequel. I rate Cars as the worst Pixar animated movie ever, and so this Planes franchise does not interest me at all.

However, if you have kids, it'll be an option to bring the family. Notable voice actors include Dane Cook, Ed Harris, Julie Bowen, Teri Hatcher, Hal Holbrook and John Michael Higgins.