Players get ready to enter The Oasis – watcha need to know about READY PLAYER ONE

The ultimate video game inspired movie of the year is about to be uploaded into cinemas worldwide this week. From filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes the action adventure READY PLAYER ONE based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller of the same name, which has become a worldwide phenomenon.

Movie Synopsis:

In the year 2045, the real world is a harsh place.  The only time Wade Watts truly feels alive is when he escapes to the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spends their days.  In the OASIS, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone—the only limits are your own imagination.  The OASIS was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday, who left his immense fortune and total control of the Oasis to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir.  When Wade conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends—aka the High Five—are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS.

Tye Sheridan (X-Men: Apocalypse) as Wade Watts. Copyright: 2017 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Three-time Oscar winner Spielberg (Schindler’s List [director & picture], and Saving Private Ryan [director]) directed the film from a screenplay by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline, based on the novel by Cline, which has spent more than 100 weeks on the The New York Times Best Sellers list and recently shot to #1.  READY PLAYER ONE stars Tye Sheridan (X-Men: Apocalypse) as lead protagonist Wade Watts with Olivia Cooke as Art3mis, Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One – A Star Wars Story) as main antagonist Sorrento, T.J. Miller (Deadpool) as I-R0k, Simon Pegg (Star Trek,  Mission: Impossible) as Ogden Morrow and Oscar winner Mark Rylance (Dunkirk) as James Halliday.

Wade Watts alter-ego Parzival in The OASIS. Copyright: 2017 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Hear from Steven Spielberg himself and the cast of READY PLAYER ONE in this behind-the-scenes IMAX featurette:

It is certainly no secret that geek pop culture references are aplenty in this movie, drawn from classic video games over the last 30 years like Streetfighter and Overwatch as well as cult movies of like Back to the Future and The Shining. In the movie this is explained as OASIS creator's James Halliday's fascination with the 1980's when video games were born and conception of the internet. Find out more about Halliday and the dystopian future of READY PLAYER ONE at www.jointhequest.io as well as play some retro video games via the web.

Yes, that's the DeLorean time-machine from Back To The Future serving as Parzival's ride in The OASIS. Copyright: 2017 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Outpost Productions managed to catch an early screening of READY PLAYER ONE in Malaysia. Here are reactions immediately after the movie:

READY PLAYER ONE opens nationwide at Malaysian cinemas on 29 March with advance screenings starting the night before. Follow the official Facebook Page Ready Player One Movie for latest updates as well as locally on Warner Bros. Pictures Malaysia.

Also thanks to the nice folks at Warner Bros. Pictures Malaysia, we are giving away Preview Tickets for Ready Player One screening at GSC Mid Valley on Tuesday 27 March, 8.45pm. Check at the bottom of this post for instructions on how to win a pair of tickets.

For the first time ever, Outpost Productions is posting here trilingual movie reviews thanks to contributing writers Carolyn Hai (English), Ezli Qamari (Malay) and Micho Teh (Chinese):

MOVIE REVIEW by Carolyn Hai ( StarFyr3z )

Are you a fan of hunting for easter eggs in movies? Not literally the chocolate ones, the Easter egg in this context can be an intentional inside joke, hidden message or image, or secret feature of a movie or video game. Whether or not you are a fan of easter egg hunting, READY PLAYER ONE is the movie for you!

Anorak's Quest for all players to find the ultimate prize: an Easter Egg that would bequeath the winner control of the OASIS and immense wealth.

Wade Watts (Gamer Tag, Parzival) is one of many Gunters, gamer slang for egg hunters, caught in an extremely dangerous adventure, one that might even cost him his life in the real world when competing against the “evil” mega-corporation Innovative Online Industries, or IOI of short (not to be confused with Malaysia's IOI Corporation).

That's NOT a Xenomorph egg in the background! it's the ultimate Easter Egg.

I went in without expectations much from the movie. I wasn’t attracted the trailer, the poster (above) gave me the impression that I wouldn’t like the movie and the name wasn’t even catchy. So when I got the opportunity to watch READY PLAYER ONE, I was treated to an endless stream of adventure through the various virtual realms and enjoyed nearly every moment of it (except for the slightly horror part lah, since I am terrified of anything to do with horror in general). The poster (especially) didn’t do much justice for the movie at all!

The moment they introduced us to the OASIS, I was quickly enchanted by the beauty and the endless possibilities of that virtual reality universe, something I wish that we will definitely be getting by the time we reach 2045. The Possibilities. Are. Endless. From fully customized avatars to traveling through different worlds of various themes, I really felt like I belonged there. The contrast between reality and virtual was very clearly distinguished, and it made a lot of sense why the people in the movie would treat the OASIS as a sanctuary from reality.

Ben Mendelsohn swaps his Imperial uniform for a corporate suit as Nolan Sorrento, CEO of Innovation Online Industries. Copyright: 2017 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

The cast were also fantastic, especially the main antagonist Nolan Sorrento, CEO of IOI. To simply put it without spoiling anything, every action and every decision made by the characters felt like they have been carefully analyzed, all the way up to the flaws of being human.

If you have not watched the movies or played the games featured in this movie, like me, fear not! You will still be able to follow the main story line as they made sure to include helpful scenes, conversations and characters to help you stay on track.

The movie also subtly highlighted the dos and don’ts of dealing with people in virtual reality, sending a very strong message across to create awareness to the audience about the dangers of virtual reality. As a casual gamer, I could relate to some of the things mentioned, having experienced it first hand before (and guilty for some).

The Iron Giant stomps into action in The OASIS battlegrounds. Copyright: 2017 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

For a movie focusing on a global scale easter egg hunt, they included many characters and references from games and movies for your hunting pleasure, especially if you are a hardcore gamer or movie enthusiast.  According to an interview, the production team spent three years getting all the legal rights for all the characters featured so I am pretty sure you will at least find some that you know in here. Amongst some that were spotted were Tracer from Overwatch, Lara Croft from Tomb Raider (ED: catch her prequel movie still in showing in cinemas), Chun Li & Ryu from Street Fighter, King Kong and the T-rex of Jurassic Park. I swear that there was a laugh that came from Plant vs Zombies in the last leg of the film. Maybe you could help me confirm that easter egg when you check it out in cinemas ;)

Happy Easter egg hunting and may the force be with you *wink*

== / ==

ULASAN FILEM oleh Ezli Qamari

Sinopsis:

Pada tahun 2045, akibat kesempitan hidup ramai yang memilih hidup dalam dunia virtual dari dunia sebenar. OASIS adalah tempat untuk melarikan diri dari realiti yang dicipta oleh James Halliday (Mark Rylance). Setelah kematiannya, Halliday meninggalkan seluruh harta melalui pertandingan dunia virtual untuk mencari 'Easter Egg'. Apabila Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) menjadi juara pada pertandingan pertama, dia diburu Nolan Sorrento yang tamak mahu menjadi juara dan merampas harta Halliday.

Berapa kali kita keluar pawagam selepas menonton filem berdasarkan game/komik/novel/sejarah dan mendengar hujah “Kau kena baca/main dulu baru faham cerita ni”. Persoalan timbul, kenapa perlu reference tambahan untuk menguatkan cerita sedia ada? Kenapa filem itu tidak boleh berdiri dengan sendiri?

Persoalan itu dijawab dengan baik oleh Steven Spielberg dalam satu babak dalam filem, watak Aech (Lena Waithe) memasuki dunia filem yang dia langsung tak tahu sebelum ini tetapi apa yang  dihadapi, walaupun pengalamannya menakutkan, dia menempuhinya dan membantu rakannya mencari klu penting. Anda tak perlu jadi ulat buku, kaki game atau pakar sejarah untuk menghargai READY PLAYER ONE.

Spielberg kembali kepada root asal dalam pengarahan seperti filem-filemnya awalnya seperti Jaws, Indiana Jones dan Back To The Future. Bukan mengarah untuk memenangi Oscar, bukan untuk pecah kutipan Box-office, tetapi mengarah sekadar menjadi penglipulara menghiburkan penonton sambil berseronok dalam proses pembikinannya. Secara bijaknya dalam filem ini Spielberg berjaya membahagi masa secara seimbang dunia virtual dan dunia realiti supaya penonton tidak rasa bosan.

Penulis novel asal Ernest Cline bertugas sebagai Penulis Layar untuk filem.

Satu lagi aspek penting kejayaan filem ini ialah penglibatan penulis novel asalnya, Ernest Cline bersama Zak Penn sebagai Penulis Layar. Jika mahu dibandingkan dengan novel, banyak elemen berat yang susah difahami oleh penonton 30 tahun ke bawah seperti lagu Discovery (1976) oleh kumpulan Rush atau pun reference filem Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). Ia telah diganti dengan reference baru dan lebih dikenali ramai sebagai contoh karakter dari game Overwatch.

Pemilihan pelakon terbahagi kepada 2 kategori: pelakon baru Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, Philip Zhao dan Win Morisaki dan pelakon veteran Mark Rylance, Simon Pegg dan Ben Mendelsohn. Kemudian mereka perlu dibahagikan kepada 2 lagi kategori, sebagai watak dunia realiti dan watak dunia maya. Identiti seimbang dalam 2 dunia dibawa dengan baik oleh setiap karakter walaupun menggunakan motion capture sehinggakan watak yang mempunyai screentime sedikit seperti Shoto, Daito dan Aech sangat memorable. Hanya watak F'Nale lakonan Hannah John-Kamen saja yang agak mengecewakan.

Watak Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) dalam dunia virtual OASIS. Copyright: 2017 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Akhir kata, READY PLAYER ONE adalah salah satu karya terbaik Spielberg setelah sekian lama yang bukan sahaja bersandar pada easter egg, reference dan nostalgia semata-mata tetapi mempunyai elemen perjuangan, kesaksaman, cinta, kekeluargaan dan persahabatan diselang-seli dengan visual dan muzik yang memukau.

Rating:

== / ==

《头号玩家》影评 (by Micho Teh 咪啾)

作为大导演史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格(Steven Spielberg)的粉丝，本来就会期待他的任何新作。更何况数月前《头号玩家》(READY PLAYER ONE)发表的预告片里我们看见男女主角穿梭在众多叫人怀念的电影及游戏名作的角色人海里，立刻让大家对这个充满彩蛋文化的虚拟世界设定眼前一亮。虽然我没看过小说原著，却不受控制地幻想其电影里无限的好玩和可能性：究竟还有什么不一样却叫人熟悉的经典角色会出现？电影原创和异空间的角色们又要如何在这个虚拟环境里共处并交流甚至比赛打斗？就这样抱着各种期待踏入了电影院想要理个清楚，观后果真没失望，整个人好想立刻抓着谁来讨论刚才看到的画面与其后的背景，内涵，情绪。

《头号玩家》讲述着未来世界里面临着温室效应，人口爆发等居多问题都没得到解决，导致现实社会世界都令人失望，而天才游戏创作人詹姆斯·哈利迪(James Halliday)所创造的“绿洲”(OASIS – Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation 全沉浸式虚拟现实感官模拟游戏)允许众人以廉价的方式在虚幻的世界里以自己渴望的身份过上梦寐以求的好生活。男主角韦德·沃兹(Wade Watts)双亲在他年幼时就去世，他只好寄住姑姑和她暴力男友的屋檐下过着不堪的日子，和许多贫民区的住户一样，他每天的娱乐也就仅存于绿洲里所给予的“做美梦的自由”。当然“绿洲”里不全是玩乐的设定，当中也包含着会让任何玩家失去一切的危险游戏关卡，可不少勇士还是会想尽办法踏上战场想要赚些虚拟金币来升级，买装备等。

在“绿洲”创始人哈利迪临终前，他给全世界人宣布视频信息说明他在游戏里隐藏了三道彩蛋关卡，谁人能闯关成功获得隐藏钥匙就可以获取高额遗产和整个“绿洲”的掌控权。这样诱人的奖励不止让所有玩家踊跃挑战，更是造就了设法掌控“绿洲”及社会未来的大反派科技巨头 – IOI组织，当中的组织管理者诺兰更是阴险狡猾，不惜拿出各种卑鄙手段追求获胜。

在哈利迪去世五年后，一直无人破解第一关卡。然而机缘下，有着超强游戏天赋的韦德·沃兹利用自身游戏角色帕西瓦尔(Parzival)挑战第一关卡时靠着对哈利迪的深度了解和日复一日的研究，成功破解了了第一关卡的彩蛋谜题获得了第一把铜钥匙，这样的成就让他瞬间在虚拟世界里爆红成了个大名人荣登第一名排行榜。这样的轰动变化也给帕西瓦尔迎来了两世界里的杀身之祸，所幸他身边有着四位彩蛋猎人同志 – 让帕西瓦尔一见钟情的实力玩家和网络主播阿尔忒密斯(Art3mis)，“绿洲”最好的机械师好友艾奇(Aech)，“绿洲五强”(High Five)里的日本兄弟武士大东(Daito)和忍者修(Sho)及时出手相助。在彼此的扶持下，他们决定要破解哈利迪剩余的彩蛋关卡，并且阻止IOI组织终极垄断自由互联网权的阴谋。

《头号玩家》导演史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格一直以来就特别喜欢和擅长导演狗熊到英雄的演变故事，这次的电影也是打造在同样的情节概念上 – 电影里我们可以看见男主角韦德·沃兹在现社会里不过无存在感的宅男极客一名，有着悲惨过去，活在贫困的现在，放眼未来也只见不变的普通。但看似再平凡没用的人也会有能动摇世界的力量，极客韦德这个不合群特尴尬之弱点也意外成了他的优势，因为他比任何人更能理解“绿洲”创始人詹姆斯·哈利迪脑海里的思绪，毕竟两人都是在现实里找不到属于自己地位的大孩子。游戏玩家总会说：知己知彼百战百胜，摸清了也是游戏极客哈利迪的脑子后，韦德推断得出哈利迪会设下的彩蛋概念，和想要表达的心声，再透过同伴的帮忙，大家突破重重难关拿下了最后的胜利。

打着科幻爆米花片的名头的《头号玩家》，里头的场景却让我们不觉得陌生遥远，可能是VR技术的画面确实在现实里慢慢普及化，加上现今社会里的人民时时流连于虚拟网站和真实的界限中，那种“无非逃避现实里的哀败，寻求虚拟的慰籍和发泄欲望”的概念容易让人产生无限联想。

虽然电影情节中规中矩，也没有震撼人心的结尾，却也实实在在，让观众可以更好地把注意力放在作者和导演想要传达的主要思想内涵：要反思现代科技网络所带给我们的不仅是方便美好，不要一味的逃避现况然后沉陷下去忘了现实才是人生的终点，再后悔没能及时活在当下和珍惜身边人。电影里可看见众人利用游戏世界里的资源打造出自己想要成为的“完美”，这不就和我们在社交网络上给自己空间里投资大量时间打卡发帖上“照骗”打造出自己的美好虚拟形象和世界，再期待可以借此活得更好和渴望被接纳崇拜的概念蛮相似吗？《头号玩家》里的人文关怀提醒着大众：“虽然现实如此可怕和叫人痛苦，但它也是唯一能找寻真正的快乐的地方。”我们终究是活在现实，勿忘时时提醒自己不要过分沉迷于虚拟世界，忽略了现实里也要“升级”自己并完成人生里的现实关卡和任务。

观赏《头号玩家》后心里只有满满的感动 – 许多人的电影游戏回忆以彩蛋方式重现荧幕，极客爱好被认真对待。《头号玩家》提供另一个角度去正面看待本来只属于小众人群的“极客文化”。在急速发展的科技社会里，它慢慢地演变成大众语言。曾经被看低的，现在可能不止被接纳了，甚至被崇拜着。毕竟电影里和现实里都让我们目睹不少羞涩古怪的宅宅极客可能就是改善和打造未来的人才，或许了解他们也能帮助大家更精准判断未来社会和主流文化的走向。

而我作为一个几乎沉迷游戏的极客宅女，在看见哈利迪对韦德说“谢谢你玩我的游戏”时，潸然泪下。在当下，我们理解的彩蛋是一个游戏制作者将自己灵魂，爱和谢意埋藏于作品里的一种形式，所以当玩家们特地研究破解出这些被隐藏起来的彩蛋和享受游戏全程，这就是给予游戏制作者最深刻的回应和致敬。原著作者恩斯特‧克萊恩(Ernest Cline)和导演史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格完美地记录了两方都是那么的需要和崇拜彼此的情景。或许这就是为什么我会特别有感触，毕竟我万万没想到会在虚构情节里，反映出我能理解的真实。

长话短说，对于《头号玩家》这电影，单刷是不够的。 至少对我们这批极客粉丝而言，起码要刷到能看清楚电影里头所有堆叠的彩蛋吧？哈哈，开玩笑的...吧？

== / ==

Here are a few more opinions about READY PLAYER ONE from gamers and geeks from the local ACG community and movie fans during a Special Screening with Outpost Productions thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures Malaysia:

Now for a chance to win a pair of tickets to our READY PLAYER ONE movie preview screening, just follow these steps:
1. SHARE our post for this blog article on our Facebook Page here.
2. COMMENT in the Facebook post why you want to watch READY PLAYER ONE.
3. TAG a Facebook friend in your comment and include the hashtags #ReadyPlayerOneMY and #OutpostGiveaway.
4. Fill-up the Google Form below with your contact details so we can quickly notify you upon selection of winners.

Contest closes on Monday 26 March 2018 at 3.00pm and subject to the Terms and Conditions below.



Terms and Conditions for Movie Preview Screening contest:

• Participation only for residents in Malaysia able to attend the Movie Preview Screening on Tuesday 27 March 2018, 8.45pm at GSC Mid Valley Megamall.
• Only 1 entry per person. Multiple entries after the first entry will be automatically rejected.
• Qualified entries must fulfill the participation requirements as indicated above.
• Selection of winners from qualified submissions will be solely at our discretion.
• Winners will be contacted by Monday 26 March, 11.59pm to RSVP attendance. It is the winners' own responsibility to respond accordingly to redemption instructions given.
• We reserve the right to revise these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice.

GUNDAM

TRACER

DELOREAN

KING KONG

THE IRON GIANT

SO many Geek-Gasm moments!

READY PLAYER ONE 

is in our 

Top Ten MUST-WATCH Geek Pop Culture movies 

for this year.

Enter the OASIS from 29 March 2018.

#ReadyPlayerOneMY

Disclaimer: READY PLAYER ONE and associated trademarks are copyright to Ernest Cline and/or Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., referenced here for fan service announcements only without intent to infringe.

Lara Croft, the legend of Tomb Raider begins

We dare say just about anyone consuming modern day media would know who is Lara Croft even without playing the video games. As the lead protagonist in the Tomb Raider action-adventure video games over the last 2 decades, Lara Croft is one of the most recognisable pop culture characters today. In addition to starring in multiple video game releases since 1996, Lara Croft has also appeared in comic books, novels, an animated series and two movies released in 2001 and 2003 starring the voluptuous Angelina Jolie.

By 2015, Tomb Raider games have sold over 63 million copies worldwide (source Wikipedia). Its best-selling release to-date is 2013's tenth edition reboot Tomb Raider game, developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. The game series has received much critical acclaim being a pioneer of the action-adventure genre with Lara Croft also standing out as a strong female character in a largely male-dominated video gaming market in the 1990's. Although the latter was not without some controversy due to marketing her sex appeal to the male audience as well as improbable human proportions.

Lara Croft has of course evolved with the times so to say. Gaming technology has improved by leaps and bounds over the last 20 years, thereby evolving the world's most famous female cyber celebrity from a pixelated figurine with heightened centre of gravity, to a near human rendering with more realistic anatomy; see below:

Evolution of Lara Croft's look in video games since 1996 to 2013.
Source: https://ruby290930.deviantart.com/

For more about the Tomb Raider video games, we will let the folks at Honest Trailers share their thoughts with you all (and LOL over!):

Lara Croft has been missing from the cinemas for 15 years with Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life released in 2003 to box office numbers far below expectation. It also coincided with a poorly received sixth video game instalment titled Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, putting the franchise of hiatus from annual game releases until its tenth anniversary in 2006 with the release of Tomb Raider: Legend.

Angelina Jolie's last outing as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)

Whilst we agree with critics and not a fan this second movie outing, we do dig the 2001 movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider as a fun action-adventure with the very endowed Angelina Jolie who at that time was an ideal fit for bringing the pixel princess to real-life. Here's reliving 70 seconds of Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft from the first movie trailer:

BTW, fan girls of Daniel Craig take note he also stars in this movie prior to taking on the mantle of James Bond.

Outpost Intel: This movie is also a great travel commercial for Cambodia where key scenes were filmed in Siem Reap at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor Wat. The Ta Prohm temple serves as a key scene for Lara and now readily accessible to movie fans to explore on their own. However today the temple complex is far from "abandoned" since Cambodia has opened its doors wide to tourists from around the world. Read more about this film site from Beyond the Movies blog and watch the scenes on YouTube. FYI, daily flights are available from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Siem Reap via Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines.

This year, Lara Croft finally returns, not as a Sequel to the prior two movies, but a Prequel. Academy Award winning actress Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl - Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress, Jason Bourne, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Ex Machina) lands the role of Lara Croft as the young woman presented in 2013's Tomb Raider reboot game. Check out the movie trailer below which incorporates a slower, and dramatic music remix of Destiny’s Child’s "Survivor":

Official movie synopsis for Tomb Raider

Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer who vanished when she was scarcely a teen. Now a young woman of 21 without any real focus or purpose, Lara navigates the chaotic streets of trendy East London as a bike courier, barely making the rent, and takes college courses, rarely making it to class. Determined to forge her own path, she refuses to take the reins of her father’s global empire just as staunchly as she rejects the idea that he’s truly gone. Advised to face the facts and move forward after seven years without him, even Lara can’t understand what drives her to finally solve the puzzle of his mysterious death. Going explicitly against his final wishes, she leaves everything she knows behind in search of her Dad’s last-known destination: a fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan. But her mission will not be an easy one; just reaching the island will be extremely treacherous. Suddenly, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Lara, who - against the odds and armed with only her sharp mind, blind faith and inherently stubborn spirit - must learn to push herself beyond her limits as she journeys into the unknown. If she survives this perilous adventure, it could be the making of her, earning her the name Tomb Raider.

Source: Warner Bros. UK

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Tomb Raider is the story that will set a young and resolute Lara Croft on a path toward becoming a global hero. The movie is directed by Roar Uthaug (The Wave) and also starring Dominic West (The Wire) as Lara's father Lord Richard Croft, Walton Goggins (The Shield) as apparent villain Mathias Vogel, Daniel Wu (Warcraft, Into the Badlands, Gen-X Cops) as potential "sidekick" Lu Ren, and Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) as Ana Miller.

Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft (right) finds an ally in Lu Ren played by Daniel Wu.
Source: IMDB.com

Walther Goggins as Mathias Vogel (right) seems to be doing the tomb raiding instead... for the time being.
Source: IMDB.com

In an exclusive early interview for GQ.com, Norwegian Director Roar Uthaug said that his movie delves deeper into Lara Croft's humanity beginning as a young woman with great spirit and potential who through her journey and struggles will earn the title of Tomb Raider. About the production, Uthaug drew a lot of inspiration and reference from the game and the entire Tomb Raider canon to develop this vision of the world that Lara inhabits. He thinks fans of the franchise would definitely recognise "touchstones" from the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot game throughout the story, although this Lara will be very grounded and realistic, not a superhero. Therefore the action sequences will feel real and visceral to the movie audience instead of a CGI-feast. About leading lady Alicia Vikander, Uthaug is all praise for the new Lara Croft in providing great depth and humanity to the character yet delivering intense physical action.

Listen to Alicia Vikander on "Becoming Lara Croft". Looking real fierce, girl!

Indeed the Swedish actress went through intense physical training over four months before shooting to get into the role of Lara Croft. Prior to Tomb Raider, Vikander had "never done action scenes on this level" as quoted in an interview by Elle.com. She shared that the training intensity felt like going back to dancing, having to be very aware of movements for wire-work. "I've never been able to lift my own weight, and the day when you have that capacity, it's pretty empowering!" she added. Vikander certain looks to be doing many stunts herself, impressing her male co-stars Dominic West, Walter Goggins and Daniel Wu. A star of many Hong Kong action flicks and more recently as Sunny AMC's Into the Badlands mini-series, Wu described Vikander as a "beast" when it comes to the movie action and as a first-time action star has "taken the bull by the horns". Read more about Daniel Wu from his recent interview with Star2.com where his shares on his acting career, experience with Tomb Raider and his First Love.

Speaking of Daniel Wu, he's a pretty famous face around Asia and so warrants his own movie poster here.

Fans may indeed come to embrace Alicia Vikander as the new Lara Croft as she herself was a fan of Tomb Raider when the video game was first released. During an interview on The Graham Norton Show, she shared that at the age of ten none of her girl friends played video games so she felt ashamed of doing so. Nevertheless it was first encountering Tomb Raider at a friend's house that sold her into the fandom with Lara Croft being a female game protagonist, which had never been seen on video games before then. Yes, in the present day and age it is most certainly cool for girls (geeky or otherwise) to play video games! About people's vision of Lara Croft and her upcoming version, Vikander flat out joked that "My breasts are not as pointy as the first Lara Croft".

Alicia Vikander in the forthcoming movie very much resembles Lara Croft as seen in the 2013 Tomb Raider game  (above), sans "pointy breasts".
Source: Art by Brenoch Adams from www.videogamesartwork.com

At the time of this posting, there are no online reviews for this latest Tomb Raider movie. However, Malaysian Tomb Raider fans and gamers should to be ecstatic this week because we are amongst the earliest in the world to be able to watch this movie from tonight / Wednesday 7 March from sneak previews. The general nationwide movie release is officially tomorrow / Thursday 8 March, which is still over a week ahead of release in the United States. So for you all catching this movie first in the world, be nice and do not post SPOILERS on social media threads that would be followed by Tomb Raider fans in other parts of the world. Here are non-spoilery reactions by Outpost friends from an sneak preview night screening:

UPDATE 14 MARCH 2018: Here are movie reviews by Star2.com and Hype.my plus podcast by BFM's At The Movies.

Follow the latest updates on the official Tomb Raider - 2018 Facebook Page,  Tomb Raider movie on Facebook, @TombRaiderMovie on Twitter and Instagram, and locally via Warner Bros. Pictures Malaysia Facebook Page.

As a tribute to the Tomb Raider franchise celebrating the return of Lara Croft to cinemas, Outpost Productions will be posting daily cosplay photos inspired from the upcoming movie via our social media channels:

• Follow us on Instagram @OutpostMY.
• Like us on Facebook as Outpost Productions.

This is our first photo reveal on Monday this week with more to follow:

This week Tomb Raider fans can rejoice with the return of Lara Croft to cinemas. As a tribute to the franchise, we will be posting cosplay photos daily this week of Lara in our Malaysian jungle. #instaphoto #instagood #cosplay #costuming #TombRaider #LaraCroft #movie #prequel #tribute #fandom #gamer #geekgirl #justgoshoot #photooftheday #dailyphoto #hot #panas #Malaysia #jungle #followme #likelah #like4like

A post shared by OutpostMY (@outpostmy) on Mar 5, 2018 at 5:44am PST

Many thanks to cosplayer Micho the Haram-bae and photographer Limelight Fotography for their time and effort on this photo shoot in the real Malaysian tropical forest.

We also shot a new Cosplay Fight Club fan video where we paired up characters from geek pop cultures in unlikely match-ups never likely to happen in the complicated world of Intellectual Properties rights and so forth. So here's our face-off video of Lara Croft versus Indiana Jones:

Now for our regular Malaysian readers who like to win stuff, the Outpost Movie Recon Team (M.R.T.) has identified GSC Cinemas to be giving away cool stuff through Q&A on their Facebook Page starting 8 March. Looking at the contest teaser poster the prize pool may include a Playstation 4 game console! So stay tuned to announcements tomorrow.

GSC looks to be giving away tomb raided loot.

Meanwhile, Premium-X Cinemas in OneCity USJ have also commenced their contest giving away movie premiums. To participate, find answers to three questions posed on their Facebook posting, then submit via email. Contest closes 15 March 2018.

Movie premiums to be won from Premium-X cinemas.

For fan girls of Lara Croft (and maybe even fan boys), an official Barbie doll of Lara Croft is available from Mattel. This version will be based on the likeness of Alicia Vikander in this upcoming movie. The doll, or action figure, is fully articulated as revealed by IGN so fan collectors will be able to pose Lara in here kick@$$ action poses. We do not yet have intel whether Barbie Lara will be available from local toy stores or hobby shops. Those who cannot wait to find out may look into purchasing online from Amazon.com priced at USD29.99 / RM117 before shipping & taxes.

If Ken gets out of line, Lara will put him in his place!

Follow this Blog to be instantly notified on our latest posts from the geek pop culture world and other intel.

Tomb Raider runs 122 minutes and releases in Malaysia on 8 March with sneak previews starting 7 March night at selected cinemas.

Disclaimer: Tomb Raider, Lara Croft and other trademarks are copyright to Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix and/or Warner Bros. Pictures, and their respective owners, referenced here for fan service announcements only without intent to infringe.

Live The Movies in Warner Bros. Movie World Australia

Welcome to the World of Movies on the Gold Coast, Movie World!

Warner Bros. Movie World brings the magic and excitement of movies to life. It is a place where the whole family can enjoy, where you become lost in a world of fun and fantasy, meeting your favourite stars and superheroes, and experience the exhilaration of world class adventure rides, movie attractions and an array of stunning shows.

Welcome to the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia! The world's only Movie World down under is located about 20 minutes drive from the city center of Surfer's Paradise. Movie World covers  an area of 415 acres, roughly the equivalent of 154 soccer fields or 8 times the size of our very own KLCC park. Movie World offers 18 rides and other attractions for all ages. Opened in 1991, Movie World celebrated it's 25th Anniversary in 2016.

It's Christmas in Movie World!

Planning your sights around the show times helps you cover more of the theme park!

DC Thrill Rides

Once entering Movie World the first thing that catches your eyes are the gigantic thrill rides all situated just inside the entrance. This makes it really appealing to take a ride or two before exploring the rest of Movie World. Beat the queues by arriving just as the park opens, otherwise spend an hour or more lining up for the more popular rides. The Superman Escape and Arkham Asylum rides are notorious for long queues that test one's sanity for a thrilling payoff on the roller coasters that lasts a minute or less.

The Justice League 3D ride is of particular interest where one gets to help the Justice League fight against galactic villain, Starro the Conqueror. A laser blaster is provided to riders to shoot at the enemies resembling cyborg starfishes. Points are scored for each successful “kill”which could be used to compare among friends to determine the Justice League's greatest ally!

The Hall of Justice upon entering Justice League 3D

Cyborg giving instructions to riders

Riders getting ready to battle evil cyborg starfishes!

Batmobile from Batman Forever

The classic Batmobile from Michael Keaton's Batman

The Batwing Spaceshot. Just like Genting's Solero Shot when it was still around.

May The Force Be With You All!

An (almost) overlook of the Arkham Asylum Ride

Asylum Seekers!

The Superman Escape Ride

One of the newest attractions introduced at Movie World is the DC Supervillians Unleashed zone. This is an alternate world where the supervillains have won and are celebrating their victory destroying parts of a physical Gotham City. Among notable supervillains present there are Lex Luthor, Joker and Harley Quinn, Gorilla Grodd, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy and Bizzaro. A special Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) wristband is available for purchase to allow augmented reality activation at the scene of each villain to enhance interactions. For example,  triggering the exhibit with the Joker will set of an explosive “bang” from the villain's assortment of trick devices, whilst for Poison Ivy it will have her monstrous plants fume noxious gases.

Is it really good to be bad? In this part of the park it is!

RFID wristbands for sale at the store located at the entrance of DCSU zone.

"How to be bad"

Lex Luthor spotted stealing electricity. Teach us! TNB bills are killing us. LOL

Recognise them?

Gorilla Grodd strutting his stuff

Frozone, is that you?! Wait, that's just Captain Cold!

Prepare to be blasted with sewage juice

Poison Ivy's idea of Paradise

For thrill-seekers, allow a full day to catch most (if not all) the rides.

Main Street Boulevard

Mostly populated with shops selling movie memorabilia and restaurants, the main open area is littered with surprise visits by renowned WB characters like Superman, Batman, Catwoman, Joker, etc. At exactly 3.30pm every afternoon, the main street will make way for the Star Parade showcasing characters on thematic floats as well as the iconic Batmobile. 

Plenty of shops offering refreshments & souvenirs on Main Street

The Outpost M.R.T with part of the Justice League

Jack Nicholson's Joker having a ball pranking park visitors

Catwoman resting on a car, coying visitors for a photo opportunity. Meow!

This dude is star-struck!

Austin Powers YEAHHHHH BABY!

Kids' WB! Fun Zone

The Kids' WB Fun Zone provides attraction themed for young kids which often do not meet the minimum height  requirements for thrill rides. There are Looney Tunes rides for kids like the Driving School where younglings can drive through a mini version of Movie World. Looney tunes characters will also make appearances throughout the day for photo opportunities. 

The entrance in Kids' WB! Fun Zone

She did saw a puddy-tat!

Twirling Cages

Feel free to cool off!

Look, it's Movie World IN Movie World. What?!

Wild West Falls

Everything looks like a step back in time to the Wild Wild West. The main ride sends thrill seeks on a log-like roller coaster careening down a river and get drenched. And nothing beats getting wet on a hot, sunny day! Other amusements include carnival games, an arcade, and bumper cars.

Enter Wild West Falls

Souvenir shop (pictured left) & Entrance to the Log Ride (pictured middle)

Gravestones of the young and departed

Warning: You Will Get Wet

Must-See Shows:

Hollywood Stunt Driver

With only a few schedule performances each day, the Hollywood Stunt Driver show is not one to be missed!  Arrive at least 30 minutes before showtime to get the best possible view from the middle section for the widest possible coverage. Members of the audience will be chosen randomly to be filmed as the protagonist, antagonist and the flag bearer of each show. A camera person will film the audience member in action  then they will be inserted into a movie styled trailer. Stunt drivers will then act out the scenes  live for the audience performing street car stunts. The smell of burning rubber (from tyres) is real!

The view from where we sat

Let's go!

Good old chase scene with plenty of burning rubber

Thank you for the show!

Looney Tunes 4D starring Wile. E. Coyote and Roadrunner

This is the place to watch your old beloved Looney Tunes character come to life on the big screen. There are only a few showtimes everyday so do remember to check when is the next screening so you do not miss it. Once inside, you will be lead into a cinema hall with 3D glasses with free seating. During the show your seat will bounce, shake, and spray mists of water unto you simulating the zany antics that will happen to Wile. E. Coyote when his ACME products malfunctions.

Looney Tunes 4D

All Star Parade

The All Star Parade features all your favourite characters, including the Justice League, Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc., Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes characters and more. At 3.30pm the main street will be cleaned for parade floats and vehicles which include the “Tumbler” Batmobile from The Dark Knight movie trilogy. There is also a King and Queen of the Star Parade offering kids to star in the parade itself. 

Bugs Bunny with the King & Queen of the day

Looney Tunes Rive Boat Float

It's Batman!

Supergirl, Green Lantern & Wonder Woman

Joker wins the float competition

The Parade concludes with a dance number performed by the Looney Tunes

See the Parade in action!

All-in-all, Movie World was a blast and it is definitely a place to go with friends and/or family.

1-day adult passes for Movie World costs AUD79.99 / RM262 but combo deals are available to add-on visits to other theme parks at Gold Cost: Sea World, Wet N Wild and Paradise Country. For instance topping-up AUD20 / RM65 entitles entry into 2 other parks, so plan your time well to make the best use of these packages. Visit their respective websites for more info & deals on passes.

For other theme park info, check out our recon recon for Universal Studios Orlando Halloween Horror Nights and celebrating Star Wars Day May the 4th at LEGOLAND Malaysia. We also have convention reports from Supanova Brisbane Australia, Gen Con Indianapolis USA and more.

Follow out Blog for more pop culture intel and our Facebook Page for regular updates. Also find Outpost on Twitter and YouTube.