International: The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines (Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa)

Thursday, March 24, 2011 |

salam..

I've been watching

The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines (Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa)

with all my BCE friends..

BEFORE:( I read the synopsis)

Based loosely on the 16th century historical document entitled ‘The Malay Annals’, ’The Chronicles of Merong Mahawangsa’ is an action-packed epic feature film, with mythical characters, magical moments and dazzling visual-effects sequences. Merong Mahawangsa was a descendant of Alexander the Great, a renowned naval captain and traveler who came to Asia several hundred years ago.
The year is 120 AD… a time when the Roman Empire is at the height of its power, during the reign of Hadrian – one of the Five Good Emperors. Meanwhile in China, the Han Dynasty is firmly cemented as the ruling empire and is expanding into Central Asia… one hundred years before the period of the Three Kingdoms. As the Roman fleet did their repairs and traded in Goa, they asked Merong Mahawangsa to escort a Roman prince to Southeast Asia, to wed a beautiful Chinese princess from the Han Dynasty. The Chinese princess and the Roman prince are supposed to meet halfway and be married on neutral grounds.
However, the pirate nation of Geruda had other plans. They decided to kidnap the Chinese princess and use her as ransom. En route to the Straits of Melaka, Merong Mahawangsa’s fleet was attacked by Geruda’s forces while stopping at a small island to replenish supplies.

After..

The main actor, Stephen Rahman-Hughes as Merong Mahawangsa is praiseworthy, but when his dialogs keep changing from Malay to English, it’s distracting my attention throughout the movie. At one point, the dialog between Merong Mahawangsa and Prince Marcus (Gavin Stenhouse) on the ship, while fighting are so gayish, I almost half expecting that they will kiss each other. haha.. Marcus and Lycius (Hendrik Norman) dialogs are mostly stiff and confined by the script.

The antagonist character, Kamawas, played by Khir Rahman excelled in his deliverance of the evil sense of being. The characters of the Chinese Princess (Jing Lu) and Ying Ying (Nell Ng) are injecting humor in the film. Embok, played by Ummi Nazeera also added a little bit of color to the film. Even though Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa is an epic film, it doesn’t need to be boring.

List of Actors:
Stephen Rahman Hudges : Merong Mahawangsa
Jing Lu: Meng Li Hua (Chinese Princess)
Gavin Rees StenHouse : Marcus (Roman Prince)
Craig Robert Fong : Admiral Liu Yun (Chinese Admiral)
Eric Karl Henrik Norman : Lycius (Roman Admiral)
Keith Chong : Chinese Emperor
Deborah Henry : Yesoddhra
W. Hanafi Su : Taji
Dato’ Rahim Razali : Kesum
Khir Rahman : Kamawas
Ummi Nazeera : Embok
Nell Ng : Ying Ying
Jehan Miskin : Embi (Malay Warrior)
Umi Aida : Lang (Mak Merong Mahawangsa)
Kuswadinata : Phra Ong
Mano Maniam : Goan 1
Ravi Sunderlingam : Sunder (Goan Warrior)