Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines)

Mar 15, 2011
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First of all, I would like to make it clear that this post is totally from my personal point of view. I paid for the ticket myself (not being sponsored like others) and I am entitled for my comments. As soon as I finished watching this movie, I tweeted some of my review on Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, some of my friends agreed with it while there are a number of them did not. One even said that if I had so much to say on that movie, maybe I should make my own film. Which is totally nonsense; if I am a movie producer, I might produce a film. However, I am not. It’s like saying a carpenter should be a businessman, while the businessman should be a carpenter.

Truth to be told, I dozed off few minutes during the first half of the movie; and I rarely dozed off while watching a movie. (This is the second time and the first time was while watching Underdog Soldier). All in all, the CGI effects are commendable, worth the 8 million spent to make the movie. However, the overall film is a little bit gloomy and uninspired, apart from the fighting scenes. The details from the CGI are washed out by the gloominess of the color of the film.



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. 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. I still love the Puteri Gunung Ledang (a Malay movie few years back) much more than Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. Nevertheless, I gave this movie 3.5/5 stars! 

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)

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Bluecrystaldude
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Comments (14)

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murai's avatar

murai · 733 weeks ago

for RM8 million, I can produce a blockbuster movie............
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jickeez7 · 732 weeks ago

i dun have any problem with the movie, in fact.. i love it! There's some weakness here and there, but that doesn't make this movie bad. This movie definitely worth every ringgit malaysia i spent on it :)
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yanti · 732 weeks ago

my unbiased and objective comment : the "epic", in terms of meaning, story, dialogue, art, drama and cinematography, Puteri Gunung Ledang is in layers is better than the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. Then it has also met with Jerry Bruckheimer-style music laden fills every room screens from the beginning to the end
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Pai · 732 weeks ago

I was bored to bits! I nearly dozed off in the second half of the film. I must agree that the colours were way too dark to be able to see and appreciate what was supposed to be beautiful scenery, and some CGI parts looked too fake.

I don't have a problem with Stephen Rahman Hughes playing Merong Mahawangsa. Of course it would have been much better if they actually found a proper native to play him, but I guess it's really REALLY difficult to find a native who can really act, is good-looking and as charismatic to boot. :/

The horrible accents in the movie are just silly, though. Sometimes it didn't make sense. And the relationship between Merong and Embok could've been explored more. One minute she's running away from him, the next we find out she was pregnant with his baby? LOLWUT?
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foongpc 132p · 732 weeks ago

LOL!! After all the criticisms, you rated it 3.5/5? That's 7/10 which to me, is pretty good!! xD
My recent post Exploring Fort Santiago In Intramuros Part 2
1 reply · active 732 weeks ago
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Bit · 732 weeks ago

Good lord.. Stop upvoting your own comments!
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foongpc 132p · 732 weeks ago

Hey I also like Puteri Gunung Ledang, both the movie as well as the musical!!
My recent post Exploring Fort Santiago In Intramuros Part 2
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foongpc 132p · 732 weeks ago

Haha!! The fighting on the ship so gayish? Hmm, must watch this scene! LMAO!
My recent post Exploring Fort Santiago In Intramuros Part 2
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foongpc 132p · 732 weeks ago

OK, out of topic. I watched Unknown starring Liam Neeson the other day. Excellent thriller. Rating it 7.5/10, slightly higher than your rating of HMM, so go watch it! Haha
My recent post Exploring Fort Santiago In Intramuros Part 2
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Tyler's avatar

Tyler · 732 weeks ago

Personally, I find the tone of this movie too comedical for my liking.

I mean "ray of death"? Roman Prince doing kung-fu using bamboo sticks? LOL
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Sheema · 730 weeks ago

I just saw this movie last night!! And I pretty much agree with your rating and most of your comments. To me the two worst things about the movie were the hand-made death ray and the part where Merong wiped out the entire attacking army just because the tower he was standing on toppled over.

Stephen-Rahman Hughes was almost believable but not quite - he was a bit wooden and didn't sound completely natural when delivering some of his lines, even in his native English language. I would agree with other reviews I've read that the characters were a bit two-dimensional, not well-developed; not much plot development either.

However, all in all I still thought it was not bad for a local production. I enjoyed it, and it did have its moments. Maybe because my expectations were low?? To me the best thing about it was the almost Shakespearean quality of Malay that was spoken in the film - beautiful and evocative, just expressive enough without sounding too contrived or stilted like what happens in most Malay dramas! :-)
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indian's avatar

indian · 727 weeks ago

mahawangsa is an indian lah.. for god sake!
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the critic · 726 weeks ago

Huh?Roman prince speaking English!?? ROMan princes would have spoken Latin or something similar to Italian like that.Of course some would say the Roman visit to this area was already fictional so extra fiction wouldn't harm anything or if he spoke Latin then the audience wouldn't understand. But....... English comes from Brittania and the Romans considered the natives living there as barbarians so having the plot of a Roman prince speaking "barbarian" Anglo language is extremely out of the way.It's like having a Chinese prince speaking Khitan as a mother tongue.

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