Writer: Anne Jamaludin

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Watch this if you liked: “Cicakman”, “Hang Tuah”

For a Malaysian production studio's first movie debut, "HAQ" certainly promises a rather promising value as potential viewers can see from the cleverly-arranged trailer scenes. However, this winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 23rd Malaysian Film Festival delivers more of a whimper than a bark. Touted as the first modern superhero movie after 2006's "Cicakman", "HAQ" which is helmed under KasehDia Pictures production and distributed by industry titan, United Studios could not hold a candle next to its predecessor, KRU Studios.

The movie starts out with a flashback of the two main lead characters' past with one of them, Haq (Zul Huzaimy), the protagonist is seen at odds with his own adopted brother named Bad (Adi Putra). The theme is very simple - good versus evil but apparently the movie gives more airtime for the antagonist compared to the hero's character building and development. Instead of "HAQ", the production company should have chosen a more general title if their original intention was to only play around Bad's character more; of his suffering, anger and bitterness ignited by Haq. Other than to serve as a trigger for the villain's main hatred which fuels the whole journey of the movie, Haq fails to shine and stand out as a so-called titular character. It is no consolation whatsoever to know that the story moves at a rather painfully slow pace with a lot of plot holes by the end of the movie and it certainly lacks a lot of actions for an action type of movie. Sure, the directors dismisses the flaws and plot holes by saying that the movie is actually giving way to a sequel and a potential trilogy but with a half-cooked movie like this, one could not help but wonder whether "HAQ" could really pull off the numbers at the box-office let alone spawning a sequel.

The movie could definitely use either better make-up techniques or lighting techniques and would be even better if they are not too dependant on the CG effects, which in return might have been some of the factors why the lead actors did not manage to pack a full-blown punch for their so-called ultimate showdown. It is a total letdown for a movie climax. The fight choreographer could have exploited the fight scene area and stretched out to leave bigger impact, as what is expected for a battle scene between two mortals with supernatural/mystical powers.

Despite whatever the reviewer believes, "HAQ" still remains as a movie which stands on a thin line between good and bad. For moviegoers who would love to give this movie a chance, watch it with moderate expectations. This could just be the first potential Malaysian superhero trilogy to succeed in areas where "Cicakman" might have not or it could just be another potential flop. Just like the movie's tagline "With power in your hands, what would you do?", the audience will be compelled to say, "To love or not to love?" towards this movie and it is something that the audience will need to find out for themselves if they do watch "HAQ".

Cinema Online, 27 January 2011