Writer: Pairamaporn Buranakol

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Watch this if you liked: "Mystery Men" and "My Super Ex-Girlfriend"

Step aside, Spiderman. Put away your fancy gadgets, Batman. Make way for Malaysia's new superhero, Cicakman!

I must admit that I never had high hopes for local movies. Most of the time they ended up being terrible, with over-used plots, over-dramatic acting and rather dreary slapstick performances. Recently, though, Malaysia has managed to produce a few movies which may surpass the critical viewer's expectations, and "Cicakman" seems to be one of them.

"Cicakman" is directed and produced by Yusry Abdul Halim, who also happens to be a member of the local music group, KRU. Together with his two brothers (also from KRU), they opened their own company called KRU Productions and dealt with the distribution and marketing for local singers, and helming music videos to be played on MTV Asia. Yusry also directed commercials under the production company.

In "Cicakman", our hero, Hairi (Saiful Apek), is a loser who lives in Metrofulus. While working in the lab, he accidentally drinks coffee that has been contaminated by a virus-infected gecko. He soon finds himself doing the most insane things, such as sticking to walls, making chirping cicak noises and adding bugs to his menu. He turns to his best friend and apartment mate, Danny (Yusry Abdul Halim), and begs him to find the reason behind his strange antics.

Meanwhile, the people of Metrofulus are constantly being infected by new strains of viruses, and the only cure seems to come only from Professor Klon's (Aznil Nawawi) lab. Suspecting something amiss, Hairi and Danny launch their own investigation and discover that Prof Klon is not only the creator of such viruses, but also has a more sinister plan up his sleeve, backed by his business partners, the Ginger Boys (played by Adlin Aman Ramlie and AC Mizal).

Hairi soon makes use of his new-found powers as "Cicakman" when he saves Tania (Fasha Sandha), Prof Klon's secretary from a threatening situation, and also ends up falling for her. However, he finds that his powers are more of a threat to his life, than a gift, and embarks on a mission to bring down Prof Klon and the Ginger Boys before his time runs out.

I've always found Saiful Apek's acting to be irritating, especially in his slapstick movies, but Yusry may have hit the jackpot by casting Saiful as Hairi/Cicakman; he pulls off the role well, and gives us enough to laugh about at this 'accidental' hero. Cicakman may not be able to fight as well as Jet Li, or make bullets bounce off him like Superman, but he can move fast enough (have you ever tried to smack a cicak at home?) and even regenerate!

Besides directing, Yusry also plays Danny in the movie. Perhaps a little stiff when delivering his lines, the chemistry between him and Fasha Sandha is apparent later on when Fasha's character, Tania, mistakes him for the Cicakman and falls for him instead.

I am rather disappointed that they didn't give Fasha Sandha a stronger character to play. The upcoming actress has the potential to go far, but at the moment, she seems typecast to showing her pretty face and feeding us a few lines, like her role in "Cinta". In "Cicakman" she is treated like the damsel in distress which we get in all superhero movies.

I find Prof Klon and the Ginger Boys to be more irritating than hilarious. Professor Klon's insidious laughter, meant to sound like he was a madman, makes one feel mad in the head instead. These were not evil villains, at least not the ones we've been used to in "Batman" and "Spider-man". In fact, if you take The Riddler, Two-Faced Harvey and The Joker, all from the earlier Batman movies, and put them all together, you will get Prof Klon.

The Ginger Boys look very cool, until they open their mouths. Ginger 1, played by Adlin Aman Ramlie, is unable to talk, but communicates via hand signals and strange grunts with Ginger 2 (AC Mizal), who then translates it in a way that reminds me so much of Jar Jar Binks from "Star Wars: Episode One".

It is obvious that they took a lot of ideas from various superhero movies. Also, the one thing which felt a bit odd is that Metrofulus looks remarkably like New York City or Boston, instead of a Malaysian city.

On the plus side, the cinematography and computer graphics are unexpectedly astounding. From the impressive CGI recreation of Metrofulus to our hero's wall-climbing skills and tongue-sticking tactics, this brings Malaysia to a new level of movie-making, which I hope future film makers will follow in their movies involving CGI.

For the P. Ramlee fans, listen carefully for a few classic lines and acting styles taken from the legend's greatest movies, such as "Masam Masam Manis". "Cicakman" also has an amusing perspective on our local DVD piracy industry, with its funny take on how to tell the difference between a real person and a clone.

The movie has the potential to expand into a comic franchise - and it looks like the sequel is a sure thing. If you are out for a good laugh and to poke fun at superheroes, go watch "Cicakman". The plus points are definitely worth it, and you may actually find yourself tapping your feet to its theme song. And who knows, you may never look at the cicak in your house the same way again.

Cinema Online, 23 September 2008