''Cicak Man'' (pronounced , Malay:
Gecko
Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from .
Geckos ar ...
-Man) is a 2006
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
n comedy-superhero film. Directed by
KRU member Yusry Abdul Halim, it is the first Malaysian film of this genre, and features almost 40% CGI footage. Comedian Saiful Apek stars the timid protagonist Hairi who obtains his gecko-like powers quite by accident and becomes a shock to his friend, who also tries his best to adjust to his superpowers while living in the fictional city of Metrofulus.The film received mixed review upon its release.
A sequel, ''
Cicak Man 2: Planet Hitam'', was released on 11 December 2008 in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
following the film's success in the Malaysian box-office.
The original announced release is in the end of 2007.
[KRU Music Group](_blank)
A third film titled ''
Cicak Man 3
''Cicak Man 3'' (pronounced ) is a 2015 Malaysian comedy-superhero film. It is the third installment of the Cicak Man series. The film was co-directed by Yusry Abdul Halim and Ghaz Abu Bakar and starred Zizan Razak who replaced Saiful Apek f ...
'' was released on 12 March 2015 in Malaysia with an all new cast, where Zizan Razak took over Saiful's protagonist place instead.
Plot
Hairi Yatim (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 (Virus 266). 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 Professor 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), who first tend to take revenge on Professor Klon's failed experiment on them; making their senses turn abnormal.
Hairi soon makes use of his new-found powers as "Cicakman" when he saves Tania (Fasha Sandha), Professor 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.
Cast
*
Saiful Apek
Muhammad Saiful Azam bin Mohamed Yusoff (born 12 May 1969) or better known as Saiful Apek is a comedian of Malaysia. He was once called "Malaysia's No.1 Comedian" during his heyday and also the title of "Sifu" by comedians today. Until today, ...
as Hairi / Cicak-Man
*
Fasha Sandha
Nur Fasha Sandha Hassan (born 28 March 1984) is a Malaysian actress who has appeared in films, television shows, and commercials.
Life and career
She was born in Johor Bahru but moved to Penang later. She then transferred to Kuala Lumpur, and ...
as Tania
* Yusry KRU as Danny
*
Aznil Nawawi
Datuk Aznil bin Nawawi (born 6 November 1962), better known as Aznil Nawawi (sometimes he credited as Aznil Haji Nawawi, Aznil or Pak Nil), is a Malaysian TV host.
He won the Best Talk Show Award at the Asian Television Awards 2005 in Singapor ...
as Professor Klon
* Adlin Aman Ramlie as Ginger 1
*
AC Mizal
Dato' Mizal Zaini, known professionally as AC Mizal (born 21 December 1971), is a Malaysian actor, singer, comedian, TV host and former radio presenter.
Early life
Mizal was born on 21 December 1971 in Johor Bahru, Johor. He is the son of D ...
as Ginger 2
* Yasmin Hani as Nadia
*
Jalaluddin Hassan
Yang Berbahagia Dato' Jalaluddin bin Hassan (born 18 February 1954) is a Malaysian actor and television host. He is famously known for being the host of the Malaysian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? game show in Malay on NTV7 (2000†...
as Ramlan, President Metrofulus
* M. Rajoli as Minister 1
*
Aziz Sattar
Datuk Abdul Aziz bin Sattar ( Jawi: عبدالعزيز بن ستار; 8 August 1925 – 6 May 2014) was a Malaysian actor, singer, comedian, and director who is mostly known for his roles in the black and white Malay films of the 1950s a ...
as Minister 2
* Shaharuddin Thamby as Minister 3
* Arash Mohamad as Minister 4
* Zulkifli Zain as Minister 5
* Helmi Gimmick as Police Officer
* Abon as Security Guard 1
* Prono as Security Guard 2
* Azhar Sulaiman as Ticket Seller
* Rostam as Radio DJ
* Irma Hasmie as Newsreader
Production
The film was shot using
Dolby TrueHD
Dolby TrueHD is a lossless, multi-channel audio codec developed by Dolby Laboratories for home video, used principally in Blu-ray Disc and compatible hardware. Dolby TrueHD, along with Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3) and Dolby AC-4, is one of the int ...
, and about 40% of the film was shot in
Green Screen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to r ...
. The visual effects team led by the director,
Yusry, used
CGI technology to fully realise the fictional city of Bandar Metrofulus (which was based on
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
), the protagonist's super-hero movements and various digital sets. Over 90% of the
rotoscoping
Rotoscoping is an animation technique that animators use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced ov ...
and
compositing
Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously ca ...
work were carried out by
KRU Films
KRU Studios is a Malaysian media and entertainment company. Founded in 1992, KRU Studios has since diversified and now provides a range of services related to the media and entertainment industry, specialising in both production and distributio ...
(now known as
KRU Studios
KRU Studios is a Malaysian media and entertainment company. Founded in 1992, KRU Studios has since diversified and now provides a range of services related to the media and entertainment industry, specialising in both production and distributio ...
), who were also behind the musical scores and audio effects.
[* The Official CICAKMAN Website]
/ref>
Of note, Adlin Aman Ramlie and AC Mizal previously worked together on the ''Puteri Gunung Ledang
The legend revolves around a celestial princess who lived on Mount Ledang, located in present-day Tangkak District, Johor, Malaysia.
Puteri Gunung Ledang (Johor legend)
The sultan had heard of the princess' beauty and wanted to marry her, but s ...
'' musical.
Soundtrack listing
# The Times – Cicakman
# Spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
– Telinga ke Tulang
# Pretty Ugly – Diari Seorang Lelaki
# Ezlynn – Menunggumu
# Aznil Nawawi
Datuk Aznil bin Nawawi (born 6 November 1962), better known as Aznil Nawawi (sometimes he credited as Aznil Haji Nawawi, Aznil or Pak Nil), is a Malaysian TV host.
He won the Best Talk Show Award at the Asian Television Awards 2005 in Singapor ...
– Professor Klon
# Yusry – Jika Ku Tak Bangun Esok Pagi
# Dr. Kronik – Bukan Ilusi
# Syuga – Dialah Aku
Reception
Box-office
''Cicak-Man'' created Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
n movie history by grossing MYR350,000 with an audience attendance number of 47,116 in its first day.[Cicak-Man cecah kutipan RM2 juta dalam tempoh 5 hari](_blank)
/ref> The film eventually gave its production company, KRU Group of Companies, a MYR6.7 million boost due to sales.
Critical response
While there were people who praised ''Cicak Man'', there were many others who criticised this film greatly. Film critic Mansor Puteh in an interview by Harian Metro
''Harian Metro'' is a Malaysian daily newspaper owned by the New Straits Times Press. It is Malaysia's first Malay daily afternoon tabloid in Klang Valley, in contrast to morning tabloids in other part of Malaysia. The Harian Metro was estab ...
said "...the film has no 'soul'. There is no aesthetic values, culture or hidden meaning that allows the audience to think." There were individuals who compared between Cicak Man and Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
, Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
, Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
, and other superhero films from Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
, but before it was released to public, the director, Yusry had advised people to not compare Cicak Man with other superhero characters because the budget is "obviously lower" compared to Hollywood productions.
References
External links
*
*
''Cicak Man''
at Superheroes Lives
{{Cicakman
2006 films
2000s superhero comedy films
2000s action comedy films
Films set in Malaysia
Malay-language films
Malaysian science fiction films
Malaysian superhero films
KRU Studios films
Cathay-Keris Films films
Films shot in Malaysia
Films set in Asia
2006 science fiction action films
2006 comedy films