Cicak Man

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Cicak Man
The Cicak Man
Directed by	Yusry
Produced by	Johan Lucas
Starring	Saiful Apek Fasha Sandha Yusry Aznil Hj Nawawi Yasmin Hani AC Mizal Adlin Aman Ramlie
Music by	Edry Abd Halim
Distributed by	KRU Films
Release date(s)	December 7, 2006
Running time	107 min
Country	Malaysia
Language	Malay
Budget	RM1.7 million (USD 528,418)
Followed by	Cicak Man 2
Official website

Cicak Man (pronounced [tɕɪtɕak mæn], chee'-chuck man) is a 2006 Malaysian comedy-superhero film. It is the first Malaysian film of this genre, and features almost 40% CGI footage. The film was directed by KRU member Yusry and starred comedian Saiful Apek. The name "Cicak-Man" literally translates to "Gecko-Man".

A sequel, Cicak-Man 2 has been announced to be currently in production, with an original announced release for the end of 2007.^[1] The release date has since been pushed to 2008.^[2]

1 Plot
2 Production
3 Cast
4 Soundtrack listing
5 Response
6 Honours
7 Comparison
8 Malaysianisms
9 See also
10 External links
11 References

[edit] Plot

Hairi,Cicakman's real identity

Set in the make-believe city of Metrofulus, "Cicak-Man" is about the last person on earth anyone would expect to turn into a superhero. But funnyman Saiful Apek, does, quite by accident and becomes a shock to his friend, who also tries his best to adjust to his superpowers. When he's not climbing walls, Cicakman reverts to his alter ego, the unassuming Hairi.

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.

Cicak Man.

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.

[edit] Production

Cicakman's logo

The film was shot using Dolby TrueHD, and about 40% of the film was shot in Green Screen. The visual effects team lead by the director, Yusry, used CGI technology to fully realize the fictional city of Bandar Metrofulus (which was based on Kuala Lumpur), the protagonist's super-hero movements and various digital sets. Over 90% of the rotoscoping and compositing work were carried out by KRU Films (now known as KRU Studios), who were also behind the musical scores and audio effects.^[3]

[edit] Cast

Aznil Nawawi plays as evil Professor Klon

Saiful Apek as Hairi Yatim/Cicakman
Yusry Kru as Dannial Johan
Aznil Nawawi as Professor Klon
Fasha Sandha as Tania Ashraf
Yasmin Hani as Nadia
Adlin Aman Ramlie as Ginger 1
AC Mizal as Ginger 2

Of note, Adlin Aman Ramlie and AC Mizal previously worked together on the Puteri Gunung Ledang musical.

[edit] Soundtrack listing

The Times - Cicakman
Spider - Telinga ke Tulang
Pretty Ugly - Diari Seorang Lelaki
Ezlynn - Menunggumu
Aznil Nawawi - Profesor Klon
Yusry - Jika Ku Tak Bangun Esok Pagi
Dr. Kronik - Bukan Ilusi
Syuga - Dialah Aku

[edit] Response

Cicak-Man created Malaysian movie history by grossing RM350,000 with an audience attendance number of 47,116 in its first day.^[4] The film eventually gave its production company, KRU Group of Companies, a RM6.7 million boost due to sales.^[1]

[edit] Honours

Cicak-Man received many appreciation from various persons for the director's efforts even before it is released. One of them is Dato' Yusof Haslam alias "Six Million Dollar Man".^[5]David Teo as a film producer and CEO of Metrowealth International Group referred Cicak Man as a miracle with the response and difference shown in Malaysian filming industry. Besides film maker, ex-president of Persatuan Sutradara Malaysia (FDAM), Ahmad Ibrahim, praised this masterpiece created by Yusry and KRU^[6].

[edit] Comparison

While peoples praised Cicak Man, some peoples criticized this film. Mansor Putih in an interview by Harian Metro says that the film has no 'soul', aesthetic values and culture.^{[citation needed]} There are some peoples try to compare between Cicak Man and Spiderman, Batman, Superman and other superheroes from Hollywood. But before it was released to public, the director, Yusry had advised peoples to not comparing Cicak Man with other superhero characters because the budget is obviously lower that is RM1.7 million only compared to Hollywood productions.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Malaysianisms

The film contains many in-jokes or references to Malaysian culture. Among them are:

Where clones "hang" (malfunction), the characters comment that the clones are just copies and not "ori" (original) This is a reference to Malaysian movie pirates, and the government's current crackdown on piracy and promotion of "ori" items instead.
When Hairi uses Tania's pass card to gain all-access to the entire Klon Technologies headquarters, he yells "Tahniah! Tahniah!" (Congrats! Congrats!) as a word play to cover up when the card reader system reads Tania's name.
When Hairi is trying to distinguish the 5 original ministers from their cloned counterparts, he gives a humorous question, "Original ke Spicy?"("Original or Spicy?"), which refers to two of KFC's fried chicken flavour options in Malaysia.