Cicak Man is a 2006 Malaysian 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, , was released on 11 December2008 in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei following the film's success in the Malaysian box-office. The original announced release is in the end of 2007. A third film titled Cicak Man 3 was released on 12 March2015 in Malaysia with an all new cast, where Zizan Razak took over Saiful's protagonist place instead.
Plot
Hairi Yatim, 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, 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 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, 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, 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.
The film was shot using Dolby TrueHD, and about 40% of the film was shot in Green Screen. The visual effects team led by the director, Yusry, used CGI technology to fully realise the fictional city of Bandar Metrofulus, the protagonist's super-hero movements and various digital sets. Over 90% of the rotoscoping and compositing work were carried out by KRU Films, who were also behind the musical scores and audio effects. Of note, Adlin Aman Ramlie and AC Mizal previously worked together on the Puteri Gunung Ledang musical.
Cicak-Man created Malaysian movie history by grossing MYR350,000 with an audience attendance number of 47,116 in its first day. 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 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, Batman, Superman, and other superhero films from 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.
Malaysianisms
The film contains many in-jokes or references to Malaysian culture. Among them are:
Where clones "hang", the characters comment that the clones are just copies and not "ori" 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!" 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?", which refers to two of KFC'sfried chicken flavour options in Malaysia.
