Pacific Rim

Ratings: 9.0/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Sci Fi Action

It's Gundam meets Godzilla. If there ever was a live action Gundam movie that is. It's plain simple machine vs. monsters, end of the world scenario if humans don't defeat the oncoming alien species that is sneaking through a portal from the seabed. It's has an interesting take on how aliens would invade earth by, and all these while we thought it would be from the "heavens", "hell" would be a good place to start looking. 

While there are inevitably flaws in the story, it makes a cool CG-dominated non-stop (almost) action packed movie with most of the action scenes taking place in the dark. I might have missed the important bits about why the aliens didn't send armies of monsters at one go but a pathetic few every now and then, as if to tease/challenge the human race, but it sure even the odds. In fact, most of the time the humans barely survived an attack.

The cast is relatively unknown, and though not stellar, creates a more "realistic" feel with what looked like your everyday common-folk characters instead of the usual "Hollywood" glam. Also, there's a certain raw look which makes this a more realistic film than Transformers. Actor Ron Perlman is a tickle to watch, always getting giggles from the audience whenever he's introduced as a supporting cast like in his other films, obviously one of main reasons for making it into the director's favorite list of actors. 

There's a westernized anime fusion in this, hints of Japanese influence/inspirations here and there, and which was pretty obvious by starring the rather out of place Rinko Kikuchi (female lead who starred as Mako Mori). Even the terms used to describe the machines and monsters were in japanese. The little girl acting as the younger version of Mako stole the limelight despite having only a mere 10-min screentime. *major spoilers ahead* That said, the part of her savior appearing felt kinda cheesy, killing the mood of the "short clip" of her demise. To look on the bright side, it created what seemed like a glaring closure for that chapter of Mako's background story. 

There are funny bits scattered throughout the film but none too noteworthy. The main focus was the awesome fighting scenes between the machines and monsters. There's a good buildup of intensity for the fighting scenes and the highlight came midway (parts of it are shown in the trailer). The ending, though not as satisfyingly long as the fight scene in the middle, was a visual spectacle of boomz. 

I was silently hoping to get a glimpse of a possible sequel after the credits but all I got was "What the hell happened to my boot?". (In this case it's not a stinger but a "sting" I guess. Cos the extra scene came midway during the credits)

Pacific Rim is a sure hit among the guys, but might not fair as well for the ladies. The closest thing to romance you'll find here is a forehead kiss, and the only "hugs" are the direct opposite of bromance... 2 guys beating the crap out of each other. 

Though the machines and monsters might look the same due to the color hues, there are some really commendable efforts invested into the details. The types of weaponry and fighting styles were clearly distinguishable for both the monsters and machines. 

The only complain I have is the sound, which I believe to be the fault of the theatre's and not the production of the film. If you're wondering, the title "Pacific Rim" possibly came from the crack in the seabed, which was the portal between our world and the alien's, which looked like a rim underwater. And the fights are mostly at the pacific coast. 

Pacific Rim has made the dreams of most anime fans come true, anime-styled movie with awesome Hollywood graphics. Best of both worlds. What more could they, we, ask for?

Despicable Me 2

Ratings: 5.5/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Animation Comedy

Villian-turned hero Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villian League (AVL) to stop a new anonymous supervillian who stole an evil turning serum from a secret laboratory in the Arctics. It's up to Gru and his new AVL partner to uncover the identity of this supervillain and his true intentions. 

For you blind fans out there who's probably cursing me cos of the extremely low ratings, hear me out objectively. Despicable Me 2 has lost the focus of it's orginal intention. Even though Gru and his 3 little darling sweethearts are still in the movie, let's face it, this is a Minions movie. It has taken the same route as Ice Age, diverging the focus from the main leads, and has resulted in a complete different concoction of silly and childish humor. No doubt the minions are cute and entertaining to watch, but not when they take up close to 80% of the entire movie. Because of that, the director compromised on less build up for the other characters.  

I seriously didn't know what I was watching. And the most disappointing part was that the focus on the 3 little girls was pathetic, which really made it for me in part 1. The youngest girl was so cute she made my day with her cheek bobbles in the first movie, but the only thing I can remember for this sequel is the minions acting all spastic over and over again. 

Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely entertaining to watch the minions, but there was too much of them and because every situation or scene they were in was a guaranteed "stupid" moment, it became spastic overtime.  I'm perhaps too harsh with the adjective. To be blunt, it was too childish for me. The minions were being cute for the sake of being cute so pardon me for not appreciating this kind of humor. 

I found myself mildly laughing throughout the movie, with a good 2-3 really funny scenes, and though there was a decent plot with an impressive vibrance of colors to really liven up the screens, this animated sequel reminded me of the famous proverb "Too much of anything is good for nothing", and has glamously shed light on what it really means. 

I'm almost 100% positive that another sequel will be made, whether it's a Minions movie or a 3rd instalment of Despicable Me, it's going to be downhill from here on... sigh.

Jack Reacher

Rating: 8.2/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Action Thriller

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is a drifter and a former major in the U.S. army military police corps. He had recieved many military awards but went off the grid, reasons unknown. As claimed from one scene, he cannot be found, unless he wants to. He resurfaces after a former miltary sniper went on a killing spree and shot 5 random victims. The reason of his reappearance? To convict the murderer of his crime. This seemingly straight forward case was picked up by defense attorney Helen Rodin, who also happens to be the District Attorney's daughter, and manages to persuade Jack Reacher to investigate the case further. You know what's coming... nothing is as it seems (if not there's wouldn't be a movie) and Jack uncovers a conspiracy which puts both his and Helen Rodin's lives on the line. 

Thankfully, Jack Reacher is almost as untouchable as Bryan Millis, retired CIA agent from the movie Taken. With that knowledge, through the introduction of his character, makes his unadvantageous situations less intense. It's not a bad thing, cos' despite so, Tom Cruise's superb acting sometimes makes you forget that he's that invulnerable with his occasional panicky expressions. All I'm saying is that it's less of a character empathy movie but more of a "can't wait to see him kick more asses" movie. 

It turned out way better than I had thought it was capable of achieving. There's plot, there's humor, yup, humor alright, not a one-off thing but little bits here and there, there's action, coolness and the only thing lacking, is romance. Which of course, isn't vital in an action thriller. I'm not watching this movie for "aw" moments or kissing scenes (zilch in this one, it's a sexually clean movie), I was hoping for stress-relieving action and I got more than what I hoped for... 

Jack Reacher is so underrated there wasn't any hype about it when it came onto the big screens, reasons I can only assume lies in the main lead. There has been bad publicity about Tom Cruise recently, still, I think he's one of the giant actors (even though he's only 1.7m in height) in Hollywood who can really act. 

*major spoilers ahead* Puzzled by one point of the movie was why the murderer paid for parking. It was brought up around 3 times by Jack Reacher, and though the "truth" was staring blatantly at me, I was a bit lost cause there wasn't a direct explanation of it. I kinda shut my brains off. Well, if you were as confused as I was, I found out that because the coin used for the parking had the murderer's prints on them and it was to frame the suspect. And since it was to frame the suspect, it had to be planted, which ie. to say, paying for parking, didn't make sense. Literally. It's just there to fabricate the evidence. 

Shucks, I had to use a bit of brains afterall. All in all, Jack Reacher was really fun to watch, exciting, intense, and engaging. Cute at times with its light-hearted humour. 

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Ratings: 7.4/10

Film Class: B+

Genre: Action Fantasy Thriller

It was an enjoyable remake of the classic Hansel and Gretel fairytale story, it seems the trend of Hollywood is making darker fairytales these days... Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast (Beastly), Snow White (Snow White and The Huntsmen), well the list goes on, and will continue to do so I believe. I wouldn't be surprised if 3 Little Pigs and The Singing Bone comes on screen in time to come. 

However, in this version of Hansel & Gretel, the focus weren't on the bread crumbs, but more on Hansel & Gretel, and the sisterhood of witches. Though the CG for the witches were scary, this isn't a horror movie but an action-packed movie with horrific creatures, somewhat like Van Helsing. Ok now, I'm stating the obvious, but there is a certain twist to the story which makes it rather interesting to watch, not some no-brainer witch-blowing movie. 

After burning the witch who held them captive when young, the brother sister duo Hansel & Gretel grew up to become witch hunters. Their newest case unknowingly leads them to uncover a brewing plot to forever change the fate of witches. 

*spoilers ahead* The trailer was rather misleading, I had thought most parts of the movie was for Hansel to save his kidnapped sister. But it was just a tiny-weeny part, Hansel & Gretel were separated very early, but each had their "cool" moments. In fact, Gretel was more kickass than Hansel, and nothing beats watching a badass beauty in kickass action. 

Predictable plot, and even though the twist was predictable, it makes a great light-hearted film to catch.

World War Z

Ratings: 8.8/10

Film Class: A

Genre: Action Horror

World War Z's fast-paced and cuts to the chase minutes into the movie, and the suspense kept running throughout. Possibly one of the best zombie apocalypse movies out there, where the focus was more on the plot, at the same time it didn't shortchange zombie movie fans with the lack of zombie action. The tension was breath-gasping and the scenes were mostly original, *major spoilers ahead* stacking of zombies up a Jerusalem wall, zombies being sucked out of a plane, and the classic video-game-styled melee-combat mission to get to a potential "antidote". 

Retired UN elite investigator Gerry is re-recruited to act as an escort for a leading Doctor who might be able to find a cure for a virus outbreak which turns humans into zombies in seconds. However, things doesn't go smoothly and he's forced to go on his own mission to find the antidote to save humanity. 

No time was wasted in introducing the characters, direct and straight to the point, the action comes in shortly after the first introductory scene. And from then on, it's intense action over and over again. This movie doesn't use gore or sudden soundblasts to scare the audience, instead, it fills your bottle of anticipation with suspense and breaks it with popping zombies. 

Though the story development was hastily done, with some parts being too ridiculously convenient (the finding of WHO HQ which is in the middle of nowhere), I'm more forgiving towards it compared to Man of Steel mainly because of the genre. I mean afterall, zombie movies are meant to be at least 50% brainless so that the audience can have a great time being scared-relaxed and the plots always tend to be very cliche. Not for this though. 

*major major spoilers ahead* It has an interesting twist to the antidote and whilst the ending was a little abrupt, this 116 mins film sure does know how to distinguish itself from other zombie movies. The close to ending scene was super cool when Brad Pitt walked his way out of a horde of flesh-eating zombies after drinking a can of pepsi from a deserted vending machine. 

One of my favourite zombie flicks which packs well-balanced suspense, a fresh plot, diverse cast and it's more of an action horror than a scary horror-type fiilm. Realistic scenarios if the world was to be infested with zombies and even the workings behind the antidote was scientifically/evolutionarily logical. Good stuffZ!