Pacific Rim

Giant robots fighting giant monsters from another dimension. Sounds like something from a terrible Japanese cartoon, right? Well in my modest opinion, this movie definitely did better than that…not that those are high expectations.

‘Pacific Rim’ spins an fantastical yarn, showing us that giant monsters, nicknamed ‘Kaiju’ invaded Earth, forcing mankind to unite against them to bring us the ‘Jagers’, giant man-made metal monstrosities with the soul purpose of killing Kaiju. The story centers around a single pilot (piloting a Jager it turns out, it a two person job) that has placed himself in somewhat of a self imposed exile, and is called upon to help mankind make its final stand against the growing threat of the Kaiju.

The look of this movie was, in a single word, dazzling. The graphic effects were incredibly well done, the robots looked fantastic and, being that you see different generations of robots, believable. Being a Guillermo del Toro movie, you expect some great monsters, and holy crap does he deliver. The Kaiju are a diverse and stunning collection of horrors from a mind that has to run rampant with the things that hide under the bed. I saw this in 3D, and there were a few sketchy moment in 3D, but all in all, the 3D was used as it should be, as a tool to enhance the depth of the field and not as the gimmick it was in the 70’s.

Acting was pretty decent in this movie. The show was definitely Idris Elba’s, demanding all of y=the attention of whatever scene he was in. Charlie Day was surprisingly good, even though he was used mostly as a comedic boxing glove whenever the story needed a good comedy punch. Another great performer in this movie was Rinko Kikuchi, this being her largest performance to date. Ron Pearlman of course makes an appearance, as he and del Toro are good friends.

The story in this film was decent, but I do have to admit I was hoping for a little more drama and story and a little less action. I liked what I saw, but there were some action sequences that are almost exhausting just watching because of the amount of force and devastation caused. Other than that small concern, wanting a little more exposition and detail in some areas, I really have nothing negative to say about the story.

Final Judgement:

This is what you want out of a summer action movie. There was a good story, amazing special effects, and even a little hint at romance mixed up in it. If you are looking for an action movie, buy tickets to this. If you are indifferent or prefer 3D, this is a 3D movie that won't kill your eyes, and this movie in IMAX is breath-taking. While it most likely won't win an award from the Academy, this is a movie that shouldn't disappoint.

Score: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

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This Is The End

So this movie was to me, more interesting than it was funny. It is an important note that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg made this as a short movie six years ago, and this is the big budget reinterpretation of that short.

'This Is The End' is a story where 5 friends (Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, James Franco, & Craig Robinson) fight to survive when a house warming party is interrupted by Judgement Day. The friends, playing themselves, brave through starvation, survivors, and the forces of Hades.

What I found most interesting, was the fact that all the actors played themselves. You don't see actors playing themselves in completely fantastic and outlandish scenarios in movies too often. The best, prior to this, would have to be Bill Murray's cameo in 'Zombieland'.

The writing/story of this movie was pretty decent. The story progressed pretty smoothly, and the jokes were well timed and spaced. The main story line, between Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen, was actually believeable and, for lack of a better term, 'Bro-mantic'.

Acting, like most comedies, was the most important feature of this movie. The delivery of the lines in this movie were great, and physical comedy is a strong suit for the entire cast.. The main cast have an amazing chemistry on screen, and it's easy to tell they enjoyed making the movie. The beginning of the movie is literally a mountain of cameos of who's who in comedy, and while funny, is also a little overwhelming to the eyes, because it almost makes you want to scan every face to see who might be in the shot, instead of paying attention to what's happening.

The cinematography of this movie was leagues better than I was expecting. The lighting was gorgeous. The backdrop of fires outside the set gave way for some great lighting choices.  Digital effects were, for the most part, used sparingly and in good taste. There were a couple of obvious green screen backdrops that could have been cleaned up a bit.

I know this movie has been in theaters a while, but it is worth going if you have the time. It is a solid comedy, and if you like any of the bodies of work by this group of actors, chances are you are going to enjoy this movie.

Score: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

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World War Z

So as always, I will try to deliver my accurate review of the movie without spoiling the plot's integrity.

So in my opinion, one should always be approach 'zombie flicks' with trepidation, because it is pretty easy to burn your ticket money with them and not hard to ruin them. That being said, World War Z was alright, compared to other zombie flicks, it was pretty good, but it left me wanting.

Now I haven't read the novel by Max Brooks (son of Mel, the Great) so I am not even going to touch the integrity of the story compared to the novel, but offer an outsiders perspective. The story I felt was the movie's greatest strength and it's biggest downfall. There are moments in the movie that are edge of your seat moments, and also some fairly beautiful and emotional moments in the movie. These moments however, feel like they are quite conservatively spread throughout a plot that feels jerky and stair steps, lacking the fluidity. The story was so eager to show the worldwide consequences of this plague of undead that some story points fell by the wayside. Now maybe 'The Walking Dead' has spoiled me with their fairly nice writing, but these days I don't think it's unreasonable to have a well crafted script for zombies. There are also some fairly significant plot points I find confusing or not well explained, mainly a lot of information on the main character, Gerry (Brad Pitt). One thing I like about the story is part of the ending, but I can't say more for fear of spoiling.

The cinematography on this movie was fairly impressive. handheld camerawork was used minimally, when called for, which is especially appreciated if you watch this in 3D, as I did. Landscapes both bleak and gorgeous dot the movie and really drive home the enormity of the main character's journey. My main complaint with the look of the movie is I think that digital effects were used much too liberally in the movie. Where extras could be used to create a decent horde or run of zombies, 3D animation is instead used to make a wave of zombies (I kid you not, there are some pretty ridiculous digital effects in the movie that defy the laws of physics.) With all the digital zombies, I think the movie really missed a chance to get up close and personal with the undead, which is the scariest part of the concept, when it breaks the audience's comfort barrier.

As for acting in the movie, I don't think any one person stood out, even Brad Pitt, who I was hoping would have delivered a better performance. The acting isn't by any stretch bad acting either, there just aren't to many moments in the movie where you are going to think to yourself "I will remember this next week."

So all in all, it won't be the worst movie of the year, but there were definitely some opportunities missed in the movie that kept this from being something special in the zombie sub-genre.

Score: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

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