Review: 'Pacific Rim'

I remember the day when I was first introduced to what became a childhood favorite of mine with VHS copies of 'Godzilla vs Megalon' and 'Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla'. I was around 7 years of age and since then, throughout the rest of my childhood, I had watched almost every Godzilla movie. The good, the bad, the strange and even the american Godzilla. Giant monsters beating down other giant monsters (and occasionally giant robots) was always the way to go in my youth.

There's no doubt this movie, 'Pacific Rim', borrows heavily from the 'Kaiju'-type monster movies from the past and pays great homage to them as well. The second half takes place in Hong Kong, after all. But the problem is that many of todays audience won't be looking at the movie in that particular nostalgic fashion, but more on the overblown, 'Transformer'-like CGI effects for mindless entertainment.

Having seen previews for this movie, and the huge emphasis on the special effects/action/mayhem that's shown with these giant man operated robots, I had my doubts. I was expecting to hate this movie, that it would become another 'Transformers' rip-off, which I was already never fond of in the first place. To my surprise, I was only half wrong.

Yes, sure, it had it's moments that were fully overdone with the action and effects. Yes it involved aliens coming from another universe bent on destroying all humankind. Yes it involved giant robots defending the earth from the alien species. But it all came down to these two important things: Pacing and character. I was pleased to see there were actual moments in this film that let you spend time with these characters and make way for them to develop. I'd say there's at least a good fifteen minutes in the movie that allows just that. So when the end of the film comes around, you actually do sort of find yourself rooting for these decent characters to save the world from these giant, Godzilla-sized alien rhinoceroses. Well, that's what they looked like to me.

The films director is Guillermo del Toro, and his work from the past has left a strange impact on me. Some of his films I don't find any liking for, like 'Cronos', then there are others that I really adore, like 'Pan's Labyrinth'. 'Pacific Rim' is definitely his biggest film, budget and effects-wise, to date and I find myself sort of in the in-between of the previous two films mentioned. I don't love this movie or find it great in any way at all, but I'm far from hatred towards it and found some surprising amount of fun oozing off from it. Overall, it was surprising with what it delivered.

My rating: 2.5 / 4

  

Review: '42: The Jackie Robinson Story'

I guess I kind of put off seeing this film for a few months, partly because I never was the most fond of sports movies. They just always seem more predictable than other films. After seeing this film, I still stand by that statement, yet that doesn't mean I don't think they're good. They really are good, especially when done right. And in the case of '42', many things are done right.

The story is that of Jackie Robinson, the first african-american to play in major league baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. It most definitely is an inspiring story. But, of course, every bit of inspiration has to come with an extra dose of cliches. I'm not sure how much of the events in here are factual, and the others are put there for artistic purposes, but i've seen them portrayed plenty times in football and baseball movies alike. It is definitely a film that plays like a soft, feel-good underdog story from the '80's and '90's. And yes, society does need to hear these stories every once in a while. Anything that can brighten your day in the slightest bit is something worth while.

Co starring alongside Chadwick Boseman, who plays Jackie Robinson, is Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, in probably one the best performances of his career. I know, that does sound a little odd, knowing it's Harrison Ford and how he usually just plays himself in his movies. But in this movie, he actually pushes himself out of his bubble and gives a performance that makes you at least forget half of the time that it's Harrison Ford.

Along with that, there are many good performances in this film. So good, in fact, that I don't need to hear some melodramatic musical score in the background for practically every other scene. In a movie like this especially, I believe if an actor's performance is good and moving enough, I don't need an obvious cue as to tell me how I should feel in the moment.

There are issues to racism in this movie that are really obvious, but also ones that are surprising and startling. In a good way as well. How does racism usually start, and where does it's influence come from? That's one of the many questions this film asks and, in a few very good scenes, answers boldly. I also found it really bold in showing how racism can never really be lifted from certain people, no matter what the situation may be.

Going into this movie, I wasn't entirely expecting much to be impressed with. After watching it though, I didn't feel any sense of regret whatsoever, and it left me with a good feeling. If you do end up watching this film, there will be no time wasted at all.

My Rating: 3 / 4

Review: 'Much Ado About Nothing' (2013)

If Shakespeare himself were to have seen four hundred years into the future, he most likely would have been pleased to see his work being treated with love and respect. Especially in the last two decades, the cinema has been privileged in having Shakespeare's words and stories emanate from the silver screen with such style; With the likes of 'Coriolanus' (2011), adapted by Ralph Fiennes into a contemporary setting in modern day Rome. Or Kenneth Branagh's version of 'Hamlet' (1996), which remained in a period setting, but still over a hundred years ahead of the time it was written. And now, we have Joss Whedon's modern day, contemporary version of 'Much Ado About Nothing'.

I've been familiar with this play in the past, and I must say that this one is a little minor on the scale of Shakespeare's other greats (in my humble opinion). But with that said, I really do like this story nonetheless. After all, mediocre Shakespeare is better than no Shakespeare at all. The language of Shakespeare is very much alive in this adaptation, and that's mostly great. There always has been, for me, a sort of weird feeling seeing these modern day individuals in everyday attire speaking as though they have come from another time and place. But I guess that's part of the charm of it, and it works for the most part.

In many ways, this was one of the first romantic-comedies in history, and surprisingly holds less cliches than most other 'rom-coms' of today. That's just one of the many genius things that hold up about Shakespeare. The man was definitely ahead of his time.

Joss Whedon is certainly one of the most talented filmmakers today. Not only can he create convincing and compelling characters, popular television shows and one of the highest grossing movies of all time ('The Avengers'), but he also has a passion for literature and apparently will do anything to bring it to life. Like filming it in his own house, for instance. Yes, the main location for this film was indeed Whedon's own home. And according to some sources, he filmed this entire movie in the course of a single month. That's some pretty solid dedication.

With Joss Whedon being the adamant man on story-structure he is, it only makes sense that he should pay tribute to the master storyteller himself, of whom was William Shakespeare.

My rating: 3 / 4

Review: 'The East'

I was looking forward to seeing this film. Now, having finally seen it, I'm not so sure if I really saw it. Despite there being decent, even good, performances, the movie suffers heavily from a very uneven screenplay.

I don't know if I just didn't understand the subject material that was being dealt with in the movie, or if I just didn't really care all that much about what happened. This whole thing was just convoluted. So many detours and intricacies are taken in this story to a point where it's pretty much just pretentious. Brit Marling, who I've admired in the past with her much better film of which she wrote and starred in ('After Earth'), this time around has left a disappointing mark.

After an hour or so once the movie had ended, I found myself having little to no decent memory of what this movie did to me intellectually. In the moment, as the film was playing, I tried to understand what most of these ideas the film was trying to get across. Maybe I'm just thinking harder than I should, admittedly. 

The revolutionary group, known as the East, are all about giving large pharmaceutical companies a 'taste of their own medicine' and fighting fire with fire. There were times, particularly in the middle of the film, where I did begin feeling a bit of emotion for what the main characters were trying to accomplish, with a subplot involving a poisoned water-supply. But near the end of that act, yet again, the subtly of the situation and the message the movie is trying to portray goes into overdrive, trying to bash the message quite literally over your head. The juxtaposition is just a little too over the top.

Characters are introduced, and then they just disappear. Plot devices are set up, but never referred to again. Most of the characters are forgettable, and I just could not find any clear focus in the story.

I'm pretty sure the subtext of this movie was really, in a way, about civil rights and equality. I'm perfectly fine with that, but instead of keeping it ambiguous and up to interpretation for the audience, they just turn it into a show-and-tell of individuals who, at one time or another, have been shunned by society in world history; like the african-american, the fat person, the gay person, the deaf person, the mentally challenged, etc.

The film has good intentions, but it feels like it's trying to say something deep, when it's really nothing we haven't heard before and don't need to be reminded of.

My rating: 2 / 4