Pacific Rim

The year is 2020, and humanity has been in a battle for survival against constant attacks by gigantic beasts called Kaiju - the Japanese word for "monster". It seems a portal has opened up from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean into another realm where the Kaiju live. Humanity is on the brink of extinction until the Jaeger program is born. In the Jaeger program, large robots are built to fight back against the Kaiju. These Jaegers, as they're called, are piloted by two humans who are linked telepathically by something called the Drift. Once the two pilots' minds are linked in the Drift, they can control the Jaeger as one entity and use it to engage the Kaiju. The Jaeger program proves effective...for a few years. Eventually the Kaiju become faster, stronger, and ultimately smarter. As a result the Jaeger program is put on the back burner and an attempt to build giant walls strong enough to withstand attacks is made. One former Jaeger pilot named Marshal Stacker Pentacost still believes in the Jaeger program, so he makes one last ditch effort to save the Jaeger program by calling on the top Jaeger pilots and rebuilding four former Jaeger robots who had formerly been retired. One of the pilots Stacker calls upon is a man named Raleigh Beckett. At the beginning of the Jaeger program, Beckett and his brother Yancey proved to be two of the best pilots on the planet by defeating scores of Kaiju before Yancey is killed while battling a Kaiju. As a result, Beckett resolves never to step back into a Jaeger. At least, that's what he tells himself when Stacker comes knocking on his doorstep. It isn't until Stacker makes a strong case that Beckett agrees to step back into a Jaeger, and this time he is joined by a young, inexperienced pilot named Mako Mori. Together, with the help of several other pilots manning the other three Jaegers, Beckett and Mako dive headfirst into battle with the Kaiju to end the conflict once and for all.

When I first saw the ads for Pacific Rim, I thought it looked really stupid. I was honestly wondering why it wasn't called Godzilla: The Next Generation, or something similar, because it looked exactly like yet another Godzilla monster movie. In that regards, it met my expectations; it's pretty much a stereotypical humanity vs. monsters flick. It is however, tons better than most monster movies I've seen in recent years. Most seem to be only about how much destruction can one (or more) monster(s) make when attacking cities. Pacific Rim is thankfully more intelligent and more entertaining than most monster movies. It has its plot holes and other issues, but for the most part it is a lot of fun. I am also curious as to what Hollywood has against New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego. It always seems to be those three cities that get destroyed, whether it's by a Godzilla-type of monster, alien invasion, or attacked by an evil villain. All in all, it turned out to be a decent monster movie that audiences will have a lot of fun watching.

The Lone Ranger

One would think that as a lawman (not to mention one from Texas) a person would be ok with the thought of handling guns and capturing criminals out in the Wild West. Then again, John Reid is not an ordinary lawman. He battles criminals and brings justice with words in a courthouse instead of bullets. He would rather be in the courtroom serving justice to criminals to the full extent of the law than out in the dangers of the Wild West. John's brother Dan, on the other hand, is the one who is a gun-toting, rough and tumble bounty hunter of sorts. Dan and his posse of Texas Rangers are bringing in a notorious cannibalistic evildoer named Butch Cavendish to be hanged in another town, but Cavendish escapes from the train transporting him to his execution. As a result Dan deputizes John and brings him along to recapture Cavendish and bring him to justice once and for all. Before their posse can accomplish this task they are ambushed by Cavendish's gang and left for dead. A lone Indian named Tonto stumbles upon the dead bodies and loots then buries them. While doing so, Tonto notices that a white stallion keeps going over to John Reid's grave and realizes that it is a spirit horse and it wants to bring John back from the grave. When John comes back to life and realizes what happens, he teams up with Tonto to go after Butch Cavendish and make him pay for his crimes once and for all.

If you're wondering if this film adaptation stays true to the spirit of the old TV series, it does...for the last 10-15 minutes of the film. Otherwise instead of giving tribute to The Lone Ranger it completely undermines the canon of the legend of The Lone Ranger and turns him into a vigilante initially going for vengeance instead of strictly being an instrument of justice. The trailers make it seem like a fun movie that parents and older kids would love, but this is not the case. The Lone Ranger is a very dark, violent film that is not suitable for kids. It has it's issues such as the vigilante angle as previously mentioned, and the bad guy is not just a man with an evil scheme, but he's also a cannibal. The camera (through a reflection) catches him stabbing, cutting open and eating the heart out of a dead man. On top of the dark content the movie itself doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be a lighthearted action comedy, or a dark and gritty western; and the story is confusing with a few plot holes. It's received some high praise from several people, but to be honest I cannot see why this is the case. I cannot recommend anyone go see The Lone Ranger, especially if you're looking to remember the show.

After Earth

Set in the not too distant future, Earth's atmosphere has become too dangerous for humanity to remain on the planet. In a desperate attempt to save the population from extinction, they settle on a distant planet whose atmosphere is similar to Earth's, enabling them to live safely on the planet and hopefully thrive. Unfortunately they are soon face with another threat: a race of violent beasts called Ursa that attacked their settlements. Humanity lived in fear of the Ursa until one man named Cypher Raige was able to rid himself of any and all fear and single handedly kill any Ursa that threatened his people. A few years later, Cypher's son named Kitai tries to follow in his father's footsteps by enrolling in a military academy and becoming a general like his father. Kitai fails in his pursuit of a military career, so to help his son get over the pain of failure Cypher allows Kitai to accompany him on a mission to another planet. En route to their destination the ship gets caught in an asteroid field and is severely damaged as a result, forcing them to take refuge on a quarantined planet. The ship breaks apart during their landing, and all but Cypher and his son die in the crash. Cypher's leg is broken during the crash, so Cypher sends his son on a rescue mission to retrieve a distress beacon in the tail end of the ship over 100 kilometers away.

After Earth has an interesting concept, and I was looking forward to seeing it when I first heard about it. Part of what made me interested is Will Smith is one of my all time favorite actors. Unfortunately, I was ultimately bored with the whole movie. Not even Will Smith could help that fact for me. After Earth has been advertised as a science fiction/action flick, but there wasn't enough action sequences to keep me interested. As far as the acting goes, Will Smith's son Jaden is honestly not that great of an actor. I did like him in his first movie role in The Pursuit of Happyness, but ever since his acting has declined dramatically. Even Will Smith was bad in this one. I've never seen such robotic, almost emotionless acting from him. His character was supposed to be a tough, ready to fight type of character but he came off as just bland and not entertaining. This was one of those movies I had high hopes for but was extremely disappointed in. For me it wasn't even worth waiting to see it at the dollar theater.

Despicable Me 2

The dastardly villain-turned-good-guy Gru is back in the sequel to the lovable family flick Despicable Me. This time around he is trying to get accustomed to the idea of fatherhood with his three daughters (Margo, Edith, and Agnes) who we met in the first film. With the help of his "army" of yellow Minions, he takes care of his daughters the best way that he knows how. As he's trying to take care of his girls, he also tries to avoid a nosy neighbor attempting to be his matchmaker. One would think someone would look at this situation and say he's got enough on his plate already, but a secret organization called the Anti-Villain League is trying to recruit him to help them catch an unknown criminal who has stolen a dangerous serum that turns innocent creatures into devilish purple monsters (similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). Gru resists at first, but at the urging of his daughters he agrees to assist in catching the criminal. Gru must infiltrate a local shopping mall with his new partner named Lucy Wilde from the AVL if he has any hope of finding the missing serum and catching the criminal responsible.

Back in 2010, Despicable Me arrived in theaters and won the hearts of kids and adults alike with its kid-friendly humor and its fantastic messages about the importance of a father figure in kids' lives. Now, three years later, this lovable sequel is just as humorous and filled with as many positive messages as its predecessor. The voice talents of Steve Carell as Gru, Kristen Wiig as Lucy, and Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher as Margo, Edith, and Agnes, respectively are all wonderfully top notch. Just like in the first Despicable Me, the Minions are the ones that steal the show here. Their Three Stooges style of humor is hilarious throughout the entire film. Parents and kids alike will greatly enjoy this one as much as the original. I personally liked the original better, but I still absolutely loved it.

The Heat

Special Agent Ashburn is a tough, by-the-book FBI agent who is up for a major promotion but only if she can catch a high-profile drug dealer who has never been identified except by a name: Julian. In order to catch Julian and stop the drug ring Ashburn must head to Boston and work with a street-wise cop named Mullins who prefers to work alone. Ashburn and Mullins butt heads and try to outdo each other until they realize that Mullins' brother is somehow involved, so they put aside their differences and work together to bring down the drug dealer and save Mullins' brother.

I'm usually not a fan of R-rated comedies, there are very few that I would recommend due to the comedic content being extremely crude and not all that funny. I would prefer comedies stayed in the same vein as early comedies such as The Princess Bride, Cool Runnings, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, or even more recent ones such as Hitch and Mr and Mrs Smith. The Heat doesn't shy away from the harsh language and vulgar jokes, but I did find myself busting out laughing more often than I would have originally thought I was going to. I went in mostly expecting to hate it, yet at the same time willing to give it a chance. That realization puts me in a difficult position because I would love to recommend The Heat, yet I feel like I should exercise a bit of caution in recommending this to people. Since it is rated R, and a lot of the content is pretty crude I would caution parents to preview it before they allow their kids to see it. For the rest, The Heat really is funnier than most R-rated comedies out there. If you can withstand a bit of crude humor then you will enjoy The Heat.

Man of Steel

On a distant planet called Krypton, a man named Jor-El attempts to plead with the leaders of his people to evacuate the planet due to its core turning volatile and making the planet a time bomb about to explode. When Jor-El fails to convince his leaders to evacuate he enacts a plan to evacuate his son to safety so at least their civilization is not completely annihilated. Before Jor-El is able to complete his mission, however, a ruthless Kryptonian General named Zod attacks the Kryptonian leaders in a coup to save the planet. Zod's coup fails to stop Jor-El from sending his son out among the stars and can't save the planet from exploding and as a result for his insubordination is sent to a place of limbo called the Phantom Zone. Jor-El's son's ship crashes in the field of an older couple by the names of Jonathan and Martha Kent in Kansas who raise the baby as their own. It isn't until Clark Kent is an adult that he begins to understand where he truly came from and the purpose for his being sent to Earth.

Man of Steel is the highly anticipated reboot of the Superman franchise that has been rumored to be the beginning of DC Comics' goal of introducing the Justice League to the big screen. While Man of Steel is quite possibly one of the best Superman films to date, it does have some pretty major flaws. It felt like the story was rushed at times so the audience didn't get a fair chance to really get to know any of the characters. The classic romantic relationship between Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane is barely touched upon, reduced to little more than an onscreen kiss near the end of the movie. Man of Steel also completely lost a chance to show the audience Clark Kent trying out his abilities when he first figured out he was different everyone else. The one thing I disliked the most was the way in which the story kept jumping from between the past and the present showing Clark as an adult and a kid. It was hard to keep track of what was a flashback and what was the present.

I did love Henry Cavill in the role of Clark Kent/Superman and Michael Shannon as General Zod. I felt they both had a great chemistry onscreen. Amy Adams as Lois Lane was great also, but I felt her character could have been developed a bit more than the story allowed. I absolutely loved Russell Crowe as Jor-El, he had some of the most memorable lines in the movie.

"You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders." If you know anything about the Superman legend, then you have also probably heard the comparison between Superman and Jesus Christ. It has never truly been a perfect comparison, but one can't help but see the similarities. Man of Steel is filled to the brim with spiritual content that can't help but make Superman out to be a savior of sorts. Superman willingly and peacefully surrenders himself to the government to build trust between him and the rest of humanity; he takes the time in the heat of battle to help out a fallen soldier or move an innocent bystander to a safer place. When Clark Kent is torn between surrendering himself to the government or not, he takes refuge in a church and discusses his predicament to the priest there. The priest advises him to take a leap of faith in deciding his next move.

Man of Steel is not a perfect film by any means, but it is solid enough to keep fans of Superman happy and casual movie goers also entertained. It is worth seeing at least once or twice. I personally can't wait to see where this story gets taken to next and whether there really is going to be a Justice League film in the near future.

Fast & Furious 6

Dominic "Dom" Toretto, Brian O'Conner, and the rest of their group of adrenaline junkies/international criminals have traded in their fast-paced lifestyle and settled down in Rio de Janeiro. They're all enjoying retirement until out of the blue Luke Hobbs, the federal agent that has been chasing them, catches up to them. Instead of arresting and turning them in, however, Hobbs give Dom a proposition - help Hobbs catch a former Special Ops officer named Owen Shaw who has gone rogue trying to build a high tech bomb with the ability to wipe out an entire country's communications. As leverage for their help, Hobbs drops an even bigger bomb (metaphorically speaking) - Letty, Dom's former girlfriend, is alive and working for Hobbs. Dom feels he has to find out for himself if Letty is still alive so he, along with the rest of his team, agrees to help Hobbs catch Shaw.

Fans of the Fast and Furious franchise who might be worried the series might be losing steam need not worry anymore. Fast and Furious 6 is still a high octane thrill ride that is well worth the price of admission. It doesn't quite beat Fast Five as the best in the series, but it comes pretty darn close. The one thing I've loved about the Fast and Furious franchise (besides the really cool fast cars) is the theme of family is consistent throughout the franchise. It is still the case here. Dom feels it's his duty to go after Letty and bring her back home where she belongs. Even when she initially rebuffs him he still pursues her in the hopes of her returning to her roots. Dom emphasizes that "you don't turn your back on family, even when they do."

The things I haven't liked about the series (and is frequently the case here) is the over-the-top stunts that don't really seem humanly possible to attempt. Probably the biggest moment that had me going "how is that possible?" is a stunt where Dom's group is on the highway and out of the blue two characters jump from opposite sides of a bridge off the roof of their cars and safely land on top of another car before either of them were smashed by a tank. There's another scene shown in the trailer where several cars take down a 747 by shooting cables onto the wings and attach the cables to their cars to bring it down.

Despite the many elaborate stunts that shouldn't be humanly possible, Fast 6 is a fantastic thrill ride with a positive message about family that is sure to make fans of the series happy and ready for the next (and final) installment.