Star trek into darkness

#Spoiler Alert

It is highly entertaining, with plot twists and amazing acting from the cast. CG blends in nicely in this sci fi action thriller. It even indirectly asks questions to the audience relating to choices in life. With me scrambling for the Star Trek 2009 movie after I've exited the cinema, this movie had certainly impressed me in ways I didn't expect.

9.5/10

This post has been edited by LiMi: Jun 3 2013, 07:30 PM

Im not so pro to be able to review without spoilers Added spoilers

true, the trailer actually serves to confuse you at some scenes, portraying Harrison as the clear cut bad guy. In reality it's not quite.

This post has been edited by LiMi: Jun 3 2013, 07:33 PM

Pacific Rim - 9/10

The story probably began as the writers asked themselves: what happens if Godzillas meets Gundam, with a dash of underwater sci fi? The idea of each individual elements - monsters, robots and hero vs villain - isn't new to movie goers by now, but combine them together, and tell the story in a poetic way, that is something refreshing.

The monsters and robot battle scenes carried the movie, that's undoubtedly. They were epic, adrenaline pumping, yet realistic. Each Kaiju has their own uniqueness, Category Ones only wreck havoc with their sheer massive horns and claws, while Category Four monsters have evolved to be much more dangerous, spraying corrosive acid slime and emitting particles that can even fry electronic devices. Jaegers have different weapons to inflict damage to the kaijus, such as swords, plasma blaster, spinning blades and rocket missiles. It is a delight to see realism in the fights, where the laws of physics and anatomy is eminent. The kaijus are more fluid and natural in their motions, which contrasts with the rather sluggish and mechanical Jaegers. And none of the fights seemed to be 'pointless', each was necessary and was done for just the right duration. (Albeit I really hoped to see more of the Chinese and Russian Jaegers in action before succumbing to the twin-jaegers)

Characters
This is achilles' heel of the movie. Not one personality stood out, other than Hannibal Chau, in a cameo appearance by Ron Perlman (Hellboy). Everyone else is like a well-cut life-sized human cardboard. The director and the actors didn't had the ability to make the audience care for the characters much.

Raleigh, was bland. Mako, played the role of a shy, troubled Japanese girl well, but at times it can be frustrating seeing her keeping so much secret to herself. Commander Stacker, sharing the spotlight with Raleigh, steals a lot of attention and screentime from Raleigh, which dilutes the cast of the young Raleigh. Nevertheless, Stacker is da man: when he speaks, it is commanding and believable.

Pacific Rim is a dark, gritty movie. Most fight scenes happen at night, perhaps to highlight the florescent glow of the monsters?

The visuals are deliberately designed and crafted. The robots are a la steampunk on paint bucket steroids. With different generations of the Jaegers, we can see how the designs evolved and improvised overtime. A lot of attention had been paid to the battle robots, like the war-scuffed metal bodies, and how the sea water droplets sprinkles when the jaeger slams its fists together in preparation for a fight. Those are attention to details that helped make the movie relatable and believable.

The monsters, as said earlier, has various abilities, and therefore sport different looks. Some have tails, some insect-like mouth, some rhinoceros thorns. They look very intimidating.

The second half of the movie has some really matching OST. They blend in nicely and complements the atmosphere that the movie wants to convey. Kudos to that. What is a great movie without some amazing OST?

The story of Pacific Rim is original, with stunning graphics and intriguing plot as its main pillars. It is definitely one of the movies worth checking out this summer. If there were to be a sequel coming up, I'll be lining up.

Secret Life of Pets - 3.5/5
It has great animations and visual design (as expected from a modern animation movie), simple storyline (not all movies have to be about the end of the world or super villains vs super heroes), and some slapstick humor moments in it.

A light movie that anyone can just walk in, enjoy and laugh. Shows the unknown side of pets and wild animals when humans are not around

it's pretty much a forgettable story, not made to get awards or become classics