Jack Reacher is another film in a new trend of mysterious agent films. You know the type, the main character used to be the best of the best, until he retired or disappeared. Now he’s back and ready to roll! (Bourne, MI4. If James Bond were actually “The best of the best” you could add him to the list as well) Jack Reacher is a pretty good film and while it is weaker than the previous two films mentioned, it can hold its own.

The plot is that this guy shoots some people (And pays the parking meter!) before getting caught. At least the police were pretty quick on the draw this time, but they were too late. The convict asks for Jack Reacher to come, but the Police can’t contact him. Helen is the convict’s defense lawyer and she’s determined to help him. One day Jack shows up and tries to show why he’s the best. Helen decides to team up with him and together they can prove the convi-(I might as well say who the suspected convict is) James Barr’s innocence or vice versa. Unfortunately, some villains want to stop them, and they have the muscle to make it happen!

From there, there is a lot of shooting and fight scenes as Jack solves the case. He’s pretty smart and also physically powerful. In the film he’s capable of taking on several opponents at once and according to his trash talking, he always wins. Jack’s a pretty good character for the most part. When he’s in agent mode, he gets the job done. That’s the important thing. He’s also a pretty skilled marksman and did I mention that he served in the Government?

Helen is the other protagonist. She’s an all right character, but she’s mostly just there to be there. She doesn’t really help all that much and she’s definitely not much of a fighter. Towards the end, she doesn’t do so well, but at least she kept her dignity.

James Barr and Sandy aren’t very good characters either. Barr let his primal urges to shoot things get the better of him and Sandy doesn’t make the right move on several occasions. Cash is a pretty good character and it was nice to have at least one other fighter for the heroes. He’s all right with a gun and he did some damage. Zec is one of the big villains, but he’s very generic and not interesting. Let’s just say that he’s not much of a fighter. We also have the cop, but…..he’s not very good either.

Jack Reacher is a good film and if you like the subgenre of agents who must save the day, I’m sure that you will enjoy it. The final scene for Reacher can make you take a step back, but remember, Reacher’s no hero. He says so himself after all. You may be able to guess some of the plot twists early on, but it’s a good, popcorn fun movie to watch. Maybe it’ll get a sequel at some point. Either way, I recommend this film.

Overall 7/10

The Wolverine is a film that puzzled me for a long time. Not the film itself, but the concept. Wolverine is one of those characters that I never thought would get more than 1 film to himself. Wolverine is very popular, but it was just hard to picture, not to mention that the first one came out a long time ago. Now that the film’s out, it is a lot easier to picture Wolverine having a third film. The film is pretty solid and it’s a good superhero film.

Wolverine hasn’t had a very happy life. After the events of the first Wolverine film, and the 3 X Men films, Wolverine has decided to stop being a hero. The X Men can deal with their own problems and he’ll just live out in the woods. It’s a pretty neat set up, but ultimately it was never going to work out. After a very unnecessary subplot, Wolverine heads with Yuriko to japan. They meet with Shingen’s dad (Who is pretty awful. He makes some veiled threats along the way, but they aren’t to be taken seriously…), who is very old. Wolverine saved his life back in the day and now the old man wants to make sure that Wolverine gets what’s coming to him…..Wolverine declines and gets ready to leave. Unfortunately, he’s shot! Wolverine still does pretty good, but can he survive the odds without his healing factor? Also, Mariko is being targeted by the mafia, but why would they do such a thing?

There are a lot of questions that are left to the viewer, but I’m sure that you can guess them all. If you can’t, I recommend reading some Bleach and then getting back to this movie. Wolverine is a pretty solid character, but they did have to tone his healing factor down in this film. For most of the film, it is out of commission. There are circumstances involved, but I don’t find them plausible. This may not be a known fact, but Wolverine is still an expert hand to hand fighter. He’s gone up against Captain America and Spider Man in the past. The film shows us a little of that, but not too consistently. While his healing factor is working well, his fighting gets very sloppy. When his healing factor is fizzing out, Wolverine starts using tactics. Maybe that’s just the way he fights. Wolverine is a pretty solid character. (Even if he says a few “hardcore” things that take away from his character)

All of you should remember Yuriko from the anime, but for those who didn’t watch it; Yuriko is an expert close range combat fighter. She is able to fight against some pretty skilled opponents and it’s always good to have other characters who are able to fight alongside the main protagonist. Yuriko was definitely one of the better characters of the film and she gets 2 critical fights to herself. Her first fight was one of the best fights in the film and it’s always good to see a sword battle.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Mariko. I didn’t find her to be a very good character and she was mostly the damsel in distress of the film. She has a few “tough” moments where she took on the minions and actually defeated a few. I dunno, if she had kept fighting the whole time, then it would have helped. Maybe even some classic lines like “I promise you Revenge!”.

The villains are definitely the weak point of the film. We have Viper, who plays a decently large role. Her power is pretty awful and not one that I would want to have. She’s actually pretty weak, but stays in the game somehow. She didn’t really add anything to the film and I think that she shouldn’t have been added. Shingen is a pretty tough villain, but he’s not very likable. His sword skills are pretty impressive and he makes for a good challenge to Wolverine. He wasn’t nearly as powerful as his anime counterpart, but it happens.

The “Silver Samurai” is a pretty tough mecha. What he lacks in character (Though his character is pretty awful), he makes up for (Somewhat) in sheer power. His Fire Blade is made of adamantium and it’s one of the strongest swords in XCU (Xmen Cinematic Universe) history. The Silver Samurai is pretty tough, but he does lack speed. Still, he was a decent final boss for the film.

On the negative side of the film, there are three main things. The opening scene involving the bear was pretty awful. They should have cut the scene out, but most live action films have a few cringe worthy scenes. The next one would be the excessive language in the film. It’s not extremely over the top, but more than you would find in the average superhero film. Sure, he’s Wolverine, but we don’t need the film to keep reminding us. He says his “iconic” line from X Men Origins, but there’s pretty little point. There are a lot of things that he could have said that would have been more epic. Also, this film has a romance subplot which is pretty annoying. Jean Grey’s ghost (Who is still inhabited by the Phoenix it would seem) keeps goading on Wolverine to just die already. He refuses, but she did cross the barrier between the living and the dead. Possible foreshadowing?

The Wolverine is a pretty good film. The atmosphere is a lot lighter than the first film and it’s more fun to watch. I would say that this film is better than the first, but the first film had a better final battle. (Deadpool FTW) The music is decently good for the film. The film does have more romance than you may have expected. The scenes are pretty wince worthy, but as long as you block them out, you’ll still enjoy the film. I recommend this film, but if you want a true superhero experience, then I recommend checking out The Avengers.

Overall 7/10

Pacific Rim is a film that jumped into theaters with a very risky premise. Robots fighting Kaiju is pretty out there and the general audience might not be able to sympathize with our interest in the film. The film also got very little marketing in theaters and it was very unlikely that you would see a trailer for the film. I went to the theaters quite a few times this year, (Not to mention that I’ll be checking out Thor and Wolverine soon) and while you would see the trailer for At World’s End, and World War Z, Pacific Rim was nowhere to be found. I only saw it once, (if at all) which is pretty disappointing.

The film starts with the main character explaining to us that the Kaiju have started to come to earth through an rift between dimensions, that was located deep beneath the Pacific. (Old school Kaiju fans may be skeptical since they usually come from underground or space, but it can be good to have a new take on that) The first Kaiju to make it through, manages to cause a lot of destruction over multiple cities before he was taken down. (By bullets and planes, but don’t laugh! Remember King Kong?) The rift seems to get bigger with each Kaiju attack and the frequency of the attacks becomes more and more common. (For example, it could have started as 1 Kaiju a year. Then 1 a week, 1 an hour, etc) The Kaiju have levels that let you know how dangerous they are. Level 5 Kaiju are the most dangerous and Level 1 Kaiju should be stopped pretty easily. The humans built Jaegers to combat the threat. They were doing some damage for a while. Now, the Kaiju are stronger and the attacks are more frequent. The Government, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to cancel the mecha project and just put a wall to stop the Kaiju from hurting everyone…..it’s an intriguing idea and I’d love to know which country thought of it. Either way, one Kaiju attack is enough to shatter it. They call in Becket to pilot the new and improved Gypsy Danger to end the Kaiju wars!

The main character is Mr. Becket and he’s a hardened veteran from the good old days. He has experience inside of Gypsy Danger and he’s one of the only humans to have ever piloted a mecha on his own. (Albeit for a few seconds) Only one other human has ever accomplished such a feat, but the film doesn’t let you know the (Obvious) plot twist until we are near the end. Becket is a pretty good main character and while he’s not quick to throw a punch, he has his limits. Nobody will be able to mess with him for long.

Stacker is the commanding officer of the army. (Don’t watch the trailer!) After tragic happenings, he can never put on the armor and go into a mecha again! (Don’t watch the trailer!) You really sympathize with him, since not being in a mech automatically takes you out of the main cast. He gives a lot of orders, but I never cared for the character. The end is his “Man Up” moment, but I wasn’t impressed. He wasn’t a bad character, I just would have preferred if he had made the final decision a bit earlier in the film. It would have had more impact.

Mako is another strong pilot for the Jaeger program. She was never allowed to actually get into one, even though her virtual scores were pretty solid. Why would they do such a thing!? They don’t tell us the reason for a while, but at least she still gets a decently big role. She was an all right character, but the fact that she nearly jeopardized Earth when she stepped into a Jaeger was a bit disappointing.

Meanwhile, Newton gets the subplot where he joins minds with a Kaiju. It’s a bold move, but probably not the right kind and it leads to some trouble. The subplot was probably to keep the film light, but I wouldn’t have minded some extra Kaiju scenes instead. Still, he could have been worse and he’s almost as good as Hermann. Hermann has a lot of calculations and prefers to use math to save the day. He’s pretty smart, but he’s not as used to mind fusing as Newton. Both characters were essentially filler, but at least they weren’t bad filler characters. Chau is one of the human villains, but he was pretty unlikable. His final scene was fitting…unless there is a post credits scene! (hint hint)

Gypsy Danger was easily the best Jaeger in the film. He had a cool energy blaster and let’s not forget about his Unibeam. He definitely means business and has a really cool design. Just about all of the Jaegers looked pretty cool, but none can come close to this guy. Second place is pretty tricky, but that would go to Cherno Alpha. It’s good to see a Mark 1 mecha fighting alongside Mark 5’s and holding his own. He did pretty good against the Kaiju.

I guess that brings us into the realm of the Kaiju! There are plenty of cool Kaiju in the film, but I’ll just name some of the coolest ones. Let’s start with the Trespasser. The film plays him out to be pretty weak since the army defeats him. (What they don’t mention, is that it took a Nuclear Attack to beat him) He has a pretty good design and you will all remember him from the trailers. He was the first of many!

The next Kaiju I’ll talk about is Raiju. I didn’t really like Raiju and it’s because of the way he lost. Who dives into a sword? (I nearly took a step back when that happened, but I caught myself in time.) It reminded me of Anguirus’s infamous scene in Vs Gigan. Arguably this was even worse!

Time for Knifehead! His design is definitely impressive and he dealt a lot of damage. His head makes for a good dagger and he can shred through metal as if it weren’t even there. Knifehead is only a level III Kaiju, but that’s more than enough to deal some hurt. Most of the Jaegers can’t really keep up with him for long and he’s definitely up there as one of the coolest Kaiju.

Let’s not forget about Leatherback! He has a very powerful EMP which can disable the electricity in a very wide radius. Because of this, just about every Jaeger is useless against him. His raw power is immense and he seems to be one of the physically strongest Kaiju in the film. The EMP scene is still one of the best in the film, because it was pretty unexpected.

We also have Otachi, one of the stronger level IV Kaiju. She was definitely a pretty serious threat and it was a very cool moment where she spread out her wings. Gypsy Danger definitely took a lot of damage in that fight and it was nearly the end. One hit from her acid attack and the opposing Jaeger will start melting. Otachi has been compared to Rodan in the past and for good reason. They’re both pretty cool Kaiju who can fly. Not to mention that winged type Kaiju are pretty rare.

As Godzilla is King of the Monsters, Slattern seems to be King of the known Kaiju. He’s the first level 5 that we have seen, although I’m sure that there are plenty more down below. He’s pretty big, but he’s barely stronger than a level 4. Gypsy Danger took him on without much effort, but I guess that’s the risk of being a Kaiju. No matter how strong you are, your size can be a double edged sword. I thought Slattern was pretty under powered in the film, but maybe they had to rush the ending a little.

One thing that I didn’t like in this film, was the portrayal of the Kaiju’s intelligence. The aliens seem to be sending them out at their leisure and learning from their mistakes. Unfortunately, the Kaiju don’t seem to be very bright. (Like running into the sword!) Mostly, the Kaiju seem to try and strike randomly at the Jaegers, without a real plan. If they had fought carefully, they would have obliterated the Jaegers with ease.

Pacific Rim was definitely a solid film. It avoided the unnecessary romance scenes that most films end with. Becket and Mako stay as friends/co-pilots, and the music score was pretty good. (Godzilla fans should notice a certain music!) Pacific Rim is one film that you need to see in theaters to get the full experience. These Kaiju battles need to be watched in their full glory. Now that America has created a solid Kaiju film, this is only the beginning! Next year, their true test arises in the form of Godzilla. I highly recommend checking this film out and all audiences can appreciate it. Mecha fans, Kaiju fans, and Summer Blockbuster fans will all love it.

Overall 7/10