Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope Review

Star Wars is a pretty huge franchise and you will have definitely heard of the franchise at some point during your life. The franchise is huge in just about all areas including: Video Games, a popular TV series, many comics, and the large film franchise. The series may not have had over a dozen films like some other series, but each film has grown to be very popular. I saw this film many years ago and after re watching it, I can definitely say that I liked it more than the first time around. There’s a lot to say about a classic film such as this one, but let’s get into the plot first.

This film mainly deals with the adventures of two characters who go by the names of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. In this film they are typically featured in the same scenes, but they do have their own story lines that continue through this film and the sequels. I’m sure that most of you know the basic plot of Star Wars, but I’ll give a little recap just in case. The Empire is basically in charge of the galaxy and you can call them The Empire. They’re more corrupt than the average government and there is a small group of rebels who currently oppose them. Unbeknownst to all of this, Luke Skywalker dreams of leaving his planet and going to where his friends now reside. His uncle is against the idea and he constantly tries to show Luke who’s boss, but it’s to no avail.

Luke ends up going with C-3PO to find R2D2, but he is attacked by the sand men. Ben Kenobi saves them and reminds Luke that he has a duty to help him save the universe! R2D2 delivers a message to Kenobi and they realize that they must get the schematics of the Death Star to the Rebels and also free the princess. Luke’s uncle may not approve, but he’s quickly annihilated along with whoever was still in the village. Luke takes this chance to go with Kenobi and they head off to stop Darth Vader and the Death Star!

Please understand that this is a very rough/abridged version of the plot. Star Wars is a film that does a good job of fitting a lot of plot points into one scene and you can tell that this was the start of a franchise. There are numerous characters and scenes that could lead to future plots and they’re all fairly interesting. The first scene where Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers take on the army is pretty fun and definitely holds up well. This may be a 70’s film, but they certainly knew how to use their budget and clobbered the effects from the Star Trek films. (Pre reboot and even then, they make it close to the first one)

Darth Vader has always been one of my favorite Star Wars characters and this film definitely shows me why this is true. He completely outranks all who oppose him and he never backs down. None of the good guys really seem to be a match for him and he creates a feeling of dread whenever he appears. He seems to work for a human in the Empire, but it’s hard for the believer to…believe this! Darth Vader is much stronger than any of the other villains since he can use the force and is very experienced in its use. He demonstrates how he can choke a person with it and use telekinesis. This is one character that will definitely be sticking around for a long time and his character design will stay awesome as his helmet is unforgettable.

Luke Skywalker is one of those characters that I’ve always liked and I barely know why. It may have been from when I saw the Clone Wars animated film, but I’m not completely positive. Either way, it definitely wasn’t this film that did it for me. Luke is definitely not a bad character, but in this film he’s still a novice when it comes to the Force and he’s not a character that really stands out. He’s a hero through and through, but there really isn’t much too him. He’ll get a lot of character development through the sequels, so we don’t really need to worry about him. He’ll definitely have his moments at some point.

Han Solo is a pretty good character for the most part and he’s a lot more charismatic than Luke. He’s definitely not as heroic and noble as he is still a bounty hunter. He seems to have gotten in with the wrong crowd and getting out isn’t very easy. He’s not a complete hero, but we are led to believe that he’s a good guy deep down. He ends up getting attached to the other good guys and slowly starts to turn towards the good side as the film goes through. He flirts a lot during the film and Princess Leia continues to use him and Luke. If not for the flirtations, Han would easily be the best hero in the film. He’s a good pilot and his ship is pretty fun to watch since it can definitely fly at high speeds!

Princess Leia is one of the big characters of the film as well, but I can’t say that she was quite as likable as the other characters. I believe that she tried a little too hard to be the real “tough” character and it didn’t translate so well. I never really comment on acting ability and I don’t intend to start now, but she did seem to overact a little unless it was part of her character. When Princess Leia would talk, her eyes would always be opened very widely and it looked a little puzzling to say the least. That being said, it’s more of a positive than a negative. At least Leia is a hardened professional and her gun skills are…..better than the Storm Trooper’s! I can’t say that I’m a fan of her, but she’s far better than some of the other characters coming up.
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To spare myself from wincing, I’ll be shorter with these characters coming up. Let’s start with R2D2 and his pal, C-3PO. R2D2 can get really annoying as the film progresses since he can’t talk and is constantly getting the characters in trouble. He’s pretty mean to the heroes when he needs to be and he just won’t listen to reason. C-3PO is the comedy character, but he’s not really funny and he makes the effects feel dated. The effects are quite good, but his character looks pretty clunky. This could be intentional, but I’m not sure and he’s a pretty sad character. We’ve also got Chewbacca and his “roar” can quickly make you turn the volume down. I can barely imagine hearing that sound in theaters, it must have been ear splitting! He’s a pretty annoying character, but I suppose that he’s not awful. He’s definitely better than the two droids, but he doesn’t really add anything to the table. If he had not been in the film, I doubt that anything would have changed.

We can’t forget about Ben Kenobi…or should I say, *Spoiler Alert*Obi Wan Kenobi!!!!! He’s the wise man who was very tough in the past and he wants to make sure that Luke doesn’t make the same mistakes that he did. He knows a lot of neat tricks with the Force, but he is no longer able to fight as well as he could. He gave Darth Vader a decent fight, but Darth Vader was hardly trying and they were definitely not in the same league. It’s good that he tried and he was actually a decent character. He may not have been around for very long, but he gave Luke a reason to fight. Let’s see if it helps him in the next film!

I nearly forgot to mention the Storm Troopers! Their aim was about what I expected and it is fun to see them miss targets at very close range. The heroes are usually right in front of them and the Troopers will still find a way to miss. That being said, their uniforms are pretty cool and they never back down from a fight. These fighters have a Lion’s Heart and they’re some of the best cannon fodder that I’ve ever seen. The Chitauri could learn a thing or two from these guys. It’ll be interesting to see how they deal with the Jefi in the upcoming films.

As stated earlier, the effects for this film were pretty good. The beam fights were fun and the Lightsaber will always be a very cool weapon. The Force seems to have almost unlimited power and it really comes down to will power, but it also makes for some cool visuals. Seeing the Death Star take out a planet was also pretty awesome and a solid way to make the weapon threatening.

To throw my two cents in on the Star Wars vs Star Trek debate, I’ve always been on Team Star Wars. I prefer the characters, video games, TV shows, and comics. Filmwise, it’s a little harder since the latest Star Trek film was so good, but once I watch the other Star Wars films, I’m confident that it will pass Star Trek. The Clone Wars may have already given Star Wars the edge, but this will make it certain. Star Trek is still a…..interesting take on the Sci-Fi genre and the last film was quite good, but Star Wars definitely has the edge. This is the stuff of legends and Boba Fett hasn’t even appeared yet!!! (Jango Fett is also pretty awesome in the Bounty Hunter video game)

Overall, this was a very solid start to a great franchise. It’s easy to see why Star Wars was such a great hit as this film avoids the mistakes that most other films make. This film is pretty fun and it definitely goes by pretty quickly. Luke has not hit his stride yet, but just wait until the next film where the stakes increase and we start to reach the climax. I’ll have a review up for that film in the near future to continue the Star Wars streak!

Overall 7/10

Thor The Dark World Review

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The Marvel Universe keeps on adding new films to the roster and this is the latest addition to the franchise. The original Thor was a good movie, but it definitely had a lot of mistakes that needed to be corrected. A lack of fight scenes is definitely the major problem that I had with the film as it was mostly a comedy. That being said, S.H.E.I.L.D. got a much bigger role in that one as they are basically nonexistent in this film. The Dark World improves upon the original film and even shows us glimpses of hope that the MCU can rise to the Man of Steel’s level of greatness.

All right, I’ll do my best to avoid obvious spoilers, but some may slip out. What’s happening to Jane Foster? Well, I’d call that part of the basic plot so I don’t count it as a spoiler. If you do, then just make sure to skip some of the lines here and there. Thor is busy spreading peace across the nine realms and the film starts out with him finishing up on one of the worlds.

All right….I’m afraid that I’m going to have to bring up one of the negatives about the film early on. In this scene, Thor is fighting grunt level opponents along with Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. They’re doing pretty badly considering that Thor should be able to take these guys down effortlessly and without help. Things didn’t get sketchy until one of the minions nearly destroys Thor with a spear through the head. Lady Sif has to save Thor and it makes you wonder why the MCU has decided to make Thor and the Asgardians so weak.

I can understand why the Asgardians lack power as they are basically humans with some decent weapons. On the other hand, Thor should definitely not be an average mortal in terms of stats, but he appears to be for some of them. Thor’s defense is not great and while he can endure a lot of blows, his skin is only as hard as an average human’s. This means that any sort of dagger, knife, or spear can potentially destroy him in one shot thanks to the old beheading or limb loss treatment. That is a critical weakness as it means that a human could feasibly defeat Thor. If someone’s a master of martial arts, it would be a simple matter to stab Thor and end things in an instant. People may have scoffed at the thought of Batman defeating Thor in the comics, but it would appear to be very feasible in the movies.
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Thor’s speed is definitely not impressive as well and he completely relies on the hammer. Without the hammer, Thor does not seem capable of using lightning, flying, and even his strength is not quite as impressive. This doesn’t bode well for Thor and it really shows during his later fights. Before I go into that, let’s head back to the plot.

After Thor has restored peace, he heads to Heimdall to find out about Jane Foster, but she is not on Earth anymore! Thor quickly finds her, but Jane has already absorbed the powers of the Aether. Now, she is a very powerful being who could possibly take Thor down in a fight as her powers increase exponentially. Unfortunately, this is a missed opportunity as she doesn’t use her powers to fight. Thor needs to cure Jane before the power consumes her while dealing with the coming threat of the Dark Elves, who wish to return the universe to darkness!

I’m going to finish my criticisms of Thor before I go into the other negatives and pros since I already started. Thor is very confident in the film, but he seriously cannot back up half of the things that he says. At one point, Thor mentions how he thought that Malekith would hit harder. This would be a great line if Thor had just shrugged off his attack or had been winning, but he says this after Malekith has been effortlessly pummeling Thor into the ground with his attacks. Thor hadn’t landed any hits at this point in the fight so it’s basically empty words. It’s a problem that I have with a lot of the MCU films since they talk very tough and just can’t back it up.

I’m afraid that it’s not over as there were a few more scenes that made me cringe. I should mention that this was a solid film, but as it’s one of the more anticipated films of the year and I just saw it, the scenes are still fresh in my mind. Thor ends up fighting the Kursed and the battle does not go as you may have guessed. Kursed completely annihilates Thor and the latter does not even land one hit. He was completely helpless against Kurse’s (Kurse or Kursed, it’s cool either way. If you want a third name, he also goes by the title of Algrim) attacks and it was the most lopsided fight that I’ve seen in the MCU. Kurse was faster, stronger, more durable, and superior to Thor in every single way during their fight. The MCU has consistently hinted that Thor is not as strong as the Hulk and this film basically cements that fact as Hulk would have put up a much better fight and maybe even have won the battle.

Finally, I’ve got to mention another pair of complaints for Thor. During one scene where a character dies, Thor does not enter into “Rage Mode” or even get ready for some revenge. I was hoping for a Goku transformation after Krillin’s big moment, Naruto’s rage after Haku took Sasuke down, Luffy’s rage after Arlong made Nami cry, Tsuna’s rage after Byakuran terminated his friend, or at least something! Instead, Thor shows no emotion as he fights with Malekith and still has a smile on his face for most of the battle. It’s as if he completely forgot what Malekith did just minutes ago. It definitely did not make Thor look like a likable character.
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Which brings me to the final point that needs to be mentioned…Thor murders someone for virtually no reason. Sure, it’s a big fight and all, but Thor ends up destroying a random minion for no good reason. Remember the Man of Steel’s ending? Thor does that to one of the villains and it was a very merciless scene. In retrospect, I have to say that Thor was a much better character in the first film and I didn’t like him in this one. I can only hope that he looks a lot better/tougher in the next film.

All right, that’s enough ranting about Thor. Let’s talk about Loki. He was a pretty solid character in this film and while his true self in the prison was pretty disturbing, he quickly pulled himself together. He mostly treats everything as a big joke, but he gets ready when the going gets tough. He’s still not the greatest hand to hand combatant, but when you’ve got illusions on your side, who can stop you? There was one scene with Loki that was nearly a negative due to plot hax, but I had a change of heart by the end of the film. Many people said that Loki was the best character in the film and while I can’t agree to that, I will say that he was the best hero Protagonist in the film.

Lady Sif and the Warriors Three get a very small role. I still do not like the Warriors Three anymore than usual. Lady Sif was also pretty cool as per usual and at least she didn’t try to get Thor to break his code of honor. That would have been annoying, but only Odin pulled a stunt like that in this film. Lady Sif was cool about the whole thing and got some nice threats in as well. The after credits erm….her final scene is a little tricky. It questions whether or not she’s a hero, but she’s an Asgardian…so she probably isn’t. She was raised to their customs and probably does not know the folly of her ways.

Odin….I almost don’t want to talk about him. There’s nothing nice to say about him at any rate and he was a bad character. He’s a King, but he does the worst possible job in ruling and he makes so many tactical mistakes. When you’ve got an all powerful object, you should try to keep it somewhere safe…like in the vault. I don’t see the logic to giving something like that to an obviously evil shady character who’s evil intent is basically spilling off of the screen. Like Thor, Odin doesn’t show much emotion after the big scene and he basically vanishes for the majority of the film. He didn’t look particularly impressive and if someone tries to compliment him, Odin will quickly make you regret it. Honestly, I’m surprised that Asgard is still standing! Frigga is much better than Odin in this film and she completely overshadows him. She has a pretty solid fight of her own and we learn that she is adept with a lightsaber sword. Heimdall looks pretty bad and he had one scene that was supposed to be cool, but I could not take it seriously as I knew that it was doomed to fail.

This review is getting awfully long, so I’d better wrap things up. Let’s talk about the humans….oh boy. Well, Jane Foster is still around and she hasn’t gotten any better from the first film. She basically messes up someone’s day by tricking him into thinking that he had a chance. She had one good scene where she lands a solid hit on Loki, but that’s her only good scene. She has great powers for the majority of the film, but then she doesn’t even use them. She is an improvement over her friends which counts for something I suppose. Her friends are just bad…there’s not much more to say about them. They are really hard to watch when they’re on screen. Eric talks a good game, but he also looks really bad and has some very pointless scenes. If they had cut out the human characters, then the film would have been that much better.

How about the villains? Malekith is basically your average villain who wants to plunge the world into darkness because he is evil. He serves as a villain who needs to be defeated, but don’t be expecting any huge character development. Without his enhancements, Malekith is not able to beat a non combatant…which is definitely not good for him.

Kurse steals the show in the villain department. As mentioned earlier, he wipes the floor with Thor in the film and he proceeds to defeat everyone in his way. He’s not a mindless brute and he fights with strategy and finesse. It would be great to see him appear again in a future film or at least another Kurse with a different host. I would like to see how Thanos or the Hulk would fare against such a fighter.

The minions were pretty tough, but could they surpass the frost minions? Well, they had much better weapons, but physically they are about the same. They’ve got compacted gravity grenades and laser blasters. The Asgardians were basically defenseless against them, but they have cool weapons of their own. In this film, Asgardians strike with blades that emit energy or thunder and it makes the fight scenes a lot cooler. The problem with this is that you’ll wonder why they didn’t have such tech in the first film. In the flashback that takes place ages ago, they had the swords soooo…it really can’t be explained away.
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The final fight scene may also come as a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, it was still better than some of the other MCU finishing fights like The Avengers, but it was a lot worse than I thought it would be. The fight was way too gimmicky and Thor wasn’t actually fighting half of the time. He and Malekith would fall through portal after portal after portal and it was actually played for laughs several times as they ran away from giant monsters and fell from a building. The latter scene was definitely made for laughs as they panicked and the whole scene was just sad. It makes them both look so weak and unprofessional. The minions also suffer from this during the climax as they trip, get beaten by humans, and make a lot of mistakes. Also, I should mention that Thor is not the one who defeats Malekith in the end. Most of the damage is not really done by him either, but from the help of allies. I won’t say who lands the final hit on him, but it may not be very satisfying.

I should also mention that SHIELD (Forget the periods!) is absent yet again. So, they’re too busy to help rescue the President of the United States in Iron Man 3 and they can’t be bothered to stop an Alien Invasion in London. They better be extremely busy or else this is just not going to make any sense. I doubt that we’ll get a legitimate reason in Captain America, but it’s all right since we know that there are limits to how many actors they can keep bringing back for every film. It’s one of those plot developments that you just need to ignore for the greater good.

All right, I should mention some of the positives because there are a lot as well. (Hence the positive score) The banter between Thor and Loki is pretty good with Loki’s impersonations being a pretty good scene. He picks one character that many may recognize. The fight scenes are much better than then previous films and the speed has definitely picked up. The space invasion scenes were also a lot of fun to watch and the prison break was also very exciting. We had the best villain of the MCU in Kurse and Thor’s intro is always cool. That lightning flash never gets old and it definitely fills you with a sense that something epic is about to begin.

The graphics can be very good and the energy scenes are realistic as well. The film is around 2 hours and while it definitely could have been longer, I can safely say that the film never dragged on. There were never moments where I was hoping that the film would end or scenes where I started to zone out. The film is fast paced and something is always happening…even if it’s not a great something. The fact that the Asgardians and Dark Elves both had very cool tech was great since it made every battle good. Even battles between unnamed foot soldiers were fun to watch for the effects. The film also had a very good soundtrack and I dare say that it may be the best soundtrack in a Marvel film. (Ghost Rider had a great one as well, so it is a close call) There’s a solid opera type music in the film and it plays during the end credits as well so you are given a chance to hear it again.

The ending definitely leaves a lot of room for a sequel and future plots. You may want to stay past the credits, but if you didn’t like the teaser at the end of Avengers, maybe the scenes just aren’t your cup of tea. This film is currently the second best MCU film, but it still has a lot to learn from the experts over at DC. Man of Steel is a superhero film that was virtually perfect and they should start to pick up the fight scenes from that film. Thor seriously needs to look better in the next film and they also need to dial down the unnecessary romance. Jane had her romance plot here which was unneeded and a little boring while her friend also got a subplot that was the most rushed romance ever. It made Thor and Jane’s look developed. It was really just there to stretch out the film and add a few more minutes, but it didn’t help the overall performance. There was a very huge plot hole that is impossible to not notice involving the fact that the holes in space open up from time to time and nobody ever notices. I can’t go into detail without going into the plot too deeply, but needless to say…people should know about these portals that are on Earth. There is no way that people wouldn’t have found out by this time. I do recommend this film to all superhero fans and to people who like to see some action. This is a step in the right direction for the MCU and we’ll see if Captain America: The Winter Soldier can continue like this film or turn out like Iron Man 3.

Overall 7/10

Jack Reacher Review

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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 Review

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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 Review

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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