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Showing posts with label Rinko Kikuchi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rinko Kikuchi. Show all posts

Sunday, March 25, 2018

MOVIE REVIEW: PACIFIC RIM UPRISING







































Jake Pentecost is a once-promising Jaeger pilot whose legendary father gave his life to secure humanity's victory against the monstrous Kaiju. Jake has since abandoned his training only to become caught up in a criminal underworld. But when an even more unstoppable threat is unleashed to tear through cities and bring the world to its knees, Jake is given one last chance by his estranged sister, Mako Mori, to live up to his father's legacy.

Director: Steven S. DeKnight

Cast: John Boyega , Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian, Adria Arjona, Zhang Jin, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman

Release Date: March 23, 2018

Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and some language

Runtime: 1h 51min

Review:

Pacific Rum Uprising is one of those sequels that feels like a lesser version of the original film.  That’s not to say that Uprising doesn’t offer some robot action because it does but it just doesn’t connect in the same way the original did.  Part of the reason is its decision to jettison the majority of the cast of the original film.  Idris Elba died at the end of the first film so his omission is expected but Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi should have had some sort of role in the sequel.  Hunnam couldn’t participate due to scheduling issues and Rinko Kikuchi is given a token appearance before she’s taken off the board.  It’s a shame when a sequel removes nearly everything from the previous film in order to start with a clean slate and present us with a new cast of character.  John Boyega in the lead is good fun since he’s allowed to spread his wings a bit more than he has in the recent Star Wars films.  Boyega displays some of the energetic charm he displayed years ago in Attack The Block.  Sadly the supporting cast is a solid display of blandness across the board.  Scott Eastwood may look like his father but he doesn’t have anywhere near the same kind of screen magnetism.  The rest of the supporting players are made up by faceless 20 something where supposed to care about but can’t since their about as one dimensional as they come.  Charlie Day and Burn Gorman returned for this entry but sadly the magic just isn’t there.  Pacific Rim Uprising is a passable sequel but you can’t help but feel like it should have been much better.

C+

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Cindy Prascik’s review of Pacific Rim




Dearest Blog, today it was Godzilla versus Transformers as I hit the cinema for Pacific Rim.

Spoiler level here is mild, mostly limited to what you'd know from the trailers, though I must get specific on one point. In an attempt to remain as unspoilery as possible, I won't name the characters involved.

In the not-so-distant future, alien monsters dubbed "Kaiju" have come through a fault deep beneath the Pacific Ocean and are attacking Earth. Mankind creates giant robots called "Jaegers" to defend itself and fight back.

Pacific Rim is not a perfect film. It's not even a special film. It is, however, an enormous, entertaining summer blockbuster that not only MUST be seen at the cinema, but should be seen as soon as possible on the biggest screen you can find.

Dear reader(s), it says nothing very good about me that, since discovering Charlie Hunnam was going to be in a movie called Pacific Rim, at least 85% of my brain has, at all times, been occupied with finding some play on those words to bring up Hunnam's early work on Queer as Folk. Reader(s), it is to your benefit (or your great disadvantage) that I got nothing...but I still giggle a bit every time I think "Pacific Rim."

Anyway, getting the bad news out of the way first, here are Pacific Rim's (heheheheheh) weaknesses.

Too long, too long, too long! Pacific Rim is barely over two hours, but would have been better at 1:30-1:45. Might have stopped them shoehorning in so many......forced emotional moments. Father/son. Hero/heroine. Mentor/protégée. Person/dog. There's about as much chemistry as between me and my cat. (Hint: my cat hates me.) Sometimes it's the writing, sometimes it's the acting, sometimes it's a li'l of both, but it's extra-annoying because the movie stands well on other merits and could have done without any of it.

Charlie Hunnam is the weakest link in a pretty strong cast, and I wasn't impressed by his leading lady, Rinko Kikuchi, either. Sadly, the same is true of Hunnam in his TV series, Sons of Anarchy. A good actor never appears to be acting, but with Hunnam, it's always obvious how hard he's working. He's not a terrible actor, by any means, but he's not strong enough to front a project of this magnitude, and he's consistently outshone by lower-billed cast. Kikuchi's longing looks in his direction are inappropriate for the character and for the circumstances and set me off right out of the gate. (But who hasn't looked at Charlie Hunnam that way a time or two, right??)

Some of the monster/robot fight scenes drag on too long, and jiggly, super-close-up shots make it difficult to see what's happening....not to mention making me a bit seasick.

Finally, there's one dippy moment where a character is unconscious and possibly dead, and rather than...oh, you know, DOING ANYTHING TO HELP...another character sits there sobbing, "Don't go! Don't go!" I wanted to throw something at the screen.

The good news is there's plenty of good news to outweigh the bad.

Pacific Rim looks spectacular in every way. My cinema doesn't have IMAX or any other special technology--hell, I didn't even see it in 3D--but those giant monsters and huge robots are overwhelming and seem almost ready to come off the screen. I love that the monsters are actually scary, credit I'll very rarely give, and the robots so intimidating. Very, very impressive technical and design work.

Pacific Rim boasts a super supporting cast, led by the incomparable Idris Elba. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day and Torchwood's Burn Gorman are terrific, together and separately, as a pair of scientists among all the military personnel. Clifton Collins, Jr. gets more screen time than I anticipated, and more Clifton Collins, Jr. is always better than less Clifton Collins, Jr. And...Ron Perlman's brief but entertaining turn totally steals the show. Let's be honest, too: Charlie Hunnam is easy on the eyes, and I won't complain about looking at him for two hours under any circumstances, even if he's not Oscar worthy!

Pacific Rim tells a solid, original(ish) story that reels you in from start to finish. It presents characters you're rooting for because the movie's made you care about them, and not just because you're supposed to be pulling for the "good guys."

Pacific Rim clocks in at 132 minutes and is rated PG13 for "sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief language." It's a top-notch summer blockbuster, and there's something very wrong with a world where the movie-going public fails to make it summer's biggest hit.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Pacific Rim gets seven and a half.

Until next time...




Wait...what was I saying?

Saturday, July 13, 2013

MOVIE REVIEW: PACIFIC RIM




Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro teams up with Legendary Pictures to bring audiences a unique take on the monster film with this sci-fi production. Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) stars as a washed-out controller and pilot of a series of robots called Jaegers, which are put into production after Earth is invaded by a species of giant monsters, the Kaijus. Thor's Idris Elba leads the rest of the starring cast, which includes Charlie Day, Rob Kazinsky and Ron Perlman. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Rinko Kikuchi, Ron Perlman.

Release Date: Jul 12, 2013

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief language

Genres: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

While I know Pacific Rim is meant as a loving homage to Godzilla films personally I had my head floating in thoughts of other repurposed anime cartoons from my childhood (Robotech, Voltron, etc…). Whether it was intentional or not Pacific Rim tapped into those much loved recesses of my memory with such verbosity that I literally got chills when a Jaegers pulls out a sword in the outreaches of the atmosphere. Guillermo del Toro has delivered something that was missing from the robust manically excess of Michael Bay’s Transformers film, consistent fun. Yes the characters are broadly drawn and closer to cartoon character than real human beings but that never keeps the entire thing from being 2 and half hours of jaw dropping intensity and fun. The cast, a mini FX channel reunion, does a solid job of grounding the action while never getting in its way. Charlie Hunnam, still carrying that Jax Teller walk and sound, is a solid lead and has a decent if not great connection with his costar/love interest Rinko Kikuchi. Idris Elba is appropriately stoic and inspiring when needed. Personally I think Guillermo del Toro has created a modern day classic which will age very well. It’ll leave a generation of children fills with dreams of robots and monsters. I’ll just keep praying someone will make me a Robotech film, I’d love to see that before I die…

A


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

[Trailer] PACIFIC RIM

The official trailer for Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim has been released and it’s full of geektastic scenes.

It is a bit strange hearing Charlie Hunnam narrate the trailer, if you’re a fan of Sons of Anarchy you’ll know what I mean, but the visual look strong even if the CGI is just a tad suspect.

Having Idris Elba close out the trailer with a great rallying speech was a wonderful choice.

I’m a big Del Toro fan to begin with and this looks like he’s just going to be having a great time delivering a monster movie he wants to make….







Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro teams up with Legendary Pictures to bring audiences a unique take on the monster film with this sci-fi production. Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) stars as a washed out pilot of a series of robots called Jaegers, which are put into production when Earth invaded by a species of giant monsters, the Kaijus. The Brothers Bloom's Rinko Kikuchi co-stars as a trainee whom Hunnam is psychically paired with in order to pilot the last beacon of hope - a decommisioned Jaeger aimed to stop the Kaijus once and for all. Thor's Idris Elba leads the rest of the starring cast, which includes Charlie Day. Rob Kazinsky and Ron Perlman. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Release Date: Jul 12, 2013

Genres: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Rinko Kikuchi, Ron Perlman
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