The Purge

Inhuman Nature Unleashed
by Reymundo Salao

THE PURGE is more of a slasher suspense thriller, but not as gory as the standard slasher movies. Much of the movie's strength centers on the thrilling suspense, build-up of things to come, and how the story and the events in the movie unfold. The twist and the turns that are sure to generate an audience reaction, whether their reactions may hate the movie or admire it.

The story has a premise which is well-thought-of and unique in the horror/slasher genre. The setting is in some near future (in an almost-present-day setting), crime and poverty has been eradicated because the government has imposed that one night every year, the annual purge is held, a night when, not only is it legal for a citizen to kill somebody or anybody, it is even encouraged as a civil right. In that evening, all emergency services; ambulances, the fire department, and the police are temporarily suspended. [continue after the jump]

The Wolverine

An Excellent Hardcore Noir Movie
by Reymundo Salao

THE WOLVERINE seeks to revitalize the comic book character Wolverine with a treatment designed to correct the wrongs of the previous movie, one that will render it "done right this time" And yes, it does accomplish that job.

The movie has various plots and subplots, in such a way that still has some sense of order; you have a family at the crossroads of betrayal, a character who is interested in Logan's mutant abilities, Logan himself trying to survive the fact that he can be mortally wounded, even be killed. He is also facing a haunting past that frequently visits his dreams. All its subplots are layered one over the other in a way that is not confusing and manages to let the story run in a fluid consistent manner. [continue after the jump]

Odd Thomas

Sommers Light
by Reymundo Salao

Based on a Dean Koontz novel of the same title, ODD THOMAS is about a short-order cook who moonlights as a clairvoyant who is able to communicate with dead spirits, and oftentimes act in aid of the police in solving crimes and bringing spirits to rest.

The difference between Odd Thomas and the typical horror movie character who is able to communicate with the dead is that whenever the dead does seem to ask help from Odd, he really does something about it. And with the anticipation that his quest will often lead him to trouble, he knows he to throw a punch or two. He's not exactly the kind of one-man-army type of hero, he's quite the opposite actually; but he at least knows how to handle himself when facing bad guys. [read more after the jump]

Man of Tai Chi

...FIGHT!!!
by Reymundo Salao

MAN OF TAI CHI is Keanu Reeves' directorial debut, with Tiger Chen as the lead, and also stars Karen Mok and Hai Yu, who is known for his various Shaolin roles in kung-fu movies from the 80's till the present.

The story centers upon a practitioner of Tai Chi named Tiger, who gets tempted into the world of an underground illegal fight club organized by Donaka Mark. And as he gets to become more of the champion, he also gradually loses his own discipline as a Tai Chi practitioner. MAN OF TAI CHI is simply about one man's seduction to the dark side, and its symbolic evil seducer is played by Keanu Reeves. [continue after the jump]

Pacific Rim

Only for the Robots and Monsters
by Reymundo Salao

PACIFIC RIM is a robot-versus-monsters movie directed by visionary film director Guillermo Del Toro who is well-known for immortal fantasy and horror films such as Cronos, Pan's Labyrinth, as well as Blade 2 and the Hellboy movies.  It stars Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman.

Anticipated and forseen to be one of the gigantic movies this year, PACIFIC RIM hopes to attract the fans of big destructive monster flicks like Godzilla, and fans of flashy robot movies like the Transformers movies, as well as fans of mecha-sci-fi, and mecha anime, from the classic mecha anime of the 1970's Voltes V and Daimos, to the recent Gundam generations. [full review after the jump]