300: Rise of an Empire

300–2: Simply the Spectacle
by Reymundo Salao

While I'd like to call it as "300-2" as a corny joke, “300: Rise of an Empire” was not the “joke” I thought it would be. This is a movie that functions both as a prequel and a sequel to the 2007 movie adaptation of Frank Miller's “300” graphic novel (which is an adaptation of the classic movie "300 Spartans" which depicts the Battle of Thermopylae, which was part of the Second Persian Invasion of Greece. 300: Rise of an Empire centers on the stories of the Greek hero Themistocles, the Persian "god-king" Xerxes, and his female general Artemisia, and how their fates are tested during the Second Persian Invasion of Greece. Once again, we see bloody warriors in slow-mo and surreal sword-battle action with this sequel. (Here we go again. As if we needed to have a sequel to 300...)
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Thor: The Dark World

THOR 2 is ANOTHER MAGNIFICENT SUPERHERO MOVIE
by Reymundo Salao

In THOR: THE DARK WORLD, the Dark Elf Malekith sought to return the universe to a state of pure darkness. To do this, Malekith has to wield the power of the force called the Aether, which has embedded itself within the body of Jane Foster. Thor has to do everything to protect Jane Foster, preserve the peace of Asgard, and ensure that the universe does not fall into sheer darkness, and to do this, he must seek the help of his brother Loki. [hit the jump to continue]

Salvi: Ang Pagpadayon

RISING FROM THE ASHES
by Reymundo Salao

The story of SALVI is set in a post-apocalyptic world, and civilization has seemingly become non-existent. Most of the characters cannot even remember (or choose not to remember) how the world has come to that bleak point. The main character of the movie is a girl named Salvi, who chooses to make herself look like a boy, and sets out on a journey to search for her missing sister who was kidnapped long ago by a marauding gang from the “Campo”. Along the way, she meets a thief named Abet who knows the location of the Campo. Salvi’s journey leads her to a slave camp run by a transvestite queen named Madonna. There, they meet another mysterious companion named Kardo.  Salvi soon faces the end of her journey with horrifying revelations.[hit the jump to continue]

On The Job (OTJ)

ON THE JOB is MAGNIFICENT;
The Shining Hope for Pinoy Mainstream Cinema
by Reymundo Salao

The story of ON THE JOB tackles the controversial issue of prison detainees being secretly slipped out of prison to serve as hired assassins. And once their job is done, they secretly slip back to prison and pretend that they have been there all the while. The syndicate that runs this operation is powerful enough and rich enough to easily mobilize such operation. The movie has a story that promises itself, not to only raise people’s eyebrows in approval, but also promises to be a classic. [hit the jump to continue]

The Conjuring

THE CONJURING OF A CLASSIC
by Reymundo Salao

THE CONJURING is a supernatural horror movie about the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) who come to the assistance of the Perron family (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor), who are experiencing increasingly disturbing events in their farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island in 1971.

James Wan has already gained enough recognition when he had his breakthrough creation; the SAW movies. But Wan's other movies that followed, such as INSIDIOUS, had diverted from the more visual elements of horror and into the more cerebral and dramatic elements, gradually gaining a strong understanding of what really makes his audiences be haunted by the sensation of Fear. [hit the jump to continue]

Kick-Ass 2

A Kick-Ass Sequel
by Reymundo Salao

The sequel to 2008's KICK-ASS simply titled KICK-ASS 2 is loosely based on the comic book of the same title, and follows the story of superhero wannabes Dave Lizewski who gets on a green costume and calls himself Kick-ass, and Mindy Macready who is known as Hit Girl.

The story picks up some years after the events of the first movie. Mindy is now raised by his father's best friend Marcus, who struggles to push Mindy into a life of a normal young teenager, an attempt to give her the innocence her father deprived her of. Dave, on the other hand, has been trying to continue his secret life of costumed crime-fighting as Kick-ass, and has had the opportunity to team-up with other costumed crime fighters.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

PERCY JACKSON’S LUKEWARM SEA
by Reymundo Salao

In PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS, Percy Jackson, son of Greek god Poseidon, embarks on a journey with his friends to retrieve the Golden Fleece to save a magical tree containing the spririt of Zeus's daughter Thalia who died at the gates of Camp Half-Blood whilst saving Annabeth and Luke and Grover. This tree protects their training ground, Camp Half-Blood. They must travel to the Sea of Monsters to save it, and find the challenges that may await them.

This movie, which is directed by Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) is a sequel to PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF, the second movie to what is expected to be a long line of Percy Jackson movie series, based on the Percy Jackson series of books by Rick Riordan. [hit the jump to continue]

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]

World War Z

Simple but Kinetic
by Reymundo Salao

In World War Z, the world has been plagued with a deadly and rabidly contagious virus and has put the world in an apocalyptic zombie state. While the remnants of the government and the military are picking up the pieces of civilization and trying to ensure their own survival, Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) has been chosen to be sent across the globe to find a cure for this zombie virus. World War Z, directed by Marc Forster, is based on the popular novel of the same name by Max Brooks. [full review after the jump]

Man of Steel

Superman's Epic Restart
by Reymundo Salao

The last Superman movie "Superman Returns" was, in so many ways, a failure. The problem was that it followed the formula of the old Christopher Reeve Superman movies; a formula that is already severely outdated.

When Christopher Nolan, director Zack Snyder, and writer David Goyer were assigned to work on a new Superman movie, they focused on rehashing the entire Superman franchise, identified the flaws, avoided the corniness of the previous movies, and never ignored the source material. [the rest of the article after the jump]

Iron Man 3

The Trials of the Man, Not the Armor
by Reymundo Salao

The problem with many superhero movies is that they are too conscious of what they are; too conscious of being a superhero movie. And although it is oftentimes best if a superhero movie is faithful to the comics, it should also be noted that it would be far more greater if its priority is making a great movie, period.

More recently, the thing that has made superhero movies and sci-fi-fantasy movies fail is that they (the producers) seem to be too concerned about how they can make extra money out of a single movie; from the merchandising, to the toys, to the potential sequels, and spin-offs. The best example of this failure is the 2011 movie Green Lantern, which did all that. Iron Man 3 seems like the kind of movie that prioritizes the main movie and its storyline first, and put all the eye-candy, and all the fancy garbage on the background as just an additional flavoring.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

We're Way Past Telling Jokes Now
by Reymundo Salao

Christopher Nolan has revolutionized superhero/comic book movies and elevated it from the status of merely just great movies, and into prestigiously high-end respectable cinema. The Dark Knight, which is the second movie (in what is now considered a trilogy), was considered a milestone in cinema history; with the idea that one of the greatest movies ever made is based on a comic book superhero. Now, the third becomes the conclusion to what is now one of the greatest trilogies in cinema.

The Amazing Spider-man

Not-So-Amazing
by Reymundo Salao

The Amazing Spider-man is designed to be a reboot of the Spider-man franchise, to erase off and disregard the previous one. This should have been probably be expected to be a better take on the Spider-man franchise. Unfortunately, it's barely good, just a tiny bit above satisfactory. No; it's not a bad movie... It was just not good enough.

The movie has a vast playing field for nitpickers picking on little negative details of the movie; such as the lack of real motivation on the villain's part, or something as insignificant as Peter's distracting hair looking like a birdnest helmet. But aside from nitpicks, the film has several serious flaws.

Battleship

BATTLESHIP: Hilariously Stupid & Excruciatingly Corny
by Reymundo Salao

I have two descriptions for this movie; it feels like either or both; (A) a really bad tagalog movie; or (B) a cartoon for children with undeveloped minds. The stupidity amused me for a while, but when I realize that I actually wasted money on this awful movie, it just got purely depressing.

BATTLESHIP is actually a movie based on the naval war strategy board game. Many were surprised that the movie version of this game suddenly looks like an alien invasion action movie. It can be easily assumed that the producers of this piece of crap wanted to market a movie utilizing the same appeal the Transformers movies have; make it flashy and stupid. Sadly, it has become a winning formula these days. While this movie is also designed to entice viewers to be interested in the Battleship game once again; what it actually did was it just made me lose interest in it.

I thought Transformers 2 and 3 were the two dumbest big movies I’ve ever seen. I was not too surprised that BATTLESHIP was dumber. Peter Berg has a decent filmography; he did Friday Night Lights, Hancock, The Rundown, and The Kingdom. What the f%ck happened to him on this movie?! Did he just turn idiotic overnight? In this new movie, Berg seemed like he was channeling Michael Bay’s style. In fact, the entire movie felt like a Michael Bay movie; the really poor character development, the lousy dialogues, the awfully corny dramatic elements, the flashy but unoriginal visuals; and the inappropriate and insulting jokes. Idiots would really love it.[MORE AFTER THE JUMP]

Wrath of the Titans

Wrath of the Titans is Spectacularly Epic!
by Reymundo Salao

WRATH OF THE TITANS is the sequel to the 2010 movie Clash of the Titans. In this movie, the gods and goddesses of Olympus are dying and losing their power, while Titans that have long been imprisoned are about to rise and have their revenge against the gods and goddesses, and unleash their chaos against mankind. Perseus must travel deep into Tartarus to save his father, and stop the wrath of the titans.

The 2010 movie Clash of the Titans was battered by critics so much that there was really a conscious effort to make the sequel far more impressive than just better. And this movie did indeed meet those expectations. Great story, impressive action, and jaw-dropping visuals; WRATH OF THE TITANS is enjoyably epic.

The Hunger Games

THE HUNGER GAMES was Okay
by Reymundo Salao

In the dystopian future, the civilization known as Panem has lived long after war, disaster and the ravaged ruins of what was known as America. In the aftermath of the Civil War which sought to rebel against the tyrannical government, the defeated rebels were divided into several districts. And as punishment for their rebellion, every year, one boy and one girl both between the ages of 12 to 18 shall be chosen from each district and to compete in a contest where they must kill each other and only one must be victorious, a ruthless reminder that no one can oppose the authority of the Capitol. This contest is known as The Hunger Games.

The strong anticipation for the movie paid off, certainly with a strong entrance at the US box office, and critical response which was equally high also. The movie was indeed a fine movie, but after a while in reviewing it, I felt that it could have been a far more stronger movie. It was a good movie, but it did not really leave an impression upon me; and it was a bit forgettable.