Review of Elysium

Given my love for science fiction, I was looking forward to Neil Blomkamp's Elysium more than most movies in 2013. The South African filmmaker, who burst onto the scene with his thoughtful, allegorical, and enormously entertaining District 9 in 2009, has shown once again with his sophomore feature that he knows how to deliver an action-adventure story with a little more meaning and subtext than most. But expectations can be a bitch. Don't get me wrong, Elysium is a perfectly entertaining blockbuster and asks some fascinating questions, but it's not as full a meal as District 9. The greatest reason for this is the length. In an era where many movies run far too long, Elysium is actually too short. Its unique world deserves a 2.5-hour running length or perhaps even a HBO series treatment for it to fully sate us.

Elysium starts off spectacularly, introducing us to life in the mid-22nd Century where Earth is overpopulated and drastically polluted. The wealthiest citizens have fled the planet and made their way to Elysium, a massive space station "world" where settings are pristine, crime is absent, and any injury or illness can be healed instantly. Most of Earth's citizens are struggling to make a living, and that includes Max DeCosta (Matt Damon), a former car thief who has gone straight and taken a job at an assembly line. His friend, Julio (Diego Luna) is always hanging around looking for Max to get back into the game, and he runs into a childhood friend named Frey (Alice Braga), who is now a nurse and struggling to find treatment for her sick daughter. When a work accident exposes Max to massive levels of radiation, his only hope is to find a way to Elysium for treatment. He takes on a dangerous mission: kidnap his company's CEO, John Carlyle (William Fichtner) and download valuable information from his brain. But this mission becomes complicated when Carlyle and Elysium's Secretary of Defense, Delacourt (Jodie Foster) attempt to organize a coup of the station's government. And things grow even more dire when Delacourt calls in help from a deranged, psychotic "sleeper agent" named Kruger (Sharlto Copley).

The film's commentary on border patrol and health care are front and center for every viewer to note, but most of this happens during the setup. The way droid-based police and parole officers interact with Max and others as they mercilessly profile anyone deemed "suspicious" is not only allegorical but effectively gets us in the main character's corner. Delacourt and the Elysium council have an interesting back-and-forth that feels all-too-much (and appropriately) like real-world politics. And the state of both worlds sends a singular message loud and clear: in this film's world, there is literally no middle class. Everyone is either struggling or luxuriating. Unfortunately, the film drops most of these points when the action-adventure elements take over.

While Elysium is only sporadically successful as social commentary (imagine what Christopher Nolan, who is obsessed with such things, would've done with this budget and a 2.5 hour running time instead of the 1:49 we get here), it's consistently involving as an action-adventure. The protagonists are easy to relate to, the villains, especially Sharlto Copley's Kruger, are suitably nasty, and there's a healthy dose of suspense. Parts of the movie admittedly feel like a superhero tale, but since this is an original story, there's no guarantee whether Max will be alive before the end credits roll. He's enhanced by an exoskeleton, but he's not a Superman. The film's two extended action sequences, one on Earth and one on Elysium, are well-shot and pulse-pounding, whether they involve gun-play or hand-to-hand combat. Plus, with this being an R-rated movie (thank God), expect blood to flow and bodies to explode in Mortal Kombat fashion.

It should come as no surprise that Elysium looks fantastic. Blomkamp was once attached to direct an adaptation of the video game series Halo, and visual influences are everywhere here, from the ring-like space station to the suits, droids, and weaponry. But Elysium never feels like watching someone else play a video game. The movie has a story worth telling and ultimately sends a positive message, although it does run into a few narrative holes along the way. For example, without spoiling anything, the movie's ultimate "solution" for the Earth/Elysium dynamic is far too simplistic and appears too easy for just anyone to implement.. This is a forgivable flaw, however, as Elysium is a consistently involving film. It doesn't rise to the must-see level of District 9, but it displays an interesting vision and represents a respectable way to close out the summer blockbuster season of 2013.

Rating: *** (out of ****)

Review of The Spectacular Now

It's safe to say they don't make 'em like this anymore. The Spectacular Now is indeed a spectacular find, a superior teen-based story that is by turns smart, funny, and poignant. It's the kind of movie John Hughes or Cameron Crowe would've made in their heydays, and they would've had a lot of fun doing so. The Spectacular Now offers realistic characters in realistic situations, sparkling dialogue, and complete arcs for its two main characters. This shouldn't come as a surprise considering the writing team of Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, whose last feature, 500 Days of Summer, boasted many of the same qualities.

Unlike one of Crowe's movies, this one doesn't contain a particularly memorable soundtrack, but that's okay, since that isn't what the appeal of The Spectacular Now is all about. This is a character and emotion-driven movie through and through. The first two thirds of this movie are light-hearted and follow a familiar rhythm (hard-partying boy meets nice girl, thinks of her as just another fling, then a real attraction develops), but the final 30 minutes will form most viewers' lasting memories. The territory that director James Ponsoldt's film dives into is bleak, unpredictable, and riveting. The effect is similar to that of Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away, where the final, post-island segment forms a complete drama. That's equally the case here.

Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is a popular 18-year-old senior student, but graduating into the next phase of life means little to him. He's the kind of guy who wishes he could be 18 forever and consistently finds ways to get around answering tough questions about his future. His reluctance to do so causes his girlfriend, Cassidy (Brie Larson), to dump him for the class President. But with or without a girlfriend, Sutter still has his way with the ladies, and one day, after waking up from passing out drunk on a stranger's lawn, he meets the shy Aimee Finicky (Shailene Woodley) and offers to help her on her paper route in exchange for helping him find his car. Sutter insists to his friends that his and Aimee's friendship is just platonic, but as the two spend more time together, attraction and respect inevitably grows. They learn from one another, and once Sutter discovers his absentee father's whereabouts, he asks Aimee to accompany him on a road trip.

Until the events of that road trip transpire, The Spectacular Now gets an impressive amount of the details right when it comes to teenage relationships. The filmmakers understand Sutter's mindset, how he can be smart and verbose in social situations yet lost at sea in the classroom, and how he goes from bragging about a potential conquest in Aimee to developing a more respectful attitude. And although the movie is presented from his perspective, Aimee undergoes noticeable growth as well. She comes out of her wallflower shell, learns to speak up a little more, and becomes more outgoing. The sex scene between the two, while not graphic, is presented with the proper tone and feel. And while Sutter's ex-girlfriend looms just outside the frame of his current relationship, the character of Cassidy is not treated as a villain to generate unnecessary conflict.

The Spectacular Now becomes a significantly different movie during its final third. We learn facts about Sutter's background and family that not only give us a better understanding of who he is, but hit home with certain viewers who have experienced similar family drama. The filmmakers wisely don't reveal everything as to why a certain character made the choice he did, but enough so that we can fill in the blanks. During this period, The Spectacular Now's trajectory and ending point become uncertain; a welcome sign for any movie. It ups the ante and turns a relatively standard (albeit a very smart) teenage romance story into something deeper and more resonant.

Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are so natural in their roles that, upon leaving the screening, I only remembered them as Sutter and Aimee. That's a point that can't be understated; how often do we find ourselves describing a movie and referring to a character by the actor's name? That won't happen here. Woodley in particular could be on the verge of a breakout; she got her start on the series Secret Life of the American Teenager, delivered an extraordinary supporting turn in The Descendants, and could be playing key roles in two franchises (Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spiderman series and the lead in the adaptation of the young-adult novel Divergent). Jennifer Jason Leigh delivers excellent supporting work as Sutter's mother, who has a strained relationship with her son and refuses to let him know the whereabouts of his father. And Kyle Chandler, appropriately unkempt-looking, has a small but crucial role.

A clever motif in the film, that of Sutter choosing how to answer a question on a college admissions letter, eventually results in him directly relating to the audience what he has learned about how dangerous "living in the now" can be. To most adults, that may seem like a trite life-lesson, but it's a breakthrough to a teenager, and the film gets the point across without seeming preachy. The Spectacular Now is yet another 2013 entry that proves once again that you don't need astronomical budgets or megawatt stars to entertain audiences. Deliver a finely-tuned, well-written story and push all the right emotional buttons, and you can't go wrong.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)

Review of The Wolverine

In a saturated market of superhero fastballs, The Wolverine proves how valuable a good change-up can be. I'll be honest; while most movies in this sub-genre are fun, so many of them feel far too similar. How many movies involving an origin story, a save-the-world plot, and spectacles of destruction can we take before they all start to blend together? Thankfully, The Wolverine strips away a lot of these superhero staples and gives us a story of an entirely different flavor. With its emphasis on organized crime and an internal character struggle, this is more Dark Knight or the first Iron Man than Man of Steel or The Avengers. It certainly contains enough action to satisfy hungry fans, but the core story is driven by characters, not spectacle.

The Wolverine begins with a scene set during the WWII bombing of Nagasaki, Japan as the title character saves a solider's life from the nuclear blast. Fast-forwarding to the present day (and after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand), we catch up with Logan (Hugh Jackman), and he's not living the happiest of times. After picking a fight with a group of bar thugs in the Yukon, a young Japanese warrior woman named Yukio (Rile Fukushima) intervenes and explains why she tracked him down. The man whose life Logan saved, billionaire industrialist Yashida (Hal Yamanouchi), is now dying and wishes to bid farewell to his savior. Logan reluctantly agrees to accompany Yukio to Tokyo, and when the old man passes away, Logan finds himself an unwitting protector of Yashida's granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto), who is being hunted by a rival gang. Also involved in the plot are one of Mariko's protectors, deadly-accurate archer Harada (Will Yun Lee), and a mutant with reptilian abilities who is appropriately named Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova).

After X-Men: The Last Stand disappointed so many viewers, myself included, it's amazing how much better it appears in hindsight given the direction taken with Logan's character here. He is haunted by visions of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and the decision he made to kill her, and this plays a large role in his assertion that being immortal isn't all its cracked up to be. On the contrary; he has to wrestle with the inevitability that everyone he grows close to will pass him by, and it's a weighty burden. The Wolverine doesn't do the kind of heavy lifting and philosophizing that The Dark Knight series or even Iron Man does, but it's still nice to see that amid all the action sequences and villains to thwart, the movie never loses sight of its hero as a character.

Director James Mangold is primarily known for drama films, but he deftly handles any scene with a pulse. The Wolverine contains numerous chases and fights, many inspired by martial arts and all of which are well-executed. The most unique of these involves a fight atop a speeding bullet train where, for once, the filmmakers pay a little attention to the laws of physics. And while the introduction of a large silver samurai robot (as seen in some of the ads) at first seems pretty silly, there's actually an interesting reason for its presence.

Hugh Jackman, much like Robert Downey Jr., dominates a Marvel character in a way few could. Not only is his physique more impressive than in any of his previous turns as Wolverine (and so soon after playing Jean Valjean in Les Miserables), but he has the perfect grip on what makes the character tick. Rile Fukushima proves to be an excellent ass-kicking sidekick, and model-turned-actress Tao Okamoto shows enough ability to make her role as the love interest work. Mention also must be made of Svetlana Khodchenkova, who oozes the perfect blend of sex appeal and malice, but her villainous role is a bit underused.

As is Marvel tradition, The Wolverine contains a mid-credits Easter Egg, and this short scene may be one of the most satisfying in recent memory. It's quite the spectacular reveal, and I can safely say it will have fans giddy for this franchise's future prospects. As for the two-hour movie that precedes it, The Wolverine proves that not every superhero tale has to engage in a battle of one-upsmanship to be satisfying. Sometimes, it's better to get back to basics and deliver a character-based story with action elements than keep finding new ways to blow stuff up.

Rating: *** (out of ****)

Review of Fruitvale Station

Note: Yes, this review contains spoilers. But they have their roots in historical fact. Don't worry; knowing them ahead of time will only enhance the experience. Trust me on this. 

When a film uses the hook "Based on a True Story," it is more often than not a marketing ploy, where the resulting fictional film is true-to-life in broad strokes only. With Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, however, that little blurb is the film's greatest asset. This would not be the powerful, brutally affecting piece of filmmaking that it is without that useful knowledge. The basic tragedy inherent in this kind of story; that of a young man gunned down far, far before his time, is enough to involve anyone, but the fact that this actually happened and happens far too often adds a layer of poignancy that no one viewing this movie will be able to shake. Fruitvale Station goes beyond a narrative and becomes a teaching tool. It calls on viewers to reflect upon the darker side of human nature, the fragility of life itself, and whether such tragedies can be avoided at all.

To call the timing of this movie's release eerie is to drastically understate the matter. At a time when the verdict of the recent Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman trial has left everyone with a strong opinion of some sort, this movie's depiction of the final day in the life of 22-year-old Oakland, CA native Oscar Grant III will be almost unbearable for some. But I call it required viewing. Coogler has accomplished the truly remarkable not only in creating a three-dimensional character with so little scope and running time, but in spreading the criticism around and therefore becoming apolitical. In just 90 minutes (with credits), Fruitvale Station enriches in ways that some movies double the length can't accomplish. In addition to its many layers and strengths, it's also a masterpiece of economy.

Fruitvale Station opens with a real-life video from a cell phone camera in the wee hours of January 1, 2009 depicting the detainment of Oscar Grant III and his friends by BART police, who responded to a fight on a train which Oscar did not initiate. In the ensuing struggle, a gun goes off and the screen cuts to black. Rewinding one day, we're introduced to Oscar (Michael B. Jordan), and we learn that while he has struggled to remain faithful to his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz), he's always a supportive father to his four-year-old daughter, Tatiana (Ariana Neal). As the film progresses, we learn bits and pieces about this young man's life, including his one-time prison stint for drug dealing. His relationship with his mother Wanda (Octavia Spencer) is also strong. But on New Year's Eve, when he wants to go out and party with some friends to ring in 2009, he takes his mother's advice to take the train instead of drive. A man confronts Oscar, a fight erupts, and police respond, bringing events full circle.

Before the events of the fateful night at the titular train station, Fruitvale Station puts Oscar under the microscope, examining his strengths and weaknesses for all the world to see. One criticism some people level against left-leaning pundits after a tragedy like this is that they too often paint the victim as angelic. Not so here. Coogler peels back the curtain and lets us see Oscar's many character flaws for what they are. In addition to serving time in jail (albeit not for a violent crime), he's cheated on his girlfriend, lost his job for continued lateness, and displays a charitably limited vocabulary. Nevertheless, there are enough likable qualities about the man to root for him, chief of which are rooted in the supportive, gentle way he treats Tatiana. It's been said that many new fathers who grow up without a father figure in their lives want nothing more than to create a better future for their own offspring, and that unquestionably motivates Oscar. Sadly, his journey toward fulfilling that promise was cut short.

For lead actor Michael B. Jordan, this is a triumph of the highest order. This is not an easy role; he is required to be thoughtful and courteous one moment and explosive and boorish in the next, sometimes in the same scene. Take, for example, the scene in the supermarket where he helps a stranger pick out the best fish for a cookout and then confronts his former boss in a way that will have anyone rolling his/her eyes. Fruitvale Station is filled with moments like that, where positive and negative character traits war with one another in mere minutes. Had Jordan struck a single wrong note, the film's carefully constructed attempts at realism would've come crashing down. Instead, he nails it. An Oscar nomination at minimum awaits.

None of the supporting players are given the layer of depth accorded to Oscar, although Melonie Diaz and Octavia Spencer manufacture some with their high level of acting. Spencer is much less fiery than in her Oscar-winning role for The Help, but she's no less impressive. And young Ariana Neal, in her debut performance, is entirely natural, recalling Quvenzhane Wallis's eye-opening work in Beasts of the Southern Wild. And as for Coogler, he's a star in his own right with his direction. Handheld camera shots, if overused, can quickly make a viewer nauseous, but Coogler sidesteps that trap. His style, which includes long, unbroken takes, enhances the movie's "documentary" feel. And much like in another standout 2013 movie (Henry Alex Rubin's Disconnect), on-screen text-message captions are cleverly utilized.

But ultimately, any discussion of Fruitvale Station boils down to the movie's climax. In his handling of the sudden fight, the tussle with police, the reaction of bystanders, and the inevitable outpouring of grief, Coogler elevates Fruitvale Station into unforgettable territory. It's easy to demonize the police, who are certainly guilty of racial profiling, but mention must be made of how many bystanders witnessed the fight and did nothing but stand by, filming the incident with their camera phones. Even the young woman who Oscar unconditionally assisted in the supermarket earlier is filming and not acting. Are we as everyday citizens every bit as guilty for playing amateur reporters instead of helping our fellow human beings in need? It's a point I didn't expect Coogler to raise, but I'm grateful he did.

Fruitvale Station is a devastating film. It's the kind of movie that will leave audiences taken aback, unwilling to leave their seats until the credits have finished rolling, hence the Audience Award it received at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The entire movie has a profound effect; even during scenes of comic relief and warmth, the knowledge of the main character's untimely death overshadows everything. One watches this movie feeling like a reluctant voyeur, unable to turn away yet unable to act. We know what will happen, so we spend the movie wondering how and why this could happen. By the time the film delivers the expected emotional gut-punch, all we're left with is a nagging question: why do we assume the worst of human beings, as three-dimensional as they are, and how can we avoid contributing to the unnecessary loss of life? The final scene, where Tatiana asks Sophina a simple question and neither she nor the viewer receive an answer, encapsulates this feeling.

I enjoy many fun movies crafted strictly for entertainment purposes, but when an honest, truthful film like Fruitvale Station, which acts not only as an American tragedy of Shakespearean proportions but as a wake-up-call, reaches the screen, cheerleading it becomes a must. At a mere 27 years old, Ryan Coogler has crafted a stunning debut, ensured himself a wonderful future in the business, and delivered one of the best movies of 2013.


Rating: **** (out of ****)

Review of The Conjuring

James Wan's The Conjuring is one of the creepiest and most adult horror films to hit the screen in quite some time. In spite of the R rating, this movie relies more on dread and suspense than gore and a high body count. It's the antithesis of the Saw series, whose excellent first installment Wan directed before the series veered off into much-talked-about "torture porn" territory. Only on very rare occasions can a horror film be labeled "scary" in today's climate; audiences are too accustomed to all the tricks of the trade; they're more likely to laugh than shriek (look no further than the re-release of The Exorcist a decade ago to understand this phenomenon). But when one like The Conjuring comes along and earns its stripes, it's worth singling out.

The "based on a true story" label needs to be taken with a grain of salt. While the character names are a matter of historical record and there was indeed a paranormal investigation as well as an exorcism, there ends any common ground with reality. As soon as we're introduced to the husband-and-wife team of investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) circa 1971 New England, it's clear the movie is accepting ghosts and demons as real and running with it. These two commonly find rational explanations for seemingly "haunted" houses, but every now and then, a priest is needed to perform an exorcism.

The Conjuring asks patience of viewers during its setup material as we're also introduced to the Perron family, including father Roger (Ron Livingston), mother Carolyn (Lili Taylor), and their five daughters. Something is amiss right away when the family moves into their supposed dream home: their dog refuses to go inside. Not long after, every clock in the house stops at 3:07 a.m. Add to that a myriad of occurrences including bumps in the night, Carolyn waking up with bruises, and the children seeing ghostly figures, and it's pretty clear help is needed. By the time the Warrens are called in to investigate, the supernatural forces have already gained the upper hand.

For any movie, let alone one in the horror genre, to work, it is absolutely necessary that we care about the characters and their fate. That's the case here. The Perrons act believably in each situation, and in case you're wondering why they don't just move out of the house ASAP, rest assured that the movie delivers a solid explanation as to why. Also largely absent are situations where characters do something stupid simply because the movie's screenplay requires them to. Often times in a movie like this, it's debatable whether a victimized character is a victim because of horror movie creatures or because of typical horror movie behavior. With the latter element thankfully MIA, the Perrons, especially Carolyn, are easy to root for.

Wan is a virtuoso at playing his audience. "Boo!" moments are present, but the timing isn't always what you expect. He delights in baiting viewers into thinking they know how a "jump" scene will play out, but he varies the payoff points throughout. He's also very fond of long, unbroken takes and the occasional unconventional angle. Both the unnerving score and CGI (carefully following the Jaws and Alien principle of slowly, gradually unveiling the villains) are used but not overused. And the movie is perfectly paced; scares and surprises mesh with narrative rather than existing just as standalone moments to jolt an audience.

By depicting the Warrens as cool, rational, and well-prepared, both through writing and through flawless acting by Wilson and Farmiga, The Conjuring easily gets them in our corner. These are smart, easily identifiable protagonists that just about anyone would gravitate toward in a crisis of supernatural proportions, and they're certainly not in their line of work just to make a quick buck. When watching and listening them explain the ins and outs of demonic hauntings and possessions, we believe them. Mention also must be made of Lili Taylor, who has effectively played a role like this before (in 1999's otherwise laughable The Haunting) and has no problem earning our sympathy here.

A funny thing happened during my advance screening of The Conjuring. Through the first half of the movie, plenty of viewers giggled and chattered during several scenes; behavior one would expect from any multiplex horror audience. But when the terror escalated and circumstances grew more dire for the characters, everyone shut up. That's a testament to how well Wan has structured and developed this movie and how it will resonate with fans. The finale burns with intensity without for even a moment turning toward self-parody, and the ending is emotionally satisfying. For horror fans, this is a must-see. But because it works so well in all the traditional ways a good movie should, I'll happily and strongly recommend it even to non-fans.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)
 

Review of Pacific Rim

Sometimes, the right man in the chair that says "Director" on the back makes all the difference. No disrespect to the actors and screenwriters involved, but without director Guillermo Del Toro's sure hand, Pacific Rim could have easily been just another loud, noisy, and dumb example of summer escapism. Instead, with Del Toro at the helm, this movie retains those first two adjectives but jettisons the third. Those attracted to this movie, a rare original property in a sea of sequels, remakes, and adaptations, for robot-on-monster smack-downs will certainly have their quota fulfilled, but Pacific Rim succeeds because it injects more than its fair share of ingenuity into a "humans vs aliens" template. This is the movie the Transformers films could have been, but weren't.

I like the way Pacific Rim introduces its backstory quickly and economically. As we're told in a voiceover, giant, scaly monsters known as the Kaiju have surfaced from beneath the Earth's oceans and gone on a rampage. When conventional weaponry fails, the Jaeger program, 250-foot-tall robots piloted by two humans linked by a "mind meld" to control the machine's movement, is born. Presided over by Stacker Pentacost (Idris Elba), the Jaegers win more than their fair share of battles, and the pilots achieve rock-star status around the world. But after one of the program's best pilots, hotshot Raleigh Beckett (Charlie Hunnam) makes an ill-fated decision in battle that results in him losing his brother (and co-pilot), the Kaiju adapt to the humans' strategy and turn the tide of war in their favor. This results in the Jaeger program's funding cut off and Beckett exiled to a career in construction. But five years later, Pentacost wants to give the Jager program one last go to stop an impending apocalypse and bring Beckett back into action, this time aided by one of the brightest young minds in the business, designer and aspiring pilot Mako Mori (Rinko Kikuchi).

For the most part, very little in Pacific Rim will surprise the veteran movie-goer. If you're expecting Beckett to encounter plenty of resentment among the rebels and prove he's really the right man for the job, you're absolutely right. And if you're expecting Mori to undergo the typical rookie struggles, you're right on the money. And as for whether certain characters live or die? Not hard to guess. There's also the token human antagonist (an egomaniac rival pilot who gets into a fight with Beckett), but he thankfully doesn't take up too much screen time. The Kaiju alone are imposing enough bad guys, after all. But a key conceit, that of a "neural bridge" linking two pilots' minds and memories together, is fascinating, unique, and effectively used throughout the film. This isn't just some throwaway plot device; it's an important part of how the story unfolds and how the best pilots are chosen for this physically and mentally exhausting task.

Pacific Rim is not an actors' movie (few summer blockbusters are), but this one nonetheless contains fine performances. Charlie Hunnam, best known as the star of the biker drama "Sons of Anarchy," has an effective "everyman" quality. Rinko Kikuchi, who I will never forget from Babel, not only gets numerous chances to kick ass big-time, but does a solid job of portraying her character's warring emotions in spite of her limited grasp on the English language. These two share more of a partner dynamic than that of lovers, which represents a refreshing change for a movie like this. In spite of this being an apocalyptic tale, there's plenty of room for comic relief in the persons of two engineers played hilariously by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman. And let's not forget frequent Del Toro collaborator Ron Perlman, who is once again delightful as a black-market Kaiju-body-parts dealer. He even takes part in one of the best post-credit sequences of any movie so far this year.

But the real standout is British actor Idris Elba. He dominates every scene and every line of dialogue with perfect intonation and intensity, and he even gets a speech that I'll argue is even better than that of Bill Pullman's similar one from Independence Day. His role as the stern, authoritative type is right off the shelf of Hollywood archetypes, but he brings a humanity that might not have been on the printed page. Elba may not be the lead, but he has most of the film's showiest character-based moments, and if there's a human star audiences will remember from Pacific Rim, it's him.

Del Toro brings a fabulous visual aesthetic to Pacific Rim. Lighting all around is superb, whether the action is taking place indoors, in or beneath the ocean, or in the spectacularly-lit streets of Hong Kong (nice to see a movie involving destruction not use New York City for once). Every Jaeger-on-Kaiju battle is cleanly edited and designed for "oohs" and "ahs"; at no time do we struggle to follow who's who. Every spectacle tops the one before it, and one of the scenes from the trailer, of a Jaeger wielding a long ship as a sword against an oncoming Kaiju, is even better in its full glory. Even some of the training scenes, especially one where Mori and Beckett go one-on-one, are a lot of fun. And mericfully, the 3D effects are well-utilized with very little motion blur, appropriate brightness levels, and solid depth-of-field. I was surprised as to how easy it was to watch fight scenes at night without itching to remove the glasses. Put this in the rare group of movies where the 3D surcharge is worth it.

Pacific Rim has plenty of company in its battle for the summer box office, but unlike Star Trek Into Darkness or the numerous superhero outings, I don't see this one polarizing viewers at all. For one, it's not based on another property (although there is a "prequel comic" to explain some of the backstory details, for anyone who cares), so it's not competing with uber-picky fan expectations. But it also gets the tone and scope just right for a blockbuster of its ilk. And the running time of 131 minutes feels organic rather than protracted. I certainly wouldn't want every movie to be like Pacific Rim, I enjoy complex characters and stories too much (two things that are a little undercooked here), but as slam-bang, escapist entertainment, it's tough to beat. As one character says early in the movie,  "Let's go fishing."


Rating: *** (out of ****)

Halftime Top 10 Movies of 2013

Look beyond the blockbusters.

That's the theme of 2013 thus far. After a spectacular 2012 movie year, I plunged head-first into movie reviewing after being out of the game for years (some of you might remember me from my Livejournal days of 2004-2005). That year was spectacularly back-loaded, with nearly all of my year-end Top 10 movies debuting in July or later (the one exception, Moonrise Kingdom, which I let in by virtue of a tie). I can only assume we're headed for something similar in 2013, but the first half of the year displayed a noticeable change, and not one for the better. I did not award a single wide-release movie three-and-a-half stars or better.

While there are five ***1/2 films present here, some of which feature big-name actors, all of them debuted in limited release. They eventually expanded, but none of these were anywhere close to major box office players. They're not popcorn-munching affairs. But those aren't the only kinds of movies I give high marks to. Had I reviewed movies last year, I would've awarded several first-half, mainstream movies ***1/2, including The Avengers, The Cabin in the Woods, Chronicle, and The Grey. Based on recent history, the second half of 2013 will reward our patience and give us a cornucopia of strong, high-quality entertainment, but damn it, why wait so long?

Because of most years' second-half surge, I'm guessing most of these movies will miss the year-end Top 10. No. 1 has a good shot of making the cut, but I don't know about the others. Creating a list right here at the end of June at least lets me give some of the better 3-star movies a little love and highlight some very good-to-great movies that many mainstream movie-goers missed out on.

.Now on with it. As is my tradition, I present them in reverse order, saving the best for last.

10. Star Trek Into Darkness

This movie certainly polarized the fans. A key twist late in the proceedings was thought of as wickedly clever by some and denounced as cheap and lazy by others. Not to mention the fact that some veteran Trekkies bemoan the more action-oriented approach. For me, that matters little. This was a highly entertaining ride that kept the adrenaline flowing from beginning to end. Where Star Trek goes after 2016 is up in the air (a return to television, perhaps?), but at least for now, J.J.
Abrams keeps the franchise living long and prospering.

 9. Oblivion

Two sci-fi movies in a row, but this one plays better to the thinking person. It's a visually stunning and well-paced adventure, but its ruminations on the nature of identity and humanity make for a fuller cinematic experience. At the rate Tom Cruise is going, he could do these movies for at least another 10 years. If they're at least as entertaining as Oblivion, you can bet I'll be there to watch them.

8. Now You See Me

It's as frenetically paced as a superhero film or a Fast and Furious flick, but it's also smarter, breezier, and more creative. Now You See Me is a lot of fun and keeps us guessing all the way through the improbable final reveal. This also boasts one of the best casts top-to-bottom of any 2013 motion picture, and everyone delivers. It's done about as well as a movie about magicians can be done.

7. Monsters University

Pixar returns to one of their better concepts (a world of monsters) for a prequel, and the result, while not as clever as its earlier movie, is still a very good family film and one of the better movies of the summer. The initial thought of a prequel had me concerned, but I was surprised as to how much life, wit, and energy that this universe and characters have on a second go-around. As of right now, it's the movie to beat for the Best Animated Film Oscar.

6. 42

As a baseball die-hard, I was looking forward to this Jackie Robinson bio-pic more than any movie in the first half of the year, and while it's unlikely to win any awards, I wasn't disappointed. It's equally compelling as a sports movie and as social commentary. And it's lifted by a star-making turn from Chadwick Boseman as well as Harrison Ford in one of his best parts in years. Of the movies I graded three stars to thus far, this one stands out as the strongest.

5. Mud

This movie scored 99% on rottentomatoes.com. That's very impressive, and it's easy to see why so many critics liked it. Mud is engrossing as both a Huck Finn-esque coming-of-age story and as a southern-gotchic-tinged thriller. It's a long movie but totally worth the time investment. And Matthew McConaughey once again impresses in the title role, indicating he has mercifully left the world of silly rom-coms far behind him.

4. Before Midnight

Richard Linklater's third outing in the unconventional relationship of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) is once again delightfully verbose and witty, but it's also easily the darkest yet. Love at 41 demands a lot more than love at 23 or 32, a fact this movie illustrates powerfully. It's not everyone's kind of movie; you have to have an appreciation for movies that are entirely about dialogue and philosophical musings, but it's one that everyone should nonetheless seek out.

3. Spring Breakers

Talk about a polarizing film! For many viewers, Spring Breakers may be more notable for its former Disney "good girls" taking a walk on the wild side than it is for its brutally effective commentary on the shallowness of today's youth. It's a movie that pushes a lot of buttons and is sometimes intentionally discomforts the viewer, but it has a lot to say. It's not the sexploitation flick the ads promise, but something far darker, more provocative, and more memorable.

2. The Place Beyond the Pines

This would've been right at home with the Oscar contenders, but I'm glad we got it earlier in the year to mix things up. The Place Beyond the Pines is an immensely compelling three-act tale about sons paying for the sins of the fathers. It contains three distinct storylines, each with a different main character, and seeing them connect is a real treat. It also boasts Bradley Cooper in what I believe is his best acting job to date, even better than his Oscar-nominated role from Silver Linings Playbook.

1. Disconnect

This is superior ensemble-based movie-making. Given the timely subject matter of social media, I expected Disconnect to be good, but not this good. This is also a three-pronged story, but each one is hugely engrossing and has so much thought-provoking material about our lack of communication in the digital age that anyone who watches this will be able to relate. It's one of those few movies where, as I watched it, my thoughts never drifted away from the characters, not even for a second. It came closer to a four-star rating as anything I've seen all year, and it's the only movie on this Halftime list that I'm certain will appear at year's end as well.



So bring on the second half!