Science Fiction

Giant Robots vs. Monsters

  • Title: Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific Rim
  • IMDB: link

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific RimThe idea behind director Guillermo del Toro‘s latest movie is hardly original. The world, not just Hollywood, has made a living on giant monster movies for decades. We’ve also seen a number of giant robot movies, particularly big-budget CGI-extravaganzas in recent years. Even animated movies such as Monsters vs. Aliens have pitted two groups of giant creatures against each other.

More than Blade II (the only watchable film from that franchise) or either of the Hellboy movies, del Toro’s latest is easily his most mainstream attempt at a summer blockbuster. We certainly get the director’s spin on things, and designs of creatures who seem right at home in Hellboy or Pan’s Labyrinth, but the story from the director and co-writer Travis Beacham itself is by the book (and doesn’t even attempt to color outside the lines). The result is a film that feels a lot like a mashup of Robot Jox, Independence Day (complete with last-minute inspirational speech and wacky scientists), Top Gun, Transformers, and various monster movies all spruced up with sexy CGI and de Toro’s eye for creature design.

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Continuum – Second Skin

  • Title: Continuum – Second Thoughts
  • tv.com: link

Continuum - Second Skin

When Alec (Erik Knudsen) notices interference on his system, the same kind of interference he saw when Kiera (Rachel Nichols) first arrived, he believes another time traveler has shown-up from the future. The truth is a little more complicated and has to deal with Kiera’s old partner Elena (Caitlin Cromwell) who arrived in 1975 and by the year 2013 is an old woman (Karin Konoval) suffering from Alzheimers and liver failure whose son (Christian Vincent) recently sold her old space-age cop suit at a garage sale to the girlfriend (Carrie Fleming) of a dry-cleaners manager (Patrick Gilmore) for a sci-fi themed wedding.

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Star Wars #6

Star Wars #6Disobeying orders, Luke and Prithi head out in search of the rest of the squadron. Finding the group and a severely wounded Leia in an equally damaged X-Wing, the pilots put their heads together and come up with a plan to trap the Star Destroyer Devastator and the TIE Intereptors quickly closing in on their location.

Although the plan isn’t all that well explained by writer Brian Wood, the effects are impressive. Most impressive. The fallout earns Leia an extended stay in a Bacta tank with C-3P0 and R2-D2 and promotions for both Luke and Wedge now that the princess is out of commission for the time being.

With Han Solo stuck on Coruscant and out of contact, and a pissed-off Col. Bircher wanting revenge for his lost Star Destroyer, it becomes even more necessary for the rag-tag fleet to find the mole. Sadly, it appears the group will move forward without Prithi who leaves after witnessing the depths of Luke’s feelings for Leia. I like the character, and I’m hoping we’ll continue to see more of her in the months to come. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $2.99]

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Continuum – Second Chances

  • Title: Continuum – Second Chances
  • tv.com: link

Continuum - Second Chances

Time Travel can be a tricky bitch. The Canadian sci-fi series stars Rachel Nichols as Kiera Cameron, a cybernetically-enhanced cop from the year 2077 who is accidentally transported back in time by a group of eight failed terrorists fleeing execution in hopes of changing the future which is controlled by a Corporate Congress. Over the show’s First Season Kiera attempted to track down the various terrorists with the help of Vancouver Police Detective Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster) and genius young designer Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen) who will grow into the man responsible for the most impressive technology from Kiera’s time period.

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After Earth

  • Title: After Earth
  • IMDB: link

After EarthBased on an idea from one of the film’s stars, the latest from director M. Night Shyamalan stars Will Smith and Jaden Smith as an estranged father and son in the far future who crash-land on a post-apocalyptic version of an abandoned Earth and must work together to survive. Part coming of age story, part father/son dynamic, part horror film, and part shaky science fiction, After Earth proves to be the most straightforward movie of Shyamalan’s career. Instead of twists or late reveals After Earth relies on drama, action, and ramped-up tension to play out a predictable story.

After racing through setting up this version of the future, the destruction of Earth, the settlement across the galaxy, and humanity’s battle with generic movie monster aliens known as Ursas (creatures who can smell and track fear of their prey across great distances), our story begins in earnest with General Cypher Raige (Will Smith) arriving home from his latest assignment to his talented but skittish son Katai (Jaden Smith) who on that very day has been denied advancement in the Ranger Corps for his inability to show calm in the face of danger.

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