Looper (2012)

This film was released in 2012 and starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt.  I have to say it’s one of the best sci-fi/action stories I’ve ever seen.   I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a sci-fi flick this much since Equilibrium (2002).  The main pull for me was the plot itself, because for a sci-fi flick, this one didn’t really have too many mind-blowing visual effects.  The story and the characters drove the motion of the movie, and it swept me along on its urgent and rather emotional race toward the finish.  Excellent, excellent!

The story is set in a rather dystopian world, still quite similar to our own present.  Time travel has not yet been invented.  But thirty years into the future it will be.  Immediately it is outlawed, but criminal organizations in the future still use it to get rid of their enemies by dumping them, bound and with their head in a sack, into the past, where a waiting “looper” will shoot them dead as soon as they get there.  A looper is paid in silver, bars of which are strapped on to the person sent to him for killing.  Eventually though, having a looper running around is too risky, so the bosses from the future would find the looper’s future self, and in a stroke of bitter irony, send him back to the past for his younger version to kill.  In this case, gold bars are given as an incentive, and thus the “loop” is closed.  Our Joe (Gordon-Levitt) is one such looper.  The events of the film begin to escalate when his best friend fails to close his “loop” and ends up getting killed.  Joe believes he himself was entirely at fault for not being able to save his friend.  And then things get really bad when he himself fails to kill his future self.  So then Future Joe (Willis) must now try to set things in motion so that his present self will not have to live a life in which he would eventually watch his beloved wife get murdered.   For that particular offence, Future Joe blames the “Rainmaker,” the evil overlord of the future.  He sets out to kill the Rainmaker in the present so that the child will never grow up to be the evil overlord that he will be.  I’ll stop here to avoid giving away too much of the movie.  Really, it must be seen to be truly appreciated.

The movie touched on a varied number of themes, but I think the central one is that of taking responsibility for one’s actions, facing the consequences, and being honourable and noble enough to accept them.  By the end of the film, Joe finally finds the perfect solution to break the cycle of pain and bloodshed that binds his life with that of the Rainmaker.  He takes the future into his own hands and saves everyone even at the cost of the only thing he has left.  Other themes the flick touched on were loyalty, parenthood, a child’s innocence, revenge, and the redemptive power of love.  It’s a glorious mishmash of all that and more. Fast-paced, thought-provoking, and emotionally intense, I highly recommend this film to one and all.  

Watch the trailer.

Rurouni Kenshin (Live Action Movie) 2012

Finally the long-awaited live action film has been released in Manila. This movie was released in Japan in August of this year, and so many Filipino fans have been waiting for it to come to our shores.  The anime adaptation (then called Samurai X) gained so much popularity here, that it was run and rerun on TV several times over.  If you ever were a follower of this series, you must not miss the live action movie!  It's absolutely worth the wait. 

It's a nearly perfect adaptation.  From the characters, the plot, the nuances and the overall atmosphere of the story-line; it strove to be as faithful to the original as possible and I really appreciate this fact.  It makes me want to see the entire anime series from start to finish all over again.  The fight scenes were really cool, not exaggerated or spoiled by too much obvious computer magic.  I'm glad they managed to show the variety of fighting styles that were such a big deal in the anime version, especially Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu (how quickly he moves, etc., it was really exciting to see it). The portrayals were also as good as I hoped; the actors played their parts well.  There were even a good number of comedic moments which the original versions had plenty of.  Takeru Sato was great as Kenshin; I think it quite suited him to play the part.  He was able to show the many sides of Kenshin's complex tormented character - torn between his nature as a killer, and his deep-seated yearning for peace and belonging.   

My favorite fight scenes: the fight between Kenshin and Gein (the guy with the guns and the dagger), the fight scene between Kenshin and Jine (the one who pretended to be Battousai), and the fight between Sanosuke and Inui (the priest-type fist-fighter).  Those are just my favorites, but generally all the fight scenes were thrilling and bloody and splendid.  The only thing I would have wanted to see more of, really, was Saito (the samurai-turned-police chief) since in the anime he really had a lot to do with Kenshin's life.  But I suppose the film would have gone a little too long if even more character development was expounded upon.  As it is, I personally think it's perfectly awesome.  Obviously, I'm a fan. 

More information on Rurouni Kenshin (Live Action Movie)

Chronicle

Tonight I saw a recent film called “Chronicle” directed by Joshua Trank.  It’s one of those unexpected movies that suddenly become really popular hits even though it didn’t have any overhyped superstar Hollywood celebrity cast members, publicity, and all that paraphernalia.  It was pure story – and I loved it from start to finish.

It centers on Andrew, a high school senior who is faced with such a hard life to cope with – poverty, a mother who’s very ill, an abusive drunk of a father, bullying at school, isolation and loneliness.  The one person he could call a friend is his cousin, Matt. 

One day Matt forces him to go to a party.  Things don’t go well for Andrew there and Steve, their popular classmate, approaches Andrew and urges him to explore something that had been discovered in the woods.  It turns out to be a cavern that leads deep underground, tunneling into the earth.  There Andrew, Steve and Matt encounter something inexplicable – an alien object or creature.  Their contact with this object causes the three of them to develop telekinetic powers.  As they explore and experiment with their newfound abilities, getting stronger and becoming more and more creative with it, the friendship and camaraderie among the three friends grow as well.  Things seem to be looking up for Andrew; he has friends now, and he has power.  But it didn’t make anything easier for him and as his troubles continually plague and overwhelm him, he feels all the more alone and desperate.  Andrew starts to lose control and use his power in a very destructive manner.  He succumbs to his despair and lets all Hell break loose in a seething rampage that leads to the story’s inexorable tragic culmination. 

I love how the film is entitled “Chronicle” because the events unfold from the perspective of a number of different cameras, but mostly Andrew’s own.  You see the story from a third party point of view; you are merely an observer, chronicling the events of the developing drama.  In effect, the camera perspective becomes as much a barrier between you, the audience, and Andrew’s world, as it was between Andrew and the harsh realities of his world.  It allowed him to feel detached, isolated, and safe from all the cruelty and the loneliness.

Beautifully imagined and executed, this film is definitely an amplified reflection of this, our world.  This is what happens when people are pushed too far – they break.  It is a glaring commentary on the truth around us – poverty, domestic abuse, bullying, and isolation.  Once people become sunk in despair, they look for something that they feel empowering and they let loose.  Look around at the shooting rampages in schools, bombs thrown around like so many cigarette stubs, massacres left and right.  This movie made me look hard, and let me think about my actions, the actions of the people around me, and so much more.  I highly recommend this to everyone.  See it, think about it, and maybe it will change everything, including yourself.

See the trailer of CHRONICLE

Allan Quartermain - H. Rider Haggard

I’ve kept this book waiting on my shelf for the better part of two years.  I’d bought the copy out of sheer curiosity, and because it was being sold quite cheaply.  The curiosity began in 2003 when they came out with the movie “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.”  At that time, I didn’t know that Allan Moore had made a graphic novel series on which the movie was based.  But the idea of putting together several central figures from beloved and memorable literary classics in one highly commercialized mash-up of a Hollywood cash cow seemed quite intriguing to me.  So I saw the flick, was sufficiently entertained, and left with an itch to read or reread the books where those characters came from. 

H. Rider Haggard wrote “King Solomon’s Mines” and “Allan Quartermain” in the late 1800’s.  I don’t know much about this period, but I assume that Haggard was one of the founding fathers of the adventure genre (correct me if I’m wrong).  There have been so many stories, movies and TV shows that featured the character of Allan Quartermain over the years.  He is a very popular example of the British gentleman-adventurer.  In these two books, Quartermain takes the voice of the narrator as he tells the stories of the many challenges and daring adventures that he undergoes. 

Surprisingly, Allan describes himself as a coward, preferring to run away and confronting only when there is no other recourse.  In the books, his actions are often motivated by financial needs, but in Allan Quartermain he set out adventuring for a deeper reason and well, just for the heck of it.  He has plenty of respect for the Africans – calling them brave and noble.  I never encountered a line that seemed derogatory towards them.  The book has what you could only expect from the genre – perilous quests, girls in need of rescuing, battles against hostile tribes, near-deaths by starvation and being eaten by monstrous crabs, underground rivers and deep-sea volcanoes, falling off of cliffs and waterfalls, being sucked by whirlpools, war and battle, jealousy and betrayal, and (of course!) a long lost kingdom of riches with stunningly beautiful princesses to fall in love with.  Allan Quartermain has it all.  But this wouldn’t be a classic if it didn’t have anything meaningful and timeless to it, and there were plenty of these.  Here are some of my favourite lines from the book:

At the very beginning, he grieves for his lost son. “December 25.  I have just buried my boy, my handsome boy of whom I was so proud, and my heart is broken.” I love how simple and honest this sentence is.  It being unembellished all the more adds to its emotional impact, knowing that this grief comes from a man you assume to be a hardened, heroic adventurer.

“Civilization is only savagery silver-gilt.”

“Man’s cleverness is almost infinite, and stretches like an elastic band, but human nature is like an iron ring.  You can go round and round it, you can polish it highly, you can even flatten it a little on one side, whereby you will make it bulge out on the other, but you will never, while the world endures and man is man, increase its total circumference.”

“So when the heart is stricken, and the head is humbled in the dust, civilization fails us utterly.”

“Although she was at an age when in England girls are in the schoolroom and come down to dessert, this ‘child of the wilderness’ had more courage, discretion, and power of mind than many a woman of mature age nurtured in idleness and luxury, with minds carefully drilled and educated out of any originality or self-resource that nature may have endowed them with.”  As a teacher, I cannot ignore this line.  I have a niggling feeling that it is TRUE – that we are essentially educating our children OUT of their creativity and originality, turning them merely into what we think society deems “productive.”  The fact that the author observed this and wrote about in the 1800’s is just wow.

This is a beautiful description of a sunrise: “…till at length the east turned grey, and huge misty shapes moved over the surface of the water like ghosts of long-forgotten dawns.  They were the vapours rising from their watery bed to greet the sun.  Then the grey turned to primrose, and the primrose grew to red.  Next, the glorious bars of light sprang up across the eastern sky, and now between them the messengers of dawn came speeding upon their arrowy way, scattering ghostly vapours and touching the distant mountain-tops, as they flew from range to range and longitude to longitude.  Another moment, and the golden gates were open and the sun himself came forth gloriously, with pomp and splendour and a flashing as of ten million spears, and covered up the night with brightness, and it was day.”

If you are into this genre, or you happen to like adventuresome characters like Indiana Jones and others like him, reading H. Rider Haggard’s stories and getting to know Allan Quartermain will prove worthwhile.  Enjoy!

Katanagatari

Quite a while back I finished the anime series "Katanagatari" and I enjoyed it immensely.

It's the story of Shichika and Togame's search for twelve legendary blades.  Togame conscripts Shichika, the swordless samurai, into the search.  Eventually a deep bond between the two of them grows.  As time passes and they endure the hardships and challenges that come their way, they learn more and more about respect, pride, power, friendship, and love. 

This is one of the most memorable anime I’ve ever seen. It is at par with "Ninja Scroll" in my book. I just love the character development - the slow but sure awakening of Shichika and Togame’s humanity. I also loved all the villains, especially Nanami and Emonzaemon. The drawing and animation were no less magnificent - caricature enough to be cute and entertaining, and yet vicious and sharp enough to be chilling and merciless. I don't know much about art, but I think this style may be called avant-garde (?), I'm not too sure.  It's all very artsy and surreal.  I have only seen a few anime before that used such a radically different art style in the rendering of the story.  If the artist had used the more or less "usual/common" anime style, it would have made the series much less remarkable indeed.  I also loved the fact that it had one-hour episodes so you are never left hanging and still eagerly anticipating the next chapter. Each episode is absorbing and gracefully paced: alternately tip-toe-around-the-corner and edge-of-your-seat at all the right moments.  Truly superb, I highly recommend it to all anime lovers. Cheerio!

Darker Than Black

This is the anime series I've been following lately, and I quite enjoyed it.  The main character is cool and the action sequences are well-executed.  

The story revolves around the mysterious "Hell's Gate" that surrounds an area of Tokyo where a cataclysmic event happened a decade before.  Several factions and government agencies are trying to delve into the mysteries of the "gate."  One of its strange effects was the emergence of  "contractors" - humans who have suddenly developed unique and oftentimes destructive supernatural abilities in exchange for the loss of the human capacity for emotion/compassion.  They are now recruited and employed by the rival factions to retrieve/steal information, commit kidnappings or assassinations, and any other dirty deed that needs be done.  Hei is one of them.  The whole series centers around his relationships with the other characters, his search for his beloved younger sister, and his inner conflicts as he tries to hold on to the humanity he believes to have lost when he became a contractor.  As he works to uncover the "gate's" secrets, he discovers more and more about his own person at the same time.

The pace of the series is good; secrets and twists are revealed a little at a time, enough to entice you to keep watching.  The characters are also engaging and well-rounded.  Their interactions with each other provide human drama elements as well as moments of comic relief.  The contractors are cool and vicious, and the action sequences are fast and gripping.  

Favorite character: Hei and the cat

Favorite scene: Whenever Hei eats like there's no tomorrow.

Favorite episode: The 26th (special/extra episode) 

All-in-all a pretty exciting and interesting sci-fi/action series - worth watching.  

I'd give it a 7/10. Give it a try.

The Law of Nines - Terry Goodkind

I finished reading this book in one day.  Being a fan of Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" series, I enjoyed it very much.  It's more of an offshoot of the series, but could very well be enjoyed as a separate novel.  If you have never read any of the books in that series, this might actually be a good place to start. Readers will enjoy the fast-paced, high-tension action of the story.  They will also be made to empathize with the characters - wishing them success at every conflict, hoping for a happy ending in spite of all the gruesome and horrific ordeals they must live through.  I think this is the most important aspect of any good story: its ability to make the reader believe the fiction (suspension of disbelief) and to make them empathize with the characters.

I have only two comments for this book.  First, I dislike it when villains start talking about their plans right in front of the protagonist.  I wish Mr. Goodkind could find a more subtle way to reveal the nefarious character of the villains rather than through plain dialogue.  Villains who gloat too much, who brag about their wicked plans to the suffering hero - it comes off as cliche, deliberate, and contrived.  Second, the ending - for me a tad bit rushed and anti-climactic.  It was only at the ending that the main antagonist was revealed, and I'd have wanted the antagonist to have had more depth and rationale to his character.  I think it would have been a bit better if he were more disturbed, self-righteous, vicious, and psychotic.  Still, the pacing, action, and thrill of the plot makes up for all these, and I have to say that I liked it overall.  I give it 6/10.

I can't wait for the paperback edition of "The Omen Machine" to be released here in Manila.  It is the latest installment to the "Sword of Truth" series, and I'm really excited.  I do wish more people will catch on to that series - it's so much fun.