Looper Review

As someone who were quite a nerd, I love the Sci-fi movie like Terminator, Star wars, The Matrix and alien. Its always a thrill to see a film maker create a non existing world that is relatable to our real world. Lately, the only Sci-fi movie in this year that really attract my interest is only prometheus, the prequel of the Alien series which peoples said it gives more questions than an answer to the Alien franchies, making a lot of people disappointed by it including me. Luckily, the God of Sci-fi listened to my prayer and gives us one more great sci-fi movie to enjoy this year called Looper.

In the year 2044 a man called Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt or JGL because i'm now too lazy to write his full name, is working as an assasin for a mob in the future called looper. 30 years from that year, time travel is possible and immediately become illegal so only the big crime organization used it to eliminate people since its impossible to make someone disappear in the future without being noticed. One day, Joe had to assassinate someone different, he had to kill his older himself as a part of his jobs.

not metaphorically, he literally had to kill himself...

The premise of this movies is really original for a sci-fi movie, but this premise is not the only great things that this movies can offer because surprisingly, it is a really complex movie with a multiple layer on it. The movie could just be a story of 2 man running and chasing around like Tom and Jerry but they didn't do that. The story become bigger and each character decision in the story is really intriguing to watch. I can't tell you more about the story in this movie since more than that will be considered as a spoiler but trust me, you will be surprised on how much this movies expand itself from its basic premise.

As usual, JGL as Joe manage to steal my heart with his acting (no gay undertone) and he is officially one of my favorite actor now. Joe character is really a selfish Jerk when you first saw him, in fact you will hate him more than you like him but when situation and decision happened, his character will develop and you will rooting for him in the end. The older Joe is played by Bruce Willis who is surprisingly doing great in this movie because you can feel the determination of his character to get  things done no matter what the cost is. 

I'm not actually impressed by the make up in this movie since JGL doesn't look that much like younger Bruce Willis but even though  the make up didn't convince me, what makes them feels like one character is how JGL play his subtle Bruce Willis impression. The good dialogue which shown how the two character interact also helps you too see the two character similarity and its also one of the best aspect of this movie. The other character like Joe boss, played by Jeff Daniels is also giving a great performance even if he is not getting much screen time like another character and There's also Emily blunt who played as Sara, a single parent who lives in the farm with her son who also did good performance to entertain us.

The world of Looper is also worth mentioning because it was relatable to our real world, yet it had a distinct feels to it. Its not the typical slick and futuristic future but its rather a dark and grim version of the real world with some added technology. Hobos are everywhere and the rule of killed or be killed applied on the street. It really feels like what our future might be. Add it with some stylistic and unique screenplay and you'll had a great immersion into this world

So for conclusion, Looper is a great Sci-fi movies that you have to watch. Even if you are not into a Sci-fi movie, the character, the emotion and the drama in this movie is more than enough to win the heart of non-sci-fi fan. It wasn't an exaggeration if some said that Looper is one of the best Sci-fi movie you can find.

The Initial El Score Review

9.0

High Class Sci-fi

Resident Evil: Damnation Movie Review

The Resident Evil movie franchise now has 5 movies on it and none of them is able to redeem the peoples opinion about video game movies being sucks because it was also sucks. It may be the only financially successful movie game to date but if everyone thinks that Resident Evil way is the only way movie games could exist then we got no hope for movie games genre. Luckily, today movie is an exceptional case for movie games genre where the movies isn't sucks. Today movies is about Resident Evil Damnation.

Well, You might be wondering about this specific Resident Evil (RE) movie since you can't see this movie in your local cinema. RE Damnation isn't actually a Hollywood blockbuster release like the new Resident Evil: Retarded...i meant, Retribution. This movies is actually an animated DVD and blu-ray release only where the story of the movie is a prelude to the new Resident Evil 6 video game. So as you can see, if you want a real Resident Evil movie which stick close to the game look no further, buy this DVD and don't spent your money for the new Paul W.S. Anderson Resident Evil so he couldn't makes any more shitty video games movie.

or else, there will be Resident Evil: Reloaded and Resident Evil: Revolution

Resident Evil: Damnation isn't the first Animated RE movie because there is RE Degeneration which generally had positive review but leave a lot to be desired from it like the sometime bad animation, bland story and forgettable characters (its still far superior than the live action movie, by the way). Fortunately, Capcom listened to what the fan wants because almost every bad aspect from Degeneration seems to be improved from the previous movie unlike Paul W.S Anderson RE that getting degenerated more and more from its previous one.

RE: Damnation took place in a fictional conflict area of Eastern Slav where Bio Organic Weapon (B.O.W) has been reported being used in the conflict. and Leon S. Kennedy, the RE fan favorite character, is sent there to investigate the report. As you can see from the movie plot, the story is as simple as it can get. I didn't find much surprise in the story but the story did well to drive the action in the movie and the action is what makes this movie worth watching. What i liked about the movie is they are trying to show how the creature from the game is used in the war which is really nice since i always think that all the monster in RE had no pragmatical use in the battlefield.  Even if the story is neither bad or good, the pacing of the story is far better than the previous movie, showing that the movie maker is willing to fixed what it need to be fixed.

 Unlike RE: Regrettable...sorry, Retribution. My bad, I keep telling whats on my mind

In the previous movie, fan complaint that Leon face looks strange and his character is so flat, almost like he had no emotion at all, that you think he is a zombie itself. In Damnation, Leon face is now looked more like in the game and his personality is more relatable. The other character from the game in this movie like Ada Wong at first feels more like a fan service than an important character but in the end he had quite an important role both in the video game and movie story. There is also a new character introduced in the movie like JD and Budy. JD is a really likeable comic relief while Buddy, his friend, is the emotional core of the movie. Both were a member of the country rebel army that tried to coup the government of the country lead by the hottest president you will ever see, Svetlana Belikova.

No wonder she Won the erect...sorry, again, election.

You may know that RE is also quite famous for its unintentionally hilarious dialogue which somehow makes the first RE as one of the funniest/scariest video game and this movie had some of it inside. Even if it had some bad writing going on it, the dialogue serve it jobs well to create a good character interaction and some funny dialogue did manage to make me chuckle once in a while. 

I only had one problem for this movie that it isn't scary at all for an survival horror video game adaption. It looks like Capcom want to tell everyone that RE, both the movies and the game, is not a survival horror anymore through this movie. I'm fine with the action focus direction in this movie and the game but i kinda hope that there is one or two scene that really terrify me and remind me that RE is used to be scary.

So for conclusion, i think this is a really great movies for the RE fans. It is almost like Capcom goes "we are sorry for the terrible live action movie. Here's the real RE movie as an apology" and did the movie really well. If you happen to find one in your DVD and Blu-ray store, buy it and enjoy the real RE movie.

 Initial El Movie Score

8.0

Damn, its good

Premium Rush Movie Review

In this modern age, transportation became one of the main gear that keep the world running and delivers our daily need like junk food and the pizza into our home. Every single human in this world need to move in order to fulfill their need in life and that is why we invent millions means of transportation like car, boat and airplane.

The movie industry realize that transportation is one of the most important aspect in our life and love to make a film about it like the fast and the furious series, the transporter and many more just to make some cash. But then, once in a while some magical lighting struck the film studio and inspire them to make an unique movie about means of transportation like today movies Premium Rush, a movie about bike messenger.

Premium Rush is a story about a professional bike messenger named Wilee "the coyote", the best bike messenger in New York played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt who had to deliver a mysterious envelope to someone in Chinatown. What looks like an ordinary delivery turns to be a life threatening delivery because a dirty cop named Bobby Monday wants it so badly with every means possible no matter what the consequent is.

To be fair, i found that movies premise quite doubtful since its a movies about biking in the age where we can sit in a car while enjoying the excitement of running in 150 mile per hour without having to drop a sweat. I was wondering about how could they make a movie about a man in the bike be intriguing? turns out they did.

First off, i'd like to mention that the character of Wilee is quite a likeable character. He is not the typical good guys doing good things since at a time he could be quite a jerk. He broke rules, caused accident on the street and pissed of peoples a lot like he wears George Bush mask in the Afghanistan, yet there is still a moment that shows that he could be a good guys who cares about other. He is also the extreme thrill seeker man, a man who prefer a Pixie bike with fixed gear and no brake as his bike that he used to do the delivery. Also, Michael Shannon as Bobby Monday, the villain, is a blast to watch. Well, yes, He was a cartoonish villain and didn't have much depth in his character, yet he can be threatening and i still love the way he deliver his role in the scene.

"do you have family, someone you love, someone who cares that you are back to your home? and  i do hope you have a good porn collection because i can take 'em all from you"

The story of the movie is told piece by piece with flashback that explain why things happened and so does the motivation of the characters in this movies which is done in the good way to make the audience curious even if there's is still a time that i kinda get lost with the story. The movie also had a stylistic moment where Wilee slow down time and calculate every possibility on the route that he could take. Take left and he would be smashed by a truck. Take right and he would crashed a baby troll. Take the middle route and it was a smooth sailing. It remind me with the Sherlock Holmes slow-mo scene where Sherlock explain all of his attack and the damage he would done to his enemy which i really like because it shows how the man is the master of what he done.

 It just too bad that the script for this movies is kinda weak which sadly makes the good actors like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon looks like a waste of potential and i found that the other main characters like Wilee girfriend and his obsessed rival  is a forgettable character but i do like the hilarious bike cop character. If only the script is tighter and the character had more depth it would be a lot better movies.

In conclusion, it is a surprisingly good movies to watch with a good action scene. It makes biking looks like a badass things to do and its also makes you wanna go out with your bike doing cool stunt and stuff. Even if its not a movies with depth and memorable character you will find yourself entertained after you leave the cinema.

The Initial El Movie score

7.0

A Rush of fun for the day