The Palace Lock Sinensis (2013) 宫锁沉香

ChenXiang was like other young girls who got sent into the Palace. they had to work until the age of 25 before they would be released. she became best friends with LiuLi, a girl who saved her from being bullied. from the very beginning, ChenXiang had been loving the 13th Prince from afar. one day, LiuLi had her eyes set on the 9th Prince. she went ahead and seduce the prince but was heartbroken when she was tossed aside. ChenXiang on the other hand, met with the 13th Prince with a handkerchief over her face. when the 13th Prince came looking for her, LiuLi lied that she was the one the prince met, grabbing at the chance to marry the 13th Prince.

the film, like all its predecessors, were absolutely stunning to look at. the storyline was equally entertaining if not rushed. their characteristics were easy to understand and half way through the film, it was clear where everyone would eventually ended up in. but despite having an obvious flow for its plot, it was just too good to be true. i found myself enjoying every moment that was given to develop the romance between ChenXiang and the 13th Prince. with her being such a passive character compared to LiuLi, was somewhat frustrating to watch. fortunately the downfall of the 13th Prince brought out the courage in her and eventually, they were reunited.

Pacific Rim (2013)

in a world where huge aliens called Kaiju rose from the sea, the Jaegers were created. the Jaegers required simultaneous control from two pilots whose minds were locked in a bridge. but as the Kaiju became more and more intelligent, pilots were desperate as more teams were killed in battles against the Kaiju. Raleigh was a former pilot that retired after the death of his copilot, also his brother. under desperate circumstances, Raleigh was summoned to pilot their obsolete Jaeger with a new copilot named Mako. however, being new acquaintances and having no knowledge of each of their traumatic pasts, the duo almost destroy their base.

it was actually strange seeing monsters from Ultraman appearing in an English movie. it was even more surprising to find them also looking very rubbery. despite the new ideas of having two pilots for each robot, the film however wasn't as impressive as the Jaegers should have been. the repetitive battles against the Kaiju had ruined the possible climax from having the chance of overwhelming us, and a predictable ending made it worst. it was highly unbelievable that an obsolete model could win against a new model especially against the increasing intelligent Kaiju, not to mention the combination duo of Raleigh and Mako, who never once trained to be partners, could win against the other teams that trained and fought together for 5 years during Raleigh's absence.

Boku wa imouto ni koi wo suru (2013) 僕は妹に恋をする

Yori and Iku were twins. they used to be very close since childhood but lately, Yori had been growing colder towards Iku. Iku was confused towards the drastic change in Yori's attitude towards her. Yori was secretly in love with Iku, causing him sleepless nights as they shared the same bunk bed in a room. one day, Iku started to talk about accepting a guy's confession and being his girlfriend. Yori lost his resolve to stay quiet and confessed his feelings towards Iku. finally understood the reason behind Yori's changed in attitude, Iku accepted Yori and they began a forbidden and painful romance together.

despite the incest side of the plot, the film was very entertaining. while Yori was obviously a better actor than Iku, it was surprisingly heartbreaking watching them cried for their relationship. at some point when their mother suspected the changes with the twins, i hoped for some dramatic occurrence. however it was disappointing to find her choosing the subtle way by encouraging the twins to bring home their partner from school. it was somewhat frustrating to find Yori actually fell into a trap set by another girl who knew their secret and wanted him for herself. while it was understandably difficult to have an ending for a romance as such, we were left with our own imagination at the very end.

Now You See Me (2013)

four gifted street magicians were one day gathered and named the Four Horsemen to perform a huge stage illusion. for the finale, they robbed a bank by teleporting one of the audience to a bank vault in Paris, vacuumed all the money and showered their audiences in Las Vegas with the money. upon discovering that the money really was missing, FBI agent Dylan was assigned to investigate the theft and being partnered with agent Alma. they interrogated the Four Horsemen but with no evidence and explanations to hold them, they were released soon after.

after the promising opening, we were frustrated to find ourselves thrown all over the place after. while it was always interesting to watch magic shows that took place on the stage, they became completely unbelievable and not at all surprising behind the screen. more than once the film had difficult time convincing us of what exactly took place. at some point, we were puzzled and felt like the story just went from being complicated to being a mess by simply intensified the actions and effects while veered from the magic plot as impressively as its opening sequence.