Have Cheetah,Will View #193 – “Lost In The Pacific” (2016)

Its 1:41 pm

This past weekend saw Family Video having it’s Mother’s Day sale all the stores. The “5 for 5.00” is the perfect time to do a little blind hunting and with that in mind,my buddy Romey and I decided to hit our local store early last Friday.
Our local store had a lot of new movies on the shelves,I had a chore to handle so I was a little late in meeting Romey.  When I got to the store,Two Stacks Romey (as in having have two huge stacks of movies in each arm) was shopping hard. Lucky for the cheetah and myself,he missed “Lost In the Pacific” which I managed to snag while he was buying “Avengers Grimm”.

“Lost” opens up with two soldiers on Fortune Island in the South Pacific,they are heavily armed and they are looking for something. They leave their Humvee and go on foot. Both appear highly nervous and when they spot red eyes glowing in the brush,they open up.
Despite their firepower,both men are slowly overcome as their driver backs up and takes off….

Meanwhile at Rio,a very exclusive flight by Ocean Airlines is being prepped. The chairman and owner of the airline,Gary Gao (Russell Wong),is eager to showcase his brand new super luxury A390 jetliner to some very important V.I.P.S.
Several famous celebrities such as retired American boxer Rodman,award winning Hong Kong actress Lily Young,famed journalist Mia Ren,acclaimed chef Mr. Liu and blind cellist Kim Woo Nam. But Gao is most eager to see Crown Prince Khadsa from Saudi Arabia.All are being escorted to the plane. Gao’s assistant Peter has promised that the famed pop star Colin is also coming but is a little late.

The handpicked flight crew welcomes the guests aboard including pilot Ruoxin (Zhang Yuqi),she,along with Captain Jason Anderson and First Officer Xiang,are the ones who will be flying Gao’s V.I.P. flight. Ruoxin is asked by Peter to help serve the guests and when she objects that she is a pilot,not a flight attendent,Peter points out that Gao himself is serving,she swallows her pride and helps out.

Finally Colin shows up and while Peter and Prince Khadsa are happy to see him,Gao is plainly angry at seeing the young man. The two men glower at each other as the plane takes off to Hong Kong.  As it turns out,Colin and Khadsa went to college together and are good friends.
Gao sits next to Mia Ren and asks for the best possible coverage,she in turn lets Gao know that she is aware of his financial difficulties as Gao is trying to get Khadsa to invest in Ocean Airlines.

Meanwhile Ruoxin discovers that Chef Liu wasn’t able to make the flight and instead American chef Mike (Brandon Routh) has taken his place and is cooking Chinese dishes which Ruoxin finds subpar. They banter back and forth before she heads back to the cockpit. Captain Anderson says they are about to encounter a massive storm and wants to fly around it but when Gao is told this,he insists that they can’t be late to Hong Kong,he is gambling everything on this high profile trip to save his company. He tells Anderson to fly into the storm. As the plane charges through,a lightening strike causes a fuel leak and they have no choice but to land and Fortune Island is the place in the Pacific that can handle a jet this size. With Gao turning off the plane’s transponder,if something goes wrong,no one will even know they are in trouble.

The plane lands on the small island,Anderson and Ruoxin get out to inspect the damage.
Gao wants everyone to stay on board the plane but Mia Ren and her cameraman leave to get some footage. As they enter the outer fringes of the runway,they hear growls and see red eyes before they are attacked. Mia barely escapes with Ruoxin’s help but Anderson is also killed. The unknown creatures advance towards the plane when suddenly a jeep bursts out and a gunner is shooting at the creatures. The gunner and driver both barely make it on the plane as it takes off,who they are and what is on the island are questions that must be answered because one of the creatures has gotten aboard…….

This was a absolutely kick ass adventuresome film,we loved it! Of course when you see what the creatures are,you’ll understand why the cheetah and I were rooting for them!
Director Vincent Zhou has brought together a fine international cast for “Lost”. While many faces will be unknown to American audiences,don’t let that stop you from watching a fine hodgepodge of genres come at you,from nods to “Snakes on a Plane” to “Under Siege”,Zhou has nothing but love for action pictures and draws heavily from them yet maintains his own unique style.
This film truly was a international effort as this was a China/Malaysia/Singapore/United States co-production and the cast also came many different countries as well to give it a true melting pot look and feel.

While Brandon Routh gets top billing here,this film really is a great introduction to lot of new (at least to me) faces such as Zhang Yuqi as Ruoxin,she is both tough and very capable of handling anything thrown her way. She really is the star of the movie and rightfully so.  Routh does a fine job as Chef Mike whose past reminds you of another chef who saved the U.S.S. Missouri. He is clearly enjoying his role and has a good time,his onscreen chemistry with Yuqi has a nice depth to it.

I had never watched Zhang Yuqi before seeing “Lost” but was most definitely impressed by her performance. She is drop dead beautiful but her beauty doesn’t distract her turn as a Captain put in a really rock and a hard place. Her Ruoxin has worked very hard to become a excellent pilot and while she is a bit defensive when asked to do things she feels she is beneath her and only because she is a woman,you know she isn’t entirely wrong about it. She knows her first duty is the safety of her passengers and Yuqi’s determination is both strident yet thoughtful.

It was awesome to see Russell Wong as well!! He has always been one of my favorite actors,even when he played the heavy in “Romeo Must Die” which introduced American audiences to Jet Li. While he has aged,he still is very Hollywood handsome and can command a scene when called for.

Beautiful Natasha Lloyd played a flight attendant,she showed poise and class in her role. The small interaction between her Kelly and the blind cellist Kim Woo Nam (Siyu Lu) was especially sweet and charming. As it turns out,in the making of feature in the Extras section,Lloyd knows how to play the cello and is shown playing it between shots.
Definitely a talent to keep a eye on.
The CGI effects,while a bit cheesy,doesn’t take anything from the story written by Peter Cameron and Zhou. Again,we love the creatures in “Lost” and are happy to know that there may be a chance for a sequel!!!

“Lost in the Pacific” is rated PG-13 and has a run time of 90 minutes.
The cheetah and I both give “Lost” a big thumbs/4 paws straight up.

What has been the last creature feature you have watched? Drop a comment below and share it with us!!