Marval Movie

I once made a joke that if the new Godzilla movie sucks then at least we have Pacific Rim. Now that I've seen the movie that joke seems to be a genuine statement rather than some banter that I had with my friends.

The movie starts off in Japan (of-course), where a scientist named Brody (Bryan Cranston) is working at a local power-plant.  All seems well with him and his family until there is some kind of disaster, the plant gets damaged and there's a radiation leak and Brody' wife is a casualty. Cut to years later where Brody is still looking for answers and his son Ford (Aaron Taylor Johnson) has grown up and is a father and married (Elizabeth Olsen).

We then see that there is an egg at the center of the plant and it hatches. But what comes out is not Godzilla but a different monster. I genuinely applaud the marketing people because there was never a hint of this in any of the trailers or promotional material, this is a legitimate surprise.

But for the main attraction we do get Godzilla, we get the appropriate amount of buildup for him and then we see him and then he's gone, then we see him again for a bit then poof, gone again and it goes on like that through the whole movie. He does come with that all-mighty roar, one of the greatest sounds in movies (I'm calling it). When we see him its awesome, it really is but he's scattered through the movie. A little of Godzilla here a little Godzilla there, we never get to really soak him up and enjoy him. But still he's designed well and we see him do what he does best.

Throughout the movie there is a heavy emphasis on nuclear weapons and that's good because that was the reason that the Kaiju genre was created. Because of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Godzilla was the living embodiment of the nuclear devastation. Godzilla and the nukes should always be tided together.

America specializes in long range warfare. They have tanks that can successfully hit their targets from over a mile away and yet it seems like whoever is manning these tanks and planes weren't told that because they are constantly getting as close as they can to Godzilla. There is a scene where fighter planes are either circling Godzilla as close as they can or flat out ramming into him. Why? Did they run out of ammo so they decided to throw themselves at him?

The Asian market is quickly becoming one of the most important markets for the box office, a movie could do badly in America but if it does well in Asia the movie could still be very profitable. So that's probably one of the reasons why this movie was made. Yet they constantly white wash the cast and situations, Ken Watanabe is the only real Asian member of the cast. There are American's working in Japan, OK I accept that but it seems that the power-plant where they work in the beginning of the movie only has a few Asian employees. Later on in the movie white Americans come into the military base and say that they'll be taking over. Why? How? What right do they have to do this?

There are only two actors that are able to get close to a good performance in this movie. The first is naturally Bryan Cranston, he is one of the greatest actors ever, so naturally he gives a very well felt, engaging performance. The second is Elizabeth Olsen who I know a little about but have never actually seen her in action through a whole movie until now. This wasn't the best thing to see her in first, but still she gives it her all. Its not even the others actors fault, I've seen their other work and their accomplished actors but their given nothing to work with or care about. The are as interesting and as well developed and little plastic toy soldiers.

It seems that CGI animators that work on these blockbuster movies really hate building. In Man of Steel they devastated building after building and now we have a Kaiju to trample every man made monument in sight.

My ow my there is a lot of gray in this movie. The smoke is gray, the buildings are gray and Godzilla himself is also gray so we get to see gray on gray upon gray. How unpleasing to the eye.

Director Gareth Edwards won claim when he made Monsters where he made the entire thing on his laptop. Well it seems I know what kind of director he is, he's a big effects effects effects director. The movie is well put together with its shooting and cinematography but there's nothing to hook in the audience so that we are invested. This is a soulless movie.

Its fascinating to think that everything that infuriates me in this movie is everything that Pacific Rim did right.  In Pacific Rim there was color, characters that we cared about and were interesting, you got to see the monsters in combat and there was a balance of the micro and the macro.

If at any point you don't know how to feel in the movie the musical score will be sure to let you know.  Every wide shot of destruction, or moment of build up there is a score which serves as Oow, Ah, or Wow! It is practically condesending.

To be as fair as I possibly can to this movie there was clearly effort put into it and at times there are some genuinely awesome moments in it, but its the equivalent of giving you a tiny taste of a delicious cake and then immediately taking the cake away. Godzilla is king of the monsters, but you wouldn't know it by watching this movie, still though long live the king.

Rating: 1 1/2 stars out of 4

Godzilla was first conceived as personification of the destruction caused by the nuclear attack on Japan with an anti war message behind the whole thing. Though through other more child friendly interpretations and marketing gimmicks the king of the monsters has been made into a joke. Though there are limitations on how seriously the image of a man in a rubber suit as well as the concept of a giant lizard destroying a city can be taken there is no doubts that the first movie meant it to tackle serious subject matters.

In 2014 we got the Hollywood version of Godzilla by Gareth Edwards, which is one of the most unhappy times I have ever had in a movie theater. We hardly ever got to see Godzilla, the human characters were un-engaging and the image was so dark that hardly anything could be seen.

Now for whatever reason Toho has decided to make their own movie. Reintroducing the character for a new audience. It opens on a day like any other, only this day there are movements coming from the sea, first just ripples, then things start poking out, eventually it moves into the city and nothing stops it. So now the people in-charge must make decisions on how to deal with this creature.

Though we still live in a world where the threat of nuclear annihilation is possible, it's not the prime concern. This movie's focus is in dealing with a colossal threat that seemingly comes out of nowhere. It layers itself with seeing Godzilla on the move and the devastation he is reigning down and the officials running around trying to understand the creature and make decisions. 

In the directing chair is Hideaki Anno, legendary anime director who will probably always be closely associated with Neon Genesis Evangelion (which also includes the earth dealing with giant monsters attacking them) one of the most legendary titles in anime. This is his first work in live action and he adapts well. He knows how to visually convey information with a few or even a single image.
This design of Godzilla is probably the most threatening and horrifying version that's ever been conceived. They stay true to the mentality of a man in a rubber suit, having his movements be slow and limited. His skin looks like glowing, burning scabs, tiny and focused eyes like that of a shark a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.

Along with the new look is also the classic powers that he's known for and some new ones that are explained by adding something to the mythology. I wont tell you what it is but its a satisfying one that allows the legend to adapt and grow in this new time.

Though the sharpness of special effects is not everything, not even the most important thing in movies it is still important. This is because if we don't believe that monster, spacecraft, laser-blasts, castle are really there then we are taken out of the experience. The rendering of Godzilla is shoddy to be frank, especially in the early stages, other things like trains look rather fake too, however such things are forgiven if they are in a story and situation that has grabbed you.

There are many human characters in the movie that all run around the rooms and spout their opinions and facts that are coming in. There are definitely over twenty characters that are introduced through a gauntlet of a passe. They talk very fast and their credentials pop on-screen at the same time, never stopping. There is a part in the movie where they all wake-up from working all night and decide to take a break and eat, then they reflect on how hard everyone has been working. This moment alone lets you connect and feel for these characters more than any complicated speech or feat of heroism. However I'd still be lying if I said you walked away really having gotten to know anyone.

This is not the great reinvention of the character or the monster. But I have seen how bad a movie like this can get. It is not boring and the image is clear and the sense of panic and destruction are effective.

Rating: 3 stars out of 4

Godzilla is so bad it’s almost good. Do not spend a fortune to see this movie. Go with low expectations. If you are tired of spring yard work, here’s a chance to sit and laugh. Enjoy the cheese.

Well, this is an interesting franchise that's been started. Godzilla from 2014 was a very bad movie, however Kong: Skull Island was a cinematic highlight for me, so now we have the sequel to Godzilla that will lead to the two iconic monsters clashing. It does away with Gareth Edwards and brings in Michael Dougherty, how does all this fair?

Our entrance into this movie is a young girl named Maddison (Millie Bobby Brown), whose mother Emma (Vera Farmiga) is a scientist that is studying an enormous larva, suddenly renegade soldiers burst into their facility to awaken or steal the larva, it hatches and Maddison and Emma are taken. Cutting then to Maddison's father Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler) who's also a scientist (that's convenient!) is brought in by Monarch, the high-tech organization that specializes in dealing with these giant monsters or kaiju.

Of course, it isn't long before the main player shows up, Godzilla himself. When you are dealing with one of the most iconic pop culture figures, a cultural landmark and who is essentially a force of nature within your movie you'd better do them justice. He isn't redesigned from the 2014 version though he has apparently grown a few extra feet making him a nice even four hundred feet high. He has a simple silhouette that makes him instantly distinguishable and when we get close we can see loads of little details that I'm sure the C.G.I. team worked very hard on. He is mostly filmed from low angles and moves very slow adding gravity to him. This is an honorable and appropriate presentation of him.

Along with Godzilla, we are also treated with a few other classic monsters from the lore. We have Mothra who is (as the name would imply) a large moth-like creature who's always been humanity's defender, Rodan a giant pterodactyl essentially, and finally, there is Ghidorah Godzillas most popular and staple arch-nemesis, a dragon with three heads and able to breathe lightning.

The focus of this movie is in the right place. We are here for the monsters, they are what are on the poster and who the movie is named after. Really we need the humans to inject some, well humanity and to string along the fights and their actions, maybe even give the good ones a helping hand or a point in the right direction. focus on the monsters, with humans along for the ride.

There are some choices that are made, which I always fail to understand that for you to take a movies subject matter seriously, you need to have predominantly dark colors with a bleaker image throughout. I do understand that an element of Kaiju movies are about dealing with a natural disaster but even then you have a giant lizard that shoots out fire, it is only so serious you can take that before the filmmakers look like the silly one for trying to convince us this is serious. This movie much more earnestly embraces it's fantastical and overblown concept and gives us vivid colors for each of the main kaiju, Godzilla is blue, Ghidora is yellow and Rhodan is red. This works to make the image onscreen vibrant but also when the monsters clash so do the colors and so you can much more easily register who is who.

Again in the last movie they adopted a documentary feel to the camera work, this isn't a found footage movie so why they decided to frame these two giant monsters biting and clawing each other in such a low-grade way still strikes me as a poor choice. This movie goes in the opposite direction again, deciding to be very Hollywood with their depictions, they frame the monsters with epic majesty. Low angles and well-composed.

If you are to see this movie see it on the big screen. Every movie should be seen on the big screen, there isn't a movie that benefits from a smaller screen less sharp and reduced sound, but this is a special case. This movie is about big images and sounds, in order for you to absorb the scale of these mighty creatures and hear all the music and sound effects the movie theater is the place to see it. I would hope that's where you are seeing most of your movies but if not then do and if you plan to see this one, make sure it's on the biggest screen you can find.

Another nice touch is that they use the classic monster theme's from the original series of movies. Now if you watched the movie and were unfamiliar with the classic series then it wouldn't mean anything to you,  that's ok. But fans always like to be rewarded and recognized in some way and this is a way of doing it. Plus they are just good, distinctive tracks so why not utilize them?

This is not a deep movie. I can't really tell you what this is about below its surface. Plus there are plot elements that either don't make any sense or are just left dangling in the wind by the time the movies over. But it is entertaining and it took every bad creative decision from the previous movie, turned left and now we have a much more enjoyable, easier to see movie.

So what we have is a movie that's the third part of this cinematic franchise and doesn't require you to see the previous two, these movies are generous with not being heavily continuity focused. It is a great improvement over Godzilla though it lacks the panache and memorabilia of Kong. Though in terms of paying respect and doing justice to these monsters it does indeed do its job. you won't need to see the previous two movies in this franchise, nor any other Kaiju movie and it could indeed turn you into a fan.

Rating: 3 stars out of 4

While I was sitting in the theater watching this new Tarzan movie I constantly had to pick up my jaw that had hit the floor.

The movie starts in space whe.... wait what? Space is where this movie starts! They decide to start a Tarzan movie in space? OK, moving on. Where its actually seventy million years ago and a meteor hits the earth...Huh? I think their insinuating that this is the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs but its never clear. Anyway this meteor has limitless power, but its also evil, or haunted...something like that. Where do I even begin, was the writer high when he came up with this? What kind of drugged out mind comes up with this when developing a Tarzan movie? First of all they ripped off the Avatar, secondly this is so out of left field as-well as making no goddamn sense!

Then we cut to millions of years later where a family is investigating in the jungle for whatever reason and they have a son with them, a tall, around ten year old son that names himself Tarzan...just no. Moving on they find where the meteor landed, in a barren wasteland that looks like Lex Luthors island in Superman Returns. Anyway the boy becomes an orphan, the gorillas take him in, MOVING ON!

The boy then grows up and this Tarzan (Kellan Lutz) looks just how he does in the Disney version, but then how many designs can you have for a jungle man in a loincloth?

We then meet Jane (Spencer Locke), who to me looks a lot like Tarzan's mother...make of that what you will. Terrible, just terrible. There is nothing beyond a smiling face. That's it I'm struggling to write more than that but therein lies the masalah because there isn't anything else.

Its been a while since I've seen the 1999 Disney Tarzan so its not exactly fresh in my mind. But I still remember that as a solid piece of entertainment. I'm not going to pretend that I'm well versed in the Tarzan lore because I'm honestly not. But I'm pretty sure they didn't involve alien rocks and corporate tycoons moving in on the Jungle. 

This movie is dead looking its story, the characters to the action. The animation never, not once seems alive and that is the magic of animation. In the great animation movies they make the characters seem real, seem like a drawing or an image that was created by a computer is a living thing, that there is a brain working behind them. Here I see the flat two dimensional image and nothing else beyond that.

There are just so many choices or attempts at humor that the movie makes and I could not believe that it was really happening before my eyes.  

Voice-over is inserted in parts of the movie, lazy, contrived, unnecessary voice-over. The creators clearly have no faith in their audience's intelligence, but that's to be expected because I have no faith in the creators intelligence.

The jungle and the lighting are the only redeemable aspects of the entire movie where there was clearly effort. The jungle is a lush well designed environment where you can truly look very deeply at and find loads of details, more than any of the humans this is a real character. The lighting also is well done, the way it movies through different objects like leaves and hair to the atmospheric rays that are cast in the interior scenes. And the rest is garbage.

Now I ask this who, who will enjoy this movie? Or even who was this movie intended for? The obrolan and comedy is as smart as a rock that thinks its a plug socket, so maybe, just maybe if you have dumb children that don't understand what funny is they might sit still ofr this movie. But there is also dark, complicated story elements to the story that will confuse the children and most likely infuriate the adults (I know I was). 

Early on this year I thought that I wouldn't see a better movie than The Lego Movie. Then I predicted that I wouldn't see a worse movie than Godzilla. 2014 is turning into a very mixed year. Already I've experienced two of some of my new favorite movies and now two of my most hated.

Rating: 1 star out of 4

We have a gang that performs heists together, they all have wives, during one job it goes as bad as it can and now all the members of the gang have widows that must go on without them. A simple and solid set-up that can lend itself to many different end products, what we get is one of the greatest heist movies I have ever seen.

Pretty much as soon as the movie begins you realize you are in the hands of a master. Showing one married couple while startlingly parallel cutting to a disastrous heist that all the husbands are a part of. Already we efficiently have a grasp of who these characters are, how they relate to each other and what the setup is.

The couples are Harry Rawlins (Liam Neeson) and Veronica (Viola Davis), Carlos Perelli (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) and Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), Florek Gunner (Jon Bernthal) and Alice (Elizabeth Debicki). All come from different worlds, are different ethnicities, have different relationships and would certainly never be together by their own choice if we're not for the job and their husbands.

Their husbands may be gone but the consequences are still waiting for them. Harry stole money from a man named Jamaul Manning (Brian Tyree Henry) a crime boss that is also running for office but still wants his money back, also is his younger brother Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya) a truly merciless creature that kills and tortures without any sign of sympathy.

Veronica is living in a penthouse and has some things to sell but nowhere near the amount Harry stole, however, he did keep a notebook with detailed notes on how to do every job, including the next one that none of them can perform now but the sasaran and money is still there. All that's required are people that are willing to do it and have the incentive.

Steve McQueen as a filmmaker has never shied away from the tough subject matter. For his debut made Hunger, about IRA prisoners that slowly die due to a hunger strike, then made Shame about a spiraling sex addict and 12 Years a Slave about a free man taken into slavery. Widows is a solid premise that is actually based off a miniseries in the eighties, which McQueen, along with coscreenwriter Gillian Flynn (who also doesn't shy away from the tough material) have taken the concept and modernized it as well as shifted the setting to the United States. Within his works, we are always given a variety of techniques, from wide still shots to a scene being played out in closeup and sequences of rapid editing. He also incorporates sound very skillfully, some scenes will play very quietly then there will be a loud bang to cut the peaceful mood, others there will be a continuous sound through to the scene to provide timing and texturing of the scene and mood.

Veronica's and Harry's penthouse is a slick modern all-white suite that looks out on the city. Also are most of her clothes (slick, modern and white). When she decides to descend into the world of crime by performing a heist there is the inclusion of some black items of clothing before wearing all black for the job itself. Not the most subtle filmmaking ever but effective is effective.

This is a heist movie. However there are still many variations to be had within a genre, recently I reviewed Oceans 8 and talked about how it had a graceful, smooth camera throughout. Such an approach is appropriate for that movie because it is very Hollywood, about witty talking characters and, glamorous outfits and has an upbeat tone. This is street level with, obvious brutal realities and things can go very wrong very fast. When they do the camera goes to shaky hand-held, this is so we feel like we are there in the midst of the running and the catastrophe.

Widows succeed because like any other genre it is not really about the subject matter but a framing. Godzilla isn't about a monster but a catastrophe, Apocalypse Now isn't really about the battles but the mentality of war itself and we are not invested in LOGAN for the action set pieces but the character in that situation. Little of the movie's runtime is the heist itself, but before we go into it we learn who all the characters are and why they are doing this and what is at stake. It is a story about bold, beautiful, damaged and flawed characters dealing with the very difficult hand life has dealt them.

Rating: 4 stars out of 4

Kong: Skull Island was made in the same way Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim was. As a love letter to they're influences and bringing enthusiasm and justice to the genre that the filmmakers loved when they were children and wanted to make the best movie they could. This works because they clearly know what it is and builds itself around that and never divulges from it. It knows that it's tongue is very firmly placed in it's cheek.

Our opening scene is a beach in 1944 where two pilots crash land. One is an American, the other Japanese, they waist no time in trying to kill each-other. Their fight becomes a chase that ends on a cliff top where they meet a giant creature that makes them and their conflict seem so puny by comparison. Then a news montage takes us to 1973, America has lost the Vietnam war and two people are seeking funding for a expedition to Skull Island.

Usually in these movies the monsters are the stars and the thing that everyone wants to see. That's still true here only they've put effort into the human characters, they have fun personalities and quips that make you like them. They're not deep, extremely troubled and complex Shakespearean characters, far from it, but they are engaging. First up is John Goodman as Randa, the one that gets the whole operation going, Tom Hiddleston is James Conrad (a play on Joseph Conrad perhaps?) a tracker that is brought in to survive the wilderness of the island. Samuel L. Jackson is a war vet from Vietnam that is carrying a grudge that America "abandoned" the war. Brei Larson is a photojournalist who's more than up for a dangerous, interesting trek, once again adding plenty of fun and personality to the mix. There are other soldiers and characters but to name them and describe them all would take-up too much space, but they're all memorable and have fun, quippy moments.

When the characters get to Skull Island in helicopters no time is wasted in dropping bombs to get the layout of the land. This quickly gets the attention of the king, Kong. This is the Kong that fights Godzilla, not the original that was the size of a house, this one's the size a skyscraper. He quickly makes quick work of the helicopters so now it's a case of survival for the people to make it out of the island alive.

Of course it is not just Kong on the island. It is inhabited with very large, very dangerous creatures. I won't spoil it buy adding descriptions of any of them, but they are quite imaginative and wildly designed.

If this movie has anything to thank beyond the original King Kong movie or the Kaiju genre it is Apocalypse Now. The filmmakers clearly drew inspiration for much of the tone and imagery used in it. Being that it's the same time-period helps, so it's not out-of-place or influence for the sake of it.

Like Apocalypse Now this comes with a very pleasing color pallet. Rich primary colors like reds, blues, greens and yellow's saturate the screen with shading of true blacks that add contrast and add that threatening tone to the whole thing. Another of the similar creative choices is the use of rock music of the time. Adding a fun vibe to the movie.

Adding once again to the Apocalypse Now channeling is John C. Riley as the solider from the opening. He is like Dennis Hopper's photographer character who has become very deranged with his time spent in the jungle among the natives. He's spent years on the island so he knows how it works so he provides helpful information to both the characters and the audience and more than a few rather funny moments.

What makes giant monsters fighting truly engaging is conveying the scale of these massive creatures going at it. All the truly big creatures move a little slower than a human would, adding gravity to what they do, also all their actions are big actions, a punch, footstep and splash is a seismic event from our perspective. Then it all has to be conveyed in big, biblical painting-like images, which these are. This movie does it's monsters justice. 

If I would have had this movie as a kid it would have been played constantly. Seeing it as an adult, it takes me back to that state of being giddy in my chair and owe for creatures unlike any that have ever existed. This movie is not the reinvention, but the perfection of the genre.

Rating: 4 stars out of 4