Godzilla(2014)

Godzilla. If there's any movie monster that needs NO introduction, it's Godzilla. When one hears that name, what does it bring to mind? A giant reptilian beast with atomic breath destroying cities. In 1954 in Japan, Godzilla was first introduced to audiences in a black and white film. It featured a man in a rubber suit tearing up miniature cities. There have been many classic monsters before Godzilla: Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man. But when Godzilla showed up in the early 50s, it rocked the house. The original name is actually Gojira, but still, an impressive film with impressive production values. There have been so many movies featuring the titular monster, I can't even count. I'm not counting the 1998 travesty, because let's be honest, that's not Godzilla. It's an overgrown iguana. So after that and two more Godzilla movies, the monster needed a rest. Ten years later, Godzilla hits the big screen again.

Godzilla opens up as a Japanese scientist Dr. Serizawa(Ken Watanabe) is flying to a mining site, where there was a massive collapse. After exploring the underground tunnels, they discover the remains of an ancient and giant monster that existed millions of years before we did. Some time later in Japan, a scientist, Joe Brody(Bryan Cranston)has discovered unusual electromagnetic signatures below a nearby nuclear power plant. What appears to be a massive earthquake destroys the facility and kills Joe's wife. 15 years later, Joe's son, Ford(Aaron Taylor-Johnson)is in the Navy and has a family of his own. Ford's father is arrested in Japan for violating a quarantine zone and Joe goes to Japan to bail him out. Both discover that there is no radiation, but rather, the government has been hiding a major discovery under the remains of the nuclear power plant.

This being a Godzilla movie, you would expect there to be giant monsters, and it delivers, but the first one you see isn't big G himself. The one that you see is a winged monster. And it is HUGE. There's also a second monster that's similar but larger and doesn't have wings. Then we come to the main guy. Wow. To the film's credit they try and NOT show him too early, but just bits and pieces. It's enough to give you the chills in anticipation. Then we finally get to see him in all his glory and I was blown away. It's very, impressive how they brought Godzilla to life. This is not the iguana from the 1998 movie, but this more like the original Japanese monster, albeit larger and less static in terms of movement. This thing is more like an organic creature than a man in a rubber suit, which while that had it's charm back in the day, here it would've been out of place and very hokey. So, CG was the only way to go here, and they really outdid themselves. With Godzilla back on the big screen, people wonder, if he's got the stuff that makes Godzilla, well....Godzilla. Oh, yes. He stands up on hind legs, he's got the spikes on his back and he's got the super long spiked tail. He also has his infamous atomic breath.

As with giant monster or kaiju movies, some level of destruction is certainly expected. Godzilla definitely delivers the goods. However, it's not Pacific Rim levels of destruction. It's not completely mindless, but rather restrained. I know, restraint in a monster movie, right? Doesn't make sense, does it? In this case it does, because the story has these massive monsters basically going after radioactive sources for food. Godzilla shows up to fight them, so there is collateral damage, but unlike Pacific Rim, the destruction is actually very restrained. The two cities that really take a pounding are Las Vegas and San Francisco.

I mentioned Pacific Rim because that movie is Guillermo Del Toro's love letter to the Godzilla movies of the 50s and 60s. It's a fantastic movie with great visuals, but it's just NOT a Godzilla movie. There is something about Godzilla that makes a movie like that special. I also mentioned the 1998 Godzilla. That one isn't Godzilla because, while he had the spikes and the roar, the rest of him just wasn't that impressive other than his size. They also killed him at the end of the movie. You don't kill Godzilla, are you kidding? Godzilla's one of those monsters that you just have to root for. When he's on the screen with other monsters, you find yourself rooting FOR a monster. There's a definitely a human element to this movie, and it takes place from a human's perspective, but it's done in a fairly believable way.

Are there downsides to the new movie? Yes. The one that's going to bother people the most, I think, is how little Godzilla is actually in the movie. Yeah he shows up, but there's a considerable waiting period between appearances. But I think it was done in a way that really adds to the anticipation of the Final Battle, and when the big guy is one the screen, all the attention is his. The other is Bryan Cranston. It's not that he was bad, not at all. it's that he wasn't really in the movie for very long, which is a shame, because his character was pretty important. Godzilla's roar is definitely there, but it's a little different than what I'm used to hearing from him. Overall, this is a fantastic movie to kick off the summer, and is actually a pretty damned good Godzilla movie to boot. He's back, ladies and gentlemen. I give the movie a solid 9/10. It's good to be the king.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

In 1984, a little science fiction movie featuring a particular bodybuilder was released to critical acclaim worldwide. This film made James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger household names. It also launched the careers of Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton. The Terminator was an absolute phenomenon. Nobody had seen anything quite like it before. It had a very good story, fantastic acting, great music and overall breakneck pace that made it a landmark sci-fi flick. James Cameron would go on to direct hits like Aliens, The Abyss, True Lies, Titanic and Avatar. Arnold Schwarzenegger would get films like Commando, Twins, Predator, Kindergarten Cop and other big films. But Schwarzenegger and Cameron would first return to the universe which catapulted Arnold into superstar status. Terminator 2: Judgment Day would not only go on to be an even bigger success than the original film, but it would also revolutionize visual effects.

Terminator 2 opens in the year 2029, nearly thirty-two years after Judgment Day, the day which Skynet nearly destroyed the human race with nuclear weapons. The film then cuts to present day California. In the parking lot across from a biker bar, a huge ball of energy appears and out steps a familiar figure, The T-800 Terminator(Arnold Schwarzenegger), after getting clothes from a biker in a rather entertaining fashion, he heads off in search of his target. In a different part of the state, the same electrical storm and ball of energy happen again, only this time, a character that is not only smaller than the T-800, but is an entirely different kind of Terminator: The T-1000(Robert Patrick), after killing a cop and assuming his identity, this Terminator also goes off in search of the same target: John Connor(Edward Furlong). Two Terminators, two different missions. The T-800's? To protect the future leader of the human resistance. The T-1000 was sent back to kill him. The story while it does follow in the original film's footsteps of protecting the future of the human race, Terminator 2 changes it up by having John Connor, The Terminator and Sarah Connor(Linda Hamilton) try to prevent Judgment Day.

There are some criticisms of having Arnold Schwarzenegger play a "good" Terminator at the beck and call of a rambunctious 11-year old. I think, however, that grows between the two is one of the film's greatest strengths. We have a child who is essentially trying to teach a murderous machine why it's important not to kill people. The Terminator is such an iconic character, some people think he should always be the bad guy. But I think changing it up helps T2 immensely, since we have such a fantastic villain in the T-1000. The T-800 was nearly unstoppable in the first film, but the T-1000 takes it to a whole new level. Why? He's made of a mimetic poly-alloy: liquid metal. He's essentially a shape-shifter. Personally, I think the T-1000 is more intimidating, because he can take the shape of anyone he kills, so you have no idea where he's coming from or when. Robert Patrick is phenomenal as the shape-shifting killer, he's almost as stoic and intense as Schwarzenegger even though he's nowhere near as big. But the way the two clash on screen, you wouldn't know that. As far as the rest of the cast goes? Edward Furlong wasn't too bad, I don't think. He wasn't as irritating as some other silver screen kids. Linda Hamilton's character of Sarah Connor goes from a nearly helpless girl to a battle-hardened warrior, and Linda just comes across extraordinarily strong-willed and determined to protect to her only son. Joe Morton plays Miles Dyson, the man who is unknowingly responsible for the creation of Skynet and ultimately the near-extinction of the human race. Joe brings a very likeable workmanship quality to the character, who only has the best intentions with technology.

Now, this being a new Terminator film at the time, James Cameron had to up the ante for the villain. For that he went to legendary special effects firm, Industrial Light and Magic and enlisted two of the most well-known special effects artists, Stan Winston and Dennis Muren to help create the technology needed to bring a liquid metal assassin to life. Cameron had toyed with morphing effects with the water tentacle in The Abyss, but no-one had ever done anything to this scale before. The results? Nothing short of spectacular. The gunshot wounds disappear as if they never happened, and the T-1000 can form knives and other stabbing weapons. One of the most spectacular examples is in the mental institute when one of the guards is copied. The T-1000 basically just rises up from the floor and takes the shape of a portly guard just before killing him. 23 years later, the visual effects still stand up remarkably well. While this is a human story at the very heart of the film, it's enhanced by the incredible visuals.

Action-wise, Terminator 2 takes it to a whole new level with iconic scenes and stunts, such as the explosion at Cyberdine and the T-1000 jumping his motorcycle through the window to reach a police helicopter. Terminator 2 is one of the greatest sequels of all time and one of the most iconic films of the early 90s. Again, James Cameron delivers on epic action movie that is enriched with emotion and excitement, and is solidly paced? Are there downsides to the movie? Yes. Furlong's performance as John Connor is inconsistent. He's great playing a rebellious teen, but when he's trying to teach The Terminator to be more human? Ehhhhh...., but overall, he really isn't that bad.

The music by Brad Fiedel has certainly evolved. While the original film was more synthesized, Terminator 2, like the T-800 is a combination of the organic and synthetic, meaning that there's definitely some orchestral stuff mixed in with the synthetic, and it just adds to the emotion, particularly the main Terminator theme. This movie is what truly made The Terminator theme iconic.

On a side note, the main theatrical release of Terminator 2, was released in 1991 and was 137 minutes long. In 1993, a special extended version of the film was released on home video with 16 minutes of additional footage, including a deleted dream sequence which featured Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese. It's mostly of the character development kind. You get to see more home life with Miles Dyson and his family. One of the more interesting sequences that was altered, was the garage sequence in which John asked the Terminator if he could learn stuff that he wasn't programmed with. In the original release, his answer was that he learned more about human beings when he had more contact with them. Didn't really make sense. In the special edition, his CPU was actually preset to read-only. That's because Skynet didn't want them to think for themselves. This is one of the more important scenes that actually had an impact on scenes later in the film, especially an amusing bit where John is trying to get the Terminator to smile. While these scenes aren't necessarily required to enjoy the movie, they do flesh out the characters a lot more, and makes the movie far more intense. Regardless of which version you watch, this is an astounding movie and an incredible sequel. While it doesn't come close to the originality of the original film, it definitely improves on a lot of key elements, particular the visual effects and music. Of the three Terminator sequels, this one is easily the best, bar none. Do I recommend it? Most definitely. The film gets a 9.5/10. If you haven't seen it, do so.