Sharknado 2: The Second One

When Sharknado was first announced with a trailer, it sent shockwaves through the Internet.  I'm not kidding.  EVERYBODY was talking about this sucker.  It was all over twitter.  Hell, even celebrities were talking about it.  Released by The Asylum, the creator of modern-day shlock films, Sharknado was actually regarded as one of the best "bad" movies ever.  For a movie that sported terrible visual effects, hammy acting, and one of the most off-the-wall concepts ever, it actually delivered.  In spades.  Yes, the visual effects were crap, and yet, they helped make the film the modern legend that it is.  The film basically catapulted 90210 star Ian Ziering into b-movie superstar status.  I don't know how the hell it happened, but Sharknado actually wound up being more fun than most of the blockbuster movies that came out last year.

Ian Ziering returns as now-famous shark-slayer Fin Shepard, who's on his way to New York with his ex-wife, April Wexler(Tara Reid).  On the way, the airplane hits some turbulence that's loaded with...you guessed it, SHARKS!  One of the sharks punches its way into the plane and eats April's hand, while the pilot(Robert Hays)and his co-pilot get pulled out of the cockpit by more...sharks.  Fin, being the courageous fella that he is, gets into the cockpit and manages to land the plane, and by landing the plane, I mean he crashes it.  Soon, it appears that two sharknadoes are bound to collide in the middle of Manhattan, and Ian Ziering...I mean, Fin Shepard, is trying to find his brother and family and trying to get them to safety.  On the way, he has to contend with sharks in the sky, sharks in the subway, sharks in elevator shafts and sharks that are on fire.  Yes.  This movie has flaming sharks.  Screw it.  This is a Sharknado movie, you know what you're in for.

One of the things that this movie has is cameos.  Lots and lots of cameos.  One of the first ones is Robert Hays, who played Striker in the Airplane movies.  Judd Hirsch who was in Independence Day plays a cab driver, who is actually pretty funny.  There's Andy Dick as a police officer, with Al Roker and Matt Lauer as themselves.  There's just too many to list, to be honest.  I think that kind of speaks volumes about what kind of movie you're dealing with here.  It was actually hilarious to see Matt Lauer try to NOT use the word, "sharknado."  Like the previous film, there's plenty of people being munched, squashed and dismembered.  The visual effects have actually improved a little bit.  I guess instead 10 dollars, they got 12 dollars to make the movie.  In other words, the effects are still crap.  Yet, if a movie like this actually had really good special effects, it would surprisingly detract from the experience.  Make no mistake, ladies and gentleman: These movies are Mystery Science Theater 3000-worthy.

If you thought that the last movie was nuts, Sharknado 2 takes it to another level of insanity.  There is a sequence towards the end of the film, where after an explosion sends Fin flying through the air, he lands on top of a shark(how convenient)and rides the shark like a surfboard to its death.  Let me repeat that: Fin. Rides. A shark. Like a surfboard.  Hey, that could be a new catch-phrase.  Instead of, "He jumped the shark," which they reference in this movie, they could say, "He surfed the shark."  Yes, no?  So, yeah, they throw in everything AND the kitchen sink.  The music in the film is actually not awful.  It's appropriately over-dramatic.  This movie also features a song that was written for the first one:  The Ballad of Sharknado by a group called Quint.  Oh, my god.  It's awesome.  They even have a music video:



I'm not entirely sure what else I can say about this movie.  Yeah, I can tear it to shreds like most people would do, but isn't that kind of what Sharknado was going for in the first place?  It knows what kind of movie it is and it goes full steam.  The actors are TOTALLY in on the joke.  Believe it or not, they are actually planning a THIRD movie.  I don't know about you, but I'm totally on board.  I love these movies.  I have no shame.  No shame at all.  Yes these are bad movies, but they are strangely a ton of fun.  Sharknado is one of those movies that you have to laugh at what's happening on screen.  This is totally a movie for drinking games.  My final verdict:

Special effects: 2.2314/10
Acting: Ian Ziering/10
Sharks: Jumped
Overall: 9/10

Go see it.  You know you want to.

Transformers: The Movie(1986)

*SPOILER ALERT*(For people who actually haven't seen this movie yet(for shame).)

Transformers.  What else really needs to be said?  Instead of putting up a trailer as I usually do, I decided to show the first 5 minutes of the original Transformers animated movie from 1986.  Why?  Because the first 5 minutes of the film introduce you to one of the most amazing villains ever to menace the galaxy.  I grew up watching Transformers as a kid, and we had some of the toys, which the show was based on.  But the Transformers became more than just toys and TV shows.  It became a pop culture phenomenon.  Kids all around the world knew what the Transformers were.  It had awesome characters like Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Ironhide, Ratchet, and some of my personal favorites: The Dinobots.  A movie was released in 1986 as a bridge between seasons two and three.  Oh, what an impression it made.

In the year 2005, the Autobots are continuing their long struggle against the oppressive Decepticons who have conquered Cybertron, the Autobots home planet.  But the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, gets word of the Autobots' plans to go to earth to get more energon, the Transformers' main energy source.  The ship is intercepted and Megatron plans to infiltrate earth's warning systems and attempt to destroy Autobot City.  As soon as the city is under attack, the Autobots send a distress signal to Optimus Prime(Peter Cullen) who shows up in the nick of time to save the day.  He does so, but at a very high cost.  In his battle with Megatron(Frank Welker), Prime is mortally wounded and eventually dies, but not before relinquishing the Matrix of Leadership to his second-in-command: Ultra Magnus(Robert Stack).  Megatron is also gravely wounded but is abandoned by HIS minion, Starscream.  Soon, Megatron is discovered by a monstrous planet devouring.....planet, Unicron(Orson Welles).  Unicron gives Megatron new life as Galvatron(Leonard Nimoy)and is tasked with destroying the Matrix of Leadership.

Here's something funny for you: This movie takes place NINE years ago.  Where was I when all this was taking place?  I don't remember laser guns or giant talking machines that could turn into cars.  In all seriousness, though, this movie is an absolute blast.  At nearly 30 years old, it definitely stands the test of time, unlike some other animated movies based on cartoons.  Why?  Giant robots that could turn into vehicles or guns and stuff like that, that's why.  You had some of the most iconic characters ever.  Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots could turn into a big rig.  Bumble-bee turned into a Voltswagen Beetle, while Ironhide became....a minivan.  Megatron could change into a hand gun, while Starscream could soar as a jet.  It was amazing stuff to witness as a kid.  There was fantastic animation and incredible action.  That was the just the series.  The movie took it to a whole different level.  Oddly enough, this movie wasn't without it's controversy when it was released.  The filmmakers had the audacity to kill off several of the main characters including the beloved Optimus Prime.  That particular one pissed a lot of people off, mainly the parents of children who nearly inconsolable after witnessing the death of their hero.  Very understandable, Optimus Prime became something the kids could look up to as a hero.  Parents literally complained to the filmmakers about the whole thing, and the guys who made the movie were genuinely taken aback at the backlash.  Here's the thing, though.  It was a risky decision and probably a business decision too.  Mattel wanted to sell new toys, so they had a hand in making some changes.  Story-wise, this film took a pretty a dark turn, especially when it introduced the main villain of the story, Unicron.  This is a creature that munched on planets for energy and was generally not a nice guy.  But it definitely had an impact on how the Autobots responded to the situation.  So, not only did they have to deal with the Decepticons, they had a planet-sized menace to fight.  It was a very solid story and while it was darker than the series, it still had that sense of wonder and adventure throughout.

The film introduced many new characters to the franchise: Blur played by John Moschitta, abd Ultra Magnus who was voiced by Unsolved Mysteries host: Robert Stack.  The reborn leader of the Decepticons was played by legendary Star Trek actor, Leonard Nimoy in one of his most recognized roles.  Susan Blu played the first female Transformer, Arcee.  But perhaps the biggest casting surprise was the legendary Orson Welles as Unicron.  The man's voice really gave Unicron a very frightening tone and behavior the likes of which we hadn't seen since Darth Vader.  Sadly, Welles died before Transformers was released, but after he had completed his work, so he didn't get to see the fruits of his labor.  Each of the robots in the film had their own unique personality and quirks that made them unique.  Hot Rod, played by Judd Nelson, was an impulsive and risk-taking new Autobot who had the potential to become something greater.  Kup, an elderly, but experienced Autobot was voiced by Lionel Stander.  Each of these characters were given their moment to shine and they shined brightly.

One of the most unique aspects of this film was its soundtrack.  It was decided to give Transformers a hard-rock soundtrack so it would energize the picture.  Boy, did it ever.  Besides the awesome score by Vince DiCola, we got a bad-ass soundtrack that included Stan Bush, Spectre General, N.R.G, and some music from Weird Al Yankovic.  Music can be extremely important in a film, but with Transformers it really elevated the entire project.  Here's a music video from Stan Bush(Warning: Extremely Cheesy):


Michael Bay: THIS is how you make a Transformers movie.  Make it about Transformers.  Yeah, the new movies have great whiz-bang special effects, but they lack heart.  All the effort was put into making the machines look awesome(which they do), but the story and the characters just don't match up with the rest of it.  The 1986 film is easily the best of the bunch.  If there are any downsides to the film, it's that they killed Optimus Prime.  It was definitely a brave decision, but....it's OPTIMUS PRIME, dammit!  So, yeah: Transformers The Movie is easily the best Transformers film ever.  Anyone who says otherwise, hasn't seen this one.  10/10 is what I'm giving this one.  This is a must-own for any fan of Transformers, young or old.  It holds up nearly 30 years after its release.  Take it away Optimus:

District B13 and Brick Mansions

DISTRICT B13



Parkour became popular during the late 1990s and early 2000s in France by Raymond Belle and his son David Belle as well as David's childhood friend: Sebastien Foucan.  It is a sport in which movement through a city is done in a very efficient manner, usually through jumping off rooftops, climbing, and running.  While parkour had its start in France, the popularity of the sport spread all over the world like wildfire.  All you have to is go to YouTube and search for parkour.  You will find thousands of videos demonstrating this unique and spectacular phenomenon.  It's gotten so popular that certain military organizations have begun utilizing some parkour in their training.  Parkour has been featured in many movies in the past 15 years, and the two people truly responsible for that are David Belle and martial arts/stuntman Cyril Raffaelli.  The first movie to truly revolve around the use of parkour is District B13, directed by Pierre Morel.

The French action film begins as Leito(David Belle)is under attack from goons trying to recover the cocaine that he's stolen from the local crime lord.  He escapes by jumping out windows and running along rooftops so that the goons can't follow him.  The crime lord kidnaps Leito's sister, Lola(Danny Verissimo) to force Leito to his compound.  Both escape to the border of their walled in neighborhood, but are betrayed by the local police inspector.  6 months later, undercover narcotics agent, Damien Tomaso(Cyril Raffaelli) is about to make the biggest bust of his career, when the drug kingpin that he's escorting discovers that Damien is an undercover cop.  All hell breaks loose and Damien eventually gets his man.  He is informed by his superiors that a nuclear weapon has been stolen by the crime lord, Taha(Bibi Naceri)who also kidnapped Leito's sister...again.  Damien's orders are to go in to District B13 with the help of a local, Leito and disarm the bomb.

The only real reason the story exists is to move the film along from one action set-piece to another.  It does so in fairly expedient manner, so you're never bored from one second to the next.  The opening action sequence featuring David Belle is exquisitely awesome.  Now THAT is how you introduce somebody like Belle.  When he's jumping off rooftops or through windows, it's David Belle that's doing that, not a stunt double, and there are no visual effects and no green screen.  It's all done on location and it makes that sequence all the more exciting.  Cyril Raffaelli's introduction is also spectacular, if not as acrobatic.  The sequence inside a casino shows off Cyril's impressive martial arts abilities as well as some fantastic gun-play.  The stunt-work in this scene is just brutal.  Again, there's no CG or wire-work involved here, it's all done for real.  While the rest of the film's action sequences don't necessarily match the quality of the introduction sequences, they are just as fun to watch.  There's some car chases, but the film mostly involves parkour.

I'm not sure the film would've worked as well if David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli weren't involved.  While I wouldn't consider these guys top-notch actors(Belle is more of an athlete), they do a decent job.  But the reason why we watch a movie like District B13 isn't for their acting abilities, it's for how they move, and it's some of the most spectacular stuff I've seen in a movie.  It's non-stop action from beginning to end with no real surprises other than to see David Belle jump from rooftop to rooftop.  District B13 is one of the most unique action films I've seen in the past decade.  This one comes highly recommended.  9/10.  For those who don't know who David Belle is:



BRICK MANSIONS


The French action film begins as Leito Lino(David Belle)is under attack from goons trying to recover the cocaine that he's stolen from the local crime lord.  He escapes by jumping out windows and running along rooftops so that the goons can't follow him.  The crime lord kidnaps Leito's Lino's sister, Lola(Danny Verissimo Catalina Dennis) to force Leito Lino to his compound.  Both escape to the border of their walled in neighborhood, but are betrayed by the local police inspector.  6 months later, Undercover narcotics agent, Damien Tomaso Collier(Cyril Raffaelli Paul Walker) is about to make the biggest bust of his career, when the drug kingpin that he's escorting discovers that Damien is an undercover cop.  All hell breaks loose and Damien eventually gets his man.  He is informed by his superiors that a nuclear weapon has been stolen by the crime lord, Taha(Bibi Naceri) Tremaine(RZA) who also kidnapped Leito's Lino's sister...again.  Damien's orders are to go in to District B13 Brick Mansions with the help of a local, Leito Lino and disarm the bomb.

If the above paragraph looks familiar, it should be.  It's nearly the exact same description that I gave District B13, albeit with some additions and subtractions.  Other than that, it's a beat-for-beat re-make of District B13.  I wouldn't say it was shot-for-shot, but it comes pretty damned close.  Remakes like Brick Mansions bother me, because they don't really try anything new.  I can deal with remakes as long as they try to bring something new to the table, but Brick Mansions just doesn't do that.  David Belle plays the same character he played in the original film, just with a slightly different name.  The story is EXACTLY the same, the same plot points are hit in the exact same order, and some of the action sequences are precisely the same, just not executed as well.  There ARE some differences here, I'll give the movie that.  Paul Walker's character actually has a personal stake with what happens in Brick Mansions, as he believes Tremaine murdered his father.  RZA's character of Tremaine, while not really a good guy, isn't a complete scumbag, and RZA's performance is actually somewhat compelling for once.  He seems to enjoy playing the bad guy.

The introduction of David Belle's character is pretty much the same in Brick Mansions, with Lino stealing drugs and escaping Tremaine's lackeys.  It's still somewhat spectacular, but it utilizes some CG and green screen effects, which actually takes away from the thrill.  Paul Walker's introduction as Damien is not even REMOTELY as good as Raffaelli's.  Walker's performance is pretty serviceable if not ground-breaking.  He looks like he's having a hell of a lot fun though.  Some of the stunt-work in this version are still pretty good, as most of them are done for real.  The car chases are pretty exciting.  Tremaine's reaction to seeing his car get shot is actually pretty funny.  He shoots the guy that shoots up his car and threatens to do the same to the next guy who does that.  The other really new characters are Damien's grandfather who promises to give up smoking entirely if Damien gives up chasing Tremaine.  The other is Tremaine's second-in-command: Rayzah(Ayisha Issa).  That's pretty much it.

Brick Mansions, unfortunately, was Paul Walker's last fully completed movie before he was killed in tragic car accident last year, so I'm not reaming this film a new one like a lot of people have been doing.  I think Paul Walker as an actor, while not necessarily the greatest, was fun to watch in his other movies.  It's a shame that he never got to complete Fast and Furious 7.  While that film is on track to be released next year, utilizing his brothers as body doubles, it's too bad that his last completed project was nearly a shot-for-shot remake of a superior movie.  Brick Mansions isn't really a terrible action movie.  On the contrary, it's still a lot of fun, but it really doesn't have the same impact that District B13 did.  While Brick Mansions is decent time-killer, District B13 is the superior film in every way.  It gets a 7/10.

RIP Paul Walker 1973-2013:

Apocalypse Now

The in Vietnam during the 60's and early 70's was a very turbulent time in American history.  We went there to eliminate Communism and liberate South Vietnam from the Communist North Vietnam.  It became clear early on, that this would no ordinary battle against the North Vietnamese army, also known as the Vietcong.  Why?  The Vietcong dressed and looked like civilians, so we had no way of telling one from the other.  Throughout the war, there have been numerous....incidents involving the murder of civilian Vietnamese.  Our people were outgunned and out-manned in a country where the Vietcong had the advantage.  Approximately, over 3.8 million people on all sides lost their lives by the time we had withdrawn.  There have been numerous films over the decades about the war in Vietnam, but one truly stands out among the rest: Apocalypse Now.

As the movie begins we see a strung-out soldier, Captain Benjamin Willard(Martin Sheen)being given orders to travel to Cambodia and terminate the rogue Special Forces Colonel Walter Kurtz(Marlon Brando).  Along the way, he meets up with Colonel Kilgore(Robert DuVall)so he can get upriver.  On the surface, the story seems like pretty one-dimensional about one man's mission, but as the film goes on, it starts descending into chaos, as Willard travels to Cambodia to confront Kurtz.  Apocalypse Now is an extraordinary look at how war affects soldiers on a psychological level.  While some soldiers are of sound mind, others start losing their sanity, and this is extremely evident when we finally meet Kurtz.  We also see Willard start unraveling as the film progresses.  While we see the first half of the film as basically a war film, with explosions and helicopters wreaking havoc on the Vietnamese, the second half becomes more psychological as the soldiers accompanying Willard start seeing some very strange things and it starts freaking them out.  The final part of the movie is just plain nuts.

Shamefully, I never actually saw this movie before today, and I'm not entirely sure why.  It's an experience like no other, because it's a movie like no other.  Francis Ford Coppola has crafted an incredible film which explores a soldier's decent into madness.  It would not have been as successful if the performances hadn't been top-notch.  Martin Sheen is fantastic as Willard.  We also have appearances from Harrison Ford and a very young Laurence Fishburne.  The two real standouts in this film are Robert DuVall as Kilgore and Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz.  DuVall gets the pleasure of having one of the most iconic lines in movie history:


Marlon Brando's character of Colonel Walter Kurtz doesn't actually show up until towards the end of the film, but his presence is felt throughout the entire picture. That's because Captain Willard's mission is to assassinate Kurtz.  But on the way, we start learning more about Kurtz and we start to understand why he went native, as it were.  It's a very interesting character study into how somebody with so much clout and so much power was able to manipulate his way into getting what he wanted.  His character takes on this kind of....father figure or savior for the local tribes and Brando's performance is nothing short of astounding.  He's very subdued and literally cloaked in shadow, but when he speaks, it's hypnotic.  Part of what makes the role so interesting is the way it was shot.  The shadows he was filmed in helped sell the character as mysterious.  It's a very effective technique.

A lot has been said about how troubled the production was when the film was being made.  There is a documentary on the latest Blu-Ray release called "Hearts of Darkness," which apparently goes into detail on how this film miraculously got completed.  Martin Sheen had a heart attack, Marlon Brando was overweight and doing his own thing, and a lot of the sets were destroyed during a typhoon in the Philippines where the film was shot.  I haven't actually seen the documentary yet, but when I do see it, I will review it.

One of the most unique things about this film was the soundtrack.  You had music from The Doors, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries during the infamous helicopter raid, and the actual score from Coppola and his father Carmine really gave the film a bizarre and yet epic feel to the whole experience.  I loved it.  Apocalypse Now is one of those films that really defied expectations and went on to become one of the most iconic war films of the 20th century.  With outstanding performances from Martin Sheen, Robert DuVall and Marlon Brando, Apocalypse Now stands the test of time as a movie that explores the psychological effects of warfare on a soldier.  For fans of cinema, this is MANDATORY viewing.  It's an extraordinary piece of film-making and very important in terms of its scope and subject matter.  Movies rarely get better than this.  10/10.

Gojira(1954 Godzilla), Godzilla(1998) and Godzilla(2014)

Normally, I would say this is a unique situation, but I've done comparison reviews about the Total Recall and RoboCop movies.  However, what we've got here is still a little different.  This time, we've got THREE movies with the same name.  Godzilla.  If it seems like I've been a Godzilla run recently, it's because my interest in Godzilla has skyrocketed with the recent release of the Gareth Edwards film.  I recently picked up two more Godzilla movies, the 1998 film with Matthew Broderick and the original film, Gojira.  Of the three films, one really feels out of place.  Anyone who's a big fan of Godzilla will know exactly which movie I'm talking about.  But I'll get to that later.  Right now, I'm going to jump in with the original film, Gojira.

Gojira:



Gojira begins as a ship is returning home from a fishing trip when it's struck by a mysterious object and destroyed.  As word spreads that the ship has sunk off the coast of Tokyo, another ship is apparently attacked.  Unlike the first ship, this one has three survivors.  They say it was a monster that attacked them.  Later, during violent storm at night, a family is sleeping when the house begins to shake violently and collapses.  In the morning, the authorities arrive to discover a massive footprint in the ground, and determine that a gigantic animal of some kind was responsible for the destruction.  What they also discover is that there is radioactivity in the footprint, so they tell people to stay back because it's dangerous.  One of the local fishermen says it's a god named Gojira who has come to feed on people.

Anyone who hasn't seen this one has more than likely seen some of the other Godzilla pictures:  The cheesy, over-the-top films with wild monsters and visual effects.  This one is not cheesy.  In fact, it's played deadly serious.  Here's why:  The film was released in 1954, just nine years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by atomic bombs.  This film was created as a response to those events, and as a cautionary tale about the horrors of nuclear weapons.  For Japanese audiences, this was a particularly terrifying film.

The story is fantastic.  There is a very palpable sense of dread and mystery that permeates the whole movie.  What sunk the ships and destroyed the small fishing village?  The answer is both fascinating and terrifying.  A gigantic sea monster, apparently woken by nuclear testing, is apparently responsible.  This being 1954 Japan, they didn't really have the luxury, time or resources to do stop-motion animation, like the Americans did with King Kong in the 30's.  So, they had a guy get into a suit and stomp around miniatures.  By today's standards, this looks particularly archaic, but in 1954, this style of film was state-of-the-art.  The performances by lead actors, Akira Takarada and Akihiko Harata are great.  Takarada plays Ogata, a photographer.  Harata is a scientist who has created a potential super-weapon to counter Godzilla.  The effects, while dated by today's standards, still sells the scale of the beast and how he rampages across Tokyo.  Unlike the films that followed Gojira, this film is far more dramatic and really touches on how humanity reacts to a situation like this.  The film definitely delivers on the destruction and mayhem, and it's use of miniatures is incredible.  The creature's design was very unique in it's day and it's become iconic.  Also, iconic is the beast's roar.  Anyone who hasn't seen a Godzilla picture will still recognize that sound.  It's a part of pop-culture now.  Gojira has amassed an enormous following, and with 31 films out there, Godzilla's popularity shows no signs of slowing down.

There are a number of reasons why this particular is so important.  One, it ushered in a new era of science fiction and gave birth to the Kaiju movie genre, which is the giant monster movies.  We ended up with, Mothra, King Ghidora, and Monster Zero among others.  There are a lot.  And some of them ended up with movies of their own.  Not only that, Guillermo Del Toro released Pacific Rim as love-letter to Godzilla in 2012.  It was an impressive film.  So, the original Gojira has influenced movie-makers over the decades in terms of visual effects.  We see a lot of movies with monsters that have been inspired by Big G.  Hell, even the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers were influenced, with their gigantic monsters and robots going at each other.  In other words, Godzilla is a cultural phenomenon cherished by millions of people all over the world.  The other big reason why this film is important is the message it's trying to send about the use of nuclear weapons and the consequences of said weapons.  When we dropped Fat Man and Little Boy on Japan, we knew they would be powerful, but we had no idea what the extend of the damage would be.  During the film, we see footage of Tokyo in ruins and it is very reminiscent of the destruction that the Japanese had witnessed during the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  So, the question the movie asks, which is the real monster here?  Is it Godzilla himself or is he just the symptom of a larger problem:  the unknown dangers of using super-weapons?  The main scientist who inadvertently creates a super-weapon to defeat Godzilla is actually afraid of what could happen if it falls into the wrong hands and used for the wrong reasons.  There is a very serious moral implication about the use of these weapons, and you really don't see that in movies these days.

Overall, this is an incredible film.  Yes, it has destruction aplenty, but it also comes with a message and a warning about nuclear weapons.  While the following films would eventually forget the message in favor of spectacle, the original Gojira remains a landmark picture that needs to be seen by anyone with a remote interest in cinema.  This monster of a movie gets a perfect 10/10.

Godzilla(1998)



Our film begins as a Japanese fishing boat is heading home during a storm, when it is suddenly and violently attacked by an unknown force.  There is one survivor who keeps uttering the word "Gojira."  Later, at Chernobyl in Russia, a scientist by the name of Nick Tatopoulos(Matthew Broderick), is studying irradiated earthworms that have grown to unusual sizes due to the radioactivity in soil due to the Chernobyl accident.  He is later reassigned by Colonel Hicks(Kevin Dunn)to investigate what appears to be a giant footprint and the remains of the fishing vessel that was attacked earlier.  Tatopoulos discovers that this creature was a result of nuclear testing and that the creature is making it's way to New York City.

I remember there was this HUGE hype about a new Godzilla movie being made.  I knew it was being made by Roland Emmerich, the guy who directed Independence Day.  The trailer that I posted above is absolutely fantastic and it really amped up the excitement for this movie.  Toho, the creators of Godzilla had sold the rights to Sony Pictures in the hopes that maybe an American film company could actually deliver on a Godzilla picture.  The result is a bit of a mixed bag.  Don't get me wrong, it's a spectacular film with grandiose visual effects and size of the monster is impressive.  The film is also loaded with big explosions and large action set-pieces that will definitely satisfy people who are into disaster movies.  There are a few problems here that really did the film a major disservice.  One: Emmerich jettisoned the original Toho creature design for something that looks like it came from Jurassic Park.  It's essentially an overgrown iguana.  This is NOT Godzilla.  Two: The whole baby Godzilla subplot was completely unnecessary and silly.  Three: Matthew Broderick is woefully miscast here.  While he was absolutely fantastic in Ferris Beuhler's Day Off, he doesn't have the screen presence to carry a major action film like this.  Four: The film accuses the French of being the ones responsible for this mess, and then relies on them to be the good guys later on.  That's some really.....interesting writing.  Five: This Godzilla doesn't actually breathe atomic fire like his predecessors.  You can't have a Godzilla movie and NOT have him breathe fire.  Yeah, there are scenes where he causes fire to be blown, but he doesn't create it himself, and it feels like they were tacked on to keep the fans at bay.

Here's what DID work:  The visual effects are incredible.  Utilizing a large budget, Emmerich definitely goes to town on wrecking New York City.  The creature itself is actually impressive in scale.  This is not a man-in-a-suit Godzilla.  The explosions and the destruction are nothing short of impressive.  The film is surprisingly well-paced with a pretty good sense of humor.  It definitely does NOT take itself seriously.  The secondary cast members are mostly amazing.  Hank Azaria plays Victor "Animal" Palotti, a camera-man for a local news network.  He's hilarious, especially when he nearly gets stepped on by the monster.  His reaction is priceless.  Harry Shearer is the sleazebag anchor, Charles Caiman.  Shearer knows how to play creeps very, very well, and Caiman is definitely a self-absorbed cretin.  He's fun to watch, though.  Kevin Dunn gets to play the hard-ass Colonel Hicks, and does so very well.  While most people remember Dunn from the Transformers movies as Shia LeBouf's father in those films, he really gets to be awesome in this one.  The guy that really steals the show in this film is Jean Reno, who plays the French insurance/secret agent, Phillipe Roache.  As much as the film dumps on the French for being responsible for Godzilla, the French guys are really fun to watch as they try to eat and drink American food and pretend to be American soldiers.  The musical score by David Arnold really makes the film intense.  The one thing the filmmakers did do right, was keep Godzilla's roar.  They modified it a little bit, but it's been modified a little bit over the decades anyway.

This movie was intended to be the first in a trilogy of films, but it did so poorly and was not very well received, especially by Toho.  They yanked the rights away from Sony, because of this movie and released their response, Godzilla 2000, two years later.  I really can't blame them for making that decision.  Roland Emmerich's choice to redesign Godzilla left a sour taste in the mouths of Godzilla fans around the world.  When I first saw the film, I loved it.  16 years later, I still enjoy it.  It's got amazing visual effects with a great secondary cast.  The pace is intense the moment Godzilla hits New York.  It's also got a great sense of humor.  As a giant monster movie, Godzilla hits most of the right notes.  What it gets right, it does very well.  As a Godzilla movie, it fails miserably.  It lacks the charm and the creature design of the previous films. With an annoying subplot involving baby Godzillas, combined with the not-so-hot performance of Matthew Broderick, the film just....flounders.  It's a shame, too, because this could have been really spectacular, and the sequels could have been great.

After Toho reaquired the rights to Godzilla, they responded with Godzilla 2000, giving the world a proper Godzilla flick.  In 2004, Godzilla Final Wars was released.  In that film, we get to see the 1998 monster get obliterated by the actual Godzilla.  That was a moment of sheer awesomeness.  Don't believe me?  Check it out:

I give the 1998 Godzilla an 8/10 as a giant monster movie.  As a Godzilla movie: 2/10.  It's Godzilla in name only.
Godzilla(2014)



Since I had already reviewed the latest Godzilla movie, I'll post a link to that review here.  The latest film was released to theaters 60 years to the day that the original film was released in Japan.  The marketing campaign for the new film was nothing less than incredible.  When I first saw the teaser and the shadow of Godzilla himself, I was excited.  When the film was released in May, it was astounding.  I got to see it in 3-D.  If there was a movie to see in 3-D this year, it would've been Godzilla.  It was spectacular.  If you want more details, check out my review in the link above.  I want to shed some light on some of the criticisms that have been leveled against the new Godzilla.  The main criticism is that there wasn't enough Godzilla in the movie.  Here's the thing:  The monster in the original film, which so many people loved, wasn't in the movie for more than 20-30 minutes at most.  People don't complain about that, yet they complain about not enough Godzilla in the new one?  The best Godzilla movies are the ones where he doesn't take up the entire screen time.  It would ruin the final battle.  When the big guy shows up, it's got to have an impact.  Some of the near battles that you see throughout the film cut away so the anticipation for the final battle ramps up.  Godzilla definitely delivers on that.

The other criticism is that the human characters are bland and not much use.  I disagree.  Bryan Cranston's character of Joe Brody really gave the human element a much needed depth and an emotional anchor that gives Ford(Aaron Taylor-Johnson)the motivation to protect the people he cares about.  The human element in this film is just as important as the monsters.  The original film had a very strong and obvious message about the dangers of nuclear weapons.  The message is still there in this new film, but it's more subtle and behind-the-scenes.  Godzilla 2014 is a damn good movie, and doesn't deserve the derision it's gotten.  It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but Godzilla is quite possibly one of the best action movies this year, and I believe it does right by the original film.  It certainly corrects the misfire that was the 1998 Godzilla.  Since the new movie did so well, a sequel is being planned for 2018.  It is apparently going to include some of the classic monsters of the previous films, such as Ghidora.  But it's too early to tell as information is scarce at this point.  It hasn't even reached the script phase yet, so patience is required.  But the King of the Monsters will be back.  That's for damn sure.

Godzilla: Final Wars

If there's a movie monster that needs no introduction, it's Godzilla.  He's been a pop culture phenomenon for 60 years.  He first showed up in the Japanese original film, Gojira, or Godzilla to the rest of the world.  He essentially invented the whole Kaiju movie genre.  Kaiju is the Japanese word for "strange creature" or "monster."  Kaiju movies involved creatures that where at least 500 feet tall or larger, and generally involved destroying cities.  Godzilla was known for regularly leveling Tokyo to the ground.  Strangely enough, the original film wasn't just a monster movie.  It was also a cautionary tale about the dangers of nuclear power.  The film was released 9 years after the Hiroshima bomb, so it really had an effect on Japanese audiences.  The film was re-released in the States as Godzilla: King of the Monsters! with new footage starring Raymond Burr.  For the next 60 years, Godzilla would appear in 31 movies including the recent Godzilla reboot starring Bryan Cranston.  Hell, one of those movies had Godzilla going up against another legendary movie monster: King Kong.  The famed movie reptile also inspired a number of offshoots and other monster movies such as Gargantua and Mothra.  Guillermo Del Toro himself made a movie as a love note to the Godzilla movies of yore, Pacific Rim.

Godzilla: Final Wars starts off with a bang with an airship/submarine engaged in battle with Godzilla.  Godzilla eventually ends up getting trapped under a glacier and it appears that the world is free from giant monsters....for a while.  Years later, giant monsters start popping up all over the world and only one organization can deal them, The Earth Defense Force with it's special mutant soldier unit.  With one creature nearly defeated, it vanishes.  Soon, a mysterious planet-shaped ship appears over the city with mysterious beings called Xillians.  They apparently want to partner with the human race to destroy a giant object that apparently is heading towards Earth.  Little do the earthlings know, the Xillians have ulterior motives.....and giant monsters.  If that sounds extremely cheesy to you....it is.  This movie is one big cheese-fest.  Giant monsters, mutants AND aliens?  Oh, come on.  Really?   Yep.  However, one does not simply watch Godzilla for the story.  We are here for the mayhem, and it delivers in spades.  There are few moments in the film were cities aren't getting smashed, stuff exploding, or mutants engaged in super-acrobatic hijinks.  There is also Don Frye.

Final Wars was released in 2004 as the last of the Toho Godzilla movies.  The original plan was to put the big guy on hiatus for about a decade so they could just let it be for a while.  However, the rights to Godzilla were bought from Toho by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. shortly after Final Wars was released.  When I said this was still a Toho Godzilla movie, that means this is a man-in-the-suit monster.  Not CGI.  A lot of the visual effects in this picture involve miniatures.  Most of the monsters seen in the film are men in suits, with the exception of Mothra and Zilla(the creature from the 1998 film).  This film is packed to the brim with monsters.  It doesn't have all of them, but a good number of Godzilla's foes show up, including Rodan, Gigan, Kumonga, Hedorah and King Ghidorah.  For a two-hour film, this thing is loaded with action.  Big explosions, cities being ripped to shreds and general monster mayhem make this a really over-the-top affair.  The visual effects and miniatures really add to the whole cheese factor.

One of the Godzilla movies that people really didn't like was the Roland Emmerich film from 1998 which starred Matthew Broderick.  It took the design of the Godzilla and threw it out the window in favor of a 500-foot tall........iguana.  So when that version goes up against the beast that we all know and love, it doesn't stand a chance and gets obliterated in a confrontation that will make most Godzilla fans stand up and cheer.  It's awesome.  In fact, most of the monsters in this movie are just cannon fodder for the big guy.  His real confrontation comes in the form of the three-headed dragon, Ghidora.  Yeah, the cgi effects are pretty substandard, but they are functional.  In fact, I would argue that the cgi effects are part of the charm in this movie.  So, what about the actors and their....acting?  Don Frye.  This guy steals the show as the gruff American, Captain Gordon, who's original ship was responsible for trapping Godzilla in a glacier years ago.  His performance is perfectly dead-pan, and it's hilarious at times.  The acting is pretty much way over-the-top as you would expect from a Godzilla movie.  The villains are just plain ridiculous, with Kazuki Kitamura taking the lead as the black leather-clad Xillian leader.  He's fun to watch when he goes ballistic.  For the fans of the original film, Akira Takarada plays the UN Secretary General.  For people who don't know Akira is, his first movie was the 1954 Godzilla.  Also showing up is Kane Kosugi, the son of legendary martial arts actor Sho Kosugi.

As far as Godzilla movies go, Final Wars is quite possibly the craziest of the bunch.  It's just plain silly, but it works.  The whole cautionary message about nuclear power has been thrown out the window.  This is a movie about mayhem and destruction.  There are very few movies that are as straight-forward about what they want to deliver as Godzilla: Final Wars.  If there's a really negative aspect to this film, that I noticed personally, it's Minilla.  He's basically Godzilla's Mini Me.  He didn't really add anything to the film at all.  He was just.....there.  But at least he wasn't as irritating as Jar Jar Binks.  Minilla gets brownie points for that.  The action is exactly as I was expecting in a movie featuring Godzilla and it's one of the most spectacular movies of 2004.  Godzilla Final Wars is the only Triple-M movie that I've seen.  By Triple-M, I mean:  Monsters, Mutants and Mayhem.  If you're a fan of Godzilla like I am or of giant monster movies in general, you owe it to yourself to check out Godzilla: Final Wars.  It's awesome.  9.5/10.

In conclusion:

Prisoners

Before I begin with this one, let me ask a question:  If you had a child and that child disappeared, and the only suspect in the possible crime is either unable or unwilling to cooperate, how far would you go to get answers?  What measures are you prepared to take to get your child back?  These are some of the questions that are asked of the audience in 2013's crime thriller, Prisoners.

The story begins in a forest when Keller Dover(Hugh Jackman)is taking his son hunting.  When they get home, they prepare to have Thanksgiving dinner with Dover's friend, Franklin Birch(Terrence Howard)and HIS family.  Birch's and Dover's daughters go outside to play, and when the time comes to sit down and eat, the girls are nowhere to be seen.  Frantically searching Dover's house AND Birch's house, they find no trace of the girls.  Detective Loki(Jake Gyllenhall)is called to investigate.  He finds a lone suspect in an RV which matches the description given by Keller's son, and they take the suspect into custody.  Unfortunately, the RV contains no evidence that links the suspect, Alex Jones(Paul Dano),to the crime.  Keller isn't so convinced.  As time wears on and desperation sets in, Keller is forced to take desperate measures to find the missing children.

Before anyone asks, this movie is not a Taken-style of movie, where the protagonist tears apart the town and beating the daylights out of people that are responsible for his daughter's abduction.  This is not an action film.  It's slow, methodical and deliberate.  It's also dark and bleak.  Outside of some of the opening scenes, there really isn't an ounce of humor to be found here, and that's ok.  When you're dealing with the abduction of little girls, all the jokes go out the window as it is an extremely serious matter.  This is not just a drama, but it is also a police procedural, and thriller all mixed into one and it works very well.  I won't spoil the film, but I can tell you that after the girls are abducted, the story takes on a life of its own and pushes many of the characters to the breaking point.  Taking the lead is Hugh Jackman, who plays a fairly normal person that happens to be caught in the middle of something tragic and sinister.  I've always been a big fan of Hugh's ever since appeared in X-Men.  This guy has really evolved as an actor, as evidenced by some of the movies he's been in.  Keller is a guy who is driven the edge of madness, because he fears for his daughter's life and over the course of the film, you start to see the desperation set in and watch him change into a different kind of person.  Gyllenhall's Loki is the foil to Jackman's Keller.  While Keller is willing to do whatever it takes to find his baby girl, Loki is more concerned about how to do it properly.  He's just as concerned about the abduction as Keller is, but is far more patient and methodical about dealing with it.  I've never really thought much about Jake Gyllenhall before Prisoners.  I thought he was an o.k. actor, but he really pulls out all the stops in Prisoners.  You see his character constantly blink as if he was on a caffeine high, and how he deals with potential suspects gets pretty brutal.  It's obvious, that Loki has his own issues that he's dealing with and throughout the story, you begin to see the cracks as he becomes desperate.

Caught in the middle of all this is Terrence Howard who plays Franklin Birch, who's daughter was also stolen from him.  He's as desperate to get his daughter back, but when he and Keller abduct Alex Jones, it doesn't really agree with him.  Howard is an interesting actor and he brings a very emotional depth to his character that really makes you feel for him.  In some ways, he's suffering more than Keller, because Keller is willing to torture somebody to get answers, but Franklin isn't.  It's an interesting dynamic that really allows the two to shine together.  Paul Dano is really good as Alex Jones, a man who doesn't appear to be quite right in the head.  All the actors in this movie, including Maria Bello who plays Keller's wife.  Even though Jackman and Gyllenhall are at the front, everyone gets their chance to shine, and that's what helps give this movie a life of its own.

For some people, the two and a half hour run time may seem a little....long.  Personally, I like it.  The longer it gets, the more it gets under your skin, and that's why it's an effective thriller.  The desperation of looking for a lost loved one really helps anchor the film.  It's also done in a fairly realistic manner, even though there are some strange coincidences.  With all the twists and turns in this film, it's hard to pinpoint exactly where it's going to go next.  I will be honest here:  This movie goes to some very dark and uncomfortable areas.  But i think that really help gives the film its unique....flavor, if you will.

This is French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve's first English language effort, and it's masterfully done.  It is one of the most intriguing thrillers that I've ever seen.  By the time the credits roll, you are left with a very thought-provoking film that stays with you long after you switch off the TV.  I would imagine that a movie like this would be more intense for people who have children, because it deals with a parent's worst nightmare.  It's an intense film that is a slow-burner, but the payoff is worth it.  With Oscar-worthy performances, a great story, and some very unique twists and turns, this is film that I can EASILY recommend to anyone who's a fan of mysteries and thrillers.  10/10 is my final verdict for Prisoners.  Comments, suggestions?  Let me know.