'Godzilla' Review

Godzilla Review:

Of Monsters & Men

BY IAN TAN

Godzilla (2014) is Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ reimagining/reboot of the iconic King of Monsters. After the crap-fest that was Roland Emmerich’s (The Day After Tomorrow, 2012) 1998 version of Godzilla, fans of the Toho monster went under the great depression. Eager to please fans, as well as earn as much box office returns as possible, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures got hold of young British director Gareth Edwards to helm the 2014 reboot of film’s most iconic monster. After a string of impressive marketing and eerie trailers that revealed the film’s darker, more serious tone, the hype for Godzilla was apparent through both fans and non-fans, as well as casual movie-goers alike. So, does Edwards succeed in bringing Godzilla back to the big (now much bigger with IMAX) screen with enough prowess and blockbuster spectacle to spawn a new generation of Godzilla fans and restore the faith of fans disgraced by the 1998 film?

For the most part, the answer is yes, he does.

The film opens with a discovery of two egg-shaped pods, one of which seems to have hatched, at a quarry in the Philippines. At the same time, a nuclear plant in Janjira, Japan suffers from a radioactive leak and a supposed “earthquake” that led to its destruction. Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston), however, knows that what caused the incident was something far worse than just a natural disaster. Fast-forward 15 years later, and we see Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife, Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) struggling to stay together as a family amidst the monster chaos that begins to occur, and soon enough, we have our Godzilla monster movie on the (rather slow-burn) roll.

The film definitely takes a few turns that audiences - unfamiliar with the original Godzilla films from Toho- might find to be a distraction to the titular character in terms of his portrayal. Nonetheless, it’s highly unlikely anyone will walk out of the theater not rooting for Godzilla. That’s right. Rooting.

As far as acting goes, Brian Cranston definitely serves the film with some of its best, and most humanly emotional moments. In contrast, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a bit stiff in his role as Joe’s son, Ford. I understand that he’s a military man, and military men in real life may very well act the way he does in the film - lacking emotion, but this is a movie, and audiences expect a little more emotion from characters. Taylor-Johnson is a capable actor, as seen in films such as Kick-Ass and Savages. However, he does feel rather bland in Godzilla. Fortunately though, he is able to overcome this seriousness with a sense of likeability that comes with being Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Other supporting actors such as Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Ford’s wife, and Ken Watanabe, who plays scientist Serizawa, are good in their respective roles, but aren’t given enough substance to work with from the script, resulting in a human story that rarely engages the audience as emotionally as Edwards might have wanted, which can be quite a drag as the reveal of Godzilla takes its own sweet time to unfold. On a more positive note, the messages of humans’ arrogance towards nature and the way in which the world would react and respond to such a monstrous (literally) situation is well handled and makes for some of the film’s more intense and thrilling moments. 

Humans aside, the main star of the film is Godzilla, and boy, did they get him right. Godzilla’s height of 108m and overall creature design is simply phenomenal. The sheer attention to detail and love for the iconic radioactive lizard-turned-monster is definitely apparent in just how good the creature looks. Next to the dragon Smaug from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, this is one of film’s most realized, impressively and intricately crafted CGI animal creations. The size of Godzilla alone demands the film to be seen on the largest screen possible, preferably IMAX, as the larger screen size and amplified surround sound coupled with 3D definitely sells the scope and cinematic value Edwards envisioned the film to have. It asks for a little extra of your buck, but trust me, sit close enough and you’ll get your money’s worth. The downside is, Godzilla’s actual screen-time never gets more than a quarter’s share of the film’s runtime of 123 minutes, which may disappoint some.

On the whole, the 2014 reimagining of Godzilla does have a rather slow build-up that feels more arduous than suspenseful (unlike the suspense conjured up in films like Jaws & Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which Edwards says to have drawn inspiration from), and although the human story and characters aren’t given as much depth as one might hope, whenever the monster mayhem ensues, the film acts as one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the summer so far. Now, if only Godzilla was in it for more than his 15-minute stay onscreen … now that would be an even bigger crowd pleaser, ala Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim last year. But as far as Godzilla films go, this marks as one of the franchise’s best.

7.7 out of 10 stars

'The Amazing Spiderman 2' Review

The Amazing Spiderman 2 Movie Review:

An Even Less Amazing Sequel

BY IAN TAN

Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spiderman) returns to direct The Amazing Spiderman 2:Rise of Electro, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2012 franchise reboot kick-starter The Amazing Spiderman. Despite the mixed reactions the first film received, audiences are still lining up by the droves to catch this sequel. So, how does this film fare compared to its predecessor? Unfortunately, this second installment in the rebooted Spider-Man franchise fails to live up to the hype and expectations of anticipating fans as well as regular audiences alike. It’s a slightly overlong, convoluted mess of a film that’s punctuated only by a few key emotional moments between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacey.

Much like the first film, the ensemble cast does a job well done and gets an A for screen presence. Andrew Garfield, whom I disliked in the first movie  (he kept trying to say things, then stopped, stuttered, and kept looking down) definitely feels more at home with his role and is able to capture the essence of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a way that truly brings the comic book character to life in ways the Sam Raimi films didn’t allow Tobey Maguire to. Emma Stone again delivers a strong performance as Gwen Stacey, providing us with a much stronger female companion for Peter Parker compared to Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane, which is a plus point for the film. Both Garfield and Stone share great chemistry with each other and provide the film with some of its most heartfelt, funny, and heartbreaking scenes. The scenes between Peter and Gwen are definitely the best parts of this sequel, and show that Marc Webb is at his most comfortable position when directing these scenes (as you’d expect from the guy who directed 500 Days of Summer). Jamie Foxx is at his best when playing the bumbling buffoon Max Dillon. When he turns into Electro, however, things start going downhill, not just his performance, but the rest of the film too. Jamie Foxx does a good job with what the script gives him, but there really isn’t much depth given to him as Electro as there is with him being Max Dillon. This results in a rather bland villain with too weak a motivation to want to destroy Spider-Man. Dane (Dehaan) as Harry Osborne is a whiny brat that really doesn’t seem like the kind of person Peter would ever hang out with, and although his (spoiler alert! If you weren’t already spoiled by the trailers) transformation into the iconic Green Goblin is a much better transformation scene compared to Willem Dafoe’s in the very first Sam Raimi Spiderman film, his character feels rather shoehorned into the film just so that Sony can expand the Amazing Spiderman film universe. Like Iron Man 2, this is another sequel that suffers from studio’s wants to create an expanded movie universe. So, in all fairness, the film’s downsides might not be Marc Webb’s fault, but Sony’s instead.

This film does have its plus points though. The shots of Spidey swinging around New York, for one, are far better than the original Raimi films in terms of angles, Spidey’s agility, and use of web-shooters, making a 3D viewing of the film a necessity, especially in IMAX. Almost every shot is elevated by the entire IMAX 3D experience, especially the film's opening shots of Spiderman swinging through New York and the climactic showdown between him and Electro, where both characters truly pop out of the screen. Also, without giving anything away, there is a key emotional moment towards the end of the film that comes totally unexpected, and goes against typical action/superhero movie endings. You can’t help but to appreciate it when a superhero takes such risks to its ending, and Marc Webb handles the emotion perfectly for said scene, leveling up the emotion high enough to make audiences tear up. Webb is no stranger to unexpected endings (if you’ve seen 500 Days of Summer, you’ll know what I mean) and The Amazing Spiderman 2’s ending deserves much praise to Webb.

To sum it up, The Amazing Spiderman 2 feels either like the Transformers 2 of the Transformers series or the Iron Man 2 of the Iron Man series, which isn’t really a good sign. However, whenever director Marc Webb is given leeway to direct the film the way ­he wants to, the film works well with its Peter/Gwen romance and its unanticipated ending. P.S., it might be this very ending that acts as the film’s saving grace, for comic book fans at least. Almost everything else from character intentions to coherent storytelling feels handled rather poorly, almost like a rushed film production that tries to be too many things at one go.

5.9 out of 10 stars

Note: If you want to see how Marc Webb originally intended the film to look like, click the link here http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/sony-pictures-and-director-marc-webb-consider-releasing-a-directors-cut-version-of-the-amazing-spider-man-2-to-the-general-public-on-blue-ray-and-dvd  and sign the petition for Sony to release a Director’s Cut of the film on Blu-Ray later this year.

'Captain America:The Winter Soldier' Review

Captain America: The Winter Review:

Bringing the Marvel Cinematic Universe To A Whole New Level

BY IAN TAN

Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ marks Marvel Studios’ final Phase 2 film before the sequel to their juggernaut superhero team-up, ‘The Avengers’. This sequel sees Steve Rogers trying to fit in to today’s modern society and explores his struggles with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secrecy and ultimately being the true freedom fighter he is and how he can give the people of today that freedom, considering the political and secretive nature of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s operations and conduct. Then comes along the menacing and wicked-cool Winter Soldier to wreak some havoc and reveal even bigger secrets about Steve’s past, S.H.I.E.L.D, and ultimately for us - the audience - a shocking revelation that is to turn the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe around.

To be honest, this was my least anticipated Marvel film of the Phase 2 series. Captain America was never my favourite Marvel hero to begin with (I always felt he was a tad too serious), and because of the fact that early rumours indicated that this would be a very S.H.I.E.L.D-based film, I expected the central character story of Captain America to be compromised in favour of Marvel’s world-building for the sake of a proper lead-up to ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’. But boy was I wrong. This film delivers on almost every level I expected it not to. Not only does ‘The Winter Soldier’ serve a well-told follow up to ‘The Avengers’, it works just as well as a sequel to ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ in ways that’ll blow your socks off.

Chris Evans is at the top of his game in this sequel, providing audiences with the best and most human portrayal of the first avenger that has now made him my favourite Avenger next to Iron Man. So, for those of you not-so-die-hard fans of Captain America, this film ought to change your mind. You really do feel just how lost in time he is and how he feels he’s being played with by S.H.I.E.L.D. Evans also sells it during the more emotional parts of the story, most notably in his few but very meaningful scenes with the Winter Soldier. Scarlett Johansson reprises her role of Black Widow and although she does not have as strong of a character arc here as she did in ‘The Avengers’, she serves as a great companion/ sidekick for Captain America and owns it when the action kicks in. Anthony Mackie too, does a mighty-fine job as Falcon, creating a new fan-favourite who can hold his own even next to Captain America. Other returning faces such as Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Cobie Smulders (Robin from HIMYM) as Agent Maria Hill do well in their roles, which are bigger here than in ‘The Avengers’. Sammy Jackson in particular gives Nick Fury a sense of vulnerability this time round, which is a nice touch considering how untouchable he seemed to be in previous Marvel films. The scene stealer here however, has to be Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier. Now here’s an actor who knows his stuff. From the physical standpoint, Stan pulls off his hand-to-hand combat sequences with extreme precision and bad-assery. And when the drama button is pushed, Stan proves he’s capable at conjuring up emotion to a point that you actually feel pity for his character. Much like Cappie, Winty’s being used by people whose motives he’s unclear of.

As far as action is concerned, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ is almost dope. This film sports more action than any of Marvel’s Phase 2 movies have, and unlike the previous Phase 2 entries (Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World), the action is relentlessly engaging and the stakes do feel high, unlike say, in ‘Thor: The Dark World’ where, as high as the stakes were, felt unusually unimportant; we knew Thor was going to save the day, but here, the entire Marvel Universe feels at stake. This is due especially to the involvement S.H.I.E.L.D plays here and the secrets this film reveals about the mysterious organization. As funny as it sounds, it is this exact sub-plot of S.H.I.E.L.D. that so very well connects this film to the first ‘Captain America’.

The one gripe I have about this film though, is how the character of the Winter Soldier isn’t given as much screen time and character development as one might expect. His story here is basically a set up for future Captain America films. Now that feels cheap: making the titular character’s presence in the film serve as just a commercial for a sequel. However, as mentioned earlier, whenever the Sebastian Stan is on screen, he does a terrific job with the material he’s given and won’t disappoint comic book fans in terms of the character’s portrayal.

As a whole, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ truly is the cream of Marvel’s Phase 2 crop, combining the thrills and spills of good ol’ spy/espionage films, the best of Marvel’s blockbuster action and world building, as well as a good character driven story to make this one of Marvel’s best films to date.

8.6 out of 10 stars 

'The Lego Movie' Review

The Lego Movie Review:

A Highly Sophisticated Interlocking Brick System of Awesomeness

BY IAN TAN

The Lego Movie (they finally made one!) centers around Emette, a generic, ordinary, and fully rule abiding Lego construction worker who soon finds out that he is the prophesized Special who must save the Lego world from President Business’ diabolical plan to use “the most powerful weapon in the world”- the Kragle, to bring an end to the Lego World.

Firstly, the cast do a terrific job their characters. Chris Pratt, who plays Star Lord in the upcoming ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ film, voices Emette with great likability and heart. Elizabeth Banks lends her voice to Wildstyle, the kick-butt female Master Builder, and shares good voice chemistry with Chris Pratt. Morgan Freeman, as always, gives his character sense of stature and godliness (just listen to those rich molasses) while also providing the film with some of its funniest moments as Master Builder/ Wizard Vitruvius. And Will Arnett voices one the funniest representations of Batman ever put to screen (if you watch HISHE, you’ll definitely love this Batman). My favourite however, has to be Liam Neeson as Good Cop/Bad Cop, who plays both sides of his character in a truly entertaining and hilarious manner. A number of other famous celebrities such as Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Shaquille O’ Neal, Cobie Smulders, Dave Franco and many, many others fill The Lego Movie with cameos that never seem to end and will definitely provide audiences some great added fun.

As far as the visuals go, this movie is beautifully crafted and animated. The seamless blending of stop-motion and animation truly breathe life into this Lego universe- as in, they look like real, legit, living Lego figures, not the animated kinds you see on television shows. The production design here is impressive as well, proving that entire worlds can be built purely out of Lego pieces and that the creativity that comes with Lego has no limits. Besides that, the action sequences presented in this film rival even the best action scenes most live action movies have, and sometimes outdo them. For maximum immersive (and Lego realistic) value, a 3D screening of the film is recommended.

Also a positive is the sheer amount of humour this film has to offer, with laugh-a-minute gags that make the best and funniest use of the characters Lego has the rights to (Shaquille O’ Neal, the Justice League characters, and many, many more). Jokes based on the articulation and shape of Lego figures never get old either (see: hand gestures, jumping jacks). This film also serves as a satirical commentary that pokes fun at all the generic movie clichés in an effective manner that never feels self-indulgent or forced.

Once we reach the third act, The Lego Movie brings out the big (emotional) guns and becomes probably the one of the best animated/stop-motion films ever made. The heart of the film that revolves around the limitless creativity the Lego brand is associated with truly captures the essence of what Lego is all about in the best possible manner that can be put to film. Credits for this must go to Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who not only directed the film but also wrote the screenplay.

Overall The Lego Movie has to be one of the year’s, if not the year’s most feel-good movie made.

8.9 out of 10 stars