tiwaz_2k
Joined Jul 2004
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Spoiler free Review:
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Disclaimer: I am a life long fan of Kaiju (Japanese for 'strange beast') movies. I have seen almost all of them and generally liked them. There is no high standard in the genre, most were barely 'B-grade' movies, with cult followings. There are certain rules in most movies that don't apply to this genre.
The 3 main Kaiju expected in the story, re-branded as "titans" in this movie: Mothra appears early with a key story element involving sound. Gidhora, aka Monster Zero - traditionally has been an ET Rodan - formerly a kind of pterosaur, now more of a phoenix
The movie is ambitious in a number of ways, telling a big story, very fast, about big monsters and the devastation they cause, because human hubris is even bigger and more dangerous. And that is quite a challenge most movies fail at, especially remakes/re-boots... but not this one. It works, and is a worthy Kaiju movie, which means it will not have broad appeal or a big box office take. That is the way Genre Movies are. The battles are visual intense and serves the story well. The tech borders on fantasy levels which is expected for this kind of film. The dialogue although slightly predictable is adequate to keep the story movie along a near obvious line and conclusion, which doesn't really make the move any less fun. It is the one reassurance given to us that allows the viewer to enjoy it, much like a safer bar on a roller coaster.
Charles Dance - as a bad guy. Excellent casting choice and even makes lame lines work effectively.
Vera Farmiga - meh, completely forgettable to the point of almost being superfluous, despite being a central character. Her central motivation is grief and self-delusion. Pretty cliché as characters go.
Ken Watanabe - as a veteran of the genre, he knows and delivers.
Ziyi Zhang - not a lot of lines but a critical anchor character, and she is perfect.
Kyle Chandler - heavy handed and over the top, bordering on Shatner'ing. He does manage to drive the story which wouldn't work with more traditional acting. Kaiju is one place it works and is almost expected.
Thomas Middleditch - Corporate type you instantly expect to die in a gristly way. Kind of his niche, so no points for or against him.
David Strathairn - back as the admiral, provides perfect continuity to the 2014 movie.
Writing - Better than average for the genre and at some points good by broader standards.
Director - He is very fond of fast camera moves & cuts as a substitute for actual drama or tension. Not enough establishment shots to anchor the action and mood so it gets helter-skelter and disorienting, and it can be a good tactic on a technical level but over used and most audiences are not going handle it well...
Special recognition is deserved for showing the military as diverse as it actually is.
Disclaimer: I am a life long fan of Kaiju (Japanese for 'strange beast') movies. I have seen almost all of them and generally liked them. There is no high standard in the genre, most were barely 'B-grade' movies, with cult followings. There are certain rules in most movies that don't apply to this genre.
The 3 main Kaiju expected in the story, re-branded as "titans" in this movie: Mothra appears early with a key story element involving sound. Gidhora, aka Monster Zero - traditionally has been an ET Rodan - formerly a kind of pterosaur, now more of a phoenix
The movie is ambitious in a number of ways, telling a big story, very fast, about big monsters and the devastation they cause, because human hubris is even bigger and more dangerous. And that is quite a challenge most movies fail at, especially remakes/re-boots... but not this one. It works, and is a worthy Kaiju movie, which means it will not have broad appeal or a big box office take. That is the way Genre Movies are. The battles are visual intense and serves the story well. The tech borders on fantasy levels which is expected for this kind of film. The dialogue although slightly predictable is adequate to keep the story movie along a near obvious line and conclusion, which doesn't really make the move any less fun. It is the one reassurance given to us that allows the viewer to enjoy it, much like a safer bar on a roller coaster.
Charles Dance - as a bad guy. Excellent casting choice and even makes lame lines work effectively.
Vera Farmiga - meh, completely forgettable to the point of almost being superfluous, despite being a central character. Her central motivation is grief and self-delusion. Pretty cliché as characters go.
Ken Watanabe - as a veteran of the genre, he knows and delivers.
Ziyi Zhang - not a lot of lines but a critical anchor character, and she is perfect.
Kyle Chandler - heavy handed and over the top, bordering on Shatner'ing. He does manage to drive the story which wouldn't work with more traditional acting. Kaiju is one place it works and is almost expected.
Thomas Middleditch - Corporate type you instantly expect to die in a gristly way. Kind of his niche, so no points for or against him.
David Strathairn - back as the admiral, provides perfect continuity to the 2014 movie.
Writing - Better than average for the genre and at some points good by broader standards.
Director - He is very fond of fast camera moves & cuts as a substitute for actual drama or tension. Not enough establishment shots to anchor the action and mood so it gets helter-skelter and disorienting, and it can be a good tactic on a technical level but over used and most audiences are not going handle it well...
Special recognition is deserved for showing the military as diverse as it actually is.
70% stolen plot devices, scenes, cliches... sewn together as a patchwork that is less than the sum of it's parts. I am sure the books were better.
The acting was fine and fairly talented. The action completely predictable. Many of the FX were almost good, almost.
And that is it in a nutshell, the movie that was almost good, but lacked original ideas and tried to hybridizes several formulas and failed. At least 6 scenes are plagurized from the Star Wars Trilogy. 4 from Slipstream, ... the list just keeps going. Story board by Xerox.
If you have time to kill on an airplane it is fine, but that is about it.
The acting was fine and fairly talented. The action completely predictable. Many of the FX were almost good, almost.
And that is it in a nutshell, the movie that was almost good, but lacked original ideas and tried to hybridizes several formulas and failed. At least 6 scenes are plagurized from the Star Wars Trilogy. 4 from Slipstream, ... the list just keeps going. Story board by Xerox.
If you have time to kill on an airplane it is fine, but that is about it.
The big review for John Wick 3:
Well the short version anyway, since the other has been submitted for another outlet.
The movie seems to be in segments or acts. Act 1 is a series of escape fights Act 2 is a back story delve, a setup for movie #4, maybe Act 3 is a search (appeal) Act 4 is Boss fight (classic RAID boss) Epilogue is definitely a setup for movie #4, which you had to know was coming since Parabellum = "prepare for war"
Ya, it is a formula and it is done really well for the genre with great fight choreography and visual design. Even Halley Berry comes across as semi-believable. Keanu is starting to show his age at a few point and not as quick as he used to be. As with most of the films in the genre, it suffers from Magic- clips, which only seem to be changed as punctuation to the action rather than a necessity. I will give the director points for scattering a few moments of focus on mitigating it with shots of speed loading techniques during non-critical moments.
Fight Stuttering: At several points the opponents are clearly waiting for Keanu to make the next move, and I blame the stunt guy and fight choreographer for those moments. They got highly skilled fight performers (very quick moves). At moment the pace of the fight stutters, deviating from what looks good on camera. Hand to Hand: Certainly not Donnie Yen level which the performers seem trained for, but still well above the usual US action movie fair like that Mercenary Tough-guy trilogy which I also like. Special credit for a knife throwing sequence where it takes several thrown knives to drop attackers, instead of the magic one killing instantly.
The dialogue for the most part works and serves to keep the story moving, until Act 4 where the writers seem to wander with the 'Fan-boy' Ninja antagonist, a part which seems to have been cut down for length, or not working like they wanted.
Some improves for #4 would be not to dwell on action sequences (a rule that was broken during the Boss fight), that is the Strength of the John Wick Series.
Well the short version anyway, since the other has been submitted for another outlet.
The movie seems to be in segments or acts. Act 1 is a series of escape fights Act 2 is a back story delve, a setup for movie #4, maybe Act 3 is a search (appeal) Act 4 is Boss fight (classic RAID boss) Epilogue is definitely a setup for movie #4, which you had to know was coming since Parabellum = "prepare for war"
Ya, it is a formula and it is done really well for the genre with great fight choreography and visual design. Even Halley Berry comes across as semi-believable. Keanu is starting to show his age at a few point and not as quick as he used to be. As with most of the films in the genre, it suffers from Magic- clips, which only seem to be changed as punctuation to the action rather than a necessity. I will give the director points for scattering a few moments of focus on mitigating it with shots of speed loading techniques during non-critical moments.
Fight Stuttering: At several points the opponents are clearly waiting for Keanu to make the next move, and I blame the stunt guy and fight choreographer for those moments. They got highly skilled fight performers (very quick moves). At moment the pace of the fight stutters, deviating from what looks good on camera. Hand to Hand: Certainly not Donnie Yen level which the performers seem trained for, but still well above the usual US action movie fair like that Mercenary Tough-guy trilogy which I also like. Special credit for a knife throwing sequence where it takes several thrown knives to drop attackers, instead of the magic one killing instantly.
The dialogue for the most part works and serves to keep the story moving, until Act 4 where the writers seem to wander with the 'Fan-boy' Ninja antagonist, a part which seems to have been cut down for length, or not working like they wanted.
Some improves for #4 would be not to dwell on action sequences (a rule that was broken during the Boss fight), that is the Strength of the John Wick Series.