Release date: July 23, 2014

I AM SO THERE.

Taeng's Down-and-Dirty Review: GODZILLA 2014

 GODZILLA

I'm kinda lukewarm on the reboot of our favorite kaiju. Its different from the first 'boot' by Roland Emmerich, which it seemed was widely panned. I, for one, enjoyed the rollercoaster ride it took me on (the 1998 movie) but I do see the point of the negative reactions, mainly to two facts: 1) The design kinda sucked. It made sense, given the history at the beginning of the movie but it still kinda stank 2) Godzilla was always on the run & hiding VS attacking and mashing foam buildings...and HE was a SHE.
Anyway, the reboot is WAAAY more serious in tone. Gone are the funny characters and the close calls they get into. No high-speed chases and no targeting New York, for once (although our beloved Waikiki gets trashed). This monster movie takes itself VERY seriously. If you smiled at any time during this movie, it was UNINTENTIONAL.
This seriousness can be good and bad. Good because there is finally a Godzilla movie that isn't as hokey as all previous efforts (even the Japanese ones where its OBVIOUS there's a man in a suit). But then again the "hokey-ness" had its charms.
Its a bad thing because, well, there are no jokes and no real levity. Dark is what it is..or maybe a shade or two of gray.

THIS MOVIE IS SO DARK, I HAD TO USE MY FLASHLIGHT..

Add to that is the fact that I only liked ONE character in the movie: Bryan Cranston's Joe Brody. I was rooting for him, feeling for his loss and his determination to find out the truth. But the for 2/3 of the movie its his son, Ford, who is supposed to take the lead. But you know what? So little of his story as a young boy is revealed that I really had no feelings for him. He suffered the same loss as his father and they showed his reaction to this loss...but with Ford we pass over that by fast-forwarding 15 years so that now he's a grown man. Add to that he's pretty stone-faced all the time..we don't even see him cry when he supposed to. Maybe its the army training he had...who knows? But to me it made him robotic...I couldn't get behind him like I did his father.

Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody. Dude I was SOOO rooting for you!

But I wasn't rooting for your son! How sad!

As for the Big G himself, the design is much better this time around and the way they weaved him into the old film footage was a nice touch. And the story about what they were actually doing with those nukes...genius. Adding more monsters was also a nice touch and the grand scale in which we see the kaiju's wake of destruction was cool. The fights themselves seems a bit clumsy and dark (alot of the fights were during the night) but the final jawbreaker move was great.
Yet I am still lukewarm at this reboot because it seemed off-balance emotionally and not quite satisfying when it came to the monster fights.
Bottom line: This is monster movie that takes itself very seriously. For some its a welcome surprise (critic love this movie) but for me it wasn't as thrilling as I'd wanted it to be. I was waiting for something that would make me go "WHOOOOAAA". It never happened.
Not that I could do a better job, mind you. Director Gareth Edwards does a good job...its the characters, both big and small, that I have a problem with.
Would I buy it on blu?  Well, "lukewarm" means it could be yes or no. I really have no idea.

OUT FROM LEFT FIELD: W E R

Hey there, I'm back again with another Out-From-Left-Field movie review. This time its a horror movie that actually hit the mark: Wer.

Short for 'Werewolf', maybe? That's what I thought at first.

But wait let's take a step back a bit so I can regale you on just WHY I was even interested in this: It would be the very hot A.J. Cook of TV's "Criminal Minds" fame. I've always liked her...I even sat thru one of her earlier flicks about alien abduction. I just like watching her. End of story.

A.J. Cook. Yes, please!

 

So anyway I went into this with no prior knowledge other than AJ Cook's hotness so when the story started to unfold,I was intrigued. I was expecting some sort of low-budget monster romp time-suck of a movie. Turns out it was pretty damned good.

A family of 3 (husband, wife & son) vacationing in Paris get brutally slaughtered one night by a very hairy animal-like creature.  The mother  barely survives and claims they were attacked by a hairy thing that walked upright..she claims it was "eating her baby alive' 

GROSS! CREEPY!

It also just so happens that they were filimg their camping vacation so there is some evidence of someTHING attacking them.

The police officers arrest a suspect with a serious medical condition who lives less than 2 miles away. And he's hairy.

You know what they say about guys with big hands...

Attorney Kate Moore (AJ Cook) comes to the man's defense. Joining her are Eric (he's the information dealer, gets all the facts) and Gavin (forensics..and a previous love interest of Kate's). The suspect in custody is named Talan Gwynek (keeeeeen name!) and the dude's a scarey looking sasquatch of a man, bearded and yes, hairy.

Eric, played by Vik Sahay (Remember the TV series CHUCK?)

Gavin, played by Simon Quarterman

Things start at a slow-boil from there and escalates to absolute ape-$h*t proportions. I mean, I thought I was watching Law & Order until the beastly reveal...then I'm like "Oh damn, I forgot it was supposed to be horror flick!"

Obviously, the operation DID NOT go well...

There are a few side story type things thrown in to justify some people's actions, while condemning others (namely the police & the government...things are corrupt even in France?? Mon dieu!) but I tended to file those events away becuz I was waiting for more info..I really wanted to know if it was "true" about Talan. I also felt for Kate as she tries to give Talan the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty and all that.

The last act is something of pure WTF...I mean the events leading up to it pretty much made it a little predictable but it still managed to find a little twist to make it not so cliche. But then again, not much of this (other than the 3 or 4 "jump scares" that were predictable) is cliche. Its a fresh take on the werewolf lore, explained by science, which somehow makes it seem possible. It seemed so.."X-Files"-ish to me but in a good way.

I know I'm not saying a whole lot (how unusual for me, right?) but I DO NOT want give anything away.

The camera work is a bit shaky, more documentary-style (it is NEVER bolted down) and there is also closed-circuit cameras used. Some may think that it detracts from the movie-watching experience but I'm used to it.

All in all a pretty fun romp. The acting is just enough and not over-the-top. You really feel for Talan as a misunderstood misfit. AJ Cook is fine as always and she spouts only ONE s-bomb in the whole movie. The special effects were definitely high-quality stuff but used sparingly. The morgue scene was especially chilling, as it shows the aftermath of the vacationer's attack.
Now the big question:Would I buy it on bluray? Probably not. As much as I enjoyed the movie, there's no surprises if watched again. But nonetheless it wasn't a waste of my time, either. Now when that 2nd Sharknado movie comes we'll see an actual time-suck movie in action.