Reviews

*Warning: Mild spoilers*

"Godzilla x Mechagodzilla" had a tough act to follow; the nearly perfect "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah". And, while good, "GMK" is still the high water mark of the Millennium series, probably including the Hesei series as well, so expectations and comparisons are hard to ignore. However, director Tezuka definitely picked up a few new tricks since the just-okay "Godzilla x Megaguirus", and follows up "GMK" excellently.

In short, like the other Godzilla Millennium series, this one starts the G mythos over from square one with only the original binding it. However, unlike many other movies, in this one, the original Godzilla actually was killed by the Oxygen Destroyer, and the current Godzilla is just a new one (where he came from, however, they never reveal, a matter I'll discuss later). So, to counter this new threat, the "Anti-Megalosaurus" division of the JSDF builds a new weapon, named Kiryu, nicknamed Mechagodzilla, out of the bones and DNA programming of the old Godzilla's bone remains. It quickly proves itself a match against the new G, but later the original G programming in the DNA runs amuck. But, after that's taken care of, and Godzilla himself appears on land, Mechag is rearmed and ready for a final battle!

First, the good: And get ready, 'cause it's a long list.

The story dangerously treads ground similar to the stories of the main human protagonists in "G 2000" and "G x M". However, here they're used in unique and different ways. The story of Akane, the main pilot of MG who messed up an early battle with Godzilla and got several fellow soldiers killed, is similar to the one of the main character from "G x M". But, instead of out for vengeance against G, Akane is out to find a reason to live and prove to herself she can do a good job. And Professor Yuhura and his daughter are much like the scientist and daughter of "G 2000", but don't follow G around. And those three characters interact in interesting ways. And most importantly, the story between them and for each one individually was strong and well acted, particularly Yumiko Shaku as Akane, who is great in this movie (and good looking too). The supporting characters, from the pilot who lost a brother to Akane's mistake, to the political leaders, do good jobs as well.

The story is serious without being too grim (although that works really well in "GMK"), and I really felt for the characters. However, they really only started to come together at about the 45 minute mark, and could have used a little more closure. Nevertheless, the story and characters are strong, especially for a Godzilla movie, but don't quite match the drama of "GMK". Another interesting fact is that I actually felt for Mechag as a character! Knowing that his history is actually as the resurrected first Godzilla, forced to fight against one of his own, and eventually having something of a life and working with the distressed and determined Akane made all the cool moves, damage and things he does during the final battle make him that much cooler. He's also, I think, the best-looking Mechag to date: the personality of the first one (only not evil), plus the cool weapons of the second one to the tenth power!

Also nice about the story is that it fleshes out the new world, what with talking about previous monster attacks, and giving the new "AM" division of the JSDF some history as to why they have maser weapons and the technology to develop something like Mechag.

And speaking of which, the special effects are great. The suits and models move well, the missiles and masers are cool, and computer effects are used to enhance reality instead of contrast with the models. This is also the best incarnation of the Millennium G suit; it goes back to black and gray coloring, his fire is blue, and he's more mobile and shows more expression than ever. And of course, combine all this with great, cohesive effects, and you get a near-perfect final battle! This is one of the best, most knock-down, drag out monster fights of any Kaiju movie, ranking up there with "Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris" (but more gratuitous) and the final battles in "GMK", "Destroy All Monster" and "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" in my opinion. The great directing, cinematography, and special effects all combine to form one great fight.

And finally, Godzilla himself is really good, but not great, in this movie (this will lead into the movie's faults). As said, the new version of the G Millennium suit is the best, although the eyes are a little too big. And it's nice that his colors are back to normal too. But, as many have said, G himself is little more than a MacGuffin, something the other characters react to in this one. I have to say, that while I do prefer it when G motivates the story, the coldness to him kind of works here, as it's like he's just an impersonal force of nature they're reacting to. However, that does somewhat reduce the story to nothing more than a reaction. Plus, the people don't react quite emphatically enough to the appearance of a new Godzilla: they don't even question where he came from!

Also, during the first fight with MG and some battle scenes, G just stands there when he's getting hit by missiles and weapons like an empty suit! They fix this for the last battle, but it's still annoying. Also, the movie does falter a bit, as G is much weaker in this movie than he was at the tip top of evil-ness in "GMK".

But, Godzilla is far from a pushover. He takes cheap shots at MG, tears up the town, and there are some beautiful shots of him in this movie that just capture the essence of what I love about Godzilla. To me, the best of these is when Godzilla has just attacked a squadron of planes, and he's walking towards the camera, smoke billowing behind him, and a piece of debris from a jet falls in front of him, hits the ground, explodes, and lights up beneath him. G looks so malevolent and powerful...man, it's gorgeous! And the movie is just filled with "Woah!" moments like that, like when Mechag flies in and slams into G.

However, the movie owes a lot to "GMK" for some of that, because there are some scenes, such as the "night-vision" view of G from the tanks, or Godzilla attacking the airplanes, that are almost lifted straight out of "GMK", and are down with less impressive effects, and thus feel less powerful (although, in a nice addition, when G blows up the planes, he does it from far away, and you can see people scurrying in the foreground). Also, the ending is kind of sweet and sour, because while they do defeat Godzilla, he just kind of wanders off like he's tired of fighting. However, that does tell you just how powerful Mechag is!

Finally, as many have asked, why do we need a new Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla when it's been less than ten years since the last one? I'm afraid they have a point, and Toho gets points deducted for not being original. However, this one is so much of an improvement over the previous ones, even without secondary monsters (including Rodan), that I'm willing to excuse a lack of originality in concept for originality and cool-ness in the final battle.

All in all, "Godzilla x Mechagodzilla" is a more gratuitously destructive, "popcorn" movie than "GMK", and is easily the second best of the Millennium series. It's not perfect, or as dramatic as "GMK", but is to me the second best of the Millennium series, and possibly better than any of the Hesei. An enthusiastic 7/10!

*WARNING* SPOILERS

What happens when, expecting a big, loud, dumbed down summer action movie, you get something that is character driven, well acted, and has even better action than any of the other summer movies?

According to most people, it seems you get disappointed.

To me, "Hulk" is a wonderful film (although I still wish it had the words "The Incredible..." before it). I love it to death. I saw it four times in theaters, loved the story, and felt what it was like to be the Hulk. However, it's NOT a summer movie. The acting is too subtle, the script too rich, and the film's overall soul too deep to be widely accepted by people looking for a quick escape during the summer (not to knock other summer movies though).

I won't recap the plot, as it has been done over and over. What I will say is that the makers of the film weave the story of poor old Bruce Banner in a weird, intriguing way.

The script plays the characters like chords on a dying violin. However, one of those strings vibrates so loud it shakes the whole instrument. All the characters are well written, with distinctive dialogue, and little hints at each of their lives. It is like a subtle, yet vibrant, symphony.

The acting is near perfect. From the second I saw him in the dorky bike helmet, Eric Bana was Bruce Banner. However, as good as he and the rest of the cast are, sometimes they are too subdued (sometimes with Bana and a little too often with the great Jennifer Connelly) or too emphatic (Nick Nolte, although perhaps I not seeing just how clearly insane he was). Josh Lucas was a bit too one-dimensional in his portrayal of Glenn Talbot, but perhaps that's the scripts fault for giving him a slimy weasel to play in a soulful film. However, Sam Elliot strikes all the right notes as good old General Thunderbolt Ross. But, nonetheless, I felt for everyone in the film...except really for Talbot (but, strange as it sounds, especially for David Banner).

The special effects are as top notch as you'd expect them to be in a big budget movie, but it's what Ang Lee does with them that makes them special. Instead of just pointing the camera at the effects (as, to me, was what it felt like watching "X2", even though I do like that movie) he shifts focus around things, letting the camera fly as the Hulk jumps, bringing the experience of the film to life. Even in the quiet moments, when Hulk is just looking at Betty or a desert flower, I still enjoy looking at him. But, he's still more fun when he's throwing tanks around.

Danny Elfman's music perfectly sets the mysterious, violent, and deep tone of the film, with excellent uses of bombastic tones and quiet, sad vocals that help bring out the soul of the movie. However, considering this is from the man who made the great `Batman' score, is it too much to ask for a little Hulk theme music?

And then, of course, there's the famous (or infamous) editing. To me, it made otherwise boring things, like Bruce and Betty's lab, interesting. However, it did get unnecessary a time or two (do we really need to see the helicopter carrying Bruce into the desert from five different angles?) Also, it wasn't used as much during the Hulk action scenes, where I think it could have made cool scenes even cooler. Imagine seeing Hulk fight the dogs from five different angles!

All these things on their own are great, but it's when they're all added up that the movie gets its great, big soul. I felt all the pain David and Bruce felt for their lives when David talks about how he accidentally killed his wife, heightened by the great acting, editing, and the music that made the whole scene seem to cry. I longing between Betty and her father for the great relationship that could have been. But all that just makes me care more for the movie. What made me love it was the feeling of being the Hulk as he jumped for miles at a time. I still get teary eyed at the pure joy of that one, long shot as Hulk just runs and jumps over the canyons, the music of pure freedom playing behind him.

Without the soul of the movie, it would be a great package of great parts of acting and special effects and all that. With just that, I'd give it an 8 out of 10, since it still has a few faults. But it's with that soul, that big green Hulk soul that has all the basic human emotions wrapped up in their purest, most exciting forms and put on screen, that I love this movie dearly, and look past it's faults to give it a 9, or even a 9 and ½ or a 10. But numbers can't measure love very well, so I guess I shouldn't try.

Knowing how great the film is now, I know it would have been torture to have to wait for it to be released at a more opportune time, like in the winter, when most of the other, more thoughtful movies are usually released with a chance at the box office. However, I think Universal should have pushed it for Christmas with an advertising campaign that focused on the soul of the movie instead of the action, which as I saw firsthand, made some people think it would be too corny. Maybe then it would have been accepted better. But, maybe by choosing Ang Lee, the film was destined receive mixed views, as those expecting a mindless action `Hulk' would be disappointed and those wanting a deep character study would not like the action. Lee said in an interview (and I'm paraphrasing here), that he saw little difference between dialogue scenes and action scenes, as both served ways of progressing the story. I guess most moviegoers couldn't see it that way. But, I feel fortunate to have `gotten' this movie, because it touched me with its heart, and rocked me with its muscle. Maybe the summer during a major war wasn't a good time for a deep, thoughtful, big budget movie to be released. Maybe it will be better accepted in the future when people can look back and reflect on it, who knows. But I sure know now that I love this movie to death, and no mixed reviews can take that away from me.

*Slight Spoilers of Great Jokes and Minor Plot Points Ahead*

With silliness that lasts from beginning to end, and a streamline of hilarity that sent me gasping for air and drying my eyes every five seconds literally, "Kung Pow: Enter the Fist" is the dumbest, and funniest movie I've seen in a while. Sure, it doesn't have as much intelligence as MST3K, or as much witty dialogue as a Kevin Smith movie, but "Kung Pow" resonates with tear jerking insanity.

Taking and old kung-fu movie, re-editing and re-dubbing it, Steve Odekerk ("Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls", "Thumb Wars") creates a light hearted, well meaning, silly film.

The plot (if you want to know) concerns The Chosen One, played by Odekerk himself. Born with the mark of the Chosen One (his tongue), Chosen's family is killed when he is a baby by the evil Master Pain (a.k.a. Betty). However, when Pain attempts to kill the newborn, Chosen jumps out of his cradle and unleashes major CGI assisted butt.

After escaping Pain and being raised by rodents in the wild, Chosen continues to run into random people who want to kill him. So, he goes to a Temple to learn how to defeat Pain. He meets and falls in love with local babe Ling, gets annoyed by Wind-Blows and his dubbed squeaky shoes, and endured the oddities of the dubbing of his trainer ("Taco Bell, Taco Bell, product placement for Taco Bell!")

Chosen goes on to fight Pain, evil henchmen, a CGI cow (in my opinion, the movie's one slow spot, what with an outdated, but silly, Matrix parody), and other weirdness.

The filmmakers were smart enough to know how far silliness can be taken. After starting off with some funny dubbed voices, they keep the voices, but add on to them, with funny dialogue (not K. Smith quality though), weird characters, and other things that just wring humor out of every possible aspect (The "Ventriloquists", Ling and her weird noised, Wind-Blows and his squeaky shoes). The filmmakers even use bad editing as a joke!

Another good thing about "Kung Pow" was it's good hearted nature. It is never vulgar or obscene, or use gross-out jokes as a crutch like many other "comedies", and is not trying to be mean to its audience or the films it parodies. The filmmakers obviously have a love for kung-fu and action movies, and it shows through this good natured parody. While not really appropriate for younger kids, this film is great and not very offensive.

And for anyone who says this movie is offensive intellectually, remember another movie with just as much silliness called "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"? This movie is silliness on a grand scale. And I laughed almost as hard during this movie as I did in "Holy Grail".

So if you're one of those people who hate a movie for just trying to entertain and be silly, laugh at your own seriousness and lack of lust for the idiocies and of life. I agree that stupidy can reach annoyance (see "Fast and the Furious"), but for me, it sure didn't happen here. So c'mon and laugh! Or better yet, go watch "How High", and realize just how mean spirited, talentless, and unfunny a comedy can be.

But for anyone who loves Monty Python, Ace Ventura, MST3K's sillier moments, and Kevin Smith's works (especially the "Clerks" Cartoon in the case of a movie like this), "Kung Pow: Enter the Fist" is for you.

*Warning: Contains Spoilers about Remake and Original Films*

Are there any Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans out there? If there are, then you should know Cinemax is remaking four movies (one of them that was shown on the MST3K Home Game) that were produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff, and with new special effects by Stan Winston. The first of these remakes if "She-Creature".

The original "Sea-Creature" was a tale of the hypnotist Dr. Carlo Lombardi, who, as, at first, a meager sideshow act, would hypnotize the woman he loved, Andrea, and send her into life regression, until she brought forth an ancient "She-Creature" monster to do his bidding (kill anyone he hated, or kill randomly). They later became a country-wide sensation, and all goes well for Lombardi until hero Ted Erikson (Lance Fuller) falls for Andrea, and helps her resist Lombardi.

Thats as far as i can remember the incoherent plotline. Somehow Lombardi gets killed, and everything turns out all right. Notice I did not include any sarcastic comments about the original film, as this is not a review of the original, and plenty of comments can be found on MST3K.

As for this remake, it is easily above the original. But seeing as how that isn't saying much, I'll go a bit farther.

Its the early 1900's, and Angus Shaw (the underrated Rufus Sewell) runs a sideshow with his wife, Lilian (Carla Gugino), who plays a mermaid in their show. They live contently until one day, they and their carnival partner have meet a mysterious old man with a real, live, beautiful mermaid (Rya Kihlstedt, whom he says killed his wife. After trying to acquire the creature from the old man, the carnies are kicked out of his house. Sewell, his partner, and a third man later steal the mermaid, but the shock of their entrance gives the old man a heart attack, of which he dies.

Thus, they take the mermaid, and all board a ship headed for America and the Big Time!

Unfortunately, the mermaid turns out to be a beautiful being that kills any stereotyped characters who come within one hundred feet or fifteen minutes of her. And, she has developed a psychic link with Lilian!

The film, with an obviously bigger budget, better script, and greater cast than the original, make this movie creepy and well made. You actually care for the characters, due to their somewhat sympathetic writing (for a B movie anyway), and good acting, particularly from Sewell and Gugino. However, there are the stereotypes, such as the drunken sailor, the foreign black guy, and the nice guy sidekick. The sailor, who makes passes at Lilian, is a type of character so sure to die in this kind of movie, the film makers just put his death in as an afterthought to another scene altogether,a sign of that they know what kind of movie they're making, and a good sign of subtle movie making.

The true She Creature is a very cool, lifelike, and scary monster from Stan Winston, although it does look a bit like the Queen Alien from "Aliens"(which is actually very fitting for her).

However different it may seem, this movie is very much like the original. The Sewell and Gugino sideshow couple are much like the Lombardi and Andrea sideshow couple from the original. The movie also takes some of the originals better ideas, like developing a psychological link between the main actress and the monster, although it definately works better here than in the original. Add to that a better change of setting, and it just adds another layer of improvement.

However, as an MSTie, I have one major pro and one major con to add. Pro: this movie does NOT feature the evil, loathsome Dr. Carlo Lombardi. Con: this movie DOES NOT FEATURE THE EVIL, LOATHSOME DR. CARLO LOMBARDI! Man, the guy made the original the film it was! However, I respect and enjoy the remake on its own merits.

All in all, this is a well made, well acted, thrilling, and cool film that easily outdoes the original, and succeeds on its own terms as a good A, and great B, Movie.

*Warning: Contains Spoilers*

Here we are at entry number three in the fun, and often critically maligned, Jurassic Park series. And though this may be the least scientifically accurate one, it is still a great, short blast of fun.

Following the legendary Jurassic Park and the critically panned The Lost World: Jurasssic Park (my personal favorite in the series), Joe Johnston directs this short, quickly paced, and very fun dinosaur movie. With an okay premise, simple and understandable characters, and the always excellent presence of Sam Neil and William H. Macy, Johnston directs the movie like a good old fashioned Ray Harryhausen film.

The story takes place after Isla Sorna (Site B) has been made public, and the world knows dinosaurs are now alive and well. And of course, like anything interesting and extremely dangerous, stupid tourists want to see them! Such is the case when the son (Trevor Morgan) of a divorced couple (Macy and Tea Leoni) goes sailing around Isla Nublar with his mom's new boyfriend. Naturally, as is the case of anyone going near dinosaurs or trying to videotape Godzilla, they end up getting stranded on the island. Talk about bang for your buck.

Enter Alan Grant. Still digging in the hot Bad Lands for fossils, he's strapped for grant money. So Macy and Leoni ask him to be a "tour guide" while they fly over Site B, never mentioning their true intentions of landing and looking for their son.

So, despite the best of common sense from Grant, the plane lands, is attacked, and you've got a few really unlucky people on "the worst place in the world".

The film moves quickly, and is about 20-30 minutes shorter than the previous two. I preffered the more dramatic aspects of the series, but I loved the atmosphere of quick adventure and fun this movie brings. It works in a Ray Harryhausen kind of way.

As a dinosaur enthusiast, I'm also glad to see more dinosaurs (though I still love T-Rex more than anything but Allosaurus). We get Pteranodons (NOT pterodactyls!), a quick cameo of what I'm pretty sure is a Ceratasaurus, and the well hyped Spinosaurus.

The scenes with these dinosaurs are excellent (even though the Ceratosaurus bit is really just a joke). The Pteranodons attack, the Spinosaurus's introduction and finale, all are very tense and executed well on screen.

However, there are, naturally, some setbacks. And if any of you say plot holes and characterization, go watch American Beauty. This is a dinosaur action movie damnit, not a serious drama!

The main problem for me is that the suspense is somewhat killed when a 40 foot long dinosaur can't catch up to a group of mindlessly scrabbling humans. That's what, among other things, I loved about the Lost World: lots more dinosaur food. They manage to stay far ahead of the Spinosaurus (except on water), and it loses its thrill. Luckily, this doesn't happen in any scene with the pteranodons and the velociraptors.

Which, however, is another problem. Although the T-Rex is traded in for the Spinosaurus, the velociraptors are abundent, which is the problem. We've seen plenty of the velociraptors in the previous two, and trying to make them more intelligent and altering their looks for this outing just doesn't cut it. I would suggest more of the aforemention ceratosaurus.

But my big complaints is really just nit-picking scientific details, so its nothing big. The fact is that this movie is really quite less acurate to common theories on dinosaurs than the previous two. For one thing, i doubt a Pteranodon would go after something so large as a human when its mouth is designed to catch fish, or feed an healthy teenager to its young.

And for the hyped up Spino vs. T-Rex fight, the Rex would've one easily. While the Spino is bigger than the Rex, its only by about 4 feet in length. And while the Spino did have a longer head and bigger hands, it was much more lightly built than a Rex or even an allosaurus. Its teeth weren't designed for taking down large, struggling prey, its jaws were weakers, and the Spinosaurus's trademark spine is a giant weakness. It would have been easily damaged during a fight with any large prey. The Rex was more muscular, had teeth and a jaw designed to crush bone, binocular vision, excellent sense of smell, and a brain twice the size of the Spinosaurs, Acrocanthosaurus, or Giganotasaurus. Spino was just there because it looked cool.

Still, the fight was cool, but not up to anything Ray Harryhausen has done.

Overall, this is a well, but not excellently, made diosaur action movie. And just the words "Dinosaur Movie" make me want to see it again. I'd give it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.