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patentdragonI was seriously tired when I got home last night, so this review - and yes, the linkage to another Ace Of Thorns video - have been delayed a bit. But first, and regretfully belatedly...
Legends We Lost... Dammit. Another inspiration passes from this increasingly bland world, this time the eldritch genius that was H. R. Giger. Taken from us by, of all things, a fall down the stairs at his home, he was truly unique, and impossible to replace. I mean, how many generations of special effects artists have channelled his work since Alien...?
Guess I may have to get my Harkonnen chairs second-hand, now...
And so, to our main feature...
Review: GODZILLA...
So here it is - quite possibly, and literally, one of the BIGGEST movies of the year, and one with SO MUCH to prove...
We begin in flashback, with us mere humans being challenged by something we clearly do not understand, at great cost to one family simply trying to do what was right. Those left behind are split on how to deal with their loss: carry on living, or tear yourself up trying to get at the answers...
The truth is, Dear Reader, that Man is NOT the master of the earth, not by a loooong stretch of the imagination. For decades, secrets have been kept, and all that is about to bite mankind squarely on the ass. Now, we're tinkering with what was dug up back in the past, and it has woken up.
That's how the movie starts, setting the scene for the latest iteration of Godzilla - and this time, we get it RIGHT. No nuked iguanas this time - The King of Monsters is the "apex predator" of prehistory, given an intriguing raison d'etre for the first time, as one of a race of megafauna that thrived when earth was more radioactive, and when that radioactivity decreased, he and others like him (we presume) burrowed deeper to the earth's core for sustenance... until Man started messing about with the atom, and we caught their attention again.
Father and son discover the reason for their loss - an ancient parasite that is, fifteen years later, starting to show signs of waking up. That's just what it does, and in the process the baton is passed from senior to junior, but the son is more concerned with... well, staring in awe at whatever monster is rearing up before him, mainly...
The core of the movie is Man trying to use nature against itself, bringing Gojira - which inexplicably and seemlessly becomes transformed into the Anglicised Godzilla from that moment on - into the fray against not one, but two marauding monstrosities, the soon-to-be mother and father of a whole race that is sure to wipe us out. This time, a couple of anti-ship missiles on the Brooklyn Bridge aren't going to cut it - and where's the logic in trying to secretly use nukes to take out creatures that track down and feed on radioactive material...?
Don't get me wrong: this is a strong movie, and thoroughly entertaining, with several genuine fist-pumping moments as the kaiju battles kick off - once you actually get to see them, that is. The one major problem with this movie is we don't get enough Godzilla, not when the first encounter between The Big G and the first "MUTO" occurs off-camera, and is only glimpsed in a silent news report, and subsequent battles in San Francisco are mainly a backdrop for our not entirely inspiring hero to do his heroic best. An extra ten minutes run-time, an extra ten million in FX budget, and this could have been dealt with - that first encounter is the "first-quarter" pay-off that would make the rest of the "game" that bit more mouth-watering...
And, pray tell, where was the 3D? We wore the glasses, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING drew us in deeper, or "popped" as it should. Something like this doesn't NEED 3D, but if you're going to pay guys to paste it on afterwards, then you really have to get your money's worth. Director and self-sworn G-Fan Gareth Edwards should ask for a refund, seriously...
...but I'm not going to penalise the movie for that, not when it gladdened my fan-boyish heart, just as Matthew Broderick and Co saddened it sixteen years back, just slightly souring a magnificent New York trip. Nor am I going to be harsh and deduct fractions of a point because the "hero" just failed to snare your love, in the face of such mind-boggling odds. No, that would be unfair, not when this movie spectacularly achieves the task of kicking "Godzilla In Name Only" (1998) well into the long grass, where it will hopefully be stomped into the mud and forgotten.
All the same, Cap 2 retains the "Top Movie Of The Year" title, but not by much. Well worth the trip - and the subsequent exhaustion and minor dehydration...
Go see this, and see how it SHOULD be done. Kaiju wrangler supreme Eiji Tsuburaya is no longer spinning in his grave.
The Final Word... So long, G. I. N. O. - the real King is in town! Our faith has been well repaid! 8.25/10
Legends We Lost... Dammit. Another inspiration passes from this increasingly bland world, this time the eldritch genius that was H. R. Giger. Taken from us by, of all things, a fall down the stairs at his home, he was truly unique, and impossible to replace. I mean, how many generations of special effects artists have channelled his work since Alien...?
Guess I may have to get my Harkonnen chairs second-hand, now...
And so, to our main feature...
Review: GODZILLA...
So here it is - quite possibly, and literally, one of the BIGGEST movies of the year, and one with SO MUCH to prove...
We begin in flashback, with us mere humans being challenged by something we clearly do not understand, at great cost to one family simply trying to do what was right. Those left behind are split on how to deal with their loss: carry on living, or tear yourself up trying to get at the answers...
The truth is, Dear Reader, that Man is NOT the master of the earth, not by a loooong stretch of the imagination. For decades, secrets have been kept, and all that is about to bite mankind squarely on the ass. Now, we're tinkering with what was dug up back in the past, and it has woken up.
That's how the movie starts, setting the scene for the latest iteration of Godzilla - and this time, we get it RIGHT. No nuked iguanas this time - The King of Monsters is the "apex predator" of prehistory, given an intriguing raison d'etre for the first time, as one of a race of megafauna that thrived when earth was more radioactive, and when that radioactivity decreased, he and others like him (we presume) burrowed deeper to the earth's core for sustenance... until Man started messing about with the atom, and we caught their attention again.
Father and son discover the reason for their loss - an ancient parasite that is, fifteen years later, starting to show signs of waking up. That's just what it does, and in the process the baton is passed from senior to junior, but the son is more concerned with... well, staring in awe at whatever monster is rearing up before him, mainly...
The core of the movie is Man trying to use nature against itself, bringing Gojira - which inexplicably and seemlessly becomes transformed into the Anglicised Godzilla from that moment on - into the fray against not one, but two marauding monstrosities, the soon-to-be mother and father of a whole race that is sure to wipe us out. This time, a couple of anti-ship missiles on the Brooklyn Bridge aren't going to cut it - and where's the logic in trying to secretly use nukes to take out creatures that track down and feed on radioactive material...?
Don't get me wrong: this is a strong movie, and thoroughly entertaining, with several genuine fist-pumping moments as the kaiju battles kick off - once you actually get to see them, that is. The one major problem with this movie is we don't get enough Godzilla, not when the first encounter between The Big G and the first "MUTO" occurs off-camera, and is only glimpsed in a silent news report, and subsequent battles in San Francisco are mainly a backdrop for our not entirely inspiring hero to do his heroic best. An extra ten minutes run-time, an extra ten million in FX budget, and this could have been dealt with - that first encounter is the "first-quarter" pay-off that would make the rest of the "game" that bit more mouth-watering...
And, pray tell, where was the 3D? We wore the glasses, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING drew us in deeper, or "popped" as it should. Something like this doesn't NEED 3D, but if you're going to pay guys to paste it on afterwards, then you really have to get your money's worth. Director and self-sworn G-Fan Gareth Edwards should ask for a refund, seriously...
...but I'm not going to penalise the movie for that, not when it gladdened my fan-boyish heart, just as Matthew Broderick and Co saddened it sixteen years back, just slightly souring a magnificent New York trip. Nor am I going to be harsh and deduct fractions of a point because the "hero" just failed to snare your love, in the face of such mind-boggling odds. No, that would be unfair, not when this movie spectacularly achieves the task of kicking "Godzilla In Name Only" (1998) well into the long grass, where it will hopefully be stomped into the mud and forgotten.
All the same, Cap 2 retains the "Top Movie Of The Year" title, but not by much. Well worth the trip - and the subsequent exhaustion and minor dehydration...
Go see this, and see how it SHOULD be done. Kaiju wrangler supreme Eiji Tsuburaya is no longer spinning in his grave.
The Final Word... So long, G. I. N. O. - the real King is in town! Our faith has been well repaid! 8.25/10
