Godzilla Minus One

The most powerful force in this story is context. By portraying the events of the big guy’s incursion into the lives of the Japanese in the immediate postwar era, and making everything exceptionally real throughout, both on the human and kaiju scales, this reboot outing of the venerable franchise delivers a tremendous amount of impact. Seeing these colossal events within the frame of both individuals and a society trying to reestablish some sense of normal being makes the emotional impact more real than any previous movie of this sort has ever delivered. Notable too are the script’s observations on the Japanese nation and government, with some rather sharp remarks indicating that the locals are not exactly thrilled with the way things are going, or have been going, for quite some time. What may stand out most, though, are the action sequences when Godzilla is on the screen; these scenes are absolutely electric, dropping grip-the-arms-of-your-seat thrills like we haven’t seen since, perhaps, the original Jurassic Park. The vision and effects are a true step up in the creation of dazzling mayhem. And yet, you appreciate the journey of the human characters, too. A remarkable accomplishment, one that can be enjoyed by both 11-year-old boys and everyone else, too.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Big lizard and monkey become coworkers—and you know how it goes dealing with others in the office. When you get right down to it, this is a profoundly silly movie. The star of the show is basically carnage. The film takes itself way too seriously; indeed, one can’t help but think that many opportunities for clever remarks or wry observations just go by the board, often in favor of bland yet expansive explication. The story features a lot of weird musical cues throughout. And even the title makes little sense; what new empire? So there’s no way this flick could ever deserve a PURR. Still, the eleven-year-old boy in me does appreciate the mayhem amply supplied by a host of starring and supporting monsters. Thus, the lameness is somewhat forgivable. If big beastie flicks are your thing—and, again, being eleven years old and male will help immensely—then no less-than-stellar review will keep you away from this movie. Conversely, anyone else probably couldn’t be dragged into watching this one. So maybe this is the most irrelevant review ever, making it a middling achievement at best—not unlike this film.

Shin Godzilla

The real monster all along was … bureaucracy? This movie may be a modern, native reboot of the classic Kaiju story, but it has the political landscape on its mind as much as it does giant lizards. A great deal of the running time contains ruminations about the state of Japans state—the filmmakers are not exactly thrilled with it—as well as that country’s relationship with its American patrons. There’s so much in here about the political situation that the star of the show, Gojira/Godzilla, spends a lot of the time either inactive or not even on the screen. That’s a complaint, but it must also be said that, when the moment comes for the damage to be done, the sequence contains some eye popping visuals—the rampages are very well done, and some of the shots of the big guy within the Tokyo skyline are almost downright artful. The movie is all in Japanese, so it’s difficult to judge if the key players are good actors or if they’re making their own disaster scenes. No matter—the presentation here, though a bit too talky and not quite stompy enough,  still delivers an adequate amount of entertainment for monster movie fans. It may not be an eleven year old boy’s dream film, but it will do.

Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

What a load of bull Shinto. I'm guessing a lot got lost in translation here. How, for instance, can there be such concern about the bones of the dead if the critter in question—the chap whose birth name is Gojira—is, by the looks of things, very much alive? The conundrum may be the product of cloning, hinted at in a post credits scene, but that doesn’t really satisfy. This is apparently a sequel to another Godzilla movie, one not viewed by me, so perhaps that’s where the confusion comes in. Not that it really matters; these movies are hardly about plot or human actions or motivations so much as they’re about staging free-for-all fights between oversized creatures. This flick does supply the requisite monster mashing, which is good since there’s little else to recommend it. The human characters are dull as dishwater—though this outing is mercifully short on child antics, so a plus there—and the great philosophical theme cited by the movie’s wise old man character seems to have little to do with anything demonstrated in the film. As usual, nine-year-old boys will dig it, but this is hardly a movie that has breakout, crossover potential. Good thing these colossal characters never really die; they always have a chance to come back and do it better next time.

Godzilla vs. Kong

Three for the price of two. See that's what I like about these movies: value. As for the cinematic value here, well, as Joe Bob used to say, there's a bunch of plot getting in the way of the movie. Hardly matters though; the storyish stuff doesn't particularly hold the real show back. The stars of the flick deliver tremendous performances, via their CGI presences. I'm not talking about the human actors, of course; they're all so lightweight that a puppy's bark could blow them away, let alone the bellows of the big guys. It's all ridiculous, absurd, hokey and ultimately entertaining, if you don't go in expecting Chekhov. Kong fu. Godzilla fu. No breasts (unless you count the monkey). It's a good day to be an eleven-year-old boy. The Bad Cat says check it out.

Colossal

A monster lurks within all of us--it's just that most times, it doesn't manifest quite so concretely. Not so here, to the viewers amusement. This one delivers a remarkably deft mix of comedy and drama that hits all the right notes without a misstep. The only thing false, considering the nature of the story, is the fact that the city in danger is not completely evacuated by the end, given all that has happened before then. But that's a quibble. Ultimately, this is a little movie that makes a big impact.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

As Joe Bob Briggs would have said back in the day, there's a whole lot of plot getting in the way of this movie. They tried really hard to make it make sense--but it's a movie about monsters destroying the world. It's not about making sense, it's about spectacle. They got that part down OK; everything looks good, both in terms of scale and visual character. But none of the players really breaks out of their stock roles. Special recognition (?) must go to Kyle Chandler, who seems convinced--vocally, at least--that he's playing Batman despite the lack of a cape. More troubling, his character goes through a fairly unconvincing 180 turnaround. Other characters die, as likely as not because the actors wanted out of the further sequels more than because the story demands it. Yet, there's still enough appeal here to make it something more than bottom of the barrel. The 12-year-old boy in all of us is bound to get a charge out of watching a bunch of kaiju battle it out, and there's even a nice little piece of the world-building that ties the monsters in with our myths in a way that an "Ancient Aliens" fan, if not a classical scholar, will appreciate. As dopey entertainment, it's fine. It will take someone more adept than these filmmakers to turn this bit of pop culture into high art. For now, just watch shit blow up.

Pacific Rim: Uprising

Mmm, big and dumb; generally an irresistible combination. And if you're one of those people--boys, really--who grew up watching Japanese monster movies, you'll probably be more inclined to enjoy this outing then if you grew up watching, say, Merchant-Ivory dramas. So, does that mean it's any good. There are things to appreciate. One nice touch here is the climactic setting in Tokyo; where better to have this kind of battle than the capital of monsterdom? Respect, for sure. The rest of it? Meh; for the most part, this one's pretty run of the mill. The action is action-y, with lots of self-consciously "epic" shots sprinkled in, which is so-so, but the comic moments generally fall flat. The enjoyment here really depends upon who you are as a film watcher. If this is your thing, you'll dig it (and know that going in). If not, well, then the machines won't be the only things that crash and burn.

Godzilla (2014)

Mild spoiler alert: some of the stuff in this movie doesn't make much sense. In other words, it's a monster movie. Go figure. So why the positive PURR? It may be nonsense, but it's entertaining nonsense. There is perhaps a little too much teasing going on before the big guy starts messing shit up old school, but the flick does ultimately delivers on its promises. (The ending of the climactic battle, for sure, delivers quite a jolt.) It's somewhat ridiculous to judge these movies on any criterion other than the most obvious one: do you have a good time watching it? I certainly had a good time watching this one, so it's a go from this end. Enjoy.

Pacific Rim

I can almost see a single tear trickling down from Gamera’s eye: his genre is finally all grown up. And this is exactly that: the Japanese monster movie made to adult proportions. This one is entertaining, to be sure, but like its Japanese forebears it’s also very difficult to take seriously. Suspension of disbelief really gets thrown through the ringer; when a pan-dimensional portal at the bottom of the ocean that spits out giant monsters is NOT the most unbelievable part of your story...well, that’s a tough row to hoe. There’s also a little too much plot getting in the way of the smashing stuff, and some but not quite enough cheeky humor. It should be said, though: it looks great; first class visuals all the way. All together, acceptable, but not really something special in this day and age.