PODCAST: Film Focus Episode 3 – Godzilla Franchise Discussion

Howdy people of the internet, as some of you may have seen, recently I started a film podcast entitled Film Focus and the first two episodes focused on Captain America: Civil War and today I return to give you my thoughts on the Godzilla franchise. While I’m not the biggest or well-versed fan of this particular IP, I really love what it represents and here I briefly cover my experience with the franchise, the film’s I’ve seen and what I think would be cool for the film series going ahead especially when it comes to the US-produced Godzilla 2 and King Kong vs Godzilla. This episode is a little less scripted and a bit more subjective so hopefully you won’t hold that against me too much.

Anyway here’s the third episode:

As I said before in each episode I’ll cover a different topic and since I don’t have much in the way of listeners or promotion, I’m back here to spread the word about my podcast. 🙂 So if you have some spare time on your hands and would like to listen to the ramblings of a passionate/strange man then please check it out, and share it with your friends if you like it. Also you have any feedback or if you’d be interested in joining on future episodes be sure to let me know, until next time, laters! 😀

 

QUICK REVIEW: Godzilla Resurgence

Good day to you ladies and gents, there have been a lot of trailers released for big 2016 films, but one that flew under the radar that I didn’t know about until yesterday was the teaser trailer for Godzilla Resurgence. This is not a sequel to the Gareth Edwards film, but rather a new film from the original Japanese studio, Toho. There hasn’t been a traditional Godzilla film since Final Wars in 2004, so when it was announced that there would be a new Godzilla film from Japan, all of the fans got pretty excited. And recently the new trailer and poster got released and I feel the need to talk about it.

So here’s the trailer below:

After watching this trailer I feel like the Japanese are the only ones in the film business at the moment who know how to do teaser trailers. With exceptions like the first footage from The Force Awakens last year or the recent Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them teaser, most western films have teasers that can be up to 3 mins long with loads of footage and spoilers galore because that’s the way things work these days. And while this trailer certainly wasn’t anything special, it was nice to actually see a teaser trailer that actually teased and did nothing more.

Right now we can only speculate about what this film will entail, but those few seconds of footage does paint a picture and because of the history of this franchise I believe there is reasons to be excited about what’s been shown. So what did the trailer actually show? Not much, just people running away from stuff in a Cloverfield kind of manner, but even that alone is worth talking about. What we have in this trailer is loads of Japanese people running away from something and even though we can’t see what they’re running from, we can probably assume its Godzilla. What surprised me about this footage is the style, it is a handheld style of filming and to have the camera focused so closely in the crowds in chaos and with such kinetic movements, it just illustrates a style and sense of pace that I haven’t encountered in this franchise so far (that being said I’ve only seen 2 out of the 28 Toho films). I’m just hoping for a solid monster film with great action, the cool codes and conventions of the franchise and I am expecting a combination of practical and digital effects, though I am curious to know if there will be people in suits or if that element of the series is over and the monsters will be full CGI. Regardless of the outcome I hope the film will be good and will hopefully get an international release.

So have you seen the Godzilla Resurgence teaser and if so what do you think? Did you like it and are you excited about the next instalment of this franchise from Toho? Be sure to drop me a comment and I’ll see ya on the next review! 🙂

 

Toho to Produce New Godzilla Movie!

Howdy ladies and gents, time for some film news and today I’ll be talking about the future of the Godzilla film franchise, not from the western perspective, but from the east instead! The following information comes from superherohype:

Following the $500-million+ global box office of Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla remake, the originators of the beast want in on that new brand awareness as Japan’s Toho Studios is gearing up for their own homegrown Godzilla movie, according to Cinema Today (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Production on the 29th Godzilla movie, the first from Toho since 2004′s Godzilla: Final Wars, will begin in summer 2015 and aims for global market appeal, meaning we could see a major release here in the states come 2016. In the 2004 film, Toho used a visual of the 1998 American Godzilla being quickly and mercilessly defeated by Japanese Godzilla at the Sydney Opera House.

Their press release states that they will utilize CG technology, which means that the man-in-suit days may be numbered, although it will be interesting to see if the new American version’s design will influence the iconic monster, who first appeared in 1954 and stands as Guinness World Records 2015′s longest-running movie franchise.

“This is very good timing after the success of the American version this year: if not now, then when?” a Toho staffer told The Reporter. “The licensing contract we have with Legendary places no restrictions on us making domestic versions.”

Meanwhile, Legendary and Warner Bros. are cooking up their own Godzilla sequel with director Gareth Edwards and screenwriter Max Borenstein returning for a June 8, 2018 release. In the interim, Edwards will direct a currently untitled Star Wars spin-off film for release on December 16, 2016.

All I can say is “It is about damn time!” Now I loved this year’s Godzilla, while it wasn’t completely consistent and had less monster action then one would have liked, I thought it was hella fun. But now hearing that the original studio behind the king of the monsters is going to create a new film, that just makes me happy. Godzilla: Final Wars is ten years old and while I loved the epicness of that film, I always thought that the films should never have stopped at that point and we need more films. So now that we’ve had a successful western reboot, popularity of the franchise is at an all-time high so it is smart for the people at Toho to capitalize on that get on a new film and for it to start filming as swiftly as next year, it makes me so hyped! Now I have to wonder what kind of film it will be. Will it be:

1. A new reboot where Godzilla is the villain and attacks Japan again
2. A film where Godzilla is the hero and takes on a classic monster Mothra, Gamera, etc
   
3. An epic clash with the big special villains like Mechagodzilla or King Ghidorah
4. An all-out monster clash like Destroy All Monsters or Final Wars

Also will the film be super serious or a little bit campy and silly? There are a lot of possibilities and since it comes from Japan, anything goes. No Godzilla film is the same (sort of), I mean there have been films with robots, super-powered humans, aliens and one film took place in space yo! As I said before anything goes, so I’m super curious to know what Toho cooks up for us fans when they start production next year.

So what do you think of this news, are you excited for a new Godzilla film from the original creators at Toho or not? and if you’re a hardcore what would you like to see in the new film? Be sure to comment below and let me know. Laters! 😀

 

San Diego Comic-Con 2014 – My Highlights

Good day to you ladies and gents, well the annual San Diego Comic Convention is totally in full swing and news, images and videos have been released all over the internet and it has sent fans into a frenzy so far. So far from what I’ve seen and read it has been a pretty amazing session so far and I wish I could attend, but alas I am too poor lol. So just like last year I’m gonna do a news round-up of all the updates from Comic-Con that have caught my eye. So hold on tight as I have a lot to get through, let’s rocket! XD

Wonder Woman’s Costume Revealed

For me one of the biggest things to come out of Comic-Con was the reveal of Wonder Woman’s costume and I have to say that I like it. Gal Gadot looks fine in it and the costume is clearly more practical and let’s revealing than the comic book versions of the past. Though it wasn’t until I saw a meme online where someone pointed out that the BvS Wonder Woman costume is pretty much the same as Xena from the old Xena: Warrior Princess TV show, really after you do a quick comparison is kind of hard to ignore. Whether or not the costume designers were aware of this or not remains to be seen, either way it is pretty interesting to note.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Footage

Obviously what could be described as the biggest announcement from Comic-Con this year would be the reveal of the short footage from the upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which features an armoured Batman in the rain setting up the Bat signal and Superman hovers in the sky looking down with glowing eyes like they’re ready to duke it out. Now thanks to the power of the internet I saw some blurry leaked footage and from what i could tell it looked pretty awesome, Batman looked badass and the way Gotham City has been crafted visually is so good and the way these two titans are just staring at each other you know that shit is gonna go down. Everybody has been freaking out about this footage and while I think it was cool, it was by no means anything earth-shattering.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Massive Picture, Footage & Info

Not to be outdone by DC completely Marvel assembled nearly all of their cast for the Avengers: Age of Ultron panel where they were all introduced in style to Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Enough” and we learnt a few more details about some of the characters here and there. In addition to that we got a beautiful concept art poster of all the Avengers assembled battling the Ultron army [pictured above} which looks totally badass and is my new wallpaper haha. And then there’s the footage (which at this point has yet to be leaked online), which apparently has the Avengers chilling out with each of them trying to pick up Thor’s hammer and failed, only Captain America has the power to budge it a little. And Ultron apparently comes a long and messes things up and then there’s a montage of all sorts of things (man I hope that trailer gets leaked.

Check out the panel here:

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 & Animated Series Announced

So Guardians of the Galaxy is just under a week away and so far it has been getting early positive reviews which is awesome and now it has been announced that there is not only gonna be a sequel to Marvel’s sci-fi adventure but there will also be an animated series too. When it comes to Guardians 2 I say bring it on, if the first film is as good as I am hoping then I would love to see more from that universe. As for the animated series, I’m not sure, Marvel have had a dodgy track record with animated shows after Spectacular Spider-Man, Avengers: EMH and Wolverine and the X-Men ended and if it looks anything like the Avengers Assemble cartoon that that won’t be good thing for me, that art design is a bit too stylized and funky, but I’ll wait until the trailer comes out before I start to complain.

Legendary Pictures Announce Godzilla 2 With More Classic Monsters & King Kong Reboot Entitled ‘Skull Island’

Now there were some surprising things to read on Saturday from Legendary Pictures’ announcements. No not that Godzilla was getting a sequel, but that there was going to be the return of classic monsters in the future like Mothra, Rodan and Ghidorah. When I read that I was like “YES!” (In a high-pitched voice). I don’t car what anyone says, Godzilla (2014) was killer and worked where it needed to most, the monster fights, and if the filmmakers are gonna bring in my classic monster for some fighting action I say bring the hell on! Then there was the news that King Kong was gonna get rebooted and focus on the place of his origin, Skull Island. It does feel a bit soon to reboot the big ape considering that the Peter Jackson version was only 9 years ago, but hey reboots are the ‘in-thing’ so why not do it? Now the reason I’m down for this is because since both Godzilla and King Kong are under the same studio roof, maybe there will be the chance for another King Kong Vs. Godzilla film? Wishful thinking I know but one can hope. 😛

So this concludes the first part of my news, all in all it’s been a pretty good session though not nearly as exciting or unexpected as last year I have to say. Anyway which of these stories stood out the most to you and is there anything on here that I didn’t mention that you think was worth talking about? Whatever it is be sure to comment below and I’ll ya around on the next blog post yo! 🙂

 

My Top 5 Films of 2014 So Far.

Howdy ladies and gentlemen, we’ve passed the halfway point of the year already and June’s pretty much over but on this last day I would like to give you my picks of the top 5 films I have enjoyed the most so far. Now I normally do this around mid-June however a combination of moving back home and laziness have contributed to this late blog post. So with that in mind let’s start.., But before that, HONORABLE MENTIONS!

Here is a few films that I saw this year that just missed the list but are still worth mentioning:

• Lone Survivor (one of the best war films I have seen in years with great acting, incredible action, cinematography and sound design)
• The Lego Movie (one of the most creative, funny and kick ass animated films with kick ass humour, action and amazing voice performances from the cast involved)
• Edge of Tomorrow (the biggest surprise of 2014 so far, this is an interesting, humourous, dramatic and action-packed sci-fi film with awesome performances from Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise

Remember 2013 films released this year DON’T COUNT! So with that out of the way here are my favourite films from 2014, IN REVERSE ORDER!

5. THE RAID 2: BERANDAL

So yeah this one is at an interesting place in the list. Check it, I really liked The Raid: Redemption, it was some filthy martial arts action in a confined location and had some of my favourite kills in any film ever. But I felt like it wasn’t quite enough to blow me away. So in comes the sequel and it pretty much outdoes its predecessor in every way. The story is much denser and more complex, the fight choreography is even more chaotic and complex than before and the cinematography was lovely throughout. Some people will probably say that this film should be much higher on the list, but for me there were a few nitpicks. I felt like there was a bit too much going on in the story department, some of the fight scenes went on a little longer than I would have liked and the overall length of the film I felt could have been shorter. But all that said I REALLY liked this film and it is one that any fan of martial arts or action films in general should check out.

4. 22 JUMP STREET

Now 21 Jump Street was a surprisingly fun film and in the sea of horrible comedy films I’ve had to sit through in recent years this was one I liked, so I was looking forward to the sequel but was also cautious because I didn’t want to be disappointed. Luckily 22 Jump Street was badass and pretty much exceeded any expectations had for it as it was the funniest film I’ve seen in AGES. Phil Lord and Chris Miller do the impossible and create one of the most, if not the most funny comedy sequels ever. The film is self-aware, repeats many of the plot elements from the previous film and yet is still ridiculously funny thanks to the script and brilliant acting from Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill and an especially awesome Ice Cube.

3. GODZILLA

This is probably where things are gonna get a bit more controversial, but I don’t care, bring the fire people! For me, Gareth Edwards’ new interpretation of Godzilla is pretty kick ass and considering all of the things that could have gone wrong with this film, the end result is bloody impressive. There is a story that feels big and moves across several locations, we also get treated to a cast of characters who are relevant to the plot and we also get monsters, but the one thing this film gets right more so than anything else in the presentation. The CGI was super impressive and seeing Godzilla fighting 2 other monsters was SO awesome and this film also features one of the most badass kills in any film ever. Now sure there are problems like: a strong start for the story but never stays that consistent, too much teasing for the monster fights, not so interesting human characters and the death of Bryan Cranston early on in the film. But all that aside, for all the haters of this film, just remember this… Godzilla (2014) is FAR better than the 1998 Roland Emmerich version. would you rather have that film as your only western adaptation of Godzilla again? Thought not.

2. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Honestly if you had told me that X-Men: DOFP would be totally badass, I would have looked at you and said “Are you sure?” Believe me, I saw the trailers and really liked them, but since Bryan Singer hadn’t made a good film since X-Men 2 I was worried for this next instalment. Fortunately my worries were misplaced as the film was SO good and it was like a love letter to fans of the film series and comics. It bridged the gap between the newer and older films and united a massive cast of actors and actresses in one place. There was so much to love about the film from like the action set-pieces, references to comics, visual style and direction, darker and more mature tone and the film’s great sense of humour. But the best thing about the film was the fact that it pretty much fixed the X-Men film timeline by creating a new reality that destroyed the previous one (take that X-Men 3!). For some this is the best comic book film of the year, but for me there is still one that is rises above.

1. CAPTAIN AMERICA 2: THE WINTER SOLDIER

For the people who know me I’d have to ask you, “Was there any doubt in your mind?” I only got to see this film twice, but it still left a massive impression on me. The reason why Captain America: TWS is still my favourite film of 2014 is because it was everything I wanted and then some and considering how plain the first film was, this sequel was a massive surprise for a lot of people. This was a genre-specific film (political thriller mixed in with action) and it did many things that no one expected, in particular re-introducing Hydra and breaking the  secret organization known as SHIELD. What we were given by Marvel Studios was a comic book film which was smart, quick in pace and had lovely character moments too. Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson pretty much perfected the roles they’ve been playing for a while now and Robert Redford, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan did such a great job in their roles as well. I don’t think anyone expected a Captain America sequel to be so good, but it pretty much was the best effort from Marvel since The Avengers and some believe to be even better than that.

Well that’s my favourite films of 2014 so far. It has been a good year from what I’ve experienced and I’m having a much better time than I ever did this time last year. So what do you think of my choices? Do you like them or hate them? And what are your picks for th year so far? I’d love to read them so comment below and let me know. Until next people, laters! 😀

 

Surviving The Storm Known As University

Good day to you ladies and gents, today I blog to you as a person who is different from before, a person feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders, a person who now can live a partially care-free life again. This is all because my time with education is well and truly over.

Honestly this is how I felt on Thursday morning this week, I was like “Thank you god!”

Now if you have followed this blog for a year or more you would have seen my many complaints, rants or unhappy blog posts relating to university and the problems it has given me in terms of how it affected me emotionally and how it conflicted with my blog-based activities. Heck at one point I was ready to throw in the towel last year and call it quits, but somehow I bared with it. The sleepless nights, all those days I procrastinated and danced the line between education and fun, that stuff doesn’t matter anymore, because I beat the system! Honestly the day I escaped the clutches of the education system has been something I’ve dreamed about for months and never thought the day would ever come so soon, but now all I can do is just raise a can of beer to the air and just go, “I have survived.”

So what have I done with my newfound freedom? Well that should be obvious, I went right back to the cinema haha. After only being able to go there for the major film releases like Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Godzilla and missing how many films for the last month, I started by watching experience properly with X-Men: Days of Future Past which was awesome and then on Friday I re-watched Godzilla in IMAX and had a hella good time. So now I’m gonna chase up a few films at my local Cineworld while I’m back at home in the south-east of England again.

So expect a lot more blog posts from me in the coming weeks, I’m coming back to this blog with a vengeance! 😀

 

Gareth Edwards Is Set To Direct A Star Wars Spinoff & Godzilla 2!

Good day to you ladies and gents, time for some late film news. Now today I’m gonna give you a double news feature purely because both stories involve the same man, Gareth Edwards and it’ll save me posting twice which seems pointless.

Anyways let’s talk news starting with Star Wars, the following info comes from superherohype:

Godzilla director Gareth Edwards is attached to direct one of the upcoming Star Wars spinoff films, which will feature a screenplay by Gary Whitta and is now set to hit theaters December 16, 2016! The official announcement reads as follows:

In addition to the episodes of a new “Star Wars” trilogy, Lucasfilm and Disney have begun development on multiple stand-alone movies that will offer new stories beyond the core Saga. Gareth Edwards will direct the first stand-alone film, with a screenplay by Gary Whitta. The film is due out December 16, 2016.

Gareth Edwards blazed into the filmmaking forefront with his acclaimed work on “Monsters,” a film he wrote, directed and served on as cinematographer and visual effects artist. The skill and vision readily apparent in “Monsters” earned him the high-profile spot directing this year’s smash hit “Godzilla”.

“Ever since I saw Star Wars I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life – join the Rebel Alliance! I could not be more excited & honored to go on this mission with Lucasfilm”, said Edwards.

Gary Whitta’s screenwriting credits include 2010s “The Book of Eli” starring Denzel Washington. He is also well known as a journalist and editor in the video game industry, as well as part of the BAFTA award-winning team on Telltale Games adaptation of “The Walking Dead”.

Whitta states, “From the moment I first saw the original movie as a wide-eyed kid, “Star Wars” has been the single most profound inspiration to my imagination and to my career as a writer. It is deeply special to me,so to be given the opportunity to contribute to its ongoing legacy, especially in collaboration with a film-maker as talented as Gareth, is literally a dream come true. I’m still pinching myself.”

Well firstly I want to say good for him! Honestly this guy is going from strength to strength, who know that the same guy who directed an independent film like Monsters would then go on to helm Godzilla and then a Star Wars film? If you had told me that around 3 years ago I would have given you the weirdest look ever and said, “Really?” However this proves that the man has talent, that hs isn’t just a throwaway filmmaker, that he is someone who studios want to work with and with his recent success with Godzilla I’m not surprised in a way. I’m just happy for him and from the sounds of his words in this article he’s pretty hyped up himself. All that being said I am curious about two things; 1) Which spin-off will he be directing? And 2) How will Edwards fit into it? What I mean is, depending on which spin-off film we get we shall then see if Edwards is a good fit for it or not, my money’s on a Boba Fett film just because that seems like the most logical and film best suited to Edwards. But I guess only time will tell.

Now let’s talk Godzilla, the following info comes from superherohype:

The big news of the day is that Godzilla helmer Gareth Edwards will be directing a mystery Star Wars film for release on December 16, 2016. What does that mean, though, for another big screen adventure with the King of Monsters? ShockTillYouDrop.com has an update straight from Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull.

“Gareth’s filmmaking talent makes him one of his generation’s most creative and visionary directors,” says Tull. “The plan has always been for Gareth to direct a different film before we started on another ‘Godzilla,’ but who knew it would be a ‘Star Wars’ installment? We have a great plan in store for ‘Godzilla’ fans and I am looking forward to seeing Gareth’s imprint on the ‘Star Wars’ universe.”

The Hollywood Reporter goes on to say that Edwards is attached not only for a Godzilla sequel, but for a full Godzilla trilogy.

So thankfully this question got answered fairly quickly. I think for some fans, we were concerned that with Edwards landing a job on a new Star Wars spin-off film that he’d left Godzilla’s sequel in the dust, but thankfully just hearing from Thomas Tull that Edwards will be back for a sequel makes me breathe a sigh of relief. Now obviously things can change and we could lose Edwards depending on the scheduling of this next Star Wars project, but  would like to think that Edwards could come back and deliver some more monster madness with a Godzilla sequel because he knows the source material and it would be a shame for him to leave just after its gotten going.

So what do you think of this news? Are you pleased or concerned for future of Star Wars or Godzilla or both? Please leave your comments below and I’ll see ya later! 😀

 

Godzilla Sequel Already in the Works

Good day to you ladies and gentlemen, once again it is time for me to swing by and deliver a bit of films news that I feel is relevant and worth talking about and today’s news story is one that makes me grin. 🙂 The following information is from superherohype:

Following a huge first weekend at the box office for Godzilla, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman revealed today that a sequel is already in the works.

Legendary Pictures, which put up 75% of the money to make the film (Warner Bros. took care of the rest), is now Universal Pictures’ partner, but Legendary and Warner Bros. will team on the sequel again. It is assumed that director Gareth Edwards would return to direct.

Made for about $160 million, the film earned an impressive $196.2 million worldwide this weekend, with $93.2 million of that coming from the domestic box office and $103 million from international markets.

While there was no doubt in my mind that this sequel would happen, it’s always nice to get that official confirmation. Godzilla is one of those franchises that leads itself to sequels very well, I mean look at ALL those Toho films and with the way this film was being marketed, regardless of the box office I knew that another film would have to be on the cards… And now it is. Thankfully the new Godzilla film is raking in the money and even though the critic and fan response is mixed at best, I still feel like the positivity will outweigh the negativity and this film will go on to make more money in the coming weeks. For me this is just great news and super satisfying considering that I really liked Godzilla and hoped that there’d be a sequel some time in the future and now my dream is a reality. Good times. So what can they do for the sequel? Well that’s easy give us MORE GODZILLA! I really loved the new film but it could really use like 50% more Godzilla to stop the fickle audience members from complaining. Also give us a stronger script for the human characters or at least push them into the background, now don’t do a Pacific Rim and make the characters super boring, but at least make the humans interesting throughout or not at all. And lastly add another monster in for Godzilla to fight but make it one of the cool Toho monsters like Gigan or Anguirus, but save King Ghidorah for the third film! There’s your trilogy all planned out for ya.

 

The King of the Monsters is back in this Godzilla review!

Howdy ladies and gentlemen and thank you for taking the time to read this review. Today I am going to review one of my most highly anticipated films of 2014, Godzilla. Now we all know who Godzilla is and the incredible presence he has in the world of pop culture, but outside of the franchise fan base he’s not that well-known. We had one attempt to bring Godzilla to life with the 1998’s Godzilla and we all saw how that one turned out (shit basically). So there has been some apprehension about there being another western adaptation being made, but all the trailers and interviews has suggested that this will be a different and better instalment. So how has Godzilla (2014) fared? Well read on and find out!

So the story goes something like this:

“The world’s most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.”

The story for the most part is very interesting, there’s a nice balance between the humans and monsters and while it is primarily about the humans and their means of uncovering the truth behind these monsters and how to defeat them, at the same time there is a lot of monster fun to enjoy too. While the story doesn’t reach the emotional, traumatic and melancholy levels of the 1954 original, this film is the first attempt in a while to create a serious story that harkens back to the earlier films and has a balance between the  humans and monster madness. The main problem is that human side of the story doesn’t hold up as well, while it starts off fairly promising in the 30 minutes, after a certain event in Japan, things really start to drift, drag and become not nearly as enticing as one would have hoped for and I wish the scriptwriters had written better material or used the older films as reference instead.

As for the cast they’re pretty good and their characters are pretty nice even if the actors talents aren’t used to the fullest. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the main hero of the film and as Lieutenant Ford Brody I thought he was pretty good, he was heroic, courageous and had a nice presence throughout the film. Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ichiro Serizawa was really interesting as this scientist that knew the history of Godzilla and the nature of the monsters, and I really liked Watanabe but then I like him in anything because he’s awesome. Elizabeth Olsen as Elle Brody was nice, this is my first Elizabeth Olsen film and I thought she did well given the material she had to work with, she and Johnson had good chemistry together and I thought they had one of the better human elements about the film. And then of course there is Bryan Cranston, Heisenberg himself as Joe Brody, and I loved him in the film. Just liked in Breaking Bad this guy brings the intensity and badassery of his acting from TV to film in a way not many actors can. Unfortunately there wasn’t nearly as much Cranston in the film as I would have liked, there can never be enough of that man in anything.

Juliette Binoche as Sandra “Sandy” Brody, Ford’s mother, a nuclear regulations consultant at the Janjira nuclear plant. Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham, a scientist who works along with Serizawa was pretty cool and I didn’t expect her character to have as much screen time as she did but she was interesting. Juliette Binoche was nice as Sandra “Sandy” Brody however she was severely under-used. David Strathairn as Admiral William Stenz was good and enjoyed his role in the film but wasn’t used nearly as much I would liked because I really like the guy. Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody, Ford’s father, a nuclear physicist and former engineer at the Janjira nuclear plant.

When it comes to presentation it is incredible. Visually the film is incredible, there is some beautiful cinematography, wonderful locations and an interesting use of colour too. But it is the CGI that is truly worth talking about. The way the visual effects artists have brought these monsters to life is very well done, all of them look cool and very detailed, but most importantly Godzilla was done SO well. The dude is BEASTLY! He’s huge in scale, totally badass and happens to have such an awesome presence on-screen. He is just a fanboy dream come to life. I guess the only disappointing aspect of Godzilla in the presentation department is that there should have been more monster fighting and Godzilla, however I’d rather have Godzilla in small amounts and be good, than in large amounts and be pants. As for the soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat I thought it was very interesting, it was moody and had several moments of awesomeness that stood from beginning to end.

In conclusion Godzilla is honestly as good as I had hoped and then some, it takes the source material and reinvented things but still keeps a lot of the pure nostalgic elements intact. For me I haven’t geeked out and felt so much joy since Captain America: The Winter Soldier and this is definitely one of my favourite films of 2014. There could have been more Godzilla and Bryan Cranston, however for me this film was total satisfaction on a level that I don’t get that often. Anyone who wishes to argue against me comment below and fight you with words!

Rating: 8.5/10 (Pure fanboy fun)

So what did you think of Godzilla? Have you seen it or are you gonna watch it? And for the Godzilla fans out there, did you like this version and how do you think it fared when compared to the previous Toho films? Whatever your thoughts, be sure to drop them in the comments below and I’ll see ya on the next review. Laters! 😀

 

My Thoughts on the new Godzilla image

Hello to all who may be reading this blog post, today I’m just doing a quick impressions post on the new Godzilla that debuted on the internet yesterday. Since the new trailer dropped recently, interest in this film has shot through the roof and understandably so. And now Godzilla is being shown in all his big glory for the world to see thanks to Empire magazine.

Here’s the image below:

I know I’m a bit late when it comes to talking about this image, but I couldn’t leave it unspoken about. In short it is awesome. This image really emphasizes how big and monstrous he is. He’s a frigging towering beast of destruction and he looks amazing. The whole image looks gorgeous with all the smoke, helicopter, men with parachutes in the sky and human soldiers at the bottom with the flare. What I really love is the design of Godzilla himself, for the longest time I’ve been hoping that this American version would get the look right, that we would look similar to the Japanese films but still have a bit more ferocity and fear added thanks to the special effects and it looks like the filmmakers have gotten it right. I really like the head and face design as they are really important aspects of the character.

It really does look like humanity is in trouble and I can’t wait to see how Godzilla wrecks America in this film. As I’ve said before and will say again, I pray that this film is good, because if it works this could mean the resurgence of the series and lead to an eventual Destroy All Monsters film!