Film Review: Godzilla 2014

There will be some SPOILERS but not much because this is just a quick review and not too in depth. You might be wondering why I have chosen Godzilla and that is because I have randomly chosen one of the DVDs I got for Christmas to review and I just really wanted to get back to reviewing something that isn't Arrow, so why not start with this.

This film stars Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody as a former engineer who is obsessed with uncovering the mystery to the destruction of the nuclear plant he was working at that claimed his wife's life, he is also reluctantly joined by his son Ford (Aaron Taylor - Johnson). However what they uncover is something the government has been keeping a secret for many years; two monsters that can lay waste to the entire human race and one more that is a force of nature on to itself.

Well this film certainly had a lot of surprises and twists that I wasn't expecting when I first watched it and that is most of the time a good thing and Godzilla 2014 did it right for the most part. Firstly I guess I should touch first on the topic that split audiences down the middle on this film; the actual lack of Godzilla in a film called Godzilla. This was a really gutsy move because I know a lot of people saw this film and expected to see some kind of epic monster rumble that would last throughout most of the film. I have also seen the original Japanese Godzilla film and I know that Godzilla doesn't appear in that much either; it is all about the people dealing with Godzilla and I guess that is what they are trying to recreate here. For the most part they succeeded because I was never bored with the human elements in this film because I found their storylines interesting enough and engaging which could also be because of the great cast.

A great and compelling story is one of the most important elements in a creative work and action isn't important to make a great film; for example two of my favourite films are Wuthering Heights (1939) and Rebecca (1940) both staring Laurence Oliver who was one of the greatest actors in the world. Despite that I do feel cheated that there isn't a lot more of Godzilla and monster rumbles and that is because of two reasons. Firstly since this is the 2000s and not 1954 you expect that they should have put a lot more fighting in this because they can, take Pacific Rim for example which had a great story (almost manga like in my opinion) and they still gave us some awesome mech vs. monster battles. The second reason is because they kept teasing us with showdowns between Godzilla and the MUTOs too much; like when Godzilla and the male MUTO met at the airport and we didn't see it. However the final fight does make up for a lot of it because it was just that damn epic.

They do give you some backstory on Godzilla, that there was a race of giant creatures that once feasted on the planet's radiation, but I think they wanted to create an air of mystery around this colossal force of nature so instead they focused on the two MUTOs. I do like the story they gave with the MUTOs that they feed off radiation to reproduce and that the male was reasonable for all the death at the beginning at that Japanese power plant, effectively making it the bad guy right off the bat lol. As for the MUTOs design it is really creative because unlike most of the monsters from the old Godzilla films (Motha or Rodan) they look really alien. Sure you can compare them to insects more than anything else but I will say again they are really unique in their looks and colouring etc. It was interesting how they gave us a male and female and that the male is smaller but has the ability to fly while the female is a lot more bigger.

However whether or not you are a fan of how they treated Godzilla in this or the MUTO creatures you can't deny that they visual effects for them where just epic. Godzilla truly looked like a force of nature more than ever before, I mean the sheer size of him when he appeared really makes you think he earned the "God" in Godzilla. Not to mentioned the CGI looked absolutely perfect because that is definitely how I expected Godzilla to look and him and the two MUTOs looked so realistic; honestly I can really picture this stuff happening in real life. Godzilla definitely looks more like it's Japanese counterpart along with the awesome roar that they gave him which sounds close to the original too. Then we have all of the destruction caused by Godzilla and the MUTOs and none of it looked fake at all which is again a nod to the great CGI and I am someone who prefers practical effects.

Lastly we have the human cast which most of the film revolves around and I could have been really annoyed it did, like with the Transformers films. However unlike Transformers the humans in this film don't fill the screen time with a lot of meaningless dry humour and irrelevant subplots that no one even cares about. Take Byran Cranston for example who was just such a terrific actor in this especially at the beginning when he lost his wife and his obsession with finding out the truth. I really wished he was the main character throughout the whole film instead of the first quarter; I think they where giving us a twist we didn't expect but they built up his character so much with excellent scenes and dialogue that it might have been a bad move. Then there is Aaron Taylor - Johnson and I have been a fan of his since Kickass so I liked seeing him in this despite being overshadowed slightly by Cranston. I do enjoy his story of trying to get home to his family because through his perspective we got to see the destruction of major cities and several missions with the military.

Overall do I wish that Godzilla and the two MUTOs could have fought each other more; yes. However I just enjoyed the special effects and the human element so much, everything from Byran Cranston trying to learn the truth, Aaron Taylor - Johnson trying to get home and Ken Watanabe with the military. As I mentioned above I was not bored watching any of it and since I have got the film on DVD I would gladly watch it over and over again.

As I said at the beginning this was just a mostly spoiler free review because I just wanted to get back into reviewing films. Besides I might just make all my future film reviews spoiler free because they are longer to talk about than TV series.

SCORE: 8/10

Highlights: Godzilla and MUTO
                   Truly epic special effects
                   Great human story and perfect casting

Let - Downs: They gave us a lot of expectation and teases of some epic clash of monsters but only the ending of the film delivered on that
                      Should have had a lot more Byran Cranston

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/        

Film Review: Resident Evil Apocalypse

Time for a review of the second Resident Evil film!

Resident Evil Apocalypse is set after the events of the first film and the T - Virus has made it's way out of the Hive and has now infected most of the population of Raccoon City. The Umbrella corporation has locked the city down, evacuated their most important personal and are even taking advantage the viral outbreak to test their latest Bio - Weapon; Nemesis. Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), a disgraced member of the elite S.T.A.R.S unit with a grudge against Umbrella, tries to survive in the zombie infested city. Meanwhile Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), an Umbrella commando, is trying to combat the zombie menace with his squad but soon begins to question the corporation he works for. In the midst of this former Umbrella employee Alice (Milla Jovovich) awakens after being captured at the end of the first film and finds out that Umbrella as done something to her.



It would be so cool to be there right now

Unlike the first film this one is directed by Alexander Witt and I admit that I have never heard of him before this film however it is produced and written by Paul Anderson so it is still in a similar style like the first film. The most noticeable difference however between the first film and Apocalypse is that this one borrows heavily from the game source material, for which I am glad they did. Writing a great original story in the Resident Evil story is a good move if it worked (and it sure did in my opinion) but sooner or later it had to stick more closely to the games and that is what Apocalypse does. It's plot is influenced mainly from the second and third games but it also uses elements from CVX, three of the best games in the series. I do really like the story that have here because it is so close to RE3 but they nicely fitted in the events from the first film.

"Time to blow some zombie heads off!"

For the location of Raccoon City I have to admit that is where it deviates quite a bit from the games; Raccoon City is supposed to be a lonely, simple mountain community surrounded by a dense forest. They chose Toronto for the film and it is a little too modern looking and has a too many skyscrapers, going on about the location might be nit picking but I have played the games too many times not to notice. However to do have many great inner city locations that suited the film; the gothic style church, the school and they did a really excellent job in making the streets look ruined, looted and devastated. Plus I read that is was Milla Jovovich's idea that their be a heat wave in the film so Alice and Jill can have a more practical reason for their outfits; my thanks to her!

One of my favourite Resident Evil characters ever right here!

As for the cast it is almost completely new seeing how that Alice is the only returning character from the previous film. Firstly there is Oded Fehr as Carlos and I have to say I am really glad that they gave Carlos such a large role; those who read my Resident Evil rants know that I hate that most Resident Evil game characters are being pushed aside in favour of Chris and Leon (both of whom I think have been used a main characters too often). Carlos is one of the characters I wanted to see more of in the games so being a main character for the film franchise is the next best thing for me. Also Oded Fehr is probably one of my all time favourite actors who I think is perfect in the role; they dial down his "ladies man" personality from the game but in return he is a badass soldier and I read that he did most of his marital arts moves and gun handling himself.

If I saw Nemesis walking down the street I'll be like "Hell no!" and gotten out of there

Next we have Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine and again an excellent cast choice, she even looks a lot like Jill and wears her outfit from 3. She had a really large role in this film for which I am glad for but I kind of wish it was even bigger if that was possible. I really like Milla Jovovich returning in this and she even brings some great action sequences because of her heightened abilities but she overshadows Jill's character when she joins the main group. I'm a bit in two minds about these characters; I really like Alice but at the same time I wanted Jill to be the main leading role throughout the entire film. Maybe that is because Jill is one of the characters from the games I really wanted to see in the films but she has to compete with Alice in this.

We're back b***hs!

Now a complete standout in this film for me and who has become one of my favourite Resident Evil characters (film and games) is Mike Epps as L.J.. His character is just so funny and so likable throughout the entire film, every scene he is in is great and steals most of them in my opinion. We also have Thomas Kretschmann as Major Timothy Cain (only named in the novels) an Umbrella Security operative who is in charge of handling the Raccoon City incident. Cain is definitely the villain that was needed for the film because that is what the first one truly lacked (as I mentioned in my review of it).

"Even if where supposed to just be a medical company, lets slaughter all these civilians" 

Gone on about the characters for quite a bit but just a quick mention of the supporting ones. We also have Raz Adoti as Peyton Wells another S.T.A.R.S member, who is really great in the film but looks so much like Kenneth Sullivan from the games I wonder why they didn't just name him that. There's also Jared Harris and Sophie Vavasseur as Charles and Angie Ashford; I've always liked Jared Harris so his great in this as the T - Virus creator and Sophie Vavasseur also did a good job, I even like the nod to the Ashford family from the games even if they are two original characters. Lastly we also have Zack Ward as Nicholai Ginovaef (interesting to see a good Nicholai!) and Sandrine Holt as Terri Morales who has a great small role. All in all I have been pleased with the casting for the film and its characters.

"You looking at me?"

As for the monsters I am really glad that the Licker has made a return and that there are even more of them this time around. They are done this time in CGI but it is way better than what they used for the first film, Lickers are my favourite RE monster so glad there back. However once again I wished they could have included more monsters from the game like Hunters, Brain Suckers, the Mutated Plants etc. what sets the Resident Evil game apart form all others in the zombie genre is that its not just about the zombies, its about the dangerous and creative creatures you come across too. The zombies and zombie dogs are back in all their glory from the first film but also again there is a severe lack of gore; even when a zombie gets shot (even in the head) there really is no splatter.

Run Alice!

Now for the most iconic creature in the RE universe, Nemesis, I have to say that it could have been slightly better. I really liked the look of Nemesis in this film, I think the make - up and the suit are all impressive, however it doesn't seem that imposing like it was in the game. The main reason for this is because they made him rely too much on weapons throughout the film like his rail gun; unlike the game Nemesis does not use any of his tentacles concealed underneath his coat. Before I saw this film but after I heard that Nemesis was in it I was so looking forward to seeing Brad Vickers's famous death captured in live action and I was disappointed that not only Brad wasn't in it they didn't even use anyone else to have a sharp tentacle shoved through their throat. Plus I think the final show down between Nemesis and Milla was a bit because it was just hand to hand combat. I did like the Nemesis in this it just wasn't exactly what I thought it would be.

Oh Yeah!

Overall this is a great squeal to the first film even though I really wish that it could have been even longer like two hours because we could have had some more iconic scenes form the games.

Highlights: Characters/Cast (Jill, Carlos, L.J.)
                    Story (Influenced by the games more)
                    Locations

Let-downs: Nemesis could have been a bit better
                    Needed more gore and monsters from the games
                    A longer run time to fit in more events from Raccoon City

SCORE: 8/10

You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php