A Sort Of, Not Really Review - Godzilla

I love Godzilla.  Simple as that.  And for years I’ve always entertained the idea of a Godzilla movie that was both serious and dark.  As much as I enjoyed the cheesy dialogue and large-scale battles in rubber suits of the originals, I thought that, especially with what CGI could do these days, a new Godzilla would be perfect.  Then, to my delight, rumors of this movie began to surface on the internet.  When the first trailer was released, I could feel my body melt with excitement.  So yes, I will have to admit, that when I went to see the movie, I was excited for nostalgic purposes and had a small list of things that I wanted to see in this movie.

Going into the theater, I had little to no idea of what to expect.  The trailers have done a fantastic job of giving off suspense without giving away any crucial information.  I’ll also have to admit that some of the lackluster parts of the trailers, in my opinion, were a lot more dramatic and interesting within the movie itself.  When it finished, and the house lights went up, my friends all gathered to rave about the movie.  When asked what I thought of this iteration, I said, “I loved it! …Buuuut…”

Ok, so plot.  Not that I want to give much of it away, since a large part of the fun of this movie is in the secrecy of it all.  Basically, a father (played by Brian Cranston of Breaking Bad fame) loses his wife in some sort of calamity in a nuclear power plant in Japan.  Fifteen years later, he is convinced that whatever caused the fall of the power plant is happening again.  He calls on his son, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson of “Kick-Ass” fame, to help him prove that he is right.  I’m going to stop there, for if I say anymore, I will end up spoiling some of the larger events of the film.

As far as acting goes, everyone does pretty well, I guess.  Any time Cranston is on screen, though, I am immediately invested in what is going on.  He is involved in some pretty emotional scenes, and he does wonders. Its amazing to watch him break down when losing his wife, to see the torment in his eyes.  However, he isn’t really in the movie as much as the trailers may have depicted, making his role seem pointless other than to say that they have the Breaking Bad star in their monster movie.  Johnson does an alright job as the lead, but his character seems emotionless though a majority of it.  One can argue that he is caught up in the intensity in the moment, and I would agree with you, but that still doesn’t mean he has to deliver a slightly underwhelming performance.  Still, though, he wasn’t awful, and he portrayed the character well.  I could talk more of the actors, but its these two that stand out the most.  The supporting cast does well with their rolls, but nothing special or surprising.  Ken Watanabe plays a scientist who researches the disruptions caused by these monsters, and every time he is on screen, he always has the same, shocked expression on his face, like he just learned that his daughter died, but throughout the movie.  It becomes a little too dramatic for my taste.  Elizabeth Olson plays Johnson’s wife, but she isn’t really focused on except in a few scenes here and there to remind you that she is still in the story.  She shines in some emotional scenes, but overall she delivers sort of a bland performance.  There was one line in particular that I thought she could have delivered much better, but I’m nitpicking now.  

Lets move on to the star: Godzilla himself.  If there is anything you should take away from this movie, its Godzilla.  He looks incredible in the film, and every time he is on screen, I am floored by how he moves and acts and handles himself.  The creators captured his enormous and intimidating structure wonderfully, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.  Unfortunately, like Cranston, Godzilla really isn’t in the film as much either.  Half the time, he is swimming through the ocean while the military follow him.  You really only see him in his full glory a small handful of times in this movie.  I understand that the creators don’t want to mainly focus on him as to not run down his welcome, but he seems more like a side character then the main focus.  Which brings me to another point.  This movie focuses a lot on the humans.  Which, in itself, is fine.  Its interesting to see people in the middle of this turmoil.  Yet, when I go to see a Godzilla movie, I expect to see, well, Godzilla, kicking monster ass and wrecking cities.  Yes, there is some of that in here, but not enough to keep one satisfied for long.  There are many times where they lead up to a large fight scene between Godzilla and another monster (we will get to the other monsters in a bit), but then are suddenly hinted at and wiped away with little mention of it.  Its frustrating and underwhelming.  When Godzilla is finally revealed (after being teased A TON) they cut to him for a few seconds, then cut away to a completely different scene, skipping his fight completely.  Its choppy, and disappointing.  Other would argue that this is to show more of the human side, and I agree, but again, this is a Godzilla movie.  Not Cloverfield.  Maybe I’m being a little too blinded by nostalgia to appreciate it, but its just how I view it.

Now yes, Godzilla does in fact fight other monsters in this film.  I don’t want to talk about them much, for their reveal is amazing.  For right now, I will just say that their designs are actually really impressive. They are large and intimidating, and are able to look modern while still looking like a suitable monster to fight Godzilla.  I could see some inspiration from Cloverfield (I apologize for going back to it again, its just the only other monster movie other than Pacific Rim that I can go back to) but that is not a complaint.  If anything, its an improvement.

Now, I have talked on how the fights were teased and then glazed over, and while this is still true, there really is only one major fight scene at the end.  This is what the entire movie has been leading up to,and when it arrives, there is a lot to expect.  Does is deliver? For the most part, yes.  Godzilla is seen at him prime, struggling with the monsters, but also showing he has the strength to fight them off.  Some of his actions are so well executed that it really got my adrenaline pumping.  This was what I wanted to see from a modern day Godzilla movie.  Monster fights in brilliant CGI.  Now, one could say that Pacific Rim delivered this already, and in a larger quantity, and yes, they did.  But Godzilla’s atmosphere was dark and serious, lowering the volume in some parts to focus more on the monsters than relying on music to carry the scene.  Yes, the soundtrack was very good, and well timed at some places, but it was the moments with near silence that was suddenly broken by Godzilla’s roar that really stood out. Now, although the climax was large and a joy to watch, it wasn’t perfect.  It kept cutting back to the humans, who were developing their own plot, which was interesting, yes, but I was way more interesting in the battles than I was how the humans were doing.  It ended up sort of killing the mood in some spots.  Again, not that the human’s plot wasn’t interesting.  But when you compare it to the one scene that the movie has been building up to since the very beginning, it becomes annoying very quickly.  But when the monsters are on screen, it is truly amazing to watch as they throw themselves around the city and demolish everything in their path.  Again, I really don’t want to give too much away, but if you were considering watching this movie but wasn’t sure, then watch it solely for the ending, for that is where the movie shines the brightest.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie.  On top of everything else, there were some consistency issues that I really had to question, but the monsters as well as the cinematography and overall atmosphere carried the movie into something memorable.  If you havn’t yet, go see this movie, even if you aren’t familiar with the original Godzilla movies.  Actually, you might enjoy it more.  Since I grew up with Godzilla, I went into the theater with a preconceived notion of what I wanted and what I didn’t  want.  However, my friends, who knew little to nothing about Godzilla and just wanted to see the movie for the action, liked the movie for some of the reasons that I complained about.  So, it may just be my nostalgic view of the franchise that’s keeping me from seeing the true beauty of this movie, but I still really loved this film (way more than Pacific Rim, thank you very much) and I will likely see it again.   

ThoughtPinions: Dredd

I've been sick from school today, so I decided to watch the movie Dredd today.  When I had first seen the previews for this movie, I was intrigued, but didn't have enough interest to actually see it.  The movie stayed in my head, though, and at the time I had no idea it was based on an old comic series until I was browsing Barnes & Noble the other day and saw volume 1 of the complete Judge Dredd comics.  I bought it and read through most of it, and I was really entertained.

If you don't know much about the Dredd comics, the series takes place hundreds of years in the future in a large, ruined city name Mega City 1.  The human race had suffered a massive nuclear war and much of the world was turned to ruin.  Many people turned into mutants, gaining strange powers and usually having a thirst for blood.  MC 1 is the biggest urban center in the world, housing thousands of people.  Surrounding the city are massive walls to leave out the bloodthirsty mutants and to keep the people away from the horrors of outside.

Crime runs rampant in MC 1, so laws are regulated by people called Judges.  Judges are emotionless, usually very strict "cops" who patrol the city and punish crime.  Judge Dredd is notorious for being a particularly violent judge, and he is the law.

The movie centers around a very large, 200 story apartment complex that is quarantined by a gang called the MaMa gang, run by a bloodthirsty and really disturbing woman named Madeline Madrigal.  Judge Dredd is trapped inside with his new, rookie partner, Judge Anderson.  She is a mutant psychic, and is able to read minds and sense things around her.  Together, they must find MaMa and bring her to justice.

One major thing I really enjoyed about the movie was that it stuck to the comics nicely in a thematic sense.  Its very dark, violent, and over-the-top, which perfectly describes anything Judge Dredd related.  Karl Urban did a great job portraying Judge Dredd as a calm, emotionless machine that the audience can't help but admire.  My only real complaint about the movie was, at times, the pacing was kind of slow.  That could be because of SlowMow, a drug that is consistent through the movie which makes the user feel as though time moves at 1% its usual speed.  It makes for some pretty sections of the movie where the ones using the drugs submerge themselves in this slowed-down reality.  Its nice, but can really break up the pace sometimes.

Overall, I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a fun, action movie with lots of blood and bad-assery.  Also, read the Judge Dredd comics, because they are super cheesy and really fun.

So Many Projects!

Things I am trying to currently work on when I have the time:

1. A podcast idea (the one I have mentioned earlier)
2. Writing a song
3. Finishing a number of short stories and poems I have written
4. Finding time to vlog
5. Finding time to do a let's play.

There are more, but these are things that I am really trying to finish, but work and school are getting in the way.

In class...

Watching a movie about the "Tank Man."  Thinking about what to post.  Not getting any good ideas.  Bored.  Tralalala.

Podcast Series Idea

I've always wanted to make a podcast about something, where I just talked and people listened and it would just be fun, but two problems continued to occur:

1.) Couldn't decide what the focus of the podcast should be.

2.) No one else to do the show with me.

Recently, however, I've began listening to a podcast that has been rising in popularity called Welcome to Nightvale.  Its a fictional podcast that serves as a local radio station for Nightvale, a small town located in the middle of a desert where strange and scientifically boggling events occur.  It is a really fun podcast, and I highly recommend it.

Anyways, out of this podcast, ideas have been forming in my head for my own podcast series, and the more I think about it, the more excited and prepared I feel to do this.  

My idea centers around a teenager around the age of 16 who is completely invisible, and is pretty much going on with his life in this physically-unseeable state.  He's in love with a girl who can't see him, and he is figuring things out about his past that will affect him later in life.  Anyway, its his personal blog about being invisible, and I've already started writing for it.  So, if all goes according to plan, I will be focusing on the production of this for the next few weeks.  I'll post info and stuff on here, too, so keep checking for updates!

"Xbox One" Revealing Impressions

I think I'm not alone when I say that the recent reveal for the Xbox One was pretty disappointing.  Everything from the confusing name to the major lack of information.  With the announcement of the PS4 preceding it, there was a lot of pressure Microsoft's shoulders to reveal something even better, but maybe it was the fact that they wanted to catch up with Sony that they even attempted this unsatisfactory unveiling.

Let me start with the reveal itself.  The event opened with a video that featured many different people, among   them a few internet stars as well as Steven Spielberg, all of them praising the new Xbox.  It wasn't an exciting video, but it acted as an average introduction, definitely heightening the suspense of the new hardware.  After the intro, Interactive Entertainment president Don Mattrick came on and went over some of the history of the Xbox and the Xbox 360, and all the while hailing the new console as a revolution for living rooms everywhere.  This is all normal banter that we would expect from such an event, but as soon as the name "Xbox One" was uttered from his lips, there was a slight pause of, well, disappointment.  Honestly, its not a horrible name, but all this building up only to subtract the original Xbox by 359?  Personally, I think they could have done better with the name, but I mean at least it wasn't the Wii.

Then they showed what the new console would look like.  If you want a good example, just think of a VCR with a smaller looking Kinect and an over-sized Xbox 360 controller sitting next to it.  Compared to the 360,  the console seems bigger and more clunkier.  Although the sleek black finish looks nice, the console still appears clunky and just big.  Not that bigger is bad, but when it looks like it was designed in the 90's, there's a slight problem there.

After a nervous looking Mattrick exited, senior president of the Online Audience Business Yusuf Mehdi walked on and began describing how the Xbox One will introduce a completely new generation of gaming.  This is funny, because throughout the rest of the event, there was little information about games.  At all.  It was there, yes, but for two games- Call of Duty: Ghosts, and a new Forza title.  Those were the only two games that were discussed.  This, to me, is unacceptable. They showed off some new animation hardware, played a trailer or two, then completely turned away from gaming.  This is the one thing that annoys me the most about the reveal: when revealing a GAME console, the primary focus should be, oh, I don't know, GAMES.  Now, Mehdi stated that more will be revealed at E3, but that just proves more that they were completely unprepared for the gaming part of their new GAMING console.  So what did they end up focusing on?

Here, watch these highlights for a hint:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbWgUO-Rqcw

So games were not the focus of the new console, it appears, but much rather the connection it holds to the television.  So, in a nutshell, they made it easier to watch TV...on your TV.  They added cool little features to the new hardware, like voice control and a Kinect that comes bundled with every console, but I'm going to have to see more information on the games themselves before I even think about being excited for this.


Don Mattrick

Details in Video Games

So, recently, I just beat Bioshock: Infinite on my Xbox 360, and it was a fantastic experience from beginning to end.  The narrative was great, the combat was solid, and the scenery was beautiful.  However, one of the largest things that stuck out to me in the game were the small, historical details that the developers scattered throughout the game.  They weren't exactly big, but they supported the narrative in a way that I have never seen a game do before.

The game is set in a steampunk version of 1912 in the floating city of Columbia, a city that represents the independence of man and honors the great prophet Comestock.  Now, that in itself gives enough of a scenery.  Buildings float around you on clouds as you traverse through the massive city, and happy citizens go along their day buying and selling from their shops and enjoying life in Columbia.  It gives off a very happy and peaceful feeling. But if you know your history, you know that 1912 was not the best time for minorities.  As you continue through the game, this is brought out in little ways, such as slaves scrubbing floors and such.  As you pass through buildings  you will see there are separate restrooms for whites and colored people.  At one point in the game, you win a lottery drawing randomly and have a choice on whether to throw a baseball at an interracial couple or at the MC.  It doesn't seem like much, but these little historical details just makes the thought of this massive city even more real and gives off a sort of emotional appeal to the game, playing with your views on racism and segregation.  These details are continuous throughout the whole game, and makes itself more apparent in some areas.  Bioshock is filled with these little moments that connect to the gamer and expand the world of Columbia.  Its these little things that find themselves to be absent in many other games, and it makes the experience very worthwhile.

Ok, so this started to unintentionally turn into slight fan ranting, but what I say is true.  Just a little something I'd sometimes like to see in other games.