Reptile Dysfunction: “Godzilla” is a Thrilling Summer Action Spectacle

My knowledge of Godzilla is limited to what I’ve witnessed in the infamous and poorly received 1998 Matthew Broderick film. It was a disaster of a different kind. That film seemed to depict Godzilla as a radiation affected lizard that grows to an enormous height and is intent on destroying all of humanity. This new, and much improved, version of the famous cinematic beast is one of those movie monsters that’s just misunderstood. He’s just going about his business and he just so happens to cause earthquakes and buildings collapse when they get in the way. And the most fun part of all of this essentially stilly stuff is the fact that Godzilla isn’t the only creature in this new version. If “Pacific Rim” was the summer movie to make use pine to see Godzilla on the big screen again, this film is the one that cements its place as one of the best summer disaster spectacles to come out in some time.  

Director Gareth Edwards, who impressed many with his low budget, independent alien invasion movie “Monsters” was not surprisingly tasked with bringing one of cinema’s greatest beasts back to the big screen. Is it a reboot? A remake? I don’t now and I don’t really care. But what Edwards has given us is truly astounding. It felt like watching “Jurassic Park” for the first time as a kid. It’s another example that big-budget, loud, CGI filled films don’t necessarily have to be stupid or obnoxious if handled correctly.

Sure no one is going to praise Godzilla’s thin plot, but like last year’s Gravity, what it lacks in story it makes up for with truly amazing sequences filled with CGI eye candy and breathtaking-in-3D cinematography. Like many of the great Steven Spielberg’s works, the film (written by Max Borenstein) is mostly told from the point-of-view of a family. Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has lived his whole life with his parents in Japan. His dad Joe (Bryan Cranston) and mom Sandra (Juliette Binoche) who work at a local nuclear power plant. A terrible accident takes out a few employees and years later Joe believes in some kind of cover up. Of course he has no idea that scientists Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) have far more secrets up their sleeves which includes several large creatures that will perhaps wreak havoc on humanity.  

And oh and havoc is what happens; this new Godzilla is basically shot as a balls to the wall disaster flick. We’re talking tsunamis and earthquakes galore. Buildings collapse. Trains are broken up. Planes fall out of the sky. Ford, who as an adult is a Navy officer living in San Francisco with his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and young son, has to go to Japan when his dad is arrested for trespassing in a quarantined area. Soon gigantic nuclear bomb-eating creatures begin attacking and it seems a certain enormous lizard may be humanity’s only hope. Once all the chaos happens we’re left with Ford trying to get home to his family and the military and scientists figuring out the next move. That’s all really and that’s really all that’s needed.

“Godzilla” is a delightfully fun action spectacle. And it feels so perfectly epic. It spans the globe having scenes taking place everywhere from Japan, the Philippines, Hawaii, California and even Las Vegas. Edwards takes a note from the Spielberg handbook and takes his time establishing the film’s title monster. The glimpses he gives us are perfect and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey give us some truly spectacularly shots. Take for instance the instantly iconic HALO jump sequence which beautifully captures military parajumpers as they fall towards earth and past Godzilla himself.  And Alexandre Desplat’s monster movie score is a simply sensational addition and is paired perfectly with the film’s breathtaking action and state-of-the-art effects.

I guess you could call this new “Godzilla” a terrifically-made, wonder to behold B-movie. There’s no silly rubber man in a suit to be found here: this is an entirely different beast altogether, so to speak.  Even if you can feel other genre films’ influences it’s such a fun ride that it feels like a compilation of all the movies you’ve ever loved all at once. It’s summer spectacle at its best.  GRADE: A-

Delta Force: “Neighbors” is an Energetic Burst of Raunchy Summer Fun

Zac Efron is a far cry from his singing and dancing basketball player character from his “High School Musical” days and thank goodness because in the delightfully raunchy winner “Neighbors” he’s actually good. Like really good. I’m serious. He’s finally found a role, as a devious and hunky lughead frat guy – though in all honesty it doesn’t feel like quite a stretch – that hones his decently crafted comedy skills. Stuck in a Groundhog Day-like cycle of romantic treacle since his days as a thespian jock, with an occasional foray into indie stuff, Efron may finally win over general audiences despite his golden boy good looks and Adonis-would-be-jealous body. And he’s perfect alongside the impeccably rotund Seth Rogen.

Rogen shines yet again as the eternal man-child, though this time he has a hot Aussie wife and cute-as-a-button baby daughter. Mac Radnor (Rogen) and his wife Kelly (a scene-stealing Rose Byrne) are a young couple. They’re at that stage in their lives where they haven’t quite outgrown their youth, yet they’re quickly on the path to the zombified world of being actual adults. They’re understandably upset that a college fraternity is moving in the house next door. But are they upset because of the likely noise that it’ll bring or the fact that it’ll be a constant reminder that they’re not 21 anymore? I think a little bit of both. They decide to put on a cool face, try to win over the youngsters, and on the off chance the guys take a liking to them they’ll be more inclined to comply.

The frat’s student president Teddy (Efron) is initially accommodating towards the seemingly cool couple. His best friend and fellow brother Pete (Dave Franco) is even smitten with the couple’s adorable baby. Each neighbor has an understanding: the frat promises to be respectful as long as the Radnors call him first before alerting the police. Seems fair. That is until Mac and Kelly call the cops after calls to Teddy go unanswered. It turns out the cops in this day and age have caller ID and rats them out to Teddy who becomes infuriated, starting a war between the old school and new school neighbors. Hilarious hijinks ensue including plans to get the frat evicted and eventually put on probation. Even Kelly (in a standout sequence) gets a plan inspired by The Office’s Michael Scott of all people, which revolves around that old saying “bros before hoes.”

Director Nicholas Stoller who is in familiar territory having helmed “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and its spinoff “Get Him to the Greek” is in full raunch mode. After all you can’t have a movie in which half the cast is made of college guys and not have enough penis jokes to make Ron Jeremy blush. One such gag involves the brothers making and selling molds of their own penises to raise money to save their house. And apparently McLovin is packin’. Kelly and Mac don’t know whether to be pissed off or impressed with the way these guys handle the troubles they bring them. And the fraternity strikes back many times including hiding airbags in Mac’s furniture and even installing one in his office chair.

“Neighbors,” while not written by Rogen, (that would be Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O'Brien in their feature debut) generally follows the formula most of the films he has produced have. They’re always essentially about young people who are afraid to grow up. Not only is Mac scared of entering middle age, but Teddy is in a similar boat scared to move on into adulthood. It’s a scary and relatable position to be in and Efron really nails it. Even if he acts like a jerk the whole time there’s just enough of a twinge of sympathy there.

“Neighbors” is another winning comedy for anyone who loves their Seth Rogen movies dirty and raunchy and funny. It’s certainly not on the same level as last year’s truly phenomenal “This is the End” but “Neighbors” is a just funny enough comedy with really winning performances and enough to say about the current state of young people to warrant a trip to your local multiplex.  GRADE: B+

"Theatrical Trailer" for Neighbors on TrailerAddict.

Swing Time: “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is Spectacular If Flawed

It would be pretty difficult for me to not enjoy a Spider-Man film, no matter how corny, overstuffed, or tonally inconsistent it may be. I found a lot to love about the third entry in Sam Raimi’s original trilogy despite the mediocre critical reception. And here we are nearly ten years later with another flawed Spider-Man film. And yet I can’t quite wrap my head around the complaints that are being thrown around. Perhaps I tend to be a glass-half-full person, but the film has spectacular effects (including arguably the best swinging scenes in any Spider-Man film), a terrific leading couple with nearly perfect chemistry (the delightfully likable and well-cast Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone), and a couple of standout villains that perfectly capture the tone and style of the comics in which they’re based.

In a post “Dark Knight” world comic book films have a lot to live up to. Everything has to be a franchise now (though in reality it’s really always been that way – I believe there were originally four Superman films) and sometimes entire movies are made to set up an entire other series of sequels and spinoffs. In that way “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” sort of feels like an entry leading into something even bigger coming soon. Maybe it bites off a bit more than it can chew, but it does it way more successfully than the overstuffed “Spider-Man 3.”

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” finally deals with more of Peter Parker’s past – finally revealing why and how his parents were killed. It’s not the film’s most fascinating story, but it does beginning with a pretty spectacular Spider-Man-less opening airplane sequence. Then enter Parker (Garfield ) as he battles a Russian bad guy played by Paul Giamatti. It turns out he’s not really Spider-Man’s main rival though. Lonely Oscorp employee Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx) who becomes obsessed with Spider-Man after being rescued by him, loses the last few loose screws he has when he’s nearly killed in an accident involving electric eels. Say hello to Electro. He ends up with a cool electronic voice and a shape shifting blue hue and he can now travel via electric circuit which certainly comes in handy when it comes to the horrible NYC traffic.

Then there’s Harry Osborn, a staple of the original trilogy, now played wonderfully here by “Chronicle’s” Dane DeHaan. The actor’s creepy “Leonardo DiCaprio as coke head” look definitely works in the guy’s favor as the character learns he’s inherited not only his rich father’s money and business but his fatal genetic disease as well. Eventually his storyline and Max’s storylines meet up as they join forces, as comic supervillians tend to do, against Spider-Man.

What can I say? I was certainly enthralled with this Spider-Man entry. The flying scenes through New York’s highrises are simply outstanding. Director Marc Webb uses some pretty cool shots, many of which are point-of-views. Definitely the best shots any of these movies have offered so far. These sequences are paired with Spider-Man newbie Hans Zimmer’s soaring score. But Webb really shines when it comes to his two leads. The “(500) Days of Summer” helmer really knows great chemistry when he sees it and is great at directing actors. You get a real sense of the angst with Peter, and Stone as his love Gwen Stacy is simply topnotch. A shocking (yet not all that shocking) third act development was emotional and moving and simply exquisitely handled. And who could write a review for this film without mentioning the great Sally Field? She’s a great Aunt May.

What can I say except that I love Spider-Man movies? Is this a perfect Spider-Man movie? No. It was nice getting past the origin story which felt a little deja vu in the last film and the writing doesn’t quite feel as sharp with the great Alvin Sargent replaced here by Transformers scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Overall I really enjoyed this film and I look forward to the next installment. And finally Spider-Man’s suit is much improved, the last one just looked too rubbery. It’s all about the little things I guess.  GRADE: B+

"Trailer" for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on TrailerAddict.

Mirror Mirror: “Oculus” is a Decent and Disturbing Thriller

The evil mirror thriller “Oculus” (which actually bears little resemblance to the 2008 thriller "Mirrors") attempts to do something that many modern horror films never really do. It tells two stories at the same time while using the classic cinema narrative trick known as “cross-cutting.” Sure this isn’t exactly “The Godfather Part II” but I admire the film’s attempts to take a stale premise “haunted object causes chaos for suburban family” and at least try to do something a little different. Even if the results aren’t particularly amazing, I give the film extra points for its creepiness and disturbing elements.

“Oculus,” which is Latin for “eye” in case you were wondering, like I said, tells two stories. It tells the story of two twenty something siblings: 23-year-old Kaylie (Karen Gillan) and her 21-year-old brother Tim (Brenton Twaites, who’s about to become a big deal I’m sure). Tim has just been released from a mental hospital. Kaylie works for an auction house and joins forces with her reluctant brother to vanish some sort of malevolent spirit from an antique mirror. The parallel story revolves around these siblings’ past in which their parents succumb to the mirror’s evil and manipulative forces and the tragedy that eventually befalls them.

First of all, both stories are completely watchable and entertaining. I liked how, as young adults, you don’t quite know all the pieces of Kaylie and Tim’s past. You know Tim did something bad that was the cause of his incarceration, but you don’t know what exactly drove him to commit the crime.  And as ridiculous and silly as it is Kaylie’s “plan” to “exorcise” the mirror is as well-thought out as it is unnecessary. The mirror has been bought by some rich art collector and she “borrows” it for a few day – best to leave it alone if you ask me.  She even includes a tight rundown of the mirror’s evil history for the benefit of the audience and whoever finds the video that she plans on recording of the exorcism.

 The film’s truly disturbing sequences involve the pair’s younger selves (played as kids by Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan) as they settle into their new home with their parents Marie (Katee Sackhoff) and Alan (Rory Cochran). Something doesn’t seem quite right, as tends to happen in movies like this. Dad and mom keep arguing as there’s something about perhaps “another woman.”Although she isn’t exactly your normal home wrecker. I like how these flashback sequences are really told through the point-of-view of the kids which makes it all the more frightening. The film, in a way, borrows heavily from “The Amityville Horror” in that the father begins to go mad and something, specifically in this mirror, is making him go mad. And the performances here are solid and convincing.

Director Mike Flangan, who co-wrote the film with Jeff Howard, based it on a short film he had previously directed.  They keep things a fairly swift pace, but take time in revealing the horror of the situation. Flangan, who also served as the film’s editor, expertly pieces these two concurrent stories together pretty interesting ways, as if they were happening at the same time. This is another solid entry in the Jason Blum-produced (Indisious, Paranormal Activity, The Purge) line of modern horror films that harkens back to a time when horror films not only felt original, but were at least scary enough to recommend the film to others. “Oculus” won’t really stay with you or haunt your dreams, but the almost “Nightmare on Elm Street” is-this-reality-or-not scenarios are a truly something worth watching for any horror fan.  GRADE: B

The Winter Soldier is Coming: The Second “Captain America” is Another Marvel Cinematic Universe Winner

From the directors of “You, Me, and Dupree” and TV’s “Community” and “Arrested Development” comes Marvel’s latest superhero epic: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Something about that sentence, which is 100% accurate, sounds… just off. How did two guys, brothers in case you wondered, go from directing silly comedies, mostly on the small screen, turn in one of the best films in Marvel’s seemingly unstoppable and hugely successful “cinematic universe?” I have absolutely no idea, but they have made a supremely entertaining film with extremely well-crafted action sequences and is arguably one of the best of the entire Marvel franchise.

I must admit that I was hesitant about the second “Captain America” film going in. I really enjoyed the first film and even back then wondered how the heck they’d tie in the 1940s character with the other modern Marvel characters. As it turned out that wonderfully stylized film actually worked as a direct prequel to “The Avengers.” And now the modern day set sequel “The Winter Soldier” now works as a direct prequel to the “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” coming next summer to a theater near you. Even if the first film and this sequel is set approximately 70 years apart the filmmakers have done a terrific job of branching the two films and making this feel like a legitimate “Captain America” sequel, even if it also feels like yet another “Avengers” sequel (along with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World).

Chris Evans is great (for the third time if you’re keeping count) at playing Steve Rogers, the patriotic good guy who went from skinny boy to genetically altered super soldier in his first film. Captain America is arguably one of the less interesting main Marvel characters (though he wears my favorite costume) but Evans has just enough charm to really sell this character. He works wonders with “Black Widow” played again by Scarlett Johansson. Their repertoire of back-and-forth banter is comically on target. They even introduce “Falcon” played here by Anthony Mackie as a soldier who rigs a flying device. All these guys have great chemistry. And Samuel L. Jackson is back yet again as Nick Fury the director S.H.I.E.L.D and even though he’s appeared in all of the films in some form, he gets the most to do here as the film’s plot involves his organization being infiltrated by HYDRA, the Nazi science division featured in the first “Captain America.”

Anthony and Joe Russo, who have mostly cut their teeth on television series like “Community” and “Arrested Development,” must be pure grade film nerds because they seem to know exactly how to make a simply kick-ass, and well-paced action film. Take the film’s opening sequence aboard a ship taken over by pirates. It’s a thrilling set piece as is the car chase involving assailants who target Nick Fury. It turns out S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by the bad guys and Captain America and his allies must save the day. And then there’s the prickly S.H.I.E.L.D. official Alexander Pierce played by a game Robert Redford. Not to mention the villainous and brawny “Winter Soldier” who is a surprising link to Steve’s past. With all of this going on, you’d think maybe at least Iron Man could show up to help out right?

“Captain America: The Winter Solider” is extremely solid. Anyone looking for the style employed in the first captain America film will be sorely disappointed as this feels much more like “The Avengers” than “The Rocketeer” feel of the first film. Yeah it’s true that all of these Marvel films are beginning to all feel the same, but at least they all feature great action, fun characters, and interconnecting plot lines that is certainly one of the more ambitious set of big budget films ever produced. And it’s just a heck of a lot of fun.  GRADE: A-