Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2019) CGI Anime Movie review

Overall verdict: 7.5/10

Fanatical space cults, philosophy, and proof that a giant monster movies can be deeper than the average blockbuster. 

The Good: Believable character development, great cast and acting, intricate artwork, improved CGI animation, numerous social and philosophical themes to unpack, deconstructive slant, compelling atmosphere of suspense, creative reinventions of classic kaiju. 

The Bad: Light on traditional movie action, lots of unnecessary verbal exposition for events happening onscreen.

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Defeat! The latest mission to destroy Godzilla has ended in failure when Captain Haruo Sakaki made a life or death decision choosing his friend Yuko over the chance for victory.

Mutiny! Haruo is branded a traitor by the Bilsaludo people, former allies of humanity, who stage a coup on board the colony ship Aratrum.

Despair! With all hope lost, humanity turns to the Exif religion led my the charismatic Metphies who manipulated events to bring their Dark god into this plane of existence! The dreaded golden avatar of destruction: Ghidorah.

Ever wondered what a Cosmic horror styled Godzilla movie would be like? This comes complete with fanatical cult, a charismatic religious leader, human sacrifices, and an extradimensional dark deity that defies all laws of physics. In this story, Ghidorah has evolved beyond being just a three headed space dragon. He is now a living time space anomaly, existing in our reality on the combined beliefs of fearful fanatical followers. The ultimate pinnacle of extraterrestrial evolution; a dark mirror to how Godzilla had been portrayed as the pinnacle of earth’s evolutionary development.

That being said it is important to approach this movie with the right expectations and in this case it is not for giant rubber suit wrestling matches. The battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah, both representing the evolutionary peak of their respective natures, is the the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object. That’s it. A force meeting an object, and the fight is exactly as it sounds. 

Instead, GODZILLA THE PLANET EATER is a feature length clash of metaphors and philosophical concepts, each one building on the last. Drawing heavily from the likes of Nietzsche and other perspectives on nihilism, this movie is a biting critique of human nature, motivations and actions; of our flawed sense of superiority and self righteousness. 

The nebulous comforts humanity cling to in times of desperation such as seemingly advanced technology or the faint solace of false religions are harshly deconstructed. Deconstructed too is the nature of the messianic narrative as it is being twisted into crafting a figurehead for advancing a hidden agenda. 

At its core, it is a cautionary tale against single minded obsession to the point of sacrificing the qualities that make us uniquely human. This has been portrayed in a deeply metaphorical sense, through the Godzilla destruction Mission in the first movie, the nanometal in the second movie, and now the Exif’s dark god in this third movie. 

But it’s themes are not all darkness storm and stress. In our main character of Haruo, we are given a tragic tale espousing the virtue of letting go and moving on from past emotional baggage; hatred, anger, fear arising from past trauma and failures. On a greater scope, the state of humanity and Haruo can be seen as a commentary about Japan itself; a country still paying for its misdeeds of the past (given form as Godzilla), who's traditional ways of life are being replaced by "alien" (western) norms, beliefs and mindsets (the Exif religion and Bilusaludo technology), all the while asking the question "how far do we go until we lose who we are?".

Visually, the style of this movie fits the narrative. Desolate post apocalyptic landscapes complete with perpetual overcast skies and creatures that come in varying shades of grey. This all contributes to the serious, bleak and often tragic tone of the story. There seem to be some improvements in the animation, with characters having more dynamic range of expressions compared to the first movie. And all this is complemented with a fine cast, both for the Japanese and English dubs. 

GODZILLA: THE PLANET EATER is easily one of the darkest entries in the Godzilla franchise and one of the deepest with tone and themes hearkening back to the original 1954 classic. Like the original GOJIRA (1954) this movie thrives on atmosphere and suspense. It is relatively light on traditional "blasts and beatdowns" kind of action, but if one was expecting that all the time, a Michael Bay movie might be a more suitable alternative. For those of us who like stories that get you thinking, this one has tons to unpack.  

It is highly recommended that one watches all 3 of the GODZILLA anime movies back to back. Some of the revelations in the third lend themselves to having a deeper appreciation of certain events in PLANET OF MONSTERS and CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE as well as clarifying some initially vague plot points. On a whole, the trilogy of GODZILLA ANIME movies might have had a slow start and is not flawless. It is however "true Godzilla" in spirit and a respectable addition to the franchise.

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Entertainment: B+
Art: B+
Animation: A-

Story: B+
Voice Acting (Japanese): A
Voice Acting (English): A- 

Characters: B+

Music: C+

Replay value: A-
"Brains": A-

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) movie review

Overall verdict: 6.5/10

That YA Remake of Resident Evil The Final Chapter

The Good: Clearer directing in action scenes, good cast chemistry, presents themes that explore grey morality,  fitting music score, magnificent special effects, many emotional moments.

The Bad: Derivative and cliched plot, mediocre scripting, some wooden acting.

***********Review***********

Thomas and friends have survived the treacherous Maze, one of many experiments by the WCKD organisation to find a cure to a virus which turns humans into rage filled savages. They have survived the Scorch, the desolate wastelands which were once mankind’s greatest cities. Now they have to take on WCKD itself and the vengeful overseer Janson () who has captured Thomas’ buddy Minho hoping to extract a cure from his immune cells. They also have to deal with Theresa, Thomas’ former Girlfriend, who turns out to have been working for WCKD all along and betrayed the group in the last movie.

THE DEATH CURE is the final part of the MAZE RUNNER trilogy and at first glance it seems to carry on the derivative nature of the preceding entry THE SCORCH TRIALS. WCKD conducting questionable experiments for a virus cure? Rage filled human husks who would cannibalise survivors? A rag tag band of freedom fighters going up against a corrupt corporation? A hostile takeover from within that same corporation? Yup it definitely sounds like a rehash of Paul WS Anderson’s RESIDENT EVIL movie franchise. Even some of the designs used in this movie like WCKD’s flying vehicles The Bergs, look almost like Umbrella corporation VTOLs.

Looks can be deceiving however as once you get deeper into our story we see these familiar tropes given a fresh portrayal. All opposing forces in the ongoing conflict are just as morally questionable as the next. WCKD’s experiments may be brutal but it is revealed that their intentions are noble and altruistic, hoping to save the remnants of humanity without a single thought about profiteering from the cure. 

The rebel group comes complete with some familiar faces. Are they really opposing an oppressive government or are they just anarchists motivated by jealousy and adopting a “taking you with me” attitude towards what they see as the privileged class of people protected behind the walls? All of this is kept grey and it is nice to see such lines of good and evil blurred to this extent. Gives one quite a bit to think about.

Thomas,Theresa, Newt and Minho all receive a surprising amount of character development along with some startling revelations. The actors have become so comfortable portraying their characters and this shows through the chemistry especially in the emotionally tense moments. The action seems to be shot a lot clearer now with less of the jitter cam and quick cuts that made THE SCORCH TRIALS a chore to watch. The special effects are magnificent considering the movie’s Budget and the music by composer John Paesano (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) complements the action perfectly.

When seen through the context of its young adult target audience, one could derive a “brothers before romantic partners” theme underlying the whole narrative of the trilogy. Whenever Thomas develops feelings for any female character or vice versa, trouble is soon to follow. Whereas the single minded determination to rescue a fellow “glader” (term used to denote the original band of allies who escaped the maze), this “leave no man behind” mindset is shown to be the purest of motives and the highest of moral obligations. So remember kids, Bros before babes ok?

That being said, THE MAZE RUNNER trilogy is a fun though slightly derivative series. Some liberties are taken from the original source material, like the removal of psychic powers, but these aid the transition to film. If you can overlook a weaker second instalment , then this third one THE DEATH CURE will make it all worthwhile.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: B+

Story: C+

Acting: B-

Characters: A-

Music: B-

Replay value: B+

"Brains": B

The Predator (2018) movie review

Overall verdict: 6/10

Long tall Sally, She's built sweet.
But she ain't got everything that Uncle John need.

The Good: Beautiful cinematography, great acting, memorable music that pays homage to the original movie score, attempts to show the trials of those suffering from mental issues.

The Bad: mediocre action, forgettable characters, bland dialogue that tries too hard to be funny, takes the franchise in a direction that differs from established canon. 

***********Review***********

Helmed by director Shane Black, THE PREDATOR is an odd creature of a movie that at times feel as much a gene spliced monster as the “upgrade” Predator which features as the main antagonist of the story. It splices elements of other movies that audiences seem to drawn to such as the lighthearted snarky comedy of marvel cinematic universe, well written kid characters from the 2017 IT remake, the R Rated violence of JOHN WICK and a relevant social issue which in this case seems to be mental conditions. It is big, it is imposing, but it is not necessarily stronger or more impressive.

Our story begins by establishing our main character: sniper extraordinaire Quinn McKenna. He’s a badass with issues. During a mission he encounters a crashed alien spaceship and comes into possession of some alien tech which he mails home to keep it out of the government’s reach. But the ship had an occupant too who is captured by the Stargazer project, an extraterrestrial monitoring organisation. Now McKenna’s Son, who is autistic, somehow manages to activate the alien tech which draws another meaner and bigger alien Predator to earth to retrieve the tech and crashed ship’s occupant, who is soon revealed to be some sort of traitor to his race. McKenna must team up with a rag tag bunch of war veterans, who all have issues, to stop this new threat.

For me, THE PREDATOR is really a step down for the franchise. Take the main characters for instance. In the first movie they all had distinct personalities. In PREDATORS they were all from various different backgrounds. Here, Everyone of those veterans forming the main “team” is a snarky foul mouth with a new quip ever at the ready. There are some genuinely funny moments, even tender moments, but much of the emotional aspect is lost amid one too many “trying to be funny” scenes.

The director tries to bring attention to various mental issues like Autism and PTSD but unfortunately some of the symptoms are played for laughs. Ultimately the mental issues aspect just serves to give characters some unique tics rather than being used to get a deeper point across. Then again with such bland characters we could use anything to tell them apart.

The action is equally as bland. Most of the movie is set in a American suburban town and nearby forest. There is not much In The way of that suspenseful feeling of being hunted by a superior unseen foe since the foes are revealed in full visible glory early on. The one word to describe the directing is “pedestrian”. You know, the bland medium shots, jittery cam during action scenes, the kind of camera angles you would expect from a less experienced director than Shane Black, particularly since this is amateurish when to his work on IRON MAN 3. Only the cinematography, courtesy of Larry Fong, adds to the atmosphere of the movie.

Another positive would be the music by Henry Jackman, paying homage to the iconic themes of the original while adding a sufficiently fresh touch. The actors also do their best with the forgettable script they are given. Standout performances include Thomas Jane (PUNISHER) as Baxley, the guy with Tourettes, and Keegan-Michael Kay as Coyle, the vulgar strutting one who is hiding a vulnerable secret.

While not a complete reboot of the franchise, THE PREDATOR does make some changes, especially in the titular aliens’ motive for hunting humans. Long time fans will be hard pressed to accept this new direction after years of tie in media painting the titular Predators as honour bound warriors who test themselves by hunting only the most dangerous game. Here, they get painted more as scientists who harvest genetic material to introduce into their genes to improve their species.

I really wanted to like this movie much more than I did. The acting, cast chemistry, music and cinematography is great. But on the flip side it feels too juvenile with its incessant humour, bland action and lack of much depth. It would be intriguing to see how these latest story developments are incorporated in to sequels or tie in media but for now all we are left with is a mediocre movie experience.

***********Review***********

Entertainment: B

Story: B

Acting: B+

Characters: C-

Music: B+

Replay value: B-

"Brains": C-

Godzilla: City On The Edge of Battle (2018) CGI Anime movie

Overall verdict: 7/10

Ahab and his whale. A sci-fi Moby Dick story.

The Good: 

improves on previous movie's cel shaded animation, excellent voice acting, intricate artwork,  takes a more subversive approach to a typical Godzilla story, explores Nietzschean themes of vengeance and obsession.  

The Bad: 

Creature designs remain uninspired, Godzilla comes across as an afterthought, cliched revenge plot, weaker action than first movie

***********Review***********

Previously on Godzilla! A desperate plan to retake earth from strange creatures led by the king of monsters himself! A shocking revelation that the true Godzilla has evolved into a towering behemoth 300 meters tall with the local ecology shaped around his unique biology! Haruou, left for dead, has instead been rescued by a mysterious native girl. Looming large in the future is an ominous mechanical city with ties to a fearsome alien weapon! What adventures lie ahead on this Planet of Monsters?

A thrilling one apparently. Before the war, the cold, logic guided aliens known as the  Bilusaludo came with a promise to defeat the rampaging Godzilla in exchange for allowing their race to settle on earth. They used an advanced nanotechnology to create Mechagodzilla but their creation was destroyed before it could be deployed. In present day, the first mission to retake earth from Godzilla has ended in failure. The survivors are captured by a tribe of local humanoids who seem to have evolved from the remnants of humanity left behind on earth.

But twist reveal! They aren’t completely human, instead combining traits of the ancient Kaiju Mothra who died fighting Godzilla. Meanwhile, the Bilusaludo discover a familiar signal; mechagodzilla’s signal emanating from a mysterious technologically advanced city . They, along with the humans, begin a single minded quest to unearth the secrets of the mechanised city that has sprung up around the wreckage of the alien weapon, and possibly turn it against Godzilla. But twist reveal! Mechagodzilla didn’t just build the city. It IS the city! And so the stage is set for a clash of the titans, Godzilla and mechagodzilla, each taken to their logical final evolutionary step. One the embodiment of a world’s entire ecosystem and the other an intelligent nanotech creature able to form anything it so desires.

This second part of the Netflix GODZILLA anime trilogy improved on many aspects of the first film while still keeping the elements of that film which appealed to me. Haruo is given some great character growth particularly in his budding relationship with childhood friend Yuko. What started as a typical cold angry guy and wide eyed innocent girl gets some much needed development. We see new aspects to their personality, all shaped around the deconstruction of dedication.

GODZILLA CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE is a more traditional “Moby Dick” story of how dedication to their mission slowly but surely turns the protagonists into something worse than the creature they are hunting. The callback is rather blatant, right down to the survivors wanting to use a sort of “harpoon” to take down Godzilla (it makes sense in context).

Like captain Ahab of the classic tale, we are presented with the fine line between dedication and obsession. When does one become another? Does one truly have to become a monster to kill a monster? How far will someone go to uphold their dedication to a fleeting ideal? In typical anime style, this theme is fleshed out in both a symbolic and literal level, with parallel thematic developments for our protagonist Haruo, Yuko, and humanity’s allies from the stars, the Bilusaludo.

With all these great elements, the anime only suffers if the audience does not accept it’s often deconstructive execution of the plot. Expectations are cleverly subverted, underlying themes switch between literal and symbolic, even the monsters are referred to in both an actual and a figurative sense. This might come across as a little confusing for those who do not take the time to think through the story and read between the lines.

Visuals-wise, GODZILLA: CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE retains the cel shaded CGI look of the first film and many of Polygon Studio’s work. The animation, which beautifully mimics that of traditional 2D animation right down to the reduced frame rate, is really an acquired taste that may not be for everyone. It is calling back to something old, using something new. Small improvements have been made particularly in the drab mono coloured creatures that populate far future earth. Godzilla himself gets a harsher shading and contrast in lighting which makes him distinct from the already dull grey background.

These little improvements make me hopeful for the upcoming finale to this trilogy. It is not perfect and the improvements may come too slowly for more cynical viewers. Like the animation style, the movies so far are truly an acquired taste that boils down to personal preference. Complex or confusing? Subverting expectations or failing to deliver on its publicity? Perhaps the greater battle is not within Haruo himself, or between monsters, or even between the various factions and Godzilla. Perhaps it is between the fans.

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Entertainment: B+
Art: B+
Animation: A-

Story: B-
Voice Acting (English): A-

Voice Acting (Japanese): A
Characters: B

Music: C-

Replay value: B+
"Brains": B

Priest (2011) review

Overall verdict: 6.5/10

The Good: Awesome production design, well choreographed fights, atmospheric cinematography, clear concise directing, some underlying subtext and satire to appreciate

The Bad: Strays too far from its comic book source material, "neutered" PG level violence for a horror movie, thin narrative, uninspired dialogue, forgettable characters

**********************Review********************

Visual effects developer-turned-director, Scott Stewart, delivers his second supernatural action film that claims to be “adapted” from the comic book “Priest”. Supposedly based on a Korean comic or “manhwa” of same name, the movie “Priest” has NOTHING to do with the original, not even the name of the squinting “strong silent type” main protagonist played by Paul Bettany. Fallen angels, deal with a demon, multiple time frame storylines and all other interesting elements of the original be damned. And perhaps it was for the better since the manhwa’s multiple storylines taking place in the Crusades, the old west and the future would just confuse the heck out of everyone.

So they crafted a whole new premise to appeal to the superficial summer action lover. And the one thing they did right was to give us vampires that do not sparkle in the sunlight. These vampires are all teeth and claws who swarm across the world at night attacking from giant hives, a clear reference to the “Aliens” franchise. These savage beasts have been at constant war with mankind since the dawn of time. A beautifully bloody animated prologue sets the back-story of the film about how mankind’s salvation came in the form of the Priests, holy warriors who battled the vampire hordes to near extinction.

This story revolves around one of the veteran priests who lives among the other downtrodden human inhabitants of a walled dystopian city ruled by the now totalitarian church. When he receives word that his niece was abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, the priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out of the city and rescue her. He is joined on his crusade by his niece’s boyfriend, a young trigger-happy wasteland sheriff. But as the duo soon discover, reports of the vampires’ return have been greatly understated. With a powerful yet familiar threat leading the newly reformed vampire hordes, the wayward Priest and his companion must fend off supernatural foes and contend with a group of fellow Priests sent to hunt down their rogue brother.

“Priest” is one cliché storm of a film that commits the cardinal sins of a paper thin plot and forgettable characters thanks to the inexperience of first time writer Cory Goodman. The characters are so forgettable that the writer never even bothered to give many of them names. Paul Bettany’s main character is just called “Priest” (It is not his name by the way). There is also “Black Hat” (because he wears a black hat) and “The Priestess” (because she is a female priest) just to name a few. They are less like actual characters and more like blank character archetypes thrown in for plot convenience. Archetypes like Cam Gigandet’s hot headed Sheriff Hicks (a second reference to Aliens perhaps?) and Lily Collin’s damsel in distress Lucy are just as forgettable even though they do have names.

Failing to provide interesting characters or a good story, the least the producers could do was to deliver a holy hell load of violence with a hard R or M18 rating. Sadly the animated prologue has more blood and guts than the entire film combined since most of the gorier battles take place in darkness or amid dust. The Fights are well choreographed but they tend to be more stylish than practical and sometimes border on illogical. For example, a duel on a high speed train is awesome but none of the combatants ever thought of kicking his opponent off the side?

But despite these failings of the flesh, some salvation comes to “Priest” in the form of an excellent production design. From the dark cyberpunk inspired Church city to the post apocalyptic western towns dotting the hostile desert lands, great attention had been paid to make those places as believable as possible. Perhaps most memorable would be the tech on display in the film which includes futuristic motorcycles, tricked out shotguns and the Priests’ arsenal of deadly cross-themed blade weapons.

Beyond the props, flawless visual effects and startling CGI, the movie tries as well to inject its narrative with deeper subtexts. The Priests themselves call to mind stories of War veterans who were shunned by society and unable to re-integrate, a theme made most famous in “Rambo: First Blood”. The film also makes fun of how some modern churches twist their religion into a means of control, the hypocritical “holier-than-thou” attitude of modern Christians and their single minded belief that they remain “saved from evil” as long as they worship God. It is not intentionally “anti-Christian” or “anti-catholic”. It is more of a clever satire but there will always be the more conservative ones who would cry sacrilege.

At only 87 minutes long, Priest moves at a brisk pace and at the very least it is not boring. It would no doubt entertain action junkies and fans of post apocalyptic thrillers although more time could have been spent developing the characters or delving into the underlying themes that were addressed. Priest is spectacular but soulless, with a nice looking “body” but barely enough “blood” and “spirit” to satisfy the more sophisticated movie goer.

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Go For it: if you love post apocalyptic thrillers like Resident Evil Extinction, if you are game for some brain-lite man versus monster action or if you are sick of romantic vampires that sparkle in the sunlight

Avoid it: if you are a fan of the original Korean Manhwa, if you expect in-depth philosophical and theological sparring of religious themes or if you are a very conservative christian and can't take satire.

Entertainment: A

Story: C

Acting: B

Characters: C

Music: B

Replay value: B+

"Brains": B

Beyond Skyline (2018) direct to video movie review

Overall verdict: 5.5/10

Silat saves the world from aliens

The Good: Excellent special effects despite small budget, decent action, big ideas expanding on the typical alien invasion movie, strong first act

The Bad: Bland characters, drop in special effects standard near the end, erratically filmed fight scenes, tedious build up to climax

***********Review***********

Mark Corey is your average Los Angeles cop with a down and out no good son he keeps bailing out of jail. They got problems. An uneventful train commute turns into the end of the world as we know it. Giant alien space ships have come to earth, abducting the population and extracting their brains to be used as wetware processors for their war machines. 

You know where this is going: bunch of people forced together by circumstance against impossible odds. Mark and son are joined by a train operator Audrey and an old blind homeless man Sarge. They got problems. Big problems. Alien biomechanical creatures of all shapes and sizes are assaulting every major city. Each one looking amazing despite being CGI in a movie with a relatively small Budget.

Their adrenaline pumping escape through an alien onslaught does not end well as they are abducted by what seems to be one of the alien generals. It is here where we see the intricately designed alien ship interiors. Once again amazing work, well beyond what one would expect for a film of such measly budget. 

We also get to see the aliens themselves up close and they are realised through a combination of suit actors and minor cgi touch ups. The suits are great, if only a little derivative looking like a rearranged combination of leftover parts from Aliens Vs Predator. It is revealed that the human brains the aliens are using can be triggered to take over the exoskeletons or war machines, as evidenced by a rogue alien which seems to bear the memories of the human whose brain it had been installed with.

Unfortunately there is little explanation for this phenomenon other than a contrived “power of Love” gimmick where the sight of a loved one in danger will somehow “snap them out of it” and allow the human brain to exert control over its alien exoskeleton. For those who have watched the first SKYLINE movie from 2010, there is a payoff to that movie’s cliffhanger though you may be hard pressed to recognize it considering that the previous characters are played by all new actors.

BEYOND SKYLINE does try to thread some new ground by the second act which sees the protagonists rescue a baby girl who seems to be aging at an accelerated rate and exhibiting powers to control the alien technology. They clash with the alien General and end up crashing the ship into a south East Asian Jungle. There, the protagonists join up with a rag tag band of guerrillas led by Indonesia martial artist Iko Uwais. Unfortunately the execution is less than polished; a lot of talking, erratic pacing, and a lack of plot focus until the aliens show up again in the climax.

What could have been a desperate intense battle for survival instead turns into something out of power rangers. Having blown the budget on the city wide invasion and space ship interiors, the special effects in the climax do not look as good as the rest of the movie. The aliens, who were previously portrayed as so fearsome that just looking at one will leave a human in a trance and ripe for capture, are now typical foot soldiers and cannon fodder. The cinematography and flat lighting make the rubber suited aliens almost painful to watch as the guerrillas fight back with, i kid you not, Silat martial arts moves. 

All while ducking around Raiden’s temple from MORTAL KOMBAT. There is a nice homage to old giant monster movies that would have been more enjoyable with better CGI. All this leading to the ending which m, as uplifting as it was, is just too contrived for words, setting up what looks like a new video game.

Alien invasion stories seem to be a whole new nadir since INDEPENDENCE DAY RESURGENCE, and BEYOND SKYLINE does little to help the genre. It is decent, with relatable though somewhat uninteresting characters. The initial mystery over the aliens, their motives and what not is fairly intriguing but the mystery is never allowed to develop gradually, instead solved via mandatory exposition dump. CGI and special effects clearly deteriorate in quality from the start (big Budget movie standard) to the end (tv series from more than 6 years ago standard).

***********Review***********

Entertainment: B

Story: B+

Acting: B-

Characters: C

Music: C-

Replay value: B-

"Brains": C-