Search
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Godzilla Minus One (2023) in Movies
Dec 14, 2023
Surprisingly Human...for a Monster Movie
The BankofMarquis just viewed one of the most entertaining films of 2023 - and it’s a GODZILLA film.
Yes, a GODZILLA film.
From famed Japanese Studio Toho, makers of the original Godzilla film from the 1950’s plus other “man in a rubber suit” monster movies like MOTHRA and WAR OF THE GARGANTUANS, Godzilla Minus One subverts the genre for a moment for instead of presenting a “Monster stomping on buildings” movie with some people in the background, this film is about the Japanese people and how they deal with the aftermath of World War II while (also) running from a giant monster stomping on buildings - but the monster story is the “B” story and the people story is the “A” story…and this subversion of the genre works very very well.
The title of the film, Godzilla Minus One, refers to the fact that…after World War II….Japan was “starting from zero”. When Godzilla starts attacking, it knocks Japan back another peg, hence…Godzilla Minus One.
Director and Screenwriter Takashi Yamazaki tells the tale of Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki) who encounters Godzilla towards the end of WWII and freezes, causing the death of his fellow soldiers (so his PTSD continues to tell him throughout the film). Once back in Japan, he encounters a young woman, Noriko (Minami Hamabe) who has been left orphaned, homeless and alone and is sheparding an abandoned baby. This unlikely trio form a bond…and a home…while trying to rebuild their lives and (in Koichi’s case) tries to make sense of the devastation he encountered in the war.
Into to this rebuilding stomps Godzilla.
This story is effectively told by Yamazaki, who knows when to focus on the people aspect of the film and when to focus on the building stomping of Godzilla. It’s a delicate balance that is helped by the performances of Kamiki and Hamabe…and the special effects that brings the spirit of the 1950’s and 1960’s Toho monster films to light.
A surpwisingly rich entertainment, Godzilla Minus One will entertain you with monster stomping…and deep human emotion.
Letter Grade: A- (I’m as surprised as you are)
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Yes, a GODZILLA film.
From famed Japanese Studio Toho, makers of the original Godzilla film from the 1950’s plus other “man in a rubber suit” monster movies like MOTHRA and WAR OF THE GARGANTUANS, Godzilla Minus One subverts the genre for a moment for instead of presenting a “Monster stomping on buildings” movie with some people in the background, this film is about the Japanese people and how they deal with the aftermath of World War II while (also) running from a giant monster stomping on buildings - but the monster story is the “B” story and the people story is the “A” story…and this subversion of the genre works very very well.
The title of the film, Godzilla Minus One, refers to the fact that…after World War II….Japan was “starting from zero”. When Godzilla starts attacking, it knocks Japan back another peg, hence…Godzilla Minus One.
Director and Screenwriter Takashi Yamazaki tells the tale of Koichi (Ryunosuke Kamiki) who encounters Godzilla towards the end of WWII and freezes, causing the death of his fellow soldiers (so his PTSD continues to tell him throughout the film). Once back in Japan, he encounters a young woman, Noriko (Minami Hamabe) who has been left orphaned, homeless and alone and is sheparding an abandoned baby. This unlikely trio form a bond…and a home…while trying to rebuild their lives and (in Koichi’s case) tries to make sense of the devastation he encountered in the war.
Into to this rebuilding stomps Godzilla.
This story is effectively told by Yamazaki, who knows when to focus on the people aspect of the film and when to focus on the building stomping of Godzilla. It’s a delicate balance that is helped by the performances of Kamiki and Hamabe…and the special effects that brings the spirit of the 1950’s and 1960’s Toho monster films to light.
A surpwisingly rich entertainment, Godzilla Minus One will entertain you with monster stomping…and deep human emotion.
Letter Grade: A- (I’m as surprised as you are)
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
RuPaul recommended Disco Bloodbath in Books (curated)
The Killer Shrews (1959)
4.0
Rate It
Movie
Low-budget sci-fi monster movie. A ship captain visiting a remote island discovers the scientists...
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Monster Hunter (2020) in Movies
Feb 24, 2021
Absolutely Disastrous
Monster Hunter is the 15th feature film directed by Paul WS Anderson and is based on a popular gaming franchise of the same name. This is not Anderson’s first attempt at a video game movie, as he is arguably best known for giving us the Resident Evil movie series and the 1995 version of Mortal Kombat.
As is the case with the examples above, this film is in no way faithful to the source material. I am not a huge fan of the Monster Hunter games but I have played enough of them to know that they are nothing like what we get in this generic action movie filled to the brim with clichés. Frankly, this movie runs the gamut of mid 2000’s mediocre action film clichés like it is following a formula from a textbook.
When reviewing any movie, – even one as trashy as this, – I always try to find some positives before tearing through the poor elements, but I am genuinely struggling to find anything here that didn’t annoy me or make me cringe. Even the one thing that you would think would be a positive, – the fact that the movie’s runtime is only 103 minutes long, – still isn’t a positive because the film still manages to feel so long and dragged out.
Anderson is a decent director, I know this from Event Horizon and the first Resident Evil film, but at this point in his career it genuinely seems like he isn’t even trying anymore. I’m honestly convinced at this point that the guy just looks at the box art for whatever video game series he is adapting and decides that is all of the research that he has to do.
The technical aspects of this movie are garbage. The editing is abrupt and extremely cheesy with no flow or cohesion, just a ton of hard crash zooms and awkward transitions. The score sounds like royalty free suspense stock music that a freelancer might download for background music for a low budget Youtube video.
Read the rest of my review at: https://www.bigglasgowcomicpage.com/2021/02/18/review-monster-hunter-movie/
As is the case with the examples above, this film is in no way faithful to the source material. I am not a huge fan of the Monster Hunter games but I have played enough of them to know that they are nothing like what we get in this generic action movie filled to the brim with clichés. Frankly, this movie runs the gamut of mid 2000’s mediocre action film clichés like it is following a formula from a textbook.
When reviewing any movie, – even one as trashy as this, – I always try to find some positives before tearing through the poor elements, but I am genuinely struggling to find anything here that didn’t annoy me or make me cringe. Even the one thing that you would think would be a positive, – the fact that the movie’s runtime is only 103 minutes long, – still isn’t a positive because the film still manages to feel so long and dragged out.
Anderson is a decent director, I know this from Event Horizon and the first Resident Evil film, but at this point in his career it genuinely seems like he isn’t even trying anymore. I’m honestly convinced at this point that the guy just looks at the box art for whatever video game series he is adapting and decides that is all of the research that he has to do.
The technical aspects of this movie are garbage. The editing is abrupt and extremely cheesy with no flow or cohesion, just a ton of hard crash zooms and awkward transitions. The score sounds like royalty free suspense stock music that a freelancer might download for background music for a low budget Youtube video.
Read the rest of my review at: https://www.bigglasgowcomicpage.com/2021/02/18/review-monster-hunter-movie/
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) in Movies
Feb 19, 2018 (Updated Feb 19, 2018)
It's (not really) alive!
Hammer's third Frankenstein movie is basically a soft reboot, disregarding the continuity of the first two. Down-on-his-luck Baron F (Cushing) rediscovers frozen body of his original monster (Kingston), doesn't really think through consequences of hiring someone called Zoltan the Evil Hypnotist (Woodthorpe) to help with monster-wrangling duties as he prepares to try and restore his reputation.
Hammer won the rights to reuse much imagery from the 1930s Universal Frankenstein series (that said, the monster looks more like an Easter Island statue than Boris Karloff); in their delight at this coup they seem to have forgotten to come up with a proper story for this film. Cushing is given a run for his money by the underrated character actor Peter Woodthorpe; in the end the parts are competently assembled but the spark of life remains elusive. Title seems a little harsh, as Frankenstein is certainly more sinned against than sinning on this occasion: poor choice of staff hardly constitutes 'evil', if you ask me.
Hammer won the rights to reuse much imagery from the 1930s Universal Frankenstein series (that said, the monster looks more like an Easter Island statue than Boris Karloff); in their delight at this coup they seem to have forgotten to come up with a proper story for this film. Cushing is given a run for his money by the underrated character actor Peter Woodthorpe; in the end the parts are competently assembled but the spark of life remains elusive. Title seems a little harsh, as Frankenstein is certainly more sinned against than sinning on this occasion: poor choice of staff hardly constitutes 'evil', if you ask me.
Yoshi (40 KP) rated Lilo & Stitch (2002) in Movies
Jun 7, 2018
Old style animation (1 more)
Elvis tunes
This is by far my favorite Disney movie. It seems to be one of the last of their old style of animation, which is absolutely wonderful. The originality of the concept is top notch, and because of the way it was introduced the rest of the series doesn't feel like a lame Pokemon knockoff the way that many other super powered monster type series do.
Probably my favorite part though was that this movie is what really got me into Elvis when I was about 7 or 8 (it's gotten to the point where I actually went to Graceland about 8 years ago).
Probably my favorite part though was that this movie is what really got me into Elvis when I was about 7 or 8 (it's gotten to the point where I actually went to Graceland about 8 years ago).
Awix (3310 KP) rated Gamera: Revenge of Iris (1999) in Movies
Mar 15, 2019 (Updated Mar 15, 2019)
Apocalyptic final instalment in Kaneko's trilogy takes the Japanese monster movie to places it has never been before or since. Amid signs of the man-eating Gyaos creatures reappearing in vast numbers, an embittered girl bonds with the life-draining Iris creature to seek revenge on Gamera after her parents were killed in his battle with the first Gyaos some years earlier.
Incomplete Struggle (a much better title to my mind) is much more of a fantasy film than the previous chapter in the story, once again playing cleverly with various tropes of Japanese monster stories. The script takes the trouble to include characters from both previous films (it is clearly intended as a grand conclusion to the story) and also explores notions of pre-millennial angst. Once again, the monster battles are superbly staged, but the big ideas explored by the film are also fascinating, even if some elements of the story are left a bit vague. What one person sees as vaulting imagination and ambition, another may see as the script getting a bit out of control; some may also have an issue with the deliberate lack of closure at the very end of the film. Nevertheless, this movie manages to give the Japanese kaiju genre a sense of majesty and gravitas it has seldom achieved anywhere else.
Incomplete Struggle (a much better title to my mind) is much more of a fantasy film than the previous chapter in the story, once again playing cleverly with various tropes of Japanese monster stories. The script takes the trouble to include characters from both previous films (it is clearly intended as a grand conclusion to the story) and also explores notions of pre-millennial angst. Once again, the monster battles are superbly staged, but the big ideas explored by the film are also fascinating, even if some elements of the story are left a bit vague. What one person sees as vaulting imagination and ambition, another may see as the script getting a bit out of control; some may also have an issue with the deliberate lack of closure at the very end of the film. Nevertheless, this movie manages to give the Japanese kaiju genre a sense of majesty and gravitas it has seldom achieved anywhere else.
David McK (3425 KP) rated Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction in Books
Jan 28, 2019
The inspiration for the Ron-Perlman led movie(s) of the same name, Hellboy - like the lead character - is sort of a strange mix: in this case, of the occult with the medium of the graphic novel with a very Cthulu-like monster at the end of the tale.
I also have to say that this is proof that Marvel and DC aren't the only two publishers in the world able to produce compelling and enjoyable reads!
I also have to say that this is proof that Marvel and DC aren't the only two publishers in the world able to produce compelling and enjoyable reads!
