Godzilla: King Of The Monsters (2019)

Oh boy, I was pumped for the latest big-screen outing for Godzilla. I fully bought into the hype. The trailer worked for me, advance word was that it made up for the lack of action in the previous American Godzilla movie, and knowing the other monsters were going to be getting some screentime had me practically salivating.

Reviews weren't always kind, however, when they started to appear. But there seemed to be a clear divide. Those who were happy with the monster fights, and those who seemed to miss the point and think that the failings elsewhere (poor script, thin characterisations) would bother Godzilla fans who went along to see a titanic smackdown.

I have to say that I am in the camp of those who seem to have missed the point, despite believing that I really do GET the point. I don't think a blockbuster of this type needs to have such poor writing or characterisation in place but I can overlook it if the action is pleasing enough. That wasn't the case here, for reasons I will delve into shortly.

The basic plot concerns a group of people who are using a machine to wake up the titans (giant monsters that are now known to the world, and being debated by governments). They have a plan to bring balance back to the planet. That plan goes out the window when King Ghidorah sets itself up as the apex predator and leader of the titans. This means that the only hope us puny humans have is Godzilla. If he can be put in the right place at the right time, and if he wants to help. Although other giant monsters are shown, this is a battle between Godzilla and King Ghidorah, with some nice set-pieces involving Rodan and Mothra, both separately and together. Which is enough to keep many fans very happy, especially with the quality of CGI on display.

Directed by Michael Dougherty, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zach Shields, what we have here is a bloated disaster movie in the shape of a kaiju flick, and you can see the boxes marked off that particular checklist if you look out for them. The big opener and then standard scenes of character establishment, the one person who rallied against a certain invention that is now the cause of all their problems (in this case it's a way to kind of communicate with the titans), the tough decisions made about who can be helped and who must be left to die, and the moments of noble sacrifice. Although I almost daren't say his name in relation to another incarnation of Big G on film, this is almost more like a Roland Emmerich movie in terms of the structure and plotting. I do like Dougherty. I just think he got carried away here with the set-pieces and the opportunity to create visions bigger than anything he'd previously been able to get close to.

The human cast are a mixed bag. I really like Kyle Chandler, who plays the lead, a man personally invested in fixing the situation as he attempts to locate his ex-wife (Vera Farmiga) and his daughter (Millie Bobby Brown), both of whom are currently being dragged around the planet by the sorta-villain played by Charles Dance. Chandler ends up in a group that includes Sally Hawkins and Ken Watanabe, reprising their roles from the 2014 movie, Zhang Ziyi, Bradley Whitford, Aisha Hinds, and Thomas Middleditch. David Strathairn, CCH Pounder, Joe Morton, and O'Shea Jackson Jr also help to fill out the supporting cast, some for what seems like mere seconds of screentime.

What hurts everyone is the script, which just gets worse and worse as the film plays out. Character motivations seem murky, at best, any moments that are supposed to feel powerful and moving are exactly the opposite, and it's all weak filler in between the action beats.

And I understand that many others have been pleased by those action beats. They have been able to overlook the obvious failings elsewhere because, to them, this delivers the goods. It throws major devastation around onscreen as if it's making a statement in direct response to the Gareth Edwards movie (which I like more nowadays, the more I think about it). I just don't know how other people weren't bothered by sore eyes and headaches as I was. The action here is shot by people who just graduated from the Michael Bay School Of Making Every Frame Busy And Letting An Epileptic Octopus Be In Charge Of The Editing (that's a real school, honest). I have yet to be beaten into submission by any film that I have opted to see in the cinema, but I came perilously close to walking out of this one after being so pained by the first big fight between Godzilla and King Ghidorah. Overdo everything, make sure to add cloud and rain and debris

Look, I'm not completely oblivious to the charms of this movie. There are quite a few shots throughout that are stunning, in terms of scale and shot composition (and most of the scenes with Mothra are beautiful). And the idea of these giant creatures fighting is great, obviously. I'll also admit that the plotting works when it comes to the actual behaviours of the monsters. And every moment featuring Rodan is fantastic. There's also a superb score by Bear McCreary. But none of these things really make up for the fact that so much of the film is such a chaotic mess that it can cause actual pain.

And none of this negative take on the film has stopped me from pre-ordering it to check out again on a smaller screen (where I might end up actually enjoying it slightly more, being able to enjoy the scale and effects without feeling over-stimulated by the busy visuals and noise).

4/10
Upgraded to 5/10 as I really cannot have it at the same lowly rating as the Emmerich movie.

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The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

It has long been the case that if a movie was released with very little marketing and/or no advance screenings for critics then everyone could safely assume that it wasn't going to be very good. A lot of stinkers have been dumped into cinemas this way, making a cash grab before the word starts to spread on just how bad it is. But the times they are a changing, as a popular song will tell you. And that is how so many people ended up spending their time after the recent Super Bowl watching The Cloverfield Paradox. Very few people knew it was being released so soon, and even less expected the trailer from Netflix advertising it as being available to watch right after the game. Well played, Netflix, well played indeed.

Now let's get to the film itself. Tenuously linked to the previous two films, The Cloverfield Paradox shows us an Earth that is limping through a dire energy crisis, which is the perfect time to develop and build a huge space station thingummybob that will head upwards into the stars and fire a big beam down on our planet with probably no long-lasting negative effects to us or the universe, obviously. The crew are impressively multi-cultural, with Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) being the one we are kept alongside the most, and they take turns at working together and fighting one another when things go wrong and Earth seems to disappear. If they can ever make it back there, and if some strange force will actually let them, becomes the focus of the film, with occasional diversions to show us what is going on back on Earth itself (which you should already be aware of if you've seen the previous two films).

You have a few things working very well here. The cast, for one, are a great mix; as well as Mbatha-Raw, there's Daniel Bruhl, Aksel Hennie,  Zhang Ziyi, David Oyelowo, Chris O'Dowd, and more. The production values are good, with some impressive special effects throughout. And fans of the previous movies will enjoy scouring each scene for small connections and references to other events.

Julius Onah directs well enough, showing especially good instincts when it comes to the scares and surprises, which are just a bit too few and far between. One moment features some squirm-inducing eyeball freakery that perked me right up again just as my interest had started to wane.

The biggest problem lies with the script, written by Oren Uziel. Hampered by a lack of logic, even movie-based logic, and possibly also hampered by having to shoehorn in those Cloverfield connections, the script falls completely flat in between the better set-pieces. Worst of all, it undermines the decent acting on display by making most of the characters very hard to care about. There's also no attempt to give us a decent hint at an explanation for certain events. I don't need everything spelled out for me, most people don't, but that doesn't mean a film can just be made up of various moments thrown together with no real idea of the cause and effect. That way lies anarchy and a lack of satisfaction for viewers.

Everything else makes up for the poor script, but only just (and I have already heard from a LOT of people who disagree with me). The weakest of the series so far, I can still see this being a big, even monster, hit for Netflix, thanks to the (lack of) marketing and the curiosity that fans will have. I just hope that whatever we get next is a bit better.

6/10

Get the previous two movies here.
Or, in America, get them here.