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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
Kaiju Action at its Finest
Your opinion on this movie will change drastically depending on how much you can stand the humans they always cut back to. Personally, I thought they were fine here, but there are definitely going to be people who wish they were cut entirely. It especially hurts in the beginning, as there is a solid half hour or so of them setting up the story in between shots of the titular characters. And while their scenes were certainly the weakest, there are more than plenty of kaiju fights to go around.
For those who come to this film wanting some story with their fights, there is actually a really good plot thread involving Kong. He is the main protagonist of the film (despite the title implying shared screentime) and the majority of his scenes have no human interaction whatsoever. Instead, the film beautifully tells its story through the body language of the kaiju as they interact and face off against each other.
Obviously, people will want to see this movie for the action. And the action more than delivers. There are nearly a dozen different fights in this movie, and the worst that can be said is that some are too short. They're all beautifully shot, catch all the action, and each major kaiju has a big moment at least once.
As for Godzilla, while he's not in play nearly as much as Kong, he still has presence in the film and a couple of my favorite moments. The most I'll say without getting into spoilers is that he's like a house cat, doing his own thing and not caring how it inconveniences others.
I highly recommend seeing this on the big screen. Get a bucket of popcorn, sit back, and enjoy this two hour ride of fun. You won't regret it.
Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)
A fine film
Kung Fu Panda is a franchise close to my heart. I remember my excitement on the last day of school, waiting to be released so I could go see the first movie in theaters. I remember getting a box of Eggo waffles that had the characters printed on them and finding out I could get a pillow of Po's face (which I got). It's a pivotal part of my childhood, was my favorite movie for a long time, and still holds up to this day. The second movie is also fantastic, and the third is really good, albeit with some flaws. And this fourth entry, while easily the weakest link, still provides a good time at the theater.
The easiest positive I can name is the animation. The settings and especially the fights in this movie look amazing. The choreography and uniqueness of the action outdoes pretty much every other movie in the franchise, where the fights are epic yet simple hand-to-hand combat. Here, characters interact with their environments a lot more, using pillars and tables as projectiles and defenses and using weapons that litter the areas. This is where the film shines brightest.
Another positive I can give is the voice acting. Jack Black continues to lead these films as Po, and Viola Davis brings so much to the antagonist. Her voice alone can make The Chameleon an intimidating figure in any scene. While many may consider it a nostalgic cashgrab, Ian McShane's return as Tai Lung is still great, and he has a few lines in here that really cut and remind you why he was such a threat in the first movie. And finally, the film is only 94 minutes. So if you don't like it but want to finish it, it won't eat up more than 2 hours.
However, that briefness lends itself to a critique I have: parts of the film feel a little fast. There's very little breathing room for the characters to just sit and relax, with the plot going from scene to scene to scene. The few moments that do lend themselves to a breather are cuts back to Po's dads as they follow him to make sure he's alright. If there had been an extra ten minutes that allowed characters more time to develop, I think it would've helped a lot.
My other big critique is the amount of humor in the film. It's also something I think the third film does, while the first two had a much better balance of humor and serious moments. There are several moments where a character will drop an unnecessary one-liner that, at best, got an amused exhale out of me. I don't hold it too much against the film, because it seems to be something that plagues a lot of contemporary movies and was likely demanded to be included by the executives. There were plenty of jokes that worked, but I think that a little less would have been a lot more.
But at the end of the day, I don't hate this movie. It was fun, it has a good message, and most importantly, the little kids watching the film enjoyed it. They were all around the age I was when the first film came out, and that just reminded me of my own excitement 15-16 years ago (jeez). While it may not be the peak of the series, it still has a good place, and I wouldn't skip it if I were to marathon the movies in the future.
Madame Web (2024)
Sony... Please... Stick to animated Spider-Man
I feel like I might have given Madame Web the highest rating here. I didn't hate the movie by any means, but there's very little to enjoy that isn't outweighed by either the bad or the boring.
None of the cast stands out, and a lot of their lines are delivered in pretty flat ways. It doesn't help that the script is super bloated. They could've easily cut 30% of the dialogue without needing to cut any of the runtime with how many pointless lines there are.
The use of dynamic camera movements is super distracting at times, and at others pretty nauseating. A few of the moments worked, but otherwise the only positive is that they made me appreciate the steady scenes more. And while I tend to not notice bad CGI as much as others, I did notice it here (partially because it was pointed out to me, but even if it hadn't been I think I'd have picked up on it in certain moments).
Since 2018, Sony has given us both masterpieces and master-misses of Spider-Man content. The Playstation games have been amazing, and Spider-Verse is just one unreleased movie away from a perfect trilogy. On the other hand, their live-action Spider-Man-less movies supposed to be set in that universe just do not work. I'm only taking the word of the public on Morbius and Let There Be Carnage, but Venom was very disappointing, and while I wasn't expecting much from Madame Web, it's another movie I won't return to.
The Wolfman (2010)
Not Bad at All
One of the most heavily criticized types of films is the remake. The most common criticism is that there is no reason to remake something that already exists and can still be accessed. While this is heavily lobbied at the live-action Disney films of today, the complaint has been around for a long time. And while I imagine that fans of the original Wolfman film from the classic horror films look down on this movie, I have to say that it delivers a satisfying package.
One thing to note about the remake is the inclusion of more bloody kills. While I haven't seen the original Wolfman, I imagine that the film practices of the day had tame kills in the same vein as Frankenstein and Dracula. But here, and especially in the unrated cut which I watched, the mostly practical effects make for some great gore, even if most of it is caused by simple slashes to the body and neck. There are some noticeable moments of CGI blood spurts and transformation sequences, but that doesn't stop the rest of the action from being pretty good.
The cast also does a great job, which is to be expected from so many big names: Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, and Hugo Weaving all give great performances, as well as the more minor characters. In addtion, the set designs and costumes are amazing as well. The manor in particular has a great, creepy design.
One thing I did find very lacking is the character of Gwen. While Blunt is an amazing actress and her performance is still good, she doesn't do much in the film besides be the love interest. It's a shame, because the setup in the beginning of her husband being one of the Wolfman's victims would make for a cool Van Helsing-style character driven by revenge to parallel Weaving's more lawful take on the character. In addition, her inclusion in the final act greatly added to that unwanted romance element. But if you can look past that fairly sizable flaw, I see no reason to look down on this movie. It's a fun watch, and I don't see why its score is just 5.8.
One Piece (2023)
YES!!!!
One Piece is an amazing series that has earned its place at the top of many peoples' lists of the greatest manga, anime, and just stories in general. Of course, it was inevitable that a live action series would get made. While most adaptations of the sort are met with negative reactions, this one had the original author, Eiichiro Oda, involved at every step of the way. So, does that make the adaptation better or worse?
I will start with the negatives. For one, a lot of what makes the world of One Piece work so well in anime and manga format does not translate to live action that well. The CGI is the obvious complaint to make, even though plenty of it looks good, but my complaint is more so about how some of the action scenes move. For example, Sanji will kick an opponent in midair, then just stop and fall to the ground as if he hit a wall, or there is one scene of Zoro sliding along the ground on his knees while slicing enemies. Granted, the characters are in a world with superhuman abilities, so the fights should not be grounded in reality, but some of the effects used to demonstrate great strength or speed are very noticeable.
Another anime element that doesn't work as well is the brightly-colored hair. The dyes or wigs used can be very jarring in some places. While it works seeing Nami and Zoro's bright hair in scenes with the rest of the vibrant Straw Hat crew, some scenes pop up where there will be several background characters with the normal blond/black/brown hair, and then a named character with a full head of bright blue or green hair just stands out like a sore thumb. In my opinion, it would have looked better if those characters had had their color mixed in with their natural hair, or maybe a duller shade used.
As a last complaint, I was a bit underwhelmed by Arlong. Both his acting and his appearance left a bit to be desired. While McKinley Belcher III is not terrible in the role, many of his lines felt like he was directed to deliver them with as threatening and growly of a voice as possible, and the result usually feels a little overboard in that regard. In addition, I feel Arlong could have been a little bigger. He always seemed like he would tower over almost everyone else, yet here he's only a bit bigger than the protagonists. But if the result would have made him feel too bulky and slow in the action scenes, small was the right choice.
However, those complaints are just three pieces of a larger puzzle that ultimately comes together to create an amazing picture. The rest of the show--sets, costumes, props, etc--look amazing. Everything is as close as possible to the original series. But unlike the radiant colors of the anime and colored manga images, everything in live action feels like there's a thin layer of dirt over it, adding grit to the pirates and company. Even many of the tackier costumes, such as "Axe-Hand" Morgan, still look like they belong in the world, and the makeup and prosthetics used to bring the fishmen to life are amazing. I complained about Arlong's size, but the rest of his design is amazing.
I also complained about the effects in the action, but otherwise it was amazing. All of the choreography and camera work was superb, bringing amazing action into every episode. Regardless of the scale of the fight, everything is captured smoothly, and there are never any cuts that make it too shaky and hard to follow. It's hard to pick a favorite out of so many.
The story is also great. These first eight episodes adapt the first one hundred chapters of the manga, and it keeps all the great moments while adding some new stuff. Characters and conflicts get introduced at new points and in new ways to help flow in the eight hours of screen time allotted, and they work to keep the story moving at a great pace. The biggest change is following the character of Koby for lengthy sections. While in the manga Koby leaves after the events of the show's first episode and doesn't appear until four hundred chapters later, here he's sort of a secondary protagonist as he begins his journey as a Marine. They also introduce his mentor Garp four hundred chapters early, and while it could have ended in disaster, I thought all of his scenes were great.
Another change they make is when they give the backstories of most of the Straw Hats. While all of their backstories are given in large chunks in the manga, here that only applies to Sanji, and Luffy and Zoro have theirs after their respective introductions. It helps the show get moving in media res, and Luffy's backstory was introduced at a good point to run parallel to the episode's events. Although I wish that Zoro's was given during one of his fights in the fifth episode, which is one of his biggest moments in the story as a whole, rather than in a scene original to the show. My problem is just the placement with the backstory though, as his contains some amazing scenery and an incredible action scene, along with some incredible young actors portraying the pirate hunter and his childhood friend.
On that note, the cast is easily one of the best things about the show. Even with my negatives about Arlong, everyone in the show does a great job, especially the Straw Hats. Their chemistry together is one of the most accurate details in any adaptation, not just this one, and it makes the emotional moments work even better as you buy their companionship, even if they haven't been together long. And out of all of them, Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy easily gives the best performance. Every action and line he gives is the definition of how the future King of the Pirates acts. I know that Oda had a big hand in the making of the show, but even so, I don't know how he managed to get such a perfect portrayal of his protagonist.
Finally, I can't end this review without mentioning the fantastic music by Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli. They bring so much life into this already-life-filled world. I haven't seen the anime, so I don't know how much of the music is based off of its original music, but I still recognized the first opening theme "We Are!" when it showed up at pivotal moments. And plenty of other tracks are just as fun, often invoking the same feelings in me as the legendary soundtrack to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films.
I know it seems like I only liked this show based on the first three paragraphs, but it's honestly an amazing show. They remained faithful to the original while also giving us some new things to enjoy. I sincerely hope we get more seasons of this legendary pirate epic. The East Blue is only the beginning, and there are plenty more moments of humor, sorrow, joy, and unbridled fun that live-action-only viewers have yet to see.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
Great Adaptation
The Last Voyage of the Demeter adapts a single section of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. Normally this would seem like an impossible task, as most two-hour movies based on books cover the entire novel's events. However, Andre Ovredal, the cast, and the rest of the crew behind this movie managed to make it a well-paced movie that, even without knowledge of the original source material, stands on its own.
For starters, the cast as a whole is great. Corey Hawkins gives an amazing performance as Clemens, the ship's doctor and film's protagonist, Liam Cunningham as Captain Eliot has several powerful moments throughout, David Dastmalchian is almost unrecognizable as first mate Woljchek, and Woody Norman as the young boy Toby gives a great performance on par with the other three. And even though these are the only four I name, none of the other cast members give anything less than a very good performance.
The design of the Demeter is also spectacular. The interior of the ship has an ominous air to it that eventually seeps onto the deck, even during the brighter day scenes. The ship's crew also has a system of knocking on the ship's wood, which carries the sound to send messages, setting up some well-crafted scenes of tension. That work extends to the special effects used to bring Dracula to life. Here he takes on a more beastly design rather than his more classy/noble one popularized by Bela Lugosi, and the bat-like look as he crawls, climbs, and flies add to his terrifying air, especially when he sinks his teeth into his victims.
I would also be remiss to not mention the amazing score by Bear McCreary. Although most noticeable when it gets louder to match the more tension-filled scenes of panic among the crew, the score is still amazing and only further adds to the feeling of dread the rest of the movie purveys. And even when there is no music, the performances from the actors carry that dread from their first appearance to the end of the film.
If I had any complaints, it would just be about the lack of gore near the end. Many of the earlier kills have some good effects, but by the end of the film anyone who dies does so in a tamer manner. It doesn't detract too much from the horror elements, but gore-lovers will likely leave the movie disappointed.
I would recommend going to see this film in theaters, especially if you like horror. The ending of the film has the possibility to lead into a sequel--which would most likely work, since the voyage of the Demeter in the book happens in the middle--and I would trust Ovredal to continue adapting Dracula.