Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in...

When Transformers: Dark of the Moon came out in 2011, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had somehow convinced myself that it was the conclusion of the series, that I'd never have to see another Transformers movie directed by Michael Bay. But it's never that easy, is it? Because now, three years after I'd let myself believe in a little sliver of cinematic hope, it's been dashed away by the return of the franchise under Bay's watch. I haven't been looking forward to seeing Transformers: Age of Extinction in the slightest, to the point that I've actually been dreading it. But I might as well bite the bullet and see if all my fears are justified, because I'll never really know otherwise.

Five years have passed since what's come to be known as "the Battle of Chicago." Almost all of the surviving Transformers ― both Autobot and Decepticon ― have been systematically hunted down and eliminated by an elite CIA black ops team captained by paranoid, anti-alien government official Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) and assisted by the amoral Transformer bounty hunter Lockdown (the voice of Mark Ryan).

But that's not of any concern to Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), a Texas junk dealer and wannabe inventor who is struggling to make ends meet. He brings home an old, wrecked big rig intending to strip it for parts, but discovers that the truck is in truth a comatose Optimus Prime (the voice of Peter Weller). Cade revives Optimus and tries repairing him, but his efforts are cut short when Attinger's squad arrives at the Yeager farm after being alerted to Optimus's location.

Cade and the injured Optimus just barely manage to escape, with Cade's teenage daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz) and her boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor) in tow. As Optimus gathers the few remaining Autobots, they discover that Attinger has ties to technology tycoon Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci). Joyce has successfully reverse engineered the shapeshifting metal that Transformers are comprised of, and has been drafted by Attinger into creating his own breed of programmable Transformers. Of them all, his prized creation is one named Galvatron (the voice of Frank Welker), built from the remnants of the defeated and dismantled villain Megatron. But as trace elements of Megatron's personality begins to take over and override Joyce's programming, the Autobots contend with Lockdown and his Cybertronian weapon of mass destruction known as "the Seed."

I must admit that I thought Age of Extinction was most definitely an improvement, certainly nowhere near the worst entry into this godforsaken franchise, and at the very least, a real step up from Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon. The problem with it, however, is that its mediocrity is so overbearing that by the end of its three-hour runtime, you'll feel like one of the trucks from the movie has run you over. Had the movie been shorter, it might not have been quite so bad, but it grows so unbearably monotonous that you'll be glad it's over once the credits finally roll.

And the person you have to thank for the large part of that is Michael Bay. It's another stereotypical Bay action movie, with dumb characters doing dumb things and so much soulless, empty action that you feel stupider for having watched it. The movie is like watching a child play with his toys, slamming action figures against each other to pantomime fighting while coming up with scenarios that increasingly become so ridiculous that there's absolutely no way you can take it seriously. At this point, I fully expect Bay to finish the Transformers franchise by stealing from St. Elsewhere's last episode, the last few minutes of the final movie featuring him staring at a snow globe with Optimus Prime inside it.

And just why did this movie need to be three hours long? One could easily trim thirty to forty-five minutes of footage and nothing would have been missed. Much like with Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong, I got the feeling that Bay was so in love with his own movie that he couldn't possibly bear to edit anything out. And when you realize that the movie is basically repeating itself, with pretty much the same scenes and dialogue over and over but with different backdrops every time, that just makes it even more frustrating to watch. I mean, the only really good thing I can say about Bay's direction is that the special effects are really good and look fantastic in 3D. And when the best compliments I can come up with is "the CGI is pretty and I liked the 3D," you're really struggling.

At least the movie had a slightly better script this time around, but that isn't really saying much. Writer Ehren Kruger has seemingly made an attempt to fix some of the complaints people had with the first three movies, primarily by doing away with the Witwicky family altogether and killing off the annoying comic relief in the first act. But when all is said and done, the script is still kinda weak, only really there to give the actors something to do between action sequences. There isn't enough story to sustain a three-hour movie, and the attempts at character development, specifically the scenes where it's evident that Cade does not initially approve of Tessa and Shane's relationship but grows to like him, are clichéd and trite. You know as soon as Cade and Shane meet that Cade won't like him, but Shane will prove himself to be a decent guy and earns his trust. It's one of those things that's appeared in a ton of movies and is predictable almost every time.

I also felt that the introduction of the Dinobots felt tacked on and almost unnecessary. Their appearance in the climax isn't quite as fun as it could or should have been, and one suspects that they were only in the movie at all because 1.) the fans had been demanding it, and 2.) Hasbro wanted to add them to the toy line. They don't add much to the movie, outside of the very awesome shot of Optimus Prime riding Grimlock like he was a cowboy trying to control a bucking bronco.

But at least the acting has gotten better now that Shia LaBeouf and the rest are gone. Hell, things improved immensely simply by keeping Kevin Dunn and Julie White away from the movie. The Age of Extinction cast may not be any great shakes either, but I'll take this movie's cast over the same old crap we were given in the first three. Jack Reynor is serviceable but forgettable, while Nicola Peltz might not be much (her character is pretty much worthless, and it shows), but she's still a damn sight better than Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Mark Wahlberg does whatever he's asked and performs with the suitable amount of emotion, but he's likable and charismatic enough that he can get away with a bare-bones performance in a movie like this. But the real stars of the movie are Kelsey Grammer and Stanley Tucci. Grammer plays his role with a certain sinister edge, a far better villain than these movies have given us in the past, while Tucci is great as always. Tucci is appropriately sleazy in his role, even as he starts to sway towards the side of the heroes. If somebody could edit the movie down to be just Grammer and Tucci's scenes, that's really all you'd need to see.

There are those who'd tell you that Age of Extinction is the worst of these movies, like it's some kind of horrible travesty that somehow leaves the art of cinema worse than it had been before. But those people are over-exaggerating. It's not as bad as they're making it out to be. It's a dull, plodding, often boring movie, but there are a few positives there that keep it from being a total waste. Maybe one of these days we'll have a live-action Transformers movie that's actually good, but until then, we're stuck with these. Hopefully, Michael Bay will get the hint when it comes time to make Transformers 5 and cut it down to a more reasonable running time. Oh, and try rising above mediocrity while he's at it. That'd be nice.

Final Rating: **½

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)

One of the first rules of making movies in Hollywood is that if it makes money, keep doing it. That's the big reason why there are so many Friday the 13th sequels. Paramount Pictures had honestly intended for the franchise to come to a conclusive end in 1984 with the fourth movie, to the point that it was even named "The Final Chapter." But much like Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III, Paramount thought they were out, but were pulled back in. It turns out that The Final Chapter was such a big fat hit that they felt almost obligated to keep the franchise going. And just eleven months later, it was resurrected with Friday the 13th: A New Beginning. And nearly thirty years after its release, it's still notorious amongst fans of the series. So let's find out why that is, shall we?

It has been five years since Tommy Jarvis (John Shepherd) killed Jason Voorhees, an incident that has understandably left him with deep psychological scars. He's quite literally seeing visions of Jason everywhere he goes, and is on a ton of different medications to control these hallucinations. Tommy has spent the last half-decade being shuffled around various institutions, finally arriving at the Pinehurst Youth Development Center, a halfway house for troubled teenagers and young adults.

Tommy's first day at Pinehurst is not a peaceful one, as one of its more unstable residents hacks another to pieces with an axe in a fit of rage shortly after Tommy's arrival. Although he is quickly arrested, more brutal murders soon start happening in the area. But who is to blame? Is it that unhinged axe murderer? Could it be Tommy, having finally buckled under all that mental anguish? Could it be Jason, back from the grave? Or is it someone else entirely?

I earlier called A New Beginning one of the most notorious amongst the franchise's fanbase, and that's primarily due to the wildly differing opinions of the movie. There are those who'd argue that it's the worst of the franchise, that it marks the low point for the whole series. But then there's another camp that believes that despite (or because of?) all its flaws, A New Beginning is one of the most amusing and entertaining entries in the saga. And I'll confess that I used to be among those who hated the movie. But as time went by and I gave it more of a chance, I actually grew to like A New Beginning. But all truth be told, it's not a particularly good movie, nor is it even anywhere near being among the best of the franchise. The characters are goofy, the acting is hokey, and the script is stupid. It's also campy like you wouldn't believe, topped the franchise for highest body count, and is the one Friday the 13th flick that feels the most like a sleazy exploitation movie. And that's really not so bad, honestly, because it makes the movie feel a little more unique. When you're five movies deep into a franchise that would eventually spawn seven more chapters, doing something to stand out can't hurt, can it?

The movie was directed by the late Danny Steinmann, a one-time porn director who a year earlier had helmed the low-budget action flick Savage Streets, which starred Linda Blair in one of her few notable post-Exorcist roles. And if the movie feels like a sleazy exploitation film as I stated earlier, it's because that's the kind of movie Steinmann was known for and was good at making. While the franchise hadn't shied away from nudity in the past, Steinmann makes it feel more prevalent and fetishized. And despite some of the gore being trimmed or outright excised thanks to the MPAA (one kill involving a female victim getting a machete to her naughty bits had to be dropped entirely and replaced with something tamer), the movie also boasts the franchise's highest body count to that point at twenty-one kills. Steinmann, with this movie, had made pretty much the most stereotypical slasher movie he could. And that really isn't a bad thing at all.

The movie honestly feels kinda goofy, something that is simultaneously the movie's biggest strength and its biggest weakness. It's full of cheesy dialogue and silly characters, some of whom are actually introduced and killed off within the same scene. And then there's the much-maligned mystery regarding the killer's identity, which is handled in a way that there might as well be a giant neon sign that says "I'M THE KILLER!" flashing over the character's head at all times. To make a long story short, the script by Steinmann, Martin Kitrosser, and David Cohen is (for lack of a better description) a big ol' pile of dumb that contributes to the inability to the movie seriously at all. But this is what makes A New Beginning so charming too, because this lack of seriousness makes the movie more fun.

Even the cast gets in on the action. A lot of the actors are unbelievably over the top, but try their best to be memorable whether they're good or bad, even if they're only in one scene (as evidenced by Anthony Barrile and Corey Parker, who play a pair of greasers that look like they were excommunicated from the T-Birds from Grease and meet a gruesome fate after their car breaks down). The biggest standouts in my eyes, though, were John Shepherd, Miguel A. Núñez, Jr., and Carol Locatell. Shepherd is actually pretty believable in the role, playing Tommy as if he were fighting a war in his own mind. He comes off as shell-shocked, as if he were lost inside himself and in the hockey mask-wearing nightmares that bother him so. It's a damn good performance that I thought was better than the movie deserved.

Núñez and Locatell are, when approaching the movie from a less serious point of view, fantastic as well. Núnez is a lot of fun in his tiny role, showing a lot of the humor and charisma that would make him so likable in The Return of the Living Dead that same year. Locatell is also great as Ethel, Pinehurst's foulmouthed hillbilly neighbor. She steals the show, especially when playing off Ron Sloan, who plays her character's dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks son. Locatell makes the hilariously trashy Ethel one of the franchise's most memorable characters, her scenes serving as some of the movie's best moments.

I've said more than once here that Friday the 13th: A New Beginning is not a particularly good movie, and it isn't. Its reputation as one of the least of the franchise isn't completely undeserved. But one can't help but enjoy the unapologetically campy silliness of the whole thing. It boasts some unique kills and memorable characters, and blends the exploitation flick feeling with the traditional Friday the 13th atmosphere to create a movie that stands out from the rest. Like I said, A New Beginning might not be a good movie, but it's a hell of a lot of fun, and I'll never fault a movie for that.

Final Rating: **½

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

The Marvel Comics mutant super-team known as the X-Men have had hundreds of adventures since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created them in 1963. But few of these adventures are quite as famous as the 1980 story "Days of Future Past." Part of Chris Clairmont and John Byrne's legendary run on the Uncanny X-Men comic during the '70s and '80s, "Days of Future Past" has earned notoriety over the years as not only one of the X-Men's greatest tales, but perhaps one of the best stories Marvel has ever published. And once 20th Century Fox began producing movies based on the X-Men, most fans assumed it was only a matter of time before the story would have some influence on the franchise. And fourteen years after director Bryan Singer helmed the first X-Men movie, he returns to the franchise to translate "Days of Future Past" into cinematic form. And it's actually not a bad flick at all.

By the year 2023, the world will have become a dystopian wasteland. Mutants have been hunted to the brink of extinction. Those that remain, along with their supporters and sympathizers, have either been shuffled off into concentration camps or are killed on sight. The few that remain free have become refugees, constantly on the run from the unstoppable Sentinels, massive robots designed solely for mutant extermination.

With the revelation that Kitty Pride (Ellen Page) has developed the ability to project someone's consciousness back in time into their younger bodies, Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) formulates a plan to swing things back to mutantkind's favor. That plan: to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back fifty years to prevent Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). An anti-mutant government scientist who began engineering the Sentinels in response to the events of First Class, Trask's murder would lead to widespread support of the Sentinel project. Mystique, meanwhile, would be taken into custody after killing Trask and experimented on while in captivity, her shape-shifting ability allowing Trask's colleagues to develop Sentinels able to mimic and adapt to any and all mutant abilities.

Upon his arrival in 1973, Wolverine finds a younger Xavier (James McAvoy) left emotionally devastated by his school's failure, the majority of the students and faculty having been drafted into the Vietnam War. He's also begun abusing a serum developed by Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), one that negates both his psychic abilities and his paraplegia. Xavier wants nothing to do with Wolverine, even less so once Wolverine suggests they break Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) out of his maximum security prison in a bunker beneath the Pentagon. But Wolverine ultimately talks him into it, their mission proving to be a race against time. Not only does Mystique killing Trask loom ever closer, but the X-Men in 2023 must prevent an approaching Sentinel attack from interrupting an increasingly exhausted Kitty before Wolverine is able to complete his mission.

The "Days of Future Past" story is one of the most popular in the long history of the X-Men, one that many comics devotees were eager to see translated into a movie. And while elements of the story were changed to fit the movie franchise's convoluted canon, X-Men: Days of Future Past is still a pretty cool movie. The franchise has had its ups and downs over the last fourteen years, with missteps like The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine seriously damaging one's perceptions of the series. But Days of Future Past holds up as one of the better entries in the saga.

As I stated earlier, the movie was helmed by Bryan Singer, whose last directorial effort in the franchise was all the way back in 2002 with X2. His name in the credits alone is a welcome sight, but having him at the reins of Days of Future Past actually helps make the movie better. Singer brings an energy and tension to the movie, making it feel like everything is important and that everything matters. The movie stays intense throughout, even as Singer gives us the occasional lighthearted moment to take some of the edge off. (The sequence that sees the super-fast Quicksilver knocking out prison guards while listening to Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle" is the movie's funniest moment and perhaps its biggest highlight.)

Singer also successfully blends the futuristic tone of his prior efforts in the franchise with the retro feel Matthew Vaughn brought to First Class, surely aiming to please fans of both. And it never feels choppy or inconsistent or jarring, the two styles coming together in a way that feels organic.

Singer makes good use of the movie's conversion into 3D as well. The movie didn't need to be in 3D (does any movie?), but Days of Future Past looks good in the format. It's honestly one of the better 2D-to-3D conversions I've seen in a while, truthfully. A number of elements ― the "Time in a Bottle" sequence, Blink's usage of her portal-generating power against the Sentinels, Magneto picking up a baseball stadium and dropping it over the White House ― look particularly cool. I haven't seen the 2D version and I'm sure it's still visually stunning that way, but I definitely enjoyed the 3D experience for sure.

While Singer's direction puts the movie on solid footing, Simon Kinberg's screenplay is a bit shaky. The story remains faithful to the original comic while still forging its own path and conforming to the realm of the movies. Kinberg does an admirable job adapting the story, making it feel epic while also moving things along at light speed so that it never allows for anything to feel dull or boring.

But that's not to say there aren't any problems with the script. Much like the other X-Men movies, we're overloaded with characters. It seems like every movie in this franchise introduces a bunch of characters from the comics only to bolster the number of people involved in the fight scenes or have someone to kill other than the primary characters, and Days of Future Past is no different. I mean, unless you're a fan of the comics, are you going to recognize Bishop, Blink, Sunspot, or Warpath? This is their first appearance in the movies, and all they do is engage in some action scenes and that's it. I don't think they even mentioned Blink, Sunspot, or Warpath's names outside of the end credits.

I also thought the dialogue was a bit clunky at times, and there's not really a lot of character development. Instead of really building the characters, someone just gives the occasional motivational speech before we move along. Some of the characters are also wasted, especially Quicksilver. I get why they wouldn't want to keep Quicksilver around for long, since, as many other reviews I've seen have pointed out, his powers could have allowed him to solve nearly every problem in no time and the movie would have been an hour long at best. But after that awesome "Time in a Bottle" scene, I wanted to see more of him. Then again, with Marvel Studios able to insert their own take on Quicksilver into next year's Avengers: Age of Ultron thanks to a legal technicality, we won't have to wait long before he turns up again. Though whether or not their version is anything like this one remains to be seen...

But those flaws are all relatively minor in the movie's grand scheme, and could be easily overlooked depending on how into the movie you are. It helps that they've assembled a great cast, though more is asked of the stunt people than the actors. Leading the way is Hugh Jackman, who once again hands in an enthusiastic performance as Wolverine. He obviously loves playing the character no matter how good or bad the movies might be, and that affection makes him a ton of fun to watch. I can understand why people might be getting a little tired of seeing him, considering he's either been the main focus or a crucial part of six of the seven X-Men movies (and his cameo in First Class stole that one). A little Wolverine burnout is understandable. But Jackman gives it 110% here, and it's hard to really dislike him.

James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender handle the rest of the movie's heavy lifting with their strong turns on Professor Xavier and Magneto. While I still don't think they have quite the same chemistry as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen (whose appearances in this movie are welcomed despite their unfortunate underutilization), but both McAfoy and Fassbender bring plenty of emotion to their characters and once again make them their own.

Jennifer Lawrence, meanwhile, seems hampered by a bit of lukewarm writing. She's an immensely talented actress, but Mystique's struggle, her inner debate between being redeemed in the eyes of those who care about her or fully turning to the dark side by killing Trask, doesn't feel like it was written very strongly. It comes off a little flat, though Lawrence does her absolute best with it regardless. Also contributing his best was the actor playing Mystique's target, Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask. Dinklage isn't given a tremendous lot to do, but he's still very impressive. He never goes over the top or overly malicious to the point of being cartoony. Dinklage plays Trask not as a crazed mad scientist, but with a cold edge, almost detached from it all, and makes for a fine villain when it's all said and done.

Much like how Professor Xavier continues to have hope for Mystique and refuses to believe that she is too far gone to be redeemed, X-Men: Days of Future Past continues the spark lit by First Class and pushes the franchise back towards greatness. It isn't a perfect movie, but it's a satisfying one, and it leaves me looking forward to seeing where the franchise goes from here. And if the post-credits stinger, one that hints towards the next sequel, is any indication, there are bigger things ahead. As far as Days of Future Past goes, it's a big help in restoring my faith in the franchise. And assuming things go well in 2016 when X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters, The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be all but a faint memory.

Final Rating: ***½

Godzilla (2014)

The legendary beast Godzilla has appeared in thirty movies during his six decades of cinematic existence. Some have been good, some bad. But few have been quite as infamous, at least among Americans, as Roland Emmerich's attempt to bring Godzilla to the United States in 1998. The movie was a complete disaster, panned by critics and moviegoers alike. Rumor has it that the movie was so embarrassing that Toho Company vowed to never again let Hollywood sink their hooks into Godzilla.

But sixteen years have passed since then, and a full decade since the big guy's most recent appearance in Toho's Godzilla: Final Wars in 2004. And now, as fans celebrate Godzilla's sixtieth anniversary, Hollywood has gotten a second chance to not only revive him, but reintroduce him to American audiences. This time, there's no Matthew Broderick, no Puff Daddy sampling Led Zeppelin on the soundtrack, no velociraptor-like baby Godzillas rampaging through Madison Square Garden. There's just the King of the Monsters, come to reclaim his throne with one hell of an amazing movie.

We begin in Japan circa 1999, at a nuclear power plant near the town of Janjira. Bizarre seismic activity originating in the Philippines has worried Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston), the plant's American supervisor. While his superiors dismiss his fears that it's just aftershocks from a recent minor earthquake, Joe's research leads him to believe that it's not that simple. He warns that the plant should be shut down until these tremors pass in the event that something dangerous occurs, but he's brushed off and told there's nothing to worry about. But when you're told you don't have to worry about anything, that's when you have to worry about everything. The plant is struck by what appears to be another, bigger earthquake that ruptures the plant's reactor core, killing Joe's wife in the process and leaving Janjira quarantined as a result.

Fifteen years pass, and Joe's son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is returning home to his family from a fourteen-month tour of duty with the U.S. Navy. But no sooner has Ford started settling in with his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and son Sam (Carson Bolde) than he has to leave again, this time called away by the news that Joe has been arrested for trespassing in the quarantined area. In the fifteen years since the Janjira incident, Joe has become a crackpot conspiracy theorist, convinced that there's more to the story than a simple earthquake. He's been studying every scrap of information and following every clue he could find in regards to what happened, his search for the truth having left he and Ford estranged from one another.

Ford fears for his father's sanity, but agrees to help him sneak back into Janjria and retrieve some vital data from a set of computer disks left behind in their old house. Things get off to a bizarre start when Joe notices that there are no traces of radiation in the area, but when they're busted by a team of security guards shortly after retrieving the disks, things almost immediately get weirder. Joe and Ford are escorted to the nuclear plant, learning in the process that the whole earthquake thing was indeed a cover-up. The quarantine was not to keep people away from radiation, but to allow a multinational team of scientists to study the true cause of the Janjira accident: a massive chrysalis that has formed in the middle of the facility and has effectively consumed all of the toxic radiation in the area.

It is not long after the Brodys arrive that the chrysalis hatches, unleashing a gigantic, ferocious monster that lays waste to everything surrounding it. It escapes to the ocean and heads for the United States, where its mate has awakened from its slumber in the Nevada desert. As the military scrambles to find a way to kill what they've nicknamed the "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms," the mating call of these beasts has roused another creature from its long dormancy deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. The legendary beast known as Godzilla is once again on the prowl, on a warpath that will intersect with that of the MUTOs in San Francisco.

If you're a fan of Godzilla, then allow me to bring you some good news: This movie is nothing short of awesome. It perfectly combines the awe and spectacle that the best big-budget summer blockbusters have to offer with the fear and dread of the original movie from 1954. Godzilla is an utterly amazing experience from start to finish, one that makes going to the movies totally worth it. I know this sounds hyperbolic, like I'm trying to get this review quoted in one of the commercials or on the DVD cover. But Godzilla is the kind of movie that's sure to please fans of action, science fiction, and disaster flicks, and especially those who love Godzilla and giant monsters in general.

This new take on Godzilla was brought to the screen by Gareth Edwards, who is no stranger to monster movies. His feature film debut, in fact, was the critically acclaimed (and appropriately titled) film festival favorite Monsters in 2010. Armed with a budget that makes the one he had for Monsters look like pocket change, Edwards makes the absolute best of it. He puts forth a fabulous effort, building a tense atmosphere that makes the movie feel like danger is around every corner waiting to pounce.

Edwards is constantly building here, seeming as if he's trying to outdo himself with every scene. He not only ups the ante with each big action sequence, but he also maintains the suspense in the scenes between these action sequences. The characters remain in danger for practically the entire movie, the monsters threatening to take them out at every turn. It is the growing feeling of dread caused by this danger that I thought made the movie more satisfying. It brought a sense of urgency I felt was sadly lacking from other big-budget monster movies in recent years.

Edwards also makes sure that the movie's post-production conversion into 3D was a successful one. He and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey shoot the film in such a way that it still looks great whether you see it in 3D or its 2D counterpart, but having seen the 3D version, the added depth really adds to the theatrical experience. It makes the monsters feel bigger than life, almost as if they could have reached out and squashed you if you saw it on a big enough IMAX screen. There's something about it that makes the movie feel more epic as we're immersed into the world Godzilla and the MUTOs occupy. And I know 3D movies aren't for everybody, but it's worth it for Godzilla.

But while Edwards tries setting the movie apart with his direction and the 3D effects are fantastic, the screenplay has some of the same flaws as other, similar movies. Written by Max Borenstein (with some uncredited contributions from David Callaham, David S. Goyer, Drew Pearce, and Frank Darabont), the script's biggest problem is that we're stuck spending so much time with dull, underdeveloped human characters while Godzilla and the MUTOs feel secondary. A lot of monster movies will try emphasizing the human drama in an attempt to give them a little more emotional weight. But a lot of times, it's hard to really give a crap about the characters when all you really want to see are cities getting destroyed. The idea of balancing the human drama with the thrills of sci-fi chaos has might have worked in Independence Day, but that was an exception rather than a rule.

And this is particularly frustrating with Godzilla. The character of Joe Brody is really intriguing, and the idea of him following the clues of a conspiracy that's been covering up the existence of these monsters for decades is actually a pretty cool setup for a movie. But without giving away too much, the character disappears from the movie at the end of the first act and we're stuck with the typical monster movie format where we just tag along with some boring, one-dimensional characters when we could be watching giant monsters trashing Las Vegas and San Francisco. You've got a fascinating character that's worth following and is played by a talented, award-winning actor who's just come off one of the hottest shows on television, so why not keep him around for longer? Surely someone who worked on the script could have added more scenes with him, just to shake things up rather than run with the clichéd "military vs. the monsters" routine.

The lack of depth in regards to the characters also has an adverse affect on the cast's performances. Elizabeth Olsen suffers the worst from this, as she's given absolutely nothing whatsoever to do. They could have nearly edited all her scenes out of the movie and nobody would have noticed, because Olsen doesn't contribute anything of note to the movie. She's a talented actress, and not giving her at least a little something, even a lame "damsel in distress" moment, is a real waste.

Ken Watanabe suffers a similar fate, in that outside of delivering the occasional expository or pseudo-philosophical monologue, he doesn't have a lot to do either. A few scenes where his character, a scientist working with a multinational conglomerate tasked with studying the monsters and keeping their existence a secret, meets Bryan Cranston's character would have been great. But alas, that was not to be.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, meanwhile, is also stuck in a weakly written role. But to his credit, he's given some plenty to do and is trying his hardest to make a go of it. I've only seen Taylor-Johnson as the dorky title character from Kick-Ass and its sequel, so I wasn't sure what to expect of him as a tough, monster-fighting soldier. But he's decent enough in the role, even if pretty much anybody could have played his character.

But one actor stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast, that being Bryan Cranston. It's a real shame that Cranston's character exits the movie so early, because he really should have been the main character. Cranston is so good that he steals the entire movie, leaving one pining for his return whenever anyone other than Godzilla and the MUTOs are on the screen. His performance is captivating, pulling you in and making you want to see more of him. It actually makes me wonder why I've never watched Breaking Bad, because if Cranston is this good here, I'm sure I'd be even more impressed there.

I know I've spent the last little bit pointing out everything I didn't like about Godzilla, but the truth of the matter is that the movie is one of the most fun, exciting spectacles I've seen in a long time. You're really missing out on something awesome if you choose to skip it. Godzilla is the kind of summer blockbuster that makes it fun to go to the movies this time of year. So what if the script is a little weak? You're not seeing this movie for the script. You're seeing it for monsters raising hell on large metropolitan areas, and Godzilla delivers in spades. And finally getting to see Godzilla up on the big screen in an American-made movie that's actually good? That's a great feeling. So get lost, Pacific Rim. Suck it, Cloverfield. Long live the king.

Final Rating: ****

Godzilla (1954)

Giant monster movies can be traced as far back as the 1930s if not earlier, but the threat of nuclear warfare brought the genre into a new era with the release of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in 1953. The movie introduced the idea of atomic-created creatures wreaking havoc on mankind, an idea that would fuel many a Hollywood sci-fi flick during the '50s and '60s. It would also bring us one of the most enduring and beloved icons to ever come out of Japanese pop culture: the one and only Godzilla.

Inspired by The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and Japan's still tender wounds following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the monster known in his native land as "Gojira" has appeared in no less than thirty movies over the years. But every legend has to begin somewhere, so let's go back in time sixty years to Godzilla's first appearance in 1954 and see where the "King of the Monsters" got his start.

With a flash of light and an ominous roar, a fishing boat off the coast of tiny Odo Island is destroyed. A rescue vessel sent to investigate meets a similar fate, its survivors returning to the island swearing that they'd encountered an enormous beast. Their story oddly parallels old local legends about villagers who, long ago, would make sacrifices to appease an ancient sea monster named "Godzilla." Common sense might dictate that these stories are indeed just that, stories. So when these old tales prove themselves true and evidence of Godzilla's existence appears on Odo Island, everyone is naturally taken off guard. But no one is truly prepared for what happens when he surfaces in Tokyo.

Awakened by the recent nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific Ocean, the arrival of this prehistoric, dinosaur-like creature sends the people of Japan into a panic. Godzilla proves to be unfazed by every attempt to combat it, shrugging off the military's heavy artillery as he rampages through Tokyo. The government turns to renowned scientist Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata), who has developed a powerful, top-secret weapon ominously named "the Oxygen Destroyer." Dr. Serizawa is extremely hesitant to allow it to be used, fearful of the dire consequences that would incur if it were to be used for the wrong reasons. But as Godzilla continues his reign of terror, the Oxygen Destroyer might be Japan's only hope.

When most people nowadays think of the classic Godzilla movies from Japan, they think of campy movies with bad English dubbing and actors in rubber suits stepping on cardboard buildings and fighting military vehicles that look like toys. But the original movie is actually different from the silliness from the '60s and '70s that most American audiences might be familiar with. It's in truth really more a blend of drama and horror than anything else. The titular monster is a walking, living, fire-breathing embodiment of the atomic bomb, the personification of a fiery nuclear terror and of a fear that said terror could potentially return. This is reflected in the movie's somber atmosphere, one that makes the movie feel as if a dark cloud were hanging over it.

Much of this is thanks to the skillful direction courtesy of the late Ishirō Honda, who would direct six more Godzilla movies (and in the process helped to introduce the world to other classic creatures like Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah) before his retirement in 1975. But movies like this weren't so common in 1954, their tropes and clichés not really fully defined yet. That put Honda in relatively uncharted waters with Godzilla, which really helps it to stand out from the multitude of other giant monster movies. It doesn't bend of break any of the genre's rules because there aren't any to be bent or broken. The movie is instead helping to establish them as it goes.

I was thoroughly impressed with Honda's direction because of how well he builds and sustains the movie's mood and atmosphere. He isn't making some summer blockbuster, something we'd expect out of Roland Emmerich or Michael Bay. He's not making some campy, corny monster movie. Instead, he is more intent on making absolutely sure we know that Godzilla is to be feared. This couldn't be more evident than in an especially chilling moment where we see shell-shocked survivors weeping as Godzilla marches through the fiery rubble that was once Tokyo as if he were a king surveying his domain, holding dominion over all he sees. He's a destroyer, a horrifying force of nature that seeks only to crush everything in its path. That is the movie Ishirō Honda wanted to make, and he was more than successful.

And looking back at the movie so many decades after its release, the effects do indeed look dated and at times a little hokey. But much like King Kong and its stop-motion ape before it, there's something to Godzilla that makes them effective. You never question it, but sit back and watch with amazement. I would credit a lot of this with how Honda crafts the movie, using the cinematography, editing, and Akira Ifukube's now iconic music to make something that's greater than the sum of its parts.

The movie's script also surprised me. Written by Honda and Takeo Murata, the story does feature some of the same tropes that would come to be seen in future monster movies. But unlike many of those others, Honda and Murata handle them well. For starters, the characters are all written smartly. There's a shock and a horror that surrounds them, and each one is affected by it in a believable way. A lot of movies within the genre just don't care about the characters yet still try cramming down our throats anyway. Writers just keep trotting out the same clichéd crap time after time because they think audiences won't care either. Just as long as the monster occasionally wrecks stuff, who gives a damn about the characters?

But Honda and Murata make us care. The characters don't get caught up in their own pointless drama or put themselves in potentially harmful situations just to set up action sequences. Instead, the characters are intelligent and have a believability that is refreshing to see. Even the movie's love triangle is treated with a certain amount of class, as all three parties realize the gravity of the situation in front of them and all but say they've got bigger fish to fry than their own problems. This subplot is handled delicately enough that the characters all stay reasonable and unlike a lot of monster movies, the audience never wants Godzilla to squash them as soon as possible.

Secondly, Honda and Murata find a way to equally balance Godzilla and the human characters. I've seen more than a few instances where they spend so much time focusing on uninteresting people and petty squabbles with one another when you'd think they'd be more worried about the monster. But Godzilla rightfully remains the focus of the movie, while never sacrificing the characters either. We don't see a bunch of boring nitwits trying to deal with their love lives or a platoon of meathead soldiers who squabble amongst themselves too much. Instead we're given characters who have their own lives, their own ordeals, only to have everything shaken up by the arrival of Hell itself. Considering the movie's allegorical nature, it makes a lot of sense to tackle the idea this way. And you know what? It worked. It really worked.

But I won't lie and say everything about the movie is top shelf. In truth, some of the acting is a little on the hit-or-miss side. Nobody's awful or brings the movie down, but like a lot of movies, some actors are just outshined by others. Momoko Kōchi isn't particularly memorable, while Akira Takarada is solid yet at the same time just kinda there too, if that makes any sense. Meanwhile, Takashi Shimura (an actor known for his frequent collaborations with legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and fresh off a starring role in Kurosawa's classic Seven Samurai a few months prior to Godzilla's release) brings a level of gravitas to his role as a paleontologist that wants not to kill, but to study Godzilla.

But they're all topped by Akihiko Hirata's strong, resonating performance. The character has a massive weight on his shoulders, and Hirata makes it believable. The way he approaches the role makes him fascinating to watch. He plays it with a stoicism that belies an inner struggle and turmoil. You can tell he's scared to death but tries to stay cool and keep it together. It's an impressive bit of acting that I really, really liked.

Of the thirty movies Godzilla has starred in over the past six decades, I doubt many of them could hold a candle to the sheer power of the original. It gives us a Godzilla that is a natural disaster on two legs, an amphibious nightmare as devastating as the nuclear weapons his creators intended for him to represent. No one could have possibly foreseen the impact that Godzilla would have on monster movies and pop culture in general, but regardless, he got off to a truly amazing start. Happy anniversary, big guy, and here's to another sixty years.

Final Rating: ****