Godzilla x Kong; The New Empire (PG13 – 115 minutes)

 

I have enjoyed the majority of the movies in this new Monsterverse a whole bunch.  The first Godzilla entry in this set was a little somber for my taste and spent way too much time with the humans, but Godzilla looked amazing and the “Let Them FIGHT” sequences between Godzilla and the MUTOs were great.  I loved Kong: Skull Island – even though I will always be team Godzilla as opposed to Kong. Setting that one back in the 70s and letting Sam Jackson get irritated with Kong was fun.  Godzilla: King of the Monsters was even better, but still way too many human characters as Godzilla had to deal with piles of other Titans woken up by eco-terrorists and the Monarch company. He finally defeated Ghidorah in the end, and we saw that a shady company picked up one of Ghidorah’s spare heads.  Of course, they used that to create MechaGodzilla for Godzilla vs. Kong in which Kong is starting to outgrow Skull Island and Godzilla is getting frustrated with people – eventually the two team up to eliminate MechaGodzilla and Kong goes to live peacefully in Hollow Earth. And yes, I watched and loved the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters show on Apple Plus and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Russells.

This movie opens with a stunning sequence of Kong going about his business in Hollow Earth. We see that it is not really all that peaceful as he deals with random monsters, crazy terrain, and a bad tooth.  I love this sequence so much because there is no dialogue – the story is told completely visually.  Side note – I still want an AVP movie with no humans – we do not need dialogue to understand what is going on. In any case, while Kong comes up to get his tooth pulled talk with sign language to the little girl from the previous movie, Godzilla is ambling around the globe, taking out random titans and leveling up once he consumes their power – apparently preparing for an upcoming threat.

Monarch follows Kong back down to see what is going on, and all of them learn together about the ‘Scar King’ who is bad news and has been planning revenge on the surface in general and Godzilla in particular for years.  Kong has to enlist Godzilla’s help, the humans do what they can to assist, and giant titan battles ensue. 

Honestly, this may have been my favorite entry into the Monsterverse to date. It finally nails the tone by embracing the silliness of the story while still giving these movie-monster classics their due respect and glorious hero shots.  The effects are lovely, both leads look astounding, and the human cast is having a great time – perhaps none more than Dan Stevens and Brian Tyree Henry. Stevens in particular was really enjoying himself.  If you liked the other entries in the series – you’ll like this one. Kong is great – clearly exhausted and just looking for some rest (he seems to become King Kong at the end, so maybe he’s due for a break?) Godzilla is still my favorite – I love when he and his thick thighs take off running. In this one, he even does a running dive off the Rock of Gibraltar which is spectacular. Also, him napping in the Roman Colosseum like it is a giant Godzilla-sized kitty bed? Perfection. 

Overall – so fun, great titan battles, good human cast, perfect popcorn flick – 9/10.

Movie Review: Anyone But You (R – 103 minutes)

 

I love a rom-com that brings a little more to the table and I really loved Ten Things I Hate About You for the clever Shakespeare’s comedy inspiration (Taming of the Shrew).  Anyone But You pulls similar inspiration from Much Ado About Nothing. Here, Beatrice and Benedict become Bea and Ben. They have a brief one-night-stand and then accidentally both end up at her sister’s wedding in Australia. Frustrated with the questions from other guests, they pretend to be a couple despite really driving each other crazy.  Hijinks ensue.

I was not expecting anything from this movie and I was absolutely delighted. Sometimes it is best to go into things cold.  It follows the standard rom-com format in a perfect way: meet-cute, attraction, manufactured and over-the-top drama, huge gesture reconciliation.  The extra fun bits of the story not only execute that formula but elevate it.  The cast was charming – especially Glen Powell who was determined to go all out, have a blast, and take everyone along with him.  The setting is also beautiful and made me want to go to a destination wedding in Australia.

Overall – super fun, charming, great cast – 8 out of 10.

Movie Review: Dune Part Two (PG13 – 166 minutes)

 

If you enjoyed part one from director Denis Villeneuve, you’ll love part two.  Epically beautiful and sweeping, it continues the story with flair.  There are still a ton of characters to try to keep straight, and this part adds several that did not yet appear in the first one.  Young Paul Atreides is meandering the desert with his Freman friends after his whole family except for his mother Jessica was killed when the Harkonnen clan launched an attack on the planet Arakis after the Emperor gave stewardship of it to the Atreides.  The plot is thick and heavy here, and if you haven’t read any of the books, it can be a little tough to keep all the folks straight and figure out why Paul is at first claiming to not be the desert messiah and then by the end decides being the desert messiah is exactly what he needs to be to harness ‘desert power’ (sandworms) to take on his enemies.

Everyone in the movie does a great job, and it really does look fantastic.  Personally, I may have enjoyed this one a little bit more than the previous entry – even if it is a little too long for me and a little plot-heavy. I think that is a good thing though, in that it seems to be faithfully adapting the source material.  I particularly enjoy Javier Bardem as Stilgar – convincing Paul to take up his own mantel and use his legend-in-the-making status.  Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya are just fine as the two leads and Josh Brolin continues to be entertaining.  I also really enjoyed Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica as she manipulates almost everyone to get what she wants. I could have used a little more fun here and there. I enjoyed the bits of Paul learning how to desert properly, and those sequences added a little levity in an otherwise somber story. 

Overall – beautiful to look at, a little long, a little bit pretentious, but still entertaining. 6 out of 10.