Godzilla vs. Kong

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Godzilla vs. Kong pits our two titular leading titans against one another as they grapple for dominance as Alpha Titans, while the nefarious organisation Apex Cybernetics brings humanity once again into the crosshairs of these giant monstrous beasts. While watching this film I was impressed by this atmosphere of anticipation and wonder that was built up for several key scenes. The big mid-ocean fight sequence was such a heavily anticipated moment because of the unique terrain, and the Hong Kong battles were so easy to enjoy because the film busted out all the stops to make these colossal event moments feel significant. I also had a real sense of fascination with the beauty of exploring the 'Hollow Earth' environment, it was a moment of visual and world-building based payoff that really strongly came together. The cinematography used throughout was really dynamic and built to be big, there was a really talented eye for shooting effects behind the camera which make this an appealing feature to watch. The visual effects is probably the strongest quality of the film, Godzilla and Kong grappling and interacting with one another looks fascinating and the Hollow Earth creatures and environments are extremely well-generated.

 

Alexander Skarsgård, who played Nathan Lind, works pretty well as one of the scientific leading characters in this film; I enjoyed watching Skarsgård play a more morally grey hero possessing some cowardly tendencies and a capacity to ask hard questions no other role would want to undertake. Millie Bobby Brown, who played Madison Russell, is one of the strong returning performers who carries the corporate espionage storyline on her back; this young actress comes at her scenes with this intense curiosity and bravery that makes her the protagonist of her story arc. Rebecca Hall, who played Ilene Andrews, is one of my favourite performances in this feature; Hall's onscreen motherly bond with Hottle is brilliant and the amount of empathy she shows in her role marks her as one of the better leading roles. Demián Bichir, who played Walter Simmons, is probably the best human antagonist in one of these films since Samuel L. Jackson in Kong: Skull Island; I was really impressed with how Bichir navigated scenes with finesse and elegance to manipulate matters into his character's way of thinking.

However, the best performance came from Kaylee Hottle, who played Jia. This character is a soft, kind-hearted human connection to Kong, the compassionate link in this film between man and beast. Hottle is a deaf actress portraying the power of communication by being the first human role to form a language alongside one of our title characters, intertwining her with Kong in a major way. I love how she portrays this compassionate, caring young role who is so fearless in bonding with this massive beast. As a child actress Hottle achieves what so many older performers throughout the past Monsterverse films have failed to achieve; she has crafted a human character who has believably crafted a rich, meaningful and interesting relationship with an entirely CGI character. This is a masterful and genuinely heart-warming performance.

This film is a culmination and an event of every Monsterverse film we've had thus far and a special effects heavy spectacle everyone is abuzz about. But when I sat down to watch this movie and the first scene opens with Godzilla destroying this big corporate facility I was leagues from impressed. This should've been it, the big kick off to what was going to be two hours of the pinnacle of the Titans. Instead I watched as a crazy conspiracy theorist role mumbled through what I imagine was meant to be comic relief and began us down the road of what was going to be the glaring flaw of Godzilla vs. Kong: the plot is terrible to non-existent. The plot is basically broken down into two main storyline threads; one plot focusing on our aforementioned conspiracy theorist and his two young groupies looking into some shady corporate matters and humans trying to utilise Kong to work their way into the monster-infested 'Hollow Earth'. The issue with the corporate storyline is that the characters are very hard to believe in; this conspiracy theorist is such a strange amalgamation of comic relief and bizarre behaviour that he feels outlandish and the two younger roles feel sort of tacked onto him for little reason other than Millie Bobby Brown was in the last Godzilla. Everything about this plot just sets up a secret antagonist without ever doing anything actually interesting or worthy of taking up so much runtime. The central focus of the film is on lugging Kong from Skull Island to Antarctica, from Antarctica to Hollow Earth, from Hollow Earth to Hong Kong. It's just this long linear push that gives a lot of time to quibble through some very dull personal subplots all while we wait for the creatures to get shunted to the locations in which they're going to pummel one another. This is a film that went "let them fight" but wasn't interested in doing any of the work to make a film around those exquisite fights. More disappointing than that, the film drops a lot of characters and history from the past three films just to make this one; such a large host of new characters with little reference to the old makes this a rather empty sequel to watch. The score for the film was probably the most generic of the series yet, with a lot of fanfare but no strong theme for key moments; the soundtrack randomly kicking in for certain Kong moments was also quite the strange touch.

Brian Tyree Henry, who played Bernie Hayes, pops in at the top of this film like a big red warning sign of bad film to come; Henry's garbled delivery and nonstop chatter marked him as an annoying role and the way he pushed the conspiracy theorist element to the far side of weird and crazy made things quite over the top. Shun Oguri, who played Ren Serizawa, was the henchman antagonist to Bichir and really fell into the backdrop pretty fast; Oguri went into this film with little autonomy and came away looking like a glorified prop. Eiza González, who played Maya Simmons, has really picked more dud roles than good ones at this point; González lacks screen presence and she never leans powerfully into a role making her characters appear mild or featureless. Julian Dennison, who played Josh Valentine, is an embarrassing New Zealand export on our part; Dennison's every passing attempt at comic relief falls flat in each of his scenes making his inclusion in this film redundant. Kyle Chandler, who played Mark Russell, looks as confused to be in this film as I am that none of his other formers cast mates (excluding Brown) joined him; Chandler seems disinterested to be in this sequel and considering the underwhelming babysitting role they put him in, I can't blame him.

 

A special effects spectacle of a brawl, but the other hour and a half truly has nothing worth watching. I would give Godzilla vs. Kong a 5.5/10.

 

Crisis

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Crisis is a film with three branching storylines each with a message about opioids and how this drug is affecting America at different levels. One storyline tracks a university professor attempting to expose a harmful painkiller big pharma is bring to market, another shows a federal agent attempting to bust an opioid drug ring and the final story witnesses a former opioid-addicted mother investigating the overdose of her son. Initially I was thrown by the almost anthology style of presentation, but once you grow invested in the storylines this becomes an extremely engaging film to watch. If anything, breaking the story up across several contained smaller stories aids the pacing immensely. The grieving mother story and the federal story both follow similar paths, examining how the illegal sale of opioids invades communities and then pacing that back through the runners, suppliers and eventually distributors. Seeing a very personal, human story told in parallel to a tense, methodical crime story is a real master stroke because there is something in this for a majority of viewers. I often found myself incredibly moved by Claire's journey as she uncovers big and small details around her son's death, the scene in which she recounts how he died and what that experience would've been like is a powerful watch. At the same time watching Agent Jake Kelly desperately hold his undercover drug bust operation together by a thread, almost falling apart at several instances is a nail-biting watch that sets this film with more familiar and well-practised thriller elements. However, in spite of its isolation from the other storylines, the strength of a story about one university professor against a big pharma corporation is by far the most powerful storyline. Watching a man weigh the risks of basically imploding his life for the moral responsibility of reporting a harmful drugs risks before it goes on sale is a powerful watch, this is a figure who knows that he is going to lose and allows his life to be steadily dismantled anyway in an effort to do what is right. By the end of the film I had watched several wonderfully written and acted characters fight against opioids with varying success, the whole experience felt almost akin to harrowing and it was hard to face the reality of what this very real crisis actually looks like in America. The cinematography looks exceptionally crisp, drawing stark colour from a range of environments and keeping even basic dialogue exchanges engaging to watch.

 

Armie Hammer, who played Jake Kelly, is a stoic figure who plays well to the tough undercover federal agent role; Hammer's strength in this role is the severe desperation he portrays in trying to keep his character's operation together in spite of things steadily falling apart around him. Evangeline Lilly, who played Claire Reimann, is strongly motivated by grief in this film and portrays it in a truly moving manner; Lilly's intense fixation on justice and the truth marks her role as a compelling character and one of the truly interesting storylines to watch. Greg Kinnear, who played Dean Talbot, has a warm chemistry with Oldman onscreen that cements their characters friendship; I found the way Kinnear deconstructs this relationship and painfully betrays Oldman one of the more tragic aspects of that storyline. Guy Nadon, who played Mother, is quite an unpredictable and imposing crime boss antagonist; Nadon presents a highly paranoid figure who acts brazenly yet with a certain degree of cunning. Veronica Ferres, who played Dr. Meg Holmes, is fantastic as the main antagonist to Oldman; Ferres has this cold detached approach to fighting her battle that greatly contrasts Oldman's more frantic and concerned manner.

 

However, the best performance came from Gary Oldman, who played Dr. Tyrone Brower. This is a teacher figure at a university who immediately seems well liked and has an easy charisma in his classes. Oldman fixes his role as one who is well respected and respects those around him almost immediately, generating a warm aura in any scene he's in. However, when he begins pushing his findings that the drug he was testing for a big pharma company is not safe for public sale this role begins being treated like a ticking time bomb. Watching Oldman act with outrage and concern that his efforts to unveil the truth are being met with disgust, anger or indifference at every turn is easy to empathise with. This is a character who doesn't know how to navigate whistleblowing and reacts cautiously, but it isn't enough to prevent him from being torn apart by those he used to trust or even count on as friends. Seeing Oldman portray a man torn between the decision to salvage his reputation and job or do the right thing is a hard watch but remarkably well-executed by this acting veteran.

 

The most glaring flaw of Crisis is the branching narratives first and foremost, if you lose an audience member of any one of these threads then it is very easy to suddenly have a third of the film not expressly interesting to that aspect of the audience. I felt this quite strongly with the Federal drug bust story at first, it had this cold methodical execution to it that didn't hook me, it wasn't until there was some personal level of danger that I really became invested in this storyline. There is some frustration in that the big pharma storyline and the drug bust/grieving mother storylines don't crossover whatsoever. It leaves you with the impression that there were two ideas for a feature and neither was long enough for a script by itself. In saying this the weakness of the two storylines that do converge is probably how over the top their final act becomes when these characters collide; the big dhowdown becomes a little less grounded than the rest of the film making it an incompatible moment with the rest of the feature. The editing for the film can be inconsistent, ranging from a slow pace to some very abrupt cutting that leaves a peculiar flow to the events of the film. The score in this feature is practically non-existent and is mainly a discordant noise that you could easily tack on to any crime thriller. 

Michelle Rodriguez, who played Supervisor Garrett, does not fit the federal bureaucrat role whatsoever; Rodriguez struggles at matching the intensity of a performer like Hammer and doesn't seem at place in the collected leadership figure. Luke Evans, who played Dr. Bill Simons, seems completely miscast in this film; Evans doesn't feel like he is committed to being this big sales executive for big pharma and is strangely in the background of a lot of his scenes. Lily-Rose Depp, who played Emmie Kelly, gives the most cookie cutter portrayal of drug addiction I've ever seen; more than that you don't really see her and Hammer as siblings due to a complete lack of connection. Martin Donovan, who played Lawrence Morgan, feels like the potential for an intimidating figure but is severely underutilised; Donovan's stoic and at times generic portrayal of the wealth behind big pharma isn't as engaging as it could be. Eric Bruneau, who played Guy Broussard, is a pretty stereotypical drug-addicted gang member role; Bruneau's content with falling quietly into place ina scene and doesn't have the same intensity as Nadon for instance.

In spite of a very disjointed style of storytelling, this is a unique thriller that really holds a spotlight up to the current opioid crisis. I would give Crisis a 7.5/10.

Judas And The Black Messiah

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Judas And The Black Messiah is a biopic about the rise of Fred Hampton, chairman for the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther movement, and the man sent by the FBI to betray him. This film begins with a lot of found footage, which actually has a serious level of impact in terms of the film and what it represents going forward. In one of the interviews a man states "these ain't riots, this is a revolution"; a powerful moment because it is framed alongside black protestors being harassed and harmed by police officers from that era. In this way the film very deliberately draws a clean parallel to many of the civil rights struggles going on today, more than this it highlights the frustration that black people still have to fight for justice and freedom. I also have really struggled to understand the Black Panther party all my life, stories around the NAACP or other civil rights groups often getting highlighted or made into film. I really valued how precisely this film manages to show all aspects of the Black Panther party, you see the value of action they brought to their community and a complete breakdown of the values that their party stood behind. This film had a focal point around infiltration and espionage and it managed to instil a sense of tension quite well because of this. The editing throughout sets a fine pace in contrast to the narrative pacing, each cut feels perfectly timed and spaced throughout most of the feature. The score for the film has this intense, discordant jazz/blues sound to it which heightened those tense scenes where everything was spiralling out of control; yet there was also a melancholy to it that paid tribute to the unity and history of the era.

 

LaKeith Stanfield, who played Bill O'Neal, takes his time to find his feet but once you get to see the really frantic nature of his character in the second half it is clear what Stanfield has accomplished; this character is duplicitous but more than that he is grounded in extreme fear and cowardice. Jesse Plemons, who played Roy Mitchell, is quite a charismatic figure with something rotten in him below the surface; this is a figure of authority who blows apart the livelihood of a group of people with little remorse and in a calculated manner. Dominique Thorne, who played Judy Harmon, feels like everything a Black Panther fighter was supposed to represent; Thorne portrays what it's like being a female fighter equal amongst her fellow members of the movement exceptionally well. Martin Sheen, who played J. Edgar Hoover, is a complete reprobate of an antagonist which is everything the film needs; Sheen portrays a figure who wields power for prejudice with a cruelty that is undeniably terrifying to watch.

However, the best performance came from Daniel Kaluuya, who played Fred Hampton. Almost from the start of this film it is clear that this is going to be one of Kaluuya's strongest performances to date. The moment he stands upon a stage and delivers his first passionate monologue inciting revolution and unity in the face of prejudice you realise the strength of this role. Fred Hampton throughout has this charisma that feels both natural and earned, he connects to everyone he meets and more than that, he inspires. I like that Kaluuya has a subtle development around his character of initially being quite headstrong and quick to act, but he becomes more considering and wise as the film progresses and fatherhood looms for him. There is no question that Hampton is a fighter, but he builds an image of strength to help convince others to join the fight for education, healthcare and justice for those who need and deserve it. This is an inspired, revolutionary role and the best performance I've seen from Kaluuya since Get Out.

 

The structure of this film is set to be slow and, at times, downright sluggish. Judas And The Black Messiah contains a number of very important messages throughout but there isn't going to be much shock factor for anyone here. O'Neal's eventual betrayal of Hampton is an event fixed from the opening scene and so the slow, gradual examination of the two characters across two hours towards that singular event is a very drawn out process. For a long portion of the film Hampton is in prison, so we lose the most interesting role for a lot of the runtime. This hurts the second act because we're left with a lot of the supporting cast who haven't had much of a strong presence up until this point anyway, and don't really serve to strengthen the plot much at all. A large problem with biopics, particularly those centred around civil rights movements, is that they follow a formula of stretching out the first and second act so you get a complete breakdown of your protagonist(s). Then when you reach the final act they pour everything they have into one big stakes 'big scene' that the whole film has been centred around; which for this film is the police storming the Black Panther chapter resulting in Hampton's demise. I think it's hard to make a biopic not confined to similar elements these days but a film loses its power when it struggles to find a unique way to present itself. The cinematography throughout the feature has a poor approach to switching from being in motion to remaining static, there are also several scenes which are framed poorly or in quite simply blocky ways.

Dominique Fishback, who played Deborah Johnson, has little to no chemistry with Kaluuya and the pair feel poorly paired together; Fishback also doesn't have the same presence as some of the other Black Panther members in the film so the strength of this role is lost from that.

A slow burn biopic that never really manages to tread new ground but projects several messages well worth listening to. I would give Judas And The Black Messiah a 6/10.

Raya And The Last Dragon

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

 In an effort to save the land of Kumandra, Raya and her dragon ally, Sisu, must gather all five pieces of the Dragon Gem to stop the deadly Druun. This story is enchanting in every way that counts; charismatic and interesting cast of characters, a beautiful rich world, a compelling action-adventure narrative with great pacing and a theme that I think makes its impact strong. Raya as the leading protagonist of the film is interesting because she is so capable and confident in the action but her deep conflict between her father's vision of peace and the reality she has had to live in without him is such a unique character trait. The entire film is guided by this idea of trust or a divided future; showing the flaws of a people distrustful and separate more and more as the film progresses. I was delighted by how such a compelling and well-developed fantasy setting could have such a clear theme that resonates so strongly with a number of issues we're facing right now. Watching Raya go from being a warrior alone on her quest, to a member of this team dedicated to saving others from the Druun was a brilliant arc that moved at an unbelievably strong pace. I also thought the film dealt with exploring themes of trust through character relationships extremely well; Raya's experiences of peace through her father and Sisu versus the betrayal and selfishness she had experienced from Namaari was the focal point of the feature. The movie takes our main character, forces her to confront her prejudices about people she is meeting and then she learns to move beyond her presumptions to find trust in those selfsame people. I will watch this movie again and again for its fresh dialogue, for the sheer joy of exploring the world that had been so carefully made and for the thrill of falling deeply into a world class animated feature. The animation in this film is the next step up for Disney, I haven't seen an animated film look so good and I'm excited for what this promises. Just look at little details like how someone runs through water, how hair looks in different environments, the photorealistic backgrounds ro just how smooth the action sequences flow. This is a film worth being excited about, it delivers on a massive scale and Disney has once again set the bar very high for their next project.

 

Awkwafina, who voiced Sisu, has a lot of charm as one of the more comedic roles in the film and as the role who gets to really purely express joy for the world they're in; I also think Awkwafina did an exceptional job of consistently conveying the films overarching message. Izaac Wang, who voiced Boun, is a real talent for such a young performer; his smooth-talking shrimp salesman character was a real delight and where I started to see the film as being even bigger than my already high expectations. Gemma Chan, who voiced Namaari, is one of animated Disney's best antagonists yet; Chan's role is the perfect foil for Tran's and her unwavering loyalty to her own people makes her own personal background extremely compelling. Daniel Dae Kim, who voiced Benja, is this extremely kind and compassionate figure symbolic of peace and connection; yet I found the light humour and love that came from him playing a father to be the real strength of the role. Benedict Wong, who voiced Tong, is a fun juxtaposition between his extremely tough warrior exterior and the loneliness he visibly portrays when first we meet this character; Wong's strength is in playing a character who you would expect to be used for action or comedic relief but instead serves well as a simple rational voice in the team that helps guide them all. Sandra Oh, who voiced Virana, is a stoic yet benevolent leader of her people in this film; Oh's sense of unwavering loyalty to her own people beyond others makes her a complex minor antagonist well worth watching. Lucille Soong, who voiced Dang Hu, is another minor antagonist I found really compelling; Soong presents a kindly elder at first who is unveiled to be a figure capable of great cruelty to achieve what she desires.

However, the best performance came from Kelly Marie Tran, who voiced Raya. I think Raya is so immediately likeable because of how cocky and quick-witted she is even in the face of great danger. Tran has this easy charisma to her performance that makes you immediately believe in Raya's ability as a badass warrior and her for our tale. More than this she imparts exposition about the world and how it functions in a solemn and deeply engaging way, making the audience extremely hooked in by Kumandra through Raya. The manner through which Tran portrays Raya's grief over the loss of her father and the betrayal she faced as a child is really moving and a guiding character aspect throughout. However I loved most how Raya was a character as capable of flaws as her antagonist, her big confrontation scene with Namaari in the final act was a powerful moment of realisation. More than this, Tran's portrayal of self-acceptance and realisation of what is needed to prevail is such a moving scene that I believe the film is lifted to a whole other level by it.

If Raya And The Last Dragon has a flaw it exists right in the very first act when we reconvene with Raya as an older teenager. The film suddenly moves things along at a very quick pace, drawing the two title protagonists, Raya and Sisu, together extremely quickly and with minimal difficulty. Their relationship is sped through quickly in a similar manner, the pair becoming almost instant friends in little to no time at all. This just makes the audiences ability to connect with Sisu a little difficult at first, probably taking as long as the beginning of the second act to really start to feel a substantial and deserved bond.

Not only is this likely going to be the best film I see all year, I think it might well be my favourite Disney animated feature of the past twenty years. I would give Raya And The Last Dragon a 9.5/10.