GODZILLA 3D - Movie Review

 Title: Godzilla 3D
Running Time: 123 min
Director: Gareth Edwards
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Wanatabe

Review:
Finally, I got to see the King of Monsters return to the big screen for yet another time! After the first American atempt in 1998 was considered an abomination by Godzilla Fans, this movie really brings back the key elements of the old Japanese classics.
 As everyone probably hoped, the cinematography is phenomenal. Beautifully constructed shots with some great camera angles and mixed with top-notch special effects. Especially a real epic parachuting sequence.
Bryan Cranston gives us damn-fine acting as usual, and Aaron Taylor Johnson is a very sympathetic main character, who's luckily not as overly heroic as others in this genre. His chemistry with Elizabeth Olsen is pretty good too, and it will be interesting to see how they switch from couple to siblings in the upcoming "Avengers: Age of Ultron". Oh, and Ken Wanatabe has the best japanese accent to explain everything about: "Gojira" (as he's oiginally spelled).
Concerning the story, the trailers for this film really didn't give away much, and eventhough one would argue that there is not much to know about a monster movie, the film will most likely not quite be what you expected. Wether that is a good or a bad thing depends on the kind of movie goer you are.
Firstly, about half an hour in, the movie introduces a big part of the main plot, which might leave those not-so-well-versed in the Godzilla lore scratching their heads. Secondly, the film puts a big focus on the perspective of the humans, who will not only have to cope with a monster invasion but also with its side effects like plane crashes, earthquakes and tsunamis. This means that our beloved monstreous destructor doesn't get a full body action shot till the climax of the movie. However, this doesn't result in boredom as it brilliantly teases a leg, tail or an eye of the iconic character and it gives you chills as you really get the impression that this is a humongous creature.
All in all, Godzilla is a great modern monster film that feels oldschool while still staying fresh. Note that, obviously, it is not highly intellectual cinema, but it is an awesome piece of entertainment and a worthy installment of the Godzilla franchise, that by the way should be seen on the best screen you can get.
I myself chose 500m² IMAX 3D.... worth every penny.

For Fans of:
Pacific Rim (2013)
Godzilla (1954)
Gidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Predator (1987)

And check out my friend's review over at B.A.'s Screentest for a second opinion!

CINEMARTIAN'S BIRTHDAY 1992 TRIVIA:

Hello there puny humans,
'Tis my birthday and since I am turning 22 (yes, your cinemartian is such a young fellow), I thought I'll give you a little movie trivia about the day and year I was born, so enjoy:

My Personal Top 3 Films released in 1992:

1.Reservoir Dogs

2.Batman Returns

3.Aladdin

My Personal Top 3 Modern Films set in 1992:
1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
2. Into The Wild (2007)
3. The Informant!  (2009)

Top 3 Highest-grossing Films of that year:

1. Aladdin

2. The Bodyguard

3. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Oscar-Winners:
Best Picture - Unforgiven
Best Director - Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)
Best Actor - Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman)
Best Actress - Emma Thompson (Howards Ende)
Best Supporting Actor - Gene Hackman (Unforgiven)
Best Supporting Actress - Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny)
Best Original Screenplay - The Crying Game (Neil Jordan)
Best Adapted Screenplay - Howards End (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)

Number One Film the day I was Born, 20th May 1992: 

Lethal Weapon 3

 

  

There were also some interesting acting debuts in 1992: 

Jack Black, Daniel Craig, Penélope Cruz, Ralph Fiennes, Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Whitney Houston, Heath Ledger, Bernie Mac, Mike Myers, Gary Sinise,Will Smith, Hilary Swank

...and directorial ones:

Quentin Tarantino, Ang Lee, Robert Rodriguez, Baz Luhrmann

Lastly, a big shout out to Jack Gleeson, the actor known for his role as Joffrey Baratheon in the HBO series Game Of Thrones, who is also celebrating his 22nd birthday today! You do a brilliant job portraying that little Lannister bastard! You own that role, so happy birthday to you too!

Sincerely,
Your Cinemartian!

Movie Newsflash: FIRST GLIMPSE AT BEN AFFLECK'S BATMAN & NEW COMIC BOOK TV-SHOWS

 Hello there puny humans,
the 21st Century is a great time for comic book- and film fans, and hardly a week goes by without any news about costumed heroes on the big or small screen. So let me sum up the most recent ones:

Firstly, (and this made me very happy) ABC announced that they renewed Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a second season. The show evolves around Agent Coulson and his Team of Shield-Agents solving mysteries and weird cases, and ties in heavily with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (including guest appearances of Nick Fury, Maria Hill & Lady Sif). And if that wasn't enough, they also announced that there is going to be a new mini-series about the adventures of Agent Carter, whom you might remember as Captain America's love interest from his first movie. She was also featured in a Marvel One-Shot, that appeared  on the Iron Man 3 BluRay Edition, and was pretty much the kick-start for this series. Even though she is an "Agent of Shield" herself, the show will most likely have a different tone than the first one, as it will be set just after World War II, with an old-school (and hopefully Indiana Jones like) vibe.

But where there's a Marvel announcement, a DC-Comics one won't be far, and they too announced two new TV-Shows: One of those is Constantine, and yes, that is the same demon-chasing Constantine as in the 2005 Keanu Reeves movie of the same name. Both are based on the Hellblazer Comics and the first look promises, that the TV-Show will be much more faithful to the source material. The other show DC is putting out there is a show called Gotham, a show about the Dark Kight's famous hometown. However, the show will take place before Bruce Wayne became the Caped Crusader and rather focus on a young Jim Gordon. New to Gotham, he will have to face the town's biggest criminals, including younger versions of the Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman and others.

Speaking of Batman, there was another big reveal yesterday, concerning Man Of Steel 2 aka. Batman vs. Superman. After casting Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons as Alfred back in January (before this beauty of a blog existed), Zack Snyder now twittered a first picture of Ben Affleck in his costume with the Batmobile behind him:

I shot this with my @Leica_Camera M Monochrom. #Batman #Batmobile #Gotham http://t.co/WPHKLxgBLM pic.twitter.com/p5DEf6fLzJ
— ZackSnyder (@ZackSnyder) 13. Mai 2014

Seeing the new suit, i can imagine that it was inspired by Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns Comics, that showed us a grumpier, grittier and older Batman, which could be pretty cool  for this movie too. I personally think it looks bad-ass (or should i say bat-ass?) and it just makes me more excited for the team up. Hopefully, it will be the Batman vs. Superman movie we deserve AND the one we need right now! So fingers crossed that Batfleck learned from his Daredevil days....and maybe George Clooney gave him some advise warnings too...

Sincerely,
Your Cinemartian!

PS.: I know I've been lazy, but my X-Men, and Godzilla Review will be up in less than two weeks!

Movie Newsflash: "STAR WARS: EPISODE VII" CAST IS OUT!!!

 Hello there puny humans,
I am so very happy to announce that yesterday the cast for J.J. Abrahams' "Star Wars: Episode VII" was revealed! So let's not beat around the bush and get you updated:

Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Anthony Daniels (C3PO) and  Kenny Baker (R2D2) will all reprise their roles from the previous films, and eventhough we don't know how much they will appear in the new trilogy (and knowing that most of them are probably not in the best age for grand-scale action sequences), it is awesome to see them back to bring some nostalgic feelings.
On the list of "newbies", the biggest name probably is the master of performance capture himself: Andy Serkis. Considering his best known roles are Gollum, King Kong, and Caeser from the Planet Of The Apes-Franchise, there is a high chance he might be playing a half animated character once more, especially in a fictional universe that is so rich in alien species.
Next on the List is Oscar Isaac, who has shown us his diversity on screen with different roles like a low status criminal in Drive, an arrogant King in Robin Hood and most recently (and most notably) a struggling folk-singer in Inside Llewyn Davis.
He is joined by Max von Sydow, probably best known by todays audience for being the "old wise and/or sophisticated supporting character" in films such as Minority Report, Robin Hood, Shutter Island and Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close. Domhnall Gleeson (an Inidie-actor with his only mainstream role to date being the one of Bill Weasley in the Harry Potter Franchise) & Adam Driver (portraying Adam Slacker on the HBO-Series Girls) are in on it as well, the latter even already known to play a villain.
Another not-so-present-in-the-audience's-mind actor that was cast is 22-year-old Brit John Boyega (Attack The Block and the upcoming 24 season). Given that his name is mentioned at the beginning of the casting list, I dare to speculate that he might be our new main protagonist, which would make him the first black lead character in a Star Wars movie (Mace Windu must be proud). However, something that has been typical for both, the prequels and the original trilogy, is a single but strong female lead. As the only female on the list of new cast members, I assume TV-Actress Daisy Ridley to be the one to take over that part and we should all wish her the best of luck, because Princesses Leia & Amidala... well... those are some big-ass shoes to fill.

Nevertheless, I am excited to see so many of lesser known faces in the cast, as I think this new trilogy needs some fresh wind to sell the new characters, and having Andy Serkis in the mix can never be a bad thing either. The introduction of the story-line on the other hand will most likely benefit from the presence of our beloved "Star Wars veterans".
Well, now there's nothing left for me to do than to check out a few of these actors' works to see what I am in for... oh, and of course to tell all those lesser-versed movie goers: "No, that green little Yoda guy won't be in this film... watch the original trilogy please!"

May the Force be with you,
Your Cinemartian

P.S.: I really don't know why they didn't wait the six days till May the Fourth to announce this....

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2 - Movie Review

 Title: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Running Time: 142 min
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Sally Fields

Review:
Our friendly neighborhood spider swings on the big screen for a second time since he got rebooted, and does not everything, but a lot of things right. Especially the action!
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was made for 3D, or even the other way round, because hardly ever have i seen a movie which made me happy to have spend the extra couple of bucks as much as this one. The action sequences are simply (let's use the obvious adjective) amazing and its more than a pleasure watching Spidey's skill set unfold in such an awe-inspiring way. Also Andrew Garfield is back again and really gets it right: His witty and clever portrayal of the web slinger is more faithful to the comics than Tobey Maguire's incarnation was, and gives us a lot of well-placed laughs. His chemistry with Emma Stone is so good, that you have the feeling you are watching a real life couple and the more emotional sequences don't feel forced at all.
The only problems with the movie probably lie in the script as it tries to cover too much story all at once. Next to the relationship to Gwen Stacy, Peter has to cope with some events of the previous movie, and at the same time is still on the quest to find out the truth about his fathers past. Then there is the introduction of the villain electro (nicely portrayed by Jamie Foxx), as well as the one of Harry Osborn who himself has some "daddy issues" and is the heir to the shady company known as Oscorp. All of these are cool and interesting plot points, but feel like they either come up short or are resolved a bit to quickly, and on top of it all, the movie already sets up story-lines for the next one.
Nonetheless, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" is a great time and worth watching in theaters! If they keep improving like they did here, we can be excited for the third installment.

Oh, and of course there is an after credit scene.... I mean, come on... it's Marvel.

For Fans of:
The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man 2

Click Here To Watch Trailer!

An check out my friend's review over at B.A.'s Screentest for a second opinion!

NOAH - Movie Review

 Title: Noah
Running Time: 138 min
Directors: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Russel Crowe, Emma Watson, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth

Review:
When you let such a visual and creative director as Darren Aronofsky play with one of the most famous biblical stories, you kind of already know that you are in for some controversy. "Noah" is in fact the director's Interpretation of the original tale, rather than a true telling, and adds elements to the mythology, that some people might not accept. In my opinion however, those changes might twist the events a bit, but do not affect it's core message and morals it wants to get across.
The first half of the movie really feels like a fantasy epic: world building, some battle sequences, mystical creatures, love, violence and in the center of it  Noah and his family, receiving a message from "the creator" that they try to understand and then carry out. Beautiful images (especially Noah's dream sequences), that use colors and VFX more than effectively and an exciting, fascinating and sometimes gritty story on top of it all.
Then comes the flood, and Noah and his family save themselves on the arc (spoilers?!), and the second half of the movie begins: Though still carried out very well, due to this immediate reduction of characters, story-lines and settings, this part almost feels like a different movie. A much slower-paced movie, and so the film as a whole feels like it is hitting the breaks, and in the end still feels good but unfortunately a bit too long.
The actors are all doing a great job, making the characters and their struggle feel very real, and as said before, the cinematography is great. A special mention has to go to an animated sequence in which Noah tells the story of genesis, which cleverly manages to blend science and religion into one!
All in all, "Noah" is a movie for Darren Aronofsky and cinema fans, but might turn people off who do not like the liberties it takes as it is not "the story of Noah" but rather "based on the story of Noah".

New Movie Blog

Hello there puny humans,
since my movie review facebook posts have been getting quite some likes, i will start my own movie review blog now :) Put your trust in me and I'll be your friendly neighborhood critic! My reviews will be awesome, not to say: not of this world!
Your Cinemartian

PS.:  I love you... nah just kidding. I put my Captain America 2 Review in here! It can be seen below!