johnboyjunior Reviews

Godzilla (2014)

Very Disappointing

[6/10 · 17 May 2014]

*Mild Plot Spoilers* What an utter disappointment this film was. Been looking forward to it forever and the final result is a movie where the Main Character (Godzilla) is handed something that feels like an extended cameo role.

Aaron Taylor John-son is a weak lead character here and the amount of time the film spends on him means this film gets boring fast. Bryan Cranston would of been a much stronger lead but he is wasted in this film. Elizabeth Olsen who plays Aaron Taylor-Johnson's wife literally has no reason to be in this film, nothing she says or does is memorable.

The story itself is competent, Bryan Cranston works at Nuclear Plant in Japan, an apparent Earthquake destroys the plant and leads to the death of his wife. Cut to 15 years later and Aaron Taylor John-son(Bryan Cranston's son) is a Nuclear Warhead Disposal expert who has just returned from a tour of duty somewhere. Bryan Cranston is obsessed with finding out the truth of what caused the destruction of the Plant which results to him being arrested. From here the movie tries to build as much anticipation as possible and it succeeds...for a while but after nearly an hour of trying to get us to care for bland, clichéd characters it becomes boring.

Ken Watanabe plays a scientist who is seemingly on the trail of Godzilla and after a certain event involving MUTO he explains to Aaron Taylor-Johnson about Godzilla. As you've probably seen in trailers the Nuclear tests of the 1950'S were an attempt to kill him but those failed...the movie then fails to explain why they seemingly stopped trying to kill Godzilla and let him swim the oceans unhindered and without any attempts at tracking him. When the MUTO threat becomes very real Ken Watanabe's character somehow knows that Godzilla will come to stop it despite the fact that the movie leads you to believe that Godzilla hasn't been seen since the 1950's.

The biggest flaws of this film is its insistence on focusing on the Human drama and only showing you the aftermath rather than the action. The first time Godzilla is shown in full he is about to confront MUTO but instead of seeing a great monster battle the film then cuts to Elizabeth Olsen and her son who is watching a news report of the battle the next day. We get to see maybe 5 seconds of Godzilla and MUTO engaged in Battle in this news report and that's it. Then MUTO is about to wreck havoc on Las Vegas and ...cut to to the aftermath. The final battle also focuses more on the Soldiers, who have their own mission to complete whilst Godzilla and MUTO fight it out in the background.

When the end credits rolled I was more than a little underwhelmed by what I had just watched.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

A solid movie

[10/10 · 17 April 2014]

As someone who really enjoyed the first Amazing Spider-man movie I was really looking forward to this and I can safely say its a good movie, not brilliant but good.

The movie opens by showing us what happened to Peters parents after they left him with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

The first glimpse we get of spider-man is as he is free falling through the air in response to the sounds of sirens chasing after a hijacked truck carrying highly radioactive materials. The CGI is incredible and Spider-man has never looked better. Although the actual chase scene isn't anything you haven't seen before. There are some quite funny moments with Spidey trying to collect vials in the back of a moving truck being driven by Paul Giamatti and Peter talking to Gwen on the phone.

Speaking of, Paul Giamatti is awful. Miscast would be an understatement, he is utterly terrible. He is over the top and his accent his ridiculous. I predict a Razzie nomination for him in this role. Thankfully his role is very minimal. Which surprised me, as I was expecting Rhino to play a larger part.

Jamie Fox doesn't quite fit here either. He plays an Oscorp employee who just wants people to take notice of him and develops a slight infatuation with Spider-man after he saves him. There is a very cringe inducing scene where Jamie Fox's character has an imaginary conversation with Spider-man. It actually reminded me of Jim Carey's rather over the top portrayal of Edward E. Nigma in Batman Forever. Im not sure which is worse.

The main draw of this movie is Peter and Gwen and their relationship. If you're a comic fan like myself then you'll know why this relationship is important.

Peter is still trying to keep the promise he made to Gwen's father by staying out of her life to protect her from his enemies. The scenes between Peter and Gwen really stand out thanks to the amount of chemistry these two share on screen. Their scenes are playfully intimate and really succeed in portraying the love they have for each other.

Dane Dehaan plays Harry Osborne, a once childhood friend of Peter's who was shipped off to boarding school while they were still young and returns to New York for family reasons. Dane Dehaan is great in this role and its shame he wasn't introduced in the first movie as he takes a bit of a back seat to Jamie Fox's character for a large part of the movie.

There are some truly great moments in this movie from Spideys battles with Electro to a scene showing Peters loneliness through the changing of the seasons. I would of liked more of Dane Dehaan as Harry and the Green Goblin as it feels like Electro was shoehorned in to keep this movie from feeling like a rehash of Sam Raimi's first Spider-man movie with the Green Goblin.

I enjoyed the movie but hope the next one can focus more on the characters that matter rather than trying to cram in as many new ones as possible.

Resident Evil: Damnation (2012)

More Faithful and entertaining than the live action films

[8/10 · 27 September 2012]

Being a big Resident Evil fan who is constantly disappointed with the Mila Jovovich Resident Evil movies I was awesomely pleased with this movie.

The plot is simple, Leon Kennedy is sent to an European country to investigate the use of B.O.W.s in a civil war. Shortly after arriving he ''meets'' some local freedom fighters and things escalate from there.

There are quite a few nods to Resident Evil 2 (The game), the best of which was very unexpected but makes the climax of the movie pretty damn exciting. The movie itself feels very much like Resident Evil 4, which is no bad thing.

**MILD SPOILER** The characters from the games leon, Hunnigan and Ada act just the way they should. Ada turns up to antagonize Leon as usual, and their innuendo ridden to-ing and fro-ing continues.

It really says something about a CGI movie when it outclasses its live action counter part and Resident Evil Damnation does this in every way.

If you enjoyed the Paul W. S. Anderson directed Resident Evils...and I use the term ''Directed'' very...very loosely then you will love this movie. A Resident Evil movie...that Actually feels like a Resident Evil Game, Brilliant

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Decent Movie but lacked depth

[6/10 · 31 May 2012]

I was really looking forward to this movie after seeing the trailer and having seen a real couple of duds in the past few weeks (Gone, Dark Shadows and the dictator to name but a few) I had high hopes it would renew my love for films.

The opening 15-20 minutes sets the scene of how things came to be with great locations and some tasty CGI we see How Queen Ravenna became queen and sole ruler of the Kingdom and what she did with Snow White.

Having Reluctantly watched the twilight movies I can safely say that Kristen Stewart brings very Little to the Role of Snow White. This is meant to be a Character who isn't a depressing, one more sad song away from self harming, empty shell of a person. It may fit in to her situation in the 1st half hour of the film but as the story progresses she remains the same emotionless bore. Are we meant to believe that woodland animals and faeries would be drawn to such a person. It amazes me how she was deemed the right choice for this movie.

The other Actors do a much better job, Charlize Theron is fantastic as the evil queen though a little over the top in places I think it helps convey how through time the effects of her magic have affected her mind. A scene where she is observed talking to the 'Man in the Mirror' brought me to this conclusion.

Chris Hemsworth is convincing as the rugged, down on his luck huntsman who is tasked to bring Snow White back to the queen. His character has some inner demons which are mentioned but we never really get to see them explored or resolved.

Other characters are introduced like Snow Whites child hood friend William who is pretty much an underused poor mans Legolas, with very little lines and little to no character development and the Dwarfs.

The dwarfs were one of the highlights of this film. They brought some much needed albeit brief comic relief. Considering the great actors included in their little ensemble they get very little screen time and even a Great Like Bob Hoskins has very few lines, one of which is prob the best in the film. (If you have seen trailer you know it already).

Snow White And The Huntsman is a decent movie not spectacular in any sense of the word. A few pacing problems in the middle. The locations do feel very grand and really help set the tone of the film. Some decent fight scenes, though the climatic battle is a little short, especially when you consider the size of the castle they are attacking. I would of liked to have had a little more Back story, How did Queen Raveena come to possess the Mirror? How did snow white pass time during her incarceration? How did the huntsman's wife die? (Again this is mentioned but we never get to see) and what did he do before she died? More action scenes were also needed.

I recommend this movie to anyone who likes a good fantasy romp with monsters and sword battles, just don't expect an epic on par with The Lord of the Rings