Category Reviews

May 18 2014

Godzilla Finally Done Justice By Hollywood

godzillaAlright people, the new Godzilla movie is so great that it makes you forget about the stain from the 1998 version!

It works on so many levels and left me feeling so satisfied and relieved that Hollywood finally got Godzilla right. That’s because of the director of Godzilla, Gareth Edwards. When making this film, he wanted to emulate the mood established with the classic Jaws. First have characters, then present inferred appearances by the monster, then fully reveal the monster in all of its glory. In this movie, we the audience only see parts of Godzilla at first, a fin here, a tail there. But don’t worry, when he’s finally revealed it’s a gasp-inducing moment! It’s a huge payoff. But more than that this really feels like a Godzilla movie or at least how Godzilla was like in his early movies.

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This version of Godzilla is a sort of quasi-sequel to the original 1954 classic and it pretends that the sequels that followed never existed. This film sticks to its Japanese origins, which is important and the creature looks and sounds like Godzilla. This Godzilla has his trademark atomic breath, but it’s white hot and his back fins glow before he fires as seen with the recent Japanese films. It’s works for Godzilla and there wasn’t any reason to change it. Gareth Edwards and the other filmmakers understood that it was important to deliver the gargantuan force of nature that defines the monster unlike the ’98 version.

What’s more they embellished the nature of Godzilla by the revelation that he is a part of a group of animals known as alpha predators that existed before dinosaurs and was raised in a primordial Earth bathed in radiation. So it makes sense that he is awakened in the 1950s when mankind started testing nuclear weapons.

GODZILLAThat’s just one of the many cool things about Godzilla. There are also the pounding Kaiju fights, which brought out gasps and applause from the audience I saw it with. Even the opening credits are stunning. The credits are supposed to appear like classified documents that are redacted, it helped set the dark, serious tone of the movie, which was best shown with the ominous HALO jump seen in the trailers. Edwards uses for that scene the same eerie chorus heard in 2001: A Space Odyssey and it’s very effective.

The characters themselves are decent and serve their purpose though there aren’t any breakout characters. But that shouldn’t deter anyone from skipping out on Godzilla. It’s a terrific monster movie thanks to its moody tone and its faithful interpretation of the King of the Monsters.

Steven L. Walterson

May 7 2014

Coyote: Allen Steele’s Gateway Novel To A Bold New World

Some of the best sci-fi books to read during the summer months are those from author Allen Steele’s Coyote universe. Starting from Coyote and concluding with Coyote Destiny, these books explore a few tried and tested themes seen in science fiction literature. Chiefly among them are the ideas of man versus nature and of man versus his government, which are first seen in the first novel of the series Coyote. Subtitled “A Novel of Interstellar Exploration” this book deals with a group of space colonizers who rebel against an evil American government in the late 21st century and like the early pilgrims in our history, set out for a new land or rather a new planet.

coyote 1Actually this novel that was published back in 2003 is a collection of short stories that have been gathered into one book which explains the episodic nature of the novel. It’s not a complaint since each storyline while self contained and sometimes focusing on some characters does advance smoothly the overall story and gives a good perspective on the aspects of colonizing an alien world.

The book opens with the main characters on Earth. In the future, the United States has fallen and replaced by an ultra conservative dictatorship called the United Republic of America. It’s a dismal place where the government represses people, is fighting guerillas and separatists and is isolated from the world. The U.R.A. is also launching a colony starship with colonizers to its destination being Coyote, a moon that can support life and orbits the planet Bear in the 47 Ursae Majoris system. Unknown to the tyrannical U.R.A. is that the starship’s captain Robert E. Lee – – yes, he’s a descendant of the actual Lee from our history, and a group of conspirators plan to hijack the ship during its voyage. It won’t really spoil anything to say that they succeed and that the reason they do so is that his group wanted to escape the government and they figured that their destination was beyond the grasp of the U.R.A.

Before they arrive on Coyote, the novel spends a segment on the actual voyage. The starship, the U.R.S.S. Alabama, won’t reach Coyote for 230 years so the crew goes into biostatis, a type of induced hibernation. Unfortunately, one of the crewmembers, Leslie Gillis, is awakened only three months into the journey. Unable to go back into biostasis, Gillis is condemned to spend the rest of his life in solitude on board the ship or commit suicide. He chooses the former and the novel details how he spends time which was surprisingly interesting. One plot point which is brought up and so far never resolved is the fact that Gillis finds evidence of alien intelligence in the form of a passing spaceship. Steele never reveals in Coyote what was it that Gillis spotted and it’s frustratingly tantalizing.

Midway through the book, the colonists coyote maparrive and the rest of the story deals with the hardships they face in settling in the new world. Steele wisely spends some time going over the alien environment that while Earth-like is still an alien world. It makes the world of Coyote seem like a character unto itself. One way this was shown was when it’s shown  that the world has longer seasons. This adds to the hardships the colonists face since a month lasts about ninety days so winter for instance is that much longer.

The story shifts to Carlos Montero a teenager who sets out with his girlfriend Wendy Gunther and his friends to explore the world’s vast equatorial river system. This plot doubles for a coming-of-age story which is heartfelt at times without being too saccharine. The story becomes more intense as his decision to take a Twain-inspired trip and his reckless behavior leads to death and Carlos is forced to become a man. Part of the way he does this is by his continuing the journey solo to find himself and spare his companions more hardship. The story at the same time doubles as a fascinating travelogue of Coyote as Carlos explores it and ultimately as a man makes a hard choice over what to do with his life.

From reading the novel it’s fairly obvious that it’s a retelling of our American history right up until the Revolution. The last part of the novel is a set up for the sequels. Another starship arrives and brings humans ready to share the spoils in the world the characters worked so hard to settle. This, of course, sets up the future conflicts seen in Coyote Rising and Coyote Frontier. The final two books in the series open up the Coyote universe as contact is made with alien civilizations. This premise spun off a trio of novels that largely take place away from Coyote: Spindrift, Galaxy Blues and Hex. Those books themselves are just as fascinating to read. On the whole, all these books are well written, never dull and are definite page turners. In other words, prime summer reading for sci-fi fans. It will take a while to go through all of them, but it’s best to start with Coyote, the one that started it all. With this first book, readers will easily find that Allen Steele has created an engaging story, world and cast of characters that warrant these sequels and spinoffs.

José Soto

May 2 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Should’ve Been More Amazing

posterWatching The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was both a joyful and frustrating viewing experience. There is so much that the film gets right in terms of Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) and his girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). But sadly, this film is nearly derailed with so many flaws, namely the villains, the sloppy script and haphazard editing.

Andrew GarfieldThe problem with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is that it juggles too many plot points and the result is that not enough time is spent on any particular narrative. For instance, there is a Gwen Stacy sub-plot about her moving to England to attend Oxford that is buried under the film’s histrionic nature. There is an extraneous sup-plot about Peter’s parents with a payoff that is very underwhelming and could’ve been summed up in one or two scenes. Aunt May (Sally Field) is taking nursing courses while waitressing to make ends meet, but the only payoff to her arc is an all-too-brief scene with her at a hospital during a blackout. Meanwhile as that is happening, the film wastes time with needless scenes featuring two planes about to collide with each other during the blackout. That development didn’t have anything to do with Spider-Man and it comes off as unwarranted screen filler.

The film just doesn’t flow smoothly, a whole bunch of eggs are thrown up in the air and it was up to the poor editor to catch them and try to make sense. A good example is the film’s opening that has an exciting car chase with Spider-Man. He is making his distinctive ?????????????????????????????????wisecracks and doing lithe acrobatics among several police cars and a hijacked armored truck. It’s classic Spider-Man stuff, bouncy, exciting and fun! Then suddenly the film cuts away to this nebbish Max Dillon (Jamie Foxx), who is so broadly clumsy and weird that all the excitement generated from the previous scene quickly dissipates. This happens throughout the film. Again the fault lies with the script written by Jeff Pinkner, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the latter two being the now-infamous writing duo responsible for many flawed scripts in other genre works like Star Trek Into Darkness and Transformers. It’s as if they were given a directive to throw in all these plot points to ensure that Sony keeps the film rights to Spider-Man and his world and all else be damned.

?????????????????????????????????That leads to one underlying fault with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and it has to do with cramming multiple villains into one film. In reality, only one villain has the spotlight and that is Electro a.k.a. Max Dillon. Yet the film shoehorns in Harry Osborn/Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan) and the Rhino (Paul Giamatti) in what are essentially cameo roles, especially with the Rhino. It does bring to mind Spider-Man 3 but at least there, Venom had more screen time than the other two villains in this film. The trouble is that Electro is one of the weakest villains seen in a superhero film and Harry’s story arc is more interesting than Electro’s. Jamie Foxx’s character is so over the top in his nerdiness that he seems more at home in the Joel Schumacher Batman movies from the ’90s. It’s like Foxx was trying to emote Jim Carrey’s Riddler performance from Batman Forever, but Dillon is so cartoony and unbelievable and not in synch with the rest of the characters. Then when he turns into Electro, his motivation is very vague. First he’s confused about what’s happened to him, then he’s dismayed that his idol Spider-Man is treating him like a criminal. After that for some reason he wants to take away the electricity from New York because he’s generally angry. Something like that.

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Dane DeHaan has a much better turn as Harry Osborn, but he can’t compare to James Franco’s version, who was more sympathetic and emotionally riddled. In Sam Raimi’s films, the friendship between Peter and Harry felt more natural and the earlier films had an advantage in that Harry’s descent into villainy was allowed to happen at a natural pace over more than one film. It didn’t feel forced as it happened in this latest Spider-Man film. The way Harry’s story was truncated was a major irritant.

The same goes for Peter and Harry’s friendship this time out. Suddenly Harry pops up and Peter is best buds with him, then in their next scene together Harry is already acting unhinged. It just felt rushed and tacked ?????????????????????????????????on. However, the new version of the Green Goblin had quite a presence for what little screen time he had and is leagues better than the Power Ranger version shown in Spider-Man. He is a much more interesting character than the one-note Electro, and the fight between him and Spider-Man brought much needed suspense and thrills since the fight felt more personal. The conclusion of the fight was a real gut punch and just illustrates what The Amazing Spider-Man 2 gets right.

The best thing about the movie is first and foremost Andrew Garfield’s performance. This actor perfectly captures the essence of Peter Parker and Spider-Man. This is the quintessential version of the beloved superhero. Garfield perfectly emulates Spider-Man’s witty nature and Peter Parker’s angst without going overboard. His Peter is infectiously relatable and grounded and many of his scenes provide much needed humor. It’s a shame that he is saddled in this film and that Garfield may hang up his mask after the next film. He is in the same league as Robert Downey, Jr. and Christopher Reeve who portrayed the definitive versions of their superhero characters. Garfield has perfected who Spider-Man is down to how he moves and acts.

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The chemistry Garfield has with Emma Stone is purely magical. Stone has a beautiful presence and lights up the screen whenever she appears. Her scenes with Garfield showcase director Marc Webb’s skill in bringing out intensely emotional and nuanced performances from the actors. Garfield and Stone make a terrific couple and emote an amiable nature that is so endearing.

Putting aside the romance which is probably Webb’s forte, the action in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is unquestionably thrilling. Many scenes look like splash pages from comic books particularly when the film goes into slow motion. The use of the film technique is justified here since we get to relish many eye-popping effect shots and see how Spider-Man moves. For the most part, the effects and stunt work are exemplary, but at some times the use of CGI makes the movie look like a video game and stick out from the natural feel of the rest of the film.

In addition to the effects, Hans Zimmer and the Magnificent Six composed the best score yet for these Spider-Man films. For once, the music perfectly matches and embellish Spider-Man and the tone of the film.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is definitely a mixed bag, which is disappointing. It’s not a terrible film but the stakes with these superhero films have been raised so high with the likes of The Dark Knight, The Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Soldier that this film falls short of those masterpieces. The bottom line is that despite its faults, it’s a generally enjoyable but messy summer film.

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By the way don’t bother sticking around for a post-credits scene. The only thing shown is clip from X-Men: Days Of Future Past that clearly doesn’t belong in this film and give the effect of watching the end credits of a TV show that shoves in scenes from another unrelated TV show. It’s a very crudely done marketing ploy and is systematic of the recent excessive marketing for many of these films.

José Soto

Apr 7 2014

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Upends The Marvel Cinematic Universe

cap 2 posterI’m not exaggerating when I say that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of the greatest superhero films ever made. It ranks right up there with Iron Man, The Dark Knight and The Avengers. It’s that great! It’s exciting, intriguing, full of action and, most importantly, character defining moments that elevates this film above your standard superhero flick.

While the first Captain America film was a pleasant salute to World War II Americana, this sequel just elevates the character and the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a whole new level. In fact, Captain America: The Winter Soldier completely upends the carefully crafted world created with ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????these Marvel movies and it does so in a logical way that actually reflects on the impact of the events from The Avengers. As much as 9/11 radically changed our world, the alien attack on New York City in The Avengers has had far reaching ramifications. Iron Man 3 explored the personal impact as seen with Iron Man’s post traumatic stress disorder. This Captain America film examines the impact on the world stage and how it has made the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. just a tad bit too omnipresent. That was something that was underlying in past Marvel films, the spies were everywhere, seemed too powerful, had too much carte blanche. This film shows how the agency overreached with a diabolical plot hatched by traitors from within.

The film begins with Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America (Chris Evans) leading a strike force that includes fellow Avenger Natasha Romanoff a.k.a Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) to rescue hostages onboard a hijacked freighter ship. It turns out that the hostages are actually S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Black Widow has a separate agenda to download encrypted files from the ship’s computer. Captain America then learns that S.H.I.E.L.D. is about to launch Project: Insight, which will use a trio of new generation helicarriers to preemptively take out potential threats worldwide.

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All this causes Rogers to question his allegiance to S.H.I.E.L.D. and magnificently echoes the unease he’s having with adapting to this new world. Despite its fast-moving plot, time is taken to feature quiet, reflective moments where he sees how much the world and his country has changed. They are the emotional highlights of the film and allow Evans to prove his acting chops. He undeniably owns this role and it’s now difficult to picture another actor playing this character.

Anyway, it turns out that he is not the only one wondering about the spy agency’s ambiguous nature. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), S.H.I.E.L.D.’s director also has his doubts and his inquiries launch a devastating chain of events that includes having Rogers and Romanoff hunted by S.H.I.E.L.D. and ultimately leaves the agency and the world changed forever. The stakes are that high.

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????As he eludes S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America has to face a specter from his past. This being the lethal Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), a super assassin with a bionic arm. I won’t give away who the Winter Soldier is in case anyone reading this doesn’t know but his storyline is very tragic considering his relationship to Rogers. Putting that aside the directors Anthony and Joe Russo make him one of the most formidable super villains seen on film and while the Red Skull was Captain America’s chief nemesis, the Winter Soldier is both a physical match to Rogers and a genuine threat. At times I actually wondered if the good Captain would prevail in their fights.

Speaking of action, this film has lots of it. It does have that annoying shaky cam for some scenes, but the directors knew enough to control it and let the spectacular stunts speak for themselves. It’s incredible how Marvel Studios were able to make a perfect, unorthodox directing choice. This duo was known for directing comedies, ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????who would’ve known they could pull this off? But what underlines all the action sequences are the characters, they’re so well written and acted and the actors have their moments, even the newcomers. Take Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson a.k.a. the Falcon. This version of the Falcon was so cool and likable, it’s easy to see why Rogers gravitated to this guy when he needed help. The Falcon definitely has his moments with his flight outfit that seems so formidable and believable.

cap on bike

Captain America: The Winter Soldier works in so many ways because writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely took the best elements from the Captain America comic books and fused them to make this unforgettable cinematic wonder. The movie left me wanting to see more and it set up enough questions and material to carry over to another sequel. Honestly, since Marvel Studios has signed on these directors for the next film, I cannot wait to see it.

Waldermann Rivera

Mar 12 2014

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Unveils Its Final Episodes

yoda anakin mace

The sixth and last season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, entitled “The Lost Missions”, just premiered on Netflix. As the final season of the excellent series it’s a shortened one with 13 episodes as opposed to the usual 22. The purchase by Disney brought about the cancellation of the series and the creative team led by Dave Filoni has moved onto the upcoming series called Star Wars Rebels.

This sixth season has four story arcs which begin with a very interesting storyline about a clone trooper named Tup that suddenly attacks and kills his commanding Jedi general. His fellow clone trooper named Fives (Dee Bradley Baker) investigates anakinwhat caused this violent behavior and uncovers a conspiracy going back to the creation of the clone army in their birthplace planet Kamino and the Sith Lord Darth Sidious (Tim Curry). This story, as well as others in this season, lead directly to events in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of the Sith, which makes this season a very good send off for the show.

The next story arc involves Senator Padme Amidala (Catherine Taber) and an old flame named Clovis who gets involved with political intrigue involving the Banking Clan as well as Sith Lords Sidious and Count Dooku (Corey Burton). While this may not sound very exciting, these episodes actually show how Palpatine further consolidated his control over the Republic and also have both Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and Padme questioning the nature of their secret marriage.

dooku

The third story arc features everyone’s favorite Gungan Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) and Jedi Knight Mace Windu (Terence ‘T.C.’ Carson) trying to solve a mystery involving a planet where its spiritual leaders are disappearing and dealing with a prophecy about darkness taking over the galaxy. These two episodes were good although not quite as significant to the overall story of the Clone Wars as compared to the other arcs.

The last batch of episodes deals with the Jedi trying to find out about the murdered Jedi Sifo-Dyas and Yoda (Tom Kane) being contacted from beyond the grave by Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), who shows him how he can continue to exist after death. Qui-Gon has him travel to a world that is the origin of the Force itself and face his worst fears. This references a scene in Revenge of the Sith where Yoda tells Obi-Wan Kenobi that he has discovered the secret of existing in the Force after death. It is a great way for Star Wars: The Clone Wars to end, with Yoda knowing that while the Clone Wars may end badly, there will be a way for the Jedi to continue on.

destroyerStar Wars: The Clone Wars was in the middle of production when it was cancelled, but the last season is one of the strongest in the series. The quality of these episodes shows that even at the end the writers still came up with very interesting ideas and perhaps the shortened run prevented any weaker episodes from coming up. Overall, Star Wars: The Clone Wars will go down as first rate Star Wars action and drama that did justice to its cinematic counterparts. Hopefully the upcoming Star Wars Rebels series will continue this trend.

C.S. Link