Ghost In The Shell (2017)

Title: Ghost In The Shell

Director: Rupert Sanders

Released: 2017

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Michael Carmen Pitt, Takeshi Kitano, Pilou Askaek, Chun Han, Juliette Binoche

Plot: In the near future most humans are augmented with cybernetic improvements but Major Mira Killian (Johansson) is the first to combine a cybernetic body with a human brain. Now working as part of the anti-terrorist bureau Section 9 she must track down the hacker Kuze who might hold the screrthe Major’s past.

Review: When it was first announced that they would finally be making the long mooted live-action remake of “Ghost In The Shell” it was of course met with cries of dismay from the fans who could see no way that Hollywood could replicate the cyberpunk tale, especially with its complex plotting and philosophical musing on the existence of a soul. Even if they could they are hardly things which hardly add up to a summer blockbuster which this was being pitched as especially with the casting of Scarlett Johansson as the Major adding to the already rampant assumptions of Hollywood whitewashing especially when many fans were pushing for the much more obvious choice Rinko Kikuchi to play the role.

Directed by Rupert Sanders whose only credit outside of a trio of short films was “Snow White and the Huntsman” which hardly sparked much confidence that this life action version would live up the legacy of the anime which is still regarded as one of the best of all time alongside the likes of “Akira” and “Perfect Blue”. It was of course a pleasant surprise to see Sander not attempting to do a straight remake but at the same time not trying to dumb it down either. If anything it can be seen that Sanders throughout is trying to not only pay homage to the original films director Mamoru Oshii with the inclusion of Oshii’s trademark Basset Hounds and even a nod to “Avalon”.

Shot as a “Blade Runner” style cyberpunk fantasy there are certainly the elements of the Oshii’s vision near future Japan replicated here especially the elements of Hong Kong which made his vision so diffrent and while Sanders vision certainly aims for a more futuristic vision heavily reminiscent of the aforementioned “Blade Runner” but it also seems to draw further inspiration from “Akira” especially with the extensive use of holographic advertisements which at times can prove detrimental as at time it feels like they clutter the landscape rather than adding to it and as such makes you appreciate the more intimate shots from the city streets or building interiors.

Despite the changes throughout there is still a sense of familiarity which runs throughout the film as characters such as the Major’s partner Batou (Asbaek) feel faithfully recreated though his eye implants only look the more questionable here than they did in the anime. ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano as Section Chief Aramaki though is an inspired piece of casting and unquestionably one of the key things which gave me hope that this wouldn’t be a dumbed down version of the anime. Frustratingly though when it comes to the rest of the Section 9 members they are so thinly sketched its hard to connect with them, making this much more of a buddy cop movie than it should have been.

While I may have had my own doubts of Scarlett Johansson’s ability in the role she really does manage to convincingly pull of the role and certainly a better casting choice than Margot Robbie who was also considered for the role and here she manages to convincingly pull off the detached and almost robotic outlook for the Major despite having a human brain. Infact so impressed with her performance Mamoru Oshii who’d been vocal on his own concerns surrounding the largely western cast gave her performance his own seal of approval and its certainly easy to see why when she is able to replicate so many of the key moments from the original film.

Scrapping the original “Puppet Master” plotline instead the plot here chooses to focus on the background of the Major in perticular the mystery surrounding her origins though the mystery hacker element is now filled by Kuze. We also get minor background details such as how Batou got his cybernetic eyes which I guess is great for anyone who really wanted to know these things. However while seemingly trying to craft his own story within this universe, there is still a large amount of material especially from the original film which has been pasted into the story in particular many of the key scenes such as the dumpster chase and most keyly the Major taking on a spider tank and certainly like so many elements of the film they all look fantastic. At the same time though the plotting can get heavy in places especially with Sanders trying to blend the new and original material which does result in the film certainly being more complex at times than it needed to be.

While there might be numerous nods to the source material it is still best to view this film as being its own entity than a remake, especially when here Sanders has chosen to craft a film with its own unique storyline, rather than adapt the Puppet Master plotline of the original film. This of course is not an issue, especially when the universe already established through the Manga, films and stand alone series (or complex) multiple independent timelines and when viewed this way the film certainly fits into this universe. On its own merits this is certainly an interesting approach to the material and certainly a smarter one than I was expecting to get and seeing what Sanders has established here, actually makes me keen to see him build on this world though whether that will happen or not still remains to be seen. For now though while not perfect certainly interesting enough to make it worth checking out.

Texas Chainsaw 3D

Title: Texas Chainsaw 3D

Director: John Luessenhop

Released: 2013

Starring: Alexandra Daddario, Dan Yeager, Trey Songz, Scott Eastwood, Tania Raymonde, Thome Barry, Paul Rae, Bill Moseley, Gunnar Hansen

Plot: Picking up the shortly after the events of the original film as a group of vigilantes burn down the Sawyer family home and seemingly killing every member of the family. Decades later Heather (Daddario) finds out she has inherited a mansion from her grandmother, only to find out that it holds more than its share of secrets.

Review: A film I’d originally dismissed as another attempt to cash in on the legacy of Tobe Hooper’s breakout film and former Video Nasty which wouldn’t get a UK release until 1999. Despite this the studios have frequently been keen to milk the franchise and turn its chainsaw welding maniac into another iconic slasher figure. Due to this I had little intention of watching this film, especially after the abysmal “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Begining” which kill dead any potential momentum the original and surprisingly decent remake had. It was infact only after hearing Emily and Christine recommend the film on their podcast “The Feminine Critique” that I thought it was time that I finally give it a watch.

In a unique twist this film doesn’t attempt to remake the original film, but instead takes the unique move of following on directly after the Tobe Hooper original ignoring all the films which followed which if you haven't seen already director John Luessenhop helpfully spoils by giving you a highlight reel of all the best parts. True this does help bring the viewer up to speed to were he wants to start his film, but I can’t help but feel this is kind of a downer for anyone who chooses to start with this film or enters it expecting a delayed follow up to the 2003 remake. Suprisingly the film was originally pitched as a new trilogy with the films being released out of order with the first film being set in a hospital, the second film would act as a prequel and the third completing the storyline. The producers however feeling that audiences might not get the ambitious idea instead scrapped the plans in favour of the film we have now while for no discernible reason also releasing it in 3D.

Seemingly a fan of the series Luessenhop opens with a siege on the home of the family of cannibals now known as the Sawyers in a scene which not only attempts to rip off the opening siege of “The Devils Rejects” but also features some of the worse CGI fire effects ever. Still for the fans we get cameos from Marilyn Burns, the original Leatherface Gunner Hansen and Bill Moseley who played Chop Top in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2”. Having killed off the family and burned the house to the ground we now move forward to present day and the introduction of Heather and her friends as they road trip out to the mansion she’s now inherited from the grandmother she never knew she had.

Okay before I go any further lets just say that there will be a few spoilers ahead, so if any of what I have covered so far sounds interesting then give it a watch and if it didn’t well the original is always going to be there.

Right from the start its clear that Heather is far from the usual scream queen as we are shown her working in a butchers shop, carving up with almost glee meat using a bandsaw while her home she uses as a studio for her bone art. Now I’m not going to say that attractive girls can’t be Butchers or have an interest in the grotesque arts, but this is the movie world and hence nothing can usually exist without hinting at something else and the film really put as spin on the mythos as Heather slowly discovers her links to the Sawyers.

The main plot worryingly starts off perhaps alittle too similar to the original film as Heather and her friends pick up a hitchiker, or should I say they almost hit him with the fan before deciding to pick him up, something which he’s surprisingly not overly upset over since he can blag jerky off them. I was half expecting this hitchiker to have some link to the family which he doesn’t though he does attempt to steal pretty much anything that’s not nailed down when Heather her friends deem him trust worthy enough to leave at the mansion. A strange move seeing how they’ve only known him for about five mins but atleast he ends up falling foul of Leatherface so I guess theres some sort of karma there.

While the hitchiker might be a thieving SOB, her friends are equally none that brilliant as we have her douche bag boyfriend Ryan (Songz) who is off from his first introduction so it comes as little suprise to discover he’s cheating on her with her best friend Nikki (Raymonde). The sole redeaming member of the group is Kenny (Malicki-Sanchez) but he’s frustrating never given much to do making his early departure all the more sad especially when there is much more deserving victims to be had.

While this might all sound like another run of the mill slasher with the good looking teens being chased by the hideous killer, but surprisingly Luessenhop is actually trying to do something different with the mythos this time round by turning an ageing Leatherface into the blunt instrument of justice. For the first half of the film its business as usual for him but by the second half of the film were we find out about the corrupt cops in town and Heathers relationship to Leatherface has been reveals via some rather ropey quick cuts as she looks over a police report it could be seen that Leatherface wasn’t actively hunting the teen but rather defending in his own warped way his home.

Leatherface played this time by Dan Yeager really lacks the required presence that Gunnar Hansen brought to the role or just the hulking size of the 2003 version. Despite being 6’6 here he seem a lot shorter thanks to how he’s shot by Luessenhop which remove a lot of the characters daunting presence and ultimately came off a little tepid while the less said about that stupid tie he randomly puts on for the finale showdown the better. I mean is that supposed to symbolise him going to work?

The kills throughout are a lot of fun with some frustratingly being reworked or recycled from the original film, something alittle harder to ignore when you show us all the original kills at the start of the movie. Still the final pay off gives us a memorable death which is only hampered slightly by the use of CGI, something which is such a common issue in modern horror it almost feels like a pointless exercise to mention it. Sure its easier for the film maker by cutting down on the shot reload time but when it comes at the cost of presence for the viewer should the film makers convenience always win out?

While far from the best entry in the series its equally not the worst and certainly brings enough unique ideas to make it worth giving a look, but this is far from the film to represent the tone of the franchise.

The Thing (2011)

Title:  The Thing
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Released: 2011
Starring: Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Trond Espen Seim, Kim Bubbs

Plot: A prequel to the events of the original film, as a Norwegian research team based in Antarctica accidently stumble across a buried alien space craft aswell as the frozen body of it’s alien pilot, which they decide to bring back to their base to study further. Unsure as to what they have found head scientist Dr Sander Halvorson (Thomsen) and his assistant Adam Finch (Olsen), bring in paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Winstead) only to find out to late that the body in the ice is still alive, as it escapes and being taking on the appearance of the research team, as mistrust begins to run rampant as they struggle to identify which of them is human and which of them is the thing.

Review: John Carpenter’s “The Thing” in my own humble opinion, is without a doubt one of the scariest movies ever made, while released when Carpenter was working at the peak of his directing talent and a loving remake of the equally classic “The Thing From Another World” with Carpenter taking full advantage of the skills of Special effects wizardry of Rob Bottin to bring to life some truly hellish visions, which obviously wasn’t possibly for the original to pull off with it’s B-movie budget, even if it’s gasoline throwing sequence still looks equally amazing today. So perhaps it was with some hesitation that I approached this latest big budget remake of a horror classic.

It’s unsurprisingly that this release has been greeted with the usual hostility from some members of the Horror community, who view any remake of an established classic as nothing short of being sacrilegious, which is a shame really as this latest remake plays more like a big budget fan fiction than anything resembling a remake and in that sense makes it more comparable to Zack Snyder’s equally fun remake of “Dawn of the Dawn” the producers of which Marc Abraham and Eric Newman are also behind this film aswell, which plays well for the film especially as they were ultimately responsible for this film being a prequel rather than yet another remake, rightly defining Carpenter’s original as “Perfect” and any attempt to remake it would be similar to “Paint(ing) eyebrows on the Mona Lisa”. So here we are introduced to another group of potential alien chowder, who despite this time being largely comprised of educated scientists are still in many ways are the same kind of blue collar workers that we saw in the original, while their mix of Norwegian’s and American’s makes for another interesting angle with Director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. insisting quite rightfully that the Norwegian scientists frequently speak in their native tongue, which adds a delightfully inventive new level to the continually rising sense of paranoia.

Still what is clear throughout is how much of a fan of the original that Heijningen is, as he not only treats the source material with great respect, but also manages to capture the same claustrophobic atmosphere while making it equally hard to spot the real scientists from their alien clone, while he also ensures that the links to the original or plentiful many of which will raise a smile from the fans of the original, while also finding time to cleverly reference classic moments by given them a slight twist as the blood test is now replaced with Kate suspensefully checking each of the team members teeth for spaces were fillings are supposed to be, after discovering that the thing is unable to replicate metal, while the first time we meet Kate she is shown examing a cadaver which bares a striking resemblance to the thing dog hybrid from the original.

Sadly we are not given any form of new insights into what the thing exactly is, while it’s personal motives proves frustratingly less clear, as it is first setup as trying to escape the frozen landscape by imitating members of the team, so that it might potentially infect a larger population, a theory which is soon dashed when it attacks the crew of the escape chopper hence removing it’s easiest route of escape. Next it’s that the thing just wants to kill everyone at the research station, before then seemingly decided it would rather just escape in it’s spaceship, though seeing how the craft has been buried for the last 10,000 years makes even less sense outside of providing a unique location for the final showdown, yet still leaves the nagging question as to if it still is as fully functional as it seems, why not escape this way long before now?

Still if you find the motives of the thing baffling you may find the distinct lack of character development even more frustrating with most of the scientists interchangeable to each other, seeing how the team is largely comprised of burley bearded Norwegians, with Heijningen doing little to help them standout from each other, to the point were it seems only the Americans and a handful of key characters are easy to identify.

The cast who get parts bigger than Norwegian scientist #2 are all likable enough with Thomsen good fun as the Dr. Halvorson whose own personal research clearly takes presidence over the lives of his team, while Winstead embodies the tough Dr. Lloyd who shares more than a few traits with Ripley from the “Alien” saga as she brings another female alien ass-kicker to life, with Winstead looking equally comfortable in her lab coat as she does welding a flame thrower.

Thanks to CGI being sadly the preference over practical effects these days, it is unsurprising that the thing is largely a CGI creation this time around, which also allows for a whole new set of hellish forms for it to take, which feature heavy use of whip cracking tentacles and teethed appendages, while also demonstrating a whole new set of tricks rather than just recycling the fan favorites. Still it would seem that Heijningen is not a director to hold back, especially as he equally rivals the gore quota of the original with bodies being melded into each other and torn appendages taking on a life of their own, there is plenty to enjoy while the scientists are not slow to break out the flamethrowers once the thing makes it’s first appearance, which did have me asking as to why for a non military lab that they processed so many? I’m not sure if this column has any arctic based scientists who read it, but if anyone wants to shed any light on these, then please feel free to do so.

While it may not be on the same level as the original, it still provides a fun companion piece which helps further the mythology of the thing, perhaps as this film further proves one of Sci-horrors greatest unsung heroes and while it would be nice to see a whole heap of monster movies follow in it’s wake or further additions to the series, this film provides enough gooey fun to tie you over in the meantime…. just make sure you eat before you watch it.

Death Race (2008)

Title: Death Race

Director:  Paul W.S. Anderson
Released: 2008
Starring: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane, Natalie Martinez, Max Ryan, Jason Clarke, Frederick Koehler, Jacob Vargas, Justin Mader, Robert LaSardo, Robin Shou, David Carradine

Plot: Prison warden Hennessey (Allen) runs the the Terminal Island Penitentary which has a side line running ultra-violent races called “Death Race where prisoners compete to win five races and with it their freedom.  Now former NASCAR driver Jensen Ames (Statham) framed for the murder of his wife, he is offered a shot at freedom by impersonating the popular racer Frankenstein who was killed in the previous race but who Hennessey is keen to use keep alive to maintain her ratings.

Review: I don’t know what is the more surprising aspect of this remake, the fact that its as good as it is or the fact that its directed by Paul W.S. Anderson a director whose had more hits and misses than most directors manage in their career and leaving you never quite sure what to expect when you see his name in the director’s chair.

Spending over 13 years in pre-prodution the film was originally envisioned as a sequel to the cult classic original were it would have been called “Death Race 3000”, what we get instead is what Anderson views as being more of a prequel to the original film as the cross country race were competitors score points for running over pedestrians is instead replaced with a more traditional race format with the added bonus of weapons and a trap laden course. At the same time Anderson clearly seems to be working from the George Miller playbook when it comes to crafting the film with the film being built around practical effects, vicious looking vehicles and a heavy dose of vehicular carnage.

This change in format while unsurprisingly met with murmurs of disapproval from the established fans does however surprisingly work, thanks to the cast of colourful characters which Anderson populates the film with, each racer driving their own distinctly unique vehicle from Frankenstein’s Mustang through to Machine Gun Joe’s (Gibson) heavily armoured truck which makes a break from the usual fancy street cars we have become accustomed to seeing in the “Fast and Furious” films especially when they vehicles are not about looking pretty, but rather causing as much carnage as possible in the bid for ever higher ratings that these races attract. At the same time the use of practical effects and some extremely fance driving means that each crash or racer killed has the feeling of having some presence to it which is always lost when such scenes are shot in CGI so to see such a throwback to the classic car smash movies like the “Mad Max” films makes for a refreshing change let alone a fun thrill to see such carnage being unleashed on the screen.  

Outside of the action on the track Statham here once again hones his usual gruff asskicker persona as he essentially transfers Frank from “The Transporter” into this pre-apocalyptic setting as he spends most of the film either kicking ass on or off the track, though at the remit of Statham the action this time is largely vehicular based clearly not wanting the comparisons to “The Transporter” to be too clearly drawn. Here Statham is also joined by a great cast with Gibson bringing a fun ruthless and competitive edge to the character of Machine Gun Joe and makes for the perfect rival on the track, while Allen in a departure from her usual roles makes for a great villain off the track as she cares for nothing other than the ratings and thinks little of the racers for the most part other than them being a disposable commodity especially when she has a full prison of competitors to replace them with. Ian McShane meanwhile provides most of the laughs with as Ames head mechanic and essentially steals the film whenever the camera is on him with his dry whit.

Plot wise the film is unsurprisingly pretty minimalistic with most of the focus of the film being based around what is happening on the track and trying to survive whatever new twist Hennessey chooses to thrown at the racers next with the film clearly being based around spectacle than anything else as no better shown than when Hennessey unleashes her heavily armoured 18 wheeler known as the Drednought and which we get to see spectacularly flipped in one of the many grandstand moments throughout the film and one which was suprisingly overshadowed by the lesser truck flip seen in “The Dark Knight”. As such some may choose to view the film as being loud and dumb especially when its choosing not to get bogged down in angst and attempts to add some kind of social commentary to what is happening. Instead what Anderson is doing here is showing that he recognises his audience and the fact that they are showing up to see cars get wrecked and Staham kick a lot of ass and that is exactly what he gives them, putting the film in the same category as “XXX” doomed to be critised by the critics for the sheer reason of giving the audience what they really want.

To compare this film to the original is a futile exercise as both exsist truly within their own rules while at the same time doing what we want them to do, according to the rules and confines of their individual worlds. As such its better just to enjoy both films for what they are, rather than attempting any kind of tit for tat comparison between the two. Instead  leave your mind at the door and enjoy the full throttle carnage rush it more than provides.

Black Christmas (2006)

Title:  Black Christmas

Director:  Glen Morgan
Released:  2006

Starring: Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Crystal Lowe, Kristen Cloke, Andrea Martin, Oliver Hudson, Karin Konoval, Dean Friss, Robert Mann, Jessica Harmon, Leela Savasta, Kathleen Kole, Howard Siegel

Plot: Bily Lenz has been locked up in a mental asylum for the last 15 years after murdering his mother and her lover aswell as gouging out the eye of his sister. Now on Christmas Eve he escapes and returns to his former home only to find that has in the time since his incarcinration

 

Review:  Yet another remake while one which chooses to tackle Bob Clark’s 1974 original which as I covered in my review of the original was also one of the first slasher and one which would have a much more subtle tone than the slashers which followed in its wake. The remake however is very much a different beast as here director Glen Morgan tackling his second remake after “Willard” attempts to update the plot of the film by adding a back story for Bily while also upgrading the body count and violence seemingly in an attempt to craft a more traditional slasher out of the original.

As a result of this Morgan spends the first hour of the film attempting recreate the setup of the original film while cutting out some aspects such as the abortion dilemma and the fact that everyone seemingly was a drunk. It’s also within this first hour that Morgan also randomly attempts to work in a back story for Billy as we are treated to a series of flashbacks to his childhood and the events leading up to his incarceration, however these are not shown as one sequence but bizarrely spaced out into three separate segments which are clumsily dropped into the film often at the most random of moments. What makes this worse is the fact that none of these flashbacks really add anything to the film and seemingly were only included as a way to explain why Bily is the way he is, much like Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” remake only with much less successful results.

Here the character of Bily still makes his unique prank calls, only now he inexplicably suffers with severe jaundice due to liver disease and which in turn means that we now have to deal with a killer who looks like he’s auditioning for a live action version of “The Simpsons”. If that wasn’t bad enough his sister Agnes is a product of his mother raping him after she locks him in the attic to stop him revealing the fact that she had killed Billy’s father. When it comes to the kills he now also has a fetish for removing the eyes of his victims. Needless to say this is a much more gratuitous slasher we have this time around as subtly is thrown out the window in favour of splatter and a healthy body count.

Surprisingly Morgan had originally planned for this film to be closer to the original, having been friends with Bob Clark and only tackling the remake when he’d got Clark’s permission to do so. However during the production he frequently found himself clashing with producer Harvey Weinstein who insisted that he make the film more gory and part of the reason why Morgan has since disowned the film. Its equally worth noting that the fact that this film was a flop along with his remake of “Willard” caused Morgan to retire from directing which as of the time of writing has yet to change.

Despite Morgan’s feelings about the gore in the film it is one of the stronger aspects of the film when it works, as several moments in particular those involving eye balls being gorged or munched on. The other kills however all come with a high level of creativity which includes a death by ice skate and a falling icicle. This film also might be one of the only occasions I can think of where someone is killed by impaled on a Christmas tree more so when most Christmas trees only have to be looked at wrong to fall over so you have to excuse my scepticism that someone could actually be impaled upon one. Most of these deaths come after the hour mark for this film and once they start happening they quickly start to rack up with no real spacing between them which would be more of an issue if they weren’t so entertaining to watch.

The other main issue here is that none of the girls are particular distinguishable from each other, as they all share seemingly the same personality while once more seemingly been cast for their looks than their acting abilities as unlike the girls of the original I couldn’t really tell who anyone was especially when none of them really have any sort of basic character to define any of them. Infact the only character who gets any sort of character is our crazed killer Billy and that’s more down to the gratuitous amount of flashbacks we get more than anything else.

Consider that Morgan gave us the wonderfully daft Final Destination 1 & 3 I was expecting more from this film, hoping that the critical lashing it had received had been uncalled for. Sadly though this film fails to improve upon the original, though its hard to say if the fault lies with Morgan or the interference from Weinstein, more so when the finish film is left so uneven as it tries to find a place between the two ideas of how the film should be shot.  As such this is now just another failed remake while one scattered with hints of how much better it could have been.

Silent Night

Title:  Silent Night

Director:  Steven C. Miller
Released:  2012
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Jaime King, Donal Logue, Ellen Wong, Lisa Marie, Courtney-Jane White, Cortney Palm, John B. Lowe, Rick Skene, Brendan Fehr, Andrew Hughes, Kelly Wolfman

Plot: A serial killer Santa is on the loose in a small Midwest town picking off citizens on Christmas Eve and it’s down to the local police force to track him down before it’s too late.

 

Review:  A remake of sorts of the classic festive slasher “Silent Night Deadly Night” which unlike the original seemingly slipped under the radar for most horror fans, no doubt thanks to its direct to DVD release which inturn mean that it avoided any of the controversy that the original film was greeted with. This of course makes it only the more of a shame as this is one of those great rarities a decent horror remake!
 

It’s worth pointing out that going into this one I had no idea that it was actually a remake, happy to see another Santa Slasher and it only dawned on me after several scenes came off more than a little familiar. At the same time here director Steven C. Miller is clearly keen not to just remake the original shot for shot and here instead gives us an original plot and throws in fun nods to the original when he can. While largely successful it does however mean that the references range from clever such as a sheriff commenting about it being “Garbage Day” to slightly more clumsy as seen with his attempts to work in the catatonic creepy grandpa which comes off misplaced with the scene feeling like it has been forced in especially when unlike the original it has no importance to the plot in the slightest.
 

While the original focused on the psychologically damaged Billy and the events leading up to his psychotic breakdown, here it’s a much more straightforward story and inturn meaning that the film wastes little time before our killer sets to work as we open to him using his home made electric chair on one of his victims after the great opening sequence showing him assembling his Santa suit. From here it essentially a chain of ever more inventive kills while Aubrey (King) tries to track him down which is no easy task when the town is full of Santa’s for the annual Christmas parade. Even with the killer in the towns midst it soon becomes apparent that he’s not the only crazy in town as we also get the drunk and bitter Santa Jim played here by the continually underrated Donal Logue and who here provides a fun red herring.
 

While the original spent its time building up the background of Billy and trying to explain how he ends up going on his murderous rampage, here such things are much more of an afterthought with Miller much keener to rack up the creative kills and keep the film moving at a brisk pace than explain why his killer is doing what they are doing. As such when we do finally get an explanation its feels like much more of an afterthought and thanks to its placement in the film as an epilogue of sorts feels clumsier than if it had it been placed in a more prominent position.  On the flip side the kills here are truly inventive as the killer proves himself more than capable with his axe while getting equally creative with a string of Christmas lights and more memorably a flamethrower while the real standout death comes via the use of a woodchipper

While the kills are all surprisingly good it’s equally surprising to see the film shot like an 80’s slasher as we get a healthy dose of gore and splatter, let alone gratuitous nudity which seems to equally be as much a rarity in modern horror as old school splatter and here its used in such a way that it adds to the film rather than feeling exploitive. Again it’s a credit to Miller that he also shies away from reproducing any of the classic kills from the original outside of a girl being impaled in a pair of antlers, though if only one kill was to be carried across I kind of would have preferred for it to have been the sled decapitation which is sadly absent here
 

Unquestionably it’s a great cast which Miller has assembled here with Malcom McDowell chewing the scenery as the town sheriff while getting the best line of the film when he belittles the killer for bringing “a flamethrower to a gun fight”. Equally on good form is Jaime King who here makes her third appearance in a horror remake, having previously appeared in the remakes of both “My Bloody Valentine” and “Mother’s Day” and here proves herself a great final girl as the deputy determined to learn the identity of the killer with whom they she might share more of a link with than first seems.

While it might be remake here Miller really has crafted a film which stands on its own merits, giving the fans of the festive slasher another film to add to their collection, though by the same quality it’s doubtful that none horror films will find much here to hold their attention, especially as its not trying to be meta or break the mould but this is one which is worth giving a watch even with the horror remake stigma, though it will no doubt leave you wishing that more of horror remakes were like it.

Evil Dead (2013)

Title: Evil Dead

Director: Fede Alvarez

Released: 2013

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Jessica Lucas, Lou Taylor Pucci, Elizabeth Blackmore

Plot: David (Fernandez) and his friends arrange to meet at his family’s cabin with the plan to help David’s sister Mia (Levy) kick her heroin addiction by going cold turkey. However when one of the group discovers the Naturom Demonto (aka the book of the dead) they unwittingly unleash the evil in the woods.

 

Review: When this film was first announced it was unsurprisingly greeted with groans of disapproval from the fans of Sam Raimi’s original trilogy who for years had held out for a forth film, something that was seemingly being squashed with this film. Equally with the current track record for remakes for horror remakes not being exactly spectacular you can understand why most people were sceptical and really the main reason it’s taken me until now to actually watch it. However what we have here is not so much a remake or rebook, but rather an indirect sequel of sorts which carries over the ideas of the trilogy while at the same time introducing a new group of characters instead of trying to work in any members of the established cast, an idea which would also convince Bruce Campbell to sign on as a producer having long resisted the idea of remaking the films which helped him rise to cult stardom as he didn’t want to see anyone else play Ash.

Clearly a fan of the original films director Alvarez here making his feature debut while also co-writing the script with Rodo Sayagues (with further script doctoring from Diablo Cody) clearly isn’t trying and reinvent the wheel here, as builds he film following the same rules of the previous films, while at the same time peppering the film with numerous nods to those film, as he even manages to find a way to work in Raimi’s trademark Oldsmobile.

Despite the cast being made up of Unknowns with perhaps the exception of Jane Levy (sadly not a red head here) they are still make for an interesting group with each character different enough or having their own role, to stop them from being yet another disposable group of teens. Sadly this doesn’t seem to stretch to general intelligence as seen by the fact that we have one of them messing around with the book, which this time comes wrapped in plastic and barbwire, let alone numerous notes scrawled in its pages not to read it, which for some unknown reason still doesn’t deter Eric (Pucci) who you’d wrongly believe to be the smart one from reading it and of course unleashing all kinds of gooey terror on the group.

One of the main concerns going into this film was that the gore which made the first two films stand out, let alone land the first film on the Video nasties list would be absent especially in these times were studios are actively seeking lower ratings in order to guarantee larger box office returns. Thankfully this wasn’t the case here as it more than delivers in the gore stakes, perhaps even surpassing that of the original as over 70,000 gallons of fake blood were used with 50,000 alone being used for the finale were it literally rains blood. To further put this into context the original only used 200-300 gallons and here it really is put to effective use, more so with Alvarez insisting on using old school effects and only using CGI to touch up which is always welcome.

While the film follows several similar beats to the original film such as locking a possessed member in the cellar, here Alvarez aims to bring his own shocks even reworking the notorious tree rape scene from the original film which honestly comes off a lot more shocking than the original. Elsewhere we get plenty of bodily mutation with such highlights as arms being torn off and one character attempting to cut their own jaw off. A lot of the gore is also surprisingly refreshing in its originality even if perhaps some of it does come off a little cornball such as one character taking a bread knife to her possessed arm.

While the setting for the film is certainly haunting enough as it combines scenes of heavy rain and creepy mist which made me wonder if they were taking art direction from “Silent Hill” as especially seen with the opening featuring a girl staggering through the woods only to be ambushed and bagged by a bunch of deformed yokels, only for Alvarez to pull the rug from under us as he reveals that these are actually good guys and trying to help her father soon leading to one of the early shocks. While this general tone is maintained throughout it does however suffer thanks to a plodding plot which certainly causes the film to sag in the middle as Alvarez doesn’t seemingly know the direction in which to take the film. This becomes especially present when things start getting distracted with trying to reverse the possession instead of sticking with the original concept of making it to dawn. We also get some confused plot about a demon being summoned by the souls of the group being possessed something which lost me largely down to it seemingly being written into the plot in the final quarter.

While certainly better than the most of the horror remakes currently being churned out and an enjoyable enough experience, it suffers largely due to the pedigree of the films it’s trying to remake so the fact that Alvarez clearly was trying to do something different than just remaking the original certainly was a welcome surprise, it’s just a shame that its questionable plotting stops it from being better than it is.

Maniac (2012)

Title: Maniac

Director: Franck Khalfoun

Released: 2012

Starring: Elijah Wood, Nora Arnezeder, Jan Broberg, Liane Balaban, America Olivo, Joshua De La Garza, Morgane Slemp, Sal Landi, Genevieve Alexandra, Sammi Rotibi, Megan M. Duffy

Plot: Frank (Wood) by day works restoring and selling mannequins, while at night he trawls the streets looking for victims to help him quell his violent urges as he is constantly tormented by the voices in his head.

Review: Usually the news of yet another iconic horror film being given the remake treatment is enough to bring cries of despair from the horror community (let alone myself), mainly because they have tendency to be just plain awful! Frequently these rushed out efforts try to play off the legacy of their namesakes in hopes of guaranteed box office return and more than often minus any of the scares. The exception to this rule though has been with Alexandre Aja, who despite exploding onto the scene with “Switchblade Romance” (aka Haute Tension / High Tension depending were in the world you are)  has since then been responsible for some of the best films to come out of the current horror remake trend, as he has helmed remakes of The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors and Piranha and here he turns his attention to William Lustig’s cult slasher. Despite teaming up once more with his long term writing partner Gregory Levasseur, this time he hands over the directorial reigns to Franck Khalfoun for his most high profile film to date after his ho-hum debut “P2” and the direct to DVD “Wrong Turn at Tahoe” which he clearly has learned from as this film is very much a different beast entirely.

First off I should highlight that I won’t in this review try and draw comparisions between this film and the 1980 original which like so many of Lustig’s films has a very dedicated fan base many of whom dismissed the film on its release which is kind of a shame as both films have their own merits yet at the same time they are very different beasts.

Shot almost entirely from the Frank’s POV the film is heavily reminiscent of “Peeping Tom” with Frank only being seen occasionally via reflections or out of body hallucinations. It is from the opening were we see Frank in his van stalking his next victim that we are immediately given an insight into his fractured and tortured psyche as he mutters to himself and provides his own commentary as he watches his victim, before we ultimately follow Frank as he slowly moves in for the kill. Frank though is not content to just stalk and kill young women though, as he also enjoys scalping his victims and later transferring their hair onto one of his numerous mannequins which in Frank’s mind gives them the personality of his victims.

Here Khalfoun is not content to give us yet another run of the mill slasher as the focus is kept completely with Frank throughout the film and in doing so ensures that he is fully able to explore the complex psyche of Frank, whose issues are certainly deep rooted to say the least as we get frequent flashbacks to Frank’s childhood in particular his mother moonlighting as a prostitute, scenes hauntingly shot with the young Frank being forced to watch grotesque sexual scenes happening infront of him, while clearly not being able to configure in his young mind what is actually. Combined with the frequently nervous tone which Frank speaks with it is a strange sense of sympathy that Frank invokes in the audience even though we are watching him commit some truly hideous acts and its this conflict of emotions we feel for this character that Khalfoun frequently plays with over the course of the film as he shows us Frank’s tortured psyche before showing him committing some hideous act ensuring that we are never sure how to feel about him.

Speaking of these acts, unsurprising for any film which Alexandre Aja is involved with it is unquestionably violent in places with scalping being the main order of the day and while certainly toned down than some of Aja's previous films, he it is unquestionably effective when it is used and never seemingly for the sake of easy shocks as Khalfoun is careful to not loose the mood of the film for the sake of adding more gore, instead preferring to use intense bursts rather than prolonged violence and only allowing himself to truly go overboard for the finale as Frank suffers a full mental breakdown escalating in a suitably gory climax.

The real strength of this film though lies in the casting of Elijah Wood who gives us his second turn as a psycho after previously playing the mute cannibal Kevin in “Sin City” and here he continues his surprising talent for playing serial killers as he continues to prove himself more than a one trick pony considering how many people still see him as Frodo. Here though that role seems like a distant memory as he tackles possibly one of his most complex roles to date and while he might seem like the last person who could play a convincing psycho he soon blows any doubts out of the water within minutes of the film starting, as he is effortless flows between Frank’s many frames of mind.

The other standout aspect here is the synth heavy soundtrack by French composer Rob and which instantly brought to mind Cliff Martinez score for “Drive” with undertones of “A  Clockwork Orange” and it really suits the film which after all is a (loose) remake of an 80’s film.  Like so many of John Carpenter’s films here as well the film is framed by its soundtrack, moving from softly haunting during the stalking sequence, while fully coming to the front during the climax as Frank truly looses all control he may have had over his murderous urges

 

Yet another film to add to the argument for remakes, this is unquestionably exciting film making and even without the link to the original film, this film more than stands on its own merits, especially with Wood providing one of his most memorable performances to date. No matter what your stance on the unrelenting stream of remakes might be, this is certainly one of the better films to come out of this trend.

A Fistful of Gojira Part 7: Godzilla (2014)

Title: Godzilla

Director: Gareth Edwards

Released: 2014

Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathaim, Bryan Cranston

Plot: In 1999, The Janjira nuclear plant was mysteriously destroyed in what was presumed to be an earthquake, while also killing plant supervisor Joe Brody’s wife Sandra. Years later Joe is still obsessively searching for the truth, while his now grown up son Ford now works as a Navy ordnance disposal officer. Together they now discover the real truth behind the accident at the plant, as the world is now faced with a horror which only Godzilla can save us from.

 

Review: It’s hard to believe but it really has been ten years since the release of “Godzilla: Final Wars” the film which many saw to be the final Godzilla film, something which only seemed to be resonated at Toho, the studio which had been the home of Godzilla for over fifty years and whom following “Godzilla: Final Wars” had dismantled their legendry water stage which had played such a key part of numerous Godzilla productions. Elsewhere Tristar Pictures who had been responsible for the much lamented 1998 American adaptation had let their rights expire in 2003 having long since given up on their idea of producing their own trilogy of films. The fans meanwhile continued to hold out hope for a new film as their love for the Giant radioactive lizard continued to live on through their repeated viewings of the of the original films and in 2009 their prayers would be finally answered when Legendry picked up the rights the long awaited end results of which we now see here and finally confirming if it was really worth the wait or if final wars really should have been final. Thankfully the wait has been worthwhile as here Director Edwards gives a film which is not only a worthy addition to the franchise (doubt anyone will be calling this version zilla in the future) but still manages to add his own style to the film in the first of a proposed trilogy films and more impressively managing to do all this without technically rebooting the franchise.

Edwards whose previous film was his low budget debut “Monsters” is certainly an interesting choice, but seeing how the 1998 version had been helmed by blockbuster director Roland Emmerich, you can hardly blame them for choosing to take a risk on a relative unknown especially to mainstream movie goers who no doubt missed out on the genre jumping antics of his debut film, a trait which he chooses to carry over here. Not content it would seem with telling a straight giant monster story it would seem here he actually pushes the giant monsters bizarrely to the background preferring to give us a road trip movie (of sorts) as Joe makes his way from Japan back to San Francisco to get back to his wife and son. Bizarrely rather than detract from the film, this unique approach strangely works even if you’re not quite sure what you’re watching exactly as for a Godzilla movie he does spend a fair part of the movie feeling like a supporting character rather than the marquee name we expect.

While Edward’s approach might certainly be unique there is still an overwhelming sense of respect that he clearly has for the franchise, approaching Godzilla without the slant of being either good or evil, but rather as very much a force of nature and every bit the anti-hero that he was in his early films and throughout the Showa era. This vision of Godzilla is instead a monster driven by the single minded desire to hunt and destroy his prey and its really just good luck for the human population if said prey happens to be attacking major cities. It is also an approach which is carried over to both Muto’s who equally care only about getting to sources of radiation in an interesting counter to the anti-nuclear stance which Godzilla represents. Edward’s however gets things spot on when it comes to highlighting the size of his monsters, with the frequent use of low angles and scale establishing shots such as the ones of Godzilla swimming underneath battleships. Unquestionably though the real highlight here though is Godzilla’s first full appearance which sees him first highlighted with signal flares before being given his full reveal which squashes any grumblings regarding a Western Godzilla having the same presence as the original and for the record no I don’t think he’s too fat, though still confused as to why Edwards insisted on giving a face similar to King Kong? Did he not think that audience could feel for a radioactive lizard?

The human cast are all great, even though "Breaking Bad" fans might be a little upset to see Cranston reduced to more of a supporting role than the trailers suggested. Taylor-Johnson meanwhile still seems be being pigeonholed into being an action star and while he is still believable you can't help but feel that he would be more comfortable in a more dramatic role. Elsewhere Watanabe seems to only be on hand to spout philosophical musings and if its like the screening I was at provide some of the audience with a cheap thrill of how he pronounces the word Godzilla.

Needless to say with Edward’s aiming for a more realistic approach to the series, which is hardly surprisingly considering how leaps of fantasy are not exactly in vogue in Hollywood thanks to the success of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. This of course means no Kung fu antics from Godzilla or Muto which I didn’t honestly expect to see anyway and such didn’t disappoint me that it is a much more animalistic and natural fight that we get when the monsters meet (if one were they breath radioactive fire) and seeing how Godzilla maintains the rest of his traits including the aforementioned radioactive flame breath whose appearance would have been more of a showpiece had it not been ruined by one critic’s twitter feed after attending one of the advance screenings (cheers for that). What frustrated me though was that it was during these scenes that the fact that Edward’s is using the monsters as the background for Ford’s journey really became apparent, none more so than the first meeting of Godzilla and Muto were just when we expect to see the two monsters clash, the film suddenly cuts to Ford’s son watching the attack unfold on a news report! Seriously if you’re going to play the tease these are really not the scenes to do it with and its only how unexpected and well cut this scene is that it stopped it from frustrating me further.

The other niggling issue with Edward's directing is the worrying amount of shots which seemed to have been borrowed from other films, with Jaws and Jurrasic Park, aswell as more interestingly "The Abyss" all having seemingly being homaged here only sadly with none of the fan boy nodding flair that Tarantino brings to his own homages. At the same time the film frequently can't decide what sort of films it want's to be which might be a lot to do with its placement on the summer blockbuster schedule and why we get so many shots which made me feel like I was on a Universal Studios thrill ride, with the monorail attack being a prime example of this.

True this film might have some issues with some of its directorial choices, but this is still a great addition to the franchise and a promising start to what will hopefully be a great trilogy, especially if Edward's is to stick with it and maintain his creative vision throughout like Nolan got to with his Dark Knight trilogy even more so when the prospect of Monster Island and Mothra have both been seriously hinted at as making an appearance in the next film. At the same time though I still have o view this film as its own film and should be viewed as its own trilogy rather than an extension of the original saga but needless to say the King of Monsters is most certainly back!

Oldboy (2013)

Title: Oldboy

Director: Spike Lee
Released: 2013

Starring: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Imperioli, Pom Klementieff, James Ransone, Max Casella, Linda Emond, Lance Reddick

Plot: Joe Doucett (Brolin) an advertising executive is kidnapped and imprisoned in an isolated hotel room. His only contact to the outside world being through the TV in his room, Joe soon discovers that he has been framed for the rape and murder of his wife, while his daughter is adopted. Now twenty years later Joe finds himself suddenly released and given 72 hours by a mysterious stranger (Copley) to discover why he imprisoned Joe.

Review: Unsurprisingly when the news was broke about an English language remake of the highly memorable yet alone much beloved Park Chan-wook original it was an announcement greeted with much distain by the fans of the original who rightfully saw it as yet another unneeded cash in. Still the studios rumbled on regardless as for awhile it looked like Steven Spielberg would team up with Will Smith for an adaptation of the original manga by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi, only to step away from the project leaving it open for Spike Lee to take on the project. Certainly a fitting director choice, especially as it takes a certain kind of ego to think that you can better an undisputed classic like the original is rightfully seen as not only by foreign cinema fans, but by people who would normally not even consider watching a foreign film, much less an undubbed one.

So with this in mind I really entered into this film expecting the worse, even more so when I have never exactly been the biggest fan of Lee’s films, which for myself hit their high water mark with the Oscar snubbed “Malcom X” and have since then been pretty much hit and miss. At the same time his frequently opinionated attitude (especially when it comes to racial politics) often leaves little too warm to. So now having finally seen this film it is something of a surprise to report that honestly it’s not that bad. Okay first off it should be noted that this review is based were possibly purely on this film alone, without trying to draw comparisons to the original especially when the two are so incomparable especially when both directors approach the material with two different spins on things.

Interestingly then than rather than trying to adapt the original source Manga, Lee here chooses instead to adapt Chan-Wook’s original film. It has to be noted though that on the credits it is listed as “The Korean film” rather than name checking Chan-Wook. Lee also notably leaves off his usual trademark “A Spike Lee Joint” title which seemingly was Lee’s protest of choice for the studio hacking 35 minutes off his original 140 minute cut. Where these cuts were made I couldn’t say, especially as nothing seems to be noticeably missing

Noticeably more violent than the original, the hammer blows are frequently shown in graphic detail much like nearly all the violence which has none of the savage beauty which Chan-Wook brought not only to the original film but his vengeance trilogy on the whole. Here Joe is a blunt weapon of raw vengeance fuelled with a single minded determination to find out who imprisoned him. It is interesting though to see that Lee rather than simply recreate the memorable brawls of the original instead reworks them in his own vision, so that the Joe’s first chance to test out his fighting skills is not with a group of thugs but instead a bone breaking showdown with a group of lacrosse players. Now as for the memorable one shot corridor fight, here it becomes a multi-level fight as Joe works his way down a series of ramps battling thugs, which Lee ambitiously also shoots as single shot. A sequence which reportedly brought Brolin to tears, while also sequence which suffered under the cuts imposed by the studio, but honestly I couldn’t see where the cut had been made as it remains still a standout sequence if perhaps too clustered in places, as the ramps frequently give the thugs the opportunity to surround and pile in on Joe.

Unsurprisingly some of the more memorable scenes like the squid eating scene are noticeably absent, though the squid is teased as Joe goes on a marathon dumpling sampling session to try and find the restaurant which supplied the dumplings he has been forced to live off for the last 20 years. A reminder once again that there are still somethings you can’t do via the Hollywood studio system that you can do in the Asian film industry. Needless to say when the film does have a memorable moment, it is frequently do to it being a reworked scene from the original, as when attempts to emulate Chan-wooks stylish violence as seen during a particularly sadistic torture session carried out by Joe on Samuel L. Jackson’s hotel manager / jailer the result comes off largely flat and lacking any of the morbid beauty that Chan-wook’s films have frequently brought to such matters.

While the film might frequently fail to capture the spirit of original, it cannot really be blamed on the assembled cast who despite being given what is ultimately watered down material to work with, they still manage to provide some great performances with Brolin easily carrying the film with his testosterone driven antics while still having the acting chops to take us on a journey with the character of Joe, who starts of as an portly alcoholic arsehole, who through his forced captivity is forced to face up to his personal demons while preparing himself for his eventual revenge. True he might not play it with the same feral roughness (he does get a pet mouse though) that we get with the original, but he still perfectly sells the final twist, which sees Brolin pulling the character to the complete opposite end of the scale in reaction to the final twist. It is however one which here like so many aspects is reworked into what I guess Lee saw as being a more acceptable ending for Western audiences. One major and unquestionably shocking aspect of the original’s ending, which I won’t reveal for those of you who havn’t seen it (the fans will know already which one) is kept intact and nicely worked in just when you think that they wouldn’t include it.

As the villain of the piece Copley continues to prove himself as a human chameleon as he continues to never play the same kind of role twice. Here he plays a camper but none the less calculating villain who shares similar motive to Lee Woo-Jin in the original but here Copley is a lot more playfully tormenting of Joe and takes great delight in the trails Joe is forced to go through, were as Lee Woo-Jin played it cool throughout. While Copley is on great form here, he does lack the memorable presence even though he is frequently delightfully evil and comes with a devilish bodyguard (Haeng-Bok) who sadly gets a chance for a great showdown with Joe squandered.

A flawed yet strangely watchable remake and even despite entering the film with a low opinion it still turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable experience. True it might be a more edited version than Lee would have liked (if we are to believe his latest rants) and I would be interested to see what got cut and if it improved or detracted from the film (something which was certainly the case with the “Donnie Darko” director’s cut). Still as remakes go this is certainly one of the better ones out there, even if its unwanted status will mean that many will avoid it out of loyalty for their love of the original. This film however is worth a curious watch, only if to reinforce your love for the original the talent of Park Chan-wook all the more.

Godzilla (1998)

Title: Godzilla

Director: Robert Emmerich
Released: 1998
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, Michael Lerner, Harry Shearer, Arabella Field, Vicki Lewis, Doug Savant, Malcolm Danare, Lorry Goldman

Plot: In the wake of French atomic bomb tests in the South Pacific, decades later a Japanese fishing vessel is attacked by a mysterious creature. Now the creature is heading towards New York and it is up to NRC scientist Nick Tatopoulous (Broderick) and his team to stop the creature before it takes a bite out of the big apple.

Review: Since its original release this ill-advised remake has frequently been used as the yardstick of bad movies, with its original release being greeted with cries of disappointment by both establish Godzilla fans aswell as the general movie going public, while the critics of course were more than happy to cut the film down and mark it out as a monster sized flop.

So now with the new Godzilla movie mere months away I felt it was time to revisit this last attempt to adapt the legendry franchise and question if it really as bad a film as everyone seems to remember it as, with some fans refusing to even acknowledge it as being part of the franchise even though this Godzilla (or Zilla as he has become known) making a cheeky appearance in “Godzilla Final Wars”. Personally I have it on the same shelf as my Toho originals. Okay true it’s filed after those films, but it’s not like I have it stored in a brown bag or anything.

I guess from the start when you’re setting out to remake such a legendry franchise let alone the greatest movie of all time, you are essentially set to fail from the start, especially when you also have a rabid fanbase to appease while still finding a way to make it accessible to those not familiar with the original Toho movies. It is also equally questionable to hire a director who openly admitted to having no love for the original movies and only agreed to direct the film to ensure he could choose his next project. Meanwhile rumours floated around about Godzilla facing off against another monster in the lead up to the release, but with Emmerich clearly wanting to make the film within the boundaries of the sort of film he wanted to make, went for a monster on the loose storyline instead, while also ensuring that he was unable to unleash destruction and chaos on the screen somthing which has frequently been his film making mantra it would seem, especially with his previous summer blockbuster “Independence Day” being sold on such principles let alone its legendry trailer which simply showed the White House being blown up, while for Godzilla he just had him stomp on a t-rex skeleton.  

The other curious production choice is the casting of Matthew Broderick in the lead role, especially as here he plays more of a bumbling sidekick rather than fearless leader you would expect for such a role. As a result most of the film see’s Nick being the brunt of the jokes, over his unpronounceable surname or generally being referred to as “The Worm Guy” on the basis of his work researching the effects of radiation on the local worm population at Chernobyl, which of course clearly makes him the first choice when dealing with a giant radioactive lizard.

Thankfully the gung-ho hero quota is filled by Jean Reno’s Philippe and his team of DGSE (French foreign intelligence agency) agents who reveal their true purpose in the second half of the film, after the American forces have spent the best part of the first film generally causing more damage to the city than Godzilla, something which could be taken as a knowing nod to the original films where the armed forces would also inevitably cause more damage than the monsters attacking Tokyo that week. Sadly these same agents are regularly reduced to stereotypes, as they question the lack of pastries and decent coffee, let alone the fact that they perceive chewing gum and acting like Elvis to be a convincing way to disguise themselves as American soldiers. Still despite such xenophobic jabs Jean Reno is as watchable as always and makes the most of his role here as a man of action and no doubt largely responsible for the success of Nick’s mission here, considering how he frequently seems to be taking charge of the situation and rescuing Nick.

Such bizarre scripting and casting choices frequently seems to be the main issue here, while possibly the really surreal moment come from the pot shots at critics Emmerich takes throughout the film with the key one of course the candy loving and thumb raising Mayor Ebert (the always great Michael Lerner) and his aide Gene (Goldman), while a more obscure dig is the extra cast as a look-alike for “G-Fan Magazine” editor J.D. Lees who had made negative comments over leaked information from the films production. M. Night Shyamalan would also try and take a similar jab at the critics with “Lady In The Water” only to come off more smug than anything, especially when he made the least likeable character in the film a film critic. Roger Ebert of course being the constant professional simply responded to this homage of sorts in his review by proclaiming

“They let us off lightly; I fully expected to be squished like a bug by Godzilla”

Still the real draw of course is Godzilla, or should that be Zilla as he’s become more popularly known amongst the G-Fans and if Emmerich does anything right it is with giving us atleast an impressive looking monster. True he may be more energetic than his Toho counterpart better known for his stomping style than the leaping and charging pace which Zilla favours, but then outside of the passing resemblance to each other, they are very different monsters which again may have been the source of much disappointment for the established fans expecting to see more of the Godzilla that they had become accustomed to than this version who comes with his own skills and seemingly none of those processed by his Toho counterpart. So while the Toho Godzilla breathed radioactive fire and enjoyed reducing Tokyo to rubble, Zilla is able to burrow underground, disappear at will aswell as being create some form of fiery breath which is never truly explained or shown clear enough (let alone frequently enough) to understand how it works. On the plus side the design and effects work while forgoing the traditional man in a suit in favour of CGI still look great even now, while giving Emmerich more flexibility with the destruction he chooses to unleash on New York (or “The City That Never Sleeps” as it is known here).

Emmerich despite not having love for the project still manages to craft some exciting scenes of monster rampage action including an exciting gunship pursuit. Elsewhere the scenes of destructions are equally well handled from the moment the incoming Zilla obliterates a pier. The real surprise here though after all the peak a boo teasing that Emmerich put into the promotion for the film, is the unexpected third quarter which sees him unleashing a horde of mini zilla’s on the screen which thankfully are nothing like the Toho Godzilla’s son Manila, though the slap stick moments which follow the group trying to escape these babies did end up grating on most audiences, but personally I found them to pretty fun, thanks largely to the comedic timing of Broderick, especially when the lift doors open to reveal a horde of Zilla babies destroying a popcorn stand, he manages to do more with a simple facial expression than a clumsy one liner as other actors might be included to do in such a scene. True it could be perceived as a sign that Emmerich couldn’t find a way to keep the audience interest with Godzilla on the rampage, especially when he somehow manages to find a way of hiding him every fifteen minutes, thanks to his new burrowing ability (let alone his unintentional size changes) which I thought was something limited to Baragon only. However it is hard to deny that the initial discover of the nest is not a great scene and one clearly taking its cues from the nest scenes in both “Alien” and “Aliens”, but like the memorable scenes in those films it seems to be pay (if perhaps unintentionally) homage to and its scenes like this and the end chase scene in the seemingly indestructible taxi cab, which seem to get frequently forgotten when people talk about the film.

So yes this film might not have been the Godzilla movie us G-fans wanted, but at the same time it is far from the worst film in the franchise (a toss up between "Godzilla's Revenge" or "Godzilla Vs. Megalon") or even the worst film ever made (The Zombie Diaries, Deaden, anything associated with Noel Clarke all come to mind) as most folks tend to view it, while certainly Emmerich would go on to make worse and even more overblown films like “2012”. Even with its flaws when ever Zilla or the mini-zilla’s are on the screen it is generally a lot of fun, which I guess is were it counts and if you get past the human distractions you might even realise that its not really that bad…..failing that take heart in the fact that you only have a few months till the new film is realised.