Godzilla: King of the Monsters

RATING: B-

Out of the various "cinematic universes" these studios have attempted to kickstart, the "MonsterVerse" is one of the only non-superhero ones that has lasted more than one or two movies. This is the third installment and a fourth one is on the way. It may not get much further than that, but that'll still be better than the *other* "monster universe" that they tried to start with The Mummy two years ago. Anyway, thus far this series is certainly not as loaded as, say, Marvel--it mostly exists to put Godzilla (and the other "Titans") and King Kong in the same universe.

We've gotten a movie for both Godzilla and Kong, starring primarily them. Now in the new Godzilla movie, we get for the first time in a Hollywood Godzilla production the *other* Titans. Mothra, the three-headed King Ghidorah (the main antagonist monster), and Rodan (a pterodactyl-like "fire demon," if you're not familiar) are the main other players here, but there's a bunch of others to be seen briefly.

While 2014's Godzilla movie was fairly good, it was often criticized for not actually having that much Godzilla being onscreen. It kind of got away with that because, despite some forgettable characters, the rest of the movie didn't totally suck and Godzilla made the most of his screen time (and then some). But that's the big draw here--there's a lot more Godzilla this time, and there's a lot more of him fighting other monsters (or other monsters fighting each other), so this time you certainly get your money's worth.

And that aspect of the movie absolutely works. The monster fights in this movie are pretty awesome. And it helps that there's a lot of great visuals and special effects to go along with them; Mothra in particular looks majestic. And Ghidorah is definitely a worthy opponent for Godzilla. In general, almost every part of the "monster" side of this movie is super fun to watch, and will be doubly so for actual fans of the Godzilla mythos.

The problems in this movie come elsewhere--particularly via the ludicrous plot backdrop/catalyst which gets this movie going. You see, humans are destroying the planet. And therefore, according to Vera Farmiga's character, we must set the Titans free to restore balance to nature. In other words... destroy the world in order to save it! And cut down on the overpopulation as collateral in the process! Thanos would be proud!

(Minor spoiler alert for this paragraph--not regarding the monsters or human characters.) What's truly bizarre is that the aftermath of the monster war here suggests that this theory/plan actually works--a notion I reject completely, particularly given that the apocalyptic level of destruction we see in this movie suggests the planet would be pretty decimated.

Beyond that, a lot of this movie just isn't particularly well written. Besides how bonkers the catalyst for the plot discussed earlier is, there's a fair amount of silly/lame dialogue and once again the characters aren't that interesting. And despite having a fairly decent cast that includes Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, David Straithairn, and the aforementioned Vera Farmiga, they aren't really given much to work with and thus don't stand out as much as they should (except *maybe* Watanabe). That said, Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven from Stranger Things) stands out in her first non-TV role.

So while Godzilla: King of the Monsters certainly surpasses its predecessor in terms of monster action, it falls short as an all-around product. Still, it's absolutely worth a watch if you're a fan of the genre. It's definitely a popcorn action film, and it may end up being one of the best non-superhero ones you'll see all year. I'm a bit skeptical for Godzilla vs. Kong, but so far these MonsterVerse movies have thoroughly entertained on the action front, if not a whole lot else.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

RATING: C

This movie did not sound like a good idea when it was first announced. A live-action Pokemon film? "Detective Pikachu?" Why? Since when is Pikachu a detective? (Wait, that's actually a real Pokemon spin-off game? Ugh.) And they have Ryan Reynolds voicing Pikachu? What is this supposed to be, Deadpool for kids or something? It's certainly a bizarre idea to try and start a franchise with (because come on, that's always the end goal with these kind of movies nowadays). The Pokemon series hasn't seen a movie with a wide release since the turn of the millennium anyway, and those were more extensions of the TV cartoons than anything.

And then the trailers came out and it actually seemed sort of okay. Perhaps even funny. Despite the fact that I was never really into Pokemon, I figured I'd give it a go. Of course, with my knowledge of Pokemon being limited to playing the Super Smash Bros series and watching a couple of TV episodes, I was going in without much knowledge--but hopefully the movie will be understanding of that, right? Well... mostly no. 

If you know absolutely nothing about Pokemon, good luck. If you've at least had some minimum exposure, you might get by. It helps to know at least who some of the major ones that are included in this are--namely Pikachu, Charizard, or Mewtwo. But overall, this film does sometimes feel like it was made for Pokemon fans than for the other moviegoers. Which is sort of fair, I guess. It's a big enough cultural phenomenon that there aren't going to be a lot of people watching who *aren't* already fans. Unless they just want a Ryan Reynolds fix while waiting for more Deadpool or something. But the powers that be can only do so much to acclimate those few outside viewers while still pandering to their core audience.

The good news is that you don't have to know any preexisting human characters at all going in. No Ash to be found here. This story centers around one Tim Goodman, whose father is missing and presumed dead--and when he checks up on his old apartment, he encounters a Pikachu--one that he can understand in English, instead of just hearing "Pika pika!" And also one that has amnesia. And this Pikachu believes Tim's father is still alive, *and* that he was on the verge of discovering a plot that could threaten both Pokemon and human alike. And he wants to help Tim find him.

The main obvious draw here is that we have a talking Pikachu who only one person can understand; and this Pikachu is voiced by Ryan Reynolds/Deadpool. (I mean... they're basically the same person at this point, right?) These things are played for some good comedic effect at times, though it does feel like most of the best gags were used in the trailers.

What does deserve attention here is how well the CGI Pokemon are rendered into the real world. This is something that sounds quite difficult to do, which is part of why a live-action Pokemon movie would sound terrible at the outset. But for the most part, they manage to blend in stunningly well. They don't feel like they're not a part of the real world, but they still retain the basic looks of their cartoon counterparts--everyone is easily recognizable, and hardly anyone looks like a CGI abomination. This was actually an impressive feat.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of great things left to say about the film at this point. Part of the problem is poor writing; namely, some of the early dialogue before Pikachu shows up feels rather forced. And while the concept of the film is interesting, the plotline itself doesn't hold up that well. There's also some cliches to consider, such as a rather silly use of a fake-out death. Also, the human characters aren't really that compelling or appealing--not bad, just uninteresting.

There's also not a whole lot of Pokemon action in this. The film spends so much time on the comedy and the sort of mystery angle that there's not a whole lot of time for much else until the final act, which centers around two main Pokemon (one of whom is possessed). Granted, there's some pretty awesome stuff in that final act. But it makes you wish that we'd seen more of that. What we're left with primarily is a the Pikachu/Charizard fight we saw in the trailers where the former forgets how to use his powers, thus leaving it played for laughs. There's also an extended rather wacky action scene involving another Pokemon where you're definitely likely to feel the continuity lockout if you aren't very familiar with the series.

Detective Pikachu isn't really bad by any means. The main problem is that beyond a Ryan Reynolds Pikachu plus Mewtwo, this film doesn't have a whole lot to offer besides impressive special effects. It's very possible that fans of the series will enjoy it more than non-fans like myself, but even then that doesn't elevate the movie a ton because of its lack of noteworthy plotting or writing. If you're not into Pokemon that much, it's probably not worth it--but then again, one could definitely do worse this year.

Alita: Battle Angel

RATING: B

This is one of those movies where I'm not even going to try and pretend that I know anything about the source material. This movie is apparently based off a manga/anime, which is not something I've delved into very much. The first I heard about this movie is when I saw a trailer for it in the theater--and it was pretty clear right away that the main character was a CGI creation, particularly because of the abnormally large eyes that pushed it into the realm of CGI abomination. The good news? In the final product, the eyes look semi-normal--or at least less distracting.

For those not familiar with the manga (like myself), this takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth; where humans and cyborgs live either on the sky city Zalem, or live down in the WALL-E-esque wasteland below. (No seriously, one of the early shots looked like it was ripped straight out of WALL-E.) Down on the surface, some scientist played by Christoph Waltz discovers a damaged female cyborg, who is mostly 100% robot--but has a human brain. The girl, who gets named Alita, has no memory of anything. And thus begins a journey to find out who she is--which involves her getting embroiled in the world of other cyborgs, the sport they (and humans) play called motorball, and also the evil ruler that watches and interferes from above in the sky city.

Probably the biggest hurdle in this is seeing if you can get past the fact that Alita, our main character, is completely CGI-created--even her head and face (to be fair, the rest of her is robotic). This seems painfully obvious early on when she is put alongside real humans, like Christoph Waltz and Jennifer Connelly. Even though there is motion capture involved, it's still a little odd at times. It is possible to get used to, and as the movie goes on, she ends up spending a lot more time with other cyborgs--who are arguably even more bizarre, since they're often just robots with human-like faces glued onto their heads.

If you are able to get past that, what follows is a fairly fun sci-fi post-apocalyptic movie with elements of cyberpunk. If you're hoping for battles involving the cyborgs, you'll get plenty of that--and those usually are the best parts in the movie. Alita's fighting style is actually pretty well done (even if it's not exactly choreographed, since she's all CGI). If you're also hoping for a decent story and good characters... the story works. Even if it's a little convoluted and has an overused trope or two, it keeps you interested and does go into some interesting directions down the stretch.

The characters are a bit more bland--it says something when one of the most memorable characters is a dog-loving cyborg who's on screen for 5 minutes tops. Still, they're helped along by decent acting. Even though Waltz feels like he's playing against character here, he does fine. Rosa Salazar does well via motion-capture. The real standout here is probably Mahershala Ali, who also seems to be playing against type a little, but does quite well at it.

All in all, this movie's nothing spectacular and some may have trouble getting around the whole "CGI protagonist" thing. But if you're a fan of sci-fi or cyberpunk or post-apocalyptic material at all, you'll probably want to check it out. There's a lot of fun action scenes here, and it doesn't feel like they're propping up a lifeless story. It does end as if there's a sequel expected, something that has become tiresome to some. Still, I would be interested to see where the story goes next if a sequel does happen.