Topic: The Movie Thread

@RR529: From my perspective, the right way to balance seriousness and silliness in a Godzilla film, it seems, is to have a thoughtful script about nuclear dread offset by some spectacular scenes of behemoth-vs-humanity devastation. The latest Godzilla method is to switch things around, so that the screenplay is laughable but the mood and visuals are as drab as possible. The main achievement is to make the 1998 version seem halfway decent after all. Don't get me wrong, it is superbly made but burdened by some dull human characters enacted by an interesting international cast who can't do much with them - characters that are so 1 dimensional and even the 'Speilberg-esque' plot of absent fathers does little to enhance the movie. Considering we don't get to see Godzilla until an hour in, and the human cast occupy a lot of the screen time, this brings down the film significantly. Maybe all that 'boring, dull and slow paced' build-up to the final climatic battle elevates that from mediocre.

Granted the film pays homage to the look of the old Godzilla movies - even if they were limited by the technology of the day and having to use a man in a suit. However the story itself lacks the message of the original (about the dangers of Nuclear energy and was in part a reaction to Hiroshima) and Godzilla ends up being the saviour of America again instead of Japan.

One thing that Peter Jackson's King Kong really nailed was the look of Kong. He really looks like a Gorilla compared to both the versions before it. The new Kong: Skull Island, the Kong again looks like a man in a suit. I know they want to try and keep more true to the look of the traditional 1950's/60's movies, but watching them now, compared to when I first watched them as a boy 40yrs ago, the look tacky and dated - I would still rather watch these than the 2014 Godzilla though. I much prefer the look of the 1998 Godzilla in a lot of ways. Whilst not necessarily traditional, it had a much more realistic and believable movement, much more animalistic rather than a 'lumbering man in a heavy costume'

I was really disappointed with Godzilla when I watched it at the cinema, I thought that the main guy was awful and that there was nowhere near enough Godzilla. Also, after watching the trailers, I thought that Brian Cranston would have been the central character, not that cardboard cut out guy. The story was utter bobbins, in my opinion, too.

I liked 2014 Godzilla but it had some problems. The human characters weren't great and did some really daft things. It also stretched out the reveal for the whole movie which I think hurt it. Plus, you know, you don't get Walter White and not make him centre stage.

I think it is the closest US version of Godzilla but things can be fixed in the sequel. I loved the look of the new Kong movie from the story and age perspective. LIke a vietnam movie with monsters. Not sure about Kong yet, but we'll see as Peter Jackson's kong changed quite a bit between trailer and release.

So apparently the Flash will make a cameo appearance in the Suicide Squad movie as well.

Anyways, does anyone here feel that Killer Croc should be a fully CGI-ed character to make him more imposing?

Really looking forward to Suicide Squad and from the trailers I would say Killer Crock looks pretty good and menacing. I don't think CGI would enhance him anymore.

@WanderingBullet: To really nail the comic-book look, you would think a fully CGi character would probably be better - something like the Hulk, Thing etc. I don't know if it would benefit the movie though as sometimes these can look a bit off in terms of movement, action etc.

Just have to see how well it all looks and works when the film is released I guess.

Some pretty average stuff at the cinema at the moment UK side, Life of pets, Ghostbusters, Tarzan, Star Trek, Jason Bourne. I'd give them all a 7. Meh.

@crippyd: @BAMozzy: Yeah, I don't mind prostethics either but sometimes they can look too much like a rubber suit. The reason why I would rather have a CGI version was because I wanted an eight, maybe a nine feet Killer Croc. In terms of movement and action, it can be done with how advance technology is nowadays. It just depends on their budget, I guess. Hulk, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and even to a certain extent Colossus in Deadpool are good examples.

Anyways, I think Margot Robbie done a pretty good job as Harley Quinn based on the trailers. I especially like that chase scene where Batman jumps on top of their car and she says that he's ruining their date night. I'm not a fan of Jai Courtney, though. He was horrible in the last two movies I saw him in - Die Hard and Terminator.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi I haven't watched both The Secret Life of Pets and Ghostbusters, yet but I thought Jason Bourne wasn't as good as the previous three installments. Story wise, it felt more or less the same.

I just got back from seeing The Secret Life of Pets which I did enjoy however, it's pretty much Toy Story but with animals instead of toys. If you see it you will see what I mean.

@Tasuki: I saw it with my 4 yr old daughter and you are exactly right, 100% Toy Story. My daughter loved it while I am just waiting to watch Finding Dory with her...

@Rudy_Manchego: Yeah while I didn't dislike the movie it seemed like the writers just grabbed the script from Toy Story and said here we go. But then again I guess the targeted audience, kids won't know especially since how many of them have even seen Toy Story or even were around when that came out?

Life of pets was a pretty lazy script.
I just noticed that Sony was also behind Ghostbusters, they really are putting out a lot of losers moneywise.

InuYasha the Movie 2: Castle Beyond the Looking Glass - My annual summer rewatch of the InuYasha movies continues. The second is my personal favorite of the bunch, as well as one of my favorite films in general (up there with BttF, Jurassic Park, etc.). It has some slick action scenes, the story is centered around the fable of Princess Kaguya (which is neat from a cultural interest standpoint), and while it may seem a bit silly coming from a guy, that kissing scene always puts a huge smile on my face. Still, really only watch it if you have an interest in the series overall.

InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler - The ever ongoing subplot centering around Sesshomaru and his hangup over his inheritance was always one of the most interesting parts of the series, so it's neat to see a movie that really delves in and explores the history of InuYasha & his father (I know it's actually a lot of people's favorite of the movies). It's the only part of the series where we get a good look at InuYasha's father, and while it's place in canon is questionable (when the manga, later on, explored the history of the swords, it somewhat contradicts this), it's still a neat watch.

Suicide Squad's current Metacritic score is 46. I haven't read any of the reviews, yet to avoid spoilers but it looks like it might be just as bad as BvS.:/

@Tasuki: My daughter enjoyed life of pets more than Toy Story so I clearly know nothing about films kids will like. I love Toy Story.

Just read they are rushing out a sequel to Pets for 2018.

@WanderingBullet: Not surprising, I honstly thinking looking at promotional stuff like posters and such they are expecting Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn to carry the movie, but with a team based movie you just cant. It would be like expecting Robert Downy to carry Avengers. I understand that alot of Harley Quinn fans are looking forward to it but I think that's more due to Harley Quinn finally making her live action debut. I love Harley but I have no interest in this movie.

@Rudy_Manchego: Yeah doesn't surprise me from what I heard it did fairly well. Like I said it was good just lacked originality.

@WanderingBullet: IGN wasn't very complimentary about it - the only review I have seen (seemed to be very critical of Boomerang). Fans though have started a petition to close down Rotten Tomatoes because “Critics always give The DC Extended Universe movies unjust Bad Reviews… and that Affects people's opinion” - even though the website only aggregates the reviewers score - much like Metacritic - rather than review the film itself.

I still haven't seen BvS - waiting for it to come to SkyQ (hopefully in UHD, maybe in HDR too and the extended version...). I know very little about it (but know some things which I won't spoil here) but must admit, I don't agree with a few decisions taken in that movie with key DC Characters. I don't know much about Suicide Squad at all - other than what we have seen in trailers but I must admit, the direction DC have taken with trying to do a 'Marvel', setting up films to follow other films and tie everything together in a linked universe is annoying.

I don't like that approach with Marvels movies either. I don't want to be forced into watching them ALL in a specific order to make sense of what is happening. If something significant happens (like the events in the Winter Soldier - not a fan of Capt America) that changes the dynamics somehow (SHIELDS Status) that has a knock on effect in subsequent movies, it's annoying. Its worse when these get tied into a TV series (Agents of SHIELD) too as that means you have to watch the movies at the right time. Its like missing an episode and references don't make sense (or get missed completely).

I prefer the old way where movies were not linked - sequels are different of course. Superman 2 followed Superman, Batman Returns followed Batman. I don't mind 'cross-overs' like 'Justice League' but I think Batman, Wonder Woman et al should have their own separate story lines but not to the point that you have to watch ALL- I don't know that I want to watch 'Cyborgs' movies (for example) just to understand everything in Justice League

In the Comic Books, not every story, character etc all linked together as one big universe. You didn't have to buy every DC/Marvel comic to know what's happening in your 'favourites'. You don't buy the Flash to understand what's happening in Batman or Superman. The amount of 'comic books' that don't even follow on from the last 'comic book' story - Joker is dead, joker is alive, Robin is dead, Robin is alive but not Dick Grayson, now is Dick Grayson...

I expect some entertaining throw away trashy comic nonsense. Hopefully it'll hold itself together but, probably end up another mediocre summer 'blockbuster'. I hardly think anyone will be upset it's not the greatest film ever made.

@BAMozzy: I'm actually fine with Marvel's approach. Maybe because I like watching superheroes movies but having all their superheroes movies tied to same universe is a huge undertaking and so far I think they've done a decent job.

The issue with DC is that they're trying to replicate Marvel's success. As of right now, they playing catch-up and trying to rush their story lines. BvS was a good example, they tried to crammed too many things into it so that they can have Justice League released next year which resulted in the movie having too many plot holes.

@WanderingBullet: I like superhero movies too but having them all tied together this means you can't just sit down and watch the Avengers film boxset - you need to watch all the Iron Man, Thor, Capt America films etc in a very specific order along with the Avengers unless you want continuation issues.
I have never read a Capt America comic in my life and certainly didn't enjoy the Capt America movies either but unless you watch these, then the Avengers movies don't make sense - one minute Shield is fine next it's not. Of course that impacted on the TV series - Agents of Shield too - which I saw long before Capt America came to Sky! At least Agent Carter wasn't affected!
I wish DC were not trying to replicate Marvel and their extended universe. I wish these movies were all stand-alone. Batman has Batman/Gotham movies, Superman has Superman/Metropolis movies etc and the Justice League is just Justice League - maybe some single sentence reference to previous movies but stand alone and separate. You don't have to watch BvS, Wonder Woman, Justice league, Superman, Aquaman, Justice League 2, Cyborg, Wonder Woman2, Justice League 3 for example in that order but can watch Justice league 1-3 or watch Wonder Woman 1&2 and know what the hell is going on.

I haven't seen Avengers Civil War yet (not been on Sky) but no doubt some of that will tie in with some of the things that happened in Agents of Shield that I have seen and make a bit more sense of that...

I don't mind the fact that we have a plethora of comic book heroes in TV shows and movies but its a bit much that everything has to be linked with everything.