"Godzilla" (2014) Review (Spoilers)
Also reviews for for the latest episodes of The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, and The Flash, the season premiere of Suergirl, and the latest episodes of Teen Titans Go!, Power Rangers Dino Fury, Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy, Bless The Harts, Clarice, and The Blacklist.
Godzilla (2014)
Doing a little catch-up before watching Godzlla Vs. Kong on HBO Max.
The verdict on the first Legendary Monsterverse movie? I liked it. But as deadly serious, dark, and epic as the movie took itself, I still felt the entire premise was very silly. The idea that Godzilla is considered the savior of the city after the sheer number of people he killed is ridiculous, but I have to concede that's one of the conceits of the franchise. I don't have to pretend it isn't super dumb though.
Shouldn't have killed off Bryan Cranston so soon in the picture. He was the most interesting character, and I found much of the human element boring once he was gone.
Am I the only one squicked out to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen making out? Did the producers of this movie or the MCU not compare notes on ANY bit of their casting? Because it feels very weird to me instead.
I really liked the opening credit sequence. The music over the end credits was really good too.
Godzilla breathing fire was played as a properly big moment. Good.
Again, I thought it was pretty good. But I will never take this as seriously as the Monsterverse franchise is telling me I now should. ***1/2.
MONARCH Declassified:
Three mockumentaries. Pretty cool all in all. Overall: ****.
Operation Lucky Dragon:
That was cool. I like the female Narrator's voice. ****1/2.
MONARCH: The M.U.T.O. File:
This actually answered a lot of questions I had left over from the movie. *****.
The Godzilla Revelation:
This is a news report set after the film. It's a little less credible than the other two mockumentaries because the reporter speaks in a boring, tinny monotone very unlike modern-day news anchors. Still some interesting stuff is revealed and speculated on here. ***.
Godzilla: Force Of Nature:
I will give the film this: The filmmakers were clearly perfectionists. This is not the kind of movie I'd picture would go to anal retentive directors and producers, but in hindsight, those are the kinds of people who probably should have been doing stuff like this all along. ****1/2.
A Whole New Level Of Destruction:
A featurette about the construction of the sets for the aftermaths of the disasters. ****.
Into The Void: The H.A.L.O. Jump:
About the making of one of the more memorable scenes of the movie. ***1/2.
Ancient Enemy: The M.U.T.O.s:
It's interesting the film came up with entirely new monsters for Godzilla to fight. Probably made them much easier to kill off at the end. Nobody would tolerate Mothra's head getting ripped off at the end of the first pciture. ****.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier "Power Broker"
That was some quality spy-fi right there.
Do you know what kills me? This is the tone I wish Agents Of SHIELD had taken. But no, sigh, they had to wind up fighting aliens, and Inhumans, and demons, and time travel, and the apocalypse. The entire selling point of the old Nick Fury comics was basically "James Bond in the Marvel Universe". And Agents of SHIELD refused to follow any real spy-fi tropes. I had been hoping for Marvel's version of Alias, and I got a warmed over sci-fi show that couldn't decide what it was actually about.
The spyjinx in the episode were quite excellent. I also want to give a shout-out to the fact that the criminal underground element is legitimately funky and interesting, especially compared to Daredevil and Punisher. Now the hoods on both of those shows were pretty standard for TV, and not especially terrible or out of the ordinary. And yet, they seem mundane compared to the weird things I just saw. Not exactly Marvel Television's fault, but the MCU was pretty easily able to blow it out of the water here.
Will Sam follow through on his pardon promise for Sharon? I hope so. She feels like a loose end he really shouldn't have forgotten about.
Who is the lady Sharon gets into the car with at the end? What was she referring to when she told her they had a problem?
They gave Zemo the purple mask here. Just as cheesy as it is in the comics and cartoons. Not a fan.
I can't make up my mind about John Walker. At this point I think he can go either way. I will say this against him: I did not need to hear a white dude say, "Do you know who I am?" No part of me is down with turning Captain America into a male Karen. Do they call those Chads? Not into that lingo.
Wakanda? Yes, please. This show had a global scope none of the other Marvel Television stuff does.
Feige pulls all of this nonsense off and makes it look easy while he's doing it. It sort of makes me resent the Jeph Loeb stuff to be honest. ****1/2.
The Flash "Fear Me"
Ennis Esmer was literally one of the only two decent cast members on the terrible Berlanti show Blindspot so I know why he was cast. But his vast talents were utterly wasted as Psych. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with that.
The idea of evil versions of the Speed Force tracks with what we've seen earlier.
It seems like Caitlin neglecting to ask Frost if she even WANTED to merge again is a pretty huge oversight on her end.
I sort of liked that, but I think it was less important that I like it, and more important that I pay attention to clues the episode is giving for stuff going forward. ***1/2.
Supergirl "Rebirth"
That whole "We are the Champions" thing shows why Jon Cryer is the single worst Lex Luthor of all time, live-action or animated. I cannot stand that character. He utterly sucks.
I'm glad Lena wiped his memory of the secret. That never struck me as anything he was entitled to know.
Was that the most action-packed first season of an Arrowverse season premiere ever? It just might have been.
I have a weird complaint. Everybody has too many superpowers. It's hard keeping them all straight during the big battles.
Hopefully Lex is off the show for good, or at least awhile. And his beard utterly sucks too. ***1/2.
Teen Titans Go! "Feed Me"
Prediction: Little kids will really like that episode. The Duckie turning everything into marshmallows, Cyborg's marshmallow arm cannon that fires marshmallows, the Titans turning into Easter Bunnies, the Mecha Bunny, all of this nonsense is something little kids would really dig. This is a kids show and I really like whenever it leans into that. It doesn't do it enough for my liking. But frankly, neither do most other DC toons.
A seal? Interesting.
SO fun. ****.
Teen Titans Go! "Meow Cats Go!"
What the heck did I just see? Whatever it was it was wicked disturbing, and I had to do everything in my power to prevent myself from smashing my TV. I'm still not sure that bit of restraint on my end was the correct, ethical move.
And why does the cartoon turn into Craig Of The Creek halfway through?
I do not understand April Fool's Day. 0.
Power Ranger Dino Fury "Superstition Strikes"
Wow, that was super dumb. Indefensibly so. *.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "More Than Meets The Eye"
First Decepticon on the show. Did the original Rescue Bots ever use Decepticons? If not it's the first Decepticon ever on a Rescue Bots show.
Hotshot's bigotry was obnoxious (he was saying some truly heinous things) but I found most of the episode interesting.
It was interesting to get an explanation as to how huge Bots can shrink into tiny objects, although I'm not sure the logic or the science holds up there. Even if the Bots were somehow able to compact into a cassette tape they should still weigh the same as a robot rather than a cassette. That's how mass works.
It's also news to me that the Aligned Continuity's Lazerbeak doesn't have a criminal record. He was always up to bad stuff on Transformers Prime. I like his classic redesign here though.
Learning Wedge used to be a Decepticon is also a pretty cool twist. The show doesn't usually EVER surprise me so I liked it when it did.
Also somebody should probably have pointed out that Grimlock used to be a Decepticon in the Aligned Continuity.
Hotshot sucks per usual but I actually mostly liked that. ****.
Transformers: Rescue Bot Academy "Things That Go Bot In The Night"
Did the mystery actually HAVE to be the most obvious suspect? Of course it was Hoist! There was no-one else it could be. What I don't like is that he didn't get in any trouble for it. Sludge and Snarl were about to be exiled to a gas planet but Hoist is instantly forgiven? That's not right.
Didn't like that one. Although it's interesting Lazerbeak is going to be a permanent fixture on the show. *1/2.
Bless The Harts "Easter's 11"
That was very unpleasant. The show tends to be unpleasant in general, but often the episode will work out overall anyways. That didn't. The Megachurch stuff was just awful.
I did like Wayne teaching Violet and David a lesson about their stupid and cruel pranks. I wish that happened more often.
But I didn't like this week otherwise. But hey, good news! Bless the Harts won the week of Fox toons! Neat trick, right? *1/2.
Clarice "How Does It Feel To Be So Beautiful"
Martin is the worst mother ever. It would be one thing if she actually wanted to help Catherine. But she's using her as a prop to say how much she sucks. I think Martin is the actual broken person in that house.
Sean's story of his wife was great. Really moving and brutal in the right places.
The man in Clarice's vision being Krendler's lawyer is an interesting twist. I wonder where they will go with it.
For the record, Clark saying he wants to keeps the circle small to Ardelia makes me instantly distrust him. He just became the prime suspect of being the leak by doing that.
It's weird, but the procedural aspect of the show was absent this week. And I didn't actually mind it so much. ***1/2.
The Blacklist "Captain Kidd"
I didn't hate watching it, but afterwards I sort of had a sour taste in my mouth. There were a whole bunch of unpleasant connotations left over. I think a strong ending can really help a weak episode. But the opposite is also true. A weak ending can really hurt an otherwise strong episode. And I think that's what happened here. I felt a certain level of futility from what just happened, which is in my opinion, not something I want or deserve to feel when watching this specific show. It hasn't earned that, and frankly I think few shows have. As it stands I'm unhappy with the place the episode left us on, even if the rest of the episode seemed solid.
One more thing: I was mesmerized by the kid reciting The Tell-Tale Heart. But that's how I knew it's fiction. Kids that age all read in a boring monotone voice. They never EVER read anything in a remotely passionate way. I get these kids were supposedly Poe groupies. But I'm betting even Harry Potter fans are probably unable to read those books aloud without sounding as if they are bored with them. That's just how kids read.
I was not crazy how that turned out. **1/2.
Godzilla (2014)
Doing a little catch-up before watching Godzlla Vs. Kong on HBO Max.
The verdict on the first Legendary Monsterverse movie? I liked it. But as deadly serious, dark, and epic as the movie took itself, I still felt the entire premise was very silly. The idea that Godzilla is considered the savior of the city after the sheer number of people he killed is ridiculous, but I have to concede that's one of the conceits of the franchise. I don't have to pretend it isn't super dumb though.
Shouldn't have killed off Bryan Cranston so soon in the picture. He was the most interesting character, and I found much of the human element boring once he was gone.
Am I the only one squicked out to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen making out? Did the producers of this movie or the MCU not compare notes on ANY bit of their casting? Because it feels very weird to me instead.
I really liked the opening credit sequence. The music over the end credits was really good too.
Godzilla breathing fire was played as a properly big moment. Good.
Again, I thought it was pretty good. But I will never take this as seriously as the Monsterverse franchise is telling me I now should. ***1/2.
MONARCH Declassified:
Three mockumentaries. Pretty cool all in all. Overall: ****.
Operation Lucky Dragon:
That was cool. I like the female Narrator's voice. ****1/2.
MONARCH: The M.U.T.O. File:
This actually answered a lot of questions I had left over from the movie. *****.
The Godzilla Revelation:
This is a news report set after the film. It's a little less credible than the other two mockumentaries because the reporter speaks in a boring, tinny monotone very unlike modern-day news anchors. Still some interesting stuff is revealed and speculated on here. ***.
Godzilla: Force Of Nature:
I will give the film this: The filmmakers were clearly perfectionists. This is not the kind of movie I'd picture would go to anal retentive directors and producers, but in hindsight, those are the kinds of people who probably should have been doing stuff like this all along. ****1/2.
A Whole New Level Of Destruction:
A featurette about the construction of the sets for the aftermaths of the disasters. ****.
Into The Void: The H.A.L.O. Jump:
About the making of one of the more memorable scenes of the movie. ***1/2.
Ancient Enemy: The M.U.T.O.s:
It's interesting the film came up with entirely new monsters for Godzilla to fight. Probably made them much easier to kill off at the end. Nobody would tolerate Mothra's head getting ripped off at the end of the first pciture. ****.
The Falcon And The Winter Soldier "Power Broker"
That was some quality spy-fi right there.
Do you know what kills me? This is the tone I wish Agents Of SHIELD had taken. But no, sigh, they had to wind up fighting aliens, and Inhumans, and demons, and time travel, and the apocalypse. The entire selling point of the old Nick Fury comics was basically "James Bond in the Marvel Universe". And Agents of SHIELD refused to follow any real spy-fi tropes. I had been hoping for Marvel's version of Alias, and I got a warmed over sci-fi show that couldn't decide what it was actually about.
The spyjinx in the episode were quite excellent. I also want to give a shout-out to the fact that the criminal underground element is legitimately funky and interesting, especially compared to Daredevil and Punisher. Now the hoods on both of those shows were pretty standard for TV, and not especially terrible or out of the ordinary. And yet, they seem mundane compared to the weird things I just saw. Not exactly Marvel Television's fault, but the MCU was pretty easily able to blow it out of the water here.
Will Sam follow through on his pardon promise for Sharon? I hope so. She feels like a loose end he really shouldn't have forgotten about.
Who is the lady Sharon gets into the car with at the end? What was she referring to when she told her they had a problem?
They gave Zemo the purple mask here. Just as cheesy as it is in the comics and cartoons. Not a fan.
I can't make up my mind about John Walker. At this point I think he can go either way. I will say this against him: I did not need to hear a white dude say, "Do you know who I am?" No part of me is down with turning Captain America into a male Karen. Do they call those Chads? Not into that lingo.
Wakanda? Yes, please. This show had a global scope none of the other Marvel Television stuff does.
Feige pulls all of this nonsense off and makes it look easy while he's doing it. It sort of makes me resent the Jeph Loeb stuff to be honest. ****1/2.
The Flash "Fear Me"
Ennis Esmer was literally one of the only two decent cast members on the terrible Berlanti show Blindspot so I know why he was cast. But his vast talents were utterly wasted as Psych. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with that.
The idea of evil versions of the Speed Force tracks with what we've seen earlier.
It seems like Caitlin neglecting to ask Frost if she even WANTED to merge again is a pretty huge oversight on her end.
I sort of liked that, but I think it was less important that I like it, and more important that I pay attention to clues the episode is giving for stuff going forward. ***1/2.
Supergirl "Rebirth"
That whole "We are the Champions" thing shows why Jon Cryer is the single worst Lex Luthor of all time, live-action or animated. I cannot stand that character. He utterly sucks.
I'm glad Lena wiped his memory of the secret. That never struck me as anything he was entitled to know.
Was that the most action-packed first season of an Arrowverse season premiere ever? It just might have been.
I have a weird complaint. Everybody has too many superpowers. It's hard keeping them all straight during the big battles.
Hopefully Lex is off the show for good, or at least awhile. And his beard utterly sucks too. ***1/2.
Teen Titans Go! "Feed Me"
Prediction: Little kids will really like that episode. The Duckie turning everything into marshmallows, Cyborg's marshmallow arm cannon that fires marshmallows, the Titans turning into Easter Bunnies, the Mecha Bunny, all of this nonsense is something little kids would really dig. This is a kids show and I really like whenever it leans into that. It doesn't do it enough for my liking. But frankly, neither do most other DC toons.
A seal? Interesting.
SO fun. ****.
Teen Titans Go! "Meow Cats Go!"
What the heck did I just see? Whatever it was it was wicked disturbing, and I had to do everything in my power to prevent myself from smashing my TV. I'm still not sure that bit of restraint on my end was the correct, ethical move.
And why does the cartoon turn into Craig Of The Creek halfway through?
I do not understand April Fool's Day. 0.
Power Ranger Dino Fury "Superstition Strikes"
Wow, that was super dumb. Indefensibly so. *.
Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy "More Than Meets The Eye"
First Decepticon on the show. Did the original Rescue Bots ever use Decepticons? If not it's the first Decepticon ever on a Rescue Bots show.
Hotshot's bigotry was obnoxious (he was saying some truly heinous things) but I found most of the episode interesting.
It was interesting to get an explanation as to how huge Bots can shrink into tiny objects, although I'm not sure the logic or the science holds up there. Even if the Bots were somehow able to compact into a cassette tape they should still weigh the same as a robot rather than a cassette. That's how mass works.
It's also news to me that the Aligned Continuity's Lazerbeak doesn't have a criminal record. He was always up to bad stuff on Transformers Prime. I like his classic redesign here though.
Learning Wedge used to be a Decepticon is also a pretty cool twist. The show doesn't usually EVER surprise me so I liked it when it did.
Also somebody should probably have pointed out that Grimlock used to be a Decepticon in the Aligned Continuity.
Hotshot sucks per usual but I actually mostly liked that. ****.
Transformers: Rescue Bot Academy "Things That Go Bot In The Night"
Did the mystery actually HAVE to be the most obvious suspect? Of course it was Hoist! There was no-one else it could be. What I don't like is that he didn't get in any trouble for it. Sludge and Snarl were about to be exiled to a gas planet but Hoist is instantly forgiven? That's not right.
Didn't like that one. Although it's interesting Lazerbeak is going to be a permanent fixture on the show. *1/2.
Bless The Harts "Easter's 11"
That was very unpleasant. The show tends to be unpleasant in general, but often the episode will work out overall anyways. That didn't. The Megachurch stuff was just awful.
I did like Wayne teaching Violet and David a lesson about their stupid and cruel pranks. I wish that happened more often.
But I didn't like this week otherwise. But hey, good news! Bless the Harts won the week of Fox toons! Neat trick, right? *1/2.
Clarice "How Does It Feel To Be So Beautiful"
Martin is the worst mother ever. It would be one thing if she actually wanted to help Catherine. But she's using her as a prop to say how much she sucks. I think Martin is the actual broken person in that house.
Sean's story of his wife was great. Really moving and brutal in the right places.
The man in Clarice's vision being Krendler's lawyer is an interesting twist. I wonder where they will go with it.
For the record, Clark saying he wants to keeps the circle small to Ardelia makes me instantly distrust him. He just became the prime suspect of being the leak by doing that.
It's weird, but the procedural aspect of the show was absent this week. And I didn't actually mind it so much. ***1/2.
The Blacklist "Captain Kidd"
I didn't hate watching it, but afterwards I sort of had a sour taste in my mouth. There were a whole bunch of unpleasant connotations left over. I think a strong ending can really help a weak episode. But the opposite is also true. A weak ending can really hurt an otherwise strong episode. And I think that's what happened here. I felt a certain level of futility from what just happened, which is in my opinion, not something I want or deserve to feel when watching this specific show. It hasn't earned that, and frankly I think few shows have. As it stands I'm unhappy with the place the episode left us on, even if the rest of the episode seemed solid.
One more thing: I was mesmerized by the kid reciting The Tell-Tale Heart. But that's how I knew it's fiction. Kids that age all read in a boring monotone voice. They never EVER read anything in a remotely passionate way. I get these kids were supposedly Poe groupies. But I'm betting even Harry Potter fans are probably unable to read those books aloud without sounding as if they are bored with them. That's just how kids read.
I was not crazy how that turned out. **1/2.