Reviews

I've been a fan of Godzilla and enjoyed several of the films. I watched both the Japanese and English versions of the film and enjoyed them both, preferring the Japanese. A while ago, I decided to rent this film due to its status as the first Godzilla sequel. I watched the Japanese version and I thought it was a decent film. It was far from perfect, mostly because the story had points that could've been from any other film. Other than that, the story was okay and the characters were as likable as their predecessors (one of whom makes a short appearance here). Of course, you can't judge a Godzilla film without mentioning the monster scenes, which were good here. The under cranking here is weird and doesn't belong, but the monster fighting was still good and a great start of pitting Godzilla against other monsters. All in all, good film. Not perfect and less good than many of the succeeding films and definitely a letdown compared to the original, but this film is worth at least a few viewings.

I'll take this opportunity to say my assessment and my score is for the Japanese version. The American version is absolute garbage. It adds a stupid prologue talking about the history of Earth and goes south from there. The US version has the main character narrate everything, even the things any idiot can clearly see. The voice acting was okay, but a huge step down. The writing that turned the Japanese version into the US version was terrible. All in all, the only good thing about the US version is highlighting the Japanese version's strengths. 1 star for this version, 2 if you're a Star Trek fan as well as a Godzilla fan, as a young pre-Star Trek George Takei was one of the voice actors and probably one of the better voice actors (I'll admit, Star Trek may be coloring my opinion). Finding all the characters he does was the only joy I got out of the Japanese version. If you're not a fan of Star Trek or Godzilla, avoid the US version. If you like Godzilla, watch it once, just to say you saw it, then stay the heck away and stick with the superior Japanese version. If nothing else, remember I thought the Japanese version was flawed and far from perfect. If I'm now calling it a classic and superior, I pray that's a red flag to you about the US version.

This isn't a perfect film. Heck, 8/10 may be generous. However, this was a really funny film, definitely a 7/10. I like Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel, and Jorma Taccone as Chaka (the hairy ape man). I love how a lot of jokes come from some of the silliness that is often not from the film's exact premise (Will, the character, having fireworks the entire film and not using them, or how a Broadway show tune save them from a few monsters). One of the funniest elements was Grumpy, the obligatory T-Rex star. I loved how they gave this T-Rex a character arc. That alone made this film even more awesome. I really felt that there was personality to Grumpy and his (her?) rivalry with Will Ferrell made for some of the funniest bits of the film. Granted, some jokes fell flat and there were moments that made no sense, even within the the film's set of rules. It's pretty much not a film if you enjoy dumb humor. However, I recommend this film. Excellent comedy and a blind buy at that.

***Spoilers*** This is not a perfect film. This film does not have the same heart as most, better, films have, like the original version. Perseus is definitely a brooding hero, and the gods are almost villains in this film, especially Zeus. (and that's saying something, because Zeus wasn't the most likable character in the 1981 film). Perseus got Pegasus way too easily. It was better when they had to bond like the 1981 version Also, Perseus' journey carried more weight when his love was also the female in danger, the case of the 1981 film but not the 2010 film. As a result, we don't feel the same for Andromeda of the 2010 film like we do for the love interest/Kraken snack Andromeda of the 1981 film. Finally, some characters seemed to not serve that big a purpose, like the two hunters or the Djinn. Finally, Bubo is missing except for a cameo. It's a minor complaint and doesn't factor that much into what I don't like about the film, but Bubo is still awesome.

However, the film does have a lot going for it. First off, they remade the film while making it different enough that it's not the same film with updated effects. Plus, it's fun watching people fighting big monsters, simple as that. Also, this film still has heart. Perseus does care about his love interest, as does Liam Neeson's Zeus for his mortal sun (at least he does it without bullying his fellow gods, which I can't say for Laurence Olivier's Zeus from the 1981 counterpart). Heck, Calibos, the monstrous villain from both versions has a redemption moment. It's probably helped by the fact that Calibos' story is tied directly into Perseus', instead of just being thrown in because they liked the same girl. I also liked how mostly everyone in Perseus' party in this version are expanded. You feel the growing of their relationship with Perseus and it's more believable them following Perseus into danger. There's also humor, including references to the scorpion fight while they travel and Bubo's cameo. There's also a feeling that Perseus is fighting for Argo and mankind in this version and not just to save Andromeda like in 1981. Sure, he's brooding, but he feels like a true hero. Finally, and I say this believing Ray Harryhausen's effects work is equally awesome, the effects work is pretty awesome. While the Kraken design isn't as awesome as Harryhausen, I like the designs for Medusa and the scorpions. The Pegasus from 2010 is perfect and even trounces Harryhausen's Pegasus, which is something since I thought his was epic. There were times when Harryhausen's work blends in with the live action better than this version (and he did it with far fewer people), but mostly the effects here are spot on.

All in all, I consider this film only slightly inferior to the 1981 film, which has its own serious story problems (I would give the 1981 film a 7, just like this version). If you like Harryhausen's swan song, you should give this film a fair shake. At least rent it and watch it while remembering that, even if this film was exactly the same as the original, it's still not 1981 film. It's a retelling that pays tribute to the original and becomes its own film. You don't have to watch the 1981 film to appreciate this one. (Although watching and enjoying the 1981 film make the Bubo scene that much better)

I'll be honest; I was only interested in JAG because it gave birth to my favorite show NCIS. I rented the two DVDs that contained the pilot episodes. Since my family liked NCIS, I waited to watch the pilot for NCIS and watch them with my family. In the meantime, I watched the episodes before the first part of the pilot (I got the discs one at a time). I got hooked fast. I liked how each episode felt interconnected, with either some plot points being set up before the episodes where they were center stage or past ones have at least a minor effect on the current episode. I also got to loving the characters. Harm and Mac are a great combo, with them fighting each other outside or inside of the courtroom one moment and buddies the next. I enjoyed Admiral Chegwidden and Bud, as well as Harriet. There was a great sense of humor. It may've been a little more serious than NCIS, but I say JAG is just as funny as NCIS. It got to the point where when I got to the NCIS pilot episodes, the reasons I even gave JAG the time of day, (SLIGHT SPOILER) I had hard time deciding who to root for: My old friend Gibbs, or my new one Rabb. Needless to say, JAG is an awesome show. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since NCIS is so good that JAG is good. I highly recommend this show. I think it's better than both Law & Order and CSI (no offense meant to fans of those shows).

POSSIBLE SPOILERS I went to a screening yesterday for this film with my mom. After reading some of the reviews, I thought I was in for a mess, which would have been sad since Peter Jackson is one of my favorite directors. However, the film was pretty good. The story had heart, showing how the family were together in the end to help each other. I also thought Susie's role in the film was great, being the catalyst for her father's search for her. There was a little bit too much of the CG world, but it wasn't that bad. They were very nice, which in itself serves to show how people have to learn to move on. The cast did a good job in the film, especially Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, and Nikki SooHoo. All in all, unless serious re-cutting was involved between when earlier reviewers saw this film and I did, I don't know why it's hated so much. I never read the book, so I don't know how it compares to the movie. My mom thought it was weird, so the best I can offer is give the movie a chance before bagging on it. You may be pleasantly surprised, like me.