BONUS: The Creator

This was one of the more anticipated movies for me.

Since the trailer I was curious to see what this movie would do, it's unnaturaly rare for a sci-fi movie to come out that isn't based on or continuing from some pre-established universe. Now, I saw tidbits and moments where it reminded me of something but science fiction has been my bread and butter almost from conception so it was bound to occur. But it is original and I know the American Movie quote applies to basically everything, "All your ideas have to come from somewhere, you can't think up an idea all on your own." but I'm pretty happy with it. Set in the year 2062 mankind and robots have been warring since a nuclear warhead was launched on Los Angeles (you'd be surprised how often that occurs) and tale of a secret weapon reaches the US military, who dispatch a soldier named Joshua who discovers the "ultimate weapon" is but a young robotic girl and pretty soon keeps the girl safe from harm as more or less the war comes to a head. That's actually being very unfair to this movie, because there is a lot that happens in this roughly two hour film, Joshua has his own motives and backstory which get expanded upon, you learn about the creation of the girl named Alpha, you don't entirely get a clear picture of this world and how robotics have factored into it since their inception yet it still works and crafts an interesting world. The movie is practically a drama with a sci-fi shell to it, there is a lot of emotion and heart showcased. There's almost too much to talk about, and granted most of it is good but I don't think I could accurately point it all out. The only bad thing I can say about the movie and even then it's a relatively small quibble is the movie has a small tone problem, it's like 97% serious and 3% silly but I'll take it. Just to name a few bits of reference I recognized that may help paint the picture more I saw bits of Blade Runner with it's architecture and animosity towards robots, actually a good bit of I Robot with how machines can evolve to become more than just a machine so a shared point with Blade Runner again and how one robot is deemed a savior by other robots, and I guess The Last Of Us with a grown adult protecting a child who can vastly affect the world but I'll admit I don't know much about that game series, I even saw a segment of The Animatrix in there. Yet it does do it's own thing with it, and I was fascinated and taken in with the world which I think is a tell tale sign of whether or not a movie is good, if you can get immersed and want to know more I consider that a success. John David Washington is a good lead and easily identifiable with, the chemistry is good with Madeleine Yuna Voyles who plays Alpha they have a real good dynamic that blooms to the end, and he does act his heart out here. Madeleine is amazing, taking the concept of a sheltered child to new territory, she has a lot of charm and you do want to see the best possible outcome for her, it just works very well. The movie hinges entirely on our leads and they pull it off I feel. The effects work is quite impressive and it looks real enough showing both standard robots but also human robots, it's seamless how they handled it! I have no clue if more stories will be told of this world but it does have potential for more, if ever a comic book or animated show came around I'd be glad to pick it up. It's different enough for sci-fi fans and the concept of the ghost in the machine has always held my imagination in a firm grip, when does a perceptual schematic become conciousness? When does a difference engine become the search for truth? When does a personality simulation become the bitter mote of a soul? That my friends is the right question for our potential future. A solid recommendation to see it in the theater, 3.5 stars, 7.5/10!

In Retrospect: Rogue One

You may fire when ready.

I forgot how amazing Peter Cushing was in this! I don't care if it's cgi, it's Peter Cushing back to do another movie. Automatic 12 stars out of 10, when you add Carrie Fisher in this as well. I love Star Wars, the original 1977 Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw if you have somehow forgotten that, I already talk about it enough. But it was the first time I saw these actors in my life, and then through the years I saw them in more things. And they are gone now, so it was both triumphant and crushing to see them in this movie again. So Rogue One is still a great Star Wars movie, now that I have watched Rebels, I noticed several more easter eggs that flew by me the first viewing in theaters. It was a lot of fun, the characters in my opinion got better with repeated viewings. Now that I have the ability to rewind and pause, I could gather much more evidence of good performances in this movie. Jyn Erso still feels like an outsider to it all but becomes a true Rebel as the film progresses, Cassian Andor is this hard edged, no nonsense captain willing to do shall we say...morally ambiguous things. In fact, the Rebel Alliance isn't all comradery and heroes and doing the right thing no matter what. They do bad things in this movie, which is very much more like a real war, not everybody believes in their side and does things they may not be proud of. That is a great aspect. Krennic is a backstabbing son of a mother, has no respect or anything for other people, so he gets under your skin quickly. All the side characters like Baze or Ip Man (Yeah I know his name is Chirrut, but it's Donnie Yen so he's Ip Man!) got a lot better as well. Everyone says the Battle of Scarif is the best space battle in Star Wars, I would still say either of the Death Star assaults but it is pretty spectacular. I still am not a fan of Vader's castle on Mustafar though, now people would argue "Well it's on Mustafar because that's where he lost everything. Being there taps into his anger, and pain, therefore making him more powerful in the dark side." and I don't like it. I loved the idea he had this castle on a remote, desolate ice planet, more desolate than Hoth that he could retreat to away from the Emperor. The imagery alone in my mind makes it so badass but whatever, I didn't make the movie. The ending scene was still unbelievable, and it does indeed just keep getting more awesome every time. So worth buying it, so awesome still, Rogue One makes a fine addition to my collection. Will it be part of yours too?

Rogue One

I'm not disappointed.

New Star Wars movie!!! How was it? They did a very good job with it, it was a well made, well put together movie that encapsulates what happened before A New Hope. I enjoyed it, the story I totally rolled with, it was very believable that this is how the Rebels got the Death Star plans. The cast was great, even though I'm not the biggest Felicity Jones fan but Mads Mikkelsen and Donnie Yen and James Earl Jones were fantastic, and I have to say we see some unexpected faces in this movie. I was stunned to see so many familiar faces from the series. Senator Bail Organa from Episode 3 made an appearance, Darth Vader obviously, those two hecklers in the cantina from Episode 4, mentions of Obi-Wan, but most shocking of all was Peter Cushing. I was wondering if they were going to put Tarkin in the movie but...there he was! Peter Cushing as I live and breathe! It looked just like him, it sounded like him, I was freaking out in my seat whenever I saw him! That was positively shocking, the effects in this movie were so outstanding that they brought an old friend back from years gone by. Speaking of which, the film looks amazing with plenty of space battles, and blaster fights throughout. I was wondering if they were almost going to do a straight up war movie, and while it did have it's moments it still felt like Star Wars. They didn't screw around with the continuity, in fact they got it down impeccably with the attention to detail in all you see and remember from the original Star Wars. I'd like to see someone whine about that exhaust port on the Death Star now. What was surprising most is, most of the footage in the trailers is NOT in the movie. A good 80% of all the trailers look drastically different from the finished film. Now other films were like this, like Suicide Squad, the movie looked ever so slightly different from the film (Don't worry I still need to look back at Suicide Squad, I haven't forgotten.) but with this movie you might as well have not seen the trailers. Great movie, definitely go see it, I know I probably will again! Thanks for reading, enjoy the movie, and I shall see you guys next week.

Godzilla (2014)

Good job Gareth Edwards, you did the seemingly impossible.

The newest American Godzilla movie, why do people not like this one so much? I thought it was pretty damn good all things considered. Could have been much, much worse but it wasn't and that is the important thing. Right from the beginning it catches your attention with a great opening credits scene taking a stock and cliche opening and making it interesting, but we also get Bryan Cranston, being awesome like always (No I haven't seen Breaking Bad yet. Please hold your fire.). He plays a scientist working at a nuclear power plant in Japan, when suddenly the reactor becomes unstable. Cut to 15 years later, and he is on the hunt for answers as to what truly happened that day, accompanied by his son played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson who works in the military as they discover monsters laying dormant. They meet another scientist Dr. Serizawa (Same name as the scientist in the 1954 version) played by Ken Watanabe who informs them that the monsters are in fact from prehistoric times and that if they ever got loose, there is a natural force to combat them, Gojira. The monsters soon awaken and start a trek to repopulate their species which causes the Big G to be called on the scene to deal with them. The film was directed by Gareth Edwards, who makes very visual films and this is no exception. True it is set in modern day but it has such striking color and well done cinematography that it gives the film a bit more visual appeal. I can narrow it down to a single scene, the HALO jump, coupled together with the iconic and haunting music used in 2001: A Space Odyssey, make it one of the most memorable scenes in the entire movie. Now a few people didn't like this movie very much down to one problem, a lack of screen time from certain characters. Now honestly I had no problem with that, even though in this two hour film you only see a grand total of 10 minutes of Godzilla and yeah, you want to see the big guy a lot but isn't that the case with all Godzilla movies? You want to see him almost all the time on screen, I get that, but I loved the mystery around the monsters and how they were revealed throughout the film. You get glimpses of Godzilla throughout the whole movie but it's rare you see a full head to toe shot of him but it really works! It gives you a great sense of just how truly giant he is, I love the design of it very much, looks like the King Of The Monsters equivalent of me actually. The fight scenes are really good, although they tease just a bit, you see them throw down multiple times but not the whole fight until the end. That doesn't bother me a bit, I like bits and pieces before the grand finale and yes it is worth it in my opinion. I can't wait for the sequel which is due in 2019 if memory serves correct, so still awhile to go. But we have plenty more monster films in the future to tide me over until then. Thank you so much for joining me in Japan. Goodnight.