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!

Tokyo Vice

We're keeping the ball rolling here on Japan.




Again, very similar circumstances brought this show to my attention and I have no problem saying a big draw point to it was Ken Watanabe and seeing Japan set in the 90s. Kinda already burned me first episode that the show takes place at the tail end of the 90s, and really there isn't much evidence throughout to solidify the time period but more on that later. So our story follows american news journalist Jake Adelstein as he gets his first reporting job at a japanese newspaper and fairly quickly gets wind of a loan service connected with several suicides and tries to gather information on that while navigating the workplace environment, the yakuza, and a semi-romantic life. I will say straight up, not a bad premise but I feel even at the end of this season, and a second one has been approved, it does still feel like buildup to the next thing. Nothing big happens except for something one of our main players gets into. It is a show where the first season is setting the board with all the pieces in place before stuff really kicks off. It's also an ensemble cast and while undoubtedly Jake is our main lead, each player has ties to the central conflict of crime bosses in Tokyo. We have Samantha, a direct and no bullshit american who works as a hostess in yakuza controlled businesses. Sato, who is a member of the yakuza and frequently interacts with Jake and Samantha, even forming a kinda sorta love triangle. Katagiri, a Tokyo cop who hasn't ever been bribed and takes Jake under his wing to bust up the crime families and educate him on how the system of law works in Japan. And Eimi, who is Jake's superior and busts his ass frequently to not play detective and simply report but slowly gets involved in the deduction process. So it's this intricately designed web of a story but the good news is it's not difficult to keep up with, each main character has a distinct setting and supporting cast to where you know very quickly who each person is and what aspect of the story is being progressed. And the more I write this out, the more I think it's very Gotham-esque. A first season where things happen here and there but leave the hard hits till the last episode and leaves you more with intrigue than satisfaction for the next season, Katagiri is very much a Jim Gordon character with Jake being a quasi Bruce digging into the seedy underbelly of the city, and each character has a unique setting that further identifies them with many many ties focusing on the center of organized crime families. Cut the ludicrous storylines, case of the week, and budding rogues gallery out of Gotham and you aren't too far off the mark for Tokyo Vice. It didn't grab me as immediately or as strongly as Miss Sherlock but I was willing to see it to the end, it's only 8 episodes each about an hour long, and I thought it was decent. The casting is very solid in my opinion, first thing I've seen of Ansel Elgort since Baby Driver and he is a good lead, and props to the guy for being dedicated enough to learn japanese, which he pulls off effortlessly. Ken is not as prevalent as I would have liked him to be, but the performance is still good though I wish he got more attention in guiding Jake through this minefield of a city and more screentime. Rachel Keller is decent, not at all bashing anybody's acting in this show honestly they are performing everything with a lot of conviction and presence, yet I liked her more when she was a side character and not when she got upgraded to main character status but I blame that more on the plot than the woman herself. Rinko Kikuchi I really liked and while she is the meanest (the smallest that is) player in this ensemble, I really really hope she gets more screentime cause I could tell when I first saw her she was going to be interesting, she was going to have more to her than you think, and we get some of that so I'm looking forward to more of her. Sho Kasamatsu is in my opinion the most interesting in terms of character, he can be very laid back and fun for he is a young man and can be indeed funny, yet he has that anger and violence that would be expected from a gang member but at that same time you can tell it's not quite the life he would want for himself. A familiar character type of a reluctant criminal but done very well. So cast is rock solid, the production values are high but not top of the line which I would expect nothing less of, best intro to a modern series I've seen in a hot minute I mean beautifully styllish and unique, I dig it man. Now onto the time period idiosyncrasies, there isn't a great deal to remind you this show takes place in the 1990s. Now does that necessarily mean I need to see a Pokemon advert in the background, or see someone order a Zima in a bar, or carry around a Walkman on the streets every 5 minutes? Of course not, and you do get bits of 90s tech predominantly more so than any other facet of the decade. You got your mini cassettes, you got your portable phones, you got your VHS tapes, you got your Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, but the show looks like it was made in 2022 for modern times, with that ultra crisp definition of cinematography and admirable production of sets and clothing. Even when it flashes back to 1994 it doesn't do much to illustrate the time period. The show is based on a real reporter and all the shit that went down in his time in Japan in the 90s, but they could have updated the timeframe to present day and it wouldn't have changed a damn thing production wise. There is an art to making things look dated, look legit if it was made in a certain time and place in the world, and I don't get the sense a lot of modern filmmakers know how to achieve such a thing which is a rant for a whole other day. All in all, it's a decent but ultimately average first season, it has some good moments, some intrigue, good characters, but not a lot of story progression just not a whole lot gets accomplished but I figure they can really expand and knock this second season out of the park now that they've got their set up done and squared away to get people settled in this world they are fashioning. 2.5 stars, 7/10, one more show to go and it's not one you would really think to go in tandem with the rest this week.

The Last Samurai

Alright America, you did good.

It was about high time after many reviews of films set in a very specific time in history to see if american filmmakers could succesfuly pay tribute to the elite class of warriors known the world over. And while it does take a grab bag of different historical elements, and not being a straight up historical recounting, the story it crafts is excellent. An american soldier is hired to train japanese soldiers in an attempt to quell a samurai rebellion, however after the first encounter he is taken by the samurai and spends months with them. He learns a bit of the language, their lifestyle, forms friendships, and eventually fights with them against the Imperial Army. It's a lot better than I'm making it out to be, this is not your cookie cutter Pocahontas/Dances With Wolves/Avatar horseshit, it has a lot more meat to it whether you're familiar with the time frame and culture or not. Surprisingly the film did much better in Japan than America, receiving a lot of praise and a very good box office intake while domestically it didn't even make it's budget back. It's a bit of a shame to see people in my own country still refuse to view films in different languages, it's not as bad as it was when this film released but it could always be better. And it is worth your time, it does go at a slow pace but never to the point of being boring or dragging at places, every scene has a reason to be, the shots are ridiculously gorgeous at times, the music is nice, the acting is the reason you stay invested even though the story is a strong one. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Tom Cruise's character, but to see a very broken down, emotionally damaged, full on PTSD afflicted army officer who finds a bit of solace in a small village while gaining appreciation for the warriors who live there and continually learns more about them is a good narrative. It helps center even the most uncultured of individuals to understand what they are seeing. Ken Watanabe is amazing as always, so good he got his first and only Academy Award nomination which I find to be just inexcusable by the way, his character is against the rapid modernization and dissolving of his creed yet he doesn't take an antagonistic edge. The movie is more about the clashing of ideologies than swords, during the latter half of the 1800s Japan was taking it's first steps into the modern world after about 200 years of self isolation, a country frozen in time and suffered countless civil wars. And the government essentially outlaws samurai, which was a very real thing that happened and affected a lot of people. So you can understand why he stands against the governement and more importantly the Emperor who he taught as a young boy, it's just a difference of opinions with no ill will towards the other. It's such a good dynamic because in war films, there is no good or evil but just a conflict that consumes all in it's wake whether you see the scars it leaves on others or not. Samurai have a code of ethics that is showcased in this movie, and the director obviously did his homework because the film implements so much of the time period and the culture in the movie, it really is very commendable. I was not disappointed with any facet of the finished product, and while there are inevitable discrepancies with history it never detracted from the overall experience. It really is a great film that has stuff to say and commits to it's vision from beginning to end. There's no tropes, there's no emotional manipulation, it just tells the story. That's an impressive feat for any film let alone a period piece. It really affirms why I appreciate and enjoy movies of that time period and culture, and I was flipping through other examples of samurai cinema outside of the Kurosawa library and there is so much more to enjoy so I'll pick a handful of other movies to discuss and share with next week from other classic names of the chanbara genre. I strongly recommend this movie even if it is a one time viewing, and I give it a full 4 stars, 8.5/10!

In Retrospect: Godzilla King Of The Monsters

Breaking news, I'm late on this one. It's been on video for what, 3 weeks and I'm just now getting to it? Yeah...sorry.

Spoilers people, I still love this movie just as much as I did in theaters! I seriously have no idea what in the hell people were expecting from this movie but I got what I wanted. I mean, in a Godzilla movie there's a lot of monsters fighting?? I never would have guessed! I could go on all day about the people who complained that this movie is just action and has "too much fighting in it", so I'll just say this and move on, they're idiots. Okay let's move on class! Now of course I took ever so slight issue with this movie because no film is perfect, except for that one movie I never shut the hell up about, but the good stuff outweighed the bad to where I could deal with it. I wasn't a fan of our new main characters, Mark was one note and I didn't understand why he was even in the movie, Emma was batshit crazy and more importantly an absolute moron who's motivations could not have been more poor if she tried, I liked Maddie though I got some Gamera vibes from her, plus the family dynamic didn't hold much water for me. It's kinda hard for me to feel bad about a family when almost every member infuriates me, and they have no real gripping connection. I could go on about more details with Emma but again I'll summarize, so if these kaiju or these titans as they movie loves to call them have world healing powers AND you literally have a machine that could make them roll over and play dead if you wish then might I ask what the big issue is beyond the fact that you are made of stupid "Dr." Emma Russell? Ugh, Vera I adore you so and I know for a fact you have worked in better roles than this but my God I can't stand this character. But it's a story/script problem, every person acts very well in this movie and I have more performances I must talk about. I'm actually really happy Charles Dance lives to die another day, cause I know he can give an even more badass potrayal in future films (Did you know he was the Phantom Of The Opera back in 1990? Weird.). What I hate more than the main characters is the mostly unceremonious deaths of our one link to the first movie! Now I could argue as to why Mark instead of Dr. Serizawa should have sacrificed himself but it doesn't hurt the story that he did. I just hate seeing him go, how's he supposed to watch the rematch of the century? I hate it. Oh and kill my favorite girl why don't you? I can understand if Sally Hawkins could not have been in the next movie or two, I have no issue with that but why kill her off? Just write her out in the next movie, oh she's working on some important research for a new species so she can't come and watch Godzilla wreck Kong. Pisses me off! Urgh, moving on. At least I fully love the monsters, I'm so happy they kept Ghidorah as a space dragon because it improved the movie, Mothra is a friggin' Queen and no one disrespects the Queen and lives, unlike Rodan who's a little bitch and will kneel before anyone, and I really dig the new monsters we mainly see at the end. But good lord I love the big King G, I dig the new updated design, I love how he goes all critical meltdown at the end without dying though technically I guess Mothra transferring her power was another nod to Godzilla Vs. DESTOROYAH, he just was the best. I mean obviously, but you know. PS. I do see the fanart of Mothra and Godzilla, and it is absurdly adorable and I love everything about it. But what will come next after Godzilla Vs. Kong? This was a pretty epic movie with a good story, both bad and really damn good character writing, beautiful cinematography and color, and of course incredibly well done monster scenes. So can the title brawl for the world heavyweight king of monsters surpass this? Only time will tell.

In Retrospect: Detective Pikachu

I finally figured it out guys.

The thought occured to me while I was watching this movie, why is Detective Pikachu the absolute best video game movie? What makes this film have the secret ingredient that other video game movies have tried and failed to have for decades? Other movies have not entirely replicated their games, the Super Mario Bros. Movie took liberties with the story, Street Fighter The Movie didn't follow the plot perfectly, yet this one worked. Why? And it took me forever to find out but now I know, Pokemon has no story. It just doesn't. What is the plot of Pokemon Red and Blue? You journey out into the world, collect fantastical creatures, and challenge leaders of various gyms until in the end there can be only one. And that is why this movie works! You can do whatever you wish with the story and it would completely work. Pokemon is a crafted miracle, this series has existed for just as long if not longer than myself, so 25 years, and though it hasn't reached that Pokemania fever in the late 90s leading into the new millenium again, it is still popular, still beloved, still embedded in pop culture. Now I'm not saying Pokemon could be the one and only video game series that could eveeerrrr be made into a movie, with the right creative team you could make a Legend Of Zelda movie, you could make a Halo movie, You could make an Earthbound movie for crying out loud! It is all possible. Now let's be harshly true with ourselves, video game movies are nearly impossible to make and make well. But Pokemon is that golden child because it has just enough of reality mixed with the fantastical elements to make it work, it has always been a feasible movie to make. You take our normal everyday world, throw in some creative creatures, and bam you got a series you could do anything with. It's really quite amazing. Plus you add perfect timing with my generation having kids of their own and this was always going to be a surefire hit! But does the film work on repeat viewing when you know the solution to the mystery? Ehhhh....some things really work, I love what they did with Ditto, I love the fact they pull a 1989 Batman with the gas balloons, the stuff they subvert is well done, buuut seriously the kid just...forgot his dad's voice? Was it really that hard to defeat the villain? In fact the villains plan was a bit, huuuh?? So yeah, the ending is a bit mixed but when more than half the movie is a fun, enjoyable, colorful, and very entertaining movie you don't mind too much. Still needs more Snorlax though. I mean could you imagine if he got dosed with that gas and just blasted hyperbeams and pulled a Man Of Steel, just levelling skyscrapers? Tonally inconsistent, yes. Incredible joygasm, ohhhh yeeeeah. I know he's practically shaped like a friend, and honestly I can't praise the art direction with the pokemon enough, but come on! Give my boy some love! Still a 7/10 despite the slight issues, can't wait to see more.

Godzilla King Of The Monsters (2019)

Well I'm just a bubble of emotions right now!

See all I want to do is just write this movie is awesome, and amazing, and you should really go see it but I can't do that! I have to talk about it, but I want to talk about every single little thing and I can't do that either because I firmly believe in no real spoilers until at least a movie is out on video. So what the hell do I write? I'm still riding out that fangasm adrenaline and my mind is blank because it was so awesome! Well I really liked the story, it had some twists here and there, payed loving tribute to Toho's flagship series in many many ways, with lots to keep you not only interested but invested, and even if you weren't a major fan of the 2014 movie you'll probably enjoy and appreciate this one a lot. The new characters have interesting dynamics to the story and are gladly welcomed against the three alumni of the 2014 movie. The kaiju themselves have excellent designs and the fact that they throw some things only fans would notice showed that Toho actually had some weight to the production beyond just licensing Godzilla. Now that I think about it, this is the second Toho movie I've done in the theater, so hey great year for them and me! The action is well shot and gets you all kinds of fired up, with never a dull moment even in the human scenes. I'm not sure how this will segueway into Godzilla Vs. Kong, but I am even more interested and excited for that movie now! It's a really good movie, I personally just loved it, but Godzilla is a very niche market even in Japan. He has his dedicated fans all around the world, and I hope this movie creates more. There was a lot of love in the theater for the other monsters than Godzilla, especially Mothra and that makes me very happy and proud of all these creative minds that came up with such fantastic creature, their look, their personalities and history, and the practical effects that made them become reality for people of every nationality and language to love and enjoy. Despite what people may tell you, Godzilla is for everyone and it just takes an open imagination and a big heart for monsters to make you a die hard fan. 65 years running strong, long live the king.

Detective Pikachu

You win this round Ryan...

Thankfully Detective Pikachu didn't suck. I could even tell it was going to be a good movie before the title, not only did they have a great japanese calligraphy titles, though still in english but Legendary and my boy Toho worked on this movie! Awwww yeah! And it was good, it's a fun little movie to take your kids too, I was shocked to see a lot of older people there and I ain't talking 2 to 5 years older than me, I mean I saw a couple with no kiddos and they looked in their late 30s. That's friggin' awesome, that is love and dedication! But I also saw the people of my generation bring their kids to see it and I thought that was so cool. They even gave me a pack of Pokemon cards at the theater for being there opening day, can you even get more rad than that?? No. So the movie follows a young man named Tim who is given the unfortunate news of his father's supposed death but is swayed to help a Pikachu who can actually speak english and be understood only by Tim. So they team up and try to discover what happened to his pop, and adventure and hi-jinx ensue! I like our main character, he's a reluctant main character but not annoyingly so, he has a lot of family baggage and is just trying his best to uncover the truth. I didn't hate Ryan Reynolds surprisingly, he wasn't annoying and brought some heart to the role, and was even a teensy bit cute but I blame that on the design. If there was one little bugging me problem, there's this character who's been following the crime of Tim's dad and helps out with the investigation, and....she wasn't that great a character. And I know what they were trying to do, they were trying to do a Misty, a no nonsense, emotionally charged, talkative, and kinda bossy girl that tags along with our main character who has some Ash qualities about him. But it didn't work, there was no firm grip on this character and what they wanted to do with her, and it isn't the actresses fault she plays it well, her character was just all over the place. But what very small grievance I take with that gets washed away with the world building, I love this world! The designs are great, these are real sets, they got great lighting with the bright signs yet still look fully set in the real world. The Pokemon designs are great, they look as if they existed, not so much the graphics but the physicality of them, Pikachu is this ball of fuzz and electricity, Charizard is this scaly lizard that breathes fire, Snorlax looks like the most comfy bed in the existence of ever, and I think the CG is not supposed to look real and that it is supposed to look otherworldly and different, they did such a good job! I also like how they integrate the world of Pokemon into the realism, there's no identical looking Nurse Joy's or over the top beloved Team Rocket plans, people have Pokemon companions and work together, the police force has Growlithe's as police dogs, the firefighters have a squad of Squirttle, just little touches like that help the immersion of this world. I also like how the movie has twists and misdirects, you're not just seeing a longer version of the trailer, that was what I was worried about most. But it was avoided and you get a fun movie for the family to go see and rent or buy in the future, and I swear the ending credits are almost worth the price of admission with glorious music and stylized illustrations. It's just good stuff all around, and I just remembered one more little nitpick I had, they could have had better voices for certain Pokemon. They got the same voice actress who's done Pikachu's boice since the beginning Ikue Otani in the movie, but Psyduck isn't the same and Mewtwo didn't have that deep great voice like in the first movie. Why? It's such a shame we couldn't hear them again but like I said it's a nitpick. Good movie, needs more Snorlax, 7/10!

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.