Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019)

2014’s Godzilla remake was Hollywood’s attempt to tell the famous story in a serious way. Ernest and emotional it turned Godzilla into a heroic figure and painted humanity in all its flaws. King of the Monsters director Daugherty described that fist film and this follow up in comparison with Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens. Seeing these two films now I understand. King of the Monsters builds on the story beats of the first film and the world building and takes it in a less cerebral more action packed direction similar to what happened in the Alien films.

And as knock down monster fighting film, King of the Monsters is great spectacle. The story is just enough to get us through from encounter to encounter without boredom. The narrative is economically told and focused on building the reasons for the set pieces and it does that well.

What it doesn't do well is the character building or believability. Characters act more like archetypes than real humans and they don't often make realistic choices, the kinds of choices that feel real and honest in the moment. Instead choices seemed put there to advance the plot in the way the film makers needed it to go. The story is a bit forced and not overly organic.

But what it does, big monster fight set pieces, is done well and the film remains enjoyable “for what it is” but it doesn’t go beyond that, doesn’t transcend its genre. That’s fine. It might have been nice to have it be something more, to use the story to tell something grander. There is an overly simplistic message about human folly and some skimmed over ideas about the methods used to address global problems but the film never gets into that enough.

King of the Monsters isn’t cringe or eye rolling despite a few plot and character moments which take us out of the film. For what it tries to do it does it well.

Godzilla King of the Monsters
Starring: Kyle Chandler, Ken Watanabe, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Zhang Ziyi, Bradley Witford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, O'Shea Jackson, Jr., David Strathairn, Joe Morton, CCH Pounder
Director: Michael Daugherty
Writers: Zach Shields, Michael Daugherty

Ma (2019)

Ma has an interesting premise which goes beyond what the trailers show you, but it falls apart in the third act when the film gives up any pacing and just lurches towards its climax. Any goodwill it had earned with its attempt at creating a complicated character gets spent on a rather forced and gratuitous ending that just doesn't feel earned.

Octavia Spencer is always a fascinating actor to watch. Much of the first part of the film works because of how she crafts her character. You aren't quite sure how sympathetic she will be. She creates a great deal of mystery. But once the film gives up on mystery a lot of that mystique is gone.

The problem becomes the grand plan just doesn't stack up. The schemes and mechanations required for i all to come together  just don’t ring true. Also the ending feels rushed, like hey just decided to finish it up without making it feel authentic.

So in the end what starts out promising kind of piddles out and leaves a lot to be desired.

Ma
Starring: Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Luke Evans, Alison Janney
Director: Tate Taylor
Writers: Scotty Landes, Tate Taylor

The Biggest Little Farm

The Biggest Little Farm is an inspiring story about a couple who starts a traditional farm and follows their adventures as they struggle to make it work. It is made by the couple themselves and is therefore their own loving tribute to the idea and dream they made a reality. As entertainment it mostly works  as I thought more about it I struggled with the format of the film.

John Chester is a cinematographer and this film shows he’s a good one. The film is beautiful and he captures the magic of a farm space filled with animals and gorgeous flora. He knows how to make a film that is beautiful to watch. Families will especially appreciate seeing how all the animals and humans interact and thrive together.

But I struggled with the tonal shifts of the film. Chester starts out the film with a moment of high anxiety, a wildfire is approaching their farm. As a starting point this is brilliant. It sets up the stakes before he jumps back to the creation of the farm and outlines how the farm was built with the hard work of those on it. But then when the film reaches its climax the fire ends up being nothing (in terms of this story) and is summarily dropped, making the film’s end feel rather anti-climactic.

This is systematic of the way the whole film is constructed. Chester sets up crisis after crisis only to give us either a cursory solution and move on or drop it entirely and move on. It never feels like the story is being told organically. The film is beautiful but its story feels constructed and awkward.

But that might be because the point isn’t to tell a story. This isn’t made by a documentary film maker following an event and bringing that to an audience. This is made by the person living it sharing their joy and pain. Its more of a chronicle than a story and as that it works. As I said you route for them and appreciate their dream. But it doesn't make a convincing or persuasive story. Still it remains generally enjoyable despite the loose ends and dropped details.

The Biggest Little Farm
Starring: John Chester, Molly Chester
Director: John Chester
Writers: Mark Monroe, John Chester

Aladdin (2019)

Sigh

The more Disney remakes their classic animated films into "live action" the more hollow they feel. I've complained many times about remaking films for no reason (other than profit) and the problems with this experience so I won't go into all the details. Suffice it to say that Aladdin is a pretty good example of all the reasons not to remake a perfect good film.

We've seen this story and know exactly how it will play out so there is no dramatic tension. The updates do nothing to enhance the story and to be honest the story was told better the first time. For an example that is rather small but impactful, one of the pivotal and most memorable moments of the first film is how Aladdin tricks the genie into giving him a free wish. That whole interaction tells us so much about the characters and its a clever and fun plot wrinkle. For some reason they change how he tricks the genie and the means takes away from all of this. It's simpler and feels more of a cheat than a clever exploitation. Also it is brushed off without creating the relationship that the the moment did in the first film. Similar changes to plot devises in remakes irk me. 1994's Miracle on 24th Street changed the judge's final reasoning into a way that just doesn't make sense.  The end of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake takes out the best moment from the story and substitutes something rather anti-climactic. The American remake of The Vanishing adds a completely different ending which fully erases the power of the original film. If you're going to just tell the same story over again then tell it, don't fuck up details.

But I get it. People love what they are familiar with and want to be told the same story again and again. Aladdin is beloved (if somewhat problematic) and therefore lets see it again but with bigger special effects! Wow.

But despite my disappointment in just another Disney remake let me focus on a few of the things I liked. The new song is pretty and gives Jasmine a little more room to shine. That's a plus. I like they removed the homophobic gay coding around Jafar, and removed all the mildly xenophobic references the first film had. That's another plus....

Um...

I can't think of anything else I enjoyed. I mean. It's a good story so if you haven't already seen it 100 times I guess it would be entertaining for that purpose. 

Will Smith is given the thankless and impossible job of following up Robin Williams' Genie. Smith is clever and funny but just doesn't come near to capturing the magic (pun intended) of the original Genie. Not sure anyone could.

And that's the problem over all. Aladdin just doesn't capture the original magic. Pun intended. These films still haven't ever done that yet. Most of the time when I was watching the film I just wanted to watch the original instead. This is a curiosity, nothing more, just like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and most of the remakes Disney has churned out recently.

Aladdin
Starring: Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, Alan Tudyk, Frank Welker
Director: Guy Richie
Writers: John August, Guy Richie

Beach Bum (2019)

Director Harmony Korine's films have never spoken to me in any strong way. Beach Bum, a loving portrait of a train wreck of a man, may be the one that opens me up to his work. The thing which resonated for me in the audience is the way the film embraces its subject and convinces us to as well. Also it is a remarkably beautiful film. Korine found a way to captivate me visually and push my buttons by telling a story that is at best challenging.

Beach Bum doesn't have much plot. We follow writer Moondog (McConaughey) as he stumbles through his indulgent life. The film feels like it is trying to make his audience uncomfortable, Moondog acts in ways that seem to provoke discomfort in us. He says things we're not supposed to say, dresses as we're not supposed to dress, uses substances and sex to excess, and his actions have consequences, including the loss of life. The juxtaposition between how we are lead to feel about him is in how the film doesn't judge him instead celebrating who he is, like a counterculture hero. We are forced to be torn between the film's push to cheer him on as a rejection of all the values we're supposed to feel and the way he viscerally makes us feel.

McConaughey plays right into his stereotype and is completely entertaining. That paired with Korine's lush and loving visual style makes watching Moondog quite fun. All of this plays into the discomfort we have with his life, until we let it go. And that's what's Beach Bum seems to be about, letting go of our discomfort and embracing divergence. It's not a bad message simplistically and the film never tries to justify its embrace of Moondog. Other than simply letting us see his charming humanity while never looking away from the way his behavior causes harm is what makes Beach Bum something to see.

Beach Bum is a fantasy. Moondog has a horse shoe up his ass. Most who live like him do not get to have the fairy tale ending he gets. But Beach Bum isn't a documentary. I don't think the film's point is to convince us of his worth based on his behavior, more to convince of us his worth because he's human. And it does so with an energetic and joyous approach which is generally fun to watch.

Beach Bum will make weird out quite a large part of its audience and will charm and romance another large part. But in the middle is an interesting place without either judgment or worship.

Beach Bum
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dog, Zach Efron, Jonah Hill, Stefania LaVie Owen, Martin Lawrence, Jimmy Buffett
Writer/Director: Harmoney Korine

Brightburn (2019)

People who think Superman is boring truly don't get it. Having all that power and not being corrupted is one of the most fascinating stories out there. The idea of what if Superman lost that struggle is a question which is also quite fascinating, and terrifying. As we see in the real world, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Superman isn't a myth because he can fly or is super strong. He is a myth because no one could be that hero. Could they?

So the idea of telling the Superman story where he uses that power for his own benefit and to dominate others is an interesting one to explore. Tied to that is the story of those who love him. How do you react when your own child does terrible things? All of this should have made such a fascinating story.

This is what Brightburn should have been, an exploration of the seductive nature of power. But it never gets to that. Brightburn pays lip service to showing the central figured bullied a bit and made to feel different but it never gets under the surface of that in a meaningful way. It kind of just plays paint-by-numbers horror, shortcutting the real work of telling that story, making us understand what it is like to be different and the desire to lash out, to take control. Instead Brightburn just assumes evil from the start, like he's Damien or something with no reason for it. The film gives Elizabeth banks some moments to deal with her conflict between her love for her son and her coming to the realization that he's evil, but in 90 minutes she doesn't have much time to get into much of that either.

Brightburn spends the precious little time it does have on making spectacular attack sequences. The scene in the diner is horrifying. But it ends up being little more than a straight up horror movie with very little to chew on beyond that. Even it's supposedly clever ending feels cliche and rushed. Brightburn just never attempts to be more. I think there is a fascinating story out there to be told and Brightburn just isn't it.

Brightburn
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A Dunn, Matt Jones
Director: David Yarovesky
Writers: Mark Gunn, Brian Gunn

Pokemon Detective Pikachu

While it was sort of cool to see a world filled with humans and pokemon living together it turns out that's not enough to make for an interesting full length movie. To make this entertaining you need to do more than slap a B-movie plot filled with every cliche in the book into this world. Bad writing, ham acting, and a rather boring story just don't make Detective Pikachu worth sitting through.

And it turns out Ryan Reynolds' shtick might be getting a bit old. I started to tire of his predictably, if pg-sanitized, sarcasm as it rolled out of the mouth of everyone's favourite pokemon. Sure the idea of Reynolds' voice coming out of Pikachu is a funny one.. for about 5 minutes. Then it's tired. Will Deadpool 3 start to feel like a drag once we all get tired of the same old same old? Perhaps its time for Reynolds to reinvent himself before he becomes Will Farrell. He's kinda just playing the same character now in everything and this Pikachu is just safe for work version of Deadpool. Nothing stays funny forever.

So unless one is just really excited about seeing pokemon stories set in a "real" world. Detective Pikachu should be passed over. Let's hope this doesn't start a string of sequels.

Pokemon Detective Pikachu
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy, Ken Watanabe
Director: Rob Letterman
Writers: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Rob Letterman, Derek Connolly