Movie Round-up: Feb 23 – Apr 24
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
★★★★
Where Shin Godzilla played out from the perspective of a jaded government worker, Godzilla Minus One is viewed from the eyes of a jaded military soldier. Both somehow never lose focus of the human drama as they go against the towering, natural disaster that is Godzilla.
Shin satirises the government’s slow response to the earthquake-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, Minus One condemns the military’s apparent callous treatment of human life in World War 2. Both somehow use these themes to tell a none-the-less thrilling popcorn action movie.
It’s almost like these movies aren’t just about a big monsters and disaster set pieces.
Happy Feet (2006)
★★★
Perhaps the most visceral sense of speed and danger and scale I’ve ever seen in an animated movie happens when the penguins rocket down the collapsing glacier hole and then I thought, “Oh yes, the Mad Max director did this, didn’t he?”.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
★★★
Maybe we just have to accept that Knuckles the Echidna perhaps wasn’t the role Idris Elba was born to play?
Jim Carrey continues to delight and carry this sequel which, while more interesting than the first movie, is probably a slightly worse movie. But hey, this is fan fodder and, as a fan, I was pleasantly foddered.
Rashomon (1950)
★★★★
The Rashomon Effect is where everyone watches the same movie and then writes different reviews on Letterboxd that serve only their own interests. I adored this movie. The rain-drenched gate that hangs broken above our storytellers felt majestic in a way that I simply wasn’t expecting. Like being caught in a downpour, this film engulfed me.
Stray Dog (1949)
★★★★
He lost his gun. I loved how we get straight to the point and are got with a compelling story immediately. I loved less the investigation which felt heavy footed at times as it progresses. The moment when the criminal realises or detective hero has seen them was visually striking. Do I count as a Kurosawa connoisseur now?
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
★★★★
Putting aside my fascination at the fact that every zombie I’ve ever seen arose shambling from this movie, I’m equally amazed at how grounded and realistic this movie feels. The film flows forward avoided all the zombie tropes and hackneyed story arcs that its many descendents succumb to. Grounded and honest and somehow better every time I watch it. Especially the boring parts. The apocalypse is not an powered rollercoaster ride but instead a slow wait until the electricity in the house runs out and door is broken down by ghouls.
Uncharted (2022)
★★★
On the lopsided scale of video game-to-movie adaptions, I give this an “Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider“. The imagery and characters are faithful, but it fails to add to the source material, and at its highest moments can only remind me of the game and never forget it. The high point of the scale is the recent Fallout to series which is brilliant fun and faithful and welcoming to newcomers. So I guess this review is a five star review for the Fallout tv show?
Argylle (2024)
★★
If you think about a net as a bunch of holes stitched together, then Argylle is a bunch of plot holes stitched together. And yet it held, for me.
A good bad movie chock full of odd choices and an escalating silliness that betrays its first act. I’d have let a lot more slide if this had been called ‘Kick Ass: Bryce Dallas Howard Edition‘. As it stands, especially when the crazy pills all kick in for the third act, I had a good time laughing at this movie.
The Bad Guys (2022)
★★★★
We’re firmly in the new era of 3D animated movies with 2D touches, aesthetics, and flare. The Bad Guys takes the familiar heist framework and filters it through this Spiderverse art style, with added kinetic posing from animes, and ends up with something feeling crisp and fresh. Every frame a painting, as they say.
