This was announced some time ago and I completely forgot about it until this morning. I know nothing about it, nothing. Maybe more than some of you reading when I say, all I know know is that it is based on a comic book AND it's a cartoon AND the person behind it is the person behind The Walking Dead TV series and the spinoffs, but that's all I know!
This First Look Clip is cool. Just a father and his son playing catch ACROSS THE WORLD, but the father, obviously with superhuman abilities is teaching his son who has doubts about being a superhero, trying to reassure him that being a superhero, using his abilities and pushing through any doubt, he will be alright.
I'm not sure about the animation style although it does look very sharp and crisp and I liked the fade and blurred background, but I'm not fully understanding as to why this is an adult cartoon. I didn't see the earlier teaser trailer so I'm a bit lost. Maybe another trailer would help clear this up.
Directed by Robert Kirkman and starring Steven Yeun, J. K. Simmons
First of all, I'm going to have a little issue trying to get to grips with what is happening, because I believe I'm behind on a movie or two! What is going on? I'm not 100% sure, but what I am sure about is, I'm definitely going to watch this. Two big monsters fighting, of course!
So that everyone is clear, this movie is a part of the Monster Universe (MonsterVerse) and for the most part, features both Godzilla and King Kong. Whilst trying to rack my brain over this, but I do believe many many moons ago, this was mention, a movie that will feature both King Kong and Godzilla. They have been building this up. They have been spoon-feeding us small bites over the years and it started with Godzilla back in 2014. We then had Kong: Skull Island in 2017 and the last movie, Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019. I didn't see that one and I'm not sure why, but I will definitely get on board before this one arrives. In fact, I may need to watch all 3 before this one so I fully understand what is going on.
As I have seen the first two, Godzilla and Skull Island, I will definitely say, I enjoyed them both, possibly Skull Island more as I remember there were some real funny bits in it. I remember when I was watching Godzilla, it seemed to cut away from Godzilla, you know, what we came to see. I'm going to be real, nobody really cares about the humans. In films like this, they are in the movies to ground it a little, but for the most part, people want to see the monsters fight or tear things up. I heard some things about the last movie, such as hiding the monsters or using tricks to keep the budget low on the special effects, but this trailer seems to show more fights up front. Kong is brandishing an "axe!!!" I mean if you look closely to the trailer, is that MechaGodzilla? This is definitely a win, I just hope it doesn't fall short.
Directed by Adam Wingard and starring Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir
I do like myself some Anthony Mackie. A superstar to have his own roles as a powerful leading actor, I'm not sure we are there just yet, but he has come long way since The Adjustment Bureau. Pretty much a household name since he landed the role of Sam Wilson in Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, so to then see him in the second season of Altered Carbon and now this, another sci-fi, I was definitely intrigued. I didn't mind him in Altered Carbon season 2 although it was a bit of a jar to see him instead of Joel Kinnaman took some getting used to. But how is he in this film? Well, Anthony Mackie is Anthony Mackie, but the film, not soo much.
A young Drone Pilot named Lt. Thomas Harp disobeys a direct order and is sent to Captain Leo, an Advanced Top Secret Android Prototype Military Officer. However, when Leo takes Harp Outside the Wire on a mission to make a change to the war and he needs Harp's help to do it, Harp grows increasingly suspicious of what Leo's true motives are.
For the most part, this movie was decent. It wasn't great and if we are talking about the level of storytelling and action like The Old Guard or Extraction, unfortunately those two films are better and more entertaining than this one, in my opinion. Why? Well, although the story is ok at best, the dialogue wasn't great at all. The way Harp would speak to Leo was annoying at times as it didn't seem they had a well enough built up bond for Harp to talk to Leo in the way he did. Harp had an attitude he should't really have towards a higher ranking officer, it just felt off. Towards the end of the film, maybe, but after a few hours, if that, after meeting him, not at all. Also, I felt the end goal/mission was a bit mucky in it's delivery and wasn't at all clear as to what was happening and why.
The action was great and the special effects were decent. Even the acting from Anthony was as expected, but I just couldn't really get to grips with Damson's character as I felt it was poorly written. I understood the reasonings as to why Leo was doing what he was doing eventually, but it just felt like it was delivered poorly. Ultimately the movie came across boring although the action kept it afloat as I loved the scenes in the building with the Russian Robots (Gumps). I liked the other fights at the "hideout" and in the market, but if we didn't have those action scenes, the movie would be completely substandard. I thought of The Universal Soldier whilst watching this as it goes, which is a good thing I guess, classic 80's movie. There were some lesson's learned for Harp but ultimately, an OK movie that looks at the future of modern warfare but manages to clumsily deliver. Although not a terrible movie, but I fell asleep twice before I watched it for the third time and Mackie wasn't the issue...
