It is catch-up time again for my movie reviews. While we tend to see a lot of movies, two came to mind this morning when I sat down to write this… X-Men: Days of Future Past and Godzilla.
Let’s take them in the order I saw – X-Men first. I’m still not sure why I wasn’t blown away by this film. Could it be that superhero films are just so amazing these days that I am still looking for the “next level?”
I had the same feeling when the Star Trek TNG films started coming out every couple years. They and these X-Men movies all seem like just longer, more expensive television episodes. Maybe that’s it – maybe television has just gotten so good at turning out great content that the blockbuster is dead.
The storyline, while a bit kludgy in places, was entertaining. Hugh Jackman turned in his typically broodish and excellent Wolverine performance. Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart reprised their roles perfectly as well. Nicholas Hoult was a great addition as Beast/Hank McCoy. Evan Peters was a blast as Quicksilver. I really had trouble however, with James McAvoy as a younger Charles Xavier. Sure, he is a good actor, I just never bought him in that role.
The special effects were fun as usual and the action was excellent.
RATING 7 out of 10 
Okay, the last movie I saw was Godzilla and while it wasn’t anywhere near as horrific at the last re-boot of the big green lizard, I thought it tried too hard to add science. It just failed in that respect and would have been much more entertaining had they left that out and just went with the premise, “hey, there are some big monsters here fighting – let’s watch.”
The action was very fun… lots of explosions, harrowing escapes and even some big monster fights that looked like something out of a video game.
The acting was even good. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and Bryan Cranston all turned in good performances with believable characters. I thought that Ken Watanabe should have been the focus of the film as his talents were wasted in this nearly cameo appearance.
It could have been so much better without all the GI Joe military strategy and firepower. Instead, why not an emotional story that focused on the size and destruction caused by the monsters while Watanabe works feverishly to save human lives and assist Godzilla? That would have paid better homage to the original and still had all the destruction, explosions and action.
If you are thinking of doing another one… give me a call – I will script it for you.
RATING 7 out of 10
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