Quick Reviews #23

It's been a while... So here's another round of quick reviews, this time looking at Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Bookmart and Detective Pikachu. 

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

I don’t hate the 2014 Godzilla, but it’s easy to recognise that its fault lies within its human characters and the lack of its main Kaiju for most of the film. However, King of the Monsters has a lot more Godzilla in it but hasn’t really learnt its lesson from its predecessor as its human characters, apart from maybe Kyle Chandler, are dull as dishwater. Yes, there are big Kaiju fights but they’re mainly left for the supersized final act and usually covered smoke, water and darkness making it somewhat difficult to follow the action. My fondness for Godzilla means there’s a lot still to love here and I really enjoyed the journey into ridiculousness, but I can’t help but think that if you’re going to spend this much time with the humans then you’re going to have to make them a lot more interesting.

3/5

Booksmart

It’s rare that a comedy film comes out that’s as consistently funny as Booksmart. Straight away you recognise the influence, its colourful cast of characters with their many comedic quirks harkens back to the likes of Fast Time at Ridgemont High and Clueless. Like them, Booksmart will transcend generations as the emotional gravitas it has will hit home with all. The characters feel human, their relationships feel real and the story of their night before graduation will make you laugh and cry all at the same time. Olivia Wilde’s feature directorial debut is an absolute surprise of a masterpiece, not merely another high school comedy, but one full to the brim of humanity, growth and love. It might just be my favourite film of the year so far.

5/5

Detective Pikachu

I'm surprised by just how much I enjoyed this one. I haven't cared about Pokemon since I was 10 maybe? So going in I had a very basic knowledge of the whole world, and despite the fact it just drops you straight in, I could very easily follow along. I loved the world, it was so interesting and different and it looked absolutely great, so great in fact that I can't believe this is the first time they've done this. It's such an odd/brave choice for the first live-action film into this world, a noir film without the classic characters and a Pikachu that sounds like Ryan Reynolds, yet it absolutely works. Well pretty much any way, the emotional beats don't fully land and it does away with its noir charm in the final act but overall this film works really, really well. I had such a blast with this film, I can't wait to see what they do next!

4/5

That's it for now. What did you think of these films? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!