ENTERTAINMENT NEWS UPDATE: 6/8 - 6/14

We have an Aquaman

According to Hitflix, Game of Thrones actor Jason Mamoa has signed to play Aquaman in the Man of Steel follow-up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

This news comes just days after reports leaked of Warner Bros.' plan to announce its upcoming DC slate at this year's San Diego Comic Con. Post Dawn films are rumored to include the inevitable Justice League in 2017, Wonder Woman, a Flash / Green Lantern teamup film, and a proper Man of Steel sequel.

Mamoa's involvement in the superhero stunner has long been rumored, of which he has continually denied. An official statement from Warner or Mamoa has not yet been made but sources this time appear to be genuine.

The former Conan and Baywatch star is just one more face being added to the sequel, due out May 6, 2016, that is meant to lead into bigger things in the back-to-back Justice League film.

Amazon pre-orders for Warner titles on hold

Speaking of Warner Bros., Amazon has suspended all pre-orders for upcoming Warner Home Video titles.

Collider reports via The New York Times that the reason the online retailer has stopped taking pre-orders for upcoming Warner Bros. releases like The LEGO Movie, Transcendence, 300: Rise of an Empire, and Edge of Tomorrow is due to disputes between the two parties over the studio's price of the Blu-rays and DVD.

Although there is no news at this time when pre-orders will return for future Warner titles, Amazon is still selling Warner films that have already been released.

While many might see this as a giant retailer putting the pressure on a major studio, this could end up working out for the consumer. We may seem disadvantaged now, but Warner Bros. home video titles can often rank among the more expensive of them all. If an agreement can be reached, perhaps a more affordable situation can be reached for the consumer.

Spider-Man possibly pushed to 2017

With Blu-ray specs on the verge of announcement for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (more on that very soon), word is circling that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 may be pushed back to 2017. The threequel was originally slated to be released June 10, 2016 but disappointing box office numbers and reviews on the latest Spidey may have caused Sony to temper their pace on the franchise in order to better realize how to go forward.

If this is true, there's no word on whether the upcoming Sinister Six spinoff film will move up and take the place of the Marc Webb helmed sequel or not.

While it would be nice to keep things on track, maybe this is something that needs to happen. If they want to solidify their game plan, more power to them. That said, they're going to have to deliver results with this, and by results I mean a movie that doesn't end up being messy and doesn't leave half its stuff on the cutting room floor. Or, you know, maybe let the director be creatively in charge as opposed to a desperate studio. Food for thought...

American Horror Story double-header

News on the upcoming season of American Horror Story, titled Freakshow, has been slow. Until now.

Show veteran Sarah Paulson took to Twitter to reveal her enigmatic character, or make that characters. Paulson will be playing conjoined twins Bette and Dot for the upcoming season, a character she has called her most challenging so far on the show.

Freakshow will feature the return of Paulson, as well as series regulars Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, Frances Conroy, Dennis O'Hare, and Angela Bassett, while The Shield star Michael Chiklis is set to come on board. 

The newest story in the anthology series see Lange playing a German ex-pat running one of the last remaining freakshows in Florida during the 1950s. Bates, Peters, Chiklis and Conroy are all rumored to play freaks, while O'Hare is slated to play a collector of freaks and rival to Lange.

American Horror Story: Freakshow will premier on FX this October. 

22 JUMP STREET REVIEW

"Do the same thing. Everyone's happy."

From the very opening, 22 Jump Street announces that fact that it's a sequel. Hell, it can't stop reminding us of the fact and how it intentionally sets out to repeat the outline of the first film. There are so many worse films to repeat almost verbatim than 21 Jump Street but if you're going to take the beat-for-beat approach, cynicism can only get you so far.

After making a mess of things during an undercover drug bust, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are told in very 4th wall-breaking terms that they'll be headed back to Jump Street to do what they do best, this time at college. And once again, the bromantic couple start drifting apart in their investigation, this time thanks to Jenko bonding with the football team and frat house. Will the duo ever get back together or will they go their separate, ah fuck it. You know how this goes. After all, you've seen it already once before.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller are on a roll lately after the runaway success of The LEGO Movie and 22 Jump Street is hardly a mark against that. Like it's predecessor, the film knows that it's got magic in the form of Hill and Tatum's chemistry, as well as Lord and Miller's irreverent humor. But watching the film you can't help but wonder if the movie is too cynical about its existence for its own good.

There are some funny, funny moments in 22 Jump Street. Ice Cube's epic food freakout, our protagonist's even trippier, well, trip, a cameo or two from the first film and Tatum kind of admitting White House Down was a bad idea -- take your pick. But there's also a huge dry spell in the middle of the film where Lord and Miller seem content to simply revisit the conflict of the first movie without adding anything all that comedic. Sure, there are a few chortles but on the whole, everything grinds to a halt.

In the absence of truly funny stuff happening during this stretch, Lord and Miller fall back on the idea of more sequel related stuff and it wears thin fast. The film feels almost every minute of it's near two-hour runtime and while it does eventually pick back up, there's no shaking the feeling that they shouldn't have to dwell so long on obligatory drama that they got down pat in the first movie.

The action sequences do their job and feature a few really good gags, while the addition of Peter Stormare and Jillian Bell are wholly welcome. Even at their most under-utilized, Hill and Tatum can still light up the screen with their presence and the directing duo know how to pull some truly hilarious, unexpected material out of thin air.

A little bit of self-awareness is always appreciated but not as much when you rest the entire movie upon it. The parts are all there to make it work again but the movie gets too caught up in its own defeated purpose to get the most out it. Just because you're a sequel doesn't mean you have to try less. It's what can make the difference between complete hilarity -- the first movie -- and above-average amusement -- this one.

6.5/10

EDGE OF TOMORROW REVIEW

Most everyone would like to repeat a day in their lives. Almost nobody wants it to be the day they die.

Tom Cruise finds himself in the worst Groundhog's Days scenario ever as one fateful encounter causes him repeat a bloody battle against alien invaders until he can properly defeat the enemy. As Cruise grows more and more familiar with his options, Edge of Tomorrow continues to play upon our familiarity with the action genre in ways that are surprising, innovative and highly amusing.

Major William Cage (Cruise) hasn't seen a day of combat in his life. A media figurehead for the military, a series of events puts Cage on the front line against an invading alien force, much to his chagrin. A supposedly easy mission becomes a slaughter and Cage is killed, but not before he comes into contact with the blood of one of the creatures, codenamed "mimics". Waking up the previous day, Cage discovers he has gained the power to reset the day. The catch is he must die to do so. Teaming up with a hard-as-nails warrior who knows what's happening to him (Emily Blunt), Cage must use the mimic's time abilities to prevent a full-scale invasion, and inadvertently become a complete badass while he's at it.

Edge of Tomorrow is in many ways 2014's World War Z -- a film that went through numerous production issues and inspired little confidence beforehand but ended up being a summertime blast. Director Doug Liman delivers a film that hinges on its sci-fi plot twist and gets the most out of it. As mechanized soldiers fire at terrifying robo-aliens on a beach, one can't help but think the story is poking a bit of fun at first person shooter video games with heroes that can come back to life, no problem.

The film succeeds as the rare plot-driven summer blockbuster. The fun doesn't come from witnessing special effects-laden battles and cluttered chaos but rather from watching Cruise redo the past and learn from his mistakes. While Cruise is trapped in the time loop, the film is now free to branch off in several unexpected story directions and is smarter because of it.

Cruise has proven these last few years that he is more than capable of carrying an action blockbuster and Edge of Tomorrow is probably his most demanding. The emotional weight of the film is on him and he doesn't disappoint. His journey from cowardly figurehead to unshakable killing machine is handled with appropriate solemness but also a welcome sense of humor as his strange situation brings a hearty amount of laughs. His combat training alone would be the comedic highlight of the film if not for numerous mishaps he has with passing trucks.

Blunt is believable as the veteran alien killer and Bill Paxton shows up for a spirited role as an eager sergeant, both of whom thankfully don't get lost among the noise. A concept like this can also become naturally repetitive but editing is handled gracefully here and keeps the momentum going.

But like so many summer action movies (and sci-fi flicks), things just kind of fall apart in the third act. The once clever set up essentially goes away and we're left with the routine, noisy actioner that is so dimly lit, it's near impossible to decipher. And like it's aforementioned comparison piece, the film makes no secret of the fact that they had no clue how to end the film. Other than being abrupt, you eventually have to resign yourself to the fact that the ending makes not a lick of sense.

But once you do get over that little qualm, the sky is the limit on how enjoyable this film can be. Cruise's charisma, a smart intent and some effective editing make Edge of Tomorrow an experience worth repeating.

8/10 

HANNIBAL SEASON 2 REVIEW

Having narrowly dodged being devoured by NBC for the second time, Hannibal once again lent credence to the idea that only the good die young (and messy). Just not yet.

After a stellar first season, Bryan Fuller's take on Thomas Harris' world of cultured intrigue and cannibal carnage took things even farther for its second outing, setting up a ticking clock from the start while Hannibal and his frienemy Will Graham engage in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Like season 1, Hannibal's second outing is saturated in the same expressionist visuals and psychological madness as before, and while it doesn't all work, this new season ramps things up with urgency and a genuine uncertainty at how far things will escalate. And who will be left in one piece.

Hannibal is a weird show -- unlike anything on TV, even. As much as it hurts to say it, it's a little understandable why it's not doing well in the ratings. It's tone is so far outside the normal realm of television standards that it can come off as off-putting. What it really is is challenging.

At every turn (well, almost), Hannibal stretches the boundaries of comfort and convention. In a television landscape of noise and over-explanation, the show basks in quiet, mumbly reflection. We the audience have to work for answers as we are rarely are given an omniscient look into the situation until the characters are -- we know what's going on when they do. Like the titular character, Fully and company craft a sophisticated show that does not baby its audience.

The relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal Lector is a wonderfully complicated one, and one that defies every archetype of male interaction on television (brilliantly explored in a recent NPR article). The entire heart of the show is these two having deep, philosophical conversations that outline the larger themes at play, over some of the most artful meals ever put to screen. They do not need to posture their masculinity to each other, as they understand one another too much for that sort of thing.

Instead, the dichotomy between the two carries the show. Will and Hannibal are two sides of a coin -- dark and light, heaven and hell -- and watching them play tug of war with ideology is fascinating. It's just one of the things that puts this show so far beyond regular crime dramas and while the actual interplay often needs subtitles (the entire show operates on a softer volume than the average bear), Mads Mikkelson and Hugh Dancy kill it on a routine basis.

Season one made a name for itself with its ridiculously artful gore. Season two looks back and says "what, you thought that was gross?". Nearly every episode features some assortment of stomach-turning carnage, that is executed so beautifully that it looks as if it should be in a museum somewhere. Last season's champ was the mushroom corpses (by a narrow margin) -- this season features too many to count, but as someone with an aversion to bees, one episode had something special just for me.

Structurally, season two follows a mostly similar pattern as season one. The first chunk of episodes sees a series of gruesome crimes occurring while Hannibal operates in the background. A sort of shift happens midway through and the third quarter sees a lot of reality twisting and blurred lines before things intensify in the last couple episodes and end on similar notes. This season has its share of weak episodes (the courtroom episode and all involving the animal-man didn't measure up) but the overall arcs succeeded, as both halves of the season ended on game-changing twists that nobody saw coming.

The major failing of season two has to be its female cast. Next to the main relationship between Will and Hannibal, the women on the show suffered. The general trend seemed to be "get gone or get dumb". Smart, able characters like Freddie Lounds (Lara Jean Chorostecki) and Bedelia Du Maurier (Gillian Anderson) were absent for large chunks of the season, but were allowed to keep their wits about them. Meanwhile, previously sharp female characters like Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) and Beverly Katz (Hattienne Park) were present in big ways this season only to make one incredibly stupid, out-of-character decision after another that would bring doom upon them even faster. For a show that is so progressive in how it handles its males, it seemed odd to sacrifice the women players' agency. Thankfully, there's always next season.

But the one wild card that came in like a storm and revitalized this season was Michael Parks' performance as Mason Verger. The psychotic, pedophilic meat-packing heir from Harris' Hannibal novel made an unexpectedly early appearance on the show and what an appearance it was. Parks is essentially playing The Joker here but Verger's gleeful depravity is a perfect foil to Hannibal's controlled, sophisticated madness. Fuller and company utilize the character perfectly and Parks steals every scene he's in. His implied presence down the road is all the more reason to tune in.

Hannibal still has stories to tell and with this season pulling the rug out more than once, next season promises to be a different beast altogether. The road getting to this point wasn't perfect but it was always engrossing. Hannibal is never content to play it safe and because of it, it's all the more easy to let go and embrace the madness.

8/10    

MALEFICENT REVIEW

Sometimes bad guys deserve to be bad. In this case, make that bad girls. Maleficent is latest in the gritty fairy tale updates coming from the producer of 2010's Alice in Wonderland and Snow White and the Huntsman. If that alone doesn't speak to what's gone wrong here, then watching Disney's most fearsome villain getting her wings clipped via the humanizing treatment in an overproduced mess will.

A long time ago, boy met girl. Boy would become king; girl would become an evil witch. After Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), the fairy guardian of the magical Moors, is betrayed by her human sweetheart Stefan (Sharlto Copley), her heart grows cold and the once benevolent protector goes down a much darker path. After cursing Stefan's infant daughter, Maleficent soon finds that true love may be found in the most unlikely of places.

Given the character's high standing among animated villainy to this day, Maleficent had every chance to go down a much darker, daring road than its live-action fairy tale predecessors. In the end, the film is more two-dimensional and safe than even its actual animated counterpart.

Like just about every Joe Roth production, everything about Maleficent feels calculated to the last decimal to get maximum agreeability and minimum risk. Giant battles, bumbling fairies, a prince, baby cursing and cutesy woodland creatures are all present, though not for any real balanced reason -- no, just because they're obliged to be.

We saw with Oz the Great and Powerful that even the most trope-filled story could have some soul as director Sam Raimi gave the film enough heart for things to work. Here, production designer-turned-director Robert Stromburg focuses only on replicating the look of the fairy tale world instead of fleshing it out with novelties such as relatable characters and genuine human emotion.

The players, with the likes of Copley, Sam Riley and Elle Fanning, are left to merely go through the motions on an apathetic script that feels like the least important priority for the filmmakers. It's as if everyone knew all the work would be done on a computer later on and didn't bother to bring any soul to the picture.

But perhaps the most unforgivable offense is the handling of Maleficent herself. Jolie is undoubtedly the physical embodiment of the character and holds herself as such on screen. Her grand entrance at the procession is easily the most fun we see her have the the character as she chews the scenery with appropriate gusto.

The problem is, besides that scene, there really is no recognizable Maleficent in the film.

The Maleficent we see in 1959's Sleeping Beauty is, quite simply, a BAMF. Voiced by Eleanor Audley, Maleficent was a magnetic presence on screen. Her evil deeds needed no backstory or explanation. She existed as an elegant beacon of wickedness and sought to bring evil everywhere she went.

Another victim of Hollywood's need to neuter classic villains/anti-heroes, Maleficent in this film is the character in name only. As part of the new spin, she spends a majority of the film as a guardian figure instead of a truly despicable antagonist. Not only is this not the character we know, it's nowhere near as interesting as what could have been if the filmmakers had only stuck to what works. Like Pirates' Jack Sparrow, some characters flourish by stealing scenes instead of being constantly showered in spotlight (provided that they're even the same character).

As the credits start rolling and the lights come up, the one beacon of enlightened work appears: Lana Del Rey's cover of "Once Upon a Dream". As if from a completely different (better) movie, Del Rey's swooning song makes you think what the film could have been had it not only been a dumping ground for visual effects, tired tropes and a misshaping of a character who deserved much better.

4/10

A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST REVIEW

Astonishingly, A Million Ways to Die in the West is both a baseline comedy and an inside joke -- neither of which are remotely funny. Seth MacFarlane's follow up to the smash hit Ted promises a skewering of old west lifestyle and tropes. Instead, the film settles for having its comedic reach go no deeper than a man violently shitting in a hat for two minutes.

Cowardly sheep farmer Albert Stark (MacFarlane) is desperate to get his vain girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) back. With the help of a mysterious new woman in town (Charlize Theron), Albert challenges his mustached nemesis (Neil Patrick Harris) to a duel for his dignity. Little does he know that the help he's receiving (and growing closer to) is from the wife of one of the west's deadliest outlaws (Liam Neeson).

MacFarlane takes center stage in what feels like a pet project of his that never fully translates to the screen. Quite the opposite of Ted, West abandons the reference-based, highly-edited comedy stylings the Family Guy creator is known for in favor of a much more traditional, straightforward film that utterly fails. The normally funny MacFarlane is out of his element as both a leading man and director, delivering a film that is on par with his weakest FG material.

West simply has no scope. The talented cast do their best with the material (Harris is a glimmer of light in the coal mine) but there's not much going on other than scat humor and ideas that, while clever in mention, are absolutely beaten into the ground through repetition. Even the Arizona setting itself, supposedly vast and unchecked, looks completely confined to the dull sitcom story.

Instead of clever laughs, West gets hung up on hollow sentiment as MacFarlane and Theron share no less than four aimless scenes chatting about the same old stuff, trying to build Albert's confidence. At a point it feels like the film completely throws humor out the window to try and be a satirical drama. Maybe it should have taken that route, since so little of the comedic side was clicking from the start. At very least, they could have spared us a runtime of nearly two hours. Two stoney-faced, unamused hours.

Hitting just about every misstep a comedy can, A Million Ways to Die in the West is a squandered opportunity. What no doubt sounded like a hit on paper ended up being an R-rated comedy that only 12-year-olds can appreciate.

2/10

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST REVIEW

To prevent a horrible, destructive future, the X-Men must travel back in time to fix the mistakes of the past. Ironically, not only is this the basic outline of X-Men: Days of Future Past, it's the reality of the X-Men franchise exemplified by this movie. By applying a massive scale time travel story, Fox and director Bryan Singer have made a bold play to undo many of the bumps and bruises the X-Men movies have hit along the way. While the odds are usually in favor of things becoming a messy, "reach exceeds their grasp" event, Singer and company do everyone a service by keeping their franchise building in check and delivering a tight and terrific standalone film that doesn't miss a step.

In a future where mutants are near extinction and constantly hunted by unstoppable killer robots called Sentinels, the remaining X-Men, consisting of Kitty Pride (Ellen Page), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan), hatch a plan to keep this horrible outcome from ever happening. By having Kitty send Wolverine's consciousness back to 1973 (as one does), he can then bring together a team of X-Men to stop the rogue shapeshifter Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating the creator of the deadly robots (Peter Dinklage) and setting things into motion. But it won't be a walk in the park as the young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) has all but given up on hope for mutantkind after the events of X-Men: First Class, and Magneto, better known as Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender), well, he's still going to end up pulling some dickish antics.

Sound like a lot to process? It is but watching the movie you'd never know. The plethora of characters and separate story arcs are handled with a level of care that makes a certain recent superhero flick look shamed. Everything clicks together in a beautiful, coherent way that lets everyone shine and keeps the interest up throughout.

DOFP has so many good things going for it but the thing that stands out is how contained the story is. Yes, there's more than a few instances of world building and sequel-setup by the end, but the main story can stand alone without relying on a "continued next time" scenario. Even those who haven't seen all the X-Men movies should be able to pick up on things fairly quickly and above all, enjoy them. Behold the power of a well-planned story with heart.

Based off the Chris Claremont comic arc of the same name, DOFP capitalizes on the prospect of combining old favorites and new in a way that makes sense. Stewart and McKellan comfortably step back into a franchise that had all but written them out (as do a few other faces that would be criminal to spoil), while Jackman gets to apply his classic role this time as a sort of mentor to a forlorn Xavier.

But it's the returning First Class members who carry the show. Xavier's journey from lost to found is a highly compelling route for a character who normally is the most composed person in the room and McAvoy sells it. While blunt, the subplot about him throwing his gifts away via a big scary needle in the arm shows that this character probably can't get any lower. But hey, this X-Men, the overlord of obvious metaphors. Fassbender's cool, debonair disposition as Magneto continues to make his take on the character a constant center of attention. The bromance these two characters share is continued in a most satisfying way as they both hit forks in the road that will pit them against each other, despite their mutual admiration.

With X-Men and X2 director Bryan Singer back at the helm and First Class director Matthew Vaughn helping out on story, DOFP takes things one step further beyond the finale of the most recent film in actually feeling like an X-Men movie. Classic characters assembling in a pivotal storyline as stadiums fall from the sky and the future hangs in the balance are some things that show that the franchise is upping the ante and refining everything it can. The action is great and the character interplay has never been better.

However, nothing shows more promise for the series' direction going forward than what the filmmakers have done with Evan Peters' Quicksilver. Originally assumed to be a throwaway inclusion appease character rights technicalities (Disney also has plans to utilize the character in next year's Avengers sequel), the entire sequence featuring the character is like a whole new ballgame. Peters' presence is an unexpected jolt of lightning as the character elevates the entire sequence he's involved into a high-octane funny-fest that showcases a good dose of blockbuster fun. Every second of this amazing scene shows that this character was indeed bought in with a purpose: amusement, among other things.

Admittedly, continuity sticklers are going to have a hard time with the film, as the creative team have all but thrown out a strict timeline. At least one previous film is totally ignored in the timeline, as are several technicalities that may be worth a head scratching. But that's ok because the filmmakers have now reached the point of realizing that continuity won't be an issue as long as you deliver a great film.

DOFP only rarely suffers from slack pacing in an otherwise taught plot and has only a few instances of sub-par visual effects that have plagued the series on and off. What really would have been welcome (and may be the case for next time -- who knows?) is a more vibrant color palette that embraces the comic book origins. Not that things need to go full tilt on the saturation but a more refined color scheme on a comic book movie like this could do wonders.

Looking to the past to cater to the future can be a wise choice. It certainly was for this franchise going forward. X-Men: First Class set up a possible direction going forward and Days of Future Past jumped all over it. The X-Men renaissance is upon us at last.

8.5/10

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 VILLAIN BREAKDOWN

So, a subtle dig, a plot device and a cartoon walk into a Spider-Man movie...

After its second week in domestic theaters, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was already labelled as a failure. With waning intake and less than stellar reviews (ASM 2's 54 percent on Rotten Tomatoes is a little upsetting compared to Spider-Man 3's 63), the movie is still making a pretty dull splash. 

Which is a shame because, despite its obvious problems (and there are several), the film still manages to be a lot of fun and delivers the most entertaining Spider-Man sequences yet.

While most of my issues came with story and studio involvement, it's come to my attention that many people are singling out the villains of the piece and making some dreaded comparisons to Raimi's final Spider-Man film (not ok, guys).

Full disclaimer: I do not think the villains of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are perfect -- far from it. However, in looking at how recent Marvel Studios films have been handling their villains, or even the most recent Spider-Man films, it seems wrong to glide over the more admirable decisions made with the characters.

GODZILLA REVIEW

Do you hear that? That far off rumble is a mega-million dollar hit approaching, dripping with anticipation and assumed dead. Yes, Godzilla has been busy selling Snickers and Taco Bell for the past decade but the King of Monsters hasn’t had much screen time as of late – until now. Gareth Edwards’ take on Toho’s classic film creature comes at a time where big is the new norm and the only option is to up the ante. Godzilla is the very definition of a massive summer movie, with a scope unmatched by most. But in blowing things up to epic proportions, everything else (namely the human element) feels awfully small.

After a tragic nuclear accident 15 years earlier, Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has moved on, living with his wife and son and working as a bomb diffuser for the military. But his nuclear scientist father, Joe (Bryan Cranston), is convinced the events of that fateful day were no accident. After investigating the nearby Japanese town, the pair discovers that something monstrous has been hidden. With this new creature wreaking havoc across the globe, humanity’s only hope may have arrived in the form of an ancient alpha male, recently awakened to show everyone who’s boss.

In bringing Godzilla back, Edwards plays coy for much of the film, saving the reveal of the big boy himself for much later. In place of showcasing early on, Godzilla plays up a strong sense of dread and unchecked disaster; unseen forces are revealed only after the terror of the unknown sinks in.  The mood of Godzilla is key and the filmmakers have found just the right mix of dour and exciting to make a Godzilla flick that feels modern and classic.

Seeing the enormous beast in action on the appropriately large IMAX screen is a cinematic match made in heaven as Godzilla’s sheer force is totally realized. It’s everything surrounding this that keeps the movie from ascending.Godzilla is a monster movie that is viewed from the people on the ground. Problem is, the people on the ground are boring and joyless. Taylor-Johnson is mostly a cardboard catalyst for action and Ken Watanabe’s Dr. Serizawa and his associate (Sally Hawkins) are mainly there to look awestruck and give the necessary exposition. Only Cranston turns in truly charismatic work—despite being severely under utilized. Many characters are meant to be throwbacks to the original archetypes of the series, but they are archetypes and not much more. The lack of character is compensated well enough in the film’s first half, as Edwards’ slow-build approach and the desire for answers are in full swing. It’s only once the monsters start taking center stage that you begin to realize that the most uninteresting part is getting in the way.

Exciting as monster-on-monster beat downs may be (and they certainly have their charm here), the film has a frustrating rhythm that makes the final hour of the film feel monotonous: humans try to get something done in the midst of a monster attack. The idea itself may sound cool but without escalation and something special for each sequence, it all seems like it’s going through the motions.

The film pulls more than one bait and switch, just as the audience thinks it’s getting the goods and then has to wait longer. It’s an interesting tactic, but one that doesn’t pay off because of the underwhelming mixture of human and monster; more than once the unsatisfied feeling “is this it?” overtakes the viewer.

With a sequel already in motion, Godzilla has made a colossal comeback. It’s now apparent that the King of Monsters has found the right tone and scale to connect with audiences; the next major battle for this franchise will be finding good characters and blending them in the right way.

7/10

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 REVIEW

What is and what should be -- it's a concept that resonates with Spider-Man movies in general. There's always some terrific aspect to them that keeps us coming back and more than one flaw that keeps them from being great movies.

Watching The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is like observing a ripped up Mona Lisa or a Debussy piece with breaks every three minutes. The pieces are right in front of you like a shattered mirror and you can see the greatness lying in the work as a whole but things don't pull themselves together to reach that point.

Spidey's second outing has so many great moments to it that it's impossible to dismiss as a failure. In fact it's the best portrayal of Spider-Man on screen ever and a complete blast of a summer blockbuster. But with a little retooling here and there, it could have been the best Spider-Man movie ever and, to boot, a terrific film.

Picking up shortly after movie one, Peter Parker is loving being Spider-Man but can't quite get over that promise he made to Captain Stacey to keep Gwen out of it. Overcome with guilt, he decides its best to call it off. But we all know they're too cute to not be together, so cue the will they, won't they routine. In the meantime, Peter's old friend Harry Osborn returns under a desperate new purpose, secrets about Peter's dad emerge and an uber Spidey fan has a bad day and becomes a dangerous menace.

As stated, the Spider-Man we see here is a true joy. Marc Webb brings to life the high-octane fun of being Spider-Man with eye-popping web swinging scenes, wise cracks and and a vibrant, color-saturated aesthetic that ditches the more grounded look of the previous film and embraces the hyper-real aspects of the material. Every scene, from the opening truck chase, the Times Square showdown and a profound scene of Spidey confronting an omnipresent Electro manipulating the electricity in a blacked out building had me saying "this is what watching a Spider-Man movie is supposed to be like."

While the film ditches the grounded look of movie one (a worthwhile choice), the grounded, relatable characters of this new Spider-Man universe remain in full force. Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker is as endearing and brilliantly watchable as his costumed counter-part, something that can't be said for the Raimi's trilogy's star. He is funny, touching, adorable, wounded, smart and capable all in one.

The terrific thing about the character of Peter Parker in Webb's series is that he has, well, character. He is a quick-witted scientist who has some actual traits and skills outside his powers (specifically his problem solving when it comes to his malfunctioning web shooters and his experiments to make them more electricity-proof).

Likewise, Emma Stone is completely charming as Gwen Stacey. With her we have a female character who has goals and ambitions outside of just domestic instincts and is just as brilliant and capable as her male counterpart. No wonder Garfield and Stone's chemistry on screen is so palpable. As much as I would re-watch the action scenes of ASM 2, I would just as easily revisit the "ground rules" scene between Peter and Gwen. While their back and forth over being together may become tiresome quickly due to its inevitable conclusion, the story they share on screen is the meaty heart of the film and a touching, adorable heart at that.

With great casting and chemistry, ASM 2 shows us that you don't need a shoehorned love triangle to make a blockbuster's romance angle work spectacularly.

Taking another sizable detour away from previous Spider-Man movies is the music of the film. Some may find the music by Hans Zimmer and his super group (consisting of Johnny Marr and Mr. "Happy" himself, Pharrell Williams) too new age but for me it only helped the overall aesthetic. Maybe it's just that I grew up with the rockin' '90s guitars of the Spider-Man animated series or the wild tunes of The Spectacular Spider-Man, but Zimmer understands the youthful, reckless sound that better fits the wall crawler. The only aspect that was unnecessary was the choice to use whispered lyrics in Electro's theme, which just became redundant for the character's overall motivations.

But like so any big films these days, the script by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci was not solidified enough. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 suffers from more of the same fragmented, heavy-handed Hollywood script writing that goes through rewrite after rewrite. Many have said that the film is overstuffed with villains, ala Spider-Man 3. It's true that the film has one too many plates spinning but it's not due to the antagonist's influence: it's due to all the Peter Parker dilemmas that are going on.

Between Gwen, Harry, Electro and the truth about Pete's dad, there isn't enough time to devote to any one storyline to make it truly satisfying. Wrapping up Richard Parker's storyline just came off as obligatory and could away with truncating the whole thing to two scenes to stop drawing so much attention toward such an uninteresting area (including choosing a better opening for the film). Meanwhile, if Gwen and Peter had stopped playing cat and mouse, it would leave more room open to spend more needed time developing another area.  

The Amazing Spider-Man 2's villains never reach the point of apathetic embarrassment that 4/5 Marvel movies do, but we still could have used more time with them. Jamie Foxx's Max Dillon has an interesting enough backstory and Foxx works well with the material but Electro exits the picture for a good chunk of the story to make room for Harry Osborn and his plight.

In an interesting move, we pick up Harry's story at a point where he is already a bit of a sick puppy (literally). It helps to start off having Harry in a desperate place to buy into his pre-determined transformation into the Green Goblin, but his arc still ends up feeling rushed. Worst of all, the Green Goblin himself ends up being little more than a plot contrivance so that the filmmakers could deliver the ending they wanted (and a complete punk plot contrivance, at that). Thank god for Dane DeHaan's natural charisma in the role. He manages to be both charming and creepy in that slimy sort of way. Seeing him in future Spider-Man movies will be nothing but a benefit to the series.

(In case you're wondering, fuck the Rhino. He was utilized as much as he needed to be, but yeesh, some of his material near the end is cringe-worthy.)

But what an ending we got. In a complete gut-punch, Marc Webb gets ballsy and pulls the rug out from under us. The last 15 minutes (apart from the one groan-tastic area of the film) are a thing of beauty and do really redeem the entire film that set it up.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 could have been a near-perfect film, but instead it is just a fun one. No, it is the fun one. The action of the film is infectious and gorgeous to witness and the performances by Garfield, Stone and DeHaan are excellent. Obvious story failings aside, the thrilling positives are enough to justify admission price. IMAX 3D is an absolute must (just be wary if you're afraid of heights). While not a masterpiece, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has its heart in the right place and, with the right guidance, can hopefully pull it's tangled web together for next time.

7/10