Godzilla: King of the Monsters

I am still picking my jaw up off the floor! This movie was awesome!  It makes up for Godzilla (2014), I movie I gave high marks to at the time (It was released when I was 16), but upon re-watch before this one, I felt was kind of lackluster, and I finally understand the complaints. This made up for it tenfold! If you're going in looking for plot, you won't find it, but if you're going in just to turn off your brain for a couple hours and watch monsters duke it out for superiority, this is the film for you! It's like a robotless "Pacific Rim." Other critics complained about this one having too much action, (which is weird, since they complained about the 2014 one not having enough action), but I didn't think so. For me, monster movies can never have too much action. I was smiling and internally cheering practically the whole time. This is what movies were made for! Fun escapism. (For the most part, anyway. There was some of that seemingly mandatory "Mankind is bad and screws everything up" garbage that seems to be in most films like this nowadays. I rolled my eyes and could have done without that, because it took me out of the movie, but other than that, it was fantastic!)

Grade: A-    9/10    4/5 stars

Aladdin (2019)

If "Dumbo" earlier this year was an example for Disney of how not to do a remake, this is a great example of exactly how to do one. This far exceeded my expectations. I love Guy Ritchie's other films ("Sherlock Holmes", "Man From UNCLE", "Stardust", among others), and so I expected this film to pretty good, but this just wowed me! The film is different enough that it's not just watching the animated one again, but familiar enough to stay true to the story. I see this film as a fairy tale that has been passed down and changed slightly over time (as actual fairy tales are.) Believe it or not, there are spoilers for this movie (not this review, though). I know the biggest question is "How is Will Smith as the Genie?" I'm not going to compare him to Robin Williams, because that's not fair, but I will say that he is the best part of the film. He does exactly what the character of the Genie is supposed to do: Be the comic relief who occasionally gives helpful, friendly advice.  It's a throwback to his "Fresh Prince" days.  The plot does move a bit quickly in the beginning and some scenes from the original are switched around or changed slightly (Even the songs have some new lyrics!), but I felt that made the film fresher. There are some amazing dance sequences in this film that reminded me of a Bollywood flick. Also, side-note, my screening was in 3D, but it added nothing, so don't pay the extra $5 for the 3D. This is probably the most visually impressive, best directed film this year so far. I had a smile on my face the whole time and was totally enthralled. 

Grade: A-    9/10     4/5 stars 

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

Keep in mind, I am not a Pokemon fan at all. The only reason I was interested in this movie is because it has Ryan Reynolds and the trailers looked funny. And that's pretty much what I got with this film: A fun Ryan Reynolds movie to laugh at for 2 hours. Even as a non-fan, I was able to follow the plot very well. The movie explains the various Pokemon, their powers, and what they evolve into, and that was very helpful, because otherwise I would have been lost during certain scenes and would not have enjoyed this movie as much. The movie reminded me of "Roger Rabbit" but set in a futuristic society. I laughed pretty hard at this film and had a fun time with it. This is the most I've laughed at a movie this year since "Shazam!" The action scenes were also very fun. I enjoyed seeing the Pokemon battles. I've complained in the past about Warner Bros. productions having bad CGI when it's in a live action movie, but for the most part the CGI was actually very good. You can see each individual fur on Pikachu (and his eyes are very well animated and so cute). You can see the scales on the dragon Pokemon, and the smooth skin of the turtle dinosaur Pokemon with a flower on its back. (Sorry. The only Pokemon name I know is Pikachu.) The only time the CGI didn't look quite right is when a shot lingered too long on a scene with Pokemon and humans, but when there were a lot of back and forth cuts, or when they were moving as opposed to sitting and talking, the CGI was flawless.  I called what the ending was going to be when the very first trailer came out, but there were still some twists and surprises. This is a fun film for all ages, Pokemon fans or not. It's just a fun comedy/mystery.

Grade: B      8/10       3.5/5 stars