Montag's Movie Reviews

Godzilla: A Movie Review

May 20, 2014 at 10:22pm

To sum this movie up in a word: solid. I know some people have been talking a lot of smack about this most recent incarnation of the G man, but I would like to say that this film stands reasonably well on its own merits and leaps and bounds above the 1998 version with Matthew Broderick. The cinematography is good and well constructed, the monster action is very enjoyable and while the acting is just passable, it doesn't get in the way (which is more than can be said for other films, *cough* sucker punch *cough*).

There is admittedly some padding before we get to the good stuff, but honestly it's really not that bad and at least it's not overly dull. The entire way the movie is framed feels, in my opinion, like a very believable framing of an actual monster attack. These giant creatures come smashing into our tiny little world and start wrecking all our shit, while we stand by effectively helpless to do anything but watch. Say what you like about the acting, but the movie does an excellent job of "show, don't tell." What you see is so much better than what you hear, aside from the big man's roar.

I don't want to say anything to give away much of the plot, so I will simply say that Godzilla proves once again why he is and always has been the king of monsters. Go check it out.

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Max Payne: The Movie - A Review

It all started innocently enough back in '01. Some company named 'Rockstar' put out a video game. It was like playing a cross between the best cliches of pulp detective novels and a combat system right out of the Matrix films. Some crazy fool turned it into a movie, and after seeing it tonight, I came to a few conclusions. One, the first video game was better than this movie. Two, this movie was still better than the second video game in the Max Payne series. Three, a few punches can put Max Payne in a hospital bed, but he can laugh off a shotgun blast to the chest from three feet away. If you're reading this, all you care about is 'should I bother seeing it or not?'. The short answer is, if you like stuff being shot up reaaaal good, go see it! If you're interested only in seeing Oscar-worthy movies, you'll probably want to skip this one. And for those of you sticking around for my humorous take on the movie... Max Payne is a man with a past. We know thi...

Green Lantern: Made of Fail

If someone gave you $300 million dollars and said " Make me an awesome movie about the Green Lantern ", you might think to yourself 'Ah, twice as much money as Thor and X-Men: First Class had - easy as pie!'. If you're director Martin Campbell and you've impressed everyone with movies like Edge of Darkness and Casino Royale, but secretly hate super hero movies and Hollywood producers with an insane cunning, and really want to make an expensive pile of fail, you'd have made " Green Lantern ". The short review - don't waste your money on this unless you *literally* have nothing better to do than watch paint dry. If you like comic books, or even just action movies, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Where to begin... I heard bad things about the movie, but I thought 'How bad could it be?'. First things first. Ryan Reynolds. Generally known for playing slightly air-headed characters with a sense of humor and formulaic Hollywood looks. Star of fifty-two ...

The Hunger Games: A movie review

If I was to describe the hunger games in a single word, yes I know this is becoming a habit with me, it would be this: Stark. Having read the entire hunger games trilogy, I feel that this is appropriate, but does not necessarily make for the best movie. Let me clarify though: the very austere and even severe impression that I get from the movie isn't bad, it just isn't fun. Interesting, compelling, provocative yes, but fun, no. A brief word to those that are fans of the series: the movie is fine. Structurally there isn't anything wrong with it and all the most critical details are left intact, as they had damn well better be if these people hope to make a trilogy out of this. Being a fan of the series myself and having read all the books, I notice the glaring differences where small or large details have been left out and while I'm not thrilled, it didn't prove to be a deal breaker either. On the whole, I would say...