Hello everyone! As some of you may know, I am writing for the website COMICONVERSE. I have been covering the current comic books from Marvel Comics and BOOM! Studiossuch as Doctor Strange and Kong of Skull Island.
For myself and anyone else interested I am documenting each of my articles here at Blood Work.
If you haven't checked out this latest article here you go!
Marvel has finally rescinded their push of the Inhumans, drawing the saga to a close in this grand finale. It's the same creative team from Royals plus artist Mike Del Mundo. In my opinion this was a wonderful way to end the five year Inhumans saga. The art is great and the story is well done. Overall I think Marvel's Inhumans books over the last few years have been strong, maybe not in sales, but in quality.
I think Marvel really shot themselves in the foot by setting the Inhumans in opposition with the X-Men. It's not that the Inhumans aren't good characters or that the X-Men are better characters. But that the X-Men fan community comprises a significant portion of comic readers. I doubt even the Avengers could beat the X-Men in popularity, despite the movies. If you cut out every X-Men fan from potential Inhumans comics sales that's a huge loss of revenue. All of this is to say that, I don't care who you are, if you go up against the X-Men you're gonna lose. A terribly received television show didn't help their cause either.
In summary though, while the Inhumans books were fine, it was only a matter of time before Marvel gave them the axe. My only hope is that one, at least ONE, Inhumans book continues to be a regular title now for years to come. I love the Inhumans but I don't need them to be in multiple books nor everywhere in the Marvel universe. Just one book all their own doing their own thing with quality writing and good artwork. That's not a lot to ask for, is it? We'll see.
For my full review click on the link above
Check out my other articles for ComiConverse linked below!
After 63 years and 29 movies Godzilla finally has an anime all his own! Yes, technically he's appeared in anime for years (cameos mostly, like in the anime Prefectural Earth Defense Force as well as many others), but never has he been the subject of a 90 minute anime feature. Released in Japan in November of 2017 and released world wide by NETFLIX earlier this month, GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS Episode One marks a new moment in history for the king of the monsters.
With the 2014 American reboot, GODZILLA, the monster movie star's parent company, TOHO Co. LTD was inspired to revitalize the Japanese version of Godzilla, albeit with more experimentation than usual. Tapping anime legend Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gunbuster) to direct, Anno delivered what ostensibly amounts to the first chapter in a live action Evangelion film series. In Shin Godzilla the kaiju returned to his terrifying roots as "death incarnate" (on the opposite end of the spectrum from the super hero he was in the 2014 American film). Beyond that Anno transformed Godzilla into something far stranger than he'd ever been depicted in the past and more in line with the Angels from Evangelion than a kaiju.
And maybe that was the point: to do something different and fresh with the 60 year old property. We might call this the "Experimental" phase of the Godzilla franchise. And Toho appears to be continuing the experiment with this new anime. The team behind this film is POLYGON PICTURES, the production team responsible for recent anime projects like Ajin, Knights of Sidonia, and Blame! (all of which are on Netflix as well). The animation techniques often employed by the group are a mixture of CGI and cell-shaded graphics with spots of traditional animation peppered about. It's an interesting style which lends each of Polygon Pictures' projects a unique visual esthetic. And Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters a.k.a. Godzilla: Monster Planet is no exception.
THE PLOT
Humanity was blindsided by the advent of the monsters. Giant beasts arose, one after another, laying waste to the great cities of the world. Eventually one of these kaiju would prove the most terrible of all: the creature known as Godzilla. Humanity was helpless in the face of this monster apocalypse, awaiting extinction, when salvation arrived in the form of two different alien races. A bargain was struck between humanity and the aliens. The aliens could live on Earth if they could first rid the world of the monsters.
Godzilla proved too powerful even for them, forcing human and alien alike to flee on an alien space ship into the stars. Twenty years passed and the weary travelers had yet to find a new habitable planet. When Captain Haruo Sakaki revealed a strategy to kill Godzilla they decided to return to Earth and retake the planet. However, twenty years of light speed travel had translated to 20,000 years on Earth. When they return they find the planet changed far from what it once was. And far deadlier.
WHAT I LIKED
Godzilla's Biology Explained. Throughout the franchise there have been several attempts to explain Godzilla's seemingly invincible biology. Traditionally Godzilla is virtually impervious to all conventional weapons. This story reveals that Godzilla generates his own force field (an AT field? 😉) which is barely visible and only allows a small number of attacks through. And further more that an organ housed in one of his dorsal fins generates the force field. I thought this whole idea was really cool and provided a little more of a sci-fi element to Godzilla's invincibility rather than merely being super fast regeneration (which I am perfectly fine with by the way).
The Use of Previous Godzilla Universe Characters. The prologue at the opening of the film was probably my favorite part of the episode. There we are shown in brief still images a host of kaiju attacking during the "Kaijupocalypse." Among these characters are DOGORA, DAGAHRA, KAMACURAS, ORGA, and MECHAGODZILLA. Aside from Mechagodzilla these are rarely used characters and my excitement at seeing them went through the roof. Then an alien race shows up called The Bilusaludo whose home, the third planet in the Bilusaludia Binary System, was swallowed by a black hole. The Bilusaludo build Mechagodzilla in this anime too. This is the same race of aliens used in the 1974 film GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA, same backstory and all. Also the main character was named after original Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima, a touch that I thought was nice too.
Taking deep cuts like these from the Godzilla mythology is something I wish they'd do more of. When they do (which is rare) it makes me nerd out like crazy!
NITPICKS
These are merely my opinions. I'm not saying they're right or wrong. This is just my personal impression of the film.
First Episode-itis. The story really only gets started by the end of the episode and you'd expect that from any first episode, right? Well, this episode is 90 minutes long, essentially the length of a standard Godzilla movie. Given how intriguing the one minute prologue was, the rest of the movie by comparison travels quite slowly. The battle against Godzilla is pretty exciting but we have to wait an hour for the battle to happen. So, while this could've been its own film altogether it instead is presented as one giant first episode tease. Right as the episode ends the real threat is revealed and the story of taking back the planet from Godzilla begins. As a result the episode feels like a mismanagement of time and story.
Looks like a mountain peak with a forest down the slope... at least it does to me.
There are new monsters in this episode, car sized flying reptiles. This isn't a fault of the episode but rather a head scratcher for me. The filmmakers have over 50 monsters in Toho's library to chose from. Instead of using any of them we are shown new and rather generic monsters. Now, it's conceivable that the filmmakers will show us more classic monsters in the next two episodes. As far as this episode is concerned though we aren't given much in the way of kaiju. For a film titled "Planet of the Monsters" we are barely shown any monsters. It is also subtly implied during the prologue that Godzilla killed all the other monsters. This is merely my personal opinion but if this is indeed the case, and all of Toho's other kaiju were killed off already, that is a huge disappointment. I like Godzilla being king and all but I love the other kaiju quite a bit as well. Seeing only Godzilla all the time does get somewhat monotonous after a while.
Godzilla's Design. This is just me but I am very critical of Godzilla being redesigned. So take this next criticism as my personal opinion and not necessarily anything actually wrong with the film. Godzilla looks like a walking pile of rocks (or gnarled roots or muscles sinews or what have you. Take your pick). It's a combination of the animation style, cell shading, close up cinematography, and the new design for Godzilla. There are so many contours, bumps, and details that Godzilla doesn't look so much like a monster but rather a moving mountain or braid of roots. While walking piles of rock are cool in all, it's my feelings that a giant reptilian kaiju is far more interesting. It appears as if the idea beyond this design is to show Godzilla's continued evolution over 20,000 years as, once again, the Godzilla shown in the prologue appears far more traditional and interesting looking.
The filmmakers really shot themselves in the foot with that stellar prologue.
THE VERDICT
The idea of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters is very interesting but the actual execution of this first episode leaves much wanting. The prologue story and kaiju choices and designs therein are far more interesting and satisfying than in the rest of the actual movie itself, in my opinion at least. Now again, it is easily conceivable that all these nitpicks of mine will
be remedied in the next two episodes, and I truly hope that they are.
But judging this episode or "movie" on its own the film comes across rather blah and mildly entertaining. To accurately judge this "trilogy" I'm going to need to wait until the other episodes come out. But as of this first episode it merely feels like another of Toho's weird Godzilla experiments.
Seriously Toho, you don't need to reinvent your 60 year old kaiju playground. You just need to play in it!
Overall Ranking: 5 out of 10
(for the first episode)
For more of my thoughts on the Godzilla franchise and kaiju goodness check out these other posts below.
When I first saw the image of the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON my imagination was utterly captivated. I wasn't frightened by it, but rather in awe of it. I thought it was one of the best looking characters I'd ever seen. I don't know exactly how old I was when I first saw pictures of the Gill Man, but I know I was eight years old when Universal Studios released the Monster Collection on VHS in 1991. And it was Christmas of 1991 when I first beheld the classic 1954 film. The Creature From The Black Lagoon instantly became one of my favorite films.
When it came to the Gill Man, and most other monsters, as a kid I wanted to see the monster win. I didn't really care what happened to the human characters. To me the monsters were the reason why I watched the movies and they were the heroes to me. And when you take a deeper look it's the monsters like the Creature and King Kong who are the real victims of the story. So I ask you, who are the real monsters in these movies? And which characters, either the humans or the monsters, show actual humanity?
These are the questions Guillermo Del Toro's film THE SHAPE OF WATER attempts to answer. Del Toro seems to be a kindred spirit of sorts as he appears to have a genuine love for all manner of strange creatures and monsters. And this, in a different way, is a love letter to the Creature From The Black Lagoon as well as those monsters we found so endearing as children in other films. One could even take this film as a sequel to the Creature From The Black Lagoon of sorts as its story lines up pretty close with the original.
All these elements combine to make a wonderful film expressing the sentiment that these monstrous characters are to be loved, albeit maybe not as literal as this movie depicts 😉
THE PLOT
Eliza can't speak. She hasn't been able to speak her whole life which has set her as an outcast among 1950's society. Living alone and working as a cleaning lady at a government facility, Eliza may as well be invisible to the rest of the world. When a government agent imports something monstrous from the deepest reaches of the Amazon jungle she can't help but take notice. But instead of seeing a monster she sees an outcast like herself. She sees him with curiosity and wonder and the creature views her the same way. Eventually Eliza finds a way to communicate with him and over time the two form a bond. When the government decides to terminate the creature Eliza has no choice but to free him and help him return to the water.
WHAT I LIKED
A Sense of Whimsy and Wonder. From the moment the film starts and the you begin hearing the score the style of the film shows through. The film possesses an "Urban Fairy Tale" quality in the vein of Tim Burton's earlier works. The music evokes an innocent fun feel while contrasting images show on screen. In many ways the film evokes the tones of Edward Scissorhands as well as themes similar to John Carpenter's Starman. If Tim Burton went full Rated R back in the early 90's this would've been the movie he'd have made. I personally enjoy Tim Burton's films, especially his works from the 80's and 90's. It's a style and tone few other filmmakers are able to capture and Del Toro pulls it off with ease. This is not to take away from Guillermo Del Toro's own filmmaking esthetics either, but rather the closest comparison I can make that most may be familiar with. The Shape of Water is very much a Del Toro film 100% through.
Role Reversal. The actual monsters in this film are the humans, most poignantly Michael Shannon's character. Michael Shannon is brilliant in his approach to the role. In everything he does he sets himself as repulsive, amoral, and callously inhuman. He's the all-American man living the "perfect" life and has secured for himself the American Dream. This setting renders him incapable of understanding anyone or anything that doesn't conform to the societal norm. Conversely the character with the most humanity is the monster and by extension the "outcasts" of society. The Creature, when treated with kindness and empathy, responds in kind. He is a character filled with wonder and curiosity, compassion and love, not just for those like him but for all who deserve it.
In this way Guillermo Del Toro accurately captures a specific audience's love for horror films and monsters. These films and the characters within them appeal and connect to the outcasts. Not that long ago, if you preferred horror films and monsters, you were viewed as different. Little kids love dinosaurs and monsters, but we are supposed to grow out of these "phases." If you don't grow out of them you're considered weird. And if society itself placed you as an outcast then you were sympathetic towards similar outcast characters in film and media. Only the outcasts understand monsters because we are told ourselves that we too are monsters. The "normies" don't get it. These sentiments are well represented here. Times and opinions on these types of films and characters are changing nowadays, but once upon a time these were the feelings surrounding this subject matter.
Creature Part 2. The film can be viewed in two lights, the first being as a completely independent story. The second is in light of the 1954 film Creature From The Black Lagoon. That film features a group of scientists on an expedition into the deepest reaches of the Amazon and their discovery of a "Gill Man." These people invade the Gill Man's territory, attack him, and seemingly kill him. In the sequel, Revenge of the Creature, scientists return to the Black Lagoon and manage to capture the creature, who is somehow completely healed. They take the creature back to the United States for study.
The Shape of Water begins in a similar way to Revenge of the Creature in that the Gill Man is taken to a U.S. government facility for study. The events of the original Creature film are briefly alluded to. The Shape of Water takes place in the 1950's, like the original film, and actor Michael Shannon's character is a spiritual successor to the "hero" from the original film, David Reed, or more so akin to the actual actor who played David Reed, Richard Carlson (a reputed real life jerk). In the original film the Creature's one positive interaction with humanity is with the lone woman of the group. The two characters share a beautiful "underwater dance" scene. In the spirit of that scene, which could be seen as a glimpse at the Creature's true nature, the Gill Man here responds positively to Eliza.
In a very cool way Del Toro explains how the Creature survives being repeatedly shot in the original films, revealing a new power of his. This also enriches the mythos surrounding the Creature, supply the notion that perhaps the Creature is actually a primal God.
All of this is to say that Guillermo Del Toro really worked hard to connect the narratives, at the very least in spirit. And Del Toro succeeds in channeling the essence of the Creature from both the film standpoint and that of the love many audience members feel for the Creature.
NITPICKS
Graphic Content. There is some rather shocking nudity right at the beginning and of course later on as well. As I said earlier it is quite the contrast from the film's score and tone we're being presented with. Within this contrast though we are shown exactly what this film will be like. What we're shown is completely human and natural so it's not appalling really. Yet, while you're listening to this fun whimsical music and seeing the quick cuts of the main character's normal daily routine your senses tell you one thing and then your eyes tell you another completely contrasting thing upon seeing a rather detailed masturbation scene.
It was jarring and I wondered how necessary it was at the time or if we didn't need to see EVERYTHING. I thought it took away from some of the innocent whimsy permeating most of the film. But then one of the film's major themes is our sexual relationship with ourselves, our own sexual identity, and our sexual relationship with others. In short, I guess it is necessary and in keeping with the story being told. But, wow, it certainly takes you by surprise at first and makes you question the choice of it. In the end though Del Toro makes it work.
Although I think I could've gone my whole life without knowing how the Creature's penis worked and been perfectly fine.
THE VERDICT
The Shape Of Water is one of the most original and unique films I've ever seen. It shows the world at a time where white conservatives were ruling, but shows that world through the eyes of the social outcasts. This approach is necessary to accurate encapsulate our love for the Creature. The film displays genuine humanity, compassion, and love. Social commentary is one of the corner stones of horror cinema and The Shape of Water is rife with it. Messages of love and kindness, seeing past the surface, make this film extremely relevant today. But really, if you love the Creature From The Black Lagoon and monsters in general, this film is the ultimate love letter to all such characters.
Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10
One of my favorite films of 2017
Nude-O-Meter: 5 out of 10
For more Guillermo Del Toro films and monster films check out these other posts below
Hello everyone! As some of you may know, I am writing for the website COMICONVERSE. I have been covering the current comic books from Marvel Comics and BOOM! Studiossuch as Doctor Strange and Kong of Skull Island.
For myself and anyone else interested I am documenting each of my articles here at Blood Work.
If you haven't checked out this latest article here you go!
Hey, everybody! Back again with a final review of Captain Kronos. The series ends on a high note of ass-kickery and horror goodness. One of my favorite little books of 2017. It's short but oh so tasty. Dan Abnett, a writer for whom I am a strong advocate for, does a great job of giving us a familiar yet surprising diversion from the usual super hero fare. I really loved it. And I hope the same creative team reunites for another Captain Kronos story in the future. On a side note, this creative team would be great for a Castlevania comic too!
For my full review click on the link above
Check out my other articles for ComiConverse linked below!
