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Let 1998’s “Godzilla”
stay dead. Jump 16 years and add director Gareth Edwards (“Monsters”) and the King of the Monsters is back in “A” shape. From the conspiracy-churning
opening credits, this “Godzilla” sets a dark path while looking back to the Japanese
original and riffing strong on Spielberg: Watch for “Jaws” and “Close Encounters” homages. Edwards proves he’s not joking with an upfront scene that left me awed
with anticipation. Bryan Cranston is a scientist convinced a disaster years
prior was not natural, yet no one believes him, least of all his soldier son
(Aaron Taylor-Johnson). A visit to a fallen nuclear plant proves Cranston right
as a beast -- not Godzilla -- emerges. The lizard king soon surfaces. And
he’s a rare CGI thrill. Yes, we get the ordinary, plucky staple of disaster-movie
heroes, and some great actors get lost (sorry, Sally Hawkins), but the city-crushing monster
fights and ways Edwards keeps us trapped just out of view of his beasts is a
marvel. The serious tone recalls those so-called “B”-grade originals were
grimly paranoid, despite the models and zippers. In a superhero top-heavy
summer, it’s cool to see a classic wisely reborn, breathing fire and roaring
loud. A-
I
disliked “Jumanji” when I saw it in theaters. I cannot recall why: Too much
newbie CGI, or just an irritation with Robin Williams running loony? But with this
second viewing, I like its goofy innocence.
The story: Orphans Judy (Kirsten
Dunst) and Peter (Bradley Pierce) arrive in a New England town with their aunt
(Bebe Neuwirth), a woman who can renovate an entire derelict mansion in one
day. Sorry. That is not the plot.
This is: The children find a centuries-old bored game
called “Jumanji” in the attic, begin to play it, and out comes jungle beasts
and bugs, and a bushy man (Robin Williams) who once was a boy in that same
house, trapped in the game for decades. The rest of Joe Johnston’s film follows
the trio -– Dunst, Pierce, and Williams -– keeping the board game’s animals,
vines, and raging waters in control.
It’s a playful film, not
afraid to break the fourth wall, and let kids in on the joke of goofy
fun. I cringed again at David Allan Grier’s policeman, all big eyes. It rubs
wrong. I may have been wrong in 1995. B+
Walt
Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph” takes a nod and a rip from Pixar gem “Toy Story” and
takes us inside the world of arcade games, where characters see the slide of a
quarter as a call to work, and party when no one is looking. Oh, flattery. Story: Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the human wrecking ball villain of the 1980s
game “Fix It Felix Jr.,” but he longs to be the hero. Ralph commits a no-no and
crosses wires for his chance at glory, first to a shoot-’em-up alien game, then
over to a racing game called “Sugar Rush.” Much mayhem ensues as Ralph
wrecks. He can’t help himself. Now, this is not Pixar. It’s run-of-the-mill Disney. So, the score already is lower. The wit and heart, too.
But this is flat-out great fun. The “Felix” game is so exactly rendered
Atari retro-style, the characters blink when they move, I thought it was a real
title from 30 years ago. It’s not. That and the ridiculously hilarious side characters
(Alan Tudyk as a kooky king) make me game to play again. The myriad shrill corporate
promos … not so much. B+
Warner
Bros. made “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” for 3D big screens in 2012, but
watching the pop-art colors, goofy-grin special effects, and
family-on-an-adventure story, I thought of the Disney movies from 30
years back, fantasies that put children center stage. “Journey” is proudly
rah-rah family fun, hokey with “I love you, dad” montages that rocket past
cringingly cloy, but it is miles better than the first “Journey” film, “Center of the Earth.” That piffle drowned in bad CGI, but here we get tiny
elephants, giant bees, raging waters, and falling rocks that ring more true. (Sort
of.) Speaking of Rocks, Dwayne Johnson replaces Brandon Fraser as the adult who
joins our teen hero (Josh Hutcherson) on an adventure that again focuses on Verne and a missing relative (Michael Caine as one cool grandpa). Hutcherson
is too old to be short-bus style yelling “Grandpa!,” but Johnson
has a ball singing and playing a ukulele. Adults won’t mind when the
cast breaks the fourth wall and smirk. B-
