Movie Reivew: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Loosely based on the Chris Claremont comic arc of the same name, X-Men: Days of Future Past opens in a dark dystopian future, where a war with robotic soldiers -- called "sentinels" -- has left the mutant population devastated and helpless to fight back. On the run and fighting for their survival, the remaining mutants of the world have only one plan left: Send one of their own back in time, in hopes of stopping this bleak future from ever happening.

It’s an almost ironic plot, considering how truly horrible some of the X-Men film entries have been. Those who were hoping this outing would act as reboot for the dying franchise can rest easy: X-Men: Days of Future Past is not only the hands-down best film in the series, it may very well be the best comic book adaptation of all time.

Movie Review: Godzilla (2014)

The original 1954 Gojira ("Godzilla") was a dark film about the atomic bomb, in which a monster destroys everything in sight, and leaves little room for hope. It was a cathartic experience for a Japanese audience: An unstoppable force is causing destruction, and man is helpless to contain it, so they largely accept it. Riddled with metaphor, the film was Japan’s reaction to a horrible war crime that destroyed two cities and caused the death of millions of innocent people.

Godzilla then spawned a plethora of sequels, most of which abandoned the serious tone in favor of men in silly costumes fighting each other over the fate of the world, with the audience rooting for the now-likeable Godzilla. Typically the stories involved some monster menace wreaking havoc, and our scaly antihero would emerge from his slumber to kick some dopey-looking shrimp monster’s ass. Needless to say, these movies are loved largely only for their “B” charm.

So, which take does this new 2014 Godzilla remake go with? The simple answer is that it goes with the latter, all the while attempting to capture the tone of the former. The result is a monstrous disaster, culminating in a film with a script too weak to sell you on either its philosophy or its monster fights. Godzilla is neither smart nor fun, and considering the deceptive quality of the film’s trailer, it ends up being one of the biggest disappointments in modern memory.