Godzilla
I watched the new Godzilla movie.
It gets Razzie of the Year in my book.
- Unused talent: Ken Watanabe and Bryan Cranston do not work together. It’s not even a Bryan Cranston movie.
- One-dimensional actor takes the boring lead: Aaron Taylor-Johnson keeps looking at the camera, adding to his unconvincing role as Bryan Cranston’s military son.
- Too many kids: This is not a family movie! When did throwing kids into the mix equal “human element”? True Lies, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, and Back to the Future had kids in them, but they actually served some role other than “Let’s make this a family movie.”
- Gun/nuclear-happy Americans: I would have to say that this pro-military movie portrays Americans’ top specialty–using their guns first and coming up with sound answers later.
- Horrible villain monsters: In the Godzilla franchise, there are tons of interesting and badass monsters to choose from. I would’ve gone with King Shisa (I’m impartial to the Okinawan shisa) or King Gydra (the Hydra).
Picture from the best Godzilla books ever in Japan, ゴジラ人間 series, printed in 1984 by Shogakukan Publishing.
- Friendly Godzilla: When was Godzilla on our side? OK, so he crushed a few buildings, but he’s nothing like the Godzilla from the past franchise.
- Movie should’ve ended in the beginning: If you’re a foreign who gets arrested in Japan, unless you’re married to a Japanese person, you’ll get deported, not sent back to your apartment. Godzilla would’ve easily ended in the first 20 minutes of the movie.
- Japanese people don’t speak English: Sorry, English teachers, but I know this as an English teacher here in Japan. Few Japanese people speak English, especially fluent English, and most freak out when they see a foreigner, even if it’s in a convenience store.
- Japanese people don’t take orders from Americans: How many foreign executives have you seen in Japan?
I started watching the 1998 Godzilla: The Series TV show just to wash the taste out of my mouth.
Big Hero 6 Manga
This is a first: before Disney’s Big Hero 6 release, Disney is releasing the manga for free through Amazon.co.jp, Boollive!, and Yahoo! Bookstores etc. from August 20th (limited time only). You can read the manga in Japanese here.
In the documentary film The Cove, there was an activist who was protesting the butcher of dolphins in Japan. I think he said he was detained by Japanese authorities multiple times and he wasn’t deported yet. I certainly don’t know about the legal details of that.
Anyway, this was a flawed movie but it did have it’s moments. Better than the 90s American film yet that is not saying much.
Seems being in Japan probably took you out of the fantasy a lot.
I’m very curious how Japanese people feel about this version of Godzilla, what’s the general sentiment around?!?!?
Well I just hope the sequel will have more classic monsters is all…
The guy making The Cove could’ve been under a special art visa which has more leeway than an American under an instructor visa, which Bryan Cranston’s character was under.
A Japanese teacher told me they liked Godzilla, but I’m convinced Japanese people have fallen for Hollywood’s rose-colored glasses. He said, “The first 20 minutes are boring.” What?? That’s the best part of the movie! Everyone keeps saying the 90’s American Godzilla was worse, but at least the actors could act and the characters weren’t one dimensional. I’m not watching the sequel. This movie ruined any kind of Hollywood remakes for me.