So I watched four movies today in this order. Brightburn, Dark Pheonix, Aladdin & Gojira: Kings & Monsters. Some minor to major spoilers in each of these movies.
Brightburn, it's a horror movie that asks the question of what if Superman became evil and what you is a slasher film where you realize eventually that pretty much any character that tries to do anything against this boy is going to die because wow, does the kid show how terrifying an evil Superman could be that it really makes you wonder how could Batman even stop this kind of guy. One thing I thought was interesting is how accurate it portrays most parents. I know from personal experience that most parents want to believe that their own children are innocent, special or at the very least that there is still some good in them even if their own children are proven guilty or that they realize that their own kids are obviously lying to them or have been acting very suspicious. This movie really does a great job showing the parents point of view where their role as a parent and if they should put an end to their own child who slowly becomes more and more of an killing machine is at great conflict here. Ultimately though, I do feel this film is a bit underwhelming, as in I feel like there is so much more this film could explore with this idea.
Dark Phoenix. Now I heard this film is the worst X-Men movie by many people and after watching it, I didn't think it was that bad but it wasn't a good film either. I wouldn't even call this a polarized film or a film of mixed reception but it's not entirely boring either. I'm actually kind of stumped on what I should call this film but I do have to agree with almost everyone on one thing. This is definitely the worst X-Men film but for me personally, this felt like Part 1 of a much bigger film series as in this literally feels like the beginning and ONLY the beginning of an unfinished storyline as strange as that sounds. Like it feels like
Aladdin. So this is a funny thought. It's about an Canadian Actor born from Egypty playing an Arabian character who sounds like he's American who is based on Disney's take on Aladdin, a main character who is originally Chinese. That's actually true, look it up. The original Aladdin is actually Chinese, not Arabian. So anyways, the film itself. I actually enjoyed this film but at the same time found myself bored at the same time? I think this had to do with the fact that I pretty much know what's going to happen, I've already seen this movie before in animated form. This is pretty much the same plot, there's nothing new BUT this is absolutely not a scene-by-scene remake like how others have suspected of the Lion King live-action movie. There is a lot of new stuff, new scenes, new slightly interesting takes on Disney's previous characters and even some new details like a bit of politics thrown in there. The best part about this movie is that Will Smith absolutely nails the Genie role, so much so that my only real criticism of him is that there isn't enough of the Genie in the movie. This is actually a pretty great live-action take on the Genie but I feel like there just wasn't enough of him in the movie. Also one thing I do think that this live-action adaptation has over the previous one is that there is more "style" to it as strange as that sounds. However I do ultimately think the animated version of Aladdin will always be the best version.
Gojira: Kings & Monsters. So this movie is just loads of fun that I really don't care what the critic think of this or that even I noticed some questionable and even downright stupid decisions made in this movie. I freaking love the movie and the classic monsters getting a brand new update, especially the main big baddie, King Ghidora whose origin story in the movie explored one key area from the Japanese films that I thought that the western studios would never explored because it might just seem too "corny" or "silly to the west, but they actually did it and it only helped enhanced the film. I do however do not care much for most of the newer monsters made for this movie. Their scenes are really short but they never really felt like the classic monsters that get updated from the original Toho films. In fact they remind me of a more edgier slicker take as strange as that sounds. Also I enjoyed most of the human cast's roles, mostly Ken Watanabe who reprises his role again. I personally think he's the best actor of the film and another thing I was surprised to see is that the director manage to find a way to incorporate Mothra's fairies into the story but in a more modern update that I don't think Godzilla fans may recognize right away. The actress who plays the new modern take on the fairies does a pretty good job in my opinion in explaining the history behind some of the monsters, including a very shocking twist that might take new Godzilla fans by surprise and not only that, she's smart, has a bit of spunk and is just so gorgeous. Also the monster vs. monster action is just awesome, ranging from sea, sky and land. On a side note, you can also tell that Legendary Pictures really REALLY wants to hype up the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong movie in this film. You'll see what I mean if you haven't watched it yet. Easily this is my most favorite movie I saw today.