Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

6/10

Starring

Paul Rudd

Carrie Coon

Finn Wolfhard

Mckenna Grace

Kumail Nanjiani

 

Directed by Gil Kenan

 

It felt like this movie was rushed out, even though the last Ghostbuster movie was three years ago. Then it was a thrill to see a CGI of the late Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler). The film did a wonderful job when it came to comedy and science. The all round guckingness of the cast members and the coming together of the crew to save the day, with the addition of the family of the Spenglers was a nice job. Still, it felt like we just got over the first one and here is another.

As you would expect, the acting was cool, it was a wonderful job the cast did in the movie, but this new addition introduced more characters into the mix, and at times it felt crowded. There were too many people involved in stopping this bad guy that it just did not feel right.

The movie digressed a lot from the matter at hand and the matter at hand was a creature called Garraka from thousands of years ago, who was trapped in an orb and kept there to save the world from his anger. Now this creature is no ordinary ghost, the proton packs do not work on this creature, so trying to stop it will require certain skills from the descendant of the people who caught him thousands of years ago.

The movie starts with these new four (Gary, Callie Spengler with her two children Trevor and Phoebe) going about busting ghosts. If you are a fan of the Ghostbusters, you know in doing this, they are also making a mess of the city of New York, and everyone is not happy about it, especially the mayor.

Turns out, Phoebe Spengler was too young to be running around busting ghosts and needed to be benched, which did not go well with her. She was forced to make friends with a ghost in her loneliness.

On another note, the ghost tank in the firehouse is getting full, and they need to transfer the ghosts from there to a new, bigger tank. With all these happening, the orb in which Garraka was trapped was sold to Ray Stanz, who then took it to the company which Winston runs for them to extract the paranormal being in it. But when they tried, it caused so much chaos in the new lab, and almost caused the person working on it to lose a hand to frostbite.

But Garraka wanted out, and he is able to communicate with other ghosts from within the orb to help him get out, promising them anything they wanted.

As you will expect he got out, and we watch the team, now united with the old team and with the new set of casts, try to stop Garraka and put him back into the orb.

I can say, the movie was not bad, but it still felt like it was too soon, and we have had enough of Ghostbusting for a while.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

 

5/10

Starring

Rebecca Hall

Brian Tyree Henry

Dan Stevens

Kaylee Hottle

 

Directed by Adam Wingard

 

There must have been two reasons for this film to be like this:

1)      Many people must have clamoured for a film with monsters fighting from start to finish.

2)      The rights to the franchises were going to end and Universal had to make a film to keep it.

This was not a good film. The film is so loose that you can actually watch this film with no sound, and you will still understand what was happening and not get lost. The reason for this is, monster fights were from the start to end, and since we already know that Godzilla and Kong are the good guys, anyone else fighting against them, will be the bad guys. So, with no sound, you could actually figure out what was going on. The was no point for sound anyway, no point for dialogue, because all that was basically being said was, Godzilla is gearing up for something, consuming radiation left right and center for something. Since the film cuts to Kong and then back to Godzilla, you can see what the something is, and know what Godzilla is gearing up to fight.

Set three years after the events of Godzilla vs Kong, Kong is seen going about Hollow Earth, discovering more of its domain. We see him come across large creatures like him, and he seems to dominate them all. He meets another ape like creature like him, smaller and from that meet, it became a fight as more ape like creatures like him, his size this time, emerge from the mist and try to kill him. He wins and the little one, which is now like his hostage, takes him to their lair. In the lair we see many more ape like creatures like Kong and the leader, an evil ape also tries to kill Kong. But when he was losing, he summoned a creature like Godzilla which he has control over against the creature's will. With the creature, he was able to cause Kong to drop the battle and run. We soon discover that the people living in Hollow Earth, have a prophecy about this evil ape. He wants to break into our own world and, using the creature he has control of, bring about the ice age.

It was these actions Godzilla was sensing that made him start to absorb all forms of radiation in preparation for the fight that is to come.

The film does have few and far in-between breathing space where the humans talk about waking another creature, which in fact is a Godzilla ally to balance the fight, but all that still can be figured from sight with no sound.

If you just want to see Monster fights with the only aim being to save humanity, then this is for you.

Monkey Man (2024)

Monkey Man (2024)

 

7/10

Starring

Dev Patel

 

Directed by Dev Patel

 

This is Dev Patel directorial debut, and he also co-wrote this film. This action thriller is your typical 80s revenge film plot, with some modern additional creativity of adding more than the intent for revenge, but a deep-rooted reason for it. The idea that one man can work his way with some luck and well-placed friends on the low end of the income ladder, can be far-fetched, but I like the way the film tries to make it possible, if you do not think too hard on it.

The film has a political tone, with some very graphic violent scenes, which may not go down well with the Indian community it is set in. The film shows how Third World countries are being degraded by corruption, discrimination, and poverty. How people under the guise of spiritual backing and leadership mindset take advantage of the system to gain power. It also shows how the corrupted officials, who are meant to keep things in check, further aid these people to become more influential and powerful.

I like how the film teases you with what seems like violence that will make you think, is this what people are saying is too violent? Then around thirty-seven minutes into the film, you will see some violence that will make you go, ohhh!!!

The film is about Kid/Bobby/Monkey Man (Dev Patel), who watched his mother and the people of his village massacred. He never forgot the face of the man who caused him to have such a difficult life without the love of his mother, and wants revenge. The film starts with Kid in a Monkey Man mask, getting beat up in an underground fighting ring. We soon learn that this was a rigged fight, which he does for money. The moment he had enough money, he began his plan for revenge. This plan included, getting a job with a woman who supplies girls and drugs for the high and mighty in the political sphere. Then after getting the job, grow in the ranks to become one of the servers in the VIP lounge. When he is in the VIP lounge, the first opportunity he gets, kill the man responsible for his mother’s death. Halfway into the film, he did all this, except killing the man did not go as planned and he failed. We are halfway into the film, and he is now on the run. The rest of the film is how he gets his life back on track and, as this is a revenge film, get back on focus to fulfil his lifelong desire for revenge.

The film had a very difficult time coming to light, because of the fear that it will not be well received by the Indian community. It is thanks to Jordan Peele and Universal Pictures, that we get the opportunity to see a film that was completed back in 2021. When Netflix acquired it back then, they changed their mind because of the fear of backlash. In the end, seeing the film has been a thrill. It is fun to see a film now, which even though has the 80s revenge idea, was done with some class and cultural root.

It may (or will) not end up being one of those blockbuster movies for everyone to go see, but I can assure you that, if you go watch this film, you will very well enjoy it.