jesssfrankel

Before the Caped Crusader came around, the Shadow had a millionaire playboy named Lamont Cranston tracking down and stopping evildoers with the power of his mind as well as his guns and fists. So, in 1994, the powers that be decided to make a film and...

The results are mixed. The period pieces look good...great, in fact. Even though the atomic bomb isn't quite right--about twenty years ahead of its time in its design--there's still a nice stylistic look to the whole thing. The music has a sweeping feel to it, and there's this nostalgic air that makes watching this film enjoyable. And the direction is quite clever in many scenes.

However, there are, to this viewer, some problems. One, John Lone's villain isn't that formidable. Oh, he takes on lesser people and bests them, but he loses rather easily to the Shadow and ends up semi-lobotomized.

Two, his henchmen sound more Japanese than Mongolian.

Three, at the beginning of the film, Lamont is actually a drug lord in the Far East...my memory's hazy, but that doesn't seem quite right as an origin story. Moreover, why would the Chinese allow a foreigner to dominate their poppy fields? That doesn't make much sense to me.

Finally--and this is the biggest one--the acting is good when the leads of Alec Baldwin and Penelope Ann Miller are by themselves, but whenever there's interaction between the two, there's zero chemistry. None. IDK if they simply didn't like each other or if they just didn't have it when it came to onscreen interaction. But it just didn't click that way for me.

OTOH, the backup characters of the late Peter Boyle, Sab Shimono, Jonathan Winters, Ian McKellen, and esp. Tim Curry (who is a standout as the fool and puppet of John Lone) are quite good in their roles.

Oh, and the showdown between the Shadow and John Lone is solid.

But for me, this movie is one where the parts are greater than the whole. It's a curiosity, flawed, to be sure, but it's still quite watchable, and Taylor Dane's 'Original Sin' closing song is perfect.

While this is neither the best nor the worst Godzilla movie ever made, it IS entertaining, hence my 8-star rating.

What we have here is the future, where Godzilla's been locked up (encased in ice) and a group of supposedly benevolent aliens come to Earth to help us all.

Ah, the old benevolence-of-aliens trick! Actually, dem dere aliens are bad, really bad. They're out to use us as cattle, and after the initial losses--most of the world's population--Earth's last survivors, consisting of humans, mutants, and led by legendary UFC fighter Don Frye whose mustache could probably annihilate a battalion by itself, fight back.

And...they have a secret weapon: Godzilla. You see, the aliens control the other kaiju--Gigan, Anguirus, Rodan, Zilla, and more--but they can't control Godzilla, and he goes on a one-monster rampage, taking out the kaiju left, right, and center.

And THAT is a lot of fun to watch. This is where the director gets creative in how Godzilla trounces the opposition, and that got me laughing.

Good things about the movie. When the monsters are onscreen, it's a lot of fun and laughs to see them interact and blow stuff up. The fights are well-staged for the most part, the music is good, and the special effects are okay for that time period. With the exception of, Godzilla vs Mothra, Shin-Godzilla, and Godzilla: Minus One, the franchise has never been known for top-notch special effects.

As for the negative points, the old 'aliens are here to conquer us, Godzilla save us' trope is back, and it's tiresome. The acting is average at best. Rei Kikukawa is pretty, but she's not a good actress, and the rest of the cast, while they try hard, just ain't up to the mark. I did like the performance of the lead alien--he was way over the top, and that gave the film the fun aspect it needed.

And the final fight between Godzilla and Monster X--an upgraded Ghidorah--is a rouser and it reassured me that good would prevail over evil.

Overall, this was a fun popcorn flick, and if you're a Godzilla fan, this is the movie for you.

Okay, corny and overly dramatic title out of the way, what we have here is a rather well-done martial arts film with decent acting by JCVD, Leah Ayres, Forrest Whitaker. The rest of the cast turns in capable performances.

Based on the supposedly secret 'Kumite' tournament in Hong Kong, it was supposedly won by Frank Dux, a supposed martial arts expert...and the key word is supposed. It turns out that Dux, while he probably does possess some martial arts skills, was BS-ing about the tournament all along.

However, leaving the lies behind, we still have the movie to contend with. One thing it has going for it is the locale, showing off the exotic part of HK as well as its seedy side.

And then there are the fights, and when they occur, let's make it happen, cap'n! The action is swift, well choreographed for the most part, and exciting. The final fight between JCVD and Bolo Yeung, who always seems to be the heavy in pretty much every martial arts movie ever made (i.e. Enter The Dragon, Double Impact, and so many others) is a real rouser. Yes, it's corny in spots, but still exciting, and for fans of this genre, it delivers.

Now, the production values are sort of low, there are a few goof-ups with beards and such (when Frank Dux enters the tournament hall for the first time, one of the guys has a beard and then in the next scene he's clean-shaven) but this flick is for action fans. It ain't for Oscar trophies.

Overall, a fun popcorn film, one that you can enjoy and watch a young JCVD before fame, fortune, and the lure of drugs and booze almost ended his career.

Add-on: I always thought that Leah Ayres, who was and is still very pretty, was the granddaughter of Lew Ayres, the well-known actor. I was in error. My bad.