Vic_max

Watch this in Dolby Cinema or Regal 4DX if you are able. Both will have you immersively shaking as giant twisters wreak havoc in the film.

This is an enjoyable remake of the very successful movie Twister. Amazingly, some of the same crew worked on the original. But - the cast is all new. And - the story is updated, acknowledging the technological advancements since the first movie.

It's a nice blend of storylines about people and the power of nature, character redemption, pushing the boundaries of science - and maybe even a little (though indirectly) reference to climate change.

If you're looking for a fun action movie (and esp. If you saw and liked the original) - this is a good bet.

This movie had a number of beautiful callouts to the original movie with Gene Wilder - like the wondrous melodic tunes and the colorful "land of chocolate" imagery. I absolutely LOVED those things about this movie.

However - the movie portrays Willy Wonka as some kind of wizard, capable of doing actual magic ... not magician-type tricks, but actual conjuring of virtually any kind of physical objects or landscapes .... albeit chocolate related. This is what confused the heck out of me.

He's not supposed to have magical powers. He's supposed to be an eccentric, highly imaginative, and innovative chocolatier..

Neither the book nor the two previous movies with Wilder and Depp portray Wonka this way. Even in this movie, he's just supposed to be a magician ... but then does continuous magical conjuring throughout the movie.

I know ... the movie is a fictional fantasy and there's a lot of creative license allowed - esp. In kids movies. But I've never seen it this grossly overstated. If they wanted to go in this direction, fine - make clear at the beginning that he's a magical being.

Anyway - I did emotionally enjoy the striking visuals, the references to the music of the original, Wonka's determined optimist attitude ... and, of course, every scene with Hugh Grant. However my brain rejected the storyline for the reason I mentioned.

If you're fan of the books or.any of the previous movies - you're going to feel the need to check this out. Hopefully, you'll be more open to the storyline.

This incantation of Godzilla, when you get a good look, has small head, big belly, huge thighs and an overly thick tail. It doesn't seem to slow Godzilla down though - it can be very fast. It's definitely a look that has a direct lineage to the old Japanese Godzilla movies of the '50s and '60s.

However, the movie was just "ok" to "good" if you're into monster movies. It's always nice to have a personal (human) story going on between the characters, but the one here was a little too sappy.

There's lots of weeping, groveling and over-acting. The characters are simple one-dimensional personas. For example, the female lead character could easily have made a good Virgin Mary if you take out the monster. Also - seemingly impossible coincidences and situations are rampant in the movie -- like individuals or groups of people showing up randomly out of nowhere to save others. Yes, it's sci-fi, but my brain felt insulted.

And what's with all the saluting? I won't go into details, but that makes no logical sense given the situations in the movie.

If you love early era Japanese Godzilla movies, this is for you. All the classical looks, scenarios, local ... and "death ray" elements are present. But if you need or want more, it isn't there.