Normally this would be the point in my review where I start off warning that unless you get seizures, “Mega Monster…” might not be the movie for you. But then I grew up watching “Power Rangers” religiously, and played Super Nintendo non-stop so I’m two steps ahead of the game. For folks who have yet to really be exposed to this sort of content, “Mega Monsters” will serve as a pure sensory overload. It’s colorful, loud, bright, vibrant, loud, explosive, loud, incoherent, often times breakneck paced, and did I mention loud?! But seriously, while a film like this has little story, you really have to pay attention to know what’s happening with the narrative and I mean you really have to pay attention.
Tag Archives: Fantasy
Swamp Thing (1982)
I’ve read the comic books, collected the action figures, watched the animated series, seen the television show, and even watched the horrible sequel a thousand times. But up until now the original “Swamp Thing” has eluded me. Even when I had the world wide web at my disposal, the original Wes Craven directed “Swamp Thing” has been an oddity that has escaped the clutches from my grasp. Watching it finally after so many years of sitting through the sequel, I learned a lot. Mainly: Sometimes the most elusive movies can be just as awful as you think. All these years seeking out “Swamp Thing” admittedly set me up for failure, especially considering I’ve never heard anything but a lukewarm response from anyone when discussing “Swamp Thing.”
Astroboy (2009)
So this “Astroboy” may not be the most loyal and faithful adaptation to its source material, but that doesn’t automatically make it bad. Deep down it has an undertone of sadness and tragedy with some thoughts about afterlife and the meaning of life that we all ponder. Sure, the target audience for “Astroboy” won’t even understand or care about where writers Tim Harris and David Bowers take the story, but at least “Astroboy” seems to try to have something for everyone. I vaguely recall watching “Astroboy” as a kid but I loved the direction David Bowers took the animated movie where Astroboy becomes a hero who just refuses to adhere to the norms of the robot world, especially when pushed in to a corner. As a robot he’s expected to act like a clunky stupid machine, and when he finds that he garners an attachment and new sense of purpose with both man and machine, he decides that he just can’t harm anyone who isn’t posing a danger to the world.
Assault Girls [Asaruto gâruzu] (2009)
Wow, so Zack Snyder got the idea for “Sucker Punch” from “Assault Girls.” Interesting. Watching 2009’s “Assault Girls,” it was tough not to compile that thought, considering this film and Snyder’s upcoming film all involve gorgeous women having adventures in their imagination to stave off suffering in their own reality, all the while they’re instilled with their own individual personas as applied to their personalities that reflect their powers and weapons during battle. The only difference is, “Assault Girls” chronicles this imagination through a virtual reality system called Avalon that allows the women (whom we never see in actual origin) to become warriors. With “Sucker Punch,” it’ll be based more around fantasies and delusions.
Kraa! The Sea Monster (1998)
Monster Island is at it again, except this time we enter in to a virtual clone of Power Rangers, all of whom–named the Planet Patrol–take on Lord Doom and his lethal weapon Kraa! I’ve never seen any of the actual material for Planet Patrol (what little there is), nor am I aware of the back story, so “Kraa!” will assuredly be confusing for anyone paying attention. Especially when you see news footage from “Zarkorr!” blatantly reused for “Kraa!” All we’re told is that evil Lord Doom (who dons a stock skull mask and cape) is planning to unleash the Sea Monster Kraa! This monster will rise from the seas to conquer Earth, all the while Doom plans to take the planet’s ice for his world.
Firestarter 2: Rekindled (2002)
In the start of the first decade of the millennium, television networks across the country were mining once popular properties to transform in to television series. TNT sought out “Salem’s Lot” for a series and failed. NBC sought out “Carrie” for a new series and it never blossomed in to anything, and the Scifi Channel in America provided an unofficial sequel to Drew Barrymore’s film “Firestarter” which was basically a two and a half hour television mini-series that they presumed would become a television series. And it never progressed. Which is a shame, because while “Firestarter 2” is no masterpiece much like the first, it had potential to be cult fodder, what with storylines it props up, villains it introduces and the like. I fondly remember seeing “Rekindled” when it originally appeared on television and I found it to be fairly entertaining. Nine years later, it’s still rather entertaining.
Firestarter (1984)
I really do commend Mark Lester for bringing genre fans a film that still holds up to this day. While it’s not at all a masterpiece or perfection, “Firestarter” almost thirty years later is still a really entertaining bit of genre fare that explores the tribulations of a young girl with a natural ability, and the men in her life. Lester’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel doesn’t just make young Charlie’s powers her own superhuman ability, but in a way implements it to signify her emotions, particularly love and passion. Because deep down “Firestarter” is a love triangle between small Charlie, her father, and her new friend John. At first John is insistent on murdering Charlie, and once he manages to gain her trust and befriend her, his friendship turns in to passion and love.