GODZILLA VS MONSTER ZERO (aka Invasion of Astro-Monster)

Godzilla vs Monster Zero Movie Review

Two astronauts land on Planet X, where they come across human-like aliens who ask them to bring Godzilla and Rodan from Earth to battle their "Monster Zero", who we know better as Ghidorah. There's also a side story involving an inventor selling an electronic siren device to a woman who rips him off, and this all comes together when the alien beings inevitably turn out to be evil, but do we really care? We watch this movie for one thing: the monsters.

These guys

The monsters, of course, look awesome, but the fight scenes, unfortunately, leave a bit to be desired. This movie was the sixth installment in the Godzilla franchise, and, also unfortunately, was when our lovable monster began to become more comical than menacing--this includes, but is not limited to, Godzilla DANCING after a fight.

No, I'm not kidding

All of this adds up to a rather disappointing Godzilla film, but hey, it IS Godzilla, along with the other two coolest monsters from the Godzilla-verse, so it can't be all bad. 

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 5

Godzilla vs Monster Zero Movie Trailer (In Japanese)

28 WEEKS LATER

28 Weeks Later Movie Review

Set 28 weeks after the initial events of 28 Days Later, we find that NATO forces have taken control of Great Britain and have created a safe zone from the virus, which they believe to be almost completely eliminated. Two kids sneak out of the zone to visit their old home, where they find their mother still alive. The U.S. Military, headed up by sniper Doyle (Jeremy Renner), brings the kids and their mother back only to discover the woman has the virus, as well as an immunity to it. To nobody's surprise, the virus breaks out again and all hell breaks loose.

There's one way to escape

Much like in the first film, one could argue about if these are zombies or not--I won't argue one way of the other, because it really doesn't matter. This movie takes the violence and bloodshed of the first film and turns it up a notch. This was arguably Renner's breakout role--it's certainly what made me a fan, as he does a fantastic job here. Robert Carlyle (Eragon) also turns in a fine performance, and Rose Byrne of Insidious fame stops as well, but overall the acting is a step down from the first film. The movie moves at a very good pace, and there are some pretty surprising moments along the way. The story is very smart and the film is sure to keep you glued the entire time. The movie ends with a lead in to what has long been rumored to be the third installment of the film, allegedly 28 Months Later, but alas, nothing has come about yet. While most sequels do not live up to the original, this one comes awfully close.

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 8

28 Weeks Later Movie Trailer

28 DAYS LATER

28 Days Later Movie Review

Bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakens in a London hospital to find the city largely abandoned, the result of a virus that has eliminated much of the country and turned thousands into raging killing machines. This 2002 film sort of set the horror world on fire upon its release, and really brought new life to the zombie genre--of course, the argument could be made that what we see in the movie aren't zombies at all, and it's a fair argument, but lets face it--this is a zombie movie.

"What did you call me?!"

Jim meets up with a woman named Selena (Naomie Harris, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies), and they eventually come across a man named Frank (Brendan Gleeson, the Harry Potter Series) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns), and after hearing a radio broadcast, the group decides to travel to a supposed safe camp, but when they arrive, and we see it is a military camp, we know things are going to go bad. The wheels begin to fall off when the characters at the camp begin to unleash their real intentions, but there is so much to like about this movie that it likely won't turn you off to the film. The acting is top-notch, with all four of the actors mentioned above doing a tremendous job. The violence and gore are unrelenting, the music is fantastic, and the directing (Danny Boyle) is wonderful. The zombies are presented in a way we had not quite seen before, which, when the movie hit theatres, truly blew the audience away--you could almost hear the entire world all at once proclaim "the zombies are FAST!". 28 Days Later is considered a modern classic, a title it certainly deserves. 

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 9

28 Days Later Movie Trailer