Godzilla (celebrating its 70th), Meg Ryan (aged 62) and the Three Musketeers (181 years old!) are back in cinemas with the weight of their own colourful histories behind them, as GRAHAM YOUNG explains.
Godzilla Minus One (12A, 124 mins). After Hollywood’s many misfires, this 70th anniversary Godzilla anniversary film from Japan is not just a return to Odo island but the best ‘monster’ film since Spielberg’s Jaws (1973).
And that should be fin-tastic news for Westside’s National Sea Life Centre in Brindleyplace where all manner of deep sea creatures swim in house.
Set immediately post World War Two, a kamikaze pilot meets the horror of what Japan has become without his ultimate sacrifice. If the country is at ‘ground zero’, the reawakened, prehistoric Godzilla monster resets the damage on both land and sea to ‘minus one’.
The verdict ***** Having lived with a family in Japan, I adored this exploration of its culture, guilt, pride and determination.
Yes, it’s a ‘kaiju’ monster movie, but director Takashi Yamazaki’s disarmingly real emotional and special ‘effects’ deliver a soul-searching movie metaphor for rebuilding a country as devastated as Gaza is today.
Going to see either Dudley-born James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931) or Fay Wray in King Kong (1933) upon release would have been a life-changing cinematic experience. And yet with its 12A certficate, Godzilla Minus One could similarly impact today’s nine to 12-year-olds.
With screenings including IMAX at Cineworld Broad Street and Dolby Screen at Odeon Luxe Broadway Plaza – and real sharks waiting in the National Sea Life Centre for a salty debrief – this brilliant film could inspire anyone to become a Spielberg, or even Jacques Cousteau, of the future.
What Happens Later (15, 104 mins). Two airport travellers meet by chance during a 24-hour storm – 25 years after they separated. I don’t recall seeing Meg Ryan in a Westside cinema since the disappointing Kate & Leopold in 2002, so has her absence made my heart grow fonder?
Now aged 62, the former romcom queen directs herself and The X Files star David Duchovny in a simple two-hander.
The verdict *** Meg Ryan was a huge romcom star thanks to Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Nora Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You’ve Got Mail (1998).
Ryan’s self-directed, co-written ‘When Meg Met Dave’ performance here suggests that neither she, nor TV veteran Duchovny, now 63, have lost their touch.
They are both at ease – if not totally sparking – in a story with strong language about whether each is on a trip (to a destination) or a journey (something far deeper).
Based on Steven Dietz’s 2008 play, the airport Tannoy announcements oversteer the ‘plot’, but the ‘bomb cyclone’ dialogue illustrates our changing world.
Original Meg fans will certainly understand how (airport / relationship) baggage can similarly weigh you down during the ages.
Boosted by a fabulous dance sequence set to The Lightning Seeds’ Pure (meaningful lyrics as well as uplifting mood), this is a fresh take on Ethan Hawke in Before Sunset (2004) with added shades of Woody Allen, whose new film Coup de Chance (2023) has similar sentiments.
What Happens Later is dedicated ‘To Nora’ who died in 2012 aged just 71. She would have loved this – showing at Cineworld Broad Street.
The Three Musketeers: Milady (12A, 114 mins). Part two of the action-packed French adventure based on Alexandre Dumsa’s 1844 novel was directed back to back by Martin Bouboulon.
The great Vincent Cassell (Pathos) is underused, but this is another rollicking adventure with swords intercutting French history and the sound of horses hooves a typical delight.
Kidnapped following the attempted assassination of Louis XIII, D’Artagnan’s (François Civil) search for his beloved Constance (Lyna Khoudri) has twists and turns galore.
Casino Royale’s Vesper Lynd star Eva Green is supremely feisty as Milady in a film that has much more swashbuckling fun than Napoleon. A treat at Cineworld Broad Street.
Verdict ****
PICTURE CREDITS
What Happens Later: Bleecker Street
Godzilla Minus One: Robot Communications / Toho Comany
The Three Musketeers: Milady: Pathé Films
