SDCC: Godzilla 2 announced; King Kong being revived via Skull Island

We received news for two famous "monsters" today at SDCC. In addition to an official announcement for Godzilla 2, we got word that Legendary Pictures is looking to revive the King Kong franchise and offered some test footage of Skull Island.

Director Gareth Evans will be returning for Godzilla 2 and confirmed that in the sequel we will see Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Rodan. Legendary CEO Thomas Tull showed teaser footage including each of the rivals as classified figures. Evans will begin on Godzilla 2 after he completes his Star Wars spin-off film.

As far as King Kong goes, apparently a new version of Skull Island is being planned for a 2016 release. Legendary is now in equal share of the rights for these films after being absorbed by Universal. However, SDCC guests were somewhat disappointed as they assumed the footage shown was going to be a teaser for Jurassic World. The last adaptation of King Kong was Peter Jackson's take on the character back in 2005.

Godzilla - Review

After an unexpected meltdown at a Japanese nuclear plant, scientists begin chasing after an unknown entity causing supersonic disturbances with nuclear power in Godzilla.


I will start by saying that I really enjoyed Godzilla for what it was and I liked it more than I was expecting to. However, I do have some minor gripes without going too far into everything.

1. There was a lack of Godzilla. When he did show up he was badass, but you go through about 75% of the film without ever seeing him.

2. Bryan Cranston was wasted.

3. Elizabeth Olsen was wasted.

4. Despite being as long as it was, it was fairly fast-paced. Stuff that should have been focused on wasn't.


Despite all that, I enjoyed it. There should have been a bit more Godzilla, but I assumed that was just to setup an inevitable sequel. The creature itself looked awesome.

This is a terrible review because I don't really have that much to say except take it for what it is and just have fun. That's what I did and I walked out a happy camper.

The Raid: Redemption - Review

The Raid: Redemption is an Indonesian action film which follows a group of SWAT members on a building raid where a powerful and seemingly untouchable gang leader and his thugs trap them inside.


First of all I want to give a shout out to Eric over at Pretty Much It for recommending this movie. I watched his review of this one back in March after he, of course, saw it at Sundance and I was intrigued enough that I added it to my Netflix queue and waited for it to become available. Thank you, Eric. This was by far one of the most enjoyable movies I have seen all year.

Now with that said, I would also recommend this one. It is an action and martial arts type film but it is really well played out. The visuals are great and I thought as far as violence and gore went it was within the realm of reality and quite graphic. Now of course if you aren't into action films with a lot of fighting then you might not like it, but trust me... it is a thousand times better than The Expendables or whatever action movies we have received in the United States the past couple of years. I normally am not big into action movies and I enjoyed the hell out of The Raid: Redemption.

As far as story and all that goes it is basic. It focuses on one main SWAT member named Rama and basically follows him as the team continually gets picked off one by one and they try to escape the building alive. There is a subplot that is introduced later into the movie but I won't spoil it for anyone.
And in case you haven't gathered already, it does have subtitles. It is an Indonesian film with Indonesian actors and they speak their native language. If you aren't into reading subtitles then that is another thing to think about. However, the DVD copy I got from Netflix had an English dubbed audio track so you could always switch. Subtitles usually don't bother me so I kept the original dialogue audio, but there also isn't a whole lot of dialogue due to the fighting and action. I wouldn't worry about it.

Overall this is a great action flick. I highly recommend checking it out and from what I gather they are working on a sequel so I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for that. Bravo.