Rocketman + Godzilla King of the Monsters - Movie Reviews - Solid starts to the summer season?

Basically, I've just finished my GCSEs, and there is nothing quite like the sense of relief when you're all done. However, in that time, I have neglected this blog, but not abandoned the cinema. I went to the cinema a few times during my exams but couldn't get any reviews written up because I just had no time. So, I thought I'd just squeeze both films into one post as I don't really have much to say about either, my thoughts are quite simple. I'll probably do this for other movies when my opinion hasn't got much to it. These will be different to my regular reviews as I'll just be brief. So, let's get caught up.

Firstly, Rocketman. This film is a 15, was released on May 22nd 2019, and this review will contain NO SPOILERS 

This is a story of famous rock star, Elton John (played by Taron Egerton), and his rise to fame along with all the troubles he faced. So, I like both Elton John and I like Taron Egerton, so this was essentially setting itself up to be a match made in heaven. I also quite like the director, Dexter Fletcher, who worked with Egerton on another film called Eddie the Eagle, which I also enjoyed. So, I was keen I'd have a good time with this movie. 

Overall, I can safely say I had more than a good time, a great time. What Rocketman does really well is make the generic rock star, underdog story more entertaining. Instead of being a biopic, Rocketman is a musical. This gave way for so many fabulous musical numbers where all of the very best of Elton John was sung and danced to. It was so mesmeric and smile inducing, and it made the film feel as if it had more life to it. Additionally, Taron Egerton was amazing, I was not expecting this. Not only does he perfectly encapsulate every aspect of Elton, he is also a terrific singer. He is the centre of most of the musical sequences and his voice has so much of the energy needed to carry them. His performance was so convincing and it shows he's come a long, long way since Eggsy in the first Kingsman. Additionally, the supporting cast are great too. Jamie Bell has gone from being excellent as Billy Elliot to excellent as Bernie Taupin, Richard Madden does a good job as John Reid, Elton's sly and manipulative manager, and Bryce Dallas Howard does her very best English accent as well as bringing a lot of the emotion into the film, as Elton's mother who shows little to no love or respect towards her son. Stephen Graham was also hilarious for the brief moments he was in the film.

On the negative side, the pacing wasn't particularly great. Some scenes did drag on but fortunately this is evened out by the great musical scenes. The slow scenes do add the much needed drama and depth but it's a shame some were a bit boring. My only other complaint is that the film didn't feel like it had a great narrative to it. Compared to the very recent Bohemian Rhapsody (which was partly directed by Fletcher), that film had all the drama culminate into the grand Live Aid performance, giving the narrative a proper climax and set piece to build towards, additionally it was outstandingly executed. This film definitely has a climax, but it is less extravagant and overall the narrative just felt a bit uneven, without something to build towards or around. However, at least this film is more historically accurate. 

As a whole, it's not going to be a long, long time before I see Rocketman again because I really enjoyed this film because of an amazing central performance, a solid supporting cast, and the wonderful emphasis on being a musical over a biopic. Despite some slow scenes and a bumpy narrative, Rocketman is a great film for a really uplifting and cheerful time. 

I'm going to give Rocketman an 8/10 

Now, let's move onto Godzilla: King of the Monsters. This film is a 12A, was released on May 29th 2019, and this review will contain NO SPOILERS 

What's this movie about? Well it's Godzilla, and he's facing off against other monsters such as Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. To say I'm not invested in this current 'monster-verse' would be an understatement. I have not seen Godzilla (2014) because I just never got around to it, although I did thoroughly enjoy Kong: Skull Island, despite the fact that I can't recall much about it today. The reason I chose to see this new installment was that it just looked phenomenal. The visuals and whatnot from the trailers had me excited. Despite my lack of investment, I decided to go just for some good old Godzilla-beats-up-some-other-monsters action. 

Well, you know what I wanted, and this film definitely delivered. Where this excels is with the action. One of my biggest issues with a lot of monster movies is that they take too long to get going, only properly getting into the monster action we came for in the third act. But Godzilla: King of the Monsters has heard those criticisms and decided to completely shake things up. This movie wastes no time and cuts straight to the chase. I understand that taking time to reveal a big monster is an effective way of building tension, but given the context of what we're talking about, that a being a movie where the premise is that it's just Godzilla fighting other monsters, you can't blame them for just getting straight to it. Additionally, the action is fantastic. There is such a sense of scale and hugeness about all the creatures. So seeing them fight on a colossal scale was just something else. This is what I came for, and I got it. 

Inevitably, the characters are pretty weak. I didn't care for them at all. Granted, I don't know who comes to a Godzilla movie for the humans, but if they were well executed characters, there would've been a greater sense of tension and urgency, which was generally absent for most of the film. Also, there are many stupid decisions throughout, and while they try to justify them with some Thanos-esque reasoning, it's stupid and they just need to admit that. Also, while I was thoroughly entertained by it, the action did get a little bit fatiguing after some time. At first it is great, with some slow reveals of all the monsters and their capabilities. But by the end, it feels more like monotonous noise. Still enjoyable, but after an hour of the exact same, not so much.

All things considered, this was a consistently enjoyable time at the cinema. While Godzilla: King of the Monsters is mindless and has a lack of tension, there is plenty of exciting and bonkers, large-scale conflict to keep it from being dull. I enjoyed this movie and I'm sure anybody can if they just want to have a fun time and nothing much beyond that.

I'm going to give Godzilla: King of the Monsters a 7/10 

So, with my GCSEs now all done, I have plenty of time to go and see new films. I am probably going to go and see Endgame again while it's still hanging around, but Toy Story 4 is out next week and I am both super excited and incredibly nervous at the same time. Then there is much more to look forward to with Spider-Man: Far From Home, The Lion King, Hobbs and Shaw, and various other releases on the way. 

Also, if you like this short style of reviews, I'll do these more often for more films where I don't have an awful lot to comment on. These will be my NMTS (Not Much To Say) reviews.