With the sequel nearly upon us, what better timing to watch Red than now right? Red plays out a bit like a James Bourne film and Frank Moses is constantly on the run. He knows how to handle himself so he’s usually not the one who’s in immediate danger. He has some partners who can be pretty tough as well.

Frank Moses has retired and he’s currently living the good life at home. He still does his daily workout but at least now there’s no pressure. He can do things at his own pace, but one day he is attacked by a hit squad. He dispatches them pretty easily, but now he needs to find out who is after him. Also he had been talking to Sarah Ross over the phone for a while and she was now a target as well. The two of them need to evade the hitmen long enough to find out what is going on.

Frank is a decent main character and for the most part he takes down just about everyone with ease. He’s very experienced at this sort of thing and we learn that he had a very legendary past. He’s made a lot of contacts over the years and they help him out. Some help in small ways and others play a very active role in helping him live through this.

Sarah is one of the other main characters of the film. While she doesn’t have any fighting experience to speak of, she takes it all pretty calmly towards the end. She did have one big fall that almost wrecked everyone’s chances, but I guess she had to make a mistake at some point. Cooper is the main antagonist of the film, but he’s technically not a bad guy. He’s just following orders (Which are pretty sketchy, then again..this is the government!) and he’s a pretty good fighter. He’s the only guy who actually gives Frank a decent fight. Cooper was one of the better characters in the film.

Joe Matheson is another ally, but I didn’t really like him. He never helped that much and his scenes just weren’t as good as the other guys. I think he could have been dropped from the film and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Victoria and Ivan were also not that great. Ivan seemed to be thrown in at the last second and all of Victoria’s character development went down the drain during her final scenes.

Marvin Boggs was a pretty strong character and he’s the only one who seemed to be even more experienced than Frank. He was the only one to notice several things that saved their lives. He’s also a pretty good shot and he’s definitely not someone that you want to underestimate. His bear was also pretty intense.

Overall, Red was better than I had expected. The action was pretty good and the soundtrack was also solid. One negative was that the romance lasted a little longer than necessary. I think that they could have cut out all of those subplots and the film would have been even more epic. Still, Red is a pretty solid action film and I’d recommend it to the average moviegoer.

Overall 6/10

Godzilla is easily one of the most popular franchises of all time. Just about everyone knows about Godzilla and he has spawned countless parodies. (The latest one being PacZilla) Godzilla has been around since the 50’s and he’s adapted to the different ages. Back in the old days, he was a cheerful monster, but by the 90’s he grew darker to fit the culture. This is the final Godzilla movie (At the time of this article anyway) so let’s see if they did justice to his name.

Well, the film starts out with the army defeating Godzilla in the opening minutes. (I’m sure that many Godzilla fans wanted to leave the theater at that very moment) While that is a very edge way to start off the film, at least it shows that the movie is willing to take some risks. Years later, some hum-mutants are sparring in a dojo. They seem slightly stronger and a bit quicker than an average human, but that’s about it. One character almost goes too far during the training exercise and the other one seems to be the main character since he held back at the end. We learn that Kaijus are now hunted by the EDF to protect the world from their threat. They quickly take down Ebirah and we are reminded that some of the Kaiju have not aged well. If the Kaiju are unable to defend themselves from the army, they definitely live in a dangerous world.

Out of nowhere, A large array of Kaiju attack the earth. They manage to hit just about every corner of the globe and it makes you wonder when the Kaiju all learned how to work as a team….The Earth is saved by a friendly alien race. Aliens have been a very frequent plot point in Godzilla, so it was good to see them. The main characters also find out that aliens currently live among them as undercover agents. They uncover the plot, which leads to the aliens sending out all of the Kaiju. Earth counters with the Mighty Godzilla! That’s basically the story for the film. Can Godzilla take down every last kaiju!?

All right, let’s go over the human side of things first. I didn’t really care for any of the heroes. The main character had one decent moment where he attempted to punch one of the top ranked aliens, but after his attempt was effortlessly blocked, (And he didn’t attempt to continue fighting) the scene went to waste. Technically the human scenes were a lot more explosive and action packed than most Godzilla films, but I found myself missing some of the old Showa plots. The humans there knew how to have a good time even when they were in peril. The voice acting was also a lot more intense. Still, I am glad that Final Wars attempted to have some very epic human scenes. I think that the scenes are a lot better the first time around, but they’re still all right. At the very least, it’s still a fight.

The Aliens make for interesting villain. The initial leader is pretty generic and I doubt that he would have been the best choice. The guy who replaces him is pretty cool for the most part and his fight scene is the best (human one) in the film. Also, the main character looks a bit like Goku (DB Evolution) so when he fights with Kumasaka (The villain) it feels a bit like a DB Evolution sequel.

Of course, the meat of the movie is the Kaiju scenes! Not literally since they don’t get an abundance of screen time, but the monster scenes are the best part of the film. Once Godzilla is freed, the movie picks up tremendously. His opening fight with Gigan is a great way to start the monster battles. This is also my favorite incarnation of Godzilla (GMK being a close second) since he’s always ready to fight. He also doesn’t forget that the army tried to put him on ice and the movie doesn’t forget this. Godzilla seems to have gotten more skilled with his Atomic Breath and he uses it pretty frequently. It also has a lot more power than usual and the blast looks very impressive. It’s definitely the best shot that he’s ever taken. (The Meteorite shot)

Gigan got a very cool design upgrade and it made him seem that much cooler. He got several different fights in the film and he even took on the mighty Godzilla. His attack power is about average and his defense is very low, but he makes up for that with his ability to fly. Gigan’s first battle against Godzilla was definitely his highlight. Kumonga makes an appearance and I thought that it was a pretty accurate one. The outcome was how I had originally pictured his first fight against Godzilla to end up. Kamacuras gets a brief cameo, but he doesn’t look so good. At least they remembered to add him.

Zilla easily got one of the best roles in the film and I gained a lot of respect for him as a fighter. For those of you who are unaware, Zilla is the American monster who appeared in the 98 film. His intro is dynamic and he’s sent from the ship to attack Godzilla right off the bat. A great song by the name of “We Are All To Blame” plays during their battle and it still ranks as one of the best Godzilla battles of all time. Zilla’s speed is truly immense.

Hedorah gets a small cameo as well and he gets tied up with Ebirah. His fight scene wasn’t as fun as Godzilla’s and I think that he was pretty under powered. Ebirah looked pretty bad for most of the film and he actually lost to the army. Manda appears pretty early on in the film, but blink and you’ll miss him. Minya also returns, but his scenes are very boring. No cool Kaiju fights for him I’m afraid.

Godzilla’s old friends Rodan, Anguirus, and King Caesar team up to take him on. It was good to see some of the monsters try and team up to take the King down, but Godzilla was definitely far too strong for them. They’re nowhere near his level of power, so even teaming up it wouldn’t work. Anguirus can roll, but overall he’s one of the weaker monsters out there. Rodan has some pretty good flying abilities, but his attack power isn’t the best. King Caesar is pretty nimble, but his attacks seem to have no power behind them.

Mothra is the only monster to help Godzilla in this film. Once again she outshines his other friends and actually manages to take on Gigan. It’s a pretty epic scene, even if it’s a little tough to buy. A mysterious challenger attacks Godzilla as well. While I won’t say who it is, I will say that he’s pretty powerful and one of the coolest Kaiju out there.

Final Wars is definitely a film that all G fans should check out. The soundtrack for the film is pretty great and it’s easily the best Godzilla soundtrack to date. While the film missed out on four key monsters, Mecha Godzilla, Orga, Destoroyah, and Space Godzilla; They did a pretty good job making sure that most of the monsters came back. It was a great way to end the Godzilla movie series and I highly recommend it.

Overall 9/10

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