Godzilla / The Fault In Our Stars / Chef / As Above So Below

An eclectic mix of films here to briefly go over, all falling within the solid if like that sort of thing bracket, but unlikely to elicit second viewings. First up is Gareth Edwards new take on Godzilla - a genre in itself. You'll be aware of the irony of Edwards taking this on as his sophomore effort as his debut feature, the slightly over praised Monsters, featured very little in the way of creature action. Edwards sticks to that blue-print here, giving us a slow and lengthy build up to the main engagements of the film. This isn't a problem and it's well marshalled by Edwards, and the main twist of the film has been nicely disguised pre-release. The drawbacks begin with the analysis of the script, which treatments from numerous writers (Frank Darabont and David S. Goyer amongst them). Edwards has said that Jaws has been an influence on this film, which is clearly covered by the drip-drip build up, but, whereas Jaws had fully developed protagonists we cared about whilst we were waiting for the mayhem to occur, not much effort has been made in Godzilla to flesh out the characters. There's just the standard Hollywood family tragedy back story applied and this is one of those films were anyone could have taken on the main roles and the film would have been exactly the same. Overall it looks and sounds great, and though it can't be denied that Edwards has honoured the legacy of Godzilla, it's just a shame he didn't do it via a more entertaining film. Moving on from monsters we tackle a genre that many people find monstrous - that of the dramedy concerning serious illness. The Fault In Our Stars (based on the book by John Green) stars up and comer Shailene Woodley as a teenage cancer sufferer who meets and falls in love with fellow afflicted teenager Ansel Elgort. Teenagers (or the easily manipulated emotionally) will lap this up and it will certainly do the trick for its intended audience. Director Josh Boone doesn't rock the boat and just simply joins the dots from scene to scene and Woodley and Elgort certainly click as the main couple, though Elgort does come across as unbearably smug at times. That's down to the script though, which touches on pretentiousness and is also a little cold in it's engineering of the tears. Plus, as an examination of cancer it's laughably trite - these are the healthiest looking people you'll ever see suffering from the dreaded illness. Moving on, it's food time in Chef as Jon Favreau stars as professional cook Carl who, following an altercation with a restaurant critic, quits his high profile job in order to start over again on the culinary front in the form of his own food truck. As you'd expect the nosh on show looks amazing and this is well acted (Hello John Leguizamo!), with a number of decent comic moments. The script is a bit muddled though (at times it could be a documentary about an examination of how modern social media can make or break a person / business), with the family dynamic as clichéd as it comes and the sticky feel good ending is just plain daft. Faverau's cronyism also means we have Robert Downey Jr. stinking the place out with a conceited cameo. Director Favreau  has stepped back from the glare of blockbuster territory with this low budget effort and whilst it's a passable film, Favreau himself has stated he pretty much made it for himself. No doubt he's earned the right to do that, but whether the general public will indulge is a different matter. Finally, time for a few silly thrills in John Erick Dowdle's As Above, So Below. This is Dowdle's first film since 2010's Devil and he continues the theme of supernatural shenanigans directing from a script penned with his brother as we follow a team of young explorers as they venture into the catacombs below the streets of Paris. Yep, you've guessed it, before long strange things begin to occur. This wasn't screened in advance for critics, but it's not that bad an effort. With it's eye catching poster, this also employs the current dynamic for horror films: Low budget, no name stars (though look for the chap that bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Ruud van Nistelrooy) and healthy box office returns. It also has an authentic touch, as the film was actually shot within the real catacombs of France's capital. That trivia aside, plot wise its eye-rollingly stupid at times (look for the moment when the characters stumble upon some handily placed cleaning products!), but at least it avoids the dark and ambiguous endings that have somewhat blighted recent horror productions. Rating for all films: 6/10.