ildsol

Here's a note I wrote to my friend who had endorsed the film to me:

"I have just watched The Lobster, which you also recommended. It was very good. Perhaps the best "artsy" film I have seen (rating: 7/8 out of 10). I can easily imagine that it sits very well with a cinephile like yourself. I can also understand why some people hate this kind of movie. It is probably a matter of whether one is willing to watch a movie as symbolism - and still feel that you get something out of it. If you watch this kind of film through glasses of realism you will feel frustrated. The movie emphasized many points about relationships and relationship status in our culture and it also had a beautiful symbolism about sacrifice in love."

If you're not a committed fan of the Godzilla universe but just looking for an exciting adventure, you'll probably be somewhat disappointed. The visuals, though, are beautiful - and the overall idea is both original and initially promising: An exiled humanity, forced to return to a now ravaged Earth and the inevitable confrontation with the terrifying Godzilla. But the story-telling generally fails to engross and excite. It's science fiction - with a lot of long-winded exposition but very little emotional depth. Through we get to know the main character, Captain Haruo Sakaki, a little, there is almost no development of characters. Everyone feels flat and lacking in nuance and personality. The movie has an almost paint-by-numbers flow, approaching the mechanical, with no side stories to stir imagination, or any layers in thematics. The second half of the movie delivers some good action sequences, but too late, I feel, to salvage the movie. There is, however, a final post-credits scene that brings some hope for the next installment. So I'm probably going to have to check that out when it's released on Netflix later this year. Perhaps this one was just a slow start.

5/10

The build-up is exciting: Someone has stolen the identity and life of the protagonist ... or is he, himself, going insane? Martin Harris (the ever reliable Liam Neeson) explains the struggle in his mind as: "a war between being told who you are and knowing who you are." The premise is followed by great action scenes and twists and turns to keep you guessing most of the way. A movie like this, however, ends well by keeping suspension of disbelief on a tight leash, for the viewer to really invest emotionally. The third act, unfortunately, looses the grip. Where genre classics like The Fugitive (1993) and The Game (1997) held the viewer fast to the heart-pounding end, Unknown Identity ends up increasingly far-fetched, and it eventually couldn't keep me truly caring about the story.

6/10