Godzilla: King of the Monsters - 3/5

The monster visuals are gorgeous, and that’s certainly where they put their money. Unfortunately, the plot is very dumb and overly complicated, to the point that we don’t get to see monster stuff until about 50 minutes into the movie. The upshot is that the parts with humans fall back into the ‘so bad it’s good’ category, so if you like imitating Mystery Science Theater 3000 you’ll have something to do while you wait for the monster fights to start. Once the fighting starts it’s exciting and very entertaining, well worth the price of the ticket on its own, though it seems overly focused on giving the audience good PC desktop wallpapers.

Closest comparison: It’s better than Godzilla (2014), but not as good as Kong: Skull Island.

Setting: Kaiju Monster
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Action/Drama

Paddington (2014) - 3/5

First of all, the cinematography in this film is beautiful and the CGI is impressive, to say the least. All of the directoral choices like casting, costume design, and music are well done and a pleasure to enjoy. Unfortunately, it's unclear who this movie is made for. The goofy whimsy automatically suggests children, but the film condones illegal and immoral actions simply because they are performed by the protagonists, making it a bad fit for kids. The overt man-bashing and the attempt to portray women as infallible are ubiquitous, making it offputting to sober adults. If you can turn off your brain you can have a lot of fun with this film, but trying to gain any lessons from it will be hit-or-miss.

The Shape of Water - 4/5

It's very good, but there's a lot of nudity. Not pointless and in fact used maturely, but I also think ultimately the movie would have been better without it. On the whole the movie's beautifully shot and the story is beautifully told. Of Guillermo del Torro's other works it's closest to Pan's Laybrinth in the sense that it's a fairy tale told in a harsh world. If you like his other works and you are prepared to look away a few times, this movie is great, for the unparalleled set design and costume design at least.