Your latest Clash Film column has an unusual trio of leading men – the roaring kaiju/nuclear metaphor Godzilla, a passionate Wicker husband, and a Batman villain with a melting face. Intrigued? Read on!
Godzilla Minus Zero // In Cinemas
Godzilla Minus One was the Oscar-winning reinvention of Toho’s infamous monster, showing Hollywood how it’s done with a searingly emotional drama that returns the franchise to its wartime roots. Its sequel, Godzilla Minus Zero, might have gone further. Set in 1949, two years after the original Godzilla attack, the survivors of the first movie reluctantly come together to fight a new monster who is levelling cities and claiming lives. With their weapons useless against it, there is only one solution – to resurrect Godzilla!
An absolutely astonishing work, director Takashi Yamazaki took the post-War grief embedded in the original movie and took it to new heights. The movie is the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX, meaning the exceptional effects and sequences of its predecessor are given a broader scope that is spectacular to watch. However, while the scale may be bigger, the human element still remains, with the central relationship between stars Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe still as heart-wrenching as ever, while the mental scars of the catastrophic events of World War II are prominent in almost every character. A big stompy disaster movie with brains to match, it’s one of the best movies of the year.
10/10
How’s this for a premise – set in a fishing village, Wicker follows an unpopular woman (Olivia Colman) who is tired of being on her own, and hires a magic weaver (Peter Dinklage) to make him a husband out of (you guessed it) Wicker. The result, played by Alexander Skarsgård, comes to life and proves a perfect husband in many different ways. The new arrival causes outrage in the village, with his devoted passion making other married couples reassess their own relationships.
Ever wanted to see someone have sex with a man made of wicker? That niche curiosity will be satisfied in this quirky, funny, and warm-hearted movie. Colman delivers a wonderful performance while Skarsgård is surprisingly charming for someone covered head-to-toe in prosthetics. For the most part it balances the sordid humour with the heartfelt love story, and if you’re looking for something different from the standard romcom fare this will be right up your street. You may, however, never look at a wicker basket the same way again.
8/10
Clayface // In cinemas now
Currently in cinemas is this rare horror-themed superhero movie, focusing on the Batman villain Clayface. Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen, a rising movie star who gets on the wrong side of a ruthless gangster just before he’s about to make his big break, and is disfigured. With his looks tarnished and his reputation ruined in the media thanks to corrupt police, he seeks out a doctor (Naomi Ackie) to receive an experimental treatment to heal his wounds. While it initially works, it leads to his skin soon losing shape, giving him the ability to change form, and seek revenge on those who wronged him.
A narratively wayward but entertaining body horror, confusingly it is set in the world of James Gunn’s DCU, which is yet to announce its own Batman, and not Robert Pattinson’s version of Gotham. Lore aside, it is a tragic and graphic revenge movie that won’t be for the squeamish, with one scene aboard a plane best viewed after you’ve eaten your popcorn. Pulpy and satisfying, it doesn’t hit the same heights as fellow villain spin-off Joker, but is an interesting divergence into the dark side of the comic book universe.
6/10