Look, up in the sky. It's a bird,
it's a plane... it's a new episode of Monster Men!! On this episode of the Monster
Men video podcast, Hunter Shea and I review and discuss the new Superman movie,
Man of Steel. This leads to a bigger
conversation about super hero movies in general.
I love super hero movies and it
truly is a great time to be a fan of this genre. However, movies like Man of Steel prove that these movies can
be very polarizing. What one person loves, another person is offended by. I
think that’s part of the fun of these movies… the debates that unfold after you see them.
That’s exactly what you’ll see in this episode; Hunter and I agreeing,
disagreeing and having a blast talking about everything from The Dark Knight to Kick Ass.
Here's a just a sample of the movies we cover in this episode:
Superman, Batman, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, Thor, Green
Lantern, Spiderman, Justice League, X Men, Iron Man, Captain America, X Men,
Wolverine, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Fantastic Four
Of course, it’s all a matter of
opinion, and we Monster Men are never shy about stating ours. After you watch
the show, please chime in on our Facebook page, YouTube Channel or here and
let us know what you think.
In July of 2011, horror author Hunter Shea and I decided to
start a video podcast called Monster Men. The idea was to create a show that
would capture the countless conversations we would have over lunch or a beer
about our favorite topics; horror movies, TV shows, books, comic books,
paranormal TV shows, ghosts & hauntings, zombies, vampires, werewolves,
Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and pretty much anything else that goes bump in
the night.
Two years later and we are still going strong. It’s been a
blast. People have commented that they feel like they could easily picture
themselves pulling up a barstool and joining in our conversations. That’s
fantastic. It’s just the kind of vibe we were going for. If you watch the show, you know we don’t take ourselves very
seriously and we have A LOT of fun. That’s the point… just have fun. One thing
that sort of just happened was our intro at the start of each show. As we got
more comfortable with ourselves and the show, Hunter started adding a growl
after I had welcomed our viewers to the show.Now, “Welcome to Monster Men. Aaarrgh!!“ has become our trademark and a staple
of the show.
So to celebrate our second anniversary, please enjoy the
openings to two years worth of Monster Men video podcasts. You’ll also see a
few outtakes and one unpublished bonus clip from a future show.(Hint: Like a Marvel movie, stick
around to the end of the credits.)
And thanks to everyone who supports us, watched the show,
comments and likes our posts and shares our links with their friends.
Okay, giant monsters vs. giant robots, and it is directed by
Guillermo del Toro. That’s all you really need to know about this movie.
Guillermo del Toro is the guy who directed the Hellboy
movies, Pan's Labyrinth, Blade II and Cronos among others. This guy knows his
way around a visually stunning and exciting movie and I am happy to report he delivers here.
If you are old enough to remember the old 4:30
Movie on ABC, then you might recall that every so often they would do MONSTER
WEEK. This was when they would show a Japanese monster movie every afternoon
for a week. It was always a highlight of the year and I could not wait to get
home from school each day. It’s where I first met Godzilla, Mechagodzilla,
Mothra, Gammera and the rest of those classic and humongous creatures.
Well, Pacific Rim is like they squeezed
the five days of MONSTER WEEK into two hours to make one hell of a summer
movie.
Too young to remember MONSTER WEEK? Then imagine Voltron vs.
Godzilla times 1000.
In a summer full of remakes, reboots and sequels like Star
Trek Into Darkness, Man of Steel, and Iron Man 3, Pacific Rim has gone bit
under the radar… which is funny, because giant monsters and robots are normally
very visible on radar.
Here’s the Google Movie
Trailers synopsis of Pacific Rim:
When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started
rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume
humanity's resources for years on end. To combat the giant Kaiju, a special
type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are
controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural
bridge. But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the
relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no
choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes -a washed up former pilot and an
untested trainee who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete
Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind's last hope against the
mounting apocalypse.
If you are looking for intricate plots, lots of subtext,
deep character development and Oscar worthy performances, this might not be the
movie for you. However, if you love really fun, amazing looking movies that
involve giant monsters fighting giant robots, then this flick is just what the
doctor ordered.
First of all, the special effects are tremendous. We’ve come
a long way from the "man in a monster suit destroying a model city and some toy
tanks" days. Plus, this is actually a movie where I noticed and appreciated the
3D. Most 3D movies these days seem like a waste of money. Here it actually enhances the experience. Bottom line:
the robot/monster fights are spectacular.
Second, while the characters are very much right out of a
cartoon, they get the job done. As a kid, I always loved monster movies, BUT, I would occasionally get bored to tears during the scenes between the monster attacks. Not so in this
movie. The Jaeger pilots are fine, but it’s Charlie Day, from It’s Always Sunny
in Philadelphia, Ron Perman, from Hellboy and Burn Gorman, who you might
recognize from The Dark Knight Rises, who help make this movie more than just a
big budgeted version of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. They add an
entertaining, humorous and somewhat silly side-plot to the movie that keeps
it from taking itself too seriously.
Another great thing about this movie is that it does not
have the baggage that Star Trek Into Darkness, Man of Steel, and Iron Man 3 all
have. Each of those movies were very polarizing, with many people either loving
them or hating them based on deviations from the source material and
expectations based on prior versions of the characters. With Pacific Rim, you
are dealing with new characters, a new story and best of all, no baggage.
No, this film is not rocket science, nor is it brain
surgery; but is does feature a lot of rockets and some cool monster brains.
Look, this movie is not for everyone, but if you are a fan of this kind of
stuff, or you just enjoy action-packed, escapist fun, summer popcorn movies, Pacific
Rim is worth a look. Don't over-think it, just enjoy it.
I mean really… it’s giant monsters vs. giant robots. What
else do you need to know?
