I was not expecting to be so absorbed in this film.
Claudette Colbert absolutely rules in this film. She's charming, sympathetic, AND a hot mess. Early on there is a brief moment where she is clearly improvising with a baby and it not only endears us to Claudette but also is a key trait of Sally, her character.
As a pre-code film, it has a grounding in reality that we wouldn't see only a few years later.
While directing in…
It's a fairly generic animated kids movie with a Mario Brothers skin on it.
Which is unfortunate, because there are glimpses of a slightly more focused film in the first third of the movie.
Charlie Day as Luigi may be the best performer in the voice cast.
Saw this with Claudio Simonetti's band playing the soundtrack. It was so much fun, and revealed just what makes this movie good: the vibes.
Plot? practically nonexistent.
Characters? Paper-thin.
Vibes? Off the charts.
Wild violence, good songs, minimal context. Best watched with friends.
(If you're deep into Godzilla films, add a star.)
The first half of the film is genuinely intriguing as it sets up a new framing for Godzilla and the other monsters. This may be a stretch, but it feels like a pretty direct inspiration for scenes/shots in Shin Godzilla.
Tonally, the film is kind of all-over, but I've come to enjoy that aspect of later Godzilla films. It's stirring, it's silly, it's melodramatic, it's trying to hit a lot of notes for one film.
The one dud is Baragon: Get that loser out of there!
