The Monster Extravaganza In The Cabin In The Woods
There’s a lot to like and appreciate about Drew Goddard‘s new horror film The Cabin In The Woods. From its tongue in cheek humor to its over the top madness, the film is entertaining on many counts. Hands down though, the best scene in the film, and one of the best movie scenes of 2012, has to be what I call the “monster extravanganza.”
There’s a point in the film where Marty and Dana are riding down an elevator into an underground facility. On the way down, they pass by hundreds of glass cases all housing different types of monsters. In fact, they pass by just about every type of horror icon/monster imaginable. Once they exit the elevator, they are cornered by a security team and to escape, they decide to release all of the creatures from their glass cases.
What ensues is absolute mayhem, as vampires, witches, demons, mutants, werewolves, unicorns, mermen, goblins, giant snakes, mummies and more descend upon the facility, decimating anything in sight. It’s as hilarious as it is horrific and it is simply a blast to watch. The scene is so wildly imaginative, audacious and over the top fun that, in my theatre at least, it had audience members howling with laughter and standing in their seats cheering.
There’s no doubt that Goddard and writer Joss Whedon went boldly where no filmmaker has gone before with their insane third act, but it paid off in spades and proved to be one of the best scenes committed to celluloid this year.
The Engineer Awakens In Prometheus
Prometheus had a number of awe-inspiring moments. Visually, it was magnificent and on a storytelling level, it completely captivated me. Though there were many contenders for best moment of the film, the one I settled on was when the Engineer awakens near the end.
For one, the amount of build up and anticipation to this moment is almost unbearable, so when the towering behemoth finally stands up and comes to life, we’re pinned to our seats. The fact that he proceeds to absolutely shred David and the rest of the crew to pieces only makes this moment that much more electrifying, shocking and terrifying.
We truly feel the Engineer’s fury and anger as he decapitates David and goes on to take care of the rest of Weyland’s gang. To see this creature in action, ripping through Weyland’s crew with ease, is truly a sight to behold.
Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Assemble In The Avengers
Admittedly, most of Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers can be classified as spectacle. The film had a ton of “wow” moments and there was a lot to marvel at (sorry, I had to). That being said, one of the standouts, for me at least, was at the very end, when our mightiest heroes come together, or assemble, if you will, to make one last stand in hopes of saving New York.
The final assault, when played out in 3D on an IMAX screen, is nothing shot of awe inspiring. Though it could have used a couple more edits as it does run a bit long, from beginning to end it’s a non stop rollercoaster ride that shoves us right into the middle of the mayhem. Featuring some of the best effects and destruction…well, ever, the battle for New York City is truly a triumphant sequence and one that really defines the term “Hollywood blockbuster.”
When you couple all that with the fact that we get to see our favorite heroes all assembled in unity fighting a common enemy, you get a truly “great” movie moment. One that makes you want to stand up and cheer.
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