Directed By: Gareth Edwards
Released: May 2014
Rated PG-13
Cast:
Aaron Taylor-Johnson: Ford Brody
Ken Watanabe: Dr. Serizawa
Bryan Cranston: Joe Brody
Godzilla: Himself
Godzilla. If there’s any movie monster that needs NO introduction, it’s Godzilla. When one hears that name, what does it bring to mind? A giant reptilian beast with atomic breath destroying cities. In 1954 in Japan, Godzilla was first introduced to audiences in a black and white film. It featured a man in a rubber suit tearing up miniature cities. There have been many classic monsters before Godzilla: Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man. But when Godzilla showed up in the early 50s, it rocked the house. The original name is actually Gojira, but still, an impressive film with impressive production values. There have been so many movies featuring the titular monster, I can’t even count. I’m not counting the 1998 travesty, because let’s be honest, that’s not Godzilla. It’s an overgrown iguana. So after that and two more Godzilla movies, the monster needed a rest. Ten years later, Godzilla hits the big screen again.
Godzilla opens up as a Japanese scientist Dr. Serizawa(Ken Watanabe) is flying to a mining site, where there was a massive collapse. After exploring the underground tunnels, they discover the remains of an ancient and giant monster that existed millions of years before we did. Some time later in Japan, a scientist, Joe Brody(Bryan Cranston)has discovered unusual electromagnetic signatures below a nearby nuclear power plant. What appears to be a massive earthquake destroys the facility and kills Joe’s wife. 15 years later, Joe’s son, Ford(Aaron Taylor-Johnson)is in the Navy and has a family of his own. Ford’s father is arrested in Japan for violating a quarantine zone and Joe goes to Japan to bail him out. Both discover that there is no radiation, but rather, the government has been hiding a major discovery under the remains of the nuclear power plant.
This being a Godzilla movie, you would expect there to be giant monsters, and it delivers, but the first one you see isn’t big G himself. The one that you see is a winged monster. And it is HUGE. There’s also a second monster that’s similar but larger and doesn’t have wings. Then we come to the main guy. Wow. To the film’s credit they try and NOT show him too early, but just bits and pieces. It’s enough to give you the chills in anticipation. Then we finally get to see him in all his glory and I was blown away. It’s very, impressive how they brought Godzilla to life. This is not the iguana from the 1998 movie, but this more like the original Japanese monster, albeit larger and less static in terms of movement. This thing is more like an organic creature than a man in a rubber suit, which while that had it’s charm back in the day, here it would’ve been out of place and very hokey. So, CG was the only way to go here, and they really outdid themselves. With Godzilla back on the big screen, people wonder, if he’s got the stuff that makes Godzilla, well….Godzilla. Oh, yes. He stands up on hind legs, he’s got the spikes on his back and he’s got the super long spiked tail. He also has his infamous atomic breath.
As with giant monster or kaiju movies, some level of destruction is certainly expected. Godzilla definitely delivers the goods. However, it’s not Pacific Rim levels of destruction. It’s not completely mindless, but rather restrained. I know, restraint in a monster movie, right? Doesn’t make sense, does it? In this case it does, because the story has these massive monsters basically going after radioactive sources for food. Godzilla shows up to fight them, so there is collateral damage, but unlike Pacific Rim, the destruction is actually very restrained. The two cities that really take a pounding are Las Vegas and San Francisco.
I mentioned Pacific Rim because that movie is Guillermo Del Toro’s love letter to the Godzilla movies of the 50s and 60s. It’s a fantastic movie with great visuals, but it’s just NOT a Godzilla movie. There is something about Godzilla that makes a movie like that special. I also mentioned the 1998 Godzilla. That one isn’t Godzilla because, while he had the spikes and the roar, the rest of him just wasn’t that impressive other than his size. They also killed him at the end of the movie. You don’t kill Godzilla, are you kidding? Godzilla’s one of those monsters that you just have to root for. When he’s on the screen with other monsters, you find yourself rooting FOR a monster. There’s a definitely a human element to this movie, and it takes place from a human’s perspective, but it’s done in a fairly believable way.
Are there downsides to the new movie? Yes. The one that’s going to bother people the most, I think, is how little Godzilla is actually in the movie. Yeah he shows up, but there’s a considerable waiting period between appearances. But I think it was done in a way that really adds to the anticipation of the Final Battle, and when the big guy is one the screen, all the attention is his. The other is Bryan Cranston. It’s not that he was bad, not at all. it’s that he wasn’t really in the movie for very long, which is a shame, because his character was pretty important. Godzilla’s roar is definitely there, but it’s a little different than what I’m used to hearing from him. Overall, this is a fantastic movie to kick off the summer, and is actually a pretty damned good Godzilla movie to boot. He’s back, ladies and gentlemen. I give the movie a solid 9/10. It’s good to be the king.