How do you bring the King of Monsters, arguably the most famous giant monster, back to the big screen after a ten year absence in films? Well...I say that this is a pretty damn good way to do it.Now already I can hear a few groans from some of the readers. This movie is probably one of the most controversial films in recent years amongst fanbases since "Man of Steel" (though I haven't seen that film). Every time it comes into conversation, the fans are split. Some love it, some hate it. For me personally, this was the first time I saw Godzilla on the big screen, so you can maybe say it holds a special place in my heart. For maybe 15 years I've loved Godzilla. I remember my very first Godzilla film, which was "Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for Earth" (1992). And after that, every trip to Hollywood Video turned into me just annoying the hell out of my parents with each silly Godzilla film I'd find (eventually leading to them refusing to rent them. Curses, foiled again). Well my love of Godzilla didn't stop, and it ultimately lead to my love of even more classic giant monster movies, many of which I will one day review, if not all of them. Many people in America however had their first Godzilla experience with the 1998 reimagining. A film again that will be reviewed another day. So you can imagine that after so many people felt betrayed by that film, there was a lot of nervousness for this film.
Well...I walked into that theater and had a blast. And even as I type this, after watching it again for...who knows how many times I've seen it now, I still can't see why so many will bash this. I've heard some nasty words associated with this film. Now it's by no means perfect, but when I compare it with so many of the other Godzilla films out there...I gotta say this film is superior to a vast majority of them. I'm not just saying that because of Hollywood's massive budgets, I'm saying that because...well...it's just an overall stronger film. If you watch films like "Godzilla and Mothra: Battle For Earth", "Godzilla VS King Ghidorah", or any other Godzilla film for the most part, you will notice that though they can be cheesy fun to watch...you can't really say that much else about them. Most characters are forgettable, the storylines are forgettable, you remember the monsters, and the fights. Why? Because I hate to say it, but some of the stories of the Godzilla movies are just ridiculously silly. But more on that later. Let's talk about why this film hit so many right notes with me.
First of all, I gotta give the effects crew the credits they deserve, Godzilla looked fantastic. Easily becoming my favorite rendition of the monster I've ever seen. The MUTO monsters I will say were a little bland and generic, and I've heard some people compare them with the Cloverfield monster, and I can definitely see why in some areas, but even the MUTO monsters have some likability. I loved the deep pulsing sounds that have probably ruined my soundbar in the basement. There's one scene in particular that when I first saw it, even caused chills to go down my spine, as one of the monsters lumbers near a bridge next to our heavily plot armored hero (more on that shortly). And it just felt like I was right there on that bridge, holding my breath, praying I wouldn't be smashed. Godzilla himself...where do I start? How about that dominating roar? I hope you don't mind me geeking out a bit here, and doing a comparison, but the 1954 original Godzilla roars are terrifying. The second one I hear in the opening credits of that movie is a roar that would genuinely terrify me if I heard it in real life. But after the 1954 movie, I felt the roars of Godzilla kinda decreased in quality a lot of the time. They felt compressed. Quieter. Now don't get me wrong, there are some good roars in movies after the original, but a lot of the time (especially in the Showa era), it was just out of place almost. The first time we hear Godzilla roar in this film, you can immediately detect this otherworldy presence about Godzilla. There is power restored in that roar. And the way the fighting is presented from his powerful tail attacks, to his mauling biting, it just a real treat that is absent in other Godzilla films. The CGI really did bring some life to him.
Another thing that just really gets me excited about this film, is the fact at how it's presented. There are numerous solid sequences in this film. Now people have complained about a lack of Godzilla on screen, and how it tends to focus on the people, but honestly, it didn't bother me so much, mainly because I felt the story was sufficient enough to keep my interest. I believe the writers did a good job at presenting a strong story revolving around these monsters, and while it doesn't directly focus on the monsters as so many would have liked, it's paced brilliantly, and made me happy enough. The beginning of this film, is solid, possibly one of the best setups for a Godzilla film I've ever seen. The action when it's on screen, is gorgeous. In the theater, when things got going, I was mentally cheering, from first seeing Godzilla's gorgeous Atomic Blast, to his impressive melee attacks. The skydiving scene, to the music of "2001: A Space Odyssey" of all things, is a high point in the film. But without a doubt, my absolute favorite scene was the introduction of Godzilla himself. It's more a string of scenes actually, starting inside an Aircraft Carrier where they detect a massive signature approaching from the sea, while they're fighting one of the MUTO monsters. This sets in motion the best Godzilla introduction I have ever seen, and likely ever will see. And I gotta say it is a gutsy intro, referencing the 2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami (more on that shortly). We see a massive wall of water just overtake Honolulu, as the city goes dark amidst frenzied music, then there's silence, until four flares pop from flare guns, and illuminate this massive bulk that isn't fully on screen yet. Then we go to the airport where the MUTO is on a rampage, being engaged by the military, it downs a helicopter amidst a chain reaction of explosions, and we see this massive foot just come down and silence everything. The MUTO tries to give this threatening roar at it's new opponent (can you tell I am about to go full geek mode yet?), and the camera just pans up until we finally see Godzilla in his full glory, giving that awesome roar! My God, I wanted to cheer so badly when I saw that the first time.
Okay...let me breathe a minute.
I've been overly positive, but as much as I hate saying it, the film does have some flaws that can get at you. Firstly, yes, the action can be a absent at times. There's a lot of passive destruction in this movie. Destruction that happens off screen. The first time they pulled this, with the first Godzilla and MUTO fight, I didn't mind so much. I thought the move was actually kinda clever as we saw it in images through a TV news broadcast. But they pulled this card a few more times, and it kinda started to get at me. This film taught me that a lot of Godzilla fans aren't the most patient people. A lot felt the lack of action, the lack of Godzilla as perhaps a second betrayal. They just wanted that camera to pan the other way, just look over there, let us see what's going on! And they were forced to watch a plot about disarming a bomb that many of them probably didn't care much about. Again, I didn't mind that plot, it kept my interest, but I will not deny, that even I would have liked at least five more minutes worth of action in this movie.
Another thing that can get to me, is just some of the clichéd elements. Now the movie itself is clichéd to high heaven, though at some glimpses, it's not often noticeable, but there are moments in this movie that make me chuckle for the wrong reason. Elements ranging from our plot armored hero pointing a pistol into the face of a monster 10,000 times his size, to a character simply asking "Where is Godzilla?" Speaking of which, I can count out a few times where our hero, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, should have died more than once. He should have drowned, been killed in a van, been blown up, the plot armor is very much apparent. The only reason this can be annoying is because the film's most famous star (next to Ken Wantabe) is Bryan Cranston, who played a paranoid conspiracist, who is arguably the best character in this movie. And he gets killed about 30 minutes in. Poor Joe. Bryan's performance was fantastic, and I felt that he would have been a far more interesting protagonist. That's not to say that his son isn't any interesting, his performance certainly isn't terrible, but he's just an army guy, following orders this movie, and trying to get to his family. He doesn't really give much of an emotional performance as Bryan did. Another thing as far as casting was concerned (and I know I shouldn't nitpick this too much), is that the child actors they have in this movie...they're duller than dull. I mean any movie takes a risk when it comes to child actors, but...was this kid really the best they could do? I mean the first time we see the child actor, he seems fine, he's having fun with his dad, but after that scene...he tends to be a lifeless statue at times.
My third and final issue with the movie is ironically enough, elements of the ending. A lot of people make fun of this movie for literally calling Godzilla the hero of the movie. It's not subtle at all. While much of the ending is actually very well done, I had to laugh again for the wrong reasons when I saw a TV news banner read "King of the Monsters - Savior of our City?" Yeah, half the city is completely devastated, tens of thousands probably dead, but hey the MUTOs are dead, and Godzilla is alive! Cheer your savior on everybody! And the people in the movie do just that. They cheer. The ending, though it does a lot of things right, kinda hit cheese levels there.
But for what this movie is, I think those few issues I have are easily outweighed by what this film does right. I've already typed up quite a bit (this is already my longest review yet), and I want to type out even more about why I love this film as I do, but I'm gonna try and be brief. The soundtrack to this movie is great. It fits the moods getting portrayed, and it may just be me, but I believe i hear a bit of a tribute to the original film at the end, played on the piano. Nice touch. The pacing of this movie, is beautifully done. And the ending, that is done right, in which we see a battle-worn, and tired Godzilla recovering from his brutal fight, walking toward the ocean strong, head held high before giving us one final roar, before vanishing beneath the water, is beautiful. A great way to tell us that the King is back, and still on top.
But what I think I like most about this movie is the fact that like the 1954 original, it is giving us a bit of a message, warning us of our own destruction. 1954 of course had a message speaking out against nuclear warfare, and referenced the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Here, we reference more of a natural phenomenon which resulted in one of the worst disasters in our recent history, the 2011 Japanese Earthquake, which resulted in a monstrous tsunami, and the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster which happened days afterward. Both events are referenced in this movie, and I gotta say it's pretty damn eery. It does help restore the idea that Godzilla isn't just the King of Monsters. Godzilla is meant to represent the embodiment of fear, destruction, and death, whether it's by nature's hand or our own. And there was a little bit of both in that here. So with all that is said and done, what's my rating?
Godzilla is a three and a half out of four stars. There's enough drama and story, and enough action to keep the interest. If you can wade out the clichés, and bland character development of our plot-armored soldier boy, the ride this film gives us is well worth taking. As a reboot to the Godzilla franchise, it did it's job, and as America's chance at redemption in the Godzilla franchise, it easily achieved that. A great step in the right direction, and definitely the movie we needed in 1998. And again, a movie I feel that overshadows many films already in the Godzilla franchise. Why do I say that? Well to put it plain and simple, because I see effort in this film. A lot of the other Godzilla films out there are rushed, have little to no story, and therefore really aren't that memorable on a whole watching them as an adult. Heck, if I remember right, five of them made my list for "Worst Giant Monster Movies" out there. Here, the film doesn't just go the route that your average Transformer movie goes. It gave us a satisfactory beginning, middle, and end. The action was paced great. Godzilla doesn't just stand there as his opponent lashes on him with a shower of attacks. The action is fluid, dynamic, and might raise the bar for Toho, who is now making their next Godzilla film, and I wish them all the best with that project. I just hope that it's not rushed as so many of their films clearly are. But until we see what they have for their loyal Godzilla fanbase, I will say that if you haven't seen this movie, or even if you have and maybe didn't enjoy it the first time around...give it another shot. You might be glad you did. I of course am anxious to see what the future holds in store for us in 2018, now that we got three more Toho monsters, but as a reintroduction to the world-famous monster...this film hits a home run. And I couldn't ask for anything more.
Phew. Sorry for the long read. If you did read the entire thing, thanks for bearing with me! Please feel free to suggest any films for me to view down below. Leave a comment telling me what your thoughts are on this film, and as always, thanks for reading.
Final Verdict: 3.5/4
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