godzilla (2014)

When it comes to monster movies no monster is as big as Godzilla. Sure you have your old school monsters like the Mummy and Frankenstein’s creature, but as far as they go they can’t compare to Godzilla. This is a monster that destroys entire cities and lays waste to creatures just as immense, while we humans get to stand around and watch helplessly. That is exactly what this new incarnation is, a big brash monster movie where humans play second fiddle to the main drawcard. Although having said that, it’s an interesting choice the movie makes to show the carnage from the point of view of the humans and leave out a lot of the actual destruction. It’s not until the final act that you get to see just what these creatures are doing up close and personal and not just cut aways or random news broadcasts. Yes there’s scenes of mass destruction littered throughout the film, but these are merely entrees to the main event in the film’s final act.

The humans doing the running, screaming and watching are led in the first half by a suitably hammy Bryan Cranston, doing his best to keep the spirit of the earlier Godzilla movies alive. It’s the second half of the film where the film’s humans begin to falter. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass’ Kick-Ass) does his best, but it’s a somewhat muted performance. He spends most of his time looking bewildered and staring at things beyond his control as monsters rip apart buildings, trains and eventually an entire city. His on-screen wife, played by Elizabeth Olsen, does mostly the same. Except she gets the thankless role of keeping the film and the main protagonist grounded in humanity with constant phone calls between the married couple. Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins round out the main cast as scientists researching the creatures and later advisors to the army when it all goes destruction-town, however, as much as Watanabe tries to get in the spirit of the Godzilla movies of old and match Cranston’s over the top performance, the serious tone of the movie gets in the way. And that’s my main problem with Godzilla 2014.

The last time we saw a Godzilla movie on the big screen was the family friendly-ish version starring Matthew Broderick and directed by Roland Emmerich, and one of the biggest flaws of that movie (there were a few to say the least) was its push towards a lighter tone. This version does the opposite and tries to be a more serious affair. I don’t mean Nolan’s Batman seriousness (although a movie about Godzilla’s angst over destroying everything could make an amusing short film), but it’s as if by taking the serious route they forgot to include what makes Godzilla great and that’s the pure joy of watching monsters tear apart a city in one giant smack down after another. Sure you get that in the end of this film, but it takes such a long time to get there and all those pesky humans get in the way with their emotions and relationships. I think this film would have made for a much better experience if they started with the human story and gradually let it all slide away as the real star began to shine. Instead we get a monster movie that seemed to be afraid to be a monster movie.

 

Grade – B

 

• I’m not sure what you guys thought, but i found myself checking my watch during the movie to see how long it’s been while waiting for Godzilla to tear everything up. I was basically channeling Milhouse.

• I don’t want you guys to get the wrong impression, I was impressed that the movie showed us everything through the eyes of the humans. It gave everything the scale it deserved by showing us how big everything was, but it was very disappointing to have to constantly view everything that way. I wanted Godzilla, not a human drama of the consequences of it all. Counter point – Man of Steel. Was everyone in Metropolis dead at the end of that movie? I don’t know cause it never showed us anything.

• I didn’t mention anything to do with radioactive or nuclear subtext in this review, because even though that stuff is in there, it was all kinda pointless and had no meaning on anything except a few plot points and to make the army look stupid.

• The special effects were top-notch, although once again the 3D was pointless. How is it that hard for Hollywood to use 3D effectively?

 

*SPOILERS*

• Juliette Binoche was in this. For about 5 minutes. I wonder if it was a favour or if she really likes Godzilla movies. I hope it’s the second option.

• Did we really need the bit at the end with Elizabeth Olsen emerging from the rubble? Was their relationship that important that we needed to include the family reunited like this? Yes it’s an ending to the family coming back together plot, but if it was that important why would Taylor-Johnson’s character constantly volunteer to keep going back into the field and not just, you know, go home?

• Some scenes in this movie were amazingly tense to watch. The initial MUTO monster ‘hatching’ was very impressive, as was the Hawaii scene. The Las Vegas scene not so much. A minute is all you get. Shame cause this would have been a perfect time to show the monster causing some havoc without those pesky humans being involved.