As hard as it may seem to be, it has almost been 20 years since we last saw an American Godzilla film in American theaters. Of course there were numerous films done by Toho in Japan in the years after 1998 (my particular favorite from that era is Godzilla: Final Wars, which is just a gleefully ridiculous monster movie...favorite Godzilla movie of all time next to the original is Godzilla vs. Mothra), but American audiences haven't really gotten a new Godzilla movie in theaters since 1998. The last one we got was Roland Emmerich's iguana-looking, chicken leg running, "that's a lotta fish" quoting disaster of a film. Luckily, director Gareth Edwards comes in hoping to finally deliver a truly great American Godzilla film with this reboot, simply titled Godzilla.
The story takes place over the span of a couple of time periods. Godzilla's origin is explained, as he was originally first sighted in 1954 due to nuclear fallout. In 1999, two scientists (Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins) discover two eggs at the ocean, with one of them already hatched. At the same time, at the Janjira plant in Japan, plant supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) discovers unusual seismic activity at the power plant. Soon, Brody and nearly the entire plant are evacuated, due to something destroying the power plant, killing Brody's wife inside. Fifteen years later, Brody's son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is a bomb specialist in the Army and is returning home from duty. He is then called back to Japan due to his father being arrested for trespassing in the old plant. It is then discovered that the thing birthed from the first egg is a creature known as a "MUTO." Seeing as how the military can not stop the creature, they let a familiar figure rise up from the depths of the ocean to take it down: Godzilla.
I actually saw this film back on Friday but I wanted to wait a few days before typing this review and let my thoughts simmer. The reason for this being is that this movie has had audiences split right down the middle. You either loved it or hated it, there is no middle ground. Usually, when I see a movie, my thoughts that I have when I walk out are the thoughts I type on this blog. However, with this film, I was unsure how I felt. I had remembered walking out of the movie enjoying it, but I couldn't think of detailed reasons why. I wanted to gather my thoughts before I began typing the review.
After contemplating my thoughts on the film, I come to this: Godzilla is an excellent reboot of the King of the Monsters, but I will admit that the film may not be for everyone.
The acting in this movie was pretty good, with the standout being Bryan Cranston. Cranston acts his butt off in this movie, brilliantly pulling off the bitterness and torture that his character has gone through since losing his wife to something he can not explain. Cranston steals every scene he's in and is easily the best part of the film.
The rest of the actors' performances in the film range greatly. Some are good, but most seem to be rather underused. Aaron Taylor-Johnson made for a decent leading man, but there were times where his performance seemed to be rather flat at times for me. Elizabeth Olsen seemed to be incredibly underused in the movie, as she really only seems to be in the movie when the destruction comes to San Francisco. Same with David Strathairn as the Army General: he seems to be incredibly underused, only giving us info on what the plan of attack is. Ken Watanabe does a good job with filling in the backstory, but he has this expression on his face throughout the film that looks like he just got a whiff of Godzilla's.... monstrous droppings.
On a technical aspect, the film looks amazing. This may be one of the most beautifully shot films I have ever seen. Director Gareth Edwards (who went from his 2010 indie film Monsters to this) and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey beautifully handle the scenery as well the action scenes with deft ease (there is one scene in the film that was shown in the trailer that is absolutely jaw dropping). The creatures themselves look amazing. Godzilla himself looks the best he's been in a long time. He is monstrous and his design is an updated version of his 1954 original, which I'm so glad they went with and paying homage to the original, rather than....well old "Chicken Legs" from 1998.
The MUTOs themselves had a neat design as well. To me, they looked like a cross between the Cloverfield monster and the winged creatures seen in Avatar, which I thought was a rather interesting mix.
The other thing that I loved about the movie is the build up to Godzilla. He's only in the film for maybe....45-50 minutes total in the entire two hour running time, but the build up leading to his big reveal is fantastic. Edwards knows to build the right amount of tension and anticipation for Godzilla's reveal and when Godzilla finally does come on screen to fight the MUTOs, he does not disappoint, with his scenes being some of the best in the movie (the final 20 minutes blows Emmerich's entire film out of the water). In a way, the build up is reminiscent of the 1954 original, in which Godzilla took a full half hour to show up.
However, I will say this as a word of warning: do not go into this film if you are expecting Godzilla to be on screen almost right from the get-go. It is not like last year's Pacific Rim, in which there were kaiju fights left and right. The film does take a while to get into, but once it gets going, it gets going. This point seems to split viewers right down the middle. All I will say is: If you are expecting Godzilla fighting monsters left and right on screen, be prepared to only get a few, albeit excellent, monster fights.
Overall, Godzilla is an excellent reboot of the King of the Monsters, although there are flaws particularly in the acting department (minus Cranston) and some may find the lack of Godzilla in a movie called Godzilla to be frustrating. However, the film is beautifully shot, and when Godzilla does show up on screen, he delivers. If you get a chance, see it in IMAX, because it is worth hearing Godzilla's roar on that big of a screen.
Grade: B+
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