Godzilla (2014): Movie Review
After the release of 1998’s cinematic turd “Godzilla”, which was directed by Roland Emmerich, pretty much everyone agreed that Hollywood needed to leave the big lizard to those who know and respect it. When word came that Warner Bros picked “Monsters” director Gareth Edwards to helm another American “Godzilla” film, I was actually for it. If you have ever seen the 2010 giant monster flick, then you would understand why. What Edwards was able to create with such limited funds was incredible and I couldn’t wait to see what the talented filmmaker could do with a massive budget.
Unlike the 1998 version, “Godzilla” 2014 isn’t plagued with terrible writing, bad acting, horrendous creature design, and pretty much ripping off “Jurassic Park”. Actually almost every single issue has been corrected and the United States has produced a Godzilla every fan in every nation can get behind. This doesn’t mean that the film is flawless, because it’s not. Far from it.
Because Godzilla doesn’t actually show up on screen till more than half way through the film, we spend most of our time with the central character, Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a military bomb defuser who winds up following his father Joe (Bryan Cranston) to the town in Japan where his mother died in a nuclear power plant disaster. Joe believes something is being covered up and he has dedicated his life to finding out what killed his wife. That is when we find out that there is some giant radiation munching praying mantis looking creature, and it doesn’t take long for that thing to break free and fly off to parts unknown.
When Godzilla finally arrives, It turns out, as explained by Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), that he is there to bring balance and the military should let the creatures battle it out. Of course, the Admiral (David Strathaim) doesn’t want to sit by and watch the giant monster throw down as civilians get crushed in the wake.
Like the title creature, “Godzilla” takes its’ time to get going, it does tend to drag at times before the final act, but when the creatures have their moment, things get really exciting. If you get a chance to catch “Godzilla” in IMAX, it is worth the ticket surcharge. You need to see these monsters on the biggest screen possible.
By: Marc Ferman