Godzilla (2014)
3/4
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche
Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Destruction, Mayhem and Creature Violence
Godzilla is probably one of the most famous movie monsters. Put him on the same list as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Xenomorph. He's a far different kind of creature, but he's still big and scary (emphasis on big). He's received a number of big screen appearances over the years (most have been reported to be very campy) after his debut in 1954. His last big budget movie was in the 1998 film directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Matthew Broderick. I'm pretty sure I saw it, but I don't remember any part of it. By all accounts it was a travesty. I was actually wary of this film due to last year's kaiju movie, "Pacific Rim." Fortunately, Gareth Edwards has a greater interest in telling a story instead of making a bloated, movie length trailer that makes you feel gross.
Joe Brody (Cranston) is a scientist working at a nuclear power plant in Japan with his wife Elle (Binoche). Surely their names are a reference to "Jaws;" it can't be a coincidence. They're are getting some strange tremors at the plant, and Joe wants to investigate. That's when the plant is destroyed. Years later, Joe's son Ford (Taylor-Johnson), who witnessed the accident, has to go bail out his father, who was trespassing on the quarantined site. He believes that it wasn't an accident as the government claimed, and he intends to prove it. Ford thinks he's nuts, but it turns out that he was right. As two workers for Monarch, Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Hawkins) inform Ford, those nuclear tests in the 50's weren't tests. They were trying to kill a monster known as Godzilla. Now, another creature that looks like a pterodactyl from hell, has risen from beneath the Earth and may destroy the world. But is Godzilla here to protect humanity or destroy it?
I'll admit, the sight of creatures twice the size of the Empire State Building pounding the hell out of each other is pretty cool. That's because it's effectively staged and directed. Director Gareth Edwards isn't simply using special effects, he's using them well.
Unfortunately, the sound effects drown out a lot of the dialogue, making the first half of the film confusing. Either because they're speaking under masks, via radio or against explosions or the loud soundtrack, 90 % of the dialogue in the first hour is indecipherable. It's a frustrating experience. Fortunately, things clear up at the halfway mark, and I could relax.
The film's biggest problem (after the bad sound), is the script. The story is trite and little more than a studio pitch (whatever happened to twists in the story?). There's no room for character development or much in the way of acting. The actors, all of whom have lots of talent, are just props.
Do I recommend the film? Yeah, I do. It's fun and entertaining, and the 3D gives it an extra pop without blur or dimming of the image. I was gripping the armrests and jumping at certain points. It's a pity about the dialogue and the story, though. If it was stronger in both of those departments, they could have had a real winner.
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche
Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Destruction, Mayhem and Creature Violence
Godzilla is probably one of the most famous movie monsters. Put him on the same list as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Xenomorph. He's a far different kind of creature, but he's still big and scary (emphasis on big). He's received a number of big screen appearances over the years (most have been reported to be very campy) after his debut in 1954. His last big budget movie was in the 1998 film directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Matthew Broderick. I'm pretty sure I saw it, but I don't remember any part of it. By all accounts it was a travesty. I was actually wary of this film due to last year's kaiju movie, "Pacific Rim." Fortunately, Gareth Edwards has a greater interest in telling a story instead of making a bloated, movie length trailer that makes you feel gross.
Joe Brody (Cranston) is a scientist working at a nuclear power plant in Japan with his wife Elle (Binoche). Surely their names are a reference to "Jaws;" it can't be a coincidence. They're are getting some strange tremors at the plant, and Joe wants to investigate. That's when the plant is destroyed. Years later, Joe's son Ford (Taylor-Johnson), who witnessed the accident, has to go bail out his father, who was trespassing on the quarantined site. He believes that it wasn't an accident as the government claimed, and he intends to prove it. Ford thinks he's nuts, but it turns out that he was right. As two workers for Monarch, Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Hawkins) inform Ford, those nuclear tests in the 50's weren't tests. They were trying to kill a monster known as Godzilla. Now, another creature that looks like a pterodactyl from hell, has risen from beneath the Earth and may destroy the world. But is Godzilla here to protect humanity or destroy it?
I'll admit, the sight of creatures twice the size of the Empire State Building pounding the hell out of each other is pretty cool. That's because it's effectively staged and directed. Director Gareth Edwards isn't simply using special effects, he's using them well.
Unfortunately, the sound effects drown out a lot of the dialogue, making the first half of the film confusing. Either because they're speaking under masks, via radio or against explosions or the loud soundtrack, 90 % of the dialogue in the first hour is indecipherable. It's a frustrating experience. Fortunately, things clear up at the halfway mark, and I could relax.
The film's biggest problem (after the bad sound), is the script. The story is trite and little more than a studio pitch (whatever happened to twists in the story?). There's no room for character development or much in the way of acting. The actors, all of whom have lots of talent, are just props.
Do I recommend the film? Yeah, I do. It's fun and entertaining, and the 3D gives it an extra pop without blur or dimming of the image. I was gripping the armrests and jumping at certain points. It's a pity about the dialogue and the story, though. If it was stronger in both of those departments, they could have had a real winner.
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