America had taken a crack at bringing the king of the monster to the big screen back in the late 90's. The results were...less than stellar.
After almost a decade and a half, they decided to try again. It's understandable, this is a big, well renowned franchise. People were skeptical, but a solid trailer and the inclusion of Bryan Cranston did a lot to assuage people's worries.
Sure enough, this movie actually ended up turning out rather well. It manages to capture the feel of the original and still stand on its own as a solid, entertaining movie.
The premise is simple enough. Miners accidentally awaken a gigantic monstrosity that wreaks havoc across the country and the military can barely keep up with it.
Now, the trailers made it seem like Godzilla was the villain of the piece. It would have fit right in with the idea that the movie was hearkening back to the monster's roots. In actuality, he is something of the hero and it is different monsters that fill the role of villain.
In a way, this allows the movie to have its cake and eat it too. We still have the allegory about man's hubris with the "Mutos" (massive unidentified terrestrial organisms) while Godzilla acts as a quasi-protector, as he had in many of the later "Godzilla" movies.
One of the biggest criticisms I heard was that the movie didn't have nearly enough Bryan Cranston. The way people talked, I figured he was going to die within the first 10 minutes.
As such, I was surprised to see him survive well past the movie's prologue. He does die fairly early, but from my perspective, it seemed like a fairly decent amount of screen time.
It's true, his character is one of the more dynamic in the movie, being sympathetic, layered, and likable. His performance is, of course, beyond solid, so the praise there is absolutely merited.
Ultimately, though, it is his son who takes center stage. I don't think he's as bland as some people make him out to be, but compared to Cranston, I can understand the mindset. He has some nice moments with his family (though they spend most of the movie separated) and he's heroic enough, but the performance isn't quite as memorable.
I was impressed with Elizabeth Olsen's performance, though. She does a good job carrying the emotional weight of the movie.
I do kind of wish that Ken Watanabe had more to do. I wasn't surprised to see him do a good job with what he had, but more screen time would have been nice. Of course, this is a big ensemble movie, so some juggling is to be expected.
Back before "Cloverfield" came out, I remember the producers making a big deal about how they didn't want the monster to just rampage for the sake of rampaging. They came up with this whole thing where it was a scared baby looking for its mother. It's a nice idea and all, but none of that comes through in the movie.
Here, the mutos actually do have motive and consistent behavior patterns. They're simply trying to meet up to mate and the ensuing destruction is just a result of them walking around while being very, very big.
While the monsters don't do much more than roar, they do have personalities. When they do meet up, they show affection for each other in a strange, but still rather heartwarming moment.
It's later revealed that the female is pregnant and about to lay eggs. When the main character ends up destroying the eggs, suffice it to say, the mother is less than pleased.
Judging by the look on the main character's face when she stares him down, he wasn't expecting the creatures to have that level of intellect and emotional connection.
It does a great job of showing that these creatures aren't just mindless beasts. It makes them more compelling to watch; though seeing them wreck stuff and dominate military forces is quite entertaining too.
In addition to a lack of Cranston, the movie is also criticized for a lack of Godzilla. It sounds weird, given that he's the title character, but they're not wrong here.
He does pop up from time to time, and he's talked about, but he doesn't really get any significant screen time until the movie's final acts.
While this is something that popped up in some of the original Japanese "Godzilla" movies, I feared that it was going to result in a slow, plodding movie experience.
This did not turn out to be the case. While I did initially feel like Godzilla needed to show up, the mutos did a more than admirable job delivering the giant monster action that a movie-goer wants to see with a movie like this one.
When Godzilla does show up, the results are appropriately jaw dropping. The movie's climax really is something to behold, as the king of the monsters takes his throne by taking on the two other monsters simultaneously.
The movie even gives a solid reason as to why Godzilla is fighting the monsters. It isn't so much that he's a hero trying to protect the public (though characters note he's their best shot of killing the mutos and he is later hailed as a savior,) but he's a predator hunting his prey. It's simple, but it works rather well.
As to Godzilla's design. He got some flack for being "fat", but as you're watching, you hardly even notice. It's pretty close to the original design, but has some differences that help make him stand out.
Overall, I really liked this one. It did a great job of building up tension, culminating in the aforementioned epic showdown. It did a pretty decent job with the characters.
Most importantly, it made good on delivering the crowd pleasing, jaw dropping action that you want to see in a movie that involves the military fighting giant monsters and giant monsters fighting other giant monsters.
If you're a "kaiju" fan, I recommend giving this one a watch. I'm actually hoping to give it a second watch sometime down the line.
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