When I were but a mere slip of a lad, I sneaked into the local cinema to see a viewing of the X-rated Japanese original. It was dreadful - not at all scary and the 'monster' was not at all monstrous. I remember being very disappointed - but then I was too young to appreciate its socio-political message.
Back in 1998 I quite enjoyed the remake although it was critically panned, but the roles of Matthew Broderick (too boyish) and Jean Reno (perhaps too closely associated with 'Léon') were just silly.
So I was looking forward to the 2014 remake. But it's disappointing stuff - how can you have a film titled 'Godzilla' without Godzilla? It's a 2 hour film, but he's only in it for the last few minutes!
The rest of the film is largely about a different monster - the MUTOs - who seem to like a nice warm, radioactive environment. One in Japan, one (of course) in the USA - and of course, when they get together they breed - and mankind is rescued by Godzilla and his fiery radioactive breath. Mankind may be safe, but LA does suffer a bit.
There are some well known actors here: Juliette Binoche (a bit part at the beginning), Bryan Cranston (from 'Breaking Bad' - a longer bit part at the beginning) and Ken Watanabe (a longer bit part as a Godzilla expert). No proper use is made of their skills and the cast who fill the main roles are pretty dreadful.
So, too long, silly acting, silly over-complex story, silly made-up MUTOs - is there anything good about it? Yes - Godzilla actually looks like the 1950s Japanese original :)
Disappointing stuff - 2/5 stars
Thank god they remade this after that dreadful Godzilla back in 1998, that had dreadful acting and a Gadzilla that was nowhere big enough and with childish scenes. This was made a lot better with a massive Godzilla the only dissapointing thing for me was that Godzilla wasn't in it enough. I did really enjoy the film though.
I enjoyed watching this movie. It's way better than the blockbuster Godzilla from a few years ago, but not as hilariously funny as the 1950s Japanese version.
The radiation issue was cleverly folded into the plot and backstory.
Anyone complaining that Godzilla wasn't on screen enough just does not realise the way a story needs to build tension; in Jurassic Park the dinosaurs were on screen for only 6 and a half minutes! OK, so this is not up there with that film, but it's a good effort and I had no issue with the MUTOS - mega moths who eat radiation. Godzilla needs an enemy! Mankind needs jeopardy (will the mutos breed?) All decent plotting actually.
Loads of CGI, of course, with hundreds of digital artists credited, but that's true of most movies these days.
The acting is fine - with 'nowhere boy' Aaron Johnson doing an American accent (as so many Brits have to do these days, coz Brits in these sort of films are always either the baddies or the boffins or the totty...)
The film was perhaps a tad overlong - and some subtitles need a serious edit by someone who is literate in English.
But for a good fun monster movie, this does the job. 4 stars.
I’ve said this many times about many other films from World War Z to The World’s End but Godzilla is a film of two parts much like the others and whenever I point out this fact i find that one part is always intrinsically better than the other. Godzilla’s problem is that its first chapter is so riveting and compelling in a conspiracy thriller kind of way that the films latter half, a Pacific Rim-esque brawl through half of America fails to even capitalize on what the film's opening minutes tried to achieve making the whole film a loud, destructive mess that doesn’t even provide a decent fight.
Godzilla follows Ford (Aaron Taylor Johnson), a marine who upon returning home is forced to travel to Japan to bail his father Joe (Bryan Cranston) out of jail. However when his father enlists him for a conspiracy mission surrounding Ford’s mother and how she died they uncover far more than they imagined leading to a shocking showdown between a creature no one has ever seen before, the dreaded Godzilla.
While this is pretty close to fine art in comparison to its 1998 counterpart there is very little subtlety to this tale of dominance and human stupidity. Not only is Godzilla a creature the films characters fail to understand but its a looming threat to the films exceptional paranoia factor, something that literally vanishes upon first glimpse of the mysterious monster. Even while the film avoids shots of the dreaded beast in favour of a sense of ambiguity its still clear what he is and where the film is headed leaving nothing to the imagination, ruining a buildup better than the actual payoff.
The most upsetting thing about Godzilla however is how it squanders its cast and drops sub plots with no plans to pick them up at a later point. The film features some excellent performances from actors like Cranston and Johnston but never quite takes advantage of the characters in the right way. While Cranston anchors the first act with a sense of impending doom his presence is sorely missed in the later acts as the film crumbles before the image of a giant unstoppable monster, a creature that while imposing makes the films conclusion predictable and dull making for just another monster mash up with little to show for it.