Directed by Gareth Edwards
Distributed by Warners Bros. Pictures
With this generation’s movie audience and the CGI technology available today, someone in Hollywood must’ve asked, ‘Why not make a Godzilla movie?’
Well, director Gareth Edwards takes a shot and proves maybe it wasn’t such a great idea.
Whether you’re a diehard 1954 Japanese Godzilla fan or a Breaking Bad Bryan Cranston fan, you’re going to be disappointed with the complicated plot, the boring soap opera character development (or lack thereof), and the absence of mainstream actors.
But don’t worry, Godzilla looks pretty sweet, if you shell out the extra $10 for IMAX 3D.
Bryan Cranston, of course, cries at least once in this film, so just hand him his Oscar already, Academy! But Aaron Taylor-Johnson, all grown-up and buff since his Kick-Ass days, is the star and, as a leading man, he leaves a lot to be desired. His blank stares, over-the-top drama, and his lack of ability to show emotional attachment to anything besides his past creates too much distance for this reviewer to get interested.
Unlike the humans in the movie, Godzilla looks fantastic. His textured scales, rippling jaw, heart-pounding roar, and even his eyes convey much more emotion than the actors.
But don’t just settle for Godzilla. There are two other monsters, called MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms), that have just as much detail as Godzilla and a better love story than the main actors.
While the movie is labelled “Godzilla,” the whole plot revolves more around these MUTOs, and Godzilla is more just the superhero who saves the day (world?) at the end.
Still, I can’t help feeling that throughout the whole movie, the audience was missing a huge chunk of information. What are the MUTOs? Where’d they come from? What do they want? Isolating the characters’ knowledge from the audience results in confusion and boredom. Unfortunately, Edwards perfected that.
The art of film is supposed to capture and enchant audiences to the point they almost forget they’re watching a film. But this film had me checking the time to see when it would be over. Edwards left out plot details that Spielberg wouldn’t skimp on. You can make Godzilla look as realistic as possible, but that doesn’t make a great movie. The plot honestly felt like four different storylines forced together, but without the effort taken to fill the holes in the story.
The one kudo I can give to Edwards is the opening credits, with actual 1940s bomb testing footage, weird monster sightings, and clever blanked-out top-secret lettering that gave a Cold War realism to the story.
But not even Bryan Cranston could save this monster of a film.
