"Godzilla" Review

Godzilla

3.8 out of 5 stars

Rated PG-13
Moderate violence involving creature destruction
A monster gets its head torn off, but its too darkly lit for blood
Very mild sexuality between a husband and wife: they kiss and it is obvious it will lead to something more, but they are interrupted.
Mild language





"Godzilla" is a series of incredibly-shot scenes that make up a sub-par storyline.

I was excited for this film because one of my favorite actors, Bryan Cranston is in it. He plays Joe Brody, a scientist who sees that there are some irregular movements below the earth at the time of a huge earthquake that takes down a large nuclear facility in Japan in 1999. Fifteen years later, he sees the irregularities come back. When he goes to investigate it with his son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), everything goes wrong, and a monster emerges.

Before seeing this film, I watched an interview with Cranston by AMC Theatres in which he plays up the character development in the film. He said since "Breaking Bad" had such phenomenal writing, he was nervous that whatever he chose next would be compared to it. When he got the script to "Godzilla," he thought it was one that no one would even think about doing so. However, after reading it, he realized that it is a story that is very character-driven. Here is the full interview:



I wonder if he was smoking Heisenberg's meth before the interview because "Godzilla" is not like that at all. His character is a main character for only a small portion, and then the focus goes on his son, Ford. Not only is Aaron Taylor-Johnson a less experienced actor, the character is bland. I don't know much about him aside from the fact that he is a family man who is an expert at bombs. There is a hint of a character arc at the beginning in which he has been estranged from his father, but in the end, there is no reason for this to be shown. His character does not seem to change in any way. He is perfect throughout it.

The film certainly tries to develop the characters, but it rushes way too much. In fact, I would argue that "Transformers" has a lot more development than this film. Though that movie is more cheesy, I know who Sam Witwicky is, and he is likable. In this movie, all of them are just there to move the story along, which is pretty slow at the beginning.

When it picks up, it is essentially the average monster-movie, but there are some good twists to it. Without spoiling anything, there is more than one monster, and they fight each other.

Though the film is a little disappointing in its characters and story, seeing the monsters on the big screen is well worth the price of admission. Director Gareth Edwards seemed to have spent most of his effort getting some really cool visuals down, and it pays off. The most awesome shots involve seeing the monsters from the point of view of civilians. Like the dragon in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," a lot is done to show just how enormous Godzilla is.

The lizard's design definitely pays homage to the original look. It is more updated, but it does not look like it came from Jurassic Park like the 1998 version does. It looks like the original Godzilla.

Overall, I recommend seeing this film in theaters. It has flaws in the story's construction, but there are some awesome, intense scenes that make it worth seeing. Just don't expect the high-emotion drama of the year.