It is said that it is better late than never and I hope that applies to this review, not to mention the movie. If it weren’t for the local theater in the small town of Spring Grove, I wouldn’t have gotten to see the new Godzilla on the big screen at all. Happily I can report the film is good and worth of the name.
Showing influences from more than just the Godzilla franchise, the film contains elements borrowed from Rodan, Cloverfield, Battle Los Angeles, and even the abominable previous Hollywood attempt from 1998. Oh what a difference proper execution and intelligent usage of those concepts make!
Since I’m late to the party, I’ll start off be addressing some of the criticisms of the film. Might as well take the bull by the horns before extolling the virtues of the piece.
Much has been made of how little time the titular hero (antihero?) is on screen and how late it is before he makes an appearance. Because this is a drama/horror/disaster movie, character development takes center stage for the first half of the movie. People used to the classic kaiju series or Michael Bay Transformers flicks will not enjoy the movie since wall to wall action is not what it’s about.
Mind you, the action in it is intense, very well choreographed, and the effects are impressive.
The other big complaint was the lack of Bryan Cranston compared to what was shown in the trailers. I don’t get the complaint, but I don’t worship him as an actor since this is the first I’ve seen him. My take is that if he had been in the movie for more time, not only would he have chewed the scenery, he would have eaten the monsters and exploded for the finale. Seriously, if this is considered top notch acting today, more people need to watch old movies.
That’s films from twenty years ago or more, not the past decade, kiddies.
I think that Cranston’s character, Joe Brody, was in the story just long enough while completing his character arc. There is symmetry to his actions and fate that fits the theme of human helplessness that dominates the movie. Any more than that and his over emoting would have overwhelmed the theme.
And that’s what the movie is really about, the impotent feeling that insects have against elephants. The kaiju in it don’t show much if any awareness of the puny humans as they get on with their massive lives. Walking natural disasters, they are indiscriminate destroyers of what is in their way with the drama being how the humans react to the tragedy.
Online there has been complaints about the wooden acting of the cast outside of Cranston, however that is anything but true. A great deal of fine character acting is on display throughout with nearly ever actor putting nuance into their roles. Watch facial reactions and body language to see the cast investing emotion into their performances.
Once again, I keep coming back to people thinking overacting is good acting these days. Here I’m trying to give a short review on a movie and find myself reviewing the shortcomings of modern people. Given how society is decaying, that is probably unavoidable, but I weary of it, so on to the positives of the movie.
Godzilla 2014 is a taught and emotionally gripping movie that owes as much to thrillers and horror movies as it does to the giant monster genre. Director Gareth Edwards has said that he was influenced by the pacing of films such as Jaws in desiring to create a slow build up to the action and that he does to some degree. Oddly, I found myself being reminded of a very different Spielberg movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, for the first part of the film.
Despite building slowly compared to most modern action movies, it really isn’t that long a wait for events to get rolling. I appreciated character development early in the movie that took place amongst the unfolding tragedy that shapes the main characters Joe and Ford Brody. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is actually quite good as a soldier just (and I mean just) returning from a combat deployment of fourteen months. He’s reserved the way soldiers just back from Iraq and Afghanistan that I’ve known are, for the war zone comes home with them for awhile.
Elizabeth Olsen does well with her scenes, which I was led to believe were very few from Web complaints. She has plenty of time to portray the wife trying to juggle being a mother, work, a returned husband, and giant monsters attacking in a believable performance. No, she is not wasted in the movie.
Ken Watanabe does a great job as the sensitive Dr. Serizawa dedicated to researching the giant beasts lurking below the surface of the planet. Not only does he add a Japanese actor to the main cast, he adds a touch of the old Godzilla series flavor to the mix. Tradition dictates a scientist must be involved to explain everything, after all.
The star of the show is teased very early in the movie. The opening credits to be precise and is glimpsed throughout the first half of the film. As secrets are uncovered, he’s developed into an overshadowing, if mysterious, presence.
Not quite as mysterious is the MUTO enemy, shown fairly early in the movie. The design is a mix of Cloverfield’s monster and Gyaos from the Gamera movies with just a dash of the creatures from Edward’s prior film, Monsters. Alien and nasty in appearance, the kaiju makes a perfect villain for the film.
The big G himself is an interesting redesign being very bear like in build and facial appearance. Not only do the humans convey a great deal with their expressions, so does Godzilla. Properly depicted as Earth’s “alpha predator” and balancer, he’s a lot of fun every moment he’s on screen. While not seen fully for most of the movie, the wait is worth the price of admission. I really like how Americanized he is yet still recognizably Godzilla.
The effects are top notch, by the way. Collateral damage looks real, the giant monsters look nightmarish, and there aren’t any moments that scream CGI. Edwards knows how to frame a picture prettily too and I found myself often admiring the camera compositions during scenes both quiet and rampaging.
It’s simply a good flick that doesn’t insult the intelligence of the viewer, provides a human element that elevates the emotional investment in the events, and a great monster brawl. This is my third favorite Godzilla movie after Gojira 1954 and Godzilla: GMK.
I look forward to the sequel once Edwards is done with the solo Star Wars character movie. That one I’ll also have to check out, he’s turning out to be a most promising young director.
Parents should be aware there is mild profanity and a lot of very scary scenes for little kids. Someone brought their five or six year old to the theater I was at and the kid was alternately bored silly by the human drama and scared witless by the monsters. Other than that, it is a suitable film for kids eight and up, I think.
2 comments:
Your third favorite Godzilla film? It started off on a rather strong note, the first ten-twenty minutes were especially good. However, in my opinion, it fell flat following the first "fight." Godzilla seemed more like an afterthought, with this film technically having the shortest amount of screen time he has ever received (in one of the longest running entries in the series). In addition, he wasn't the focus. His enemies were. Strange considering this is supposed to be a reboot and the film is named after him.
Plus the teasing quickly got old, as the human characters were not strong enough to carry the movie for the long stretches of time without the monsters. And the ending was a borderline insult to the entire franchise. A several megaton nuclear weapon explodes right outside a major city and there are absolutely no consequences? Something which I doubt will be mentioned in the sequels. Remember this is supposed to be a Godzilla movie. Honda must be rolling in his grave. I'd rank Godzilla (2014) no higher than middle ground among the other movies.
While everyone is entitled to an opinion, I will address some of your points.
I like slow build ups, modern movies have gotten far too "in your face" in an effort to appease the short attention span current audiences. Honda himself was very much into slow buildups if you watch his earliest kaiju films. Gojira, Rodan, Mothra and quite a few other ones are excellent examples of this.
As for the other monsters getting the spotlight, that was pretty much the pattern after Godzilla Raids Again and was set by King Kong vs. Godzilla. He's been the second stringer to the villains for most of his career, with both Mothra and King Ghidorah being more popular than him with the fans in the '70s!
Basic Godzilla flick pattern is monster (or monsters) rampage, the Big G makes cameo appearances for the first act or two, then charges in like a professional wrestler with a folding chair for the third act. Which pretty much sums up the new film too.
Edwards choosing to model after the late '60s to early '70s heroic Godzilla wasn't a decision I would have made, yet I concede it makes sense due to those films being the ones the general public in the West remembers. Betting the public already knows who Godzilla is and not focusing on his origin was a smart choice.
As far as consequences on the nuke, that's for the sequel to pursue and given how much hand wringing over it was depicted, I highly doubt it will be forgotten. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it is used as a macguffin for the U.S. being attacked by more MUTOS.
Interestingly enough, I have had the opportunity to speak to non Godzilla fans and was surprised by how much they liked the film. His being a hero is what they liked most and so did their kids. Not what I was expecting at all.
Post a Comment