Godzilla

Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: Aaron Taylor – Johnson, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen
Length: 123 minutes
Country: USA

My fondest childhood memories are of my dad and I watching old Godzilla movies, so it was only natural for me to be hit by a tidal wave of nostalgia when Legendary Pictures announced that the King of the Monsters would be rampaging across the silver screen in 2014. However, the prospect of another Western take on the original Kaiju would understandably lead to scepticism amongst critics, die-hard Godzilla fans and even casual movie-goers due to Roland Emmerich’s 1998 travesty that caused the entirety of Japan to face-palm in unison. Whilst it was initially thought that Emmerich managed to put the possibility of seeing Godzilla again into Hollywood Quarantine Land, ambitious director Gareth Edwards, known for the independent film Monsters, has taken on the gigantic task of bringing the big guy back to life. Backed by Toho, the Japanese film company that breathed life into Godzilla way back in 1954, as well as an A-list cast, things sure sound promising. So is 2014’s Godzillathe greatest disaster film of the decade or its greatest film disaster? Let’s just say that it’s a gigantic blockbuster in every sense of the word.

In 1999, supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) and his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) work at the Janjira Nuclear Plant in Japan when it suffers and unexplainable explosion and radiation leak. Whilst the tragic event is attributed to an earthquake, Joe becomes obsessed with the anomaly, believing that the explanation is nothing but a cover-up for something bigger. Flash forward 15 years later and Brody’s now-adult son Ford (Aaron-Taylor Johnson), a bomb-disposal officer in the US Navy, discovers that his father’s suspicions were true. The US and Japanese governments are unknowingly harbouring parasitic threats to the planet and an ancient creature awakens from the depths of the pacific ocean to stop them.

From the beginning audiences are subjected to a Godzilla film that is much darker in tone from the more recent iterations. Almost every instance of destruction, from the grand-scale levelling of cities to the more personal loss of life, feel chillingly realistic due to impressive visuals and poignant performances. This is not the stereotypical summer movie joyride- the stakes are high and the audience knows it. Elements of fear and suspense are also prevalent throughout the film, something both refreshing and unexpected. Edwards is very meticulous in his choice of camera shots so that the audience sees these giant monsters from a very human perspective (think Cloverfield minus the shaky cam). This with a combination of wide shots perfectly encapsulates the futility and insignificance of supporting characters when they are around Godzilla and the other giant creatures.

Bryan Cranston gives a phenomenal performance filled with emotion. Be it eye-watering heartbreak in the first act or immense frustration in the early second, you can’t help but recognise his incredible range. Unfortunately, he is more of a secondary character in the film and doesn’t have much screen time, which for many will be quite irritating. Whilst it is inevitably made clear that Aaron-Taylor Johnson is the star of the film, the actor isn’t given much to work with and on many occasions can be quite boring. He certainly works the “no-nonsense, point A to point B” attitude of a soldier well, but it just feels too standard given the fantastical events unfolding around him. I often felt as though he was more of a set-piece than a character- a conduit for the audience to realistically experience the monsters battling around him.

His terrifying yet gorgeously textured roar shakes the entire theatre and never fails to send a shiver down your spine.

The real scene-stealer is, of course, the king himself. This Godzilla is a visual effects masterpiece- over 350 feet tall and clad in glistening scales, he feels more like a giant animal than an elaborate, computer generated image. The monster’s movements are powerful and fluid as opposed to the awkward fumbling of puppeteers in Godzilla costumes from previous iterations. His terrifying yet gorgeously textured roar shakes the entire theatre and never fails to send a shiver down your spine. Edwards also changes the symbolism behind Godzilla- instead of being nuclear devastation given form as seen in the 1954 original, this giant reptile seems to represent the balancing force of nature, giving purpose to his actions.

Unfortunately, the big G isn’t in much of the movie, clocking in just about 18-20 minutes of screen-time. Whilst his giant ‘M.U.T.O’ enemies (massive unidentified terrestrial organisms) get to bask in the limelight for a longer period of time and are in their own way spectacularly destructive, Godzilla’s absence is painfully obvious. Edwards clearly wanted to tease the climactic monster throw-down in order to build up on its pay-off, but directive choices such as cutting away from their first fight in Hawaii to a child watching a few measly seconds of the encounter on CNN felt downright malicious to the audience.

It’s clear that Edwards’ take on Godzilla focuses more on the impact of invading giant monsters on individuals rather than the monsters themselves. The camera is pointed to evacuations, military counter-operations and people huddled together watching the news more often than the kaiju showdown. Whilst this isn’t an inherently bad decision, its execution would be far better achieved if the films more interesting characters were focused upon more. It feels like an opposing set of objectives are present when a film focused on the human reaction to a giant monster outbreak utilises its main character as an emotionally distant conduit for the audience to witness the monsters ripping apart cities (and eachother). This ultimately leads to a bittersweet climax- the showdown between Godzilla and M.U.TOs, although phenomenal and worth the ticket price alone, takes forever to get to and along the way we are subjected to a character that just isn’t very interesting. Overall, Godzilla kicks off the summer blockbuster season with an impressive bang, but not quite an atomic blast.

(Featured image source, Image 1 source, Image 2 source ,Image 3 source)