Godzilla (2014) - Review
This review of Godzilla is spoiler-free!
Monster movies are a dime a dozen in the media today. The truth of the matter is that these all started from one place and everyone who knows anything knows that that is Godzilla. Starting back in the middle of the 20th century, Godzilla has become a huge part of popular culture in Japan. I've never been a true fan of Godzilla himself, but monster movies have been something I've indulged in from time to time. When I heard about the new version of Godzilla, I was extremely excited but also noticed it got a bit of a bashing from critics and fans alike for its usage of the beast. After seeing this film, I have some thoughts of my own and want to talk about them!
Any movie involving Godzilla is going to have to put in a large sum of funding for it to make any sort of realistic depiction of this gigantic monster. Thankfully, Gareth Edwards, Legendary, and Warner Brothers came to play with this film. Godzilla is without a doubt one of the best CGI characters I have ever seen on screen. This is where one of the problems for many came about though. Looking at the critical response to this movie, many people were upset with how little you actually see Godzilla. In my opinion, you see quite enough of the monster himself and if there was any more I believe the awe of the creature would have grown tiresome. Along with Godzilla though, the other creatures used in the film are a bit offputting for me. They seem a bit too mechanical and look out of place against the greatness that is Godzilla.
Speaking of the creatures, I believe it's important to just talk about the overall visuals of the film. Outside of the look of Godzilla, there is a lot that this film needed to accomplish in order to make the thrill of him successful on screen. Gareth Edwards does just this, using close up shots and panning of the exterior of the creature without showing him fully to allow a build-up to his first full moment on screen. There is a moment about 2/3rds of the way through the film where I was in awe over the astounding look of a scene and the way it was cut together. Along with this, there's a certain thrill I received from this movie that I don't often get from other monster films in that it felt quite terrifying at some points. I was legitimately terrified of some sequences in the movie and I think that is to the credit of Gareth Edwards and the cinematographers. Well done by all in this department.
The one area though that I certainly did not enjoy as much is the overall story and characters. I understand in a Godzilla movie that he should be the main focus, but there was almost too much focus on the human characters in this film. Coming earlier this year, I felt that Kong managed to do a better job depicting its creature as a true character and not just a means of destruction. Godzilla can be a character too, and if that meant sacrificing some of the human stories to do that, I would have been quite ok with that. I didn't care about any of the characters even though they all try their best to elevate the film. Bryan Cranston's role was advertised as being the main character, so I was expecting him to be the starring person. It turns out he was just a secondary supporting character and that ended up disappointing me as I felt his character had the most potential in the entire film.
Overall, Godzilla satisfied my hopes for a film about the aforementioned character. The way Gareth Edwards builds up tension before the introduction of the character and manages to actually make the audience scared in certain sequences makes Godzilla a satisfying film. With the announcement of a King Kong and Godzilla Monsterverse, I hope they don't overextend the character and make it into something similar to Transformers. The novelty of Godzilla is the monstrous and mysterious nature and giving too much backstory to him could compromise the monster. Having said that, Godzilla is worth checking out for the visuals and satisfying themes.
