Godzilla

In 1998, Roland Emmerich attempted to reignite the eponymous film franchise by creating the critically-panned flop 'Godzilla', 16 years on and we are now faced with one of the best adaptations of the iconic monster's adventures. Gareth Edwards created 'Monsters' in 2010 on a mere budget of £500,000, barely 4 years on and Warner Brothers offered him the chance to create a $160 million adaptation of 'Godzilla'. All the aspects from 'Monsters' are employed in this action/sci-fi adventure, but on a much grander scale. This is a treat for all Godzilla fans and a very respectable adaptation that stays true to the 1950s Japanese classic rather than wandering away like Emmerich's one did. Packed with stunning cinematography, vast special effects and a sweeping spectacle of giant monster battles, 'Godzilla' has been a fantastic start to 2014. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performances are outstanding and there is a certain chemistry that makes their relationship that bit more believable. Whilst at time there are some cheesy and over-the-top scenes, 'Godzilla' is nonetheless an enjoyable action romp that restores the franchise's original glory.

I saw the trailers for this a year ago while I attended a screening for Aronofsky's NOAH . I didn't fancy it much . GODZILLA conjures up memories of the big budget blandfest from a decade and a half ago . Just put some CGI on screen and voilà you've a Summer blockbuster . This version did get a very good average rating when it opened , something in the region 8.1 but progressively got lower and it now has a rating of 6.6 indicating something average . To be fair I went in with an open mind and did find myself enjoying things more than I probably expected

The original GODZILLA from 1954 was of a course a Japanese film that used the monster as a metaphor for the bomb . It did quickly abandon this subtext and just became a long running franchise where the titular monster got involved in all sorts of battles with other giant monsters . In its favour Gareth Edwards version of GODZILLA does keep the ethos of this . Radiation is very much to the fore of the story and while Godzilla might not be the hero he's certainly not the villain and this is reserved for "Massive Unidentified Terreistial Organism" a sort of hybrid between a giant praying mantis and a dragon . You know at one point they're going to be meeting in a climatic battle

Of course two hours of giant CGI creatures getting in to a punch up isn't going to resonate with an audience so Edwards includes a very human backdrop as the story takes place through the eyes of serviceman Ford Brody . You got to love that name , it's sounds like a character John Wayne was born to play , a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do , get off your horse and drink your milk etc . It wasn't until I found out after seeing the film that I found out Brody is played by English actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson who I was totally convinced was one hundred per cent Uncle Sam . That said this isn't an actors type of film and I'm speculating that the casting of Cranston and Binoche might have led to the backlash by many people . If you want to see Binoche try not to be blink because you will literally miss her . It's also difficult not to notice that there's a strong streak of manipulation as to how the characters play out . It's also yet another film where a little kid is used in a scene to keep the audiences emotions on tenterhooks

Regardless of this people watch a film like GODZILLA for action set pieces and you can't really fault Edwards for what he's done here . He doesn't have a idiosyncratic quirk to his directorial style and the film does have that kind of Summer blockbuster look but he also previously directed MONSTERS and that movie featured a couple of aliens mating and here the MUTOs have a similar though much more shorter sequence . If you need a film calling for alien reproduction I can see Gareth Edwards being a natural auteur

I'm no great fan of summer blockbusters and for sure am resistant to the idea of paying over the odds to sit in a crowded room and be disappointed. This usually sees me picking up with such films when they are cheaper to get on rental and just watch in my own home. With Godzilla I will admit I was tempted to join for the spectacle because in addition to this the film had the appeal of quite a starry cast list in addition to being from Gareth Edwards, the man who famously made Monsters in his bedroom and on the fly. This suggested that perhaps there would be more to it than just effects and big money shots. That said, I had heard negative things and I did approach it with low expectations because after all, it is just a Godzilla movie.

The film does try to create a human story to ground the audience and it casts wisely with Cranston, Binoche, Watanabe, Hawkins and others – all people who have a good presence in front of the camera. I was not to know that so many of the names that drew me to the project would be removed from the film pretty early on – a device that has impact for sure, but doesn't seem particularly brave since one suspects that the reason people like Cranston got onboard was that they were promised a lot for only relatively small parts. This leaves us with Taylor- Johnson and his quest to get home; a quest that never really interested me but at the same time is constantly pushed into the middle of the action no matter what or where it is. This saw my interest in the human side waning as the film progressed, leaving just the action.

On this front the film pushes things as hard as it can. The makers clearly know their action genre because this is a film that understands that soldiers running with guns and speaking in tough military dialogue while music pumps in the background, can grab an audience – so it does it, lots. Considering I didn't care two hoots for them, I was surprised by how much time I spent watching soldiers sweeping areas with guns pointed – it did start to bore after a while. The monsters and their destruction is nicely hinted at first, but eventually the film plays all its cards and we have lots of action and knocking down of buildings. Unfortunately much of it plays out in darkness – something which helps the atmosphere but limits how much can be seen. Technically it looks good and the money is all up on the screen (in the darkness) but it is probably the noise that makes the most impact and even on a lesser system the roars and thuds of the monsters are engagingly meaty.

Unfortunately this is really all that the film does, and it is quite uninvolving and unsatisfying. There is a lot of very good noise and big spectacle, but we have to experience through the human characters who we increasingly do not care about, and when the action really ramps up, it is detached from any sort of reality and I found myself appreciating the technical work rather than getting lost in what could have been dramatic and thrilling. As a blockbuster it probably has enough noise about it to be a distracting two hours if you have a good enough home entertainment value.

Finally sat down to watch this movie today. After all the hype it had had it's fair share of great moments but in the end felt something was missing. I'll agree with many that Godzilla wasn't shown as much as he should have and maybe that was what missing or maybe it wasn't. Needless to say even though Godzilla doesn't make many appearances in this movie it still is a rather good movie with a an interesting story line. The best way to go into this movie is to not buy into Hollywood's hype because if you go into it like that you will be disappointed greatly. Overall I was satisfied with Godzilla. Great story, special effects, and even the acting was pretty solid. Worth the 2 hours for sure. Sit back, grab some popcorn and beverage and enjoy!

OK, let me start off by saying that the new Godzilla is definitely an entertaining movie and well worth the price of an admission ticket. That is – so long as you go into it with popcorn-level expectations. Now, it has to be said that the bar, since the most recent attempt by Roland Emmerich in 1998 (which was hilarious at best) wasn't set particularly high, to say it nicely. So in all honesty, with today's budget and special effects, it never had a big chance of being that bad. But I have to admit, judging from the trailer – I thought it would be better.

It starts off pretty good. There is proper story build-up and character lay-out. Where we are – what's happening... It's all there. In fact, the story revolving around the main characters is pretty dramatic from the get-go. Death in the family, trauma leading to obsession over finding the truth surrounding the circumstances. Bryan Cranston is impressive as the family father and science guy. He just knows something is up concerning some big beastie and he won't let up until he figures it out. That is – if he gets the chance. Something happens around one third into the movie that is a pivotal turning point in the story. I knew this immediately when it happened and in the end I realised that I had been correct.

From this point on, it's out with the story and in with the action. An almost mind-numbing, pummelling assault of non-stop action. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying it's a lot less interesting than it could have been.

Here's the deal: instead of just one Big Monster, they bring in three. One Godzilla, and two huge insect-like creatures that are only designated as MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Object). Seriously, they couldn't come up with a proper name? And instead of Godzilla being the big threat to mankind, the MUTO are. In fact, Godzilla turns out to be the good guy because he's the only one that can defeat these insect creeps. This story line is factor one in the reason that this movie isn't what it could have been. Factor two is the plot point that these creatures all feed on nuclear energy instead of "manburgers". Consequentially, the only real threat they pose is the massive destruction they cause in big cities (and obviously, the human lives that become casualties by default). It's because of this that there is never any real sense of threat or danger. They don't hunt us, they don't care about us. All they want is nuclear energy and a place to breed. What's worse is, these MUTO take screen time and attention away from the monster who's supposed to be the main antagonist and namesake of the movie! It might as well have been called "Big Creepy Insects" instead of "Godzilla"...

In the end, what we're left with is billions of dollars worth of collateral damage and a big-ass monster who's really kind of a nice guy. Weird.

Still, it's certainly not bad. Aaron Taylor- Johnson does his best at looking very serious and all grown up since his Kick-Ass days, although I am certain that this is definitely one of his less compelling roles. The problem is that from the 1/3 turning point that I mentioned, his character becomes very formulaic and cliché. Our hero even shares an intimate moment of eye contact with Godzilla in the end... Aww.

Ken Watanabe spends every moment of his screen time looking shocked and awed... and pretty much nothing else. Juliette Binoche is shamefully underused. I would have loved to have seen more of her. The biggest asset is definitely Bryan Cranston. He's the only one who managed to make his character 3-dimensional and a real human being. He, too, would have definitely deserved a bigger role. In fact, the film probably would have been much better for it.

Visually, everything is very awesome and impressive. The special effects (visual and sound) are top-notch. Every time Godzilla opened his mouth to let out a massive roar, I thought my eardrums were going to pop. It's bone-chilling and very cool. The design of the MUTO is a real treat, they look like giant praying mantises, totally intimidating. The films' SFX really make it worthwhile.

All in all, the story is quite weak and riddled with clichés, though I must say one thing: thank God for the complete lack of obligatory footprints. I was seriously dreading the moment these giant "claw prints in the mud" would appear on screen, but thankfully it never happened. The overall feel and setting of this film is quite dark and threatening, and adding such a cliché would have been really dumb and unnecessary.

I had really hoped that this was going to be the definitive Godzilla movie. Alas, it is not. But I still enjoyed it for what it was and I definitely recommend seeing it for the special effects alone. In any case, 'Gojira' looks awesome.

I rate it 7.5/10.