Godzilla

Bryan and Aaron wondering if I'm ever going
to get to the actual review.

The excitement in the air was nearly palpable, with jitters lurking at every step forward toward the theater. An unusually cold night for the month of May, the air was crisp but comfortable. A slight breeze ran over my skin as I exited the parking garage and made my way towards the IMAX screen. The lobby was full and the sound of the future film was on everyone's lips. "Godzilla" they were calling it. I purchased my ticket from the box office, proud to add this its stub to my ever-growing collection. In the theater, seats were filling up, and the stale smell of popcorn wafted through my nostrils. I took a seat on the right side of the theater and got comfortable for I had heard rumor that this "Godzilla" was something to behold. In an instant, the lights in the gargantuan room went from alive to hiding and the loud, deep bass of the impressive IMAX speaker system reminded me that I was indeed going to need to change my underwear. And thus began...GODZILLA!

Now, you may be wondering what the point of all that build up was? Well...that is the point. As it's what Godzilla does so fantastically: it builds and builds and builds. Just when you think you can't take not seeing the big guy any longer, he comes hurtling in and owns the rest of the movie named after him. Granted my review build up may not have been as effective as Edwards' but I'm sure you catch my drift.

This is after Godzilla stumbles home drunk.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you've probably seen the mightily impressive trailers for Godzilla. Give it to the marketing team on this one because they absolutely KILLED it. I see a lot of trailers in any given year and I have to say that the trailers for this movie (particularly the first "HALO Jump" one) were mini masterpieces in their own right. Of course, in order to put more butts in seats than just the fanboys, they had to get some more generic (read: revealing) trailers, but even still...some great marketing on this one. They built up their own hype, brick by brick, for a movie that I think many people wrote off until they saw that first trailer. And now look at it. It's at the top of almost all critic's "must see" summer blockbuster lists. Quite an accomplishment and I certainly fall in that category of persons who could have cared less and quickly turned into an "OMG I have to see Godzilla NOW!" movie whore.

So as is the question with any movie that builds this much hype...did it live up to it? My answer for Godzilla is a resounding yes, but with a few caveats.

"Man that John Denver was full of s**t!"

I had two and a half main problems with the film. Had these problems been less significant or non existent, we would be looking at a perfect score here.

1. The film's original score might as well just be called its score. As in, it's not original at all. I was hoping, based on the fantastic tidbits of sound we got from the trailers that we would be treated to one of the best original scores of the year. That was certainly not the case and if I had an award for "Biggest Missed Opportunity" it would go to Godzilla's lacking music. To some this may not be too much of a problem but for me it was, especially when there are attempts at emotional parts.
2. I probably should have expected it but there are clichés galore in this film. I was hoping for a more updated, inventive take on the most famous monster in the world, but really it all comes down to: "Let's use our most powerful nuke on him". Frankly, I'm starting to get really tired of nuclear weapons as the be-all end-all solution to almost every superhero/monster/romantic comedy movie. I don't mean that to be taken as a political statement at all, but looking back over the last 2-3 years it's seriously just ridiculous.
3. This is my "0.5" part, but Blogger sucks and won't let me change the "3" to a "0.5" so bear with me. The movie has some fantastic actors attached to it (Bryan Cranston, Aaron Johnson, and Elizabeth Olsen to name a few) and they do their parts well. But the script doesn't give them any room to up the emotional stakes from a human perspective. I firmly believe that this is more so a problem of the original score, but the script deserves some blame too. Pacific Rim didn't really attempt for a human story because it knew we didn't care all that much. Godzilla attempts it, and while it doesn't fall completely flat on its face, its certainly the weaker aspect of the film.

Godzilla don't care about the Golden Gate Bridge

Now I'd like to combat the critics that are being harsh on the film for the lack of the titular character for the first half of the film. Yes, it's true that you don't see the GARGANTUAN monster until about the 50% mark, but it is all worth it. And my opinion with these uber-destruction films is that "less is more". Do we not all remember Man of Steel? Or Transformers: Dark of the Moon? Both really fun and entertaining movies in my opinion, but they could have both done with about 20-30 minutes less of their big rock-em, sock-em scenes and suffered greatly from their over indulgence. For me personally (which I really should stop saying since this is my own site and you already know that it's my personal opinion), Godzilla had the perfect amount of time dedicated to creature on creature smackdowns. I wouldn't have wanted a minute more or a minute less. And my oh my are those smackdowns glorious. Godzilla is the biggest he has ever been in this film and its actually pretty terrifying. The Cloverfield monster, huge Transformers, kaiju or jaegers from Pacific Rim...nothing is bigger the King of Monsters is in this version. His height alone is menacing and his look this time around is downright scary. Crafted with love and some incredible CGI, Godzilla has a personality. His whole body shakes when he roars...a scream that fills the entire theater and echoes outward. In IMAX 3D, he is absolutely glorious to behold. And the moves he uses on his foes (especially that last one!)? ICONIC.

I won't get too much into the plot itself because there truly isn't too much to go over. It's fairly simple, but I don't want to give anything away. The setup is immense, but it works in the film's favor as that first time you see Godzilla you are truly in awe and its one of those "spine tingling" moments that I love in the theater so much. If I had to choose whether the film disappointed my expectations or surpassed them I would side with "disappointed" ever, ever so slightly just mainly because the human story characters (looking at Johnson and Olsen here) did not resonate with me, or really anyone in our audience at all. (and because my expectations were nearly as large as the dinosaur himself). There was plenty of build up and exposition for both Godzilla and Bryan Cranston, but not enough for our other two leads, who ultimately have more screen time overall.

All complaints aside, Godzilla is one of the more memorable trips you will have to the theaters this year, easily. It is mightily impressive, not just for Edwards' directorial skill but for technical and story telling purposes as well. It will make you wish that all blockbusters took their time a little more and made you wait for that "big moment" rather than shoving it down your throat.

Bryan Cranston played the infamous Walter White in Breaking Bad and he is also in this film. At one point for that show, the tag line was, "All Hail the King, Baby".

I can think of no better way to close out this review than with:

"All Hail the King, Baby!"

CONS:

• That original score is so subpar compared to most of the other aspects of the film. It was painfully obvious how dull and generic it was. An iconic reimagining of the franchise like this one deserves an iconic original score
• A bit too clichéd for my liking. Of course going to a monster movie there are always going to be the roots of the franchise, but Godzilla didn't make too many attempts to break free of them like I thought it would
• Do nukes have to be the answer to every solution in these films these days?
• The script worked in Cranston's favor but not really in anyone else's. The film should have been written around Aaron Johnson since he was the main star, but he comes across as pretty "meh" here

PROS:

• The suspense and build up to get to where there is actually some action is phenomenal. Edwards knows how to make you wait for what you want and he creates an incredible atmosphere and tone here
• The marketing of the film deserves a nod. It was fantastic
• Perfect amount of action if you ask me. In a new world of blockbuster overkill, Godzilla knows when to let it loose and when to bring it back in
• Logical progression of story
• Fantastic special effects. Not one thing looked fake to me. Truly a testament to how far Hollywood has come since the first Gojira so so many years ago
• Bryan Cranston does the best job out of the cast. Typical
• Awesome, AWESOME, incredibly cool fights
• Yeah but those kill moves though!
• This is one of those films where I really have to call my own bluff a bit. I want to give the film a higher score, but I cannot do it with a good conscience as it does have some significant things it could have improved on to get it to the "9" region. That being said, this is easily the tallest, beastliest, jaw-snapping, strong 8.5 I have ever given to a film in my couple years of doing this

Rath's Review Score: 8.5/10