The blockbusters of the summer are upon us, and with that, they bring us the biggest of all blockbusters, Godzilla. First being unleashed in 1954, Godzilla captured the imaginations of millions of fans for over the last 60 years. And now he’s back, this time around we see this “terrifying force of nature”, depicted in a style faithful to the Toho series of Godzilla films. With participation by Toho and Warner Bros. they have crafted a damn good blockbuster monster flick that will not only be remembered, but is just too awesome for words!
Godzilla is directed by Gareth Edwards, who has had some success with his indie flick Monsters in 2010. And after seeing Godzilla, he was the perfect person to bring forth the king of monsters to the big screen once more. He brings along with him actors Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairm, Juliette Binoche, and Bryan Cranston. But it is of course Godzilla himself who is the real star of this movie. We may spend time with the human characters, but at the end of the day it’s all about this giant fire-breathing monster that we all love.
The movie does a very nice way of reintroducing Godzilla as if he was a part of human history, always being there but always unseen. The flashbacks give you everything you need upfront and never leave you needing more. The filmmakers stay close to the original idea as much as they need to, as far as the radioactivity and atom bombs being tested in the 1950s. The filmmakers are respectful to the ideas that have come before this, and it’s obvious that Godzilla is being given a lot of love and respect.
The main story focuses on Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character, Ford Brody. He lived in Japan with his father and mother, Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche, who are nuclear specialists at the Janjira nuclear plant. But then something goes very bad, destroying the plant and the surrounding city. We pick up the story 15 years later where Ford, now an explosive ordnance disposal technician for the U.S. Military, must travel to Japan to pick up his father, who is still trying to understand the mystery of the plants destruction 15 years ago. In doing so, Ford is suddenly pulled into his father’s obsession, which leads them to discover the secret that has been long kept by the Japanese government.
Here we meet Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), a scientist who has been studying the effects of radiation on the earth who is fully aware of Godzilla. Once the movie kicks into high gear and the nuclear monster starts its destructive path through the world, our only hope is that nature will balance itself out, and by doing that, Godzilla is awakened to handle the nuclear monsters. Leading them all to have the mother of all battles in San Francisco.
Much time and care was taken not to make the monster look cheesy. There are certain shots where the CGI was given a look that was almost reminiscent of a man in a giant lizard suit, but it’s not. Godzilla looks great, sounds perfect, and has never looked better. The redesign, which was ok’d by Toho, is awesome. What we have here is one fully formed and develed CGI monster that looks so real, you’re just waiting for him to crash though the screen during the movie.
What connects us to the movie are the human characters, which are all great. Each character, no matter how small their role was, was a fully thought out realized character that carried weight. You understood each role and what his or her needs and wants were. For such a big movie that focuses on giant monsters fighting, it would have been very easy to lose a lot of time to develop these characters, but here they don’t. Where in Pacific Rim the filmmakers took too much time trying to development their characters and making it feel forced in, here they’re already fully formed without much time needed.
Taylor-Johnson, Olsen, and Watanabe are wonderful. They all bring such style and talent to their roles. Taylor-Johnson is our hero, we want him to do well and get back to his wife and son. Olsen plays the wife who’s left alone in a city that’s being destroyed around her. She handles herself well and is a very strong female character. And Watanabe is good as the caring doctor who just doesn’t want to see the world destroyed by nuclear war, and that he places all his chips on Godzilla saving us. Each has a special role and is a piece of bigger puzzle that, when completed, is just awesome.
It could be argued that there needed to be more monster on monster fighting. And maybe it’s true, but really, less is more. Make us, as the views, want Godzilla. And that’s want the filmmakers knew to do. Tease up front here and there, and when the diva appears, it’s worth the wait. And as for the cheers in the theater, the wait worked out. Because every time Godzilla shows up and roars, the audience lost their minds. This is a movie not to be missed in a theater surrounded by fans.
This movie worked and is awesomely epic. It’s fun, and hits all the right marks. Where Pacific Rim got bogged down by over stretching of character and the only remembered things are the three monster fights with giant robots, Godzilla takes what didn’t work there and makes it work here. Each fight Godzilla has makes us want more and more. This is a great movie to start the summer blockbusters off with, and no matter how old he is, Godzilla is and always will be King of the Monsters!