MOVIE REVIEW - GODZILLA - 2014...

Almost.

That's the best way I can describe Godzilla. It is a good movie, but it COULD have been Great.

I'm a fan of director Gareth Edwards and his indy film Monsters. It gave us something new in a "monster" movie with its teeny budget, minimalist effects and effective human drama. He seemed like a risky, yet logical choice. I can see Edwards has the ability and passion for the subject matter but I think too many writers stirring the pot right up to the beginning of shooting may have killed its chance at greatness. Now, OBVIOUS SPOILERS will follow, so skip this if you don't want to know...



Of course I come into this movie with 30 years of Godzilla fandom and great expectations. It's unavoidable and that is my issue to deal with. But, the trailers for this have been superb, selling a dark and brooding film about a force of nature and the destruction it causes. This film is anything but...there is potential for at least three huge monster fights - two of which are merely teased and abruptly cut away from just as they get going. This is really jarring, especially when the audience is saying "Ok, here we go!" only to have the payoff taken away from us. Once is forgivable, twice is just aggravating. Despite this fault, having engaging human characters brought to life by capable actors would have served as a temporary reprieve, but we really don't get that either. None of these actors get to make their individual roles their own - instead, we get the idea that "Hey there's Kick-Ass playing an army guy" - "Hey there's Walter White playing a guy who yells a lot." And then Ken Watanabe spends the entire film with a blank stare and his mouth hanging open. See what I mean? Argghh! Such a great cast is not used to their fullest extent.





And then there are the monsters themselves. Home Run! Godzilla is gigantic - a wondrous, magical all-powerful beast. He looks great and resembles the best of the classic TOHO Godzi suits. He fights not one but TWO creatures called MUTOs or Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms. There is a male and female, one flies and one crawls on the ground. These are evil beasts and are very unique in their appearance and abilities. They pose a serious threat to civilization and Godzilla has been sent to stop them. Here is where I noticed that the trailers sold an entirely different movie than what I was seeing. Godzilla is a protector, in many ways a friend to humans, not a force of nature destroying everything in his path. He has been sent by Mother Nature to "restore balance" to the order of things. This major shift in tone brings to mind the more friendly Godzilla of the later sequels when he was earth's protector and fought different monsters in each film. And it isn't what we were teased AT ALL in any of those excellent trailers. Add to this the unexpected early exit of one of the main three characters (you can prob guess which one) and this movie loses focus quickly and struggles in between the first and final acts.



The Final Battle. This was amazing. A brutal, destructive and intense giant monster battle. It can stand up with anything from the classic series. It is a sight to behold, I only wish we had seen more of it. Like I said, this movie was good. But I think Hollywood got their claws into it and kept it from being an EPIC film. All of the elements were there, Edwards and Co. didn't quite get to follow through completely.

And yes, Godzilla uses his atomic ray. Badass.

3 out of 5 Khans!