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Godzilla – 2014 (Review)

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Godzilla

Godzilla 2014
2014
Story by Dave Callaham
Screenplay by Max Borenstein
Directed by Gareth Edwards
March of Godzilla 2014
Godzilla 2014
We were all a little apprehensive when we learned that there would be a second American Godzilla movie. After all, once bitten, twice shy. And while the memories of Matthew Broderick battling a preggers dinosaur that loves fish while things go all Jurassic Park are scarred in memories forever, Gareth Edwards brought American Godzilla movies full circle into actually good. Godzilla is big, fights monsters, has atomic breath, isn’t taken out like a punk, and becomes a realized character despite being a CGI construct. He’s the real deal. Just saying that makes me so happy I had to recalibrate my breakdown of the film because it does have its flaws. Nothing that we haven’t seen before in major tentpole films, but I’m not above pointing them out again and again.

I had my problems with Gareth Edwards, I found Monsters interesting when it had anything to do with monsters, and not when it had anything to do with people. Edwards brings his monster affinity to full load with Godzilla, the monsters are just so huge, so out of scale, that people are just running around trying to survive beneath their feet. The sheer enormity is a stark contrast to how helpless everyone is when the creatures are around.
Godzilla 2014
Edwards trades two hours of monster destruction porn for an array of different effects of the destruction, from news clips to destructive aftermaths to monsters fighting it out in the background while humans run for their lives. But there is plenty of fighting going on during the climactic scenes set in San Francisco. They play tribute to the monster fights of old, but allow at CGI Godzilla to do a few moves that wouldn’t quite work with people in suits. Overall, the fight sequences are fun, but the meat of the monster appearances are just showing them so huge and destructive, and the people struggling to survive. The sequences with the monsters on rampage become a mix of giant monster, horror, and nature run amok all rolled up into one, and pulled off perfectly.

Gareth Edwards still has problems making interesting people, but he’s compensated by using incredibly awesome actors who turn those people interesting despite what they are given. Bryan Cranston is amazing as the obsessive dad who jumbles from one tragedy to another. Aaron Taylor-Johnson had good chemistry with Elizabeth Olsen (which will be important as they’re siblings in Avengers 2!), but when by himself just became a less charming Channing Tatum. Moments like when he was suddenly guarding a shoehorned in random Japanese kid gave him more depth than all his running around while covered in dirt scenes combined.

Godzilla here is part of a large conspiracy to cover up that there are large monsters in the world, and he’s the apex predator. The problem is when the other ones start popping up, because they begin destroying cities and causing all sorts of destruction. Things can no longer be hidden away, and soon Godzilla leaves his Pacific Atoll to destroy these new idiots. No one challenges the king.
Godzilla 2014
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Godzilla 2014 main trailer

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[adrotate banner=”1″]The full trailer for the 2014 American Godzilla flick has blazed across the net, and I like it more than the teaser, which was just some people skydiving and a brief monster shot. Brief monster shots are here as well, but we got a whole lot of other stuff and things look interesting. If that will translate into a cool film remains to be seen, but I am liking what I see, and for the first time in a long time I’m getting more confident about Godzilla.

From what we know is that there was a Godzilla in 1954, atomic tests in the Pacific were really secret attempts to kill it, and at least one Godzilla-looking thing is dead and a giant skeleton, giving scenes a weird Alien vibe as suited people look at the giant skeleton. Which is cool. Government cover ups (why anyone thinks gigantic monsters can be covered up by the government I will never know) and cities being smashed come next, along with a bunch of armed forces doing things.

Not all of the brief monster shots are of Godzilla, at least one foot/toe is distinctly NOT Big G, and there is another claw that doesn’t look right, either. Even the updated synopsis mentions creatures, plural, so hopefully there is plenty of hot monster on monster action. In that they fight, but if they want to go all kaiju porno, I’m afraid I’ll have to choose that moment to run home screaming to hide under the sheets.

I like the giant monster symbol on the big bomb, I like the neat cinematography of the island scenes, and I hope we follow the science team around more than the military guys. The only danger is this gets too serious and doesn’t get any fun. The original Gojira is very serious in tone, it is a classic and is one of the main inspirations for this remake. But we’re smack dab in the middle of an onslaught of movies that are far too serious and dark, even of franchises that historically aren’t. I’m not saying Godzilla should be doing floating kicks and high-fiving Jet Jaguar, but I would like some fun in my giant monster destruction movie please. Thanks.

Here’s hoping this rules, we’ll find out in May!

An epic rebirth to Toho’s iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, pits the world’s most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.

Gareth Edwards directs “Godzilla,” which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Kick-Ass”), Oscar® nominee Ken Watanabe (“The Last Samurai,” “Inception”), Elizabeth Olsen (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”), Oscar® winner Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient,” “Cosmopolis”), and Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine”), with Oscar® nominee David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck.,” “The Bourne Legacy”) and Bryan Cranston (“Argo,” TV’s “Breaking Bad”).

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Akira Takarada will be in Legendary's Godzilla!

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Akira Takarada Gareth Edwards Godzilla
[adrotate banner=”1″]It has been revealed via Twitter that Akira Takarada will be in the new Legendary Picture’s Godzilla film! If you don’t know how Akira Takarada is, then you must not have paid attention to the many many Godzilla films he was in, most notably the original Gojira, as well as the last Godzilla film, Final Wars. Takarada’s scene was completed on the first day of filming, and director Gareth Edwards has said it will help thematically connect the new film to the original Godzilla films.

The new Godzilla film releases May 16, 2014, and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, David Strathairn, and everyone’s favorite, Bryan Cranston.

via SocialNewsDaily