Godzilla (2014) review

Almost two decades ago in 1998, TriStar made the first major attempt at an American-produced ‘Godzilla’ film (not counting the American-produced cuts to a few of Toho’s original films)… and as we all know, that one didn’t turn out that well and it is pretty much universally despised. While I’m not as critical on it as a lot of people are (probably because I’m not that big of a Godzilla fan, having only seen the original film (after seeing the 1998 film first, for the record)), I too agree that quite frankly, it just wasn’t a ‘Godzilla’ film. Even Toho knew that the creature in that film wasn’t Godzilla and renamed it ‘Zilla’ when it was featured in 2004’s ‘Godzilla: Final Wars’, where the real Godzilla easily kicked its butt. That film was, at the time, the last Godzilla film… until a decade later. Now all eyes are on this new ‘Godzilla’ film, directed by Gareth Edwards, who had previously directed the independent flick ‘Monsters’. I haven’t seen that film, but with a title like that, Edwards definitely sounds like a good choice to helm this new ‘Godzilla’… and overall, he definitely delivers one heck of a monster film. I’m not going to say that it’s ‘perfect’, but at the end of the day, it’s easily miles above the 1998 film.

In 1999, seismic activity starts to occur at the Janjira nuclear plant near Tokyo, Japan resulting in the entire facility falling into ruin. While reports claim that this was caused by an earthquake, the plant’s former supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston), who lost his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) during the accident, believes that something else was the cause of it and 15 years later, he and his son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an explosive ordinance disposal officer with the U.S. Navy, return to the area to investigate further into the matter. There, they discover that the real cause for the accident wasn’t an earthquake, but a giant winged creature referred to as a ‘Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism’ (MUTO for short). The MUTO ends up escaping, along with a second MUTO, resulting in the military trying to figure out a way to destroy the creatures before they completely ravage the United States. But they soon find out that something else is hunting the MUTOs and this creature could possibly be the only thing that can stop them, and that creature is… Godzilla!

Fans of the franchise might be a little disappointed that Godzilla doesn’t show up until an hour in and that the film itself focuses more on the human characters (more on that in a bit). But overall, Edwards really delivers when it comes to monster vs. monster action… though I wish that during the first few fights between Godzilla and the MUTOs, the film wouldn’t cut away from it. Seriously, there are at least two different times during this film when a fight between Godzilla and the MUTOs is about to occur… and then it cuts away. That scene in the trailer where Godzilla is roaring as a shelter’s doors are about to close? Well, in the film, the doors close during an actual fight. Thankfully, that’s not a problem during the later fights and with that in mind the action was excellent and was pretty solidly-lit considering that most of the fights do take place at night. Overall this film’s Godzilla certainly fits the description of the character quite well and even though it is all CGI… damn that CGI is really good. As for the other monsters, the MUTOs, they look good too but they’re kind of lackluster compared to the other monsters in the Godzilla film franchise and I wish the filmmakers would’ve pitted him against something like Mothra or Rodan.

I’m finding that the general consensus for this film is similar to that of ‘Pacific Rim’ last year; great action but lackluster character development. Well, just like with that film, I ask this… why is that necessarily a problem? Because, again like that film, this film delivers on what it promises; Godzilla and monster fights. In fact, while I haven’t seen any of the other Godzilla film aside from the original, from what I can gather… that’s sort of the point with these films in the first place… though like I said earlier, this one sort of focuses more on the human characters. To the writers’ credit, they at least gave a decent amount of character development… nothing really noteworthy, mind you, but it’s not like this film is completely ‘devoid’ of character. For that matter, the cast is fairly solid; some unfortunately don’t get much to do, like the two main actresses, Elizabeth Olsen and Sally Hawkins (especially in Olsen’s case as the wife of Ford Brody), but there’s also some really good performances from Ken Watanabe and Bryan Cranston. For the record though, Cranston’s only in the film for about 10-15 minutes but even then he does make the most out of his short screen-time. The movie instead focuses on his son, Ford, and while I will agree that he’s not the most compelling lead, Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a fair job here.

If you’re still having bad memories of the 1998 American ‘Godzilla’ film, I believe you’re going to be more satisfied with this take on the character. It certainly is far more fitting to bear the title ‘Godzilla’ than that other film. Godzilla himself looks fantastic, he definitely has the qualities that the character is known for, and the film itself certainly delivers on some fantastic monster action. My only complaint though would be that the film cuts away from the fights quite a lot early on, which wouldn’t be a problem if it was just done once but it’s actually done a few times. But even with that in mind, this is definitely a pretty solid addition to the Godzilla franchise and I’m definitely looking forward to a sequel (they just announced one, so it looks like it is happening). If so, I hope that this next one gives us more monster action and heck, maybe another one of Godzilla’s famous fellow monsters (there’s a pretty neat Mothra reference in here so it’s possible). Also, maybe Toho can be a bit more involved in this one seeing how they are the company responsible for this franchise in the first place? Still, overall, this film serves as a really nice, and much deserved, return to form for the ‘King of the Monsters’.

Rating: 4/5

Gojira (1954)/Godzilla (1956) review

The year was 1954. It was nearly a decade after the United States had dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing an end to the Second World War and because of this, the original ‘Godzilla’ (known as ‘Gojira’ in Japan) is a product of its time, as it portrays the scenario of a giant kaiju (the Japanese term for ‘strange monster’) that was created from nuclear radiation in a very serious matter, obviously in the wake of the devastating events that took place in August 1945 by many who had experienced that disaster first-hand. And that’s one of the biggest reasons why the original ‘Godzilla’ is one of the greatest monster films of all time. After all, most monster films are usually just ‘B-Movies’ and aren’t really films of the highest quality. However, this is a case of a film that is technically a B-Movie, but manages to be an excellent film even with that in mind. Because of this, the film successfully established Godzilla as one of the most iconic giant monsters ever to be put on film. And so, in honor of the upcoming release of the new ‘Godzilla’ film from Legendary and Warner Bros Pictures, it’s time to take a look back at the original 1954 film that started it all… along with its 1956 ‘Americanized’ edition.

There’s not that much to the plot of the original ‘Godzilla’. Quite simply, it’s just Godzilla rampaging through Japan. It begins as a fishing boat near the fictional Odo Island is suddenly attacked by a mysterious force. More ships come to investigate, but they all end up meeting the same fate as the first boat. The residents of Tokyo soon learn the true cause of this attack; a 50-foot dinosaur-like creature named ‘Godzilla’, who had apparently been a legend amongst the people of Odo Island for many years before the events of this film. As Godzilla begins to ravage Tokyo, numerous people begin to look for a way to defeat the creature. The American cut of the film has the same story, but also includes a new subplot where reporter Steve Martin (no, not the Steve Martin you’re thinking of; a character played by Raymond Burr) visits Tokyo while on the way to an assignment in Cairo to meet with his friend, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata), one of the main characters from the Japanese cut. While there, he soon gets caught up in the whole Godzilla situation and serves as the narrator detailing the events that occur within the film.

The thing that impresses me the most about the original ‘Godzilla’ is that it’s played very seriously. Keep in mind; we’re talking about a film that is centered on a giant ‘dinosaur’, which was actually just a guy in a rubber suit. But the whole film is played very seriously and there really aren’t any moments in the film that feel ‘campy’. Sure, some scenes might feel just a little silly by today’s standards, but that’s probably just a case of the time period in which the film came out. There is very much a sense of dread throughout the whole film as we anxiously wait for Godzilla to strike and when he does, he causes a path of chaos and destruction wherever he goes. It really unnerves you watching scenes of death and destruction and a scene where a choir is singing a song following Godzilla’s attack on Tokyo is a very somber moment. Heck, the film itself doesn’t even end on that much of a happy note; sure, the day is saved… but at what cost? Obviously, the people making this film must’ve witnessed the whole ‘atomic bomb’ situation and it really shows in this film, as Godzilla serves as a perfect symbol of the dangers that could come from testing nuclear weapons, having been created as a result of nuclear radiation. The film even ends with one of the main characters Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura) warning people that if mankind continues testing nuclear weapons, this won’t be the last ‘Godzilla’ creature to ever appear.

Now, I’m not going to compare the two main ‘versions’ of this film (the original 1954 Japanese cut and the 1956 American release) that much but I will say that the original Japanese film is the superior version. The American version (‘Godzilla, King of the Monsters!’) is still a pretty effective monster movie that still maintains a fairly serious tone, but something about it just seems off when compared to its Japanese counterpart. It might be because of the addition of narration via the character of Steve Martin. Raymond Burr does do a very good job in the film and to the credit of the American filmmakers who worked on this cut of the film they do manage to splice him into the original film pretty well even though it seems that he doesn’t really contribute that much to the overall plot as a whole. There’s just something about the narration that sort of ‘underplays’ the whole serious nature of the events that are happening in this film. The original version of the film had no narration and as a result, I do think that it comes off as much more efficient in terms of really addressing the horrors of Godzilla and nuclear war.

Still, I do recommend both the original ‘Gojira’ and its Americanized cut, ‘Godzilla, King of the Monsters!’ as both are top-notch monster films that manage to maintain a very serious tone and atmosphere, even when we consider the fact that this is basically just a ‘B-Movie’ with a giant creature that was actually a guy in a rubber monster suit. This is one of those ‘B-Movies’ that manage to overcome that status and be one of the best monster films of all time. While I haven’t seen any of the other 27 films in Toho’s official ‘Godzilla’ franchise, I think it’s safe to say that this one will stand as one of the best in the series, if not the best. From what I can gather, it certainly was one of the only films in the entire franchise to maintain the serious ‘post-WWII’ atmosphere as later films in the series became a bit more light-hearted. Some of them even portrayed Godzilla as a good guy though the filmmakers did make him a villain again from time to time, establishing the character as somewhat of an antihero. We’ll soon see if the upcoming ‘Godzilla’ will stay faithful to the original film that inspired it… unlike another certain American take on the character (more on that next time).

Rating: 4.5/5 (Both Cuts)