Godzilla

In the lead up to the Gareth Edwards directed Godzilla, it seemed that everyone needed to compare it to Roland Emmerich’s project of the same name from the 90s. Those comparisons will happen, but it’s clear that this movie was made with that predecessor planted firmly in mind. This film takes itself very seriously and, if you can believe it, lacks realism in critical moments. I will explain that momentarily. Godzilla tells the story of a naval officer (Aaron Taylor Johnson) who finds himself repeatedly coming in contact with a trio of ancient monsters who suddenly wake up.

By attempting to be faithful to the original Japanese Godzilla films, we get a Godzilla who unknowingly acts as a defender of the people by preying on the two MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism). That’s all fine except for the fact that the US Navy rides along side by side with a massive dinosaur like monster and trusts him while he crushes everything in his wake. Also, I think our military is smarter than repeatedly targeting monsters that feed on radiation with radioactive weapons. But yes, I understand the movie is just that, a motion picture about giant monsters.

A lot does go right also. The cast is quite successful with Johnson proving to be a likeable and adequate lead with an understated performance. Paired with Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Olsen and Ken Watanabe, who all give emotional personality to the story, there isn’t a weak link among them. Visually there are a number of memorable moments that are beautiful on the big screen. When a team of soldiers HALO jump to get into war torn San Francisco, the result is a haunting scene that emphasizes the intended tone. The movie is good, but if you’re rebooting an old concept that has been done a bunch of times before, it needs to be different. At this point with Godzilla, I don’t know how that’s possible.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.