In 1954, we awakened something...

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2014)

After months of nonstop hype, the newest Godzilla movie has finally hit theaters. As a big fan of the original film, I was willing to give them a chance, which was hard after the 1998 American reboot. While that film was a giant mess, this film was amazing.
Directed by Gareth Edwards, director of Monsters, and one of my favorite documentaries In the Shadow of the Moon, delivers an amazing action film. If you are expecting a perfectly developed film with a perfect story, you simply are not going to get it. Frankly the original film didn't delivery in that department either. It had a simple idea and ran with it. Same thing in this film. Of course Godzilla was going to be CGIed in the film, can't use those puppets anymore, and Godzilla still looks amazing. Much better than the last attempt at creating Godzilla. The action scenes are amazing. Top notch, and best of all, the final battle is at least ten minutes I would say. The actors generally work and fit well together, and I would say the acting was top notch. Bryan Cranston was amazing. A little hard to get use to him again with hair after Breaking Bad, but his acting was amazing. Elizabeth Olsen was a gem to watch. She is one of the top actresses today. Ken Watanabe, a legendary actor, was fabulous to watch in this film, a real treat. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is probably the only actor I would give a barely above average rating to.
The film was written by Max Borenstein and Dave Callaham. Dave Callaham is known for his writing of the Expendable franchise. Much like that franchise the action was big in the film, especially towards the end, and he deserves credit for bringing in those ideas to the film. The overall story of the film is fairly basic. These gentlemen aren't going to win an Oscar, but they do stick together the film nicely overall.
The film was composed by Alexandre Desplat, and I must say as a huge fan of movie scores, this was very good. Not perfect, and likely won't win any awards, but top shelf no doubt about it.
Overall this is without a doubt a must see film of Summer 2014. Big epic action, that is worth it in every aspect, and watching this film in IMAX is even better. The thunderous surround sound of the IMAX really shows off how amazing the film really is. As for the 3D, it was not anything to write home about. It adds some depth to the images, and a few things come out towards the screen here and there, but the 3D itself could have been left out. So once again, go out and watch this film, it is well worth the price of admission.
8/10