Fun if Flawed Hollywood Take on the Japanese Icon

Rating: 7/10 (17 February 2019)

Being a huge fan of Godzilla movies, I was highly anticipating the release of Gareth Edwards' 2014 American Legendary Films reimagining. I'd heard that Toho was involved more with the production, I thought Edwards' Monsters (2010) was an intriguing take on a giant monster movie, and Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame was in it, promising strong performances and drama to support the monster action. Leaning back in my theater chair with a tub of popcorn, a big smile on my face, and surrounded by friends, I was so ready for this to be amazing. Unfortunately, I left the theater feeling a bit underwhelmed, and a friend's constant complaining about every possible nitpick tarnished my experience even further. Forward to 2019, when I finally decided I wanted to revisit it, feeling hyped again for the sequel, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, coming out in May this year. Got the Blu Ray to add to my growing Godzilla collection-I've got most of them, though there are so many! It's loaded with extras that I'll have to get to at some point before May.
My appreciation for it has slightly increased, and I think it's enjoyable as a "dumb action/sci-fi movie," which is what most of the Godzilla films are, aside from the 1954 original and a few later gems like Godzilla vs. Mothra (1964) and Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant All-Out Monsters Attack (2001), which actually have good acting, human storylines, and capture some of the social heft of the original. So it's a bit unfair to judge this movie for what it isn't, though it's hard to judge the film on its own terms since it seemed like it was trying to meld suspenseful/fun creature rampage flick with a serious human survival/family action/melodrama story.
The strongest aspect is how the monsters are handled. Despite the short amount of screentime Godzilla gets, the restraint does build up anticipation for the reveals. And the MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) do get shown off a lot destroying stuff early on. The first half hour does a solid job of setting up the threat, so we understand how dangerous they are when they start wreaking havoc. Their appearance is sinister and unique; describing them as "insect-like" is probably the easiest comparison. Godzilla thankfully looks akin to the original Toho designs, a lumbering, spiky giant rather than the sleek giant iguana of the 1999 Tri-Star incarnation. There's great carnage action of city destruction and monster fights with the MUTOs, and the news footage of the monsters' conflict played casually on television sets adds a bit of campy levity to an otherwise too-serious tone. Finally, there's that one scene of Godzilla using his radioactive beam in an "oh yes!" moment that every decent Godzilla movie has.
As for the mix of monster and human stories, the problem is that these elements are uneven, the human drama pushed to the forefront, focusing on Cranston's character, Joe Brodie (an engineer at a nuclear power plant) and later his son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an army bomb disposal expert. This isn't inherently bad, as I thought it was what made Monsters unique, leaving me with the impression of a giant monster movie "elevated" to dramatic heights. What's unfulfilling is that it lacks emotional weight, suspense, or originality. We spend so much time with Ford yet learn little about or see little emotion from him (it's hard to decide whether this is due to Taylor-Johnson's limitations or the writing or a combination). And a soldier, we are meant to see him as a kind of military hero, and also as a loving family man, searching for his wife (Elizabeth Olsen) and son (Carson Bolde). It's all a bit cliché.
The role of MONARCH, the secret government agency studying giant creatures, which also plays a role in Kong: Skull Island (2017) and will feature in the next installments in the Legendary "Monsterverse," adds a bit of intrigue, with Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) a clear nod to director Ishiro Honda (who helmed the original as well as several sequels) and the tragic Dr. Serizawa from the first film, and Dr. Vivenne Graham (Sally Hawkins, now famous as the protagonist of The Shape of Water). While neither have much to do during the film, they are strong actors who bring a presence and a gravitas to the situation-understanding that all they can really do is study the monsters, because the military is not equipped to defeat them.
Definitely worth a watch for even a casual kaiju (giant monster) fan, as long as you have tempered expectations. Despite its flaws, it's entertaining enough as a set up the Monsterverse and to see Hollywood put forward a more respectful take on Godzilla than the 1999 movie. While the Tri-Star Godzilla, I would argue, is actually not a bad giant monster movie, it fails miserably as a Godzilla movie, with few similarities to the Japanese franchise and the military winning the day. Legendary's take resembles the original series in that humans are struggling for survival rather than triumphing over creatures who are clearly beyond human power to control. Kong: Skull Island was more fun than this film in terms of campiness and more monster action, and the trailers for Godzilla: King of the Monsters look amazing, so I am exciting for the future of this franchise.