NowThey'll Need a Bigger Box

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2014)

Shame on anyone who even comes close to comparing this 2014 updated Godzilla movie to the horrid 1998 Matthew Broderick version. It would be like putting Batman & Robin in the same league as The Dark Knight.
So, in other words, forget that tragedy of a mistake 16 years ago. But, do remember Godzilla from the better part of the last century.
This is a movie to absorb and recount your feelings following. Definitely followingbecause all the way through it was I disappointed in this or that and that was probably because this was my movie event of 2014 and one I was looking forward to the second that 1998 movie ended. I wanted them to make a serious Godzilla movie. I knew they had the technology (Jurassic Park was half a decade before the 1998 flop) so I wanted to see a real, honest, big-ass Godzilla flick.
Once this movie was over, I did realize that they actually did immortalize the series and original from sixty years ago. They captured every element (aside from one) and give Japan a very well-made, apology/make-up from the 1998 movie.
What disappointed me during the screening was the lack of SHOW DON'T TELL – the technique I learned as a journalist in school. Consistently, we got the "Look at what the monster did!" destruction scene, but we hardly got to see it happening. Or, if we did, we saw it on a sad little TV screen. Um, I paid to see this on the BIG IMAX (Liemax, whatever) screen. This reminded me a bunch of the other huge green monster on screen: Ang Lee's Hulk when a ton of the action I wanted to see big was in tiny little boxes. How cuteNOT.
Yes, I get this is from the director of Monsters, a movie I really liked. But, there, where he showed his giant creatures rarely, as well, I figured it was because they had no budget. Here, he proved it was for some TELL DON'T SHOW opposite effect.
I don't care for this style of filmmaking. I understand there are a bunch of people out there that like their monsters in the shadows, or worse, off-screen, but I do want to see them. Almost always on screen. I could go home to a dark house and pretend there are monsters around every corner and have the same impact. Hell, I'd even save money and time doing so.
So, unfortunately, most of the movie is putting together what everyone in the movie is seeing but we'll never. Mercifully, the end climatic battle – no spoiler there, you knew that was coming and expected, made up for 90% of the vacancies in the movie.
Backtracking here a bit. Godzilla starts with multiple stories in the past which lead up to our cast of a few humans tracking the events in the story and why we would have a giant beast named Godzilla in the first place. It does twist the original story a bit, but for the most part stays faithful to the core of the legend.
Present day arrives and government cover-ups from years/decades past unravel and the situation cannot be contained. Godzilla is on the loose and the world will see his wrath.
Absolutely will I provide no spoilers here in regards to the plot, motivations and surprises. But, suffice to say, when all is said and done, i.e. you get to the climactic battle, it IS ALL WORTH IT. Especially, if you've grown up on the Godzilla lore, like I did.
Actually, I am a HUGE Godzilla fan while growing up. Saturday morning's "From Beyond" segment followed the normal cartoon lineups. Heck, even the opening credits to that two-hour TV block was the water waves produced by Godzilla emerging from the depths of the ocean for the very first time.
For the structure (and special effects, score and cinematography) they satisfied my need to get the Godzilla film series back on track in America. Unfortunately, there was one bad side-effect on them trying to be as faithful as possible to the source material: a poor line up of humans.
The actors, God love them, especially Bryan Cranston, his on-screen hunk of a son, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and the obvious Asian voice of anti-human/pro-nature: Ken Watanabe. They all did what they needed to do on screen. Nothing more. Nothing that made me truly care of any of them lived or died.
One can argue these movies don't need to elevate to Oscar performances and I would argue: it couldn't hurt.
So, with my disappointment of far too many "Oh, look at what the monster did!five minutes ago" and lack of depth in the acting, caused just a couple of bumps down in my rating. That said, it's absolutely worth the viewing and I cannot wait to see it again.
Now that I know what to expect and any previous expectations are extinguished, I think I might have an even better time with this production.
* * *
Final thoughts: I am a huge Las Vegas fan. I visit there 3-4x/year and because of this, my friend and I had to laugh when a Las Vegas scene appeared. Not only did they show a devastated Las Vegas Blvd (or "The Strip") but the scene begins at the very hotel I booked for a mere week away from me seeing this movie: Caesars Palace! Not only that, of its five-six buildings, the one with the most damage (the building was cut in half) as they pan back, is the very building I am staying in – the Augustus Tower.
I don't care. Luck is on my side. I'm still going. And even if a giant monster did attack the Strip, then I might have most of the place to myself. Viva Las Vegas!