Let them fight! Just without the humans... Please...

Rating: 7/10 (28 August 2014)

Let me start with apologizing for I will be comparing this new entry with the 1998 Godzilla. I know! They are two very different movies but I'm 21 so Godzilla has been a big piece of my childhood. Therefore I have my expectations.
So now that's that: This years entry is probably the best Godzilla movie I've seen hands down! Although I do have my share of complaints, which I will get to later. 2014 Godzilla gets the most important aspect RIGHT. And that's, well... GODZILLA. This isn't some 1998 re-imagining, which is basically a giant dinosaur just bumping into buildings and eating fish. This is classic Godzilla. The ultimate king (or God) of all monsters. The Godzilla who actually has character. The Godzilla who isn't afraid of any creature whether it be a giant monstrous butterfly or (my personal favorite) a giant flying robotic space turtle! and of course the Godzilla who is truly brutal and terrifying, because he doesn't act like just some giant dumb reptile, I mean you can tell he has a conscious which only makes him more dangerous.
They were so spot on with Godzilla. Unfortunately though, the movie is quickly thrown off balance do to a paper thin plot and uninteresting characters. I personally like Aaron Taylor- Johnson, I always felt like he's only a few paces away of joining the list of the highly talented modern day actors. So when I found out he was the primary protagonist for the new Godzilla, I was STOKED. And I thought for sure this would give him the recognition he deserves but unfortunately, even he himself fell flat with this feature. As for all the other supporting characters, you can just forget about them, because your going to end up up doing so naturally. The only actual GOOD STAND OUT characters in this film is Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) and Dr. Ishiro (Ken Watanabe). Even then, your not going to see much of them because the camera tends to focus mostly on Ford Brody (our boy Johnson) since this is primarily his story.
The story is always four steps behind this character as we watch him travel from china to New York to try and be with his family after being caught in the midst of monster uprising moving globally around the world. If the story doesn't sound interesting it's because it really isn't. The only times it will catch your attention is when it actually includes Godzilla. That was the biggest problem, too often it strayed away from everyone's favorite iconic monster to try and tell this bland story with bland characters. In honesty, there's not even a reason for these characters to be in the movie AT ALL. Simply because they just don't make an impact on the anything that's going on in the monster pandemic. Ford is simply just THERE, always acting as a witness even though the movie try's to portray him as the hero of the day. I just really wished to see a better story coming from the human area. Or at least manage to have more depth to those characters. This is why I couldn't help but to like the 1998 version a tad bit more when it came to this aspect simply because they did a great job balancing out characters, story, drama, and the great monster action. And I was simply led to basically believe this movie would conquer that objective just as well.
Than at times, the the structure of movie just feels off, making you ask questions. In the entire US military is Ford seriously the only explosive expert? Why attack the monsters in a particular way if you have already learned 2 times before hand that it doesn't work? All the story structure problems just simply feels like a desperate attempt to keep Ford on fire and in middle of the action. Which is the problem with focusing in on one character in the entire movie!!! As appose to having multiple characters who all bring in a different take in each scenario, like the 1998 film. Like I said earlier, don't even mind the side characters because they are just pushed too far out of sight, it's too easy to forget they are in the movie. Not even the high rolling actors/actresses can make up for the practically invisible roles, and really it's just a waste of great talent.
But fortunately! The movie is still not a disaster. The visual effects are jaw dropping, the fights are tense. And there were many complaints thrown around about how Godzilla had little screen time. While that could have helped distract audience more from the weak story and straight from the line characters, it built a lot of suspense making every fight we do see even more worth while and a real treat. Especially at the final score where everything just comes together for a real adrenaline rush, and even the story gets better at that point!
So what do we have? The plot is a bit too simple for a movie about such a complex creature(s). Good characters are something to be desired, and I don't even blame it on the acting I just believe it's poor character builds. But visually it's fun and does justice for everyone's favorite little monster.
Despite many of its problems. I walked away satisfied a pumped with pure excitement! Only wanting to see a sequel to be announced. There's quite a few things that could have been done better. But the 2014 reboot still gets a lot of things right. For that, I highly recommend this movie to anyone ESPECIALLY a real Godzilla fan! So if you're craving a great monster action movie, watch this ASAP! If your a fan who wants to see Godzilla, just be sure to watch it with someone more calm to hold your popcorn for you. You kids enjoy now!