Godzilla: At Moments Stunning and at Others Flawed

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2014)

First, I want to say that I am a longtime Godzilla fan. I grew up watching Godzilla and have seen every film he has ever been in. So going into this, I had high expectations. The movie did not disappoint terribly but there are many flaws that could have been easily fixed. It is still an enjoyable film that offers many moments and scenes that are worth the ticket and even worth paying $35 for a combo pack once it is released to retailers.
I want to focus on the good things first. This film has a star- studded cast and just about everyone delivers at expectations and beyond expectations. The CGI is state of the art and some of the sequences are thrilling. The action is some of the best I have seen in quite some time. This film is being compared to Pacific Rim by many but I must say that Pacific Rim was nowhere near as good as Godzilla. Pacific Rim was what the trailers promised and nothing more. Godzilla had many surprises and even some golden Easter eggs that I will not spoil. The cinematography in this film is beautiful and very jaw dropping at times. Edwards did a magnificent job directing and I can't wait to see what he does next. Bryan Cranston was amazing as always. Aaron Taylor Johnson dazzled in his first major role in a serious film. Elizabeth Olsen was great also. When director Gareth Edwards said that this film was going to be like Jaws in the sense that you wouldn't see Godzilla until an appropriate time, he delivered. Godzilla has more of a classic look and the antagonists in this film also impressed. Edwards really tried to shoot this film from the eyes of an onlooker and this created a very gratifying experience for the viewers. Its plot is very well thought out and offers quite a few twists and turns that the trailers didn't spoil. Overall, the positives for the film are quite indulging for Gojira fans everywhere. I encourage anyone who loves Godzilla to see this film.
Now for the negatives, I will not go too in depth to spoil anything but I will give an overview. There are some gaping plot holes and also some incredibly unrealistic moments in this film that obviously sought for dramatic scenery rather than realism. One of the lead actors in the cast was incredibly disappointing and it really hurt my overall view of the film. There are many lapses of human interaction where things happen and you wonder how they did in the first place. There is also something in the beginning that happens that will kind of make you feel mislead. Speaking of misleading, the trailers, in my own opinion, do not do this film a lot of justice. There are a lot of scenes in the trailers that are not in the film, which made me feel disappointed as well. It is not as dark as has been advertised and sometimes the film even feels lighthearted. Finally, my biggest disappointment was the score. It was not brooding and dark like the trailers made it seem to be and also it was a bit overbearing at times.
Overall, this film is definitely worth seeing but do not expect an Oscar-winning, top 250 film (though Captain America did make it into the top 250 for some reason). The film is incredibly fun and offers many moments when the audience had to cheer. I encourage all Godzilla fans to check it out and I can't wait to see what the special features on the combo pack will reveal when that moment comes.
-Charles Dunphey (Author/Filmmaker/Film Critic/Graphic Novel Writer & Artist
charlesdunphey(dot)blogspot(dot)com