Godzilla Is A Great Summer Blockbuster

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2014)

I went into this film as a summer blockbuster and I will be reviewing it in that mindset too. I'm a fan of big monster movies that are done well. They give me a feeling that other movies don't. I really get sucked in and I love that kind of atmosphere. I think this film reminded me the most of Cloverfield. The monster designs had that kind of feeling to it, and it had a nice build-up to the monster reveal that is amazing. I won't spoil it, but the reveal of Godzilla gave me chills. The build-up really works. The whole film has a lot of build-up and suspense to it that really is great. Many scenes with the monsters are shot at night, but it is done quite well and you can see the monsters well, allowing the darkness to cover up anything that may look unrealistic in a day time scene. The score is also quite nice, and fits well with the the events that are occurring for the most part. I think an issue comes in with the concept of making it very heavily focused on character drama. I love that idea in theory, but it just doesn't come together in this as well as I would have liked it to. Aaron Taylor-Johnson isn't the greatest actor in my opinion, and it doesn't work having him as the lead. He gets the job done but it just could have been much better. Bryan Cranston gives a fairly good performance, but I can't help but feel like he wasn't 100% suited to the role, and maybe he was cast in that role just to bring in more people, since Breaking Bad was huge. Not that he doesn't do a good job, it just felt like something was missing at times. Also the movie felt a tad bit cheesier than it should have been at times. It takes a more realistic approach to the whole Godzilla idea but still includes silly stuff, but I think that's just the whole Hollywood blockbuster thing. I went into this wanting some fun and monster scenes that would give me chills, and it delivered. Godzilla is a really great summer film.