Average when it should be great

Rating: 5/10 (11 July 2014)

Walking into the movie theater, I was really hoping Godzilla was not going to disappoint. The trailers promised many action-packed scenes and with Bryan Cranston manning the helm, what could go wrong? Well apparently quite a lot. The director decided, very bravely might I add, to show us the human aspect of the natural disaster caused by massive animals fighting for their place under the sun. Did it work in his favor? No, it did not. Instead of drawing up some compelling characters, he decided that the plot of movie is to be propelled forward by the anticipation of the final fight. Everything that happens until the last 20 minutes simply serves as a prequel to the action that ensues. Instead of a well-acted and interesting film, the audience was treated to one hour and a half of delaying any kind of combat. The director was basically teasing the viewer, showing only glimpses of Godzilla and the other couple of creatures that were destroying the earth. Fantastic actors like Cranston, Watanabe and Strathairn were criminally underused; however, when they appeared on screen, they brought some much needed refreshment from the emotionless acting of Aaron Taylor-Johnson and one half of the Olson twins. The film's emotional peek is reached in the first 15 minutes and is of course delivered by Walter White himself. Other than that the film lacks any character development, which is normal for a summer extravaganza of special effects like Pacific Rim; however, when you try to do a monster movie from the human perspective, some layers to the performance are surely needed. The dialog is not worth mentioning. There is not a single line of this movie that I can quote. It lacks depth and comes across as superficial blabbering. The camera-work is fantastic. The use of angle shots that portray the humongous creatures from a human's perspective is breathtaking and really serves to bring out the awesomeness of the visual effects. When the last 20 minutes enfold, you are treated to one of the best fights in movie history. The effects and the camera-work come together for a jaw-dropping finale that you come to expect from a movie of this caliber. However it is not the final 20 minutes that make this movie forgettable, it is the hour and a half of stillness and boredom that precede it. In the end, I am not disappointed by the movie. It features one great emotional scene and one exceptional fight scene. If only the rest of the movie was up to par.
Rating: 5 / 10