Acting is subpar but special effects save the film

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2014)

Godzilla 7/10- We all know that the 1998 Godzilla with Matthew Broderick was a total train wreck and a pointless remake doing nothing except attempting to copy the original with no success. Now, since I have not seen all of the original Godzilla, I will not make any comparisons. Having said that, the 2014 Godzilla is a good stand-alone film that features near ground breaking special effects plus top-notch acting from supporting actor Bryan Cranston.
Aside from the acting from Bryan Cranston, the rest of the acting was sub-par at best. Then again, Bryan Cranston is a great actor and anyone who is compared to him in this film will be put to shame, so I will try not to be too harsh. Still, I expect the other actors to at least try their best and it seemed apparent that in some of the scenes that demanding good acting, they did not.
The plot was hard to follow at times, but that may be because the trailer was not bad, but misleading and has you searching for a different path while the movie keeps giving us all of these twists and turns. What I liked about the plot though is that Godzilla was not the only monster, he was not the only possible antagonist. In terms of choosing those types for the other antagonists, I felt like they could have done better since giant mantis looking dinosaurs are not very appealing, but this is all just my opinion.
I will not go over much of the acting since most of the movie is special effects, but I would like to give a couple spotlights. Bryan Cranston, as I said before, gave a powerful, literally astounding performance that owned every scene he was in. I was a little worried that he would not be able to set himself aside from Breaking Bad, but no need to worry, he is one of the best actors in Hollywood right now and he shows that in this film. Aaron Taylor- Johnson did nothing special in this film, but it is hard to blame him since he was in the heavy special effects scenes. The only performance I really did not like was from Elizabeth Olsen because she just did not sell the role of her being a loving mother and wife, the same with Aaron Taylor Johnson in terms of father and husband as well. They are both very young though so I think it would have been smarter to either get older actors or to have the couple but not the kid. The rest of the cast did average but again their is only one Bryan Cranston.
Now we venture to the best part of the film, the special effects. WOW, that is how I describe the special effects, WOW. I have not said that since Avatar. Just the shear size of Godzilla is something that really leaves in audience in awe. Then adding two other dinosaur/monster characters to the mix really gives the action scenes a lot more depth. I do not want to spoil the part that the entire audience agrees is the highlight of the film, but trust me the final part of the film, the final action is so good that this part alone is enough to see the movie.
To put it simply, a lot of tremendous special effects with some fine acting with Bryan Cranston makes the movie very enjoyable to say the least. I definitely recommend Godzilla as your choice going into the theater if you want to see top-quality action film.
For more of my reviews, go to my website at reviewsbywest.com