An Epic Re-Imagining That Sadly Falls Short with the Human Drama

Rating: 9/10 (16 May 2014)

Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Max Borenstein, is the epic re-imagining of the King of the Monsters. When the Janjira Power Plant in Japan is destroyed, Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) believes that "something" caused it, and that it wasn't a meltdown. But his son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) thinks his father is crazy, until they return to the plant to find that there are forces greater than themselves at work, and the entire world is at risk.
I really don't understand why some people are hating on this movie, whether it be "Godzilla wasn't in it long enough" or "it was just lame." The latter isn't even a reason, it's an excuse, and the first reason is just sad. This Godzilla is like the "Batman Begins" in a Godzilla franchise. Gareth Edwards' directing was outstanding in every way; there were so many moments where i felt the film was much darker and violent than it needed to be. Sadly, the script didn't live up to Edwards' direction. The Frank Darabont-aided script was good without a doubt, but once the first act is over with and Joe Brody's story arc finished, the human element is almost entirely absent. Bryan Cranston brought an Oscar-worthy performance, and was quickly taken out of the film, which angered a lot of people in the theater I was in (myself included). So, if anyone were to hate on this movie, the only reason i could see is that Bryan Cranston wasn't given enough screen-time; he deserved to be in the film until the end, at least. Aaron Taylor-Johnson was great, but in the second act, he was a static and generic "everyman" fighting for his family. But, in the third act, there was much more emotional investment in the character as he strove to follow his father's advice; "Protect your family, whatever the cost." Elizabeth Olsen was surprisingly incredible in her role as Ford's wife, who was worrying both about her husband and their son. Ken Wantanabe was fantastic as Dr. Serizawa, a man who wants to learn as much as he can about Godzilla. The visual effects, well, are easily the best to date, and even the cinematography is some of the best I've seen in recent films (tied with the cinematography of Transcendence). Then, the musical score was darkly brooding and haunting in all the right ways. Now i don't understand the people who say the score was "too loud" or "overbearing" in the film, as the score is supposed to be; even the horns in some of the tracks represented alarms during the really intense action scenes.
Godzilla was and is a truly epic rebirth of the Toho creation, but sadly did not have the emotional investment the first act of the film had. Still, Godzilla lives up to its name and ends with a ground-breaking finale to help alleviate the lack of human drama.
9/10 Stars