The Monster Mash

Rating: 5/10 (26 May 2014)

Summer Popcorn Fare. These are the words that spring to mind when I think about Godzilla in retrospect. When I left the cinema (I saw this film in IMAX), I was quite pleased with the overall product. Of course it is better than Roland Emmerich's 1998 incarnation; you only have to look at the trailers and even the posters to know that much is true.
Gareth Edwards directs the film smoothly with the appropriate tension that is needed to propel the action scenes forward. Edwards reveals Godzilla slowly and carefully, it is only in the second half that we witness it in all its enormous, scaly glory. This is a director that knows exactly what he is doing and has a complete vision that he is carrying towards the audience. The film however is a completely different beast than that of last year's Pacific Rim. Which was loud, big and brash, not that I have any problems with that. Many audience members may want to know this fact before hand.
Although there are several great action set pieces; one on a train is a highlight with a monster trying to kill as many people as possible, if you can overlook the other elements you may find excitement. Also, look out for a fight between Godzilla and the other monster, which is reminiscent of King Kong taking on a T-Rex. The action set pieces overall are few and far between until the last half hour or so. This is a criticism of many Hollywood blockbusters and does not reflect on just Godzilla at all. The film itself is well paced up until this point, it almost feels like the director felt obliged to put them there, just in case audiences felt shortchanged.
When it comes to drama to propel the plot and story forward, the film trips itself up and in a big way. This is sad to see because underneath all the dramatic elements here is a film that had the potential to be an epic, in terms of its scale, story and dramatic tension. Possibly the last and most important element is lacking and that is why I feel disappointed.
Though thought has gone into the film, the irony is that about an hour or so after seeing the film the initial buzz seemed to wear out and I did indeed feel shortchanged, but not for the reasons one might think. When you view Godzilla in the IMAX format your brain seems like it has been left at home. The reason I feel this way is that unfortunately this feels in far too many ways similar to another film that I would term – Summer Popcorn Fare. Sadly it is a film that was released seven years ago. You guessed correctly – Transformers, and Michael Bay directed that film. Bay made the dramatic elements laughable at best – with no relatable characters and this is exactly how I felt about this film. The characters seem more like caricatures then anything else, limp, and lifeless, without any joy or depth. They seem to have just had bullet points listed as their traits in the pre production process. Sadly it seems little has changed from that point. Take the character of Aaron Taylor Johnson, he resembles the all action, relatable hero or is supposed to, films like Die Hard have done this much better which is annoying. With a monster film you need relatable heroes and this film is completely devoid of them.
The fact is Godzilla takes itself way too seriously for me to enjoy and indulge in it. The concept of a huge monster roaming around a city is laughable at best, a true Director would know that the concept is ludicrous and needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Brighten the atmosphere, stop making it as serious as The Dark Knight and lighten up! Almost every character seems extremely sad at some point in this film. Am I the only one that would laugh myself silly when Godzilla attacks? Probably. Even so a few jokes and hints that this is stupid would make it more enjoyable without entering the realm of Camp.
It is my sad duty to report what could have been an enjoyable, exciting entry in the franchise is not so much Godzilla's roar as a colossal bore. The clichéd cardboard characters and dull script do not help matters and the set pieces cannot elevate this film from being a mediocre entry. For much better monster epics see the nearly decade old King Kong. You'll find much more joy watching it for the tenth time, than watching Godzilla for the first. If a sequel really is on the cards then Edwards get yourself a new screenwriter.