King of the Monsters

Rating: 7/10 (15 May 2014)

*****SPOILER ALERT!!! As a die-hard fan of the old, exclusively Toho Godzilla, I felt the need to write an honest review which would voice my opinions of this new (and improved) entry into the Godzilla franchise.
Let me start by saying, I was not let down, far from it, however, there were some aspects of the movie which I think fell short. While the visuals were stunning and the fights, (when you got to them) breathtaking, I can't help but feel the plot focused too much on the human aspects of the story and led more to be desired of a Pacific Rim style face off between the monsters. This was a major issue with the slated American attempt at Godzilla in 1998 and I felt the issue beginning to resurface with this movie. I found that I didn't really care much for any of the human characters despite a few sob stories and I constantly wanted to see more of the monsters. I got more emotion out of the two M.U.T.O monsters than any of the human characters. Despite this, the humans hardships were at least somewhat realistic (unlike Pacific Rim) and helped maintain a gritty tone to the movie reminiscent of Gojira (1954).
Luckily, when the action did kick in towards the second half, we got to see the real goods. There were some scenes where I questioned the direction, but after some surprising twists and a riveting final showdown with some unexpected empathy towards Godzilla himself, I became totally immersed. If you're a fan of CGI, please go and see this movie! While the acting overall wasn't bad, there was some awkward dialogue and a distinct lack of Bryan Cranston. It becomes rather apparent, considering his role in a majority of the trailers, that he becomes no more than a reason for a lot of Breaking Bad fans to see the movie. There was an audible sigh/gasp from the audience upon realising our favourite actor won't be with us any longer. Focus then switches to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who plays Cranston's son. From here on we continue on a slightly bumpy ride featuring a few unnecessary additions to the plot in order to try and develop Johnson's character. Despite this, performances were solid, with some minor exceptions (Ken Watanabe's single facial expression and Cranston's questionable grasp of Japanese to name a couple), though I can't complain overall.
Godzilla himself was perfection. They got his characteristics spot on, even down to his famous atomic breath. If the movie had included or even hinted at a new version of the Gojira (1954) theme I would have died happy, but it was not to be. It is clear that the movie was made by and for Godzilla fans and stays true to a traditional Godzilla classic. It left me feeling extremely satisfied and whether you're a Godzilla fan or not, I'm sure you will enjoy it too!