a tale of two halves

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2014)

Adequate, supposedly "faithful" retelling of the beloved monster icon, only this time sticking closer to the 1954 source material. Beginning in 1999, dedicated scientists are alerted by the presence of rising seismic activity in Japan. Fast forward to the present day where there are similar occurrences in the same region, only this time they find themselves on the trail of a giant super predator. But is this predator a friend or a foe? Starts off strongly, with sturdy direction and an effectively tense and teasing build up, but then in the second half it comes apart; goes on too long with excessive exposition, loud, redundant action scenes, clumsy plotting and editing, and a lack of real tension or character development. Some definite crowd pleasing moments, and a heavy dose of special effects, but without much of a story to tell or anything particularly awe-inspiring, it may not feel like a complete or memorable experience for moviegoers. **½