Is that it? What was the fuss about?

Rating: 6/10 (13 July 2014)

I mean, it is like they followed some screenplay writer's Bible when they made this.
The plot is horribly simple and boring. The characters are so one-dimensional that I kept expecting them to vanish when they turned sideways and the action? Let's just say it plods along and leave it at that.
The CGI is good, of course, as you'd expect and the scenes of destruction are well done. But since a considerable portion of the movies budget went on them, you'd expect them to be good.
There was also, with this movie, a new pet-hate of mine (to join 3D, found footage movies, laughable physics and so on) in the form of needless explanation.
See, writers fall into two camps, for the most part. Those, like Damon Lindeloff (who gave us Lost, the red matter from Star Trek and the heinous rewriting of the Prometheus script) who explain nothing. Quite often that is because they can't explain it any other way other than to wave their hands and go "Whoooo! Magic!".
Then there are those who explain too much. You know what I mean here. George Lucas and his sodding Midichlorians! That never needed explaining George! Well, in Godzilla, we have an example of the last type. Unnecessary explanation.
Hands up who went to watch this movie expecting to find out where Godzilla came from? What? No one? Okay then. So none of us.
Yet here, we are treated to Godzilla and co essentially being explained away as "Super dinosaurs" from the dim past. Not only that, but then poor old Ken Watanabe has to repeatedly spout some Gaia nonsense about Godzilla being the one to "restore balance". Balance of what, exactly? Nature? These things are about as natural as Cthulhu, for God's sake! And no amount of "But they're just big dinosaurs!" will change that.
What is worse, is that Ken then goes on to describe Godzilla as an apex predator. What is it, Ken? Predator or "one destined to bring balance"? And predator of what, exactly? We learn that all of these monsters feed on radioactivity. What kind of predatory instinct is required to sneak up on a chunk of uranium? As I said, unnecessary explanation that only confuses and confounds the viewer. Much like the force, we don't need Godzilla explained. Just let him fight other monsters and be done with it.
You don't need to explain Godzilla. We know he's on our side. Jibber-jabber about maintaining the balance is just laughable. What balance? He kills any other monster! That's not balance. That's just Godzilla being a shitbag to other monsters!
There is also a real lack of tension at any point in the film. You'll be mentally ticking off the plot points well before they happen and expecting every scene well before it arrives. In addition to this, there is a really annoying tendency to cut away from the monster fighting action at literally every opportunity in order to focus on the "human drama".
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a leading man doesn't do very well here. I'd like to blame the director, or writer, but Bryan Cranston manages to shine with his limited screen time and even Gaia-spouting Watanabe manages to be convincing about his gibber. ATJ, on the other hand, has about as much on-screen charisma as a lobotomy victim and as much personality as a paper picnic plate. Awful casting choice!
He's not the only casting dud, however. Elisabeth Olsen is given little to do as the wife who can't think for herself and manages to "cry" many times without producing a single tear. Likewise her son, played by Carson Bolde, was clearly told to look sad all the time. This, unfortunately, makes him look like internet meme "Grumpy Cat" for most of the scenes he is in.
As for the ending, well, it is a bit anti-climactic, with Godzilla (whom we all feared was dead, right?!) getting up and shambling off into the ocean and swimming away. Oddly enough the ending does fit the movie rather well, because it gives it a kind of "Oh, Is that it? Best get up and go home then." feel which sums up my feeling as the credits began to roll.
SUMMARY: Not a bad attempt at recapturing the old Godzilla feel. Hampered by a poor script, poor characters and lots of pointless explanatory drivel. No real tension and a somewhat dull ending which sums up the movie in a nutshell. Worth it if there isn't anything better to watch.