American Godzilla Attempt Number Two

Rating: 5/10 (16 May 2014)

Godzilla is a part of my childhood, and the 1954 film is a monster movie I hold in pretty high regard. Yes effects wise the film is dated, and the acting is so so, but the overall premise is hauntingly mesmerizing. The idea of a monster being spawned by mankind's arrogance of nuclear weapons, that destroys everything in it's path, and is seemingly unstoppable, is a terrifying premise. This is something the 1954 version captures very well, and what the 2014 version advertised itself as.
What I got was a film that was at times, as silly as the 1998 version. Godzilla 2014 tries desperately hard to create this sense of seriousness, and believability, with a script writer(s) who can't write (fictionalized) reality in a credible way. The script by Callaham, and Borenstein, is so shallow, and lacking any real depth, that even the likes of a great actor like Bryan Cranston, can't save this film. If Cranston can't save it, there's no way Olsen, Johnson, Watanabe, or anyone else can save it either.
I like all these actors, but their talent is wasted, because nothing in the story gives any of their characters real gravitas. Cranston departs from the film FAR too early, and the audience is left with dull (wooden) characters, that sadly aren't ever really developed. If none of this stuff matters to the average movie goer, and people just wan't Godzilla fighting, or destroying things, then the characters are not all that important I suppose. Problem is Godzilla has maybe 13 to 15 mins of actual screen time in a 2 hr. film, which is mostly in the last 30 mins of film.
Now I've read articles, and watched interviews where director Gareth Edwards has said films like Jaws, and Jurassic Park were inspirations for this new Godzilla. Edwards expressed interest in having a slow reveal like Jaws, where the shark is rarely seen until the end, but it's presence is felt throughout the film. I get that approach, but you have to have strong characters, and a well paced plot to use that approach, something this movie doesn't really have.
This film also seems to have a bit of an identity crisis where it doesn't know what it want's to be. Does it wan't to be gritty, and dark, like say the original Godzilla, or Cloverfield, or if it want's to be more fun, and action packed, like last year's Pacific Rim. This was my initial concern with this new Godzilla including other monsters, which for me automatically cheapens Godzilla's original metaphor, from a man made freak of nature, to earth's mightiest antihero. Positive wise the film has some wonderful shots of mayhem/destruction, but I need more from a film than some flashy CGI effects, I need a coherent plot, with fleshed out characters, which in Godzilla 2014 was never fully realized. I will always have the original I guess, I would've liked an updated serious take on Godzilla, what I got was shallow mindless "so called" entertainment.
For some this movie will have just enough monster mayhem that will captivate it's audience, but I was hoping for more. I was expecting a good character driven drama, with a compelling story, what I got was a subpar story, with a boring lead, and lifeless characters. Godzilla isn't a terrible film by any means, but it sure isn't the great return of Godzilla I had hoped for, and it's disappointing to say the least.