"You're not fooling anybody when you say, that what happened was a "natural disaster,".

Rating: 10/10 (3 June 2014)

Monsters Reloaded. That is what essentially Godzilla is. Gareth Edwards simply upgraded his film debut with a dose of a bigger budget and a famous brand stamp. Monsters is a film that relies on the atmosphere and the kind of documentary camera. More than anything it is a character study and a long tease before you see any aliens. But that's exactly the way to build suspense.
Now with a bigger budget Edwards has a chance to let himself run wild and stuff his film with plenty of action scenes .. only some people might be bothered that they don't involve the title character. All the monsters in the film are here just to serve as the background, to paint the broader bigger picture. In the same way as, for example, in The Perfect Storm - the natural disaster serves as a background for the story.
The film boasts an impressive cast, but some of these actors are seriously underused. Sally Hawkins just simply stands around doing nothing while being a female counterpart to Dr. Serizawa. Speaking of him, this character, played by Ken Watanabe, has got to be one of the most WTF characters ever to grace the screen. Most of his scenes have him gazing into the horizon with a terrified/confused face or spout exposition dialogue, because he is a scientist and Japanes. Therefore out of all the characters he has to know most about Godzilla, which equals satisfied Japanese audience. Bryan Cranston gives a stellar performance with his limited screen time. Main actors are Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. Johnson as Ford Brody, a soldier and bomb disposal expert, has a simple task to get back to San Franciso and save his family. His character has all the character traits I would expect from a solider, so no complaints here. However Elizabeth Olsen shapes up to be more than just another pretty face in the film industry.
Gareth Edwards made a film that might not meet everyone's expectations. But if you go along with the take and the direction this film is taking, then I'm sure that you will enjoy this not very typical run-of-the mill "summmer blockbuster".
P.S. What is most promising about this film is the director. The way he builds suspense will remind you of early Spielberg films. Some images are also reminiscent of Spielberg (train on fire, bodies in the river, conspiracy theory obsessed character), Edwards doesn't show the carnage, he shows you the consequences through the little bit of the puzzle, so you can work out what happened yourself. I just can't wait what to see what Gareth Edwards cooks up for his next film because out of all these young talents, he is shaping up to be the most talented.