Top Notch Monster Effects with a Wooden Protagonist

Rating: 7/10 (20 February 2015)

When the new GODZILLA had hit theaters in 2014, there was an enormous amount of hatred spewed online about how horrible it was. People were complaining in droves about the wooden acting and the fact that the movie's namesake barely appeared in the film at all. Some of these complaints are perfectly legit, but othersin my opinionnot so much. Before GODZILLA was released, I did a bit of homework. Having never actually seen a Godzilla film before but interested in this new film, I watched the original 1954 film (as well as the 1956 American version) and four different Toho films from the later collection. Maybe it's because I put way more thought into it than I should've, but I didn't hate GODZILLA and each subsequent viewing made it more and more entertaining. The movie opens in the late 90's, when a mining crew stumbled across a couple giant eggs of unknown origin in an underground chamber. Years later, a creature emerges from the within and busts out of the research facility that had contained it. It carves a path of destruction through Japan and then across the Pacific to the western coast of the United States where it intends to mate with another MUTO (massive unidentified terrestrial organism) that has hatched from a similar egg that had been dumped into storage in Nevada. Mankind has only one hope to stop these creatures: Godzilla. The king of monsters awakens and beelines for California where it will do battle with the MUTOsbut can man trust he won't turn his destructive power on them next?
I'm going to start by defending this movie. For all the people who complain that Godzilla doesn't get much screen time or that his first couple battles against the MUTOs occur off screen, you went into this movie with the wrong expectations. Considering director Gareth Edwards was most likely brought on based on the strengths of his movie MONSTERS which, as I understand (I haven't seen it), tells the story of a giant monster attack form the perspective of the humans on the ground and doesn't actually feature much of the beast. Then, if you go back and watch the original GOJIRA, Godzilla doesn't feature much until the final march into Tokyo. Until the end, Godzilla is seen in bits and piecesa glimpse of his head towering over a hill, his foot coming down into a home, etc. So I personally understand Edwards' decision to give Godzilla minimal screen time (and even that's unfairwe see plenty of him) and saving the on-screen battle for the very end. He's building tension. If he'd given us what we want right away, what interest would we have had in staying through to the end? The creature design on Godzilla is fantastic. He's got the classic design brought to life with seamless CG with a few updates to make him a little more menacing. I'm not as keen on the look of the MUTOs. That would be a complaint of mine. With all the other monsters already populating Toho's collection, why go with an original creation? And why go with a design that feels too familiar to what we've seen in CLOVERFIELD or PACIFIC RIM? While I'm on the topic of the MUTOs, why would they have developed an EMP defense? From an evolutionary standpoint, the ability to produce an electromagnetic pulse would've only been useful in the last hundred years. These creatures have been around for millennia. It's useful from a storytelling perspective (keeps the humans helpless around them) but makes no sense otherwise.
So, while I can forgive Edwards for not spoiling us with an abundance of creature battles, I can't forgive him for his casting and direction. GODZILLA puts us in the perspective of Ford Brody, an explosives expert with the American military played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. I know Taylor-Johnson has got skill. He was great in KICK- ASS and NOWHERE BOY. But here, he's the most wooden, uninteresting character I have seen in a film in a long, long time. He never quite emotes, speaking all his lines very quietly without much of any sort of inflection. I think the only emotion he displayed the entire time was mild irritation. He was dull and, since he's our "main character", every sequence that wasn't Godzilla or MUTOs tearing through society suffered. Elizabeth Olsen, another talented young star, is similarly wasted on the other end of the spectrum. She spends most of the time crying or panicking. If we were going to spend an entire movie following a character through this fantastical crisis, it should've been Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) or Ford's father Joe (Bryan Cranston). Oh, and don't expect much Joe. Despite being prominently displayed in pretty much every trailer or TV spot, Cranston actually has less screen time than Godzilla. Not cool, Warner/Legendary. Not cool.
GODZILLA is a nice blend of elements from both the original, more subtle GOJIRA and the city-smashing monster battles of Toho's later films. It's flawed and its human characters are its weakest bit. But you can't argue with the presentation of Japan's most famous monsterthe design and CG are amazing and his final battle with the MUTOs, while short, is awesome. I might be in the minority but I didn't hate this movie and I find I enjoy it a little more each time I watch it. Manage your expectations and you should find something to enjoy about the 2014 resurrection of the legend: GODZILLA.