6/10

Looking at the movies i have been anticipating for a long time, this one is near the top of the list. The most famous mega monster in cinema history is back with a reboot on a genuine classic. This Godzilla stars Aaron Taylor Johnson and Bryan Cranston as a son and father who suffer tragedy in 1999 during the biggest radiation readings in Japan’s history. 15 years later, they return to the spot of the disaster to encounter a new kind of terror. Before i begin with my review, i will say that i liked this film. I liked it, but i didn’t love it. Many people call it a tribute to the Toho Godzilla films, but i politely disagree. I see this as a new breed completely when it comes to the Godzilla. There are other Monsters in the film besides Godzilla, and that is a welcome call back to the past. But when it comes to the film as a whole, Godzilla movies have never been this monetarily invested in. It’s a Godzilla on a whole new scale. I do think it was done well and a hell of a lot better than the 1998 version (THANK GOD), but this is a film with it’s big problems. The biggest of those problems come in the form of the cut away edits. Every time Godzilla was about to fight a monster, the camera cut to a less interesting character with this storyline. I didn’t mind it the first time, but by the 4th time they did it, i was getting angry. Possibly a ploy by the director to get people so excited for when they finally do fight, but i didn’t view it that way. It makes your audience angry when you tease with them too much and don’t deliver. This movie doesn’t deliver on fight scenes until the final 20 minutes of a 2 hour movie. The fight scenes are great, i won’t lie on that. They definitely delivered through an unneccesary wait. It was kind of weird to see the take that this film had on Godzilla. There have been many times in past Godzilla films when Godzilla is the one people root for, but he has never been referred to as “Our Hero” like he was in this film. The lizard is looked at as kind of a protector to us in this film and i don’t know if i necessarily agree with that. As a protector, he has still killed hundreds of people and completely leveled the state of Hawaii and city of Oakland. Another comical part to me was when the creatures were treated like they were little children sneaking up on you in a hallway. I mean come on, these creatures are 300 feet tall and weight over 2 tons and you are surprised when they come out of nowhere? These characters couldn’t hear them coming? I didn’t have a problem with the look of Godzilla like some people did. I felt that to get the point across of how threatening this creature is that they have to make him bigger and stronger than ever. The other two creatures are great when it comes to the threat the present the cities and Godzilla. There are two of them and they team up as a male/female combo that puts Godzilla through a tough fight. I loved that Director Gareth Edwards is faithful in the fire power that Godzilla possesses. The coils on his back are still there to let you know when terror is right around the corner, and that was one of the brightest spots for me. Another thing i didn’t like was the stupidity of some of the armies used in the film. THey go through buildings with the intention of seeing if the creatures have struck their yet and used some of their chemicals, but then are surprised when there is a big hole in a building implying they were already there. Couldn’t they see this hole from the outside? Is there any reason other than filler to use these kinds of scenes? The chemicals are talked about and never mentioned again. The film is riddled with the same typical end of the world movie cliches, but they didn’t bother me as much. There is the cliche of a man trying to get back to his wife and kid, the cliche of the big character dying and it affecting the main character forcing him to fight back harder, and the cliche of the wide open ending. The score is excellent and really sets the tone when building the terror and destruction around the people. The acting was also very passable as Bryan Cranston is by far the best part of the movie. He is the stabilizing force that is this movie. When he goes, the film’s logic goes with it. I know i am talking logic in a movie with a 300 foot lizard, but i can only review what i am given. For once, it made sense to have a buff and macho type as the main character (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) because he is a trained soldier. His acting is typical, but he never really gets to show the kind of emotion that we need to get behind him. I know most of this review sounds like i am trashing the movie, but i am not. I can say i liked it and was disappointed by it at the same time. I think i am disappointed because my expectations were so high for it, and the hype was just as big as the monsters. I was expecting to maybe come out of the theater with a 7.5 or an 8 out of 10, so that is where i am disappointed. The movie does deliver on what you would expect, but it takes some pointless detours along the way. I would like to see another Godzilla movie of this stature, but i hope there is more fighting in the movie. For a film called Godzilla, i think his total screen time was under 10 minutes. I would like more Godzilla and more monster fighting in the next movie. Sparing Godzilla from getting stale is one thing, but abandoning the character is a whole other dish Even if the CGI is cheesy, people know what they are getting into with a movie called “GODZILLA”. Overall, i recommend the movie, but not for the full 10 bucks. If you can catch a before 5 PM showing of this film, i would recommend it. I think most people will like it, but find the same bloated problems with the build that i did. I think the movie ended at the right time just before it was about to fall apart. Thumbs up to Edwards, but as a fan of the old Toho Godzilla films, i do expect more. Good but not great.