If there’s one thing I can say that we can unanimously agree upon, it’s that Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla is a huge upgrade over the disastrous 1998 version. Hollywood’s first attempt to translate Japan’s favorite towering monster to the West quickly became a laughing stock of 1990’s cinema. This 2014 reboot is professionally handled and crafted. The actors treat the material with respect, dignity, and remain untethered by its ridiculous undercurrent. But. Godzilla is so keen on not replicating its 1998 predecessor that it’s left confused over what it inevitably wants to be. Is it is disaster film grounded by human elements or is it trying to be a silly sci-fi monster slugfust? The film’s tone shifts drastically; practically straying away from the glum suspense that was promised in its various ads. Is this version meant to mirror this 1954 original — all melancholy, serious, and full morality preachiness — is it more like Godzilla versus Spacegodzilla?
The film begins promisingly in 1999 when a supposed environment disaster causes a meltdown in a Japanese power plant. Flash forward to present: grief-stricken, American engineer, Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) remains obsessed over discovering the truth behind the meltdown that also killed his wife, Sandra (Juliette Binoche). Seeking help from his estranged military son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the two discover a conspiracy designed to cover-up the truth.
Guess what that might be…
The opening sequences are predictable; full of cliche archetypes: the crazy father, the doubtful, distant son, the understanding wife who’s role is to be the future damsel-in-distress). But Edwards gives us time for actors like the talented Cranston to imbue a sense of motivation and emotional weight behind his obsessions. For a while, it looks like a summer blockbuster like Godzilla will carry a rare stroke of humanity and even keep the monsters a mystery like the first Jaws and Alien.
But, after a pair of giant insect-like creatures, the Motos, and our title character make their grande entrance, both Cranston and any hopes of emotional weight and mystery are tossed away. By the time Godzilla was over, I recalled all of this build up and back-story — all the times Cranston balled and screamed as if we were watching an Oscar nomination snippet — and wondered what it was all designed for.
For the last two-thirds, Godzilla mitigates into a film we’ve seen a hundred times without any spark of originality. There are moments that hearken back to earlier Godzilla’s Toho films when the monsters wreak havoc and engage in wrestling matches. Those moments are fun and will induce audience reactions. The action is mostly told from the point-of-view of our human observers, which helps to maintain the feel of the monster’s incredible power and size. But it all rings with a sense of deja vu, even for newcomers to Japanese monster lore.
The creatures themselves are dazzling. Godzilla’s look is a wonderful testament to his Toho days with a speckle of CGI fine-tuning that doesn’t rob the King of Monsters of his imposing, albeit slightly ridiculous-looking design. The Motos, from my own accounts, are an original creation that’s very much in keeping with the Godzilla tradition. They look dangerous, even if they are constantly put in situations where they sneak up our human protagonists, as if to suggest that satellite technology, infrared, and even basic human hearing are not utilized in this supposedly more realistic interpretation.
Whenever Godzilla and co. are not onscreen, the film centers around a bevy of human heroes, including the Japanese scientist (aka…the guy who knows everything but no one listens to), Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Admiral William Stenz (David Strathaim). The film creates a feel of reality as numerous military and scientific minds debate, posit strategies and react to the massive chaos surrounding them. But they never push the film in a forward momentum. Instead, Godzilla feels like a series of rinse-and-repeat action sequences that lack of cohesive consequence or purpose. For example, Godzilla faces a Moto early and, suddenly, the film cuts away with no insight as to what happened.
The human faction never seems to learn that machine guns never hurt these things! Even worse, the better actors are given little to do besides react and stare at computer monitors and through binoculars. The human star is assigned to following a dopey-eyed Ford Brody as he chases the monsters across the Pacific Ocean and into the American West Coast. But all of their botched attempts at killing the monsters feels like scenes we’ve experienced a hundred times. Brody has no discernible personality so his scenes always feel like more a chore than pertinent story progression.
Part of the fun of Godzilla was the explorations in his origins and purpose. But these facts are side-stepped in order to get havoc started sooner. Godzilla would have benefited with a back-story that at least matched the Cranston subplot which inevitably goes nowhere. Instead, Godzilla is a single-minded creature that doesn’t seem to impress everyone. Even the fear-factor that is marketed so heavily in the trailers is not evident in the final product.
Surprisingly. Godzilla doesn’t feel like the star of his own film, but seems to fall into the lead performance merely because he remains the last-monster-standing by the time the credits roll. The last half-hour is filled with action, suspense and audience-pleasing moments. But I also left the theater feeling empty and having trouble differentiating this installment from earlier Godzilla fare or even more American knockoffs like Cloverfield. Godzilla was able to defeat his biggest foe: the 1998 American travesty. But Godzilla will be remembered for just being “good enough”. Even after triumphing over a failed Americanized version and two foes, Godzilla still hasn’t regained his King status.
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