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| A King's arrival is never silent. |
After what feels like an eternity (especially for loyal kaiju fans) Godzilla finally has a western film worthy of his illustrious name. I do not write these words lightly. To help provide some perspective on the matter, I'm someone who grew up loving the old Showa and Heisei films. I absolutely adore the Millennium series and I've been chomping at the bit for when we could get a proper/new Godzilla movie with top-of-the-line production values.
I will admit that I did have some skepticism going in, as the last American effort to bring Godzilla over to this side of the pond didn't exactly turn out well. Thankfully I can safely say that the abysmal Roland Emmerich film of 1998 seems like a distant memory now in light of this much superior reboot of the classic character. While the picture does have its share of notable flaws, the good parts far outweigh the bad. From the moment this movie's credits roll, it is obvious that the creators are huge Godzilla fans just like yours truly.
Honestly I have to wonder if providing a synopsis of Godzilla is even necessary considering the iconography of the character, and his place in the zeitgeist. If you're even remotely familiar with the general plot of a Godzilla movie, you pretty much know the bulk of this story already. This new version does provide its own spin on the classic formula though, so I guess a brief synopsis is still somewhat in order.
In the year 1954 a large creature of unknown origin surfaces in the Pacific Ocean. Under the guise of nuclear testing, the American military bombards the creature with several nuclear ordinances. The attacks ultimately fail to kill the creature. In the year 1999 miners in the Philippines uncover a colossal skeleton and two egg like fossils. Shortly after the discovery the Janjira power plant in Japan begins to experience unusual seismic activity. The power plant collapses after a series of tremors and explosions, forcing the entire city to evacuate. In the year 2014 the exact same seismic patterns from 1999 begin to occur again. Is the world on the brink of yet another major disaster?
While this current iteration is unique in its own way, it is still undeniably Godzilla in its setup. Everything on the laundry list that old-school fans could expect to see here is present. Giant monsters duke it out in the middle of a city landscape, the military can't do anything to stop it, and nuclear power is involved in some capacity. The titular character Godzilla commands a great amount of presence every time he comes onto the screen. We see him rise from the depths of the ocean, hear him roar, and see him shoot his atomic breath. Just having these show up in the movie alone quantifies it as a fairly authentic Godzilla experience. For some though Godzilla is more than just a laundry list of tropes. Godzilla films are about a feeling of awe, and most importantly a feeling of helplessness.
A common complaint I see about this film is that the human characters "don't do anything." or "they're insignificant to everything that's going on." To this film's detractors I say that is pretty much the point. Mankind does not exist in a vacuum. We live in a world where nature can still knock us for a loop and easily destroy what man works so hard to create. In the world of Godzilla, the kaiju exist as nature's face that brings man low and humble. The name of the game in kaiju works is that man only succeeds with small victories or tiny miracles. The whole notion of these stories is that we can't stop something like Godzilla because he is an absolute force of nature. You can't punch Godzilla in the face and bloody his nose no more than you can stop a hurricane from pummeling a coast line city.
Now I do understand from a western cultural lens how "insignificant characters" can be bothersome. As Americans we take great pride in our ingenuity, and resourcefulness to defeat the odds and our enemies. It is only natural that we would want to see these aspects reflect in our fiction. Godzilla has his origins in Japan though, a nation that (although prideful) understands the frailty of their modern lifestyle. Japan sits on a geographic location where sometimes nature effortlessly dehumanizes them and sends them back by years. This aspect of their culture reflects in many kaiju films, and is paramount to creating that feeling that these films need in order to succeed. I think that as long as you're willing to view this movie from that cultural angle then you'll enjoy the movie just fine, and maybe even respect it.
With that said, the story isn't exactly perfect. The second act does drag on a bit too long for my tastes, and it does take a good deal of time before we really get into the glorious kaiju combat scenes. I understand that the choice to hold off on Godzilla is meant to build up to him and give him a grand entrance, but it feels like it takes a tad too long for us to get there. The choice to tell most of the story from the military perspective this time around I think is a good one, but it's fairly mundane and at the sacrifice of what appears to be some remarkable scientist stories. The character of Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) is fantastic. I think he could easily make for an awesome and interesting main character as his role in the narrative is pretty damn cool. He is the primary head of research involved with the study of the kaiju and I feel it sadly goes unexplored. This problem also extends into Bryan Cranston's character Joe Brody who is another scientist trying to uncover the conspiracies of the government in regards to the Janjira power plant.
In regards to acting, your mileage may vary on some of the human characters. I personally think almost everyone does a good job with the material. Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe both perform their roles spectacularly and completely own their respective scenes. They are easily the standout roles for Godzilla, and I think the movie could only benefit from showing more of them. Aaron Taylor-Johnson sits as the main lead for the narrative and is decent with his role, but just doesn't have the same impact as Cranston or Watanabe. His character is an EOD specialist that comes from a broken home and he clearly has some emotional issues (which I do find to be interesting) but they're just not enough to really make it work for me. I see comments of how the character is bland get tossed around, but personally I find him to be just fine. He's just not as cool as Cranston's character or Watanabe's character. Elizabeth Olsen plays her part well, but we don't really get a feel for her character before things go pear-shaped. She's mostly reactionary to the events around her, but she comes off as believable whenever it matters. The secondary and tertiary actors play their parts convincingly as well, so I'd say it is overall solid in regards to acting. Some may like what this Godzilla has to offer while some may feel they squander good actors; which they kind of do.
Anyone and everyone knows that the main dish for a Godzilla movie is the monster fights, and I've gotta say that this one delivers the goods. Godzilla fights the way we all know and love. He whips his tail, stomps with his huge stumpy feet, and shoots atomic breath when the spikes on his back glow blue. The rendering on his CGI model looks brilliant as he feels appropriately large/heavy with his movements, and he exudes tons of personality every time the camera comes close to his face. We can see that there is more than just a ravaging monster behind his haggard eyes, and it really makes Godzilla all the more enjoyable of a character. The obvious scars on his body and his seemingly tired gait all lend to the idea that Godzilla is and old creature that has seen some heavy combat in his youth. The M.U.T.O.s look just as cool, and although they are new to the Godzilla franchise, I feel like they fit right into the pantheon of his other iconic giant monster rivals. The eerie orange glow from their "eyes" works to beautiful effect, and I couldn't wait to see them throw down with Godzilla. All of the destruction in the wake of their battle really drives home that feeling of awe and helplessness that I spoke of earlier. At no point do the kaiju come off as anything less than near unstoppable forces of nature that we must simply hope to survive.
I feel a special note should also go to this movie's cinematography. The composition of shots and how the camera follows the action is in a word gorgeous. This is one of those rare instances where visual narrative and action just seamlessly flows from one beat to the next with beautiful pacing all the while. This is particularly evident with Godzilla emerging from the ocean for the first time off the coast of Honolulu. We see a beach-side luau going on as soldiers take their positions atop the nearby buildings and skyscrapers. A palpable sense of tension and dread enters the scene as we know that something is coming straight for the coast. A little girl at the luau notices the waters off the coast recede (a tell-tale sign of a tsunami) and her father takes note too. The tsunami sirens begin to blare and everyone panics as they go running inland. A dog leashed to a tree barks at the oncoming wave while people continue to run by. The dog eventually breaks from its leash and joins the crowd in running from the wave. From there we see the father and his daughter take shelter from the wave in a nearby store. As we see the lights in all the buildings begin to go out we pan up to the top of one skyscraper to see soldiers standing by. They launch their signal flares to light up the now darkened city only to illuminate a large reptilian creature as it comes into frame... Godzilla.
The music in Godzilla is fundamentally perfect. I honestly have no complaints in any regard to the score. It's awesome. Alexandre Desplat's composition captures a lot of the old sounds from previous Godzilla pieces. Desplat describes his work as "non-stop fortissimo" and he certainly isn't wrong when he says that. His use of Japanese taiko drums and heavy brass instruments evoke such a strong sense of power to all of the kaiju scenes that it's almost like hitting a wall. In fact it almost replicates some the aspects of Akira Ifukube's classic scores from the original Godzilla film flawlessly. Had the music not been as rock solid as it is, I fear we would have had a far more boring film.
Overall there really isn't much else to say about Godzilla. It is a solid movie that is more than worthy of its name. For fans who are up on the fence about seeing this one, trust me as a fellow Godzilla fan when I say that this one is a keeper. For those who are curious as to what all the fuss is about, I implore you to see this movie. While it may not be what you're used to seeing from an American film, it bridges the cultural gap of western sensibilities with a more eastern storytelling method. Talk of a sequel is already underway, and if this movie is any indicator to the quality we may see for that sequel than that bad boy should be one for the record books.
In the year 1954 a large creature of unknown origin surfaces in the Pacific Ocean. Under the guise of nuclear testing, the American military bombards the creature with several nuclear ordinances. The attacks ultimately fail to kill the creature. In the year 1999 miners in the Philippines uncover a colossal skeleton and two egg like fossils. Shortly after the discovery the Janjira power plant in Japan begins to experience unusual seismic activity. The power plant collapses after a series of tremors and explosions, forcing the entire city to evacuate. In the year 2014 the exact same seismic patterns from 1999 begin to occur again. Is the world on the brink of yet another major disaster?
While this current iteration is unique in its own way, it is still undeniably Godzilla in its setup. Everything on the laundry list that old-school fans could expect to see here is present. Giant monsters duke it out in the middle of a city landscape, the military can't do anything to stop it, and nuclear power is involved in some capacity. The titular character Godzilla commands a great amount of presence every time he comes onto the screen. We see him rise from the depths of the ocean, hear him roar, and see him shoot his atomic breath. Just having these show up in the movie alone quantifies it as a fairly authentic Godzilla experience. For some though Godzilla is more than just a laundry list of tropes. Godzilla films are about a feeling of awe, and most importantly a feeling of helplessness.
A common complaint I see about this film is that the human characters "don't do anything." or "they're insignificant to everything that's going on." To this film's detractors I say that is pretty much the point. Mankind does not exist in a vacuum. We live in a world where nature can still knock us for a loop and easily destroy what man works so hard to create. In the world of Godzilla, the kaiju exist as nature's face that brings man low and humble. The name of the game in kaiju works is that man only succeeds with small victories or tiny miracles. The whole notion of these stories is that we can't stop something like Godzilla because he is an absolute force of nature. You can't punch Godzilla in the face and bloody his nose no more than you can stop a hurricane from pummeling a coast line city.
Now I do understand from a western cultural lens how "insignificant characters" can be bothersome. As Americans we take great pride in our ingenuity, and resourcefulness to defeat the odds and our enemies. It is only natural that we would want to see these aspects reflect in our fiction. Godzilla has his origins in Japan though, a nation that (although prideful) understands the frailty of their modern lifestyle. Japan sits on a geographic location where sometimes nature effortlessly dehumanizes them and sends them back by years. This aspect of their culture reflects in many kaiju films, and is paramount to creating that feeling that these films need in order to succeed. I think that as long as you're willing to view this movie from that cultural angle then you'll enjoy the movie just fine, and maybe even respect it.
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| Hail to the King baby! |
In regards to acting, your mileage may vary on some of the human characters. I personally think almost everyone does a good job with the material. Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe both perform their roles spectacularly and completely own their respective scenes. They are easily the standout roles for Godzilla, and I think the movie could only benefit from showing more of them. Aaron Taylor-Johnson sits as the main lead for the narrative and is decent with his role, but just doesn't have the same impact as Cranston or Watanabe. His character is an EOD specialist that comes from a broken home and he clearly has some emotional issues (which I do find to be interesting) but they're just not enough to really make it work for me. I see comments of how the character is bland get tossed around, but personally I find him to be just fine. He's just not as cool as Cranston's character or Watanabe's character. Elizabeth Olsen plays her part well, but we don't really get a feel for her character before things go pear-shaped. She's mostly reactionary to the events around her, but she comes off as believable whenever it matters. The secondary and tertiary actors play their parts convincingly as well, so I'd say it is overall solid in regards to acting. Some may like what this Godzilla has to offer while some may feel they squander good actors; which they kind of do.
Anyone and everyone knows that the main dish for a Godzilla movie is the monster fights, and I've gotta say that this one delivers the goods. Godzilla fights the way we all know and love. He whips his tail, stomps with his huge stumpy feet, and shoots atomic breath when the spikes on his back glow blue. The rendering on his CGI model looks brilliant as he feels appropriately large/heavy with his movements, and he exudes tons of personality every time the camera comes close to his face. We can see that there is more than just a ravaging monster behind his haggard eyes, and it really makes Godzilla all the more enjoyable of a character. The obvious scars on his body and his seemingly tired gait all lend to the idea that Godzilla is and old creature that has seen some heavy combat in his youth. The M.U.T.O.s look just as cool, and although they are new to the Godzilla franchise, I feel like they fit right into the pantheon of his other iconic giant monster rivals. The eerie orange glow from their "eyes" works to beautiful effect, and I couldn't wait to see them throw down with Godzilla. All of the destruction in the wake of their battle really drives home that feeling of awe and helplessness that I spoke of earlier. At no point do the kaiju come off as anything less than near unstoppable forces of nature that we must simply hope to survive.
I feel a special note should also go to this movie's cinematography. The composition of shots and how the camera follows the action is in a word gorgeous. This is one of those rare instances where visual narrative and action just seamlessly flows from one beat to the next with beautiful pacing all the while. This is particularly evident with Godzilla emerging from the ocean for the first time off the coast of Honolulu. We see a beach-side luau going on as soldiers take their positions atop the nearby buildings and skyscrapers. A palpable sense of tension and dread enters the scene as we know that something is coming straight for the coast. A little girl at the luau notices the waters off the coast recede (a tell-tale sign of a tsunami) and her father takes note too. The tsunami sirens begin to blare and everyone panics as they go running inland. A dog leashed to a tree barks at the oncoming wave while people continue to run by. The dog eventually breaks from its leash and joins the crowd in running from the wave. From there we see the father and his daughter take shelter from the wave in a nearby store. As we see the lights in all the buildings begin to go out we pan up to the top of one skyscraper to see soldiers standing by. They launch their signal flares to light up the now darkened city only to illuminate a large reptilian creature as it comes into frame... Godzilla.
The music in Godzilla is fundamentally perfect. I honestly have no complaints in any regard to the score. It's awesome. Alexandre Desplat's composition captures a lot of the old sounds from previous Godzilla pieces. Desplat describes his work as "non-stop fortissimo" and he certainly isn't wrong when he says that. His use of Japanese taiko drums and heavy brass instruments evoke such a strong sense of power to all of the kaiju scenes that it's almost like hitting a wall. In fact it almost replicates some the aspects of Akira Ifukube's classic scores from the original Godzilla film flawlessly. Had the music not been as rock solid as it is, I fear we would have had a far more boring film.
Overall there really isn't much else to say about Godzilla. It is a solid movie that is more than worthy of its name. For fans who are up on the fence about seeing this one, trust me as a fellow Godzilla fan when I say that this one is a keeper. For those who are curious as to what all the fuss is about, I implore you to see this movie. While it may not be what you're used to seeing from an American film, it bridges the cultural gap of western sensibilities with a more eastern storytelling method. Talk of a sequel is already underway, and if this movie is any indicator to the quality we may see for that sequel than that bad boy should be one for the record books.
Positive Factors
- Reboots an iconic film legend in a big way! The King of the Monsters is back!
- Story captures that all important sense of awe and helplessness that a Godzilla movie needs.
- Actors play their roles well. Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe totally own their respective characters and scenes.
- Godzilla looks amazing! He moves like he should, he acts like he should, and he most certainly fights like he should.
- M.U.T.O.s are a nice addition to the list of Godzilla rivals.
- Fantastic cinematography. Visual narrative flows beautifully.
- Rock solid musical score. Incredibly evocative of the classic films, and powerful as hell!
Negative Factors
- The second act of the film drags on. It feels like it takes a tad too long to get to Godzilla fighting.
- The military story feels somewhat mundane in comparison to the interesting story about the scientists researching Godzilla.
- Some may find Aaron Taylor-Johnson's portrayal of the main character to be flat, if not outright boring.
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