Godzilla / Rated PG-13 for sci fi scares and violence
Released on the 60th anniversary of the original Godzilla, the one thing I can say about the newest Godzilla is, this is really loud. Beyond that it is mostly special effects. Godzilla doesn’t even make an appearance till over an hour into the 2 hour plus running time. The 1st time a monster appears it’s not even him. It’s another monster and does not look like the real Godzilla which is kind of a hint. It appears to be a cross between the Wicked Witch of the West and a Wombat on steroids.
Director Gareth Edwards has a good resume of special effects design but not much directing background. To fill in the gaps in Godzilla he uses a lot of Steven Spielberg trademarks as seen in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Jurassic Park (1993) . He employs a solid cast featuring Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, David Strathairn and recent Oscar Nominee, Sally Hawkins. Unfortunately the script doesn’t give them much to do.
Like Tora, Tora, Tora (1970) a film that had a long build up to a mid movie intermission proceeding the attack on Pearl Harbor in the 2nd half, Godzilla takes a long sleepy time trying to build up suspense for Godzilla’s appearance. In Tora Tora Tora we knew that no matter what suspense was being attempted it was inevitable that the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor. Same thing in Godzilla. Stop with the mock suspense and phony soap opera angst. Get on with it. We are all in the theater to see the monster or monsters. This film is not in the class of Jaws (1975) which was the best monster film ever made but, it sure tries to be. As stated earlier it only succeeds in the volume of the sound. A quote from the IMDB database says it all. “The sound designers used a 12-foot-high, 18-foot-wide speaker array to blast Godzilla's roar at a hundred thousand watts to get a good idea of his vocal power and strength.”
While the “big” scenes are loud and noisy they are a lot like last years Pacific Rim except with a better known cast. For the length of this film, the loud and noisy would have been better served by cutting the 1st hour down to a 30 minute build up and just let Godzilla get to his business. The film leaves ample room for a sequel depending on box office results. Hoping it will be Godzilla vs The Cookie Monster.
Overall a special effects treat but a disappointing movie. I hope they redeem themselves in the sequel by including the Smog Monster. They should remember that a “B” movie is still a “B” movie no matter how much money they throw at it.
Rated 2.1 out of 4.0 reasons to visit Godzilla’s Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It’s there. Trust me.