Movie Review: Godzilla (3D)

The king of all monsters returns!

His name is, Godzilla.

Godzilla is a reboot to the 1954 Japanese monster film, Godzilla. Like King Kong, Godzilla is one of the most iconic movie monsters. The story explored an interesting concept about man vs nature, where Godzilla is the physical embodiment of the wrath of nature. This 2014 reboot, is directed by the British director Garetj Edwards, who is often praised for his exceptional debut film “Monsters” in 2010. The early trailers sold Godzilla by showcasing some brilliant acting from Bryan Cranston (from Breaking Bad), together footage depicting a dark, gritty, solemn outlook to the film. All in all, it seems Godzilla has all the setup for a good movie. The marketing campaign and trailers certainly made a lot of promises, but when Godzilla finally stomps his way to the silver screen, can this movie deliver? I took a trip to the cinema last night to find out, if Godzilla 2014 measures up to the hype.

Synopsis:

Joe Bordy lived in Japan with his wife and son, he worked as a manager at a nuclear power plant. On a fateful day in 1999, a major incident occurred at the power plant, where it collapsed and melt down following what appeared to be tectonic plate movements. His wife was killed in the incident. The disaster site became a quarantined zone.

15 years later, Joe's son, Ford, has became a bomb disposal expert who worked for the United States army. He returned home to his wife and son after a mission, only to receive a phone call informing him, that his father, Joe, has been arrested in Japan for breaking into the quarantined zone. Ford flew to Japan to bail his father out of the prison. The following morning, Joe revealed to Ford, that he suspects the “tectonic plate movement” that caused the disaster 15 years ago was in fact, caused by something more sinister. Joe managed to convince Ford, to revisit the quarantined zone so he can retrieve some of his research data.

Little do this father and son duo know, that what they were about to discover in the quarantined zone, is but the beginning of something that is truly horrifying, where the hope of mankind will be closely knitted to the awakening of an ancient, legendary creature, Godzilla..

What I think about this film:

Godzilla 2014 is directed by Gareth Edwards, who debuted into the world of movie-making with another monster film in 2010, titled “Monsters”. I have watched Monsters and was thoroughly impressed by it. Therefore, when I heard Edward Gareth took up the chair of director for Godzilla, I was thrilled and raised the bar of expectation for this movie. After I bought the ticket at the cinema, as I walked in to find my seat, I couldn't help but felt excitements. However, after the movie, when the end credit hit the screen, I left the cinema with mixed feelings about this film.

Is Godzilla a bad movie? No, not at all. In fact, I thought it was a rather enjoyable, entertaining monster flick. Yet, there are several problems with this film, that just didn't quite live up to the expectations generated by all the hypes prior to the movie's release. This movie consists of 3 acts. The first two acts focused on the human stories, leading up to the final showdown between Godzilla and the other monsters in the final act.

The first two acts, however, are quite dull. The issue here is that, for a 2 hours long movie about Godzilla, this film shows very little of Godzilla in the first 70 minutes. It seems, to build up the suspense, the director intentionally tried to tease the audience by showing bits and pieces of Godzilla via subtle hints, while the movie tried to showcase the characterizations in the story, by focusing on the “human story” in the first two acts. Granted, this method of storytelling worked well with Steven Spielberg’s 1977 classic, Jaws, but Jaws had good actors and a story with interesting characterization. The same cannot be said about Godzilla, in this movie, the characterization is quite weak, and the lead actor (Aaron Taylor Johnson) didn't really fit the role. The result is, the first two acts of the movie felt rather unimpressive. Bryan Cranston's performance as Joe Bordy is what saved the first two acts from being a total bore. In other words, the suspense dragged on for too long.

However, by the time when the movie reached its final act, this is when all the awesomeness hit the audience in their faces. When I saw the big guy (Godzilla) finally being revealed in his full glory, and did his iconic roar, then all of the sudden, all flaws from the first 70 minutes of the movie are forgiven. The last 50 minutes of the movie is a true visual spectacle. In the final act, the CGI and the cinematography are visually stunning, together with exhilarating actions and dramas as the story develops at a relentless pace, the movie delivers a monstrously satisfying conclusion. I think it is going to be hard for other movies in 2014 to top the CGI in Godzilla; the monsters look detailed and awe-inspiring, the crumpling buildings look solemn, and it had a great sense of realism and immersion to it all. The sense of realism is further enhanced by the excellent cinematography works, where the audience are immersed into the final, epic showdown between Godzilla and his monstrous nemesis. The last 40 minutes of this movie, is the reason why I still watch this kind of movies at the cinema, on the big silver screen, instead of just watching it on my 55” 3D TV at home.

Another likable thing about this Godzilla reboot, is that it pays homage to the 1954 Godzilla movie. This story explores the tension between human vs nature, where Godzilla represents the wrath of nature, an unstoppable force of nature, restoring the balance on earth when humans have over exploited the earth beyond the point of no return. In this movie, Godzilla is not the villain, but an anti-hero, whose cause happens to be inline with saving the humanity from a possible extinction. This is an interesting concept, because I wonder, perhaps metaphorically speaking, the extreme weather patterns that we currently experiencing, partly contributed by man-induced global warming, is also a form of “Godzilla”? If it is, can these extreme weather patterns (like Godzilla) somehow save us from a fate of extinction, as the nature "fights" back against our over-exploitation of planet earth?

Overall, Godzilla 2014 is a film that promises more than it delivers. The first two acts of the film are somewhat flat and unimpressive, but this movie is saved by its final act, where the true stars of this movie, Godzilla and monsters of titanic proportion, come to be locked in titanic battles, assaulting audience with stunning visual spectacles and awe-inspiring audio effects, leading to a very, very satisfying conclusion that will send fans of monster movies home with smiles on their faces.

*Note, this review is based on a viewing of the 3D version of the movie (but not the IMAX version)