Godzilla (Gareth Edwards, 2014)

I’m really breaking my own rules here by reviewing a blockbuster, mainstream, Hollywood production with a 160 million dollar budget. But hey, we’re still talking about fucking Godzilla here. GOJIRA! King of the Monsters! Gigantis! ...Eh, well, at least in one movie. This monster gave birth to the first nick I ever had on the net, and still uses from time to time, Fredzilla. So the big G means a lot to me. Sometimes I wonder if it was just pure coincidence my boyfriend call himself G and uses an email combining the words G and Force (quoting Wikizilla: “G-Force is an organization featured in the later Heisei era Godzilla films.”) without having no interest whatsoever in Godzilla or Japanese genre cinema.

It was sixty years since Toho unleashed Godzilla on the Japanese soil and since she’s been destroying cities all over the world, meeting new friends like Rodan and Mother, but most of all fighting alien-controlled giant monsters like Ghidora (Mr Wobbly Neck as I prefer to call him), the always silly King Caesar and the criminally underrated Titanosaurus. The best foe, I would say, is MechaGodzilla - which is equal to Godzilla - but with more missiles and killer beams. Yeah, sixty years bringing havoc and being enemy and friend - and now he’s back in the second American Godzilla movie made so far, the one from 1998 is something we all should put in a bag and drown like a bunch of unwanted puppies. But we wouldn’t do that with puppies, I know. But that American Zilla… ouch. It still hurts.

Gareth Edwards is probably a more mature director than Roland Emmerich ever was (even if I have a soft spot for both 2012 and White House Down - no haters please!) and proved with his Monsters that he could create a unique and human view on a monster invasion. The question is of course if he could do the same with a movie with this budget and with a studio breathing down his neck like that dirty uncle your parents made you stay away from. Well, he kinda made it. Kinda. There’s one single big problem with Gareth Edwards Godzilla - and that’s something every fancy movie critic and their moms have brought up the last days: the characters. The characters are completely flat. The human characters of course. When the movie is owner we know nothing about them and we really doesn’t care.

You might think a person like me who enjoys trash, who loves exploitation and silly movies wouldn’t care about characters - but they are the most important thing in a movie like this. If we have no one to root for or get annoyed over or whatever, almost everything else around them loses its power. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston and Elisabeth Olsen - no one of them are and actors, but they have nothing to work with. There’s no reason for doing what they’re doing. Ken Watanabe, I like him and he almost manages to deliver an interesting performance - but once again, his work is undercut with boring, boring dialogue. Juliette Binoche’s part is so small, but could have felt important - but no, it just doesn’t work. I can’t put the finger on why this part of the film sucks, because if there’s something Hollywood can do is to create characters you easily can care about. They don’t have to be über-advanced or special in anyway, but they work. Not here.

Alright, enough with the whining. Godzilla is still a very impressive movie. It’s serious, but injects a few silly details here and there which I like a lot. Godzilla herself looks like Godzilla should look like, and not like some wimpy t-rex wannabe like in Emmerich’s version. This is a big fucking monster, with leathery, old skin, clumsy feet and hands like rubber-gloves. Like the Japanese Godzilla, but more like a real animal. The MUTO’s, the two creatures appearing first in the movie, was a lot more fun than I thought they would be. They have a good story, good chemistry and looks quite freaky when they start stomping around. Yeah, the monsters feels a lot more well-developed than the humans, which I’m eternally grateful for. With them having charisma there wouldn’t be any more at all.

Edwards makes the movie like Jaws and Alien, you see very little of the big G before the big impact at the end. Don’t worry, you’ll see action and monsters - but like in Monsters it’s mostly in the background. I don’t mind this, really. It’s a good thing, but I think Edwards and the screenwriters took this concept a bit too far. Because Godzilla is no mystery. We all know who she is and we know what she can do. When the final battle finally happens there’s some spectacular sights to behold, but still… I would have preferred it to be a bit longer, a bit more wide shots of the city when the creatures fight. Godzilla makes a few moves and uses his nuclear breath, and the MUTO’s are aggressive creatures, trying to beat her up as much as possible - but I wanted more. So much more.

Still, Godzilla is a fine movie. It’s a good movie. The action is insane, the monsters are cool and you care about them. The special effects are sensational. The 3D sucks because there’s not 3D effect at all, but it didn’t bother me. I sincerely hope this will be a blockbuster so it will generate a sequel - a sequel which will be better, have more action and most of all: have better characters.

Let’s hope for the best. But one thing is true: Godzilla is back, she’s the king of the monsters - as a sign at the end says, and she fucking rules. Long Live Godzilla!

Comments

[Mr Rubber Monster]

You do realize that Calling Godzilla a she means that you are acknowledging and fully accepting the 1998 Movie? ;)

[Fred Anderson]

But I've always seen Godzilla as a she :) Can't help it!

[Mr Rubber Monster]

Emmerichlover. ;)

[Fred Anderson]

Pfftzilla!

[Fredrik]

Isn't G-Force that animated movie about hamsters? ;)

Looking forward to see this movie soon!

[Tobe]

Can´t see how they can go so wrong with $160 million. The Americans are useless. R.I.P Gojira. Now i will watch the real Godzilla movies in the future.

[Megatron]

"I’m really breaking my own rules here by reviewing a blockbuster, mainstream, Hollywood production with a 160 million dollar budget. But hey, we’re still talking about fucking Godzilla here. GOJIRA! King of the Monsters!"

I´m glad you did because I saw this not that long ago.....

"Sometimes I wonder if it was just pure coincidence my boyfriend call himself G and uses an email combining the words G and Force"

hahahhahhahahha....careful....a faint whisper in the background.....what?

Oh, just Freud saying..."sometimes a cigar is just a cigar....."

hahahhahhahah....but it is interesting.

"Gareth Edwards is probably a more mature director"

He is and was the right choice I felt when seeing the film.

"(even if I have a soft spot for both 2012 and White House Down - no haters please!)"

I haven´t seen White House Down (2013) yet but Anonymous (2011) , 2012 (2009) , 10,000 BC (2008) etc are very entertaining as long as you don´t examine them too closely.

"the characters. The characters are completely flat. The human characters of course. When the movie is owner we know nothing about them and we really doesn’t care."

I thought it were ok, not as bad as everyone said....

"Ken Watanabe, I like him and he almost manages to deliver an interesting performance - but once again, his work is undercut with boring, boring dialogue."

It wasn´t that boring....one of the cooler things he says, is that we humans always try to control nature but end up losing against it.

To me that sums up a little bit of what I think is Gareth Edwards message/subtext.

Godzilla, a force of nature that cannot be tamed by mankind.....

"Juliette Binoche’s part is so small, but could have felt important - but no, it just doesn’t work."

Yeah, I think she and Bryan Cranstons charachters were mainly MacGuffins.

It works but I think Gareth Edwards and the screenwriters, Max Borenstein/Dave Callaham could have done more.

"The MUTO’s, the two creatures appearing first in the movie, was a lot more fun than I thought they would be. They have a good story, good chemistry and looks quite freaky when they start stomping around. Yeah, the monsters feels a lot more well-developed than the humans, which I’m eternally grateful for. With them having charisma there wouldn’t be any more at all."

Yeah, the monsters were great, with EMPs and everything, and you felt for them.

"Edwards makes the movie like Jaws and Alien, you see very little of the big G before the big impact at the end. Don’t worry, you’ll see action and monsters - but like in Monsters it’s mostly in the background. I don’t mind this, really. It’s a good thing, but I think Edwards and the screenwriters took this concept a bit too far. Because Godzilla is no mystery. We all know who she is and we know what she can do. When the final battle finally happens there’s some spectacular sights to behold, but still… I would have preferred it to be a bit longer, a bit more wide shots of the city when the creatures fight. Godzilla makes a few moves and uses his nuclear breath, and the MUTO’s are aggressive creatures, trying to beat her up as much as possible - but I wanted more. So much more."

This was a big issue, or flaw, that I was thinking about when watching this one.....Edwards is too subtle at times, holding back when he should have given us more.

Like you said Godzilla is no mystery......

I suppose, Edwards wanted a fresh start?

Could that be the reason for the hide and seek?

"Still, Godzilla is a fine movie. It’s a good movie. The action is insane, the monsters are cool and you care about them."

Yeah, I wouldn´t mind a sequel...as long as Edwards is involved.....great review Fred.

"Let’s hope for the best. But one thing is true: Godzilla is back, she’s the king of the monsters - as a sign at the end says, and she fucking rules. Long Live Godzilla!"

DAMN STRAIGHT!!!!