Godzilla (2014) - Analysis and Review

The Return of the King

I feel like I'm in the minority of my circle of friends when it comes a film called Pacific Rim. Apparently it was suppose to make me feel like a kid again because its Kaiju (Giant Monsters) fighting Mechs (Giant Robots). Who wouldn't be excited by that? I'm not saying I wasn't. I enjoyed the film. But I didn't have that sense of nostalgia that apparently triggered in them. However, for the new American remake of Godzilla directed by Gareth Edwards, that is when my childhood came flooding back with a big smile on my face.

The Plot

Caught in the middle of a conspiracy, Lt. Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor Johnson) and his father Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) witness the awakening of an ancient threat. The only thing that can possibly save the world from this old terror is a creature just as ancient. That creature being Godzilla.

Analysis

My plot summary is not the official summary of the film, but that is the straight forward plot of the movie. And while I did say that Godzilla has to "save the world," that doesn't meant that he's trying to save mankind. He's literally just a creature of instinct. It is his nature to seek out gigantic beasts and kill them then go back to the sea. At least that is the explanation of this iteration of Godzilla. Which has always brought up a question of debate as to whether or not Godzilla is a hero or villain. The answer that this film was able to hammer home was simple: he's neither. 

This Godzilla is depicted as a FORCE of nature. One that comes and goes the same way a hurricane or a tsunami does. The connection is made obvious in a scene when Godzilla causes a tsunami that kills many people, even when all he was really doing was just getting out of the water. He is indifferent about the lives of humanity because we are honestly nothing to him. We are his equivalent to ants. Small things that just happen to be in our way whether we're aware of it or not. It really makes it clear that he's really just doing what he does, which is rise up out of the ocean if a gigantic radiation hungry beast starts wandering the Earth, and really that's it.

This is definitely a slight departure from his destroy humanity nature which was in the original Godzilla (Gojira) film as well as some of the Heisei films (the 80s and 90s reboot). However, the idea of him being a Guardian was something that the Showa films (the original 50s-70s run) made loud and clear. So in fact, this Godzilla is a mixture of all that came before. He does borrow some of his nuclear metaphor origins but really it is more about the unstoppable power of nature that takes hold of what he represents for our generation now.

Review

Having read and seen reviews prior to watching the film, I was well aware that the most common complaint of the film is that Godzilla is not in it too much. Having went in with that mindset I was surprised by how much he was in it. Though the definition of "wasn't in it" probably means him on land and doing stuff. He is in the film a lot, just mostly swimming.

The story is serviceable enough to bring back the King of Monsters to the big screen. It does a smart move in giving Godzilla fans the things they love about the franchise (Godzilla vs giant monster(s)) as well as injecting a reality that can only be compared to what Chris Nolan did with Batman (real and gritty). However, I'm not saying that this is anywhere near close to a Chris Nolan movie, but it definitely has enough realism to amplify the absurd nature of the movie. The monsters were treated as animals acting out on instinct rather than some sense of wanting to destroy the world. It is a great take on the giant monster genre that usually drums up needless world destruction. Not that I'm criticizing it, because let's face it Godzilla fan love massive destruction. But in this film it is rather subdued to make it feel more like a catastrophe than destruction porn.

The acting in the film is great with Bryan Cranston being the standout performance in the film. We feel an immediate connection to his character that really helps us the audience and his onscreen son played by Aaron Taylor Johnson get sucked into what's happening. Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins and David Strathairn give great performances with what they are given. While it can be argued that Johnson's character was one of the weakest elements of the film, I don't believe that his performance detracted from the film as a whole. Even Juliette Binoche has a small but pivotal role that enhances the standout performance that Cranston has.

While I can criticize by saying that yes the story was serviceable but not anything amazing and that Godzilla doesn't show up too much I think the real criticism on everyone's mind is this: Cutting away from the Action. The film does a great job building up the tension between two monsters facing off throughout the film but always cuts away when they actually begin to fight. While I didn't mind it because they give a full blown monster battle at the end of the movie, I can understand why people would be upset about being teased through the whole film. I would argue that had they shown half of the Airport battle between Godzilla vs the male MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) then it would've sated people's need to see a battle throughout the film. However all they did was show the start then immediately cut away to the aftermath on the news. Again, there is a full blow battle between Godzilla and the MUTO couple, which completely justifies holding off on all the action till the end.

The two movies I would compare this iteration of Godzilla to are Jaws and Michael Bay's Transformers. Both movies hold off from showing the titular character as well as having human characters drive the story. However Jaws is an excellent example of this type of storytelling while Transformers is a fun film but there are times when the characters act like idiots. If anything this Godzilla is the middle ground between the two while leaning more towards the greatness of Jaws while borrowing some destruction from Transformers.

Final Thoughts

This film did what Pacific Rim could not: bring a smile to my face. This was me reliving my childhood in a more realistic sensibility. As a huge Godzilla fan, this was definitely a treat for me. Though I can understand why some Godzilla fans may not like this film, I respect them for that. However, this is a really good film. Not great. But I have a feeling when a sequel comes along, all the problems with this film will be fixed in the next one. Also as a final note: I still enjoy the Roland Emmerich Godzilla even though I can see how horrible it is.

SCORE: 7.9/10 - A great modern retelling of the legendary King of Monsters