Review Godzilla film review by The Weaver

Godzilla Movie

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Godzilla has a theme, a very powerful and effective one which is used superbly throughout, and that is the ‘Presence of God’. I’m not really talking about any religion here, so kick those thoughts out of your head, the story is about divine presence and most important of all, the folly of man against it. Throughout the movie, the monsters are utterly indifferent to the people that skulks and crawls beneath them, they do what they want to do and they could not care in the slightest if a metropolis is in the way of their needs. Godzilla hunts because he has an indecipherable urge to do so, which remains mostly a mystery to us. Is it an ancient rivalry? Revenge? Or perhaps all for simple sports? The reaction to these questions are carefully leaked out of the acting of a man who have only but the deepest respect for the King of the Monsters, Ishiro Serizawa.

The choice to hide Godzilla is deliberate and excellent, you don’t need to see a giant lizard monster walking around stomping cities for two hours, you need majesty and (no pun intended) weight behind it all, which is only what the movie delivers. The majesty of this immense kaiju and what he means to the world itself gives rise to so many questions, is this thing a protector? A guardian? As nature incarnate itself? Or perhaps, grimmer still, the destroyer of worlds? Our deserved retribution?

People can be disappointed by this, because they’re not expecting for ‘majesty’ or ‘divine presence’ here, they expected fear or spectacle, which was affirmed very strongly by the trailers, but you’re not going to find them because that is never what Godzilla was about. The Comic-Con teaser showcased a dark tone, hinting as if this was going to be some sort of terror against mankind, or seeing Godzilla with incredible CGI fighting the military and the MUTOs all over the place. Expecting these things WILL make you give this movie a lesser rating than it deserves.

But Godzilla has grown more than a puppy blowing stuff up for your amusement, he has grown more to be some sort of boogieman against mankind, he, as the movie shows it to you outright, is the incarnation of a God, and as a God, he’s not going to acquiesce to your desires or fears. He will let you see him whenever he chooses, he will spare you if you’re lucky enough to escape in time, and he will give you his attention if you’re brave enough to stand on his face.

The MUTOs have more screen time than Godzilla, but they are only a way for us to explore what he has evolved to now in the modern culture. He is the greatest monster of all time, and as such, he will prove why through the enemies that the movie vehemently focuses at.

Negativity stems from the distraction when the characters take most of the time in the movie, or that you hate the fact that the camera is locked over and over on Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s face and not Cranston’s. You might think that Ford Brody is actually the real star of the show and everything revolves around him but you’ll be wrong, Ishiro Serizawa is just as important if not more. As I’ll put it, the Brodys are the heart of the movie, and Serizawa is its soul. They pay homage to one another as they perfectly interact and push this epic tale forward.

This movie isn’t really about people, you don’t truly invest in these characters because ultimately that was not the point, because the point has always been Godzilla. Every action these people take it’s to cement the glory of a God. So I’m not surprised if you can’t connect with the characters all that much, or see them as nothing more than walking faces that talks and gives exposition or push the plot along. Everything in this movie, from the characters, the military to the MUTOs themselves leads to give glory to the elusive star of the show. And that is Godzilla.

Onto other topics I would like to discuss which I’ll make brief, as I wouldn’t like to drag this out.

How was the Music? After hearing before seeing the film I’ve criticized the soundtrack for being uninspiring and dull. They didn’t catch your attention much and there was nothing to really tell you it’s anything special. However, when you hear it alongside the big screen, you’ll understand why that is, because the music isn’t trying to be pretentious. They’re here only to serve the theme of the movie and that’s a choice which should be respected.

As for sound effects, the theater trembles every time Godzilla roars. That is all I can say to that.

How were the Characters? The Acting Golden Cup goes entirely to Bryan Cranston, he gives a whirlpool of emotions that kicks the movie off and triggers the plot. A tragic character who dominates the entire introduction of the movie. But my favorite of them all however is actually Ken Watanabe’s Serizawa, if you can’t stand Aaron Johnson’s Ford Brody, then Ken gives you the counterbalance to focus your attention. Everything Serizawa does is just immensely interesting, from his curiosity, to his research, to his distant past, and his strange spiritual connection towards Godzilla, he is simply awesome.

I disagree on the criticisms against Aaron Johnson’s acting however. While he does have this strange constant look of apathy on his face, he actually does a great job with IT. One example I could give is when he tears up while his father is talking about his mother. I love that. He gives connection that tells us that he cares, that he was just as traumatized and that matters.

(SPOILER ALERT) : Another thing I want to mention is the subtle mirror scene near the ending, when Ford stands near his son and waits for his wife, Elle, to come out of the crowd, there was this vague fear that she would not show up, which mirrors Joe’s situation during the nuclear meltdown when his own wife perished in the incident. Perhaps it is a cliché when it’s revealed that Elle survived, but I simply see it as a way to honor Ford. And that is that to say that what happened to him, does not need to happen again.

How were the MUTOs? Will it be a surprise if I say that they were the actual Destroyers of Worlds? They are terrifying, gigantic, very real and most importantly of all, normal creatures. There’s nothing out of the ordinary about them apart for their colossus size, they’re only animals trying to revive the lives they once had in the primeval past. I felt a great deal of sympathy for them when they were brutally denied their chance.

On a last note, I’ve noticed that a great deal of scenes were cut (Which is a real shame and unacceptable blasphemy against Gareth’s artwork), the movie deserved to be much longer. After hearing that a Director’s Cut might happen (Which I hope to “God” it will), I have a feeling the ultimate Godzilla movie is yet to be seen.

Godzilla is the King of every conceived monster by in all fiction, this movie tells you why, and for that, this is the greatest monster movie of all time, at least that’s my opinion. But personal bias aside, the quality I’ve seen in this is that the movie must to the very first movie at least, and that is as perfect as a movie can be in what it intended to achieve.

The more you think about the movie, the better it gets. So tell others to watch it, buy its Blu-Rays, and have its babies. :)