Review Godzilla film review by Linkzilla
Written By Linkzilla on 2014-05-16 02:36:38
*PLEASE NOTE: This review should be about as unbiased as I can possibly make it, as I was not expecting the movie to be all that good before seeing it. Also, although I will not summarize the plot, there will be major SPOILERS. There will be a short, spoiler-free summary at the bottom.*
So I just went to see the movie on opening night, and what an experience it was, being in a theater full of other G-fans, with wild applause with every big moment (and there were plenty of those)!
So, I had somewhat low expectations for this going in. I mean, I expected to enjoy it, but I was almost certain it would not have the artistic merit of the original (which it didn't, of course), and I thought it would not be as awesome as Final Wars and GMK or have the same emotional impact as vs. Biollante and Destroyah. What I got, however, was a great movie, quite possibly the best Godzilla film aside from the original!
This will be in no way a fully comprehensive review, I'll just point out whatever comes to mind:
The story is quite fresh and interesting, and Gareth Edward's directing is great, as he manages to continue builing up tension throughout the film even after Godzilla's big reveal, all the way up until the climax.
The style of the film is truly unique and refreshing in the world of modern Hollywood blockbusters, where everything is either dark and gritty or over the top and campy. It is generally dark and serious, but is not afraid to indulge in the childlike joy of a giant saurian anti-hero having epic face-offs with other monsters and saving the day for the humans, not unlike the T-rex from Jurassic Park.
One thing that may anger many over-hyped fans is the much-anticipated Honolulu airport scene, the big reveal of Godzilla. It seems quite epic, with a slow pan up Godzilla's body, followed by him roaring in fury at the severely outmatched Hokmuto... then it cuts to a humorous scene of the main character's son watching snippets of the subsequent "fight" (really more of a chase) on TV. There are several more of these "c*cktease" fights, where Godzilla just barely begins to fight one of the Mutos before it cuts to something else, which will cause disappointment for fans who were expecting to see a lot of Godzilla action (there are a few more extensive action scenes with the Mutos throughout the film). However, these scenes serve a very important purpose: to continue the buildup to the climax. After all, if there were more fight scenes earlier on, the big final battle wouldn't seem so special, now, would it?
The action we do get is AWESOME, with each appearence of Godzilla before the climax being one big huge moment after another, with several more in the climax itself, each of them being more awesome than the last. First, there's the huge tsunami as he rises from the sea, then the above-mentioned big reveal, then the Golden Gate Bridge scene where a huge mass that appears to be Godzilla approaches a boat, only to be revealed to be just his tail, then his final face-off against the Femuto, and then, the moment to end all moments, the huge, monumental, incredible, mind-shattering moment where his tail lights up, then his back, then his neck, and he finally unleashes the most incredibly awesome Atomic Breath EVER! It may not have been as powerful or flashy as that of some previous incarnations, but it's all in the presentation, and this Godzilla has undoubtedly the most dramatic and visually pleasing Atomic Breath of them all. But then, just when you think that this is as good as it gets, that they couldn't possibly top this... well, this brings me to my next point:
The deaths of the Mutos are just incredible. First, we get the Hokmuto flying at Godzilla from behind, then *BOOM* he slams it with his tail right into a skyscraper with an impact that seems to shake the very movie theater, causing it to be impaled on the support beams! Then, finally, in the very peak of the climax and undoubtedly the very best scene of the film, the Femuto is staring Ford Brody down (with him hilariously drawing his pistol on it), poised to kill him, when it suddenly stops, we see Godzilla biting down on its neck, he grabs it, forces its jaws open, fires his Atomic Breath down its throat, and TEARS ITS MOTHERF***ING HEAD OFF! F*CK YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!
*Ahem*
Testosterone overdose aside, the film has solid acting, with Bryan Cranston, Ken Wantanabe, and David Strathairn in particular standing out. It's just to bad their characters are basically pushed aside in favor of Aaron Taylor-Johnson's character, who is somewhat bland, but not nearly as bad as many make him out to be. He may not be particularly interesting, but he serves his purpose, which is to provide a human character who can really take part in the action rather than just talking about what's going on in a war room. Perhaps my biggest problem with the film is how Bryan Cranston's character is killed off very early on, and we only hear a brief snippet of his big speech that was featured in the trailers (with David Strathairn's speech being cut out entirely). The film could've been even better if the main character had been him or Wantanabe's Dr. Serizawa rather than Ford Brody.
*END OF SPOILERS*
Overall, this is probably the best film released since The Dark Knight that I've seen. Sure, it has some issues with the human characters, but they detracted so little from my enjoyment of the film that I can't give it any less than a 5/5. I'd recommend for anyone, G-fan or not, to see it - just don't expect to see a whole lot of Godzilla before the end.
