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Spoiler Free Summary

A very powerful, if poorly scripted, first act unfortunately leads into a film which is visually stunning but poorly paced, tonally mismatched and filled with dull characters. Ultimately, Godzilla is once again appropriated by a culture which just doesn't have the deep rooted emotional link to the figure.

2/4

Full Review Complete with Spoilerific Fun

From the moment the opening titles started rolling I was excited. Much like 1998's offering, we are treated to archive footage of nuclear testing. Whilst the concept is perhaps cliché, it is deployed well with a distinctly menacing vibe and just enough of the big man to keep us interested. I particularly like the notion that Godzilla was alive and well BEFORE the tests, as opposed to being created by them - a nice little twist. Things get even more interesting as we fast-forward to 1999 when an enormous skeleton is found underground and a character asks "is it him?" Clearly he's not unknown to man.

The rest of the 1999 stuff escalates quickly. In their short time on screen together, Cranston and Binoche work through pretty poor dialogue to create a believable on-screen couple. Very shortly after as tragedy strikes and I really did feel it emotionally, becoming aware of my horrified facial expression long after I evidently started pulling it. I can certainly imagine there will be tears for some. There are quite a few genuinely interesting enigma codes raised in this first, very well executed sequence and stunning performances.

Another jump forward and we're in the present day. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, playing Cranston and Binoche's now adult son, is in the military and has a nice little family unit of his own. Returning from a 14 month tour, we're given some really quite appalling dialogue as he reunited with his wife and son - as characters promise to always be there for each other, to stay safe and say things like "it's not the end of the world", I almost wondered if I was supposed to laugh...sadly, I don't think I was. Still, Cranston's return as the now manic Joe 15 years on kicks the film back into shape as we move into a very eerie set-piece in the derelict Power-Plant town from before. The act concludes quite satisfyingly with scenes of monstrous destruction and death - namely, that of Cranston's Joe. This is perhaps the first big mistake of the film, as Cranston's show-stealing performances and interesting character development would certainly have made the next 90 minutes far more interesting. Whilst his death offers some vague guidance to Ford (A T-J) to protect his family, such a cliché really isn't necessary. Are we to believe he WOULDN'T have done everything he could for them had his Dad not told him to? Rather, I feel it would have been far more interesting to witness Joe's descent into determined, revenge seeking mania in opposition to Watanabe's more reserved "let nature do it's thing" approach. Instead, we're left with Ford - the textbook devoted protagonist, empty of character but full of "goodness."

Now let's talk Godzilla himself. Edward's is clearly taking a leaf out of the Jaws book of making monster-movies - less is more. Tease the audience with mentions, glimpses, noises leading up to a big pay-off in the final act. In theory this should work, and it does at first. Godzilla's first appearance is short but sweet, featuring just enough to whet the appetite. However, the effect soon wears off and becomes nothing but frustrating when the same formula of appear-roar-start to fight is rehashed a few more times. Matters are not helped by the sheer amount of times we see the MUTOs - those things tear apart multiple locations (in particular, anywhere this one family happens to be). They're continual reappearances make Godzilla's absence all the more conspicuous as it becomes "MUTOs featuring Godzilla".

As for his characterisation...I was torn. Godzilla was born as a symbol of Japanese Post-War Nuclear fears. An unstoppable, ferocious beast who killed all in it's past - good or evil. Whilst yes, he later became less villainised in the many sequels, that was his role. This film establishes things as much more of a confrontation of Man and Nature, however it doesn't know who is who. Whilst Watanabe's speeches seem to suggests the monsters are nature and man is just a powerless, tiny figure, the emphasis on the MUTOs nuclear power seems to align them much more with the "man-made destruction." But then, as the humans guide and allow Godzilla to fight (rather than try to destroy him) it is as though Godzilla is more on the side of man...then he's referred to as a balance bringer. So is is Man versus the Nature MUTOs with Godzilla as the referee? Doesn't seem like much of a balance-restorer for him to just kill one side and let the other (man) survive. Essentially the films message is convoluted.

Godzilla's heroic status also missed the mark for me. Whilst he does dish out a little collateral damage, it is VERY limited in comparison with the MUTOs. Rather than voice a message about the cost of using one huge destructive power to fight another (which would have been a nice allegory for the West's moral dillemas regarding war), Godzilla is a very controlled force - hell, he's hailed as a hero and set free at the end! As the film progresses and he repeatedly shows up to dispose of the MUTO menace, he quickly transcends from terrifying force of nature to Oversized Club Bouncer dealing with a couple of rowdy customers. An audience's reaction to Godzilla should not be uncomplicated relief that he's going to get rid of the mean guys, it should be a complex mixture of excitement and fear - excitement for the spectacle, fear for the human cost. The Golden Gate Bridge sequence offers this to an extent, however I feel the death of the Brody son would have served a much greater purpose in emphasising the cost of using destructive forces.

Besides the nature message of this film, we have the aforementioned "family" one, that which Cranston bestows just before his death. "Protect family at all costs." Whilst very noble, the film then goes on to have Joe make a very roundabout journey to San Francisco, stopping off to fight monsters and risk killing himself (thus rendering him unable to help his family) and make Halo jumps (are bomb guys qualified for that?) along the way. No messages of "head as far east as you can" to his wife or "fuck the army, I'm going to be with my kid." Whilst one could argue that he was killing the monsters to "protect his family", quite frankly the risks involved (he doesn't know he's the protagonist) make that a pretty stupid way to protect them. On this note, I feel the film missed a big opportunity to raise an important ethical dilemma here. As the MUTOs mate and lay eggs which Brody must then destroy, rather than include a poignant moment of reflection whereupon he realises the MUTOs are doing just what his father said he should do, Brody torches the eggs and shows no remorse. Then, as the parents attempt revenge we are supposed to cheer for Godzilla.

Besides these important thematic negatives, I felt the film suffered from lazy writing; a bad case of "right time at the right place" throughout to always put our protagonist in the centre, flat characters I simply did not care about, underuse of Watanabe and an ending so filled with Deus Ex Machina I was laughing.

This is not to say there weren't positives. The effects are fantastic - I thought the monster design of Godzilla was incredible, considering it really is not easy to stay true to the original concept whilst making it visually believable and unlaughable. Whilst the MUTOs were a little generic and untextured, they had enough going on that I was interested. The action set-pieces really were gorgeous too; monster fights in a fire-lit Honolulu, then the storm cloud filled San Fran as well as scenes in the forest and at the plant. They didn't make it easy for the CGI team with the lighting choices, but they pull it out of the bag for sure.

All in all, I was disappointed. A promising start leads into a mindless Godzilla-lite Godzilla movie with confused morals and dull characters. Perhaps if there was more alignment between script and visuals it would have worked better; the cheesy clichéd lines just don't fit the dark, broody film, and a few scenes of poorly placed comic-relief really complicate things. You can feel the good intentions and nice ideas coming through, but ultimately it just...doesn't quite work. Missed opportunities aplenty.