Movie Review: Godzilla

Happy Saturday morning movie lovers. Last night, we took in the new Godzilla movie starring Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanbe and Elizabeth Olsen. That's right, the massive and massively famous monster is back; but is this reboot a return to his glory days or does it still have the stench of Roland Emmerich and Matthew Broderick?
SPOILER SIDE NOTE: Typically, my reviews don't include spoilers. While I avoided giving anything huge away here, it's worth noting that some of what I mention in this review may be more than you want to know.

The Story

When Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) loses his wife during a catastrophe at the power plant for which they both work,  he begins a crusade to find the truth behind the mysterious circumstances that lead to the event. With his son Ford's help, Joe uncovers a colossal secret: a monster has been awakened and could destroy civilization as we know it.

The Good

Godzilla has never looked so good. Now, I never really liked the old-school Godzilla movies and always found his look hokey and just plain not scary. This time around, however, the King of the Monsters is a physical force. Both his sheer, startling size and his menacing but somehow human-like features come together and it works beautifully.

The back-story presented in this reboot is masterfully done. Godzilla has taken a page out of the X-Men: First Class handbook and chose to include real, historical events and give them new significance. The inclusion of Ken Watanbe's (Inception, Batman Begins) character provides a link back to Japan, an aspect that is essential to the character and one that was completely left out of that 1998 Roland Emmerich version.

Perhaps my favorite part about this film is that it made me realize why Godzilla is the "good guy". I never understood why everyone loved Godzilla, I mean the guy tramples entire cities under foot. In this film, however, its abundantly clear that Godzilla isn't concerned with us at all. We are like ants to him, not a threat and sometimes a mild annoyance but no reason to go out of his way to kill us. So I'm firmly on the big guy's side now.

The Bad

The film is called Godzilla, but fans looking for monster-centric action and destruction at every turn will be somewhat disappointed. This is a human story and very much focused on the people who scurry at Godzilla's enormous feet. This is a positive, but I'm ashamed to say it frustrated me because, well, I wanted to see Godzilla fight some monsters! Sue me, my inner 13 year old boy is alive and well and infuriated by the way this movie teased the fights but then cut away. For instance, the first time we see Godzilla, we're shown the beginning of what is sure to be a great battle, only to cut away and show us a news report about the destruction instead. Really?

Perhaps most disappointing to me is the performances. Sure, Bryan Cranston is fantastic here, but he is only in about 20% of the movie and the rest of the cast, with a few exceptions, are just okay. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the stoic marine-type, Elizabeth Banks plays the worrying wife, add in a few generic army guys and that's your cast. For a film centered around the human drama of such an event, I hoped the humans would be a little more interesting. Any of these roles could have easily been filled by any number of other actors.

The Verdict

While the lack of Godzilla moments and any stand out human performances definitely works against it, Godzilla has a compelling enough story and reinvents the franchise in the best way it possibly could. Couple that with impressive visuals and you have a solid, enjoyable movie on your hands.