For over 50 years, since Godzilla’s first on-screen appearance in 1954, countless remakes from the series have gone overlooked and lost from any memory.
Despite these decades of flops, I can confidently say “Godzilla” 2014 is one of, if not, the best installments of “Godzilla.” It is very easy to be critical of as it holds many aspects of a stereotypical action movie; the acting can be questionable at times, and certain strings of events can be very ridiculous, but it is overall a solid movie.
Be warned, though, if you are going to see two straight hours of Godzilla carnage, don’t go. If you are going to see two hours of Bryan Cranston dazzling on the silver screen, don’t go. If you are going with an open mind towards a new take on the story behind “Godzilla” with a subtle message about man’s relationship with nature, this is probably something you will enjoy.
The film exhibits stellar CGI (computer-generated imagery) and special effects while (mostly) doing its best to not make the movie just constant explosions and action. The cast includes a couple of big-time actors, most notably Cranston and Ken Watanabe, but they don’t get nearly as much screentime as some lesser-known names such as Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen.
The story starts off, apart from some additional backstory, at its roots in Tokyo. There, an “earthquake” (with Godzilla at fault) at a nuclear power plant kills Joe Brody’s (Bryan Cranston) wife along with countless workers. The movie then takes a 15-year jump to where Joe has turned into a raging conspiracy theorist still living in Tokyo and Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is a soldier just returning from deployment.
From that point on, Ford is dropped into a spiral of extremely unfortunate events where he manages to survive multiple city-wide destructions at the hands of a gargantuan monster. The movie, while I will refrain from spoiling anything, continues on as almost more of a spectacle of human frailty up against nature rather than a thriller about a skyscraper-sized monster pillaging the earth.
With that being said, not only is this a draw away from a typical “Godzilla” movie of pure action and destruction, but it puts a whole new twist on the monster itself. While many cliche moments still remain (it wouldn’t be a true “Godzilla” movie without them), such as those long shots of Godzilla’s roar that manage to tear apart the eardrums of theatergoers, or those ominous shots of Godzilla closeups with soldiers in the background screaming muffled obscenities, the new light shed on this creature is something no one will expect.
Overall, despite its relative shortcomings acting-wise and somewhat plot-wise, this is a must-go for any “Godzilla” fan and anyone who holds an open mind to a new take on an old thriller classic.
