By Abhishek Panikkar
Godzilla is back! 15 years after Hollywood’s last big budget recreation of the legendary Japanese giant lizard which was a huge disappointment to lifelong fans of the creature, relatively unknown director Gareth Edwards has recreated a fitting reboot of Ishirô Honda’s 1956 Japanese classic “Gojira”.
The film begins with nuclear physicist Joe Brody played by Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) researching strange patterns of seismic activity that threatens the stability of the Japanese power plant in which he and his wife Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Chocolat) are employed. A tragic accident follows destroying the facility, leaving Joe unable to complete his research and officials claim natural causes but Joe suspects otherwise. Fifteen years later, Joe’s son Ford Brody played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) serves in the U.S Navy disarming bombs and is summoned to bail out his father who was caught trespassing looking for his old research. Obsessed with finding out what caused the disaster, Joe and Brody discover what the government were hiding and the film picks up pace from there, revealing ancient creatures that thrived on nuclear energy centuries ago and their natural predators. Caught in the middle is Ford’s wife, a nurse played by Elizabeth Olsen (Liberal Arts) who is embroiled in the madness and destruction while taking care of their son.
Unlike most modern action monster movies, the background story of the Brody family, the creatures and their origins are explored deeply during the first half of the film. Edwards chooses to build up the tension and anticipation slowly much like Jurrasic Park, Jaws and Alien successfully did. It’s a daring choice to try to shift away from conventional Hollywood crowd-pleasers loaded with action sequences throughout to something more grounded in myth and legend and make the second half of the film that much more satisfying and awesome.
Viewers expecting the film to typically showcase the heroics and bravado of the American military defeating the monster terrorizing their cities are in for a surprise. This is probably the first western-made film to break free of that tried and tested formula. Most the film follows a unique human perspective of the creatures, nearly every bit of action is from the eye-level and exposes the breathtaking scope of the destruction and keeps the audience invested in their plight.
Bryan Cranston is at his typical Breaking Bad best and is a joy to watch. Unfortunately he doesn't get as much screen time as he deserves. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character is seemingly the lead but falls flat and seems emotionless and blank through most of the film but perhaps he was meant for us to take his place in all of it. Elizabeth Olsen, definitely the most talented sibling of the Olsen family, more than makes up for it however and really stands out as the damsel in distress but is underused as well.
As for Godzilla himself, he looks amazing and is a fitting tribute to the classic Gojira. The 1956 feeling of the dramatic and dark toned pace of the film is something the 1998 Godzilla movie lacked and thankfully he doesn't lay eggs, survive on fish or end up getting annoyingly killed by a few submarine missiles. There are a lot of epic scenes throughout the film to keep the action fan-boys happy, notably the unveiling of the monster, amazing CGI fight scenes, the destruction caused, the HALO jump which was filmed superbly and the unbelievable climax.
The film has issues however, in terms of pacing and acting but ultimately remains original and epic even though the hero of the film Godzilla isn't given as much screen time as the humans are. For fans of the original film and classic Godzilla pop culture, this movie is a must watch. Do not expect the film to be a flat-out action movie, as it has equal parts drama and action and that element surprised a lot of people in the audience and I could even hear people complaining during the first half but everyone left the theater satisfied after the climax. You won’t be disappointed.
Our Final Rating: 7.5/10.
Viewers expecting the film to typically showcase the heroics and bravado of the American military defeating the monster terrorizing their cities are in for a surprise. This is probably the first western-made film to break free of that tried and tested formula. Most the film follows a unique human perspective of the creatures, nearly every bit of action is from the eye-level and exposes the breathtaking scope of the destruction and keeps the audience invested in their plight.
Bryan Cranston is at his typical Breaking Bad best and is a joy to watch. Unfortunately he doesn't get as much screen time as he deserves. Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character is seemingly the lead but falls flat and seems emotionless and blank through most of the film but perhaps he was meant for us to take his place in all of it. Elizabeth Olsen, definitely the most talented sibling of the Olsen family, more than makes up for it however and really stands out as the damsel in distress but is underused as well.
As for Godzilla himself, he looks amazing and is a fitting tribute to the classic Gojira. The 1956 feeling of the dramatic and dark toned pace of the film is something the 1998 Godzilla movie lacked and thankfully he doesn't lay eggs, survive on fish or end up getting annoyingly killed by a few submarine missiles. There are a lot of epic scenes throughout the film to keep the action fan-boys happy, notably the unveiling of the monster, amazing CGI fight scenes, the destruction caused, the HALO jump which was filmed superbly and the unbelievable climax.
The film has issues however, in terms of pacing and acting but ultimately remains original and epic even though the hero of the film Godzilla isn't given as much screen time as the humans are. For fans of the original film and classic Godzilla pop culture, this movie is a must watch. Do not expect the film to be a flat-out action movie, as it has equal parts drama and action and that element surprised a lot of people in the audience and I could even hear people complaining during the first half but everyone left the theater satisfied after the climax. You won’t be disappointed.
Our Final Rating: 7.5/10.