With his massive size, iconic design, atomic-breath and frightening roar, Godzilla still remains one of the most revered and iconic movie monsters of all time. Conceived by Japan and given a mammoth of a budget for its time, Gojira (the original name of the movie in Japan) was a huge success that would pave the way for a massive franchise that includes over 20 movies. Gojira was brought over to America in the form of a re-worked English dub called Godzilla: King of the Monsters!, and would later re-imagine the monster in the 1998 film Godzilla which was universally panned by both Godzilla’s creators and the fanbase. After 16 years, however, the King of the Monsters has returned on its 60th year anniversary with a new American re-imagining, coming straight off of the heels of the critically-praised Pacific Rim. Make no mistake: this Godzilla is bigger than its predecessors both in scale and in technical prowess, and is certainly an improvement over previous films in the franchise, but unfortunately its narrative fails to captivate and intrigue enough to compensate for the sparse number of action scenes and Godzilla’s lack of involvement in the story.
When a nuclear plant in Janjira, Japan is destroyed by what seems to be an earthquake, the plant’s supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) has suspicions that the cause of the incident was not a natural disaster. He investigates into the matter and brings in his son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to look further into the exact cause of the plant’s collapse. It is soon discovered that the accident was a cover-up for something far greater: Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms (or “MUTOs” as the government calls them), creatures from an ancient time that have been awakened by humans. Large in size and seemingly impossible to kill, Ford joins with scientists Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) to track and kill the monsters, and hopefully return safely to his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen). The military is struggling to fight against the MUTOs, but there may be one hope for humanity left in the form of an ancient force of deadly power that may be strong enough to defeat the MUTOs: Godzilla.
One of the most fascinating components about Godzilla in the original Japanese film is what the creature represented for the country that created him. Godzilla is essentially a metaphor for Japan’s fear of nuclear weapons – a fear that began with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and was further amplified by the Lucky Dragon 5 incident in which a fishing boat was unintentionally exposed to the radiation from a nuclear test by the U.S. There are many elements to Godzilla that make him terrifying – his massive size, his mighty and ground-shaking roar, his ability to crush and burn anything in his path – but it was the metaphorical context of the creature that made the original film both morally-provoking and haunting to behold. Godzilla terrified Japanese audiences because it meant something to them – it tapped into one of the country’s darkest and most personal fears, and personified it in a massive force of destruction that also cleverly tied its human characters to it in a way that felt personal and involving.
Unfortunately, one of the major pitfalls with this new iteration is that not only does it fail to develop an engaging story with humans to attach to, but it also fails to fully explore the complexity and potential of its titular monster. This is not the first time that Godzilla’s undertones have been scaled-down for Western audiences – both Godzilla: King of the Monsters! and the 1998 Roland Emmerich iteration toned down much of the content involving nuclear testing – but for a movie that promised to be closer to the spirit of the original Japanese film, it is disappointing that this side of the monster was not fully explored. Instead, director Gareth Edwards decided to develop Godzilla as a force of nature meant to restore balance to the world when the MUTOs threaten to destroy it. This is not a bad idea per se, but the problem is that this theme is hardly relevant to the story; this idea is barely established or developed in the movie, and Godzilla’s presence as a guardian has little meaning compared to the Japanese film where the context of the creature made sense. As a result, the metaphorical complexity that made the original Godzilla so fascinating and memorable is underdeveloped and underwhelming here.
Making matters worse is that the story that ties all of the components together is even more underdeveloped and underwhelming than the 350-foot monster himself. Aside from one admittedly very powerful scene in the first fifteen minutes which promises the potential for an emotionally-engaging story, there is almost no meaningful connection to any of its human characters. Part of the problem is that the protagonist of the film, Ford, is one of the most boring and uninteresting leading characters seen in recent years. A lot of that is due to Taylor-Johnson’s awfully flat performance, who emotes so little throughout the story that it feels like he has the exact same attitude towards being chased by a MUTO as he would having an intimate moment with his wife. Thankfully the rest of the actors – particularly Cranston who makes the most out of his small role – manage to deliver solid performances despite their lack of substance to work with, though unfortunately Taylor-Johnson gets the bulk of the screen-time, which does significantly detract from the experience. Even if Ford was well-acted and interesting, though, the overall story just does not have enough depth to hold up upon scrutiny; it is only a means to thinly connect the action set-pieces, but provides no narrative substance to make the wait for them any easier.
When the film does manage to get to these set-pieces, things do improve considerably. The monster designs are memorable, and while some have complained about Godzilla being a bit too bulky (or, to put it in a less delicate manner, too fat), his overall appearance is a much more faithful design than the atrocious one last seen in the 1998 film. However, it will be hard-pressed to find anyone who will complain about the visual effects in the movie. Godzilla is an impressive technical achievement, from the amount of on-screen destruction to the convincing detail and animations of the monsters that make them feel believable. The sound design is also hard-hitting and aggressive, particularly Godzilla’s incredible new roar which will test the limits of your local theater’s surround sound system. The score by Alexandre Desplat also compliments the film nicely, delivering music that is reminiscent of Steven Spielberg classics such as Jaws and Jurassic Park while infusing it with a darker, more sinister tone that is appropriate for Godzilla. While Edwards’s direction in the story could be better, his skill at staging massive set-pieces and delivering visually-impressive sequences is undeniable.
It is a shame then that despite the film’s strong technical achievements, Godzilla is barely even in the movie. Despite the fact that the film is called Godzilla, the King of the Monsters is essentially reduced to a secondary character in his own movie, having around 15-20 minutes of screen-time. Instead, the MUTOs are given a much stronger presence in the story, and because the MUTOs are played as the major enemies of the film, Godzilla feels redundant in a story that was promised in the trailers to revolve around him. While the story does tie into Godzilla to an extent, the MUTOs and even the human characters are so prominent to the point that Godzilla feels like one of the least important components of the plot. Making matters worse is that when the film does bring in Godzilla to fight a MUTO, there are a few occasions where the story decides to cut away right as the action is about to start. The only on-screen action sequence Godzilla has is in the climax, and even then he fights for only around 7 minutes of screen-time. For a film that put a lot of hype into Godzilla and its action sequences in its incredible marketing campaign, it is a tremendous disappointment that there is so little of it to savor.
The new Godzilla is an undeniable improvement over the dreadful 1998 entry and is an impressive spectacle to behold, but cool monsters and visuals can only get one so far when the story that holds it together is so underwhelming. While more effort has been given to the story in this film than the likes of other summer blockbusters such as Michael Bay’s Transformers movies, there is very little in it that manages to do anything interesting with its source material or deliver emotionally-engaging scenes. Despite the fact that the original Japanese Godzilla was huge for its time, it is the story that surprisingly makes it great even today, which comes from both how it developed Godzilla and how it tied the human characters on an emotional level to the horror unleashed by the monster. Edwards’s entry simply lacks both of the elements that made the original a classic, and even with its stunning technical accomplishments, there is hardly enough Godzilla action to even deliver on its promise for massive monster action. There is still potential for future installments in this rebooted franchise to build upon this film, but otherwise, Godzilla feels like a disappointing case where the hype exceeds the quality of the final movie.
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The Good:
A much more faithful and grounded Godzilla film than the 1998 Roland Emmerich iteration
Excellent visuals effects with impressive scenes of destruction and highly-detailed monster designs for both Godzilla and the MUTOs
Intense sound design and a great score by Alexandre Desplat that combines elements from classic films like Jaws and Jurassic Park and gives it an appropriately darker edge
Most of the cast delivers solid performances
Some impressive shots and action scenes
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The Bad:
Godzilla is reduced to a secondary character in his own movie, oftentimes being overshadowed by both the human cast and the MUTOs who have a significantly larger presence in the story
On a couple of occasions, the film builds up to something incredible, only to cut away just as it is about to unfold, frequently resulting in disappointing payoffs that do not take advantage of great opportunities for action scenes
A weak story that hardly develops any of its human characters and are primarily a means to connect the different set-pieces between the monsters
The metaphorical undertones of the original Japanese film are still significantly toned-down here, and the developments of Godzilla as a force of nature feel both underdeveloped and baffling
Aaron Taylor-Johnson delivers a horribly flat performance as Ford Brody, which results in one of the most boring and uninteresting protagonists in recent years
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Overall: 5/10 (Mixed/Average)