Review of 'Godzilla'

godzilla.jpg Do you really want to know about plot? Seriously? Or are you more interested in 200 foot-high monsters pounding themselves (and the cities below) to kingdom-come? Be honest now…

Alright, alright, for those of you that are interested in such things the plot is thus: A young American boy witnesses a “nuclear accident” when his family are stationed in Japan in the 1950s. He glimpses a giant “something” before being evacuated. Flash forward to 1999, now an older man, he is convinced there is some sort of cover up and manages to convince his son to return to the site to discover there is a cover up…Giant mutant alien-like thingys grace our screens. Despite all of humanity's failings Godzilla emerges from the oceans to save us! Hurray! Of course, in the process he manages to lay waste to parts of Japan, Hawaii and San Francisco (how many times have we seen the Golden Gate Bridge bear the brunt of SF silliness?).

As you might expect, the special effects here are amazing. Those otaku out there (obsessives - normally linked to Japanese manga and anime but liberally applied here as well) will find this their second-heaven but anyone looking for popcorn fodder is unlikely to be disappointed. Certainly better than the offering staring Matthew Broderick from 1998 (no surprise there then - come on, Godzilla is the hero not the enemy!). The monsters that Godzilla battles sort of remind me of giant beetles but they sure take a lot of kicking…

So, lots going for this movie: (1) great effects (2) amazing action sequences (3) large scale mayhem (4) a reasonable plot and (5) actually realistic consequences (we really see the devastation that the battle wrought - mind you, it is down-played…). Of course, we are missing: Amazing acting (though it is passable). There is a fair amount of chatting as well with the screen only full of monster-ly goodness a small part of the time but, hey, it costs money…

I was lucky to see this in a premiere theatre (the ones with leather seats and alcohol on tap) all by myself in 3-D and a big sound system. A full-on experience.

Recommended? Yeah, a good amount of fun. Cannes-bound it is not but to fill your summer-time Sci Fi and destructive yearnings: For sure.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2014-05-31


Directed by: Gareth Edwards

Studio: Warner Bros

Year: 2014

Length: 123 minutes

Genre: Science Fiction

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0831387/


Other reviewed films by Gareth Edwards: