Erron’s Grade: C-
Target Audience:
Fans of action adventure movies; those who appreciate summer blockbuster movies; stories that feature fantastical monsters/creatures; strong military elements; movies that significantly feature computer-generated special effects work; films that feature significant chaos and mayhem in metropolitan city centers
Plot Synopsis:
From IMDb.com: “The world's most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.”
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| A model of a MUTO. NOT Godzilla and NOT all that interesting. |
Before you read any further, please know that this review contains significant plot spoilers! Godzilla is Warner Brother’s latest update to the storied Japanese franchise, after the 1998 attempt at a blockbuster film directed by Roland Emmerich. Quite simply, if you’ve seen the trailer for this 2014 release, be prepared for a significant bait-and-switch. First of all, I went into the movie believing that I would be seeing a Bryan Cranston vehicle. Fans of Cranston’s television work (of which I am one) may have approached this film as a good opportunity to see Cranston carry a major summer release. But alas, those fans will be disappointed by the fact that the Cranston character (Joe Brody) is killed off during the first third of the film, and we are left with Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Ford Brody) to carry the film as central protagonist/action hero. Taylor-Johnson is a fine younger actor, but let’s just say he’s clearly no Bryan Cranston. This was a big letdown for me, and I fear it will be for other viewers as well. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the fact that Juliette Binoche was even given billing in this movie. Binoche’s character is literally in two scenes in the first fifteen minutes of the movie and then she too, perishes.
Let’s jump right into reviewing the monsters. That’s correct—there are actually two different species in the film, not just the titular creature. This is another Godzilla movie element significantly under-promoted by the marketing machine at Warner Brothers. In fact, the real creature stars of this film are known as MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms). These MUTOs are like a cross between a praying mantis and a spider, only four million times larger, more addicted to radioactive materials and hell-bent on destroying cities like Honolulu and Las Vegas. You see, the unique convention of Godzilla is that the giant lizard monster (and alleged star of the film) is little more than a barnyard cat, sent in to keep a handle on the farmer’s mice (or, in this case, the MUTOs). Godzilla’s audience is treated to repeated scenes of a male and female MUTO wreaking havoc across parts of Asia, Hawaii and the Western United States with our military forces in ineffectual pursuit. It seems that Godzilla functions in this story as nature’s alpha predator, sent in to kill MUTOs. This might not be bad plot convention if the film were billed as Godzilla vs. the MUTOs. But it was not, and I was misled. You see, I simply did not find the MUTOs to be that all that interesting. The effects teams that animated and rendered the MUTOs did so in murky greys and blacks that were then further obfuscated (a technique used to mask weaker CG work) in thick clouds of smoke and/or nighttime darkness. These MUTOs were never really developed into the kind of intriguing creatures that could headline a film entitled MUTO. Instead, I would lump these MUTOs with the large CG sea creatures from Pacific Rim which I found to be equally uninteresting and whose details evaporated from my mind mere moments after the final credits rolled.
Matthew Rehlinger, IMDb member since May 2007, wrote in his review of Godzilla, “Ken Watanabe spends literally every second walking through the scenes with the pained expression of someone who just walked in on their parents…” and this reviewer couldn’t agree more. Esteemed British actress Sally Hawkins portrays the Watanabe character’s scientific colleague and she and Watanabe spend most of their screen time staring in horror at various skeletal fossils, pods, spores and other creature horrors that portend destruction for mankind. Often, these two characters are tasked (during thankless, uninspired expository scenes) with explaining the MUTOs behaviors and interest in consuming radioactive substances. Like the schlock creature features one might see on the SyFy channel any given Saturday night, Godzilla plays fast and loose with its science; the Watanabe and Hawkins characters are tasked then with piecing together the “science” for the military personnel played with stereotypical steely resolve by David Strathairn and the criminally underused Richard T. Jones. On the topic of military personnel, I should clarify that the film’s central protagonist (Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Ford Brody) is an ordinance/explosives expert for the Navy. All of the film’s second and third act action pieces somehow feature the Brody character not only being present for the action, but serving as an integral part of each segment of the plot. For example, it is Brody who somehow manages to insert himself into a “jump team” from one of the military’s branches. This team descends via a high altitude jump into the female MUTO’s nest and Brody is able to single-handedly ignite the explosion which eradicates the MUTO eggs that have been laid beneath San Francisco. I found the Brody character’s involvement in each and every plot segment and action piece to be of service to the storytellers, but as an audience member it completely stretched credibility.
I will end with a brief rumination on the ruin of cities. This has become such an overused trope of the blockbuster action film (see Pacific Rim, Man of Steel, The Avengers and any of the Transformers films, for example) that it robs the Godzilla viewer of any sense that they are seeing innovative filmmaking. In Godzilla we are treated to scene after scene of skyscraper demolition courtesy of Godzilla and the two MUTOs. After seeing it in Japan, again in Honolulu, once more in Las Vegas, and finally in San Francisco, I was fatigued. There is some part of me that still remembers the horror of watching the Twin Towers fall on September 11 whenever I am witnessing the destruction of a city. For me, these images stop being mere entertainment and serve as unintentional reminders of one of the darkest days in our nation’s history. I wish filmmakers as a community could show greater sensitivity when they are planning the demise of a major city center. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be allowed, but after seeing it so often as a third act action climax, I am looking forward to the storyteller who can resolve his or her story without demolishing a bunch of buildings filled with people who are losing their lives. Much like Godzilla the 2014 movie, this latest trend in action movies leaves me wanting not only more, but better entertainment.
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