***/**** (3.5 stars)
In 1999, something is unearthed
in the Philippines. Soon after, a nuclear power station in Japan is breached,
with disastrous consequences. Over the course of fifteen years, Joe Brody tries
desperately to prove that what happened that day was not the result of nature’s
power, but that something else caused it. His quest for answers leads him and
his son to discover the truth, and soon the whole world is in danger.
This is pretty much what you
would expect from a summer blockbuster – there are numerous explosions, lots of
wide shots of destroyed cities, a couple of jump moments and, in places, some
pretty cheesy dialogue. To me, it actually felt a lot like Independence Day, and I don’t mean that in a bad way – we are back
in familiar humanity versus monster territory, and it’s actually rather
pleasant. I am not learned in the Godzilla
legend having only seen snippets of the 1998 version, but this film appears
to wipe the slate clean and start again from the beginning, with a few added
extras that I had never heard of before (I won’t say what these ‘extras’ are as
the trailer avoids them completely, and it just adds to the surprise when you
see it on screen).
It must be hard to make a film
about a giant lizard – it is, by its very nature, completely ridiculous, and
yet the film doesn’t feel too preposterous when it comes to the big fight
scenes at the end. When it comes to setting up the myth of Godzilla to the
audience, however, it is rather laughable. Ken Watanabe, who plays the ‘Godzilla
specialist’ as it were, is given the thankless task of explaining the origins
of the monster to Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). There was a ripple of amusement
in the screening when Watanabe turns to his listeners in a dramatic fashion and
states: ‘I call him… (pregnant pause) Godzilla’, but the film moves along at
such a pace that we soon forget the cheesy dialogue and focus on the fantastic
visuals instead. It is beautiful to look at – when we get the wide shots of the
destroyed cities, they are breath taking and it seems a shame that they used
the most impressive of these shots in the trailer. The sounds that Godzilla
makes are also great – in fact the use of sound and music throughout is very well
done and really helped to build up the tension, or make you stop and think ‘that’s
a really great shot’.
However, it is by no means
perfect: Ken Watanabe has one facial expression throughout, and Elizabeth Olsen’s
character Elle is only in the film to be Ford’s wife – she does nothing but
gawp at the destruction around her. Also, there needed to be more Bryan Cranston - not only is he the best actor in the whole film, but his character is also given the most development. It also adds nothing new to the blockbuster
genre – we all know what the ending is going to be (pretty much, anyway) and it
would be nice to have something a bit different one day. If I were a scientist,
I’m pretty sure I would be able to pick a vast amount of holes in the logic
behind what’s happening, but it did seem pretty ridiculous at times anyway. I
didn’t particularly care for any of the characters either, but this is by no
means a bad film. It’s entertaining and doesn’t outstay its welcome, and there’s
plenty of action to keep you occupied.
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