Godzilla, 2014
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Carson Bolde, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche and David Strathairn
SYNOPSIS:
The world’s most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.
Having torn up movie screens for 60 years, Godzilla is now a staple part of pop culture and an icon of the giant movie genre. Sadly however, he is perhaps best known outside of his homeland of Japan for the abysmal 1998 Roland Emmerich attempt to Westernise the King of the Monsters. Directed by a man who had no interest in the character or history, Emmerich’s Godzilla was more or less a rubbish remake of The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms rather than a new beginning for The Big G. Thankfully, the reigns of the franchise have been handed to British director Gareth Edwards, a man who has already shown his adoration for the kaiju genre with his low-budget Monsters. It’s not without its issues, but there is a lot to love about this new adventure for Godzilla.
In retrospect, Edward’s Monsters was like an audition tape for the director, showing that he can create a giant monster movie that is about the human characters rather than the titans themselves. In Godzilla, we focus our attention on Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a military man whose father was a conspiracy nut, fearing that a man-made experiment caused the death of his wife. Together they discover a giant monster nicknamed M.U.T.O. and now Ford is in a race against time to make it back home to his wife and child – because a giant lizard named Godzilla has also shown up and is heading to shore.
Much has been said of Godzilla, with many people bemoaning the fact that the titular character is not featured on screen for a large portion of the movie. But if you go back and look at the history of Godzilla movies and watch the majority of his 28 other titles, you will know this is not an uncommon practice. Ishiro Honda’s original 1954 Gojira in fact features even less screen time for the monster and fan favourite Invasion of Astro-Monster (aka Godzilla vs. Monster Zero) features only two fights – one at the beginning and then one at the very end. The problem that Edwards faces with his version of Godzilla (and indeed with Monsters) is that audiences of 2014 have been trained to expect action beats every 20 minutes, with directors fearing they may get bored due to low attention spans. But by having the monster on-screen for the majority of the movie, it starts to lose its appeal. Emmerich’s Godzilla for example becomes tiresome quickly because there is only so many times where you can see a giant lizard running amok in a city. Compare that to a good director like Steven Spielberg and Jurassic Park, who uses his T-rex sparingly in order to make it feel special.
Futhermore, Edwards has used Godzilla correctly as an allegory rather than just a brutal force of nature whose only role is to smash buildings. The fingerprints of producer Yoshimitsu Banno (who directed the awful Godzilla vs. Hedorah) are clear and evident with this Godzilla using its monsters as conduits for messages about nuclear pollution, and it works to a degree. Like Godzilla vs. Hedorah – and indeed Gojira – the message isn’t particularly subtle and its heavy-handiness can be an issue, but its again a testament to Edward’s love of the franchise that he doesn’t overlook this important facet of the character. Edwards deserves to be applauded for not only staying true to the character, but also understanding what is needed to make a giant monster movie.
The problem with this arises however when the focus is shifted from Godzilla’s battle with M.U.T.O. to the human characters of the Brodys, and Ken Watanabe’s Ishiro Serizawa (a tribute to director Ishiro Honda and original Gojira character Dr. Serizawa). As previously mentioned, the best of the Godzilla franchise are the ones that put stock into human characters while the monsters tussle in the background, but Edward’s Godzilla fails because the human characters aren’t engaging. Max Borenstein’s script (the last from a long line of writers including David Goyer and Frank Darabont) is bland and uninteresting, with cardboard cut outs spouting the dull dialogue and at 123 minutes, Borenstein’s script needed the audience to connect with Ford Brody and want to see him get home. But his boring characterisation makes it very difficult to care.
This isn’t helped by mundane performances from a cast that should (and can) do better. Aaron Taylor-Johnson may look like an action star and leading man, but he is less Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone and is sadly more Justin Timberlake and Taylor Lautner. He lacks the charisma needed to pull off this type of role which isn’t helped by an under-utilised Elizabeth Olsen, whose sole job is to stare blankly into the middle distance as she waits for ‘her man’ to come home and rescue her. The problem with Godzilla is not the lack of screen time for the titular monster, but that we’re spending the majority of the runtime with these dullards.
Thankfully, it all pays off with a final third that is breath-taking in its brilliance. As Godzilla arrives on shore, we are treated to a marvellously directed and masterfully put together action scene that gives us a human-eyed view of the monster action and Edwards shows us what we need to see when we need to see it, putting the right amount of focus on Brody’s mission on the ground to create a tense and thrilling conclusion. Not only does it satisfy all the needs that an audience will have for their giant monster movies, but it also treats fans to some fantastic moments, including a tantalising shot of Godzilla’s tail lighting up for his signature move that will make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
Godzilla is very flawed due to issues at script level, but its a brilliant effort from Gareth Edwards who does an excellent job of pointing out everything wrong with Emmerich’s attempt. But while fans of the franchise will appreciate all of its nuisances and clever intricacies, those who just want to see two monsters have a fight will be left unsatisfied. One can only hope that Edwards and co. address some of these issues for future instalments, as there is a way to get this balance right. And while this sounds like damning with a hint of praise, Edward’s Godzilla is the best Western version of the character to date.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
