Review of Godzilla (2014) by Reel H — 15 Aug 2017

A tried and true American adaption to Godzilla. It keeps Godzilla largely the same while taking a few liberties here and there, and provides a nice action flick for people to enjoy.

However, with that being said, the movie has a few shortcomings as well. Outside of Bryan Cranston's character, nobody's interesting. You watch the main character, Ford, try to get back to his family while monsters are roaming about, but it's difficult to root for him and hope he succeeds.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays an alright soldier, but as a Human feeling character, he falls short. Ken Watanabe has the potential to be interesting, but he's mostly there just to make half-hearted attempts to prevent a nuclear bomb from being used and to practically wax religiously about Godzilla being nature's balance. Everyone else might as well not even be in the film. Even the black bus driver is more compelling and shows more emotion.

The repeated cuts away from Godzilla also get irritating. We're shown snippets of destruction before it cuts away to the aftermath, which is highly disappointing. We also don't get to see how people are coping with the reality of the situation, as we're stuck following Ford's path.

It's a good action flick, and an alright American Godzilla film, but as a Godzilla film, it's about average.