Review of Godzilla (2014) by Brett C — 26 Nov 2015

Review In A Nutshell:

I am saddened to say that I have never seen a Godzilla film before this one, so my review of this film would contain no comparisons of the films that came before this and is only based on what I saw and felt from this film.

Godzilla's story is simply about a creature that resides in the lowest depths of the ocean, which in this case is Godzilla, that comes out to stop two other creatures, which I cannot remember the name that they were given, from causing further physical destruction. I came into this film thinking that the emphasis would primarily be found on Godzilla, instead the film seems to follow certain human individuals that are involved in the event. I would have been completely satisfied with this if the film succeeded in executing this human drama, sadly I felt a little disappointed with what was given to us. The film's first act mainly follows Joe Brody and his obsession with the catastrophe that happened 15 years ago. I was actually happy following this storyline as the human drama and the relationship with his son that was being explored, truly worked. Sadly when we reach the film's second act, the focus seems to have shifted towards Ford Brody, and his storyline lacked any interesting drama, he just seems to go from one direction to another; is his priority to get back to his family or to understand the current situation? The film also focuses, though only minor, on Ichiro Serizawa. He is a scientist that is involved with the research team in understanding the film's creatures. I would have actually preferred if the film followed his story, as it would have given the film an opporunity to inform us of some background or detail on the creatures, and allowing the film to actually be more concerned with the beasts rather than the effect they have on human civilization.

Gareth Edwards, the film's director, was able to take this would be simplistic story and add a bit of texture to it. The film explores ideas about the impulsiveness of human society, always fearing and antagonistic to what they don't understand. Humans seem to think that the only way to stop something is to obliterate it completely. The conflict between Godzilla and the two creatures are their own personal business, and humans can't seem to see the signs and back away from it. It is only truly at the end of the film where humanity seems to have learned their lesson, but so many things had to suffer in order for this point to really sink in. I have interestingly picked up a couple of references and influences from other films, whether they may be direct or indirect. Some of these influences or references include; Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the Alien franchise. Edwards seems to have this fascination about humanity's relationship with the unknown; a person may either be drawn by it and simply want to understand, or instead want to destroy it in order to remove chaos and keep things the way they are.

The film's director of photography, Seamus McGarvey, really did a wonderful job with this film. He seems to have chosen a style that constantly have the camera be in motion and prevent any reliance on constant cuts in order for the film to progress. There are some beautiful steadicam shots that really make the film above than what it tries to be. There are times where the film switches to the hand-held method, therefore to create a sense of elevated tension, but instead I was pulled off from the experience as it does become very noticeable and distracting when it is being used. The film's visual effects was actually good, as it didn't try to hard to be pretty but instead used it in a way that I felt was respectable. The visual effects team and the director wanted to have Godzilla's visual style be connected to it's roots, which is the reason why it looks a lot more like the original 1954 film rather than the 1998 film. The villianous cratures on the other hand looked kind of disappointing, as they didn't look as threatening as I thought they would be. The battle between the two creatures was executed in a way that keeps the audience at a human perspective, I guess to emphasise and feel the physical magnitude of these creatures. But the film would have benefited much more if we are placed in the shoulders of Godzilla rather than the eyes of humans, as it would have made the climax scenes to feel more intense and gratifying; and yes I know that going through with this, the human drama would be sacrificed but I think it would have been worth it.

The film's score, composed by Alexandre Desplat, was a tad underwhelming. I never felt any sense of excitement when I hear his score, instead it came off feeling ambient, blending in with the already loud sounds of roars and explosions, rather than making itself feel noticed.

The acting in this film was good, but problems in the writing aspect really made some of the characters feel hollow, regardless whether or not the acting was great. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who I mostly know from Kick-Ass, plays the film's leading role, Ford Brody. Taylor-Johnson at times felt kind of one-note but I was able to see something in his performance that shows that he could do much more than what is given to him. Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody was great in his role, sadly the film doesn't spend enough time with him and affects the film's overall acting quality when he's off-screen. Elizabeth Olsen is a wonderful actress, who deserves more than what she was given here. Olsen could only do so much for her character and for the most times that she was on, she was acting alone or with the child, which doesn't show her abilities being challenged. Ken Watanabe, who I think was severely under-used in this film, also did a great job for his role. It was nice to see that his acting in this film was much more subtle than the roles that I have seen him in; but it still isn't at the same level to what he brought to The Last Samurai.

Though Godzilla was far from perfect, it's still a good film that contains a satisfactory story that was injected with wonderful ideas about humanity.