Review of Godzilla (2014) by Henry G — 02 Sep 2015

This is an awesome and epic reawakening for the great King of the Kaiju that brings back the best elements of the classic monster movies we all know and love (especially the 1954 original Gojira) to our modern world.

This great reimagining of our beloved Godzilla brings him to forefront of "our" world as he becomes our protector from Mother Natures worst creations that we obviously can't control. Yes he battles other monsters like he was meant to do so "Let them fight!".

Besides we have to realize eventually "The mistake of Man is thinking Mother Nature is in our control" anyway right Ken Watanabe? This version brings a ton of stunningly cool visual effects and even sight gags that leave you awe struck in wake of the King of Monsters destruction especially during the monsters battle (though I admittedly wish there were a lot more of) but this slow burning character driven story brings a thrill ride like you've haven't felt in a long time especially in this franchise or even genre.

All with huge thanks to Gareth Edwards (Monsters) wonderfully clever direction and a mostly great cast, most amazing of which is undoubtedly Bryan Cranston who shows off his incredible talent (that truly only rivals Godzilla himself) for grabbing your attention and heart and never letting go, even with his small story arc.

The movie mostly follows his son and military bomb expert Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) whose great at action scenes but whose acting in this case falls a little flat in grabbing our empathy especially as well as Cranston did.

Elizabeth Olsen (Silent House) is a great addition to the story but is also underutilized like Watanabe (Last Samurai) and Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmin) who did great but I would've loved to see do more.

In fact besides having a perfect narrating accent for the trailer and movie can anyone explain what Watanabe's character did? (Idc really I'm just glad he's here) but these were probably just small cutbacks to make room for the real epic performance of our titular character! Who was so awesomely utilized (perhaps also Mildy underutilized for some fans) in his big moments especially when breathing his signature blue fire (one of my all time fav scenes along with the bravest bus driver I've ever seen).

This is an epic and fun Monster adventure with a lot of human heart that takes the beloved creature of Godzilla and treats him with the respect he deserves and I can't wait for a sequel! King Ghidorah anyone?