Review of Godzilla (2014) by Foxgrove — 15 May 2014

When remaking a film who's main character is so iconic the driving ambition has got to be at least to improve on previous incarnations. Unfortunately, that is only partially the case here. This version suffers from a storyline that is prosaic to the point of boredom and it takes nearly an hour of dull exposition before the main event even appears. However, when he does things liven up no end. For all its other inadequacies, visually this is a stunning achievement. When the titular character and special effects take centre stage there is just no faulting the film as the craft on display is just amazing. Images like a crashed plane; Godzilla in the sea flanked by ships, A Tsunami, A burning train, shadows of the monsters aginst the city's crumbling buildings and Godzilla's face disappearing in to a pall of smoke are just a few of the breath taking compositions to behold. There are countless more, all exquisitely photographed.

All this good work is somewhat predictably confounded by the dull human angle and perfunctory screenplay. Also, although acting is secondary in a film like this, it has to be said that the performances.

(besides a good turn from Bryan Cranston) range from the indifferent (Aaron Taylor Johnson) to the outright bad (Elizabeth Olsen). Sally Hawkins looks constantly downcast and on the verge of tears, in all probability wondering how she arrived here after bagging an Oscar nomination for ' Blue Jasmine', and Juliette Binoche appears pointlessly. Anyone could have done what she contributes here. Finally, we are left with a film that never orally matches its stunning visuals.