Review of Godzilla (2014) by Thatsterlinkid — 16 May 2014

Does anyone remember that awesome Snicker's commercial with Godzilla in it? Oh, or maybe even the Fiat commercial, where Godzilla eats a car that he can't swallow? If so then feel free to answer this question: What do those commercials have in common besides being incredibly ridiculous? -- If you guessed "They're both great examples of clever marketing", you'd be right, though that's not exactly what I was going for. The correct answer would actually be along the lines of Godzilla being the star in them, but that doesn't stop this film from being alright.

Unlike many reboots before this and a countless number on the way, this one doesn't try re-creating the franchise's history to make way for a new, more modern approach. It's always bothersome when you walk into a reboot and things are a bit too different, but the Godzilla we know and love was in good hands. Not only did he got an honorable makeover, but the inclusion of 'real' reasons behind bomb testings, Hiroshima, and an incredible use of his atomic breath, which was by far the best part in the entire movie. Aside from all of that, there isn't much to go about complimenting.

You know how sometimes movies are titled one thing, but focus on something totally different? Well, this is one of those times. Godzilla's plot focuses on the Brody family, which instantly puts you in a bus labeled "Attempted Feels Trip" from the moment you're allowed into their home. An overworking dad, a part-time mom, and a boy who just wants to make his dad happy are what the family is made up of, but that quickly changes in cliche ways for things to thicken. Without getting too far into it, every bit of the plot that didn't involve the kaiju was pretty dry and constantly made me wonder what's going on around this family.

Usually focusing on human protagonists when the title suggests otherwise isn't that bad, but in Godzilla, it's one of the most annoying things you'll ever experience. Imagine it as a big tease, if you will; someone dangling your favorite thing in the world before you on a string, while you're bound to a chair and can't take it. This is how the vast majority of the film goes, and it's not okay. Until the films final moments, every appearance Godzilla made would only last for a few seconds before we were sent right back to the Brody's. He'd roar, do mischievous things, or even start getting involved in other stuff that would spoil this movie, but just as things got good they got cut. Incredibly annoying... I paid to see Godzilla, but at the end of the day, I actually ended up paying to watch some random family and a bomb specialist.

Godzilla is a reboot with some pretty big teeth, but it's bite feels more like a nibble throughout this 2 hour serving of eye candy. Sure, it pays it's respects to the original and adds some new stuff, but it definitely could have bit harder. Maybe some day we'll see a sequel, or even another reboot where Godzilla is the focus instead of making him the co-star in his own film.