DVD Godzilla
Run time: 123 min
Rating: 7.1
Genres: Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Director: Gareth Edwards
Writers: Max Borenstein, Dave Callaham
Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston
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Storyline In 1999, the Janjira nuclear plant was mysteriously destroyed with most hands lost including supervisor Joe Brody’s colleague and wife, Sandra. Years later, Joe’s son, Ford, a US Navy ordnance disposal officer, must go to Japan to help his estranged father who obsessively searches for the truth of the incident. In doing so, father and son discover the disaster’s secret cause on the wreck’s very grounds. This enables them to witness the reawakening of a terrible threat to all of Humanity, which is made all the worse with a second secret revival elsewhere. Against this cataclysm, the only hope for the world may be Godzilla, but the challenge for the King of the Monsters will be great even as Humanity struggles to understand the destructive ally they have. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com) |
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Plot Keywords: monster, disaster, japan, u.s. navy, creature | |
Details: Country: USA, Japan Release Date: 15 May 2014 (UK) |
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Box Office Budget: $160,000,000 (estimated) Opening Weekend: $93,188,384 (USA) (16 May 2014) Gross: $198,355,185 (USA) (11 July 2014) |
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4 comments
Scenario 1: If you are going to see this film because you really enjoy classic Godzilla movies and you hope the music and campy theme of those films are represented in this one, you absolutely should go see it. Godzilla here looks much more like the beloved behemoth than it did in the '98 movie, the music hearkens to the classic Japanese overtures of the old Gojira film era, and the camera work has the comically silly nature of Sam Rami's Spiderman series.
Scenario 2: If you are really excited to see a deep, human film with camera angles and writing that really tell a story that is thematically transcendent such as "District 9" and the Korean film "The Host," this is not your film. The script is filled with overtly simplistic rhetoric and one dimensional characters (intentionally,) the scenes somehow manage to have very little tension (even for me, the pilot episodes for most sitcoms seem more tense than Gozilla,) and as stated above, the camera-work is intentionally hammy. It should also be noted that to add a human element, the director overuses children to the point that it ends up feeling very obvious, as though he did it to be intentionally campy.
Scenario 3: If you are one of those people who really just want a fun popcorn flick such as Pacific Rim, with some solidly choreographed action like in the over-the-top bulletfest Battle:LA, I would say proceed with caution. The fight scenes are less intense and more majestic, like any classic monster movie, and as such the human aspect of the combat is relatively insignificant, less so than any other monster movie I've ever seen. There are no little monsters for anyone to shoot at, if that's your thing.
Scenario 4: If you are interested in this film because you love the talented work of Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, and/or Aaron Taylor- Johnson (three of my favorite actors) and are excited to see what they bring to the table, you should probably sit this one out. Bryan Cranston's role in this film garners far less screen time than advertised, Ken Watanabe spends literally every second walking through the scenes with the pained expression of someone who just walked in on their parents, and all three of the actors give off the vibe that they are very much aware of how cheesy their lines are. Everyone else's performance was similarly forgettable.
Honestly, I'm a stickler for deep, human storytelling, but I've also had a softspot for the classic, silly fun of many Godzilla movies, including my favorite, Godzilla vs. Destroyah. All told, depending on which camp you fall under, this will be an entirely different movie for you. As Godzilla movies go, I'd give it a B. As darker, more serious monster movies go, I'd give it a D+.
This film has no plot. I wouldn't have an issue with this if instead they had filled most of the two hours with scenes of Godzilla destroying things and killing people. However, the monster himself receives a pathetic amount of screen time, only appearing halfway through the film after the plot has already focused its attention on two giant bugs. They are unimaginatively designed, have no basis in Japanese mythology like the titular monster, and their only purpose seems to be to diminish the impressiveness of Godzilla. The character development in this film is non-existent. Every character, from the wise but ignored token Japanese bloke, to the soldier's wife whose sole purpose is to wait at home to comfort him, is a dull Hollywood cliché. Unlike the viewers, the film believes its characters are fascinating enough to merit the laughably corny near-death and family- reunion scenes towards the end. Instead, the audience is left laughing in bemusement at the overly sincere expressions on the protagonist's face as he threatens a giant monster with a handgun. Whenever Godzilla and the insects finally begin to fight, before anything happens there's an instant cut to yet another tedious shot of US soldiers shouting about nothing in particular. The film's sole purpose is to showcase the might of America's armed forces and ability to survive under a crisis; and it doesn't even do that well, given that the navy can't even tell when Godzilla is swimming directly under their ships. Of course, setting the story in Godzilla's homeland of Japan would not interest American viewers, so the monster decides to swim across the Pacific Ocean in order to wreak havoc. No doubt Godzilla will receive acclaim from morons due to its high-tech but utterly unimaginative animation techniques. However, this film's cutting-edge CGI does not justify its lack of plot, excitement and meaningful characters.
So, I should start by saying, I went to this move not expecting a lot. My husband wanted to see it, however, so off we go.. Dear Lord, I think I'm going to find the sappiest chic flick available (even if its torturous for me to sit through) just to get payback for him making me sit through 2 hours of this crap. At least the popcorn was good!!
I liked Godzilla himself.. But, I think out of the entire 123 minutes, you see him only 20 minutes, maybe? And most of that is just watching his spiky back in the water as he swims. The rest of this movie is watching the main actor, who, in my opinion, has about as much acting depth as Kristen Stewart, look like a total tool. The shining grace, I thought, was that this movie had Ken Watanabe in it. I like Watanabe but even he looked like he was suffering from a bad case of the Taco Bell revenge and couldn't find a bathroom for the entire movie.
I spent the majority of this movie picking out dumb stuff that just amounts to bad writing. Example: Okay, the two bad monsters (which, in my opinion resemble a cross between those white strider things that the muppets ride in "The Dark Crystal" with a bit of "Aliens" thrown in to make them somewhat scary?) have the ability of creating EMPs, killing all electronics and causing aircraft to fall out of the sky.. We learn this early on in the movie, probably in the first 30 minutes. Think the military learns their lesson?? Nope, lets continuously throw about 600 billion dollars worth of F-35s and Battleships in the mix just so we can have it continuously plummet into the water. Another example: They know these muppet hybrids like to eat Radioactive materials and I guess can smell it. And hey, there's one making its way from Vegas to San Fransisco. So lets strap a huge bomb on a train and slowly move it from Vegas to San Fransisco along the same exact path that the critter is going. What kinda harm could that cause? Its not like the thing would smell it on the train and come after it, right? And why is it, the military storms into a radioactive storage facility but has no clue that an entire half of mountain has just been blasted out by muppet hybrid #2 (who's much bigger than #1) and this 30 story tall critter is somehow making its way towards Vegas completely undetected?
And while we're on the subject of the bomb, what the heck is up with the "breeding" of the two muppet hybrids anyway?? You got a male, you got a female (complete with some glowy bulging egg sac thing that they give us a really good closeup of.. They meet up to reproduce.. which involves the male giving the female the long, phallic shaped, radioactive bomb which she then rubs between her legs all over this glowy egg sac.. WtF?? How the heck did these things breed before mankind started making huge phallic shaped missiles anyway?
Oh..Did I mention the acting was bad?? I don't recall liking ANY of the characters, with exception to the dad (played by Bryan Cranston) and he dies within the first 20 minutes of the movie. There are characters that seem to have no purpose whatsoever besides trying to find a way to fill a 2 hour movie with irrelevant fluff. Lil Asian boy on the elevated train in Hawaii? Didn't see any point to him.. The main characters wife and little boy?? Added nothing to the story to be honest. (And what military wife who knows her husband is in danger isn't waiting by the phone for news? Nope, phones ringing and she's doing whatever.. Or tells her co-worker she's unavailable?) The acting had no depth to it, everyone came off very flat and honestly, unlikable. There's no emotion whatsoever. Hey, a couple of muppet hybrids are destroying our city, oh well. A huge Godzilla is barreling towards our aircraft carrier? Don't panic.. lets stand at the guardrail and watch it peacefully because any emotion such as fear would be too much to ask.
Pretty sad when the most exciting thing about this movie is a bird hitting the bus window.. Although, to be honest, the CGI on the actual fight between Godzilla and the muppet hybrids was nice, the whole 5 minutes it lasted. Then, Godzilla jumps in the water and the credits roll. Best part of the whole movie.. Compared to the other 121 minutes of this movie, the credits are the best 2 minutes overall.
In my opinion, this movie was insane. Godzilla was not really that much in the movie, but when he was he kicked ass!
I don't understand people bitching about the movie wasn't like pacific rim. I liked Pacific rim, but i think it was a good idea to make something different. This monsterfilm is much more realistic, and is much, much better made (CGI). In my opinion Godzilla was way better than Pacific rim.
Bryan Cranston appears in the trailer like he is the main character but he dies in the beginning of the movie, which i think is really misleading. He's son takes the spot, and must travel from Japan to U.S.A to get his family away from the danger. The son (Ford Brody) is a very boring character because we don't see him so much and he doesn't seem very sensitive.
In the end Godzilla actually saved mankind and just go in to the ocean and swim away, which i think was a really unpredictable ending.
So don't watch this movie if you just want some meaningless monsterfight. Watch it because you wanna se a "realistic" movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat – With monsters in it.
And this was the best CGI i have ever seen in a movie.
(Godzilla has atomic breath)