Ben’s Review of
Godzilla
Once
again I was able to doop my wife into thinking we were heading to a garden
nursery but instead took her to see Godzilla.
But I was wary about seeing our fat lizard friend. History shows again and again that Hollywood
can screw a large monster movie. But why
hasn’t the monster movie worked? Well
basically the formula has been very uninspired.
The 1998 Roland Emerich version of Godzilla followed the same recipe as Titantic
and Pompei which is have a lot of death, destruction, and special
effects and an ending where the government somehow stops the monster. Last year’s disappointing Pacific Rim
failed to deliver. Even the original Jurrasic
Park, while visually stunning, had basically no plot. Peter Jackson’s King Kong might have
been the closest we have come to something believable but even that really did
not go anywhere. So why try this
again? If there is any hope for society
it may reside in the fact that the movie going audience requires more than just
wanton death and destruction. With
failure of Pacific Rim and RIPD audiences to make a profit, this
might show that the movie audience is not willing to drop $10-$17 to go to a
theatre unless there is something behind the death and destruction. The Dark Knight Trilogy showed us that
you can make a believable, albeit dark, superhero movie. The Avengers showed us that you can
make supernatural flick that is funny but not goofy. This brings us to the latest version of Godzilla. Warner Bros. has decided to abandon the fat
guy in the rubber suit and Roland Emmerich and instead attempt to have a
believable Godzilla movie. But can a
balance be struck for supplying a plot and still providing enough special
effects to make the IMAX price worth it?
The
movie begins with Brian Cranston’s character, (I don’t remember his name so let
just call him Walter for now) working as nuclear engineer at a Tokyo nuclear
plant with his wife Julliette Binochette who is a nuclear engineer type
person. A strange earth shaking anomaly occurs. Walter notices that this seismic activity is
not consistent with the patterns of an earth quake and, being the brave man he
is, allows his wife to check this out. This anomaly destroys the nuclear power plant
and kills Binochette. An area of Tokyo,
including Walter’s house, is quarantine because of nuclear contamination Fast forward 15 years and Cranston is now
unemployed and labeled lunatic because he believes that it was something other
than an earthquake that destroyed the nuclear power plant where he used to
work. Cranston’s son, fresh off his
stint in the military and posing for Calvin Klein, is forced to go to Tokyo and
bail his father out of jail for trying to get back into the ruins of the
nuclear plant. After the son bails him
out, Cranston convinces him to enter the radiation quarantine zone where his
former house was located. Upon entering
the quarantine zone Cranston and son discover the truth which is that it was
not an earthquake that caused the destruction of the power plant but something
else. Something that has been awakened and is now looking to feed. What is this
something else? Is it Godzilla? Rodan?
Mothra? That guy that ate all the
hot dogs but the lost the American guy who ate all the hotdogs?
This
Godzilla succeeds where other versions of Godzilla failed by deciding to have a
plot. Is this great plot on par with The
Dark Knight or Schindler’s List?
No. But it does attempt to give a
plausible explanation why Godzilla and some other creatures exist and why they
are destroying cities. The destruction
is not gratuitous and no portion of this movie is done in a tongue and cheek
way that makes goofy. This is probably
what would happen if there was a Godzilla type issue today. This Godzilla has a story line that develops
through the entire movie and gives the audience something to be interested in
and not just senseless destruction and national monuments falling apart. Oh and if you are going to dump $17 on IMAX
this movie delivers. This movie takes a
while to get going but once it does look out.
This movie is exciting, scary,
but not disturbing or overly dark. What
I really enjoyed is that the destruction in this movie occurs in places other
than New York.
I
give this movie four Fukishyma cover ups out of five.
Something
Extra/Spoiler Alert- Warner Bros. has excercised its options for two sequels so
make sure and save your 3d glasses for 2016.
Elisa's Review of "Godzilla"
“Godzilla” is exactly the type of movie that inspired the
“Movies I watch with my Husband” blog, in that my husband knew there was
a script three years ago, probably knew the director, and knew what the release
date would be six months ago. In contrast, I thought I had already watched the
most recent “Godzilla” remake. When I protested sitting
through another recent reincarnation, the husband was puzzled. “You know, the
one with Jack Black,” was my clever response. “That was “King Kong,” he replied.
My loud miserable sigh and whining was not enough to deter
the husband to dragging me to the IMAX 3D Theater, the one with terrible
concessions, on a Sunday afternoon. I am just thankful the responsibilities of
work did not allow us to attend the Thursday night special release. There was a line
40 minutes before a Sunday matinee. A line full of Geeks, and there I was
holding our place in line with them, while the husband bought the crappy
popcorn. I do not mean to offend the Engineers, IT specialist, or any other the
other nerds and geeks in the world that I love more than anyone. But—this was
not a line where anyone was wearing a button-down shirt, a baseball hat—or
deodorant.
This movie review is short on the review and heavy on the “Seriously???”
complaints. I am an honest movie reviewer: I slept through the first 40 minutes. We went
to 7:30 a.m. Mass. I wish I had slept
longer. Despite waking up after “plot
development” I understood what was happening through my 3D glasses. A giant
Chinese monster was crossing the Pacific Ocean to attack another giant
monster. Predictably, the US military
was tracking Godzilla through the ocean with a lot of big boats. What happened
next was actually devastating: Godzilla destroyed Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach
and most of downtown Honolulu. Next, Godzilla destroyed Las Vegas, not as
pretty as Hawaii, but sad for the naked dancers and Elvis impersonators.
Finally, he destroyed San Francisco, with the predictable demolition of the
Golden Gate Bridge. Not creative Hollywood. Of course a military hero and an Olsen twin
helped save the day.
This movie was not good. There was nothing surprising,
interesting or unique. It was a sub-par “Monster Movie” and I think that is
what the people wanted. Just not the wife.
