There are a few movies that make up my childhood. These are the movies that I watched over and over until I had them memorized. Movies like Goonies, Ghostbusters, Ninja Turtles, Jaws, Monster Squad, and, of course, Godzilla.
When I saw that Godzilla was being remade, I was scared. When I saw that Michael Bay wasn’t working on it, my hopes were lifted, but just a bit. I still had questionable memories of the 1998 movie by Roland Emmerich. It wasn’t a bad movie. In fact it was quite fun. But let’s face it. It wasn’t a Godzilla movie. The monster looked nothing like Godzilla and the origin story was completely off. It was a nice monster movie that just had the Godzilla name plastered on it.
When the trailer dropped I had to hide my raging nerd boner because it looked awesome and guess what folks? The movie was great! Just a fair warning though. When you go into this movie, keep in mind that this story is about the people who have to deal with Godzilla, not Godzilla itself. So a good portion of the movie follows Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s (Kick-Ass) character Ford Brody as he acts all heroic in trying to get back to his wife Ellie (Elizabeth Olsen). Ford Brody, that’s an American hero’s name if I’ve ever heard one. If he had a partner he’d be named Chevy Blake or Dodge Johnson. But I digress…
Let’s talk about the acting before I get into the story itself. Taylor-Johnson and Olsen played their parts well. I wasn’t blown away by them, but I wasn’t left wanting. Bryan Cranston was great in his first big non Heisenberg role since Breaking Bad went off the air. Ken Watanabe was okay, but not as good as he was in The Last Samurai. And finally David Strathairn was in it and he reminded me that he’s going to win an Oscar one day, but just not for this movie. You may have already got my drift. The acting wasn’t fantastic, but it was solid and believable.
Okay, now on to the meat and bones. This was director Gareth Edwards’s first big movie so it was quite a risk having him helm one of the most iconic franchises ever. Edwards, however, pulled it off. The movie starts off a bit slow but picks up speed as it goes. The good thing was that the story was interesting and engaging, so I was kept glued to the screen even when the movie was at its slowest. Writer Dave Callaham (The Expendables) wove a story that felt just like the old Godzilla movies while staying original enough to keep it from being predictable. Don’t get me wrong, I saw part of the ending coming but the specifics of the ending eluded me until the very end.
This was a visually stunning movie through and through and didn’t suffer from lapses in CG quality like Amazing Spider-Man 2 did. The best part of the look of the film was that Godzilla looked like it was supposed to except this time it wasn’t a dude in a suit. The CG was good enough that there was no real discernible difference between the practical effects and the computer effects.
The ending to Godzilla was completely satisfying and I walked away excited for what the future would bring. In case you missed the news, a Godzilla 2 is already in the works and I can only hope that it’s half as good as this one was.
So I’ve been sitting here watching the cursor blink at me for a few minutes now thinking about what else I can say. But I’m at a loss. Normally my reviews run a bit longer but all I really want to say is: Go see Godzilla! I grew up on the originals and I loved this movie. Some of my friends (who are younger) didn’t watch the movies growing up but still loved this one. This movie is a prime example of what a summer blockbuster should be. Michael Bay should take notes. This is how you restart a franchise.
Godzilla was fun, action packed, intense, heartbreaking, uplifting, triumphant, and enjoyable from beginning to end. It’s been over a week since I’ve seen this movie and I still love it. If you haven’t seen Godzilla already, then go see it as soon as you can. Find the biggest screen in your area, get plenty of popcorn and snacks, sit back, and enjoy a great monster movie.
Godzilla has earned an 11 out of 11.