Godzilla (2014)

Godzilla: Directed by Gareth Edwards. With Aaron Taylor-Johnson, CJ Adams, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston. The world is beset by the appearance of monstrous creatures, but one of them may be the only one who can save humanity.

“Well, well. Iu0026#39;ll say this first: I havenu0026#39;t seen the Japanese original nor the sequels. Iu0026#39;ve only seen the horrible abomination from 1998. This one is naturally better, but I want you (the reader) to know that Iu0026#39;m not familiar with everything Godzilla.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMonster movies seem to have a pattern. There is always a family, some military involvement and the works. u0026quot;Godzillau0026quot; is not an exception. What is exceptional though, is the way these things were handled. Yes, sometimes I cringed at some family matters, but other times (especially when Cranston was on screen) I was almost moved.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBryan Cranston naturally does fine, but Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the lead. He is the character that is everywhere at almost all times. Heu0026#39;s sometimes more of a plot vehicle than a character, and this movie isnu0026#39;t surely worth watching because of him, but at least he didnu0026#39;t annoy me as much as I feared and the movie managed to get to the point I was waiting for without making me hate the wait. Ken Watanabe, too, is handled mainly as an exposition machine or is tasked with setting up the mood, but heu0026#39;s always enjoyable to watch and when heu0026#39;s on screen everything feels a lot better.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe monsters, what they are and what they do, are set up well enough. We get some impressive visuals and decent build-up even before the first full-on action scene. The creatures are introduced nicely, and when they get to business, itu0026#39;s all nice to watch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGodzilla is of course the main character, and many people complain that he isnu0026#39;t shown much in this film. That is not a moot criticism, and I understand that. However I enjoyed our hero of a monster more this way. When he WAS on screen, it was more special and worth the wait.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile this is (at least on the human side) a fairly serious movie, I found something uplifting in the monster action itself. Little boy inside this grown man cheered, and even though a lot of buildings and property got smashed, I didnu0026#39;t get tired or annoyed about it like in, say, Man of Steel. There is childish excitement to be found in this movie, even though youu0026#39;d have to wait for it some time.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy only criticisms are these: the tired family/military-portion of the monster movie formula (while not nearly as bad as I feared), and sometimes the pounding score didnu0026#39;t know when to stop and let our ears take a breather. Because when it did stop in the middle of chaos, the silence was eerily beautiful. I wish we wouldu0026#39;ve had more of that important contrast.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;d recommend this as a theater experience, not sure if Iu0026#39;ll eventually buy the blu-ray because I donu0026#39;t feel like seeing this again. Anyway, some gripes aside, u0026quot;Godzillau0026quot; provides a fun movie experience and washes away some of the bad taste you got in your mouth (brain) from the 1998 version.”