Godzilla, A Review

Godzilla, is a new iteration of the Godzilla franchise. Directed by a new up-and-coming Gareth Edwards, it is his first big box office movie. Godzilla stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kickass), Elizabeth Olsen (Oldboy), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), and Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima) Godzilla has successfully bring back, along with Pacific Rim, the monster movie genre. Unlike the movie from 1998, this new Godzilla brings back the horror and suspense in the classic monster movie. The trailer of the movie actually is the main reason of why I decided to watch this movie. The very unnerving and uncertainty of how the Godzilla looks and how gigantic this beast is, it really attracted me to watch this movie. Combined with the fantastic score by Alexandre Desplat (famous for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Argo), terrific cinematography by Seamus McGarvey (famous for Avengers), and wonderful SFX, the movie deserves a watch by any kind of audiences from any demographic. In my opinion, the actors here are the 40% of the movie, they acted really good and enough to complement the visual stimulation of the movie. Godzilla centers around, well Godzilla. An ancient apex predator that restores balance of nature. Somehow, there is another creature called the MUTA. The MUTA is by nature, Godzilla's food. Somehow the MUTA got awakened by chain of events and it is the human's job to contain them to not cause destruction to the whole world. Godzilla sticks to its classic lore of nuclear bombs, as it is a metaphor of the nuclear bombs back in WW2. In my opinion, the main stars here are actually Godzilla and the MUTA, the humans are just there as a complementary role. But the humans actually did a good job to fill the scenes to we won't get bored. Bryan Cranston plays an engineer that was involved in an accident that eventually kills his wive. In that incident, one of the creatures is involved which drives him insane and eventually transforms him into this mad scientist. Like classic Cranston fashion, he did an amazing performance, especially at later scenes where his life gets turned around. He deserves his given screen time as if he had more, the movie could get a little problematic. Also receiving the same praise is Ken Watanabe, also plays a doctor which is involved in the whole monster incident. Ken Watanabe's performance was stellar, especially when he stares into the abyss as he is thinking of what to do next. Other actors were good, but not too good and not bad at all, they did an okay job to fill the blanks. Back to the monsters itself, I did not have any problems of their performances. I did however appreciate the writers for treating them as an animal instead of a monster, with all the natural selection theories that are embedded in the movie. The movie tries very hard to keep the monster fights minimal until the final act. some people are disappointed that they did that. I was kind of disappointed that they keep pocketing fight scenes on the first and second scene. But, I understand from the director's perspective that he wanted to give suspense and sense of confusion of what was happening. I feel what the people in the movie are feeling, sense of danger, confusion, disturbance, and panic. Glimpses of both creatures actually gave tingles down my spine, I was kinda afraid for my life for a second when I watched this movie. The pacing of this movie was rather problematic on the last second act of this movie, I kinda got bored for a few minutes or so. I will not spoil the final act of this movie, but I will say one thing : EPIC. If you ever buy a blu-ray of this movie, at the final act, watch it while you play the Mighty Morphin Power Ranger song. As a monster movie, Godzilla has secured the monster genre back to the mainstream crowd and deserves praises from all around the world. Godzilla is a movie for everyone, fans of the franchise will definitely love it and general audiences will be addicted for more and more Godzilla. A sequel is planned, and I hope Gareth Edwards can deliver the more suspense and thrill for his next movie. I am giving this movie a Five of Five, a masterpiece that is definitely worth the admission, must watch, and a classic for times to come. Did the writer like it? Yes. Was it epic? Yes. Should I watch it on IMAX? Yes, whenever available. Should I buy the blu-ray? Please buy it when it releases. Should I watch it with my mates? Definitely. Can I watch this with my children? Maybe, I won't recommend it though. Should I worry about blood? Nah, not really. Link to original article : http://wp.me/pA3Ie-5V