Godzilla (Film Review)

What I truly enjoy about Godzilla is its fine balancing of realism with tradition and tribute.

Unlike earlier Godzilla films there are no space aliens coming to destroy Earth, nor is there a Monster Island home to many giant creatures.  Instead, the story follows the lives of Brody family; mainly nuclear physicist Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) and his son Lieutenant Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).  After tragically losing his wife in a Nuclear Plant collapse, caused by an unnatural earthquake, Joe becomes obsessed with figuring out what created such a powerful tremor.  Joe convinces Ford to sneak in with him to the now quarantined Plant vicinity, only to discover it’s been transformed into a secret facility.  They’re both captured by facility guards and taken inside, where Joe’s extensive knowledge of the plant captures the attention of scientist Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe).  Dr. Serizawa and his colleagues have been secretly studying the source of the earthquake, a massive cocoon that’s been feeding off the radiation.  Disaster strikes however when the cocoon hatches, revealing…NOT Godzilla, but a giant winged creature referred to as a MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) which escapes in search of its mate.  Serizawa recruits Joe and Ford to help track the creature; meanwhile, our title monster awakens from the ocean depths in order to hunt down its MUTO prey.

Godzilla goes for a more grounded approach, using “science” to explain the monster’s origins and why they've been inactive for so long.  You could say that approach is similar to the infamous Godzilla of 1998, where the monster (derogatorily called Zilla by fans of the original films) resembles and acts more parallel to a dinosaur (albeit a large one).  Yet here’s where the 2014 film differs: the Godzilla presented here is the same (or at least near identical) to that of the original films; both in size, power, sound, and personality…only the viewers don’t realize that till the end.  The 2014 film creates a fear for fans of the original series that it has reduced Godzilla to the likes of Zilla; which, as strange as it seems, ultimately works towards the film’s benefit along with creating some rather interesting scenarios.

Two prime examples of the film successfully using such tactics are Godzilla’s Atomic Breath and nigh invulnerability.  In the original films, Godzilla possesses both the ability to fire a blue blast of atomic energy and survive just about every attack thrown at him (Godzilla 2000 even explains his invulnerability by stating he can continually regenerate cells).  By the final battle of the film, Godzilla is not only getting trampled by his two opponents but has yet to use any energy blast.  Godzilla goes down for the count and I assume the film has scrapped those concepts for a more realistic approach, only to be surprised in the most awesome way possible that he does indeed have Atomic Breath (viewers began clapping wildly at such a revelation and for good reason too).  The concept of introducing such an ability late into the film is brilliantly executed; fans of the original series (such as myself) will jump for joy at the nostalgic awesomeness, while those new to the series (such as my fiancée) will be entertainingly surprised at the introduction of Godzilla’s adrenaline invigorating ability.  The same idea is also applied to Godzilla’s invulnerability, as both fans and newcomers don’t know if he’ll be killed off or not; providing extra tension and excitement to the final battle.

Speaking of the final battle, it’s completely awesome!  Throughout Godzilla, every time a monster battle occurs the scene cuts to some other showcasing of it (such as some blurry news footage).  While the cuts are well executed, I couldn't help but feel I was being snubbed some awesome battles.  I kept thinking, “Come on! This is a film about giant monsters; give us some giant monster fights!”  Eventually, it became clear the film was setting up for the final battle, but I was afraid all the buildup and expectations would only be met with an anticlimactic ending.  Well, I was wrong, and not simply due to the awesome action scenes, but also because the cinematography is magnificent.  The final battle’s sound, atmosphere, lighting, and camerawork all come brilliantly together.  Now to be fair the entire film has its fair share of great cinematography; such as when a MUTO sets off a chain reaction of exploding planes, causing people to scream in panic…only for those people to go dead silent as Godzilla’s foot (larger than all the planes combined) comes crashing down right next to them, almost as if their panicked screams couldn't emphasize the true terror of such a monster. 

Those earlier scenes can’t compare, however, to the final battle’s amazing cinematography; such as when Ford and other troopers parachute into San Francisco, now a hellish warzone for the monsters.  Destruction is presented everywhere through broken skyscrapers, clouds of debris blotting out the sky, and rampant fires providing glowing blurs of light.  The paratroopers light flares in order to see their surroundings, falling from the sky like meteors into the fiery pits of hell; Ford barely avoids crashing into Godzilla struggling with one of the MUTOs.  The entire scene is given a bone-chilling composition, eerily reminiscent of the music played in 2001: A Space Odyssey where the astronauts come face to face with the monolith.  The entire scene reminds me of an exciting mixture of Apocalypse Now and 2001; a statement that, from me, is a very high form of flattery.

The film ends with Godzilla walking back into the sea after giving one last epic roar.  A news helicopter follows him with the caption “King of the Monsters.  The City’s Savior?” while people cheer on the creature.  Is it an incredibly cheesy scene?  Yes, it is.  Do I care?  Not at all.  Godzilla is both a fine reboot and a touching tribute to the classic days of the monster madness.  It balances realism with homage while avoiding mistakes lesser Godzilla films have made in the past.  It has great cinematography, awesome battles, and is just a darn treat to watch!  I’d recommend it to both old fans of the series and newcomers, coming in fresh to be properly introduced to the King of the Monsters.