Godzilla (2014)

'Godzilla' was released back in 2014 and while very enjoyable upon the first viewing (In IMAX no less) I decided to take a look back after seeing 'Kong: Skull Island' in preparation and saw many more little cracks here and there and overall, I was very unsatisfied even by Kaiju film standards. First off, yes the film does a much better job than 1998's attempt at an American 'Godzilla' film, but in quoting fellow reviewer James Rolfe it's hard to say, but at least the 1998 film had more going on in front of the screen than the 2014 Legendary outing.

I understand the film is a reboot of sorts or for many an introduction to the creature and for 99% of the film, it's all a set up to the future films of this 'shared universe' but the film is almost ALL build up and little to no payoff other than some slightly interesting popcorn action. Godzilla himself is well designed and he looks and acts like the Big G we all know and love...but where is he half the time? Or hell, not even half the time it's almost all of the two hour plus running time and we barely see him. The film, like the 1998 outing focuses instead on many of the human characters, which is one of the biggest stumbles this film and many American monster movies commit.

Not only do they kill off the most interesting and well written character in the whole script within the first act, but everyone else is bland and just sit around talking about how they will kill Godzilla. I know this is typical of the classic Japanese versions as well, but here they focus on these scenes far too long making their blandness stand out more so than in the originals. The newly introduced creatures known as the MUTO are also quite generic and boring in their design and I don't understand why the film focuses so much on them. They're just insect like creatures with glowing red eyes and when Godzilla is finally going to confront one...it cuts to black and we only see the aftermath of their battle. What the hell?

In retrospect, I may have been a little more harsh on 'Kong' than I should have been. At least that film gets going right from the start and the characters have more personality to them than in 'Godzilla'. This movie does not hold up very well I'm sad to say. It has very little monster action, boring characters, and after the first act which is admittedly very strong with great pacing and tension it all goes downhill from there. It's not flat out horrible, don't get me wrong but It was very jarring to say the least to see the film again without the nostalgia glasses.

'GODZILLA' (2014):

((C-))