Waiting for 'Godzilla': The Magical Monster Mystery Tour
With Godzilla shaping up to be as big as the Beatles – at least on screen, where it has grossed almost $200 million worldwide in its first weekend – there are plenty of things to be happy about. Many of them are related to the ending of the film and the types of snacks available at the theater snack bar.
The plot holes in the film, as large as the monsters themselves, would be forgivable if the movie delivered on what people want to see in a monster movie – the monsters, preferably fighting and destroying well-known landmarks. Instead, the movie attempts to tell the story through one family, and the film’s two biggest names, Godzilla and Bryan Cranston, spend less time on screen than the Kristen Stewart in male form lead, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Elizabeth Olsen does a credible job of holding things together and creating some emotional space, but the rest of the cats is really restricted to one of two emotions – the main characters are in business mode with no fear of these giant monsters that have just appeared as far as most of the world is concerned, and the extras run and scream before getting squished. No one expects Godzilla to have a good storyline, and that is okay. The problem is that the monsters in this film are really incidental with many of the fight scenes shown in the background as the people try to do something or other, mostly run away or point what will clearly be ineffective weapons at the monsters. It would’ve also been okay to give the people the main story line if they were actual characters instead of so much cookie cutter fodder that do a disservice to stereotypes. Trying to explain Godzilla as an alpha predator and then not have him actually be a predator makes this film a dismal portrayal of an iconic character. Even with the “sagacity” of the Japanese researcher, the film does nothing to further the legacy of Godzilla as a monster that came of age because of the movies' connection to the nuclear bombings of Japan. |
See Romney's Review of Godzilla at Movie Pilot
Read about Godzilla as predator and balance keeper
|