With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
He pulls the spitting high tension wires down
Helpless people on a subway train
Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them
He picks up a bus and he throws it back down
As he wades through the building toward the center of town
Oh no, they say he's got to go. Go go Godzilla!
Godzilla: The King of Monsters! Without a doubt, the most legendary and the coolest of all movie monsters in the history of film! This icon of classic cinema is celebrating his 60th anniversary this year. Godzilla has appeared in so many sequels I don't even know how or where to start counting! But no matter how corny or cheesy the sequels were, no one could forgive Roland Emmerich for his 1998 radioactive turd of a remake. To call the film bad is an understatement. To call it a disappointment is not even close to accurate. It's nearly unwatchable! Leave it to American cinema to desecrate what filmmakers overseas got right from the start. But with the right cast, solid writing and the perfectly cast director, America just might be able to make a pretty darn great Godzilla film.
Like with each season of 24, Godzilla films don't really depend too heavily on the plot because it will most likely stays the same. Godzilla is on the loose and either the humans have to kill him before he wipes them out or some other huge monster wipes them both out. And luckily in this film, it's the latter! That's all you really have to say. Forget complexity, let's get down to the monster smack-down we've been waiting for!
Problem is is that it takes its sweet time getting to the juicy action and that's the biggest problem many people will have with this film. If it's Pacific Rim 2 you're looking for, then you're going to be seriously let down (save the last 25 minutes though). The film doesn't have epic battle after epic battle strung together like with Pacific Rim. The first two thirds of the film is all very tense buildup with some terrifically exciting action sequences peppered throughout the many dialogue and dramatic scenes.
For me though, I kind of loved the sweet, sweet anticipation they built up. It made the climactic finale even more rewarding. And some of the dramatic moments had a definite dramatic weight and emotion that actually kind of got to me. Particularly an early scene between Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche. Expertly handled, somber and bittersweet.
All of the acting was well handled. You could tell that all of the actors took this film seriously and it shows. Ken Watanabe can do no wrong in my eyes. Elizabeth Olsen was really good also. Aaron Taylor Johnson was fine, but to me he felt like Sam Neil in Jurassic Park. You know what I mean? He might have the title of "main character" but no one who walked out of Jurassic Park walked out talking about Sam Neil. They were either talking about the dinosaurs or Jeff Goldblum. With Godzilla, you're going to walk out talking about Godzilla and Godzilla's awesome fire-breath. Speaking of Godzilla, let's talk about the star of the show (even though he's only in it for like 35 minutes).
Godzilla looked unbelievable. I adore his design. Instead of making him look like a chicken-walking iguana with a fat head, they returned to the original design and improved upon it. The detail put into him is astounding. He looks absolutely massive! The King of Monsters isn't fully seen until perhaps halfway through, but when we finally hear his mighty roar I was instantly brought back to the first time I heard the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. It was just... wow.
And they brought back his fire-breathing! During the final battle, (which is worth the price of admission alone), I was just waiting on the edge of my seat for him to let it loose. And when he does, oh boy is it a sight to behold! During the battles' climax, there is a scene that was so unbelievably satisfying and beyond words incredible that the members of the audience started clapping and cheering! I of course joined them because I too felt that way. I just had never been to a movie that made an audience break out into cheering before the end credits before! Something about that really made me smile when that happened.
I feel like this could be the Jurassic Park for a new generation of movie fanatics. That's a huge statement but I do believe that Godzilla could be the next "landmark/defining film" of the 2010 decade. Right alongside Inception and The Avengers.
Problem is is that it takes its sweet time getting to the juicy action and that's the biggest problem many people will have with this film. If it's Pacific Rim 2 you're looking for, then you're going to be seriously let down (save the last 25 minutes though). The film doesn't have epic battle after epic battle strung together like with Pacific Rim. The first two thirds of the film is all very tense buildup with some terrifically exciting action sequences peppered throughout the many dialogue and dramatic scenes.
For me though, I kind of loved the sweet, sweet anticipation they built up. It made the climactic finale even more rewarding. And some of the dramatic moments had a definite dramatic weight and emotion that actually kind of got to me. Particularly an early scene between Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche. Expertly handled, somber and bittersweet.
All of the acting was well handled. You could tell that all of the actors took this film seriously and it shows. Ken Watanabe can do no wrong in my eyes. Elizabeth Olsen was really good also. Aaron Taylor Johnson was fine, but to me he felt like Sam Neil in Jurassic Park. You know what I mean? He might have the title of "main character" but no one who walked out of Jurassic Park walked out talking about Sam Neil. They were either talking about the dinosaurs or Jeff Goldblum. With Godzilla, you're going to walk out talking about Godzilla and Godzilla's awesome fire-breath. Speaking of Godzilla, let's talk about the star of the show (even though he's only in it for like 35 minutes).
Godzilla looked unbelievable. I adore his design. Instead of making him look like a chicken-walking iguana with a fat head, they returned to the original design and improved upon it. The detail put into him is astounding. He looks absolutely massive! The King of Monsters isn't fully seen until perhaps halfway through, but when we finally hear his mighty roar I was instantly brought back to the first time I heard the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. It was just... wow.
And they brought back his fire-breathing! During the final battle, (which is worth the price of admission alone), I was just waiting on the edge of my seat for him to let it loose. And when he does, oh boy is it a sight to behold! During the battles' climax, there is a scene that was so unbelievably satisfying and beyond words incredible that the members of the audience started clapping and cheering! I of course joined them because I too felt that way. I just had never been to a movie that made an audience break out into cheering before the end credits before! Something about that really made me smile when that happened.
I feel like this could be the Jurassic Park for a new generation of movie fanatics. That's a huge statement but I do believe that Godzilla could be the next "landmark/defining film" of the 2010 decade. Right alongside Inception and The Avengers.
Final Report: Godzilla is a lumbering, larger-than-life beast of a film that takes it's time to get rolling. But when it gets going, it's impossible to get it to stop! With some of the most spectacular special effects I've ever seen and a perfect balance of humanity and destruction, Godzilla is one summer blockbuster that must be witnessed on the biggest of screens. What else can I say other than, go go Godzilla!
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