Godzilla

This is easily going to be my favorite movie of the summer. I can tell already. Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Million Ways to Die in the West...no. Godzilla. Now why would I give it 4/5 instead of 5/5 (which I gave Winter Soldier) if I liked it more? Well, I'm trying to give an honest review and rate it how I think a non-Godzilla fan would appreciate it. Personally, my own rating, it was amazing and I'd give it 5/5. However, I'm trying to remain impartial.

Yes, I am a Godzilla fanboy. My grandmother (God rest her soul) introduced me to Godzilla movies around the age of 6. She was a big fan of the old Japanese monster movies, and the first one I ever saw was Godzilla vs Megalon. I was hooked, and been a fan ever since. The franchise has had ups and downs between it's Japanese films and it's original American counterpart (lowest point) but I've always remained a fan. This film was like being rewarded for your faith.

Gareth Edwards directs a film that is almost what Cloverfield SHOULD have been. It is very people oriented, but it is not about people. It is about people caught up as collateral in a titanic struggle between forces of nature. Like if a hurricane fought a tidal wave. We are essentially spectators. The humans play well, Ken Wantanabe and Brian Cranston are excellent as a biologist and nuclear physicist respectively, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen actually have good on-scene chemistry together as a young married military couple.

Early on, though, Edwards establishes just how powerless and tiny we are. First with "earthquakes", or what seems to be. Later with panning shots of flares that even launched high into the air from rooftop barely make it to Godzilla's chest. There's another great scene where people are evacuating San Francisco using the Golden Gate Bridge, and the massive structure becomes small compared to the awesome behemoth that rises next to it.

Edwards crafts a film very much in the vibe of the original. However, he pays homage to many of the great sci-fi and monster films that have shaped the genre. I don't want to give to much away, but Wantanabe's character, Dr. Serizawa, is named after the man who eventually creates the Oxygen Destroyer in the first Godzilla film that kills the great beast. Taylor-Johnson's last name is Brody, the first and most obvious of many respects paid to Spielberg and his films. The movie itself, when you start to look at how tiny and powerless we are, really becomes quite frightening at certain points. All we can do is run, and hide, and hope for the best. All our military might, from the lowliest pistol to nuclear weapons, mean nothing. All of our radar, satellites, and advanced wargear ranging from tanks to aircraft carriers to hypersonic jets and the destructive weapons we've created for their use...mean nothing. "The arrogance of man is in thinking we can control nature, when really the opposite is true" Wantanabe states at one point in the film. Really, he's correct; and that's what makes the film frightening. The movie ends with a showing of still water, reminding the audience that most of the world is ocean, and we haven't even begun to discover what lurks below the surface.

Some may claim it tries to be "too serious". But to those people I say watch the original black and white film. Put yourself into the mindset of the average person at the dawn of the atomic age. The original is quite terrifying in that perspective. Like I said, Edwards pays tribute. Characters may be called "one dimensional" but it isn't really about the people here. It is about what it would be like to suddenly realize the world that you thought you mastered, didn't exist. Human beings, the great ape, king of the world...dethroned and rendered to frighted children one and all. Some say the combat might have been too short, but as someone who has seen every Godzilla, Gamera, Rodan, etc etc monster flick...wanton destruction with zero story gets old. This is an introduction for many who may not know the tale of Godzilla or what he's about. For a reboot, or whatever you might call it, it was perfect. The fight will probably be one of the best battles I see in film all year.

Some scenes have dark humor moments, like Godzilla's first confrontation with his enemy, the M.U.T.O. (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) is cut away from "in person" and viewed on TV, on CNN. The disbelief the scene garners from watchers is darkly humorous. But really, how would you react if you saw giant beasts fighting on CNN? And no, I don't mean the fat cats in Congress we see on there every day.

It's hard to go into why I loved the film so much without spoiling it, but really the trailers lead you astray to believe one thing and the movie is something else. However one of the things I can talk about is Godzilla himself. And man...he looks incredible. This is one of my favorite Godzilla designs, and the King himself even seems to give off a feral emotion. The constantly refer to him throughout the film as the "Alpha Predator" and seeing him on film and what he does...the title fits.

Like I said, personally this movie is a 5/5. For me. I give it 4/5 because that's what my wife, someone who has never seen a Godzilla film and had zero interest until this movie, gave it. I highly recommend it, whether you like the King of the Monsters or not. It's a fantastic film. I went in with high expectations and, as someone who is prone to disappointment due to high expectations, I was not disappointed...at all. It's his world, it's his territory, we're just allowed to live here.