Godzilla: Review

Back in 1999, a Japanese nuclear power plant collapsed due to huge seismic activity below ground. Fast-forward to the year 2014, and scientist Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) who worked at the plant is determined to disprove any notions that it was merely an earthquake, and in turn discover what exactly killed his loving wife. Meanwhile, Joe's son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is trying to live a normal life with his wife and son, who all see Joe as a crack-pot theorist. The events of 1999 soon begin repeating however, and it seems as if something far worse than an earthquake rests beneath the ground. 

Godzilla

Godzilla sets up a very unsettling, ominous tone from the start which is largely maintained throughout. Although there are numerous scenes of action, it's far from just an action movie. The actual creature itself only appears on-screen for a small portion of the entire run-time, and the rest of this is spent focusing on the characters and the building of tension. Some may be disappointed to hear that a movie titled 'Godzilla' only features the monster sparingly, but this is definitely not a negative. Due to the mere occasional glimpses of a tail or leg, the film manages to keep you engaged throughout far more than if it showed everything within the opening moments. When you do eventually get to see the destructive creature (or possibly creatures) that are attacking, Godzilla does an incredible job of conveying scale. This is the largest Godzilla has ever been featured in a movie, and it definitely shows, making the wait more than worthwhile. 

Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston)

When it's not focusing on colossal monsters fighting, the movie places a considerable focus on the human aspects of a nuclear disaster, and this is where the film fell down a little. None of the actors were blatantly awful, but nobody really stood out as particularly memorable. The critically-acclaimed Bryan Cranston was advertised as if he would hold a key role, but his interesting character of Joe only really features for the first quarter of Godzilla, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson being the main protagonist for the remainder of the film. 

The final segment of the film however is when things really begin to pick-up. Yes, the gradual build-up is relevant and necessary to engross an audience, but without a considerable pay-off, all of this would be pointless. Luckily, Godzilla delivers in masses. The gigantic fight-scenes near the end are better than any featured within last year's Pacific Rim and more than make up for any 'slower' moments, especially the very final scenes of the film. The action comes close to being a little too campy, but it's incredibly entertaining regardless. 

Verdict
Godzilla is a slow-burner in its build-up, but more than makes up for it with the closing scenes. Regardless of the lack of superb acting or constant action, it's a consistently entertaining film which managed to reach my expectations, even if it didn't completely surpass them. 

"The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in their control...

and not the other way around."