I had a chance today to go see the new Godzilla movie. I remember going to see the 1998 version in theatres and what a let down that was. They spent so much on marketing I think they forgot to leave some for the movie. This time just from the trailers I have a better feeling going into this. I will also try not to spoil anything. Please note these are just my opinions and not the opinions of dragonbogger.com.
The movie stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Juliette Binoche and directed by Gareth Edwards. Bryan Cranston did a great job. But I am on the fence about Aaron. I have a hard time watching Elizabeth as well as all I can see is a Olsen twin when I look at her.
In the beginning you get a bit of the history that lets you know they have known about his existence in Hiroshima. They did a good job of explaining a bit of the history. It was interesting that Godzilla was not the first monster we get to see in this movie. I like the concept of the monsters just don’t know if I totally bought the way they all looked. Sometimes something looked a bit off to me. They are called MUTO: Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism. It is however no longer terrestrial; it is airborne.
While the look of the special effects and the sound was great. A few times I found things to look a bit fake. For example there is a scene when one of the monsters picks up a train, the train looks like a toy. Overall though I did find the special effects to be great. I love the way the buildings and bridges look when they get destroyed.
I found it nice that there were moments when you can see a moments of acceptance of what Godzilla is and to let him be himself. He is neither humanity’s friend nor enemy. He is simply out to right that balance of nature. There is also a moment when Taylor-Johnson is in the foreground, with Godzilla’s head laying nearby in a cloud of dust. The two seem to look at each other. It was kind of beautiful. I do wish there was more Godzilla in this movie and less about the people.
Overall I would give this movie 7.5/10. It was worth seeing on the big screen. To me it made up for the very bad 1998 version. Let me know what you thought about the movie, would love to hear your thoughts.
Photos from www.imdb.com