Chris At The Pictures

Godzilla is the new film from British Gareth Edwards, who broke onto the scene in 2010 with the low-budget creature-feature Monsters. Fifteen years after an accident at a nuclear power plant which claimed the life of his wife, Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) and his son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) become entangled in a conspiracy to harvest power from a mysterious life form found on the Japanese coast. Before long, all hell breaks loose and the creature escapes as humanity is confronted with an enemy that could send them 'back to the Stone Age!'

On a purely visual plain, the film looks extraordinary. The realistic colour palette of iron greys and cold blues means that when the inevitable flames of battle appear, they are remarkably striking. The special effects of the Godzilla creature and the destruction that occurs in its’ wake are truly something to behold. We’ve gotten so used to movies with big alien monsters (Avengers Assemble, Transformers) crashing into buildings that you’d think this would be nothing special, but when those buildings become a stream of splintering dominoes, then you have a reason to gasp. The word ‘epic’ doesn’t begin to cover the sheer scale. If you don’t see it in IMAX, you’re missing out. The sound design (provided by the ever-reliable Skywalker Sound) is incredible, proving simultaneously that explosions don’t have to sound boring and repetitive, and that the Godzilla roar is one of the greatest sounds ever used in a movie. 

Perhaps the most noticeable thing about the film is that, in a similar vein to Batman Begins, the film earns its ear-splitting finale by spending the proceeding hour/hour and a half doing its best to actually develop characters that you will still care about by the time the fighting starts. There is a great deal of screen time devoted to exploring their motivations, getting a feel for where they’ve come from, and then uses this to examine the climax from their perspective. The action set pieces are almost entirely shot either directly from a character’s own point of view or pans down from the monster to show the human characters interaction with it all. The air-drop sequence in particular (as shown in the preliminary teaser trailer) is a prime example of this.

While we’re on the subject of trailers, steer clear before seeing this film, because one or two of them will spoil some of the key surprises, and having only seen the teaser and initial theatrical trailer I’m glad I wasn’t in-the-know regarding certain elements of the story. The first half of the film itself feels like a teaser, and it is a long time before the Godzilla beast is fully revealed, but it was more than worth it. When he finally appears, it’s awe-inspiring, paying faithful homage to the 1954 original whilst avoiding the problems of the 1998 version.

As for the characters we spend time with before the crashing and banging starts, there’s plenty to enjoy here. Bryan Cranston proves once again that he is one of the greatest actors working today, his performance early on in the film creating a strong foundation from which the others can build. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is maturing into a fine actor, his uncertain but strong-willed demeanour reminding the viewer somewhat of his appearance in Kick-Ass, but with a gruffer edge. Elizabeth Olsen, taking a break from appearing in subversive, artsy films gives a functional appearance as Fords’ wife, and Ken Watanabe is great as usual, if a little underused.

While it’s certainly true that the plot jumps about the place a lot for the first half, dropping one character arc for another at a moment’s notice, it is this focus on character that elevates Godzilla above most monster schlock. Featuring an extremely enjoyable final act and a developing sense of threat throughout, it is a fitting rebirth of the ‘king of the monsters’ and gives director Gareth Edwards another chance to showcase his talent.

4.5 stars