Bryan Cranston plays a scientist at a nuclear research facility in 1999 Japan, yada yada yada, tremors aren't natural disasters, blah blah blah, Godzilla. Seriously, I won't even bother with the premise, that's how straight forward this is. Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass) plays Cranston's grown-up son who, in 2014, is a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy with a wife and son of his own. Ken Wantanabe plays the Japanese scientist who dramatically says "Gojira". There's really no one else worth caring about in the movie, so let's get further into it.
This movie was marketed extremely well in that it included some really cool shots, gave very few plot details, and greatly mislead everyone into believing Heisenberg would be the focus of this movie. He's not. He's fantastic when he's there, but he's only on screen for a good 30-40 minutes before he's tossed aside, which doesn't so much irritate me as it does disappoint me.
The movie tries to focus on the people instead of the monster, which is ideal, but not when the people are so incredibly boring. Taylor-Johnson's character is so bland, I just googled "so bland" to see if I could rip a joke off the internet, and I found another review for this movie. Call me lazy, but I'm admitting it to you anyway. I couldn't bring myself to care about any single character. There's nothing particularly special about any of them. It's like the writers put all of their hearts and souls into making Cranston awesome, and then said "that's it for character development". Godzilla had better character development than Kick-Ass, and it's only because Wantanabe's character seemingly made stuff up for his backstory.
There were too many serious moments that came off as jokes, specifically to the kid in the audience who was basically heckling the entire movie (though he made some good points). Godzilla drives itself into a rut that it doesn't feel the need to get out of. The same cycle of events keeps going until they decide to end it. The sad part is, the entire movie feels like you're waiting for something different to happen. It never really pays off. I found myself checking the clock about an hour into the movie, and then several more times before it ended.
That said, every time I was about to write off this movie, some jaw-dropping moments occurred. What the film lacks in writing, it tries to make up for in visual effects, cinematography, and Bryan Cranston. Godzilla has never looked better, bigger, or awesome-r than now. But even when the king of monsters is on screen, there's a general consensus in the audience of "too little, too late". Granted, there were two particular moments towards the end that literally had the audience cheering and applauding that make the film half-worth it.
I don't remember the last time I've walked out of a theater where the audience had applauded during the movie that I disliked as much as this one (if that's ever even happened). It felt so generic, even for a monster movie, that I walked out of saying "I am not ever going to sit through that again." It's a movie with characters so wooden, you may as well root for the monster that burns them (came up with that by myself, no need for Google).
Every year there are movies that fill certain roles. Last year's Pacific Rim was a movie I thought was going to suck Transformer balls, but ultimately surprised me. I was really hoping that would be Godzilla, which lands in Great Gatsby territory of amazing trailers but mediocre results. It could even be the most over-hyped movie since Man of Steel. However, I went in with no expectations, with the exception of Heisenberg. And if you're super amped for this movie, you're going to walk out with a sour taste in your mouth.
Giant Monster Thriller: B
Average: C-
The movie tries to focus on the people instead of the monster, which is ideal, but not when the people are so incredibly boring. Taylor-Johnson's character is so bland, I just googled "so bland" to see if I could rip a joke off the internet, and I found another review for this movie. Call me lazy, but I'm admitting it to you anyway. I couldn't bring myself to care about any single character. There's nothing particularly special about any of them. It's like the writers put all of their hearts and souls into making Cranston awesome, and then said "that's it for character development". Godzilla had better character development than Kick-Ass, and it's only because Wantanabe's character seemingly made stuff up for his backstory.
There were too many serious moments that came off as jokes, specifically to the kid in the audience who was basically heckling the entire movie (though he made some good points). Godzilla drives itself into a rut that it doesn't feel the need to get out of. The same cycle of events keeps going until they decide to end it. The sad part is, the entire movie feels like you're waiting for something different to happen. It never really pays off. I found myself checking the clock about an hour into the movie, and then several more times before it ended.
That said, every time I was about to write off this movie, some jaw-dropping moments occurred. What the film lacks in writing, it tries to make up for in visual effects, cinematography, and Bryan Cranston. Godzilla has never looked better, bigger, or awesome-r than now. But even when the king of monsters is on screen, there's a general consensus in the audience of "too little, too late". Granted, there were two particular moments towards the end that literally had the audience cheering and applauding that make the film half-worth it.
I don't remember the last time I've walked out of a theater where the audience had applauded during the movie that I disliked as much as this one (if that's ever even happened). It felt so generic, even for a monster movie, that I walked out of saying "I am not ever going to sit through that again." It's a movie with characters so wooden, you may as well root for the monster that burns them (came up with that by myself, no need for Google).
Every year there are movies that fill certain roles. Last year's Pacific Rim was a movie I thought was going to suck Transformer balls, but ultimately surprised me. I was really hoping that would be Godzilla, which lands in Great Gatsby territory of amazing trailers but mediocre results. It could even be the most over-hyped movie since Man of Steel. However, I went in with no expectations, with the exception of Heisenberg. And if you're super amped for this movie, you're going to walk out with a sour taste in your mouth.
Giant Monster Thriller: B
Average: C-
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