America has brought bad “Godzilla.” Did they do a good job this time? J.P. has his take on the comeback.
“GODZILLA”
Warner Bros. Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for “intense sequences of destruction, mayhem and creature violence”
Run Time: 123 minutes
Studio Synopsis:
The world’s most revered monster is reborn as Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures unleash the epic action adventure “Godzilla.” From visionary new director Gareth Edwards (“Monsters”) comes a powerful story of human courage and reconciliation in the face of titanic forces of nature, when the awe-inspiring Godzilla rises to restore balance as humanity stands defenseless.
Gareth Edwards directs “Godzilla,” which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Kick-Ass”), Oscar® nominee Ken Watanabe (“The Last Samurai,” “Inception”), Elizabeth Olsen (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”), Oscar® winner Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient,” “Cosmopolis”), and Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine”), with Oscar® nominee David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck.,” “The Bourne Legacy”) and Bryan Cranston (“Argo,” TV’s “Breaking Bad”).
Edwards directs from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, story by David Callaham, based on the character “Godzilla” owned and created by TOHO CO., LTD. Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni are producing with Mary Parent and Brian Rogers. Patricia Whitcher and Alex Garcia are serving as executive producers, alongside Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira.
The behind-the-scenes creative team includes Oscar®-nominated director of photography Seamus McGarvey (“Anna Karenina,” “Atonement”); production designer Owen Paterson (“The Matrix” trilogy); editor Bob Ducsay (“Looper”); Oscar®-nominated costume designer Sharen Davis (“Dreamgirls,” “Ray,” “Django Unchained”); and Oscar®-winning visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel (the “Lord of the Rings” films). The score is being created by Oscar®-nominated composer Alexandre Desplat (“Argo,” “The King’s Speech”).
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIu85WQTPRc’] J.P.’s Take:You can wipe your mind clean of the 1998 spectacle called “Godzilla,” that America-made movie is merely a whimsical take on the beloved monster God. In comparison it’s simply no match for the 2014 update, which is a resurrection or even a revival rather than a sequel. If you were to pit the two against one another in an all out brawl, guaranteed this new and improved mega monster will prove victorious.
From 1954 to present, Godzilla has stared in 28 films worldwide and has a fan base that stretches the four corners of the Earth. So it’s evident in “Godzilla” 2014 the filmmakers — director Gareth Edwards (“Monsters,” “In the Shadow of the Moon”) and writers Max Bornstein (upcoming “Seventh Son”) and Dave Callaham (“The Expendables,” and its sequels) — have not lost their affection for the behemoth despite numerous incarnations.
“Godzilla” 2014 is rooted in Japanese noir and by far pays homage to Ishiro Honda’s stylistics, which are brooding in Kaiju mythos. Being that, this is a creature feature it’s all about creating the perfect mood to set up for an epic reveal. I was taken in by many of the chaotic scenes as entire cities were being demolished by Godzilla. You’d be surprised at the devastation to the San Francisco Bay Area, where this screening took place.
You catch murky glimpses of him battling a new creature called M.U.T.O. (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism), coined by Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), in silhouette partially shrouded by dust and smoke. You also get a real sense of scale as you follow the military in its efforts to bring down the gargantuan beasts. Watching those moments call to mind “Cloverfield” or even Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” with its handheld camera view points. One of my favorite scenes involved an M.U.T.O. diving out of the clouds as it took down an aircraft carrier. That scene is shot from a perspective as though it was diving down on me and I was its victim. All of this is filmed in eye whopping 3D, which is the perfect format for such a film.
Yet the massive scopes of these scenes are only matched by the smallness of its human moments and co-stars. Although much of the uproar comes later in the movie, this latest rendition draws on the human story in the beginning that builds in tension and anxiety as nuclear physicists Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) and his wife Sandra Brody (Juliet Binoche) race to unearth the cause of several quakes near the Janjira nuclear plant. In the midst of their findings, tragedy strikes as a supposed nuclear melt down occurs, leaving their son Ford Brody (CJ Adams) without a parent. Flash forward 15 years later, Naval Lieutenant Ford Brody (now played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who has a family of his own, bails his father out of jail for trespassing on Janjira grounds. Joe Brody’s obsession with the incident drove him back to the plant to search for clues.
After years of digging and searching, Joe comes across a government cover-up, which has him suspicious of the nuclear reactors crash. This was obviously not an ordinary melt down. Something underground had caused this. “Godzilla” shifts gears on another front where similar seismic activity is found stemming from caves in the Philippines. Blackouts are happening all over Japan, while Dr. Ichiro Serizawa and partner Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) discover the cause. A second creature powered by electricity and feeds on radiation is found. A bit of humor breaks through as Elle Brody (Elizabeth Olsen) tells her husband Ford before leaving for Japan to bail his father out, “It’s not the end of the world.” Little does she know that time is coming. The audience of course can figure out what happens next.
I watched the film with SIDEWALKS ENTERTAINMENT’s executive producer and co-host Richard R. Lee. He has watched many of the “Godzilla” films and has been a fan all his life. He is so grateful that the American version got it right this time when it came to the beloved creature. “He doesn’t look like that stupid lizard,” a reference he made on the 1998 USA remake that was directed by Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day”). While he didn’t care for the M.U.T.O (creatures that appear to resemble ‘The Bugs’ in “Starship Trooper” films), Lee was surprised that this latest installment isn’t an origin film, where we witness how Godzilla was born. In a way, he considers this film as a sequel or another “episode” of the long running film series … with higher budget, better special effects, and an American cast. It is like Godzilla has returned from a personal private hiatus to battle another set of monsters like he has done since film #2. Please keep in mind, he is not complaining at all; he enjoyed the film. He thought it was going to be the beginning of a new, rebooted “Godzilla” storyline, like we have seen in recent “Batman” and “Spider-Man” reboots. After watching the film, Lee told me it felt like it was a homecoming to the “Godzilla” franchise. He knows hardcore fans of the series will appreciate and cheer this classic monster battle. As for casting, according to Lee, “Breaking Bad’s” Cranston is only actor who really stands out in the film, whereas leads Taylor-Johnson and Olsen are simply victims to the surroundings. As for directing, Lee thought Edwards truly gave the “Godzilla” fans a taste of what’s old, yet new again. In some way, he played it safe, while Emmerich, at least (Lee looking for positives here), tried to truly reboot the pop culture icon in his 90’s film, except the back lashed Emmerich and his team got over the look of Godzilla were their biggest failure. Simply put, Lee says Edwards made a classic “Godzilla” film. The Japanese hero has returned a little fatter, but badder than ever.
Personally I’m a huge fan of creature features, yet only followed “Godzilla” off and on over a few years. After viewing this particular version, I can safely say that if any of you weren’t fans to begin with, you will be by the end of this film. As for long time fans, it will stoke your fires all over again and even reintroduce the gargantuan in a fresh light. All I can say is I was glued to my seat and wasn’t moving until the very end.
[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxg4dVEH9Dw’]