Godzillaby Wilson Morales
It’s a shame that in recent times, the last recollection that young audiences have of Godzilla is the 1998 film that director Roland Emmerich did, starring Matthew Broderick. Although it did respectively well financially with nearly $400 million overall, the film’s plot and acting was met negatively across the board with fans and critics.
Nearly 20 years later, here comes another “Godzilla” film for a new generation. Directed by Gareth Edwards, whose big claim prior to this film was directing, writing, and shooting the critically acclaimed indie film called “Monsters.” It’s a film that drew attention and had no stars to sell. It was all about the story. While the budget for his latest film is ten times bigger, Edwards has managed to bring in the same intensity, curiosity, and visual effects that won acclaim for the former. Despite the addition of 3-D and , this version of “Godzilla” pays homage to the original 1954 film that would make older fans of the genre and franchise proud.
Set in 1999, Japanese scientist Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and his co-worker Dr. Graham (Sally Hawkins) travel to the Philippines to investigate the findings in a cave that reveals the fossils of what is believed to be ancient dinosaurs, but Serizawa thinks there’s more to this; especially when something appears to have hatched out and head to the ocean. Whatever went into the water is causing a seismic reaction to a nuclear power plant in Japan where scientist Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) has sent his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) to examine. As the tremors causes a radiation where everyone has to evacuate, Joe to too late to save Sandra as she tells him to look after their young son, Ford.
15 years later, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), now a military explosives expert, is coming home to San Francisco to see his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen), a nurse, and young son Sam after being on duty for over a year. It isn’t long before he gets a calls notifying him that his father has been arrested in Japan for trespassing in his old home, which was quarantined after the power plant went down. As he heads back overseas to bail him out, Ford dreads going back to memory lane but Joe insists that he believes there was a cover-up that led to his wife’s death. Reluctantly going with his father gets the two arrested by security for trespassing the same area and the two are brought to the power plant, which is somehow functioning, for questioning. With Serizawa in the same area, it isn’t long before Joe’s theories are correct as some huge insect awakens from the ground, due to the radiation, and wrecks havoc before flying off to parts unknown, as it looks for its female mate to spawn more offsprings.
These creatures, called M.U.T.O.s (Mutant Unknown Terrestrial Organisms) seem to have brought out another dormant beast that Serizawa has called “Godzilla.” With Godzilla serving as the savior for humanity, as Serizawa assumes, Ford is stuck in the middle of this chaos as he tries to fight his way home, through these monster battles, from Japan to Hawaii to Las Vegas and then San Francisco where his family is at.
What’s good about the film is that Edwards loves to be coy with the audiences. We know it’s a monster film, but it takes nearly an hour before we see the big one. In the meantime, Edwards rather lets us be entertained through the eyes of the Brody family, who have shared a great of loss. From father to son, and from husband to wife, Joe and Ford want closure to what’s haunted them for years, and when the truth comes out, it’s bigger than either one of them expected.
When we see Godzilla, for anyone who has seen the original or even the campy one where it was Godzilla versus some other monsters, there isn’t much to tell. He’s big, roars like hell, and never loses a fight. So, in a way we know going in what the outcome will be go, but it still has to be played out. There is much about his background, and it’s assumed that Gareth didn’t want to explain his origins at the beginning. We’re seeing this through the Ford’s eyes as he experienced this madness through his childhood and has to go through it again as an adult. In his big role since ‘Breaking Bad’ finished its course on TV, Cranston, despite the mangled hair makeup, does fine as the father/scientist looking for answers. Whatever he can’t say, he conveys through his looks and emotions. Although he’s the lead actor, Taylor-Johnson plays the role with resignation, as if Edwards didn’t want him to act like Will Smith from “Independence Day.” In a way that works because the audience is used to see this sort of role play out like a one-man army, but Edwards wanted to make sure that it’s Godzilla who’s the story is centered on. Only Olsen is wasted. For such a talented actress, she wasn’t give much to do but play the dutiful wife looking to stay out of harm’s way and make worried facial expressions.
One can make an argument about logistics, but in sci-fi film, one has to leave room for ambiguity. We don’t really need a long drawn explanation about the M.U.T.O.s and how they got from A to B. Once the warfare begins with Godzilla is when we start to get our money’s worth. The 3-D conversion wasn’t necessary. There isn’t a scene that would have looked great at close-up range. While Godzilla may have a lack of screen presence, he makes up with his action and destruction. There’s one particular scene that will thrill the fans and that alone is the worth the wait. Nothing beats the original, but this version is good enough to go side-by-side with it.
