Stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn with Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche Directed by Gareth Edwards Well, that was somewhat expected… … and rather unexpected as well. Taking on a property like Godzilla and then using the name as a single word title for the whole movie, it does evoke a certain expectation - which you do get; probably not in the manner that you get it on screen. It’s a bit like the Alien franchise. There’s only so much you can do with those xenomorphs and you have to build the human story around them to make things work. Understanding their nature - why they exist - helps more than trying to figure where they came from. In that respect, Godzilla might be the same and director Gareth Edwards did take that approach to the material at hand. Then again, after 60 years of celluloid glory, how else would you tackle a property like Godzilla? First off, Godzilla does look amazing, towering over 300 feet tall - the biggest version yet - and I can understand the complaint from some Japanese factions that he looks ‘Fat’. The head and neck area in particular is fairly squashed unlike the original design - and far from the last American rendition - ultimately giving the massive beast a rather stout physique. What I thought was genius was keeping the appearance looking very much like the traditional man-in-suit design, whir having it be a completely computer generated creation. Props to effects companies MPC and Weta, as well as some assistance from performance-capture king, Andy Serkis - what better way to do a man-in-suit creature than to utilise the latest technology of performance capture. From what I’ve gathered, Serkis only contributed in terms of facial performance and some movements, not the entire performance of Godzilla on screen. Edwards does a brilliant job of building up Godzilla’s appearance within the movie itself and has the story more focussed on the human element, much like he did with his impressive debut film, Monsters (2010). And therein lies one of the surprises; the lead character is not who you’d expect it to be. Then again, in following the human element within the story also takes focus away from the titular creature, and that might disappoint a few fans who would expect more of a monster movie. In any case, the cast do well with Aaron Taylor-Johnson leading the way for the most part as he tries to make his way back to his wife (Elizabeth Olsen) and son, while mixing up with the troops led by David Strathairn’s Admiral Stenz. On the sidelines, bringing up the scientific side is Ken Watanabe’s Dr. Serizawa, so named after a lead character from the original Japanese film 60 years ago. Unfortunately, Watanabe isn’t given much to do except stand around and look seemingly confused at the events going on around him, and then give an alternate take on the the existence of Godzilla himself. Where the ladies are concerned, aside from Juliette Binoche, both Sally Hawkins and Elizabeth Olsen do seem under-utilised and sidelined to mere caricatures. Then again, when the creatures (yes, more than one) are around, the humans are fairly insignificant. Perhaps that’s the point. Much like with Monsters, Godzilla is a tour through a series of disaster zones with the occasional encounters with the creatures. The structure of the movie is deliberate and it’s no coincidence that the lead family is named Brody. Edwards is clearly showing his influences where the pacing and story-flow is concerned. He handles the human element well and brings a little soul to the creatures as well as he did in his own film years ago. The action beats are well choreographed too even if the destruction effects might be questionable on occasion (buildings destroyed in one moment may appear momentarily intact in a later moment). The score by Alexandre Desplat is effective in driving the movie and the emotions too. Still, taken as it is, Godzilla is impressive film-making and has it’s heart and soul in the right place. It makes up for the few flaws with gusto and ultimately delivers where it matters. It definitely proves that Edwards is a film-maker to be noticed, and given the right material, he's going to go far. Rating: ****
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