Godzilla (2014) review.
Legendary’s Monsterverse kicked of 10 years ago today with a new version of the King of the Monsters.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
Godzilla
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Screenplay by Max Borenstein
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Juliette Binoche and Sally Hawkins
Godzilla (2014) Review
The Godzilla franchise was in a worldwide lull when Legendary Pictures launched its US-centric version of the King of the Monsters. Toho’s Millenium Era of Godzilla had wrapped up a decade earlier with the aptly titled Godzilla: Final Wars. The US had previously struck out in launching their own series for the character in 1998. This time, however, director Gareth Edwards brought the spectacle needed to re-launch the character into pop culture. Toho would follow suit two years later with Shin Godzilla. Legendary would expand their universe to include Kong and crossovers still going strong today.
But is it any good?
That’s a more complicated discussion. Edwards certainly infuses it with a grand scale that makes the monster moments stand out. It’s a trick he showed off in his 2010 film Monster…and later used to great effect in Rogue One. It’s such a calling card that moments into the latter’s trailer you’ll know it’s from the director of 2014’s Godzilla. On the other hand, most of the all-star cast struggle to make the human elements of the story more than passable at best.
Bryan Cranston leads the first act of Godzilla. His grieving widower is easily the most interesting of the human characters. He is done away with quickly and the focus of the film shifts to his son (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife (Elizabeth Olsen). That’s about the end of caring about the human element in this movie. Ken Watanabe does the best he can with the unfortunately named Dr. Serizawa…but a solid performance can’t overcome a misuse of the classic character name.
The Serizawa of 2014 stands for very different things than the Dr. Serizawa of 1954. Though both are presented as honorable men…the nature of this version of Godzilla dictates a completely different take on what is morally correct. Whereas the original Serizawa struggles with the potential fallout of his invention…and eventually sacrifices himself to keep it a secret while single-handedly destroying the monster, 2014’s Serizawa is on the monster’s side. His struggle is with the military that wants to destroy it…believing the monster is humanity’s only hope. It’s just not as interesting a story. Legendary’s Serizawa makes his own sacrifice in the 2019 sequel. A touching moment whose intent shows just how much of an opposite Legendary’s character is from Toho’s original.
Opposite doesn’t mean bad. We’ve seen a lot of versions of the kaiju king throughout the years. Legendary didn’t invent the protector Godzilla. The monster was protecting the world from other kaiju from nearly the beginning. It’s not a coincidence, however, that the failure of the human storylines often lines up strongly with movies where Godzilla is the hero. The best human characters we get in the series come from showcasing an antagonist Godzilla. 1954, vs. Destroyah, Minus One…a dangerous Godzilla raises the human element. Here, humans are largely reduced to exposition about Godzilla’s exploits as he battles two MUTOs.
The MUTOs are the other big anchor weighing Godzilla (2014) down. If you are going to go the protector route with the big guy…you need to have some interesting enemies to battle. These are not interesting enemies. It’s a problem that would pop up again in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. 2019’s King of the Monsters and Kong vs. Godzilla provide excellent foils for Gojira. These two non-descript enemies with zero personality don’t pass the test.
Still…it’s impossible to look at Legendary’s first offering and not recognize the foundation it sets for a series of continually successful movies. Despite being a middling movie at best…the latest offering was another box office success. The series shows no signs of slowing down…and it influenced Toho to get back into the Godzilla business. They’ve since released two of the best movies in the 70-year history of the franchise. With the US cornering the market on protector Godzilla…Toho has gone back to the devastating version of the character. It’s nice to live in a world where both options are available. Thanks, in large part, to the success of Godzilla (2014).
Scare Value
Godzilla (2014) establishes some important aspects of what would come to be known as the Monsterverse. In introduces us to Monarch and, more importantly, the protector version of Godzilla that we will see over and over again. Gareth Edwards does a good job showing the scope of the monsters. Unfortunately, this is another in a long line of kaiju movies whose human characters aren’t all that interesting. Cranston’s role has some juice to it. Once he’s out of the picture…fleeting appearances of Godzilla are the only real highlights.
3/5
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