Godzilla (2014) Full Review

With Gareth Edwards' first big budget blockbuster (following 2010's Monsters, made with 0.3% of Godzilla's budget) and reboot of the popular Japanese monster, reception from audiences has been mixed, and rightly so. Godzilla is a mix of good and bad, but thankfully redeems itself through its positive notes.

Let's start with the good; Gareth Edwards' direction and the cinematography is superb, with some beautiful shots of the beasts and the various destroyed cities. With such shots, it creates a sense of beauty within the destruction. Add the glorious designs used on the creatures, and a brilliant new rendition of Godzilla, and further special effects (bar one scene very early on, which reeks of poor quality) and colour palettes making the film look extravagant. Sound design is also strong, mainly with the inclusion of the classic Godzilla scream. Finally, you have a great finale with the famous Gojira against his enemies. Alongside all the aspects mentioned above, it features such glory that really brings out the most from the film. It's just a pity that the film constantly tries to hide the titular character throughout the first hour.

Which brings us to the bad; the characters are hit and miss. The highly publicised Bryan Cranston is only second fiddle within the first act, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a rather one-note protagonist who just wants to go home, Elizabeth Olsen is sidelined to an incredibly large degree as a worker and mother, whilst Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins are reduced to exposition and repeated lines. There's also a constant focus on kids in danger, which never leads anywhere as we either never see said kids again or they are quickly forgotten about.

Godzilla does try and create an entire story based around events which happened in the 90s within this Earth's history, but it turns the creature into a protector rather than a destroyer - nature protecting humans as opposed to being against us. There's even a point where a boat and the mighty lizard floating off side by side, which does seem good within the plot but not so much in actual context. The story is quite simply Godzilla protects humans for other monsters after an unintentional feeding frenzy in the 50s. It's set up well within the opening credits, but is something which gets repeatedly mentioned over and over.

Godzilla may be lacking in supportive characters and strong story, but it makes up for it in design and layout. It may not be the big blockbuster expected from the trailers, but it's still a worthy watch, if only once. 7/10.