Godzilla Review

When it was first announced that there was going to be another Godzilla remake, my first reaction was not a positive one. Another Godzilla movie? Another remake? This won't go well. However, that all changed instantly the second I saw the trailer. Holy cow! This looked awesome! Suddenly I didn't care that Godzilla had been done a hundred times. I wanted to see it! And as more trailers came out, the desire to see it increased exponentially. Yes, studios should take notes on the advertising techniques of Godzilla. That was done to perfection. All this means that, going into this movie, my expectations were through the roof. I am happy to report that, yes, Godzilla is as awesome as the trailers made it out to be.

Plot of this movie? OH HECK NO!!! You ain't getting that out of me. I mean, it's not like it's super complicated, deep and mysterious. It's just that I didn't know anything about the plot going in and that was a huge part of the experience. In a day where nearly every movie gives away the whole plot in the trailer, I loved how the Godzilla trailers made me super excited for the movie without giving away any of the plot. So I'm not going to ruin that experience for my readers. There's Godzilla. There's tragedy. That's all I'm telling you. What I will say is that this movie is true to the character of Godzilla. I'm fairly positive that if you are a fan of all the Godzilla material out there, you will be pleased with what they have done in this. Also, it's a good homage to old disaster movies. I'm not an expert on older movies, but a friend I went with is and this friend was raving at how awesome Godzilla was because of that. So kudos there.

Now speaking of tragedy, what I really liked about this movie was the human aspect of it. There's a lot of movies out there that have epic battles in them and yet all they focus on is those epic battles. They don't focus at all on what's happening to the people around them. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Movies like this are enjoyable. But in Godzilla it's the other way around. The main focus of the movie here isn't on Godzilla himself. It's on the people around him. Thus this becomes less of a monster movie and more of a disaster movie. That I loved. And what made that work so well was the cast. There's a lot of big names in this movie, but the main focus in this movie is on two up and coming stars -- Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will know these two who have been as the twins Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in the upcoming movie event Avengers: Age of Ultron. Taylor-Johnson is known by some as the star of the Kick-A-- movies while Olsen is indeed the younger sister of the Olsen Twins Mary Kate and Ashley. I've been very impressed with Elizabeth. She is a great actress who is starting to overshadow her sisters. Her and Taylor-Johnson play husband and wife in this movie and both of them give knock-out performances that make me excited for their roles in Age of Ultron.

Some have complained that Godzilla focuses too much on these human aspects and not enough on Godzilla himself. They will say that Godzilla is barely in the movie. To that I say that they should just go watch Pacific Rim again and there they will get the movie that focuses mostly on the monsters. I loved how Godzilla went about things. And in comparison, this aspect means that this movie is lot more like World War Z instead of Pacific Rim. But that said, I don't get the complaint that Godzilla is barely in the movie. He gets plenty of screen-time. Especially in the later part of the movie. And when he does, HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only is he just so totally awesome, but visually Godzilla is breathtaking. The CGI for Godzilla is some of the best CGI I have ever seen. If this movie doesn't get nominated for best visual effects in the Oscars, I will think there is something completely wrong with the Academy. And right along with this, all the other technical aspects of the movie were also brilliant. I'm talking about cinematography, lighting, music, etc. Very well made movie even if you were to put aside the great plot and great acting.

Overall, I am very pleased with how the summer of 2014 is turning out. And of course I am cheating a bit by adding Captain America: The Winter Soldier to this tally, even though it is an April release. Going into this summer, I was super excited about the line-up and so far it has been 3/3 with Cap 2, Spider-Man 2 and Godzilla. Let's keep this going! Yes, Godzilla is a movie I was super excited for. Yes, Godzilla has earned great reviews thus far. Yes, Godzilla lives up to the hype with both the trailers and the early reviews. Yes, Godzilla is one of the best monster/disaster movies I have ever seen. I am labeling Godzilla as a must-see movie that will certainly be one of the movies that will stand out when we reflect on this year in movies. I am awarding Godzilla a very strong 9/10. And that almost feels too low, but that's what I'm going with. Go see it! Now!!