The many movies from Japan about the monster have always had an human element to it along with action of monster vs. monster.
Sadly in 1998, Roland Emmerich not only made Godzilla look like trash. But it felt like he was basically making a rip-off of Jurassic Park with awful acting.
Since then, we have had some disappointing, and some pretty damn good monster movies. One big one I would mention is Cloverfield. Another one with a lot of potential was Pacific Rim. One monster movie that I should mention is Monsters, which is what director Gareth Edwards did a few years ago which surely made him a contender to direct this blockbuster.
After making the visual effects for Monsters in his bedroom, he has made a film that involved 'The King Of The Monsters'. After seeing it, I have felt Edwards has definitely wanted to make it as human as the 1954 version. It has a great blend of monster action, a human story and a nice addition to using its atomic roots of the story.
There are great moments of homage to the history of the Godzilla franchise and his monster enemies. The design and size of Godzilla himself is quite impressive and you just have to go "wow, that is huge". It reminded of when I saw the machines and creatures of Pacific Rim. The scale of both these films just impressed me and it seems quite a few others.
As for the performances. Most of them are perfectly fine. Bryan Cranston does a great performance, but I think he was given the most interesting character. The only person that I would question about is Sally Hawkins who seemed to be forgotten after her screen arrival.
People who expect Emmerich's version will be quite surprised with this one. There is a great monster action, but it beautifully teases you throughout until it is unnecessary for Godzilla to take centre stage. But there is also a story that does not forget itself in the final act compared to others that just resorts to unnecessary explosions.
Overall, I felt it was a highly enjoyable experience that met my expectations, but not in the way that I expected. I absolutely love the look of Godzilla and you feel the size and scale of the design that Gareth Edwards and his team have made. You can see that they love the source material and gave it a great homage to the start of the Godzilla franchise from the 50's and 60's.
There is that Edwards touch from Monsters where you can feel for the creatures on screen as much as the humans involved. I think the characters could have been improved, but I am probably being greedy and wanting more from this.
Despite that, there is so much to like and I can see this being the first big hit of what could be a memorable summer. I also have to mention that the soundtrack is very good and probably the best I have heard this year.
And finally, it is more than a country mile better then Roland Emmerich's version.
Rating: 7/10
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