Godzilla (2014)

⭐ 9/10

This is one of my all-time favorite movies, though I readily admit it's not perfect. It's what got me into Godzilla and other monster movies, except I guess it wasn't even the movie that did that; it was the trailer! Seriously, that trailer is one of the greatest 2 minutes of cinema you will ever see. I had no connection to Godzilla beforehand, but the moment I saw that trailer, I knew I was a fan. 

And much like the trailer, this movie uses Godzilla sparingly and to great effect. He is famously only on screen for 13 minutes, and so it's a lot more like Jaws or Jurassic Park than say, Transformers. It's all build up and tension, and even when you do see him, it's often in the distance, or through a car window, or obscured by darkness or smoke. I think the cinematography is excellent in this movie, with several memorable shots. I wouldn't call this movie scary, but I think the way they use Godzilla is much more dynamic than in future films. 

Also unlike most future films, this one is serious throughout. I thought it worked perfectly here. Brian Cranston absolutely carries this movie in the first half. He seems as perfect for this role as he was Walter White. This filmed at the height of his glory, so it's unfortunate that he is the only interesting character in the movie. It's even more unfortunate that ***SPOILER*** he dies midway through, leaving the rest of the movie in lesser hands. His son, especially, is so boring and one-dimentional (but what even is his one dimension? Is he zero-dimentional?). Anyways, totally bizarre decision by these filmmakers and it hurts this movie a ton. 

But in the second half, you at least get Godzilla, who again is fantastic. Maybe his finest performance. His design is the best in history, in my opinion, and the roar also seems superior. I think the biggest problem in this movie, much like Twisters, is that he is an unstoppable force, leaving nothing for the main characters to do. They scurry about, trying to move nuclear weapons and such, but in the end it all seems like a nothing story that's included because we need humans. The big decision comes from the sage Ken Watanabe who says "let them fight" and then watches the fight destory countless buildings and probably kills a million people. Okay Ken! I think something that Minus One did right was that it made Godzilla somewhat vulnerable, giving the characters some purpose. 

Oh, and the villains. I hated them my first time watching, and can't say I love them now. Just the design is kinda blah, but I do like the added wrinkle of them potentially mating so that Godzilla seems more necessary to prevent the end of the world. Still, I just can't help but feel like Godzilla is equally as villainous in this movie, leveling an entire city, and is somehow called the hero, randomly, at the end? I almost had to laugh at that - such a campy moment in what is otherwise a pretty tight, sober movie. 

So anyways, it had actually been years since I'd watched this, and I was happy to see it was actually better than I remembered. I no longer feel ashamed for loving this movie. It's the perfect summer blockbuster for my money, close to Jurassic and Jaws. Jess loved it, for what it's worth, instantly hooked with the wild, heart wrenching opening scene. It's not a perfect movie, but it does a ton right, and now I kinda wish they'd go back to making these darker, serious Godzilla movies.