As comic book movies con tinue to dominate the movie industry, Gareth Edwards’ version of Godzilla dem onstrates an attempt from Hollywood to provide some amount of variety within its roster of summer flicks. The remake offers a fresh and ex citing cinematic experience, as it reawakens the age of clas sic monster movies.
Following an opening mon tage of news reels and TV re ports depicting sightings of the iconic creature, the mov ie’s exposition then centers on workaholic scientist Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston), who for gets his own birthday. Brody is obsessed with investigating mysterious seismic activity at the Janjira nuclear plant where he works.
Desperate to maintain the stability of this facility and its surrounding area, the chief engineer will do anything to prevent a disaster from occur ring. But before he can warn anyone, a massive meltdown takes place, devastating both the plant and his family.
The movie then jumps ahead 15 years, when Brody’s son, Ford (Aaron Taylor- Johnson), a U.S. Navy techni cian, is returning home from his tour. But after receiving a call saying his conspiracy the orist father has been arrested, Ford must return to Japan to bail him out.
As Brody refuses to termi nate his mission, his research leads his son and him son deeper and deeper into an ancient mystery which spells certain doom for humanity.
Following the atrocity that is Roland Emmerich’s 1998 version of Godzilla, Edwards, who wrote and directed the 2010 cult sci-fi film Monsters, proves in tis film that he has learned from the mistakes of his predecessors. Rather than provide a two-hour display of CGI fight sequences, Ed wards demonstrates a proper balance between action and character drama.
One of the most effective aspects of the film is its cast. Though he’s not in it for long, Cranston brings an irrefutable level of fervor to his character, making his scenes all the more engaging. The “Breaking Bad” star has been given plenty of cameos in previous works, and he manages to utilize every minute of screen time here.
Similarly, Taylor-Johnson keeps audiences engaged with his performance. Emphasiz ing the distance between Ford and his father, this approach provides a nice dynamic for the movie’s first act. And al though the equally talented Elizabeth Olsen is solid as Ford’s wife, Elle, she has a rather limited amount of screen time. Once the action gets going and she and Ford are separated, her character only appears sporadically throughout the movie.
Other supporting cast members include Ken Wata nabe as Dr. Ichiro Serizawa and The Bourne Ultimatum star David Strathairn as sub marine Admiral William Stenz. Though these charac ters do little more than ad vance the plot, they are made less one-dimensional by the actors portraying them.
Fans of the original 1954 film will appreciate a number of nods to it in this film, both through the script as w e l l as through Ed wards’ style. Seeing Godzilla battle various monsters in a dystopian Tokyo environment will no doubt evoke a feeling of nostalgia among hardcore cinephiles.
Though the mon ster movie isn’t as common today as it was in the 1950s, this and other films which have come out in recent years prove that it still has its place in the 21st Century. Back in 2005, Peter Jackson’s version of King Kong was met with both widespread and critical acclaim, earn ing a total of three Academy Awards. Just last year, Guiller mo del Toro demonstrated his love for anime and Japanese cinema with his sci-fi monster flick Pa cific Rim.
Edwards’ film does a nice job of making the legend ary King of the Monsters relevant to modern audi ences while also providing a movie that older audiences can enjoy just as much. With a solid display of emotional themes, heart-pounding ac tion, a visually aesthetic ex perience, and well-balanced character drama, this sum mer’s Godzilla just may be the starting point for a new age of monster-based blockbusters.