While I would not consider myself a huge Godzilla fan, I have seen all of the movies. In fact I have also seen all of the original movies lampooned by MST3K. Really, I think that is the best use for a Godzilla movie, and in that vein I love them. There is just something so entertaining about sitting back and watching some mindless monster action that really pays little attention to real character development or even really making a whole lot of sense.
That said, I did try to approach this new entry into the movie series a bit differently. After all, it touted itself as a more serious installment. Something that would really try to bring home the suspense and even a bit of fear. Maybe? But in the end it really comes down to the source material. A giant lizard rampaging through a city. And no matter how much I try, I can't suspend my disbelief enough to make that even remotely believable and scary. It just doesn't work. It doesn't matter how real they make him look. It doesn't matter what they pit him up against or how much destruction he causes. It's Godzilla. And, to me, that name is synonymous with laughter.
Even going in with all of that, though. This movie has got to be one of the worst I've seen. I mean, what is the main draw of any Godzilla movie? Why does anyone really go to see it? Is it for deep emotional characterization? Mind opening philosophizing? Nope. Godzilla. That's what we want to see. And that is exactly what this movie does not give us. We are forced to wait until the last twenty minutes to really get any good footage of Godzilla doing anything destructive. And even those 20 minutes are so dark that you really never get a good view of what's going on.
I could go on, this movie is just chock full of logical flaws, poor direction, bad writing and cheesy effects, but really it all boils down to the king of monsters himself. He may not be scary, but he has a certain personality after all these years. You expect certain things. And this movie fails on every front to deliver. Just an immense disappointment. Pacific Rim was a better Godzilla movie and that is just... Sad.
There was no way I was going to pay to watch this movie again, not even for class. I applaud your ability to keep it classy and only lightly touch on the problems of this disastrous movie. As you saw by my post, I let loose my annoyance. 20 minutes of the monster the entire movie is based on is not enough. Nothing made sense. The plot is weak. The characters are cardboard. All the amazing actors die or get four lines. Not a fan.
ReplyDelete