Let me make this clear, this is not a review on Gareth
Edwards’ recent remake of the classic film. The purpose of this article is to
contemplate a few things that I found noteworthy about the movie that both work
in the film’s favor as well as things I considered lacking. If you are looking
for a recommendation might affirm or dissuade, but I’m not outright saying to
either watch the film or not nor am I grading it like some exam. There will be
spoilers ahead, but I will try to keep them wrangled towards the end.
While my overall impression of the film is favorable, the
film does lack some rather important components that keep this from engaging me
on the level that Pacific Rim did last year. The first thing of note that I
believe that needs to be said is that this film really isn’t a reboot. While
there is some expository scenes, the film doesn’t feel the need to explain
where Godzilla comes from and a considerable amount of information is already
known by an organization that means to research the beast. I personally appreciate
the non-origin story as the film already suffers from a pacing problem. That
said, how Ken Wantanabe makes his realization as to Godzilla’s intentions is a
little far-fetched and a little on the nose for the explanation. More on that last
part in the spoilers section.
The film’s pacing suffers from a known Hollywood insistency
that non-human, non-speaking characters cannot hold the attention spans of
moviegoers ala Alien vs. Predator, Transformers and Rise of the Planet of the
Apes. I won’t even touch how Hollywood’s earliest memories came from films in
which sound was not available, but I will say that with expressive movements
and a confidence in the filmmakers to create something fascinating, this should
not be an argument. Is it a greater challenge, absolutely, but unnecessary human
characters and plots involving humans in a movie that inarguably is about a
monster beatdown only drag the proceedings and leaves me wanting extended
monster fighting and less Kid Gets Lost In An Airport drama.
Speaking of monster fights, Godzilla delivers the goods,
though at times through the first two thirds of the film I got the sense that
the filmmakers are teasing the final fight by showing only snippets of the
multiple encounters between the monsters. In a way, this is homage to the
original Godzilla where the monster would ravage the city, then immediate cut
to the aftermath, no explanation where it had gone or how or why it left the
rampage. While I appreciate the artistic use of initially seeing the monster
fights as the fleeing humans would, just outside the interest beyond trying to
find a safe place to hold out during the carnage, but it is disorienting not to
have closure between each fight.
The weakest part of the film has to be treatment of the
human characters by the script, which is ironic considering how much time the
humans get on screen compared to the monsters. What’s even more strange is how
the film makes up for the sheer blandness of the dialogue by casting great
actors, actors that in a way have no reason being in a Kaiju picture. The most
offensive must be the depiction of female characters, especially Julia Ormond.
Her role has so little to do with the film that considering what Bryan Cranston
is already doing to make the script not sound terrible, he could have done this
with an off-screen counterpart. But overall, women really have little to do
here but act as points of worry, which becomes pointless when my concern transits
from the humans to the monsters.
This leads me to my biggest concern; there are simply way
too many human subplots. This becomes especially noticeable by the climax when I’m
supposed to worry about not only the monsters laying waste in combat, but also
a bomb, a nurse and a nest. Two of these subplots are ultimately useless as
they are meant to create tension that has already been taken up by the other
two. This is a textbook example of overindulgence. By removing these needless
subplots, nearly 30 minutes of film would be excised and the remaining film
would keep our interest on what matters; the monsters. Humans in a Godzilla
movie really should only fill two roles, the expository and the commentary.
They set up why Godzilla and his friends are fighting and they comment as to
where the combat is going. If you really want to add up some human time, let
them help Godzilla fight the other monsters. Otherwise sit down, shut up and
enjoy the show.
Spoilers: From here on I’m going into spoilers that you
might not want to read until you have seen the film.
As I mentioned before, Ken Wantanabe’s explanation as to why
Godzilla is an “Alpha Hunter” and therefore means to aid in destroying other
monsters is rather weak tea. For being a part of a group that has obsessed over
this thing for so long, I would think he would have something more concrete or
have molded an argument based on the evidence at hand instead of speculation. I
would have more easily bought that he was “sent by God to destroy monsters”
more than this. And what does it matter if he does destroy these things if he’s
causing as much collateral damage as they are, maybe even more? As much as I
love the line “Let them fight.” they should have drawn them out to sea. Or at
least Napa Valley (who wouldn’t buy monster-smashed grapes, right?).
And I absolutely love the ending, making Godzilla the
superhero (though having the city that he had helped decimate cheer him on was
a little rich). This leaves the right amount of room for sequels if they are
called for while ending on a note of finality if that doesn’t happen. I also
love that the film has respect for the body count as it is clear thousands have
died because of this debacle. Unlike Man of Steel, it has earned the tragedy of
the amount of losses (I mean seriously, how could anybody have stopped three
monsters from waylaying each other?). Godzilla isn’t a creature that can be
communicated with; it simply destroys monsters and does it with brutality not
seen since Peter Jackson’s King Kong.
End of Spoilers
The film sports incredible monster-on-monster action. The look
of the monsters is at a scale that is humbling to say the least, especially
Godzilla, who looks especially awesome. And when Godzilla lets out his
trademark roar, it will be hard not to cheer this beast on. Speaking of sound,
the use of sound mixing and sound design for this film is so good it deserves
to be seen in optimal settings where the vibrations of the roars can shake your
seat. The photography does look noticeably CG at times, but never Godzilla,
whose mass just takes up too much of the screen in a detail so fine as to be
seen as anything less than a mighty god of yore.
I doubt many fans of Kaiju cinema will be displeased by the
film (other than a wish for more Godzilla). That said, I’m curious how many
people outside of fans of the genre will be impressed. This feels like it can
easily rub some people the wrong way like Man of Steel had. It’s clear that
Godzilla represents an agent of the planet in the early stages of a tremendous
fury. But the damage caused represents more than a couple of well-known real tragedies
and that can be seen as being insensitive. That said, this is truly an ambitious
story and while not one that will stir much conversation, it does leave me
feeling exhausted.
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