Godzilla (2014)

A valiant effort that sadly misses its mark.

Things start off promisingly with a grounded first half that aims for the earnestly allegorical tone of the original movie. It's a bit muddled, but it works well enough in its straight-faced way. Bryan Cranston helps: he's no Takashi Shimura, but is established as a passionate, troubled and engaging hero - someone whose fate we might actually be interested in as **** hits the fan. The general build-up is slow, and the film is in no rush to make its big reveals, to its credit.

We'll never know whose idea it was to instead shift focus to the charisma vacuum that is Aaron-Taylor Johnston, but it's a big mistake. The second half of the film transforms into as familiar a military vs giant monster movie as one could imagine. Edwards teases us with better actors that are all sadly wasted in ultimately thankless roles: Cranston, Binoche (who gets maybe five lines), Olsen (reduced to the 'endangered wife looking skywards in shocked awe' role), Hawkins (why would you hire an actress of that calibre for such a nothing part?). That the filmmakers hired such a talented ensemble only highlights how limited the film's characters are, and how baffling it is that they focused on the least interesting of the bunch. Added to that a strict focus on the military goings-on, and you have a film that teases it was about to offer more involved stories and depth (not exactly subtle depth, but depth nonetheless). Sadly, things must go boom while ill-defined men in military uniforms stand nearby. So it goes.

There's a few positives. One or two setpieces work quite well: the halo drop sequence is strangely, beautifully haunting (liberally taking inspiration from the 2001 Monolith music probably helps), and the belated appearance of doesn't disappoint visually speaking. Edwards shows himself capable of some restraint, such as a witty jump cut when one of the big brawls is about to kick off - in fact, most of the major showdowns take place off-screen, which is quite an interesting choice. And ultimately its portrayal of the big guy himself is a notch more considered and affectionate than the raging, rabid monster of 1998: far more in line with the 'king of the monsters' idea followed in many of the Japanese films. But these are only fleeting moments in a film that's too rote and conservative to pack much of an impact, and that finds it impossible to escape the clichéd demands of Hollywood. Which is an extra shame because there's times Godzilla 2014 hints it could have been so much better if it simply followed up on some of its earlier ideas.

It's better in some respects, but it's also not exactly the definitive, no reservations improvement I'm sure many expected. A darker, more muted colour palette aside (and yeah, pretty much every set piece takes place at night, which is a shame as it was in Pacific Rim, although it suits the overall tone here far better) there are some parts that would fit fairly snugly into the 1998 version with only the most minor of adjustments. They even recycle the subplot,

I preferred it to Pacific Rim, although I thought that film was perilously close to being a complete turd. I think Edward's has more control over the film's mood and knows the power of restraint, and the opening half means it isn't quite as brain dead as Rim's aggressive stupidity. Still suffers from similar issues overall, though, and more besides.

Yes, Taylor Johnston is about as charismatic as a plank, but it is extra obvious thanks to the people surrounding him. If you hire excellent actors to play his father, mother and wife, you're asking for trouble when you opt to focus on the worst of the lot. Seems to indicate how worried Hollywood is of having anything other than a young male protagonist in films like this - heck, the 1998 version gave more material to its ensemble than this does :pac: