Great start, abrupt end and one great big weakness, but the 2014 take on Godzilla is a considerable improvement on Emmerich's kiddie-level cartoonish disappointment. The creatures are terrific, and Godzilla himself is restored to the huge, powerful and purposeful force of nature of old. What the screenplay gets right is the nifty fusion of the original Toho nuclear-age positioning with post-9/11-Katrina American sensibilities; however, it is not so much a thinness of characterisation that early reviews have pointed to that is a real problem, but the fact that the fuzzily-written script gives the characters little on-screen engagement with events or indeed each other. Cranston is great, Taylor-Johnson is not at his strongest in a soft role but is at least reliable, and Watanabe's character does little other than look constantly perplexed. Edwards manages the hike up to mega-bucks budget strongly, and there are indeed flashes of the Monsters sensibility and creativity to be enjoyed, but the overall result lacks the consistent drive or cohesion to be truly great. If, as Edwards has hinted, there could be a Destroy All Monsters-inspired sequel, this film at least serves as a good demonstration of the potential of the rebooted franchise.
No comments:
Post a Comment