I already did the Lecture Hall on this movie, but I tried my best to be as neutral as possible. Looking over it I realize some of my opinions crept in, but I did my best to keep my own feelings out of it. When I said that the movie wasn't faithful to the original Godzilla, that's not the angry ravings of some Godzilla fanboy, that's just simple fact. Look at the characteristics of the Japanese Godzilla and the American Godzilla, and there's no doubt there are huge differences. The appearances are different, the characteristics are different, the fighting styles are different, and the techniques are different. Am I a Godzilla fan? Yes. So from what I just said and from what little bits of opinion crept into the Lecture Hall, you must think I hate the movie. After all, a simple Google search will show that virtually every fan of the Japanese Godzilla movies seem to hate the American movie, so I must hate it as well, right?
Well.... yeah.....but.......c'mon. It's not THAT bad..... (Or is it?)
First of all yes, as a movie this totally falls on its face. How bad is the writing? Well, as soon as Dr. Nik Tato-whatever his name is (Y'know, Matthew Broderick's character) finds blood from Godzilla, the first thing he does is run to the pharmacy (Which is still open like everything's fine and there isn't a gigantic lizard on the lose) and buys human pregnancy tests. He tests them and poof! Godzilla's pregnant? Then he says he has to go to the lab to "confirm this." What did he even suspect that Godzilla was pregnant? Why not test it for radiation, compare it to the DNA of other reptiles to try to get some kind of clues as to what Godzilla's identity could be? Why does his mind turn right away to pregnancy, especially since there's no proof at all there's another Godzilla out there? Oh that's right, Godzilla reproduces asexually. How convenient. Hey, how did you guess that so accurately? Sure there's no proof that there's another Godzilla, but does that mean you have to rule that possibility out entirely? And why do you keep referring to Godzilla as a "he"? If he lays eggs, asexually or not, then it must a be a female, right? Why do this movie not explain this? No idea. There are serious lapses in thinking. Granted, I don't know what I was expecting of a summer blockbuster from Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, but my God; Independence Day wasn't this stupid! But as bad as the writing is, the acting is even worse. Broderick was nothing short of dreadful, along with everyone else. Okay I guess Jean Reno was kinda fun, but that's it. And if they're French secret agents, why do they speak English half the time? Would having us read subtitles be that difficult?
But of course, this is a summer blockbuster, where acting and writing take a backseat to fun and special effects. Should that be the case? No, but I'm not here to take shit about the summer blockbuster season in general. Is Godzilla fun? Well... yeah it is. The CGI effects are actually pretty good, much better than some of the other CGI effects from the 90's (I'm looking at you, Spawn) The action scenes are fun, especially the chase sequences. True, Godzilla should be the one chasing the military and not vice versa, but they are still fun for what they are. The scenes where Godzilla first arrives in Manhattan are easily the best parts of the movie. It actually does a pretty good job of creating fear and tension in New York City, especially in terms of Godzilla's mystery. No one has obviously seen anything like this, and I think the fear over him is well done. I hated how the ending of course, but that goes without saying. I know the humans eventually killed Godzilla in the original Japanese movie, but it was done much better than this! Even so again, I can't say I was ever really bored during the action scenes, and that's a positive.
Is this a Godzilla movie? No way. The characteristics are different, the monster's personality is different, everything is different. It's more a remake of The Beast of 20,000 Fathoms, another movie that I like. I am a Godzilla fan, but I can't find myself getting too mad at it. It's a stupid movie, but entertaining enough to get a pass from me. It's a very, very guilty pleasure for me. Is it a good movie? No, but I'd say it's worth a watch, at least one.
But of course, this is a summer blockbuster, where acting and writing take a backseat to fun and special effects. Should that be the case? No, but I'm not here to take shit about the summer blockbuster season in general. Is Godzilla fun? Well... yeah it is. The CGI effects are actually pretty good, much better than some of the other CGI effects from the 90's (I'm looking at you, Spawn) The action scenes are fun, especially the chase sequences. True, Godzilla should be the one chasing the military and not vice versa, but they are still fun for what they are. The scenes where Godzilla first arrives in Manhattan are easily the best parts of the movie. It actually does a pretty good job of creating fear and tension in New York City, especially in terms of Godzilla's mystery. No one has obviously seen anything like this, and I think the fear over him is well done. I hated how the ending of course, but that goes without saying. I know the humans eventually killed Godzilla in the original Japanese movie, but it was done much better than this! Even so again, I can't say I was ever really bored during the action scenes, and that's a positive.
Is this a Godzilla movie? No way. The characteristics are different, the monster's personality is different, everything is different. It's more a remake of The Beast of 20,000 Fathoms, another movie that I like. I am a Godzilla fan, but I can't find myself getting too mad at it. It's a stupid movie, but entertaining enough to get a pass from me. It's a very, very guilty pleasure for me. Is it a good movie? No, but I'd say it's worth a watch, at least one.
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