Movie Review: Godzilla (3D) (English)
Look who's back! The ginormous prehistoric critter and the big daddy of all movie monsters, the gojira aka Godzilla, has undergone numerous reboots and sequels, the most recent (in Hollywood) being disaster-porn specialist Roland Emmerich's campy blockbuster that was released in 1998. The American-version of the thriller was so universally reviled that Toho, the makers of the original Godzilla series, virtually disowned the movie, spinning off the giant into an altogether new species!
For the uninitiated, Godzilla is a kaiju, a Japanese word that translates to "strange creature". Kaiju you say? Well that word does ring a bell somewhere. Of course yes, it should, unless if you haven't watched Guillermo del Toro's last year hit Pacific Rim, which pitted the humanity against these gigantic lizards that arose from the bottom of the Pacific. They were decidedly bad monsters that had to be killed, but for gojira, that hasn't been always the case. Godzilla is something different. He is mankind's saviour and also his doom.
Culturally, Godzilla is a monster of our own doing, an embodiment of the nuclear fears that gripped Japan post World War II and a monstrosity unleashed to punish humankind for its scientific hubris. Made less than a decade after the USA dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1954's Gojira, the first Godzilla movie, was a clarion call for a nuclear-safe future. Since then the franchise has taken some less serious undertones, stripping Godzilla off its metaphors while portraying it as a 'hero' who protected Japan from other fearsome creatures and sometimes as an all vindictive and menacing Brobdingnagian beast wrecking havoc all around during the course of its destructive rampage.
Gareth Edwards's instalment takes a middle ground approach. His Godzilla, while undoubtedly much better than the 1998 Hollywood version, is ultimately hamstrung by its inability to escape its cheesy B-thriller trappings. Despite an impressive star cast, the bland characterisations and a not-so-deep drama never for once allows them to showcase their talents, which is sort of unfortunate. (Not to forget Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is conveniently everywhere whenever the monsters attack.) And by the end of the movie, I was loudly cheering for the Godzilla as it took on two spider-like massive unidentified terrestrial organisms (MUTOs) in a thrill-inducing atmospheric climax, which is to be expected in a disaster thriller like this.
Furthermore, with the eponymous protagonist busy fighting its enemies, it might even seem like humans are irrelevant and a mere collateral damage in this big budget extravaganza. However to the director's credit, he sets the mood perfectly right, never revealing his trump card (read: Godzilla) until halfway through the film. Less is more is clearly the mantra here. He is more content in showing the aftermath of the calamity, capturing the scale and vastness of the destruction in its impressive entirety. If only the human drama was as interesting as the monster itself! Edwards also gives the backstory an ingenious twist by projecting the nuclear tests in Bikini Atoll as an attempt to kill the radiation-feeding Godzilla, rather than the other way around. It does dilute the essence of its origins, but is a neat curveball nonetheless.
All said, there is a sense of a schadenfreudean gratification in seeing skyscrapers being stomped and a delicious frisson in seeing people fleeing for their lives, notwithstanding the fact that the United States has been destroyed and pummelled by so many creatures (aliens or otherwise) and subjected to a multitude of doomsday events innumerable times before. Perhaps it's that sadistic mentality in all of us that these destruction-heavy disaster movies appeal to. Playing upon audiences' fears brilliantly, Godzilla kicks off 2014 summer blockbuster season in style with its top-notch tech credits, even if it leaves you wanting for more.
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Culturally, Godzilla is a monster of our own doing, an embodiment of the nuclear fears that gripped Japan post World War II and a monstrosity unleashed to punish humankind for its scientific hubris. Made less than a decade after the USA dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1954's Gojira, the first Godzilla movie, was a clarion call for a nuclear-safe future. Since then the franchise has taken some less serious undertones, stripping Godzilla off its metaphors while portraying it as a 'hero' who protected Japan from other fearsome creatures and sometimes as an all vindictive and menacing Brobdingnagian beast wrecking havoc all around during the course of its destructive rampage.
Gareth Edwards's instalment takes a middle ground approach. His Godzilla, while undoubtedly much better than the 1998 Hollywood version, is ultimately hamstrung by its inability to escape its cheesy B-thriller trappings. Despite an impressive star cast, the bland characterisations and a not-so-deep drama never for once allows them to showcase their talents, which is sort of unfortunate. (Not to forget Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is conveniently everywhere whenever the monsters attack.) And by the end of the movie, I was loudly cheering for the Godzilla as it took on two spider-like massive unidentified terrestrial organisms (MUTOs) in a thrill-inducing atmospheric climax, which is to be expected in a disaster thriller like this.
Furthermore, with the eponymous protagonist busy fighting its enemies, it might even seem like humans are irrelevant and a mere collateral damage in this big budget extravaganza. However to the director's credit, he sets the mood perfectly right, never revealing his trump card (read: Godzilla) until halfway through the film. Less is more is clearly the mantra here. He is more content in showing the aftermath of the calamity, capturing the scale and vastness of the destruction in its impressive entirety. If only the human drama was as interesting as the monster itself! Edwards also gives the backstory an ingenious twist by projecting the nuclear tests in Bikini Atoll as an attempt to kill the radiation-feeding Godzilla, rather than the other way around. It does dilute the essence of its origins, but is a neat curveball nonetheless.
All said, there is a sense of a schadenfreudean gratification in seeing skyscrapers being stomped and a delicious frisson in seeing people fleeing for their lives, notwithstanding the fact that the United States has been destroyed and pummelled by so many creatures (aliens or otherwise) and subjected to a multitude of doomsday events innumerable times before. Perhaps it's that sadistic mentality in all of us that these destruction-heavy disaster movies appeal to. Playing upon audiences' fears brilliantly, Godzilla kicks off 2014 summer blockbuster season in style with its top-notch tech credits, even if it leaves you wanting for more.
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