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Rating: **
Genre: Cheap rip off/Monster movie MPAA: PG-13 Review #: 17 Cast: Directed by...Roland Emmerich Written by...Ted Elliott Written by...Terry Rossio Written by...Dean Devlin Written by...Roland Emmerich Written by...Dean Devlin Matthew Broderick...Dr. Niko Tatopoulos
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Review:
This movie rubs me the wrong way. There's so many things about it which infuriate me, and I think that I'll address those first. All right, I'll admit that this was the first Godzilla movie that I ever saw. When I saw this movie, I didn't have any preconceived notions about what Godzilla should be, so it doesn't really come from that. I think that it is best summed up by a quote from one of the writers, which I was subjected to once an hour for a month via Blockbuster TV: "I started out with the concept of totally changing Godzilla....I wanted it to be like I had thought of Godzilla yesterday." The problem being, that he DIDN'T think up Godzilla! In fact, if you totally change Godzilla, it really isn't Godzilla anymore! So, why do you call it Godzilla? It's because you are trying to cash in on somebody else's work, without giving them any real credit. I guess that's the heart of the matter. It's not standing on the shoulders of giants, it's kicking them in the head. |
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| There are other ways that this movie bothers me too. Like, it really loses focus. I know that we're supposed to be on the side of the humans, but Godzilla is a far more sympathetic character. If you saw this in the theatre, you probably had a similar experience to mine: For most of the movie, you'd been watching, and maybe even laughing a few times at the silly characters. It finally comes to the time when they send the helicopters after the big G, and a remarkable thing happens. Godzilla finally strikes back, taking out the copters one by one. During this sequence, people began sitting forward in their seats, smiling, and maybe even cheering. Wait a minute. I thought that Godzilla was the bad guy! Why are we happy when the bad guy finally strikes back against his attackers? This is a monster movie after all, so the humans are the default good guys. I guess that even goes for movies when all of the property damage is caused by the army trying to kill the polite monster who walks around buildings instead of through them. |
| Another common complaint is how the movie turns into a little "Jurassic Park" when the humans try to destroy Godzilla's eggs. I agree. I don't feel the idea was too much of a rip off, but the execution was. I couldn't believe the scene when they escape from the baby Gs by climbing up through the ceiling! They might as well have just used footage from Jurassic Park for that one, and save some money. This movie does have some redeeming qualities, like that scene when Godzilla attacks the helicopters, and Jean Reno. He's one of my personal favorite actors, and manages to be the only interesting character in the movie (which doesn't say too much). The other good quality of the movie is that it's pretty funny in places. The humor is really just to keep our interest between action sequences, and to make us like the characters. |
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| Another big complaint that people had was that it's always dark and rainy, so this makes it tough to see Godzilla, when he's not hiding or running away. I don't think that this is such a big problem (although it does make it difficult to take pictures from the movie) You get tons of Godzilla, especially near the end, which is another confusing part. You see, after getting two climaxes, you get yet another one, in which Godzilla, who up to this point has been outsmarting the army at every turn, by running away, hiding, and when that failed, ambushing, and even using the humans' torpedoes against them, finally gets his. Of course, the army traps him using a simple trap. How's that for uneven? I will give the movie one thing, it was the first Godzilla film that I saw, and it did pique my curiosity just enough to make me want to see the "Real Godzilla", if only to see why such a silly movie could be based on a series of 22 movies. |
| Is it a bad movie? If you think too much, you wont enjoy yourself. If you're a fan of the old Godzilla, you probably wont like the new one. I have met people who loved this movie, and I can sort of understand. It is enjoyable on some level, if for no other reason than all of the jokes that the writers throw at you. It's not really a monster movie, because Godzilla acts more like a trapped animal than a classic monster, because he doesn't cause any real property damage, and only attacks when cornered. Most of the time, he just runs away and tries to find food. What really gets me is that one of the writers said in an interview: "I think that we can finally present Godzilla like the original writers intended". I'm sorry, but the original Godzilla was a symbol of the uncontrollable destruction caused by the atomic bomb, but this new one seems to be about Man Vs. Nature, and man wins. For part of it, it seems like they may be saying that man should coexist with nature, and that all of the damage is caused by man trying to destroy nature. Of course, that point is completely lost when man realizes that he could probably make more money by introducing baby Godzillas that are going to destroy humanity if we don't destroy them first. I really shouldn't complain, because the original Godzilla lost all focus after a sequel or two also. |
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