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MeekinOnMovies On....Godzilla (2014)


Godzilla
Directed By: Gareth Edwards, 
Starring: Godzilla, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, and Aaron Tyler Johnson

Between the Roland Emmerich comedy...thing, and the Japanese movies that haven't aged well, for a time Godzilla was most valuable as an idea. We saw movies that aped Godzilla's genre for low-fi horror movies like Cloverfield, or big budget, tonally bizarre flicks like Pacific Rim. Even watching "Godzilla 2000" requires accepting it as a cheesefest and not so much as an actual movie made with dramatic intent.

However,  thanks in part to director Gareth Edwards and some deft directional choices, it's clear the King of Monsters is back, and anyone who wants to take his crown better bring their "A" game.  

Since Godzilla movies are a lot like pro wrestling in that they're 'fake', we're pretty sure we know who's going to win, and in the meantime we're hoping to get a healthy dose of chaos and destruction,  we should take a look at the under card. After a prologue sequence reminding us of all the terrible things folks have done with nuclear weapons, and a short scene with Ken Watanabe that may purposefully be similar to one in the last Godzilla remake, the movie opens with Bryan Cranston at the center of a nuclear meltdown in Japan that ultimately claims his wife.

Flash forward a dozen or so years and we watch catch up with Cranston's son, Ford, returning home from the military, only to be forced to go to Japan to bail his dad out of jail, who then reveals a massive conspiracy, then they go to uncover the truth, and blah blah blah blah eventually the secret is let out of the bag, and there are monsters in our world, and they've woken up from hibernation.

Obviously the plot isn't important in the sense that we really care about the characters or what they have to say, or how their world-view should be respected, but the movie gives it an earnest shot and the results are pretty good. Cranston has a wonderful bitchfest about his wife to a one-way mirror, and Ken Watanabe looks every bit at stoic and troubled as you would hope him to be - just a hair south of the point where he would feel like a South Park parody.
More important that realistic plot details is how these disaster movies approach their world-wide atmosphere. The Dawn of The Dead remake handled the world changing implications of its story by combining fake news footage, a haunting Johnny Cash song, and footage of real riots and violence to convey the world as we know it is over. Similarly, something like Godzilla appearing would be a massive news story world-wide, and it's treated pretty well here, with constant news updates in the background on TVs, including a very "Cable News" info graphic of the monsters that landed a chuckle.  If these scenes didn't work, none of the stuff occurring in the movie would be all that enjoyable or dramatic, because it'd feel like a fantasy movie with no longer-lasting consequence.

There are quite a few action sequences involving the monsters, including a chilling sequence in Hawaii and a fun gag in Las Vegas. The highlight of the movie involving non-monster-on-monster combat involves a sequence on a bridge that is truly pulse pounding.  

Eventually Godzilla, the two other monsters, the Army and their plan involving nuclear weapons, Ford, and the wife he's been trying to find the whole movie collide in a Californian Battle Royal for the ages as Godzilla engages in an inter-gender handicap match against his two foes. 



I'd rate it about ***1/2 stars. It was fun and got the job done, but considering the under card had so much world building and explaining to do, it would have been impossible for the brawl between the three beasts to deliver, and considering this is Godzilla's first PPV in quite a while, we all knew he had to go over and go over strong. 

What's nice is that even the heels get some sympathy and you understand their point-of-view as well, which makes the whole brawl feel like an inevitable confrontation than a staged fight, and the resolution a solemn victory instead of a celebrated one. The way they turn Godzilla face is clever, too.

Ultimately if you like Godzilla movies or anything featuring giant stuff destroying smaller stuff, this is a great movie to catch with a group of friends for a matinee where you can chortle at the screen a bit and giggle at the occasional portion that makes you roll your eyes. But the joy in Godzilla is that those eye rolls come from a place of respect as opposed to disgust or reaction to cheesy effects. It'll be because there's a scene that made you scoff, or a monologue given to a naval captain that felt a just a touuuchhhh too heavy for a summer action movie, but you appreciate the effort and can't wait to see more anyway.


 
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Comments

  1. That font is such a throwback to the old Apple floppy disk computers.

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  2. I don't understand....where are the video games?

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  3. Never was a fan of Apple computers.

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  4. I bought Ni No Kuni and Journey Collection today off Amazon.

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  5. Number Munchers FTW.

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  6. What are those?

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  7. Awesome avatar btw

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  8. Ni No Kuni is a JRPG. I had it before, but sold it and never finished it. It is a gorgeous game that reminds me of Pokemon.

    Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aAs-vZ4rZE

    Journey was IGN and other companies GOTY for 2012. Collection comes with Flower and fLO too.

    Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mF8KkDiIdk

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  9. Thanks, Mr. Onita. What is your favorite Atsushi Onita match, btw?

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  10. Both look good.

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  11. Godzilla surprised me by how scary it was. 11 year old me would have loved it.

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  12. Jef Vinson (Homewreckers Inc™)May 25, 2014 at 9:08 PM

    11 year old me would have pissed on myself...kind of like drunk 21 year old me.

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  13. Thunder: 31 free throws
    Spurs: 7 free throws


    Until the last 3 minutes of the game. What a bunch of rigged bullshit. Spurs don't get a free throw for fucking TWO QUARTERS.

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  14. Jef Vinson (Homewreckers Inc™)May 25, 2014 at 9:10 PM

    Similar to Game 1 of the Pacers/Heat series.

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  15. Toss-up between his May 5th match with Funk in 93 or May 5th vs. Hayabusa in 95

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  16. Just went on iTunes for a listen, that Journey soundtrack was beautiful.

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  17. "and the Japanese movies that haven't aged well"

    Bullshit, theyve aged finer than wine!

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  18. Except for Godzilla's Revenge.

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  19. Animes are fine, live action however......

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  20. FINER THAN FUCKIN' WINE

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  21. I love Godzilla and hated this movie; it was just such a mess. None of the characters were defined in any way outside profession or relation to Kick Ass and the movie was one set of coincidences that would roll into the next. By the time Godzilla showed up, I was too bored to care.

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  22. Granted. But generally... man, I've been raised in a household where the original Tohei movies are essentially gospel.

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  23. I know other people had like... Jesus and whatnot in their households as a child... for me it was Mothra. I'm pretty sure my mom still worships Mothra. And I'm okay with that.

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  24. Nobody cares about the characters in Godzilla movies.

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  25. The Japanese Godzilla films are still badass. What the fuck youse smokin Meekin?

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  26. THANK YOU!

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  27. The train scene man...

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  28. On paper I should love Ni No Kuni but I just couldn't get into it.

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  29. *doesn't read review, needlessly criticizes Meekin anyways.*

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  30. 'Mericans really need to stop thinkin' they can make Godzilla movies.

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  31. Someone needs to do detailed analysis of every conceivable foul moment in the game and then analyze the ratio of calls to non calls, cause I'm hearing waaaay too many cries about terrible officiating to think "Oh, its just fans complaining about their team being screwed." Like, when you hear fans saying they only won cause of the refs when they cheered for the team that got the benefit, thats a problem.

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  32. If anyone wants a good disaster caused by giant monster movie, try finding a subbed version of The Host. The Korean names throw you a bit, but the action sequences are fucking nice. There was some quality thespianship involved in that one.

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  33. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryMay 25, 2014 at 10:19 PM

    I was fucking geeking out with this movie. It perfectly captured a "serious B-movie" feel if you weeeell (like Independence Day) and the fight sequences definitely had a je ne sais dude-in-a-rubber-suit knocking shit over old-school feel. I understand if some people wanted more Zilla, but I was fine with it and rather have less of him and use him well than use him constantly and have the novelty wear off, like the overly long action of Transformers and Man of Steel. The atomic breaths drew the largest roar of approval I've heard from an audience since the vehicle chase in TDK, that was fucking awesome. I'm actually gonna see it tomorrow with the gf, which will be the third time I've seen it.


    On a weird note, since I work smack dab in the Financial District, I'd most likely be dead in that movie's universe.

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  34. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryMay 25, 2014 at 10:22 PM

    I was surprised by how thrilling it was to see the big lizard. In a world where CG is basically dime-a-dozen, people in my theater (not even a fanboy'd-up midnight showing, just a Sunday matinee) were going nuts at the first full scale of the big fella, panning from the foot up and unleashing that roar. It made me like a giddy kid in the best way possible.

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  35. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryMay 25, 2014 at 10:22 PM

    NNK is great. Combat system can get tricky once your party gets full, but it's pretty much as close to a console Pokemon as we'll get, and the Ghibli art, story, and soundtrack are just beautiful.

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  36. The spurs didn't get a free throw the entire second half until 3 minutes left in the game during garbage time.


    They went the entire third quarter at a 22-0 free throw deficit.

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  37. So it was a Godzilla movie?

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  38. Felt the redlettermedia crew did a good review of Godzilla, good for visuals, bad for human element.

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  39. I haven't seen this movie yet, but I just wanted to say that I still love Independence Day. Such a fun movie.

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  40. you described a lot of today's movies. Generic characters surrounded by big explosions and special effects. And in this one you get a monster that barely shows up so they can entice people into the obvious sequel. Welcome to Hollywood 2014 style.

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  41. I think the thing that annoyed me the most was the lack of monster fight. Yeah, we got a nice sequence toward the end, but I feel like the last 30 minutes or so, should of been Godzilla vs the 2 not Gigans(Muto is such a dumb name) instead we got a cocktease of a fight and more of a plot line I really didn't care for in, "Will he or won't he find his wife".


    Other than that, the cinematography and the pacing of the movie was fine, the lack of Bryan Cranston was unsettling as well. I still said to my friends that we should of just went and saw DOFP instead.


    Final thing, we give props to actors who can bulk up for a role, but it has to take serious skill to go from a guy who probably get laid regularly IRL to a virgin loser like the main character does with Kick-Ass.

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  42. I called this after Game 1.


    Either this or Joey Crawford was going to get thrown in their faces when they have a commanding lead.

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  43. I did a bit of a writeup, before and after seeing it.

    http://toddlorenz.com/thoughts/fire_breathing_reptile/

    For those of you who might be interested.

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  44. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryMay 26, 2014 at 11:54 AM

    I do too, it's one of my favorite popcorn-ers. Like ID4, Godzilla rode that fine line of "serious enough to not make it feel campy, but just silly enough to make it fun".

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  45. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryMay 26, 2014 at 11:54 AM

    Also, Ken Watanabe was born for the bit where he says "We call him....*dramatic turn*....Gojira."

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  46. Um. You sure he wasn't born to be schooled by Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai?


    Yeah, probably not.

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  47. I have definitely never seen a Godzilla flick.

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  48. :: shakes you upsidedown for food and wallet ::

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  49. Sounds good. I may have to check it out at some point. Independence Day is one of those films I instantly stop and watch if I catch it on TV.

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  50. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryMay 27, 2014 at 12:15 AM

    Oh for certain it's a "trap" movie for me on cable. I remember seeing it in theaters as a kid and the audience gave a standing O to the Bill Pullman speech.

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  51. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryMay 27, 2014 at 12:15 AM

    Love that movie, bugfuck crazy awesome.

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  52. davidbonzaisaldanamontgomeryMay 27, 2014 at 12:17 AM

    If that was dues he had to pay to play Fake Ra's in "Begins" (I never noticed till recently he never blinks in his brief screentime), then so be it.

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