GODZILLA
Cast: Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Elizabet Olsen, Bryan Cranston, Ken Watanabe, Juliette Binoche,
David Strathairn, Sally Hawkins
Director: Gareth Edwards
119 mins
From its debut exactly sixty years ago – Godzilla re-appears for the umpteenth time in Gareth Edwards’ multi-scrillion dollar updated revamp, which spares little CGI endeavour as it strives to fulfill all nerdy expectations. On this occasion the titular beastie encounters some other radioactive megamonsters. These nuclear/radiation-hungry rapscallions sneer, screech, slap, bite and throttle each other and, as is derigeur in such outings, demolish entire landscapes – and any irritating nuisance military interventionists who feebly shoot pathetic missiles in a vain attempt to bring them to heel.
Technically, the film is effectively realised, as director Edwards and his team manage to combine motion-capture, 3-D and SFX filmmaking in a fairly convincing visualisation of these clashes of massive destruction - as man fights nature with no regard for the devastation which ensues. This fascinating struggle of the aforesaid gigantic beasts produces a net result which is little more than embarrassingly enjoyable urban destruction and action.
Recalling the 1954 “Godzilla” - despite the filmic limitations of the time, it managed to access a grim allegory of the era’s enormous nuclear fears. Although many may now find that original feature’s limited effects and techniques to be laughable and naive - it was nevertheless a powerful metaphor for a potentially terrifying new world of enormous anxieties following the unmitigated jaw-dropping horror of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. In stark contrast this latest ‘Godzilla’ is little more than mere monster entertainment. Certainly there are endless sequences of destruction, but there is a palpable lack of real fear on display - and despite offering plenty of power this dearth of gravity affects the film's sense of authenticity. It has to be said however that both the eponymous creature and its two foes are creations of impressive technical achievement, but the film’s plot is tediously narrated and intoned rather than more coherently offering a visual representation and more detailed analysis of the machinations at work on the screen.
The cast’s performance levels are at best adequate, with Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen barely being stretched and David Strathairn seemingly intent on cornering the market in hectoring his subordinates (as per Bourne Ultimatum) as he again barks 'listen up people' before talking abject nonsense - and all of the film's main characters offer a mere modicum of mediocre human response to the overwhelming devastation all around them. The feature in parts owes a not-insubstantial debt to HR Geiger’s “Alien”, allusions to “Jaws”, plus a trace of influence (help) from the execrable “Pacific Rim” while I’m sure real boffins will unscramble a few more here and there.
In the wake of the vast annihilation that has gone before, disappointingly there is a seriously underwritten climax – as things dismally fizzle out with a vacuous emptiness, as the inevitably sequel-bound Godzilla rises from an apparently deathknell slumber, and takes to the ocean once more, apparently in a sulk - probably suffering from terminal boredom with the whole scenario.
