In some ways, Godzilla is to Japan as Captain America is to the United States. He’s a symbol of hope and heroism at times most dire, such as when giant three-headed dragons arrive on meteorites from other planets.
Other times, Godzilla is more like King Kong, destroying everything in his path for whatever reasonable or unreasonable purpose he might have. Director Gareth Edwards’ take, the first of its kind since 2004’s “Godzilla: Final Wars,” doesn’t forget either aspect of the beast for a moment. Falling on the legendary Kaiju’s 60th anniversary, “Godzilla” fulfills expectations to a monstrous mark, even if everything it takes to reach such a level is hopelessly contrived.
In 1999, a large earthquake causes a nuclear meltdown at a Japanese plant. Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston), an engineer who loses his wife (Juliette Binoche) in the accident, becomes obsessed with learning the truth behind the disaster. He discovers a link between seismic activity that occurred in 1999 and new tremors happening in the same area in the present day.
Joe breaks into the now-quarantined zone with his military son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to find answers. The man in charge, Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), explains: With their scientific arrogance, humans have awakened prehistoric monsters that harness power beyond what humanity is capable of controlling. Godzilla, the most reptilian, isn’t the only one. The onset of a new, more malevolent creature threatens civilization in cataclysmic fashion.
For the characters unfortunate enough to be a part of the film’s catastrophic plot, the story runs almost entirely on convenience. Ichiro happens to run into Joe at the perfect moment, where they find that both of their theories support one another. Ford happens to be expertly trained in bomb defusing, and is the only man around with such talents when poor planning threatens the safety of his wife (Elizabeth Olsen) and son (Carson Bolde).
It’s somewhat good, then, that “Godzilla” isn’t about the people involved. Many of the story’s heroes, layered with the perfect amount of situational coincidence, are forgotten for long periods of time, thrown to the wayside (sometimes literally), depending on their immediate importance.
As mankind hurriedly and desperately tries to figure out what it’s going to do, the resulting stunted pace takes around the first half of the film’s two-hour running time to set up for anything truly impressive to happen. But oh, when it finally does, it’s glorious. Edwards knows how to utilize Godzilla to its full potential, mixing epic profile shots with righteous moments of giant monster comeuppance.
Every scene starring the beast is meant for the IMAX screen. Backed by Alexandre Desplat’s masterfully tense score, the alternating moments of tiring exposition and terrific chaos surmount in a jaw-dropping climax that shines with the strength of every “Godzilla” film that came before. Ironically, that might be the most idiosyncratic trait of this particular entry to the franchise.
“Godzilla” is not entirely unlike Ishirô Honda’s original 1954 work, where Godzilla portrayed a menacing metaphor of nuclear destruction. Yet it’s also not completely removed from what made 1965’s “Invasion of Astro-Monster” so bombastic, or Roland Emmerich’s 1998 “Godzilla” so flavorless. Edwards, with writers Max Borenstein and Dave Callaham, mix a bit of everything in their homage to the dynasty of one of the world’s most diverse fantasy creations.
In doing so, “Godzilla” is loud, clumsy, ridiculous and fantastically impressive all at the same time. With poor efforts to create deep meaning from an under-utilized star cast, and high marks in the fields of visual effects and sound design, “Godzilla” isn’t the perfect summer blockbuster for everyone.
But that won’t stop Godzilla, worn from decades of nonsensical multi-million dollar films. After a brief hiatus, the creature has one thing on his mind: to finally rampage through a real “Godzilla” movie. And if one thing is entirely certain, Edwards’ film is the real “Godzilla” movie he has been waiting for.
All hail the king of monsters.