Godzilla (2014)

Godzilla (2014) – A terrible and mysterious accident at a Japanese nuclear facility has released a pair of terrible monsters.  Godzilla may be the only chance humanity has to survive.  But what kind of deal can you make with the King of All Monsters?

Directed by Gareth Edwards                      Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston,
                                                                           Elizabeth Olsen, David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe

Why I LIked It: Not a bad re-re-re-re-creation of a familiar story.

This is the 30th official entry in the Godzilla franchise.  There are at least 30 other movies with Godzilla in the title (including the delightful and irreverent “Godzilla Meets Bambi“).  There are as many TV shows featuring this monster as there are movies, plus video games.  There may not be a character that has been brought to screens large and small more times than Godzilla.  It is the record holder for longest-running movie franchise.

The first movie, in 1954, was not only a monster movie but also touched on a variety of socio-political issues in Japan.  The monster from the deepest ocean arrived in the U.S. two years later, in re-working of the original film.  It slid Raymond Burr into the action, under the title “Godzilla-King of the Monsters!”

There’s never much in the way of a surprise.  Spawned by humanity’s fatal attraction to nuclear power and weapons, Godzilla is spawned.  Along with a variety of other nasties, they wreak havoc on cities (Tokyo takes a lot of hits in this series) as they battle to the death.  Eventually, Godzilla wins and then returns to the depths until the next time.

There’s not much more in this version, except that much of the destruction moves to the United States.  Las Vegas and San Francisco take the brunt of the destruction.  But honestly, can you think of two better cities to be ravaged by Godzilla?

There’s not a lot to get excited about here, except for the battle scenes.  The supporting cast (Cranston, Watanabe, Strathairn) is more interesting than the leads.  The story is thin.  There are no surprises along the way.

It’s a Godzilla film.  And not a bad one.

Rating – *** Worth A Look