Geek Girl Features

One of the most anticipated movies of the 2014 summer movie season is “Godzilla.” After a decade in production limbo, the King of Monsters finally was brought back to the silver screen for a new generation. 

Following the theme of the originals, the film centers on numerous nuclear sites around the world. Joe Brody is in charge of a nuclear plant in Japan when curious tremors take a turn for the tragic and crumble the plant. 15 years later, Joe is back on the site, having determined that the tremors may not have been from the earth, but from something else entirely. His son, Ford Brody, is a member of the U.S. military, and after the first monsters appear, follows in their wake, all while trying to reach his family and maybe defeat the creatures.

Notice there is no mention of Godzilla? Godzilla is absent during the films beginning, with barely a tease to whet the appetite until the big reveal. When Godzilla does finally face an enemy, we never quite get a whole glimpse of him. It isn’t until the climactic battle in San Francisco with the creatures that we are treated to the full glory of Godzilla, roar and fire and all. And the roar is magnificent. It is loud, long and screeching.

And that’s kind of it. Character development past Bryan Cranston, who is the only one with any brains in this operation, is nonexistent. When the movie focuses on his son (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his fretful wife (a wasted Elizabeth Olsen), character development is officially no longer a priority.

My favorite part of this film, aside from Godzilla of course, is the fact the humans did show some forethought. In other instances of disaster, like “Man of Steel,” the hero seems to disregards the idea of collateral damage.

Godzilla simply doesn’t care, and that is how it should be. He is the oldest predator, and he has taken it upon himself to defeat these creatures, and saving the human race is only a benefit that we recognize. The damage is massive, but the casualties may as well be slim.

Because the human EVACUATE! There is a ton of emphasis here, because that never happens, and if it does, it isn’t nearly important enough as the toppling of massive skyscrapers.

The movie is dark, which doesn’t lend well to the 3D translation. Ken Watanbe is a blithering idiotic scientist, who is too busy wringing his hands as the military may or may not destroy Godzilla in their excitement.

The effects are great, Godzilla was awesome, but the rest of it is sheer summer flick. “Godzilla” gets an A from sheer excitement, the quality of that roar and how well it succeeds at being a dumb summer movie that I was left gaping at the screen the entire time. It is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of destruction, mayhem and creature violence.