Godzilla- review

This movie could have been so good. A big budget remake of Godzilla, with updated special effects and an emphasis on Godzilla as a force of nature that can't be stopped. What's not to like? Well, as it turns out- a lot, especially if you want to see a lot of the big green guy. I went to see this last night, and man was I disappointed.

The movie starts off okay, with what appears to be old footage of nuclear testing and submarines disappearing at sea- stuff like that. Information flashes on the screen but is quickly whited out, as if it were classified info. Kinda cool, and sets the tone for a cover up of the monster's existence. That was all fine- it's just the rest of the movie I didn't like. It turns out the 1950's nuclear testing was not just testing- they were actually trying to kill Godzilla. I liked that- cool idea. But it's all downhill from there.

The main problem is- Godzilla is hardly in the movie. I think the movie is half over or more before he fully appears, and after that brief appearance he doesn't really show up again until the end. Instead we get to follow these people affected by the crisis, but it just dragged on and on, and I started getting restless. I just didn't care that much about these characters, and that's all you get. The acting was fine, although I thought Bryan Cranston's character was a little too hysterical- good grief. The cover up bits were kinda good- I mean if monsters were really out there, sure the government or whatever would probably try to hide it, until they couldn't any more. But even that was just okay, not excellent.

I get that director Gareth Edwards wanted t portray Godzilla as a force of nature, and the scenes where the big G is traveling through the water with just his spikes sticking up were cool. But Godzilla is a monster, not an "alpha predator" (as they refer to him) or an ecological balancing force. Godzilla should be running amok And the monsters he has to fight? Lame. Give me Rodan or Ghidorah the three headed monster- with today's special effects Ghidorah could have been just crazy.  But no- MUTO's instead. I remember reading recently a spoiler of the plot, talking about MUTO's, and thinking surely the movie won't be that dumb. Well, it is.

The final showdown was also weak. Some of those old Godzilla movies, silly as they were, had extended battle scenes where the monsters would all throw down. Not here. All the money they spent on this film and you hardly get any action. I was expecting a long, drawn out battle royale, and was very disappointed. I was like, that's it?

For the money I spent I should have went to see Captain America again.