I don't normally do film reviews on The Stronghold Rebuilt, and this isn't a review anyway. But given my obvious interest in such things I thought it best to give you my opinion on the new Godzilla film, which we had a family outing to see on Sunday.
If you want to see a film to excise the disaster that was the Matthew Broderick one from several years ago*, then this is it. It's Hollywood managing to make something that works both as a Hollywood film and a classic Japanese Godzilla film. True the first hour is a little slow, but it makes up for it in the second. Everything else is exactly what you'd expect; two-dimensional characters, dodgy scientific explanations and an improbable storyline, all serving as the backdrop to monsters flattening cities and beating each other up. And that's all I wanted.
If you have any interest in Kaiju, then you have to see Godzilla.
*Which is actually an OK film - just not a Godzilla film.
I second this. It is awesome. Very awesome.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't go as far as 'awesome' :)
ReplyDeleteIt was an excellent facsimile of the original Japanese movies, made for a more modern 'sophisticated' audience, but with enough of the original style to keep the fans happy.
Now 'Pacific Rim' was awesome :)
And a crossover between 'Pacific Rim' and 'Godzilla' would be beyond awesome ...
Although I liked PacRim, the plot holes and dumb way the humans went about combating the Kaiju distracted the heck out of me. Plus, all of the fights were at night (except for the early scene in Australia) and difficult to see.
DeleteGodzilla was nothing more than it needed to be - a Godzilla movie. My only major quibble is how Darwinism selects for an EMP attack.
The question - and the acid test - does the movie lead you to cheer for Godzilla?
ReplyDeleteI guess so, yes. But 2001's 'Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla' doesn't, and that's one of my favourites. So it's not an accurate acid-test.
DeleteOK then, I'm taking my Lad Friday night!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter dragged me to see this. The opening credits were good and in retrospect it did follow what I recall of the 1950's movie well. The audience all repeated "Godzilla" when the monster is first named and that was rather special. And yes, we were cheering for Godzilla.
ReplyDelete