The Japanese are
notorious for fending off giant monsters,
having had years of experience as the film
epicenter
where giant
monsters go on the rampage.
Except the
latest in a series of Godzilla movies takes place in the United States.
Godzilla follows Legendary Pictures’ Pacific
Rim
in what could be
said to be a revival of the iconic kaiju film genre,
which is
Japanese for “strange beast”.
With computer
graphics and modern cinematography,
we’re no longer
watching men in rubber monster suits knocking over cardboard buildings.
These larger
than life creatures look and feel real,
and it appears
as though they are laying waste to actual cities on the set.
However, the
writing and directing are more of a problem.
The story
primarily centers on Aaron-Taylor Johnson as Lieutenant Brody
on a journey to
try and save his family, as the monsters,
massive
unidentified terrestrial organisms, or MUTO,
wreak havoc on
everything in their path.
The film focuses
more on the actors,
rather than the primary
attraction of Godzilla fighting the MUTO.
In fact, most of
the time the giant monsters are covered by a mysterious smoke,
shrouded in the
darkness of night,
or are shot from
a shoddy camera angle taken from the humans’ perspective.
However, this film
did a good job building the world
for what will be
upcoming sequels of Legendary Picture’s version of Godzilla
and possibly
creating a universe for their other kaiju films;
similar to the way Marvel has built its own
film universe with The Avengers.
Godzilla has set the foundation with amazing editing and cinematography,
and that makes me eager to await what
Legendary Pictures will deliver with Godzilla
2.
I’m Julian
Devera and this has been films in review.
