Let Us Be Thankful "Godzilla" Is Like "Godzilla" and Not Like "Godzilla"

The reviews of "Godzilla" (aka 2014) on Ain't It Cool News best sum up my feelings. This movie is better the old-fashioned way, a slow burn to the full reveal. Sure, Roland Emmerich tried the same approach in "Godzilla" (aka 1998), but once we see his monster and his personality, it's so far removed from what we've come to expect, what we remember from the old "Godzilla," it's disappointing and troubling on every level.

With "Godzilla" (2014), director Gareth Edwards positions the audience in the best way possible to await all that we know the mutant monster will bring to the table. It's an origin movie. It's not supposed to be filled with behemoth monsters fighting or stomping cities into smithereens from wire to wire. Wait until the sequel.

For some, characters and storyline are a disappointment in "Godzilla" (2014). Since when did we as audiences, and since when did the moviemakers, really worry about the depth of actors, plot and script in Godzilla...or any monster flick? Sure, there's no Oscar-worthy performances in "Godzilla" (2014). That wasn't in the works. Perhaps Bryan Cranston and Ken Watanabe bring the most passion of any of the main actors. Alas, they're just in supporting roles while Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who was so good in the "Kick-Ass" films) is our Tom Cruise from "War of the Worlds." Wherever he ends up or wherever he puts himself, crap happens. (His character, named Brody, definitely scores some Spielbergian points with me.) Not much can be said for Elizabeth Olsen's character (you know, the Olsen sister who can actually act), but again, that's to be expected.

In most monster movies...and it's no different with "Godzilla" (pick your decade)...the characters react. They run, they hide, they scream, they cry, they die. That's what happens when strange things unfold, in this case, stories-tall beasts battle in metropolitan areas. I am there to see Godzilla, no longer a guy in a rubber suit stepping onto miniature model cities. I'm there to hear his iconic roar. I'm there to see Godzilla literally warm up to breathe fire, or something like it, onto attacking armies, towns and other monsters. (Here, the two MUTOs Godzilla 2014 fought were like hot-to-trot hybrids of Mothra and the Cloverfield critter.) I'm there to see humanity truly humbled by this natural anomaly that we've come to know as Gojira.

With that, I was giddy. It felt like I was rewatching the old Godzilla flicks from the 50s through the 70s. Yes, even the purely bad ones with his dopey-looking son, Jet Jaguar, Mechagodzilla, the miniature 12-inch twins, the smog monster. It made my inner child go crazy and was nostalgic. Heck, I've got a little plastic toy model of him someplace. Sure, Godzilla (2014) didn't do a happy dance, but he kicked some MUTO butt. This "Godzilla" looks as if he's visited one too many taquerias. No matter. This "Godzilla" (2014) is filled with wonderful images and sounds, many of which harken back to the older films.  Like last year's "Pacific Rim," it's fun. It is darker than "Pacific Rim," and while we may have felt more for human characters in monster flicks such as "Jurassic Park," the star we go to see fills space so amazingly.

There's a sequel in the works, maybe two. Perhaps Gamera, or a version thereof, will show up. In the end, it's all about Godzilla smashing things up real good.