Godzilla-100's of Tons And He Plays It Safe?
A Godzilla remake was as certain as taxes, death and Madonna trying to hang onto her youth. Godzilla can be explained very simply-one more money grab. That’s all. Like many other Hollywood blockbusters the film relies on the fact that you the audience, know the name, are familiar with previous incarnations of the product and will more than likely go see the film even if it is bad. Godzilla isn’t bad, as in no redeeming value, its just disappointing. The film desperately needed a more innovative script. Dear god I feel as if I have written this opening paragraph on quite a few other blockbuster reviews.
So what is the plot you ask? Does it really matter? Fine. Big lizard created after a nuclear or new-Q-larr for those of you inclined to vote that way, heads for what else? New York City. At least they didn’t make it LA, be grateful for that, hell, LA always looks like its been stomped by something anyway, and it has, as the the debris of crushed dreams is scattered across its graffitied, strip mall soaked landscape.
There are many things one should be thankful for in Godzilla. Godzilla has some really top-notch visual effects and well, that is pretty much about it. I can appreciate many of Roland Emmerich past works. This film is not great, but there are enough fun moments and enough eye-candy to keep you entertained. Still the writing team of Emmerich and Dean Devlin have done numerous fun films and Godzilla definitely falls into this camp. Like many of their other films the star of the show are the visual effects geniuses behind the scenes.
One of the biggest problems is the massive and I mean massive miscasting of Matthew Broderick. What were they thinking on that one? Wow. The acting and bad casting really hurts the flick and is a rare example of a sci-fi action blockbuster that loses a full grade due to the casting problems. The film lacks a strong center as Jean Reno. Hank Azaria, sorry no, Hank can’t carry a film either. All three of these guys are good actors, but they are in the wrong film and putting them together?
But, the knew they had your wallet on this one no matter what. Here’s why. Godzilla, the name was good for $200 million worldwide. Throw in the visual effects and the fact that tons of kids would want to see this and you had yourself box office gold. The exact budget is difficult to pin down, but I have seen estimates from $100 to $130 million, which is a little high for what is up on the screen, especially considering there were no big names. In completely honesty this is an occasion where a flick needed a big name or two attached to it. Imagine for a moment, if this film had Bruce Willis or Arnold in it. That would have likely helped the box office, yet as it stands Godzilla proved once again that Emmerich and Devlin have their pulse on what people want. It always strikes me as a bit odd that this film is considered a flop by some even though it grossed over $300 million dollars. The film was profitable, but it should have been more so. With Arnold or Wills, perhaps Godzilla brings in up to $500 million or more.
There were some cool twists and unexpected turns in the script, such as the little Godzilla’s running around. Thus, points must be given for having some originality in the script. It would just have been nice to see the writers and director take more risk with the material. Sure it sounds a little goofy to say they should have developed the Godzilla story a bit more, but its true. We all know the core story, so to really pull people into the theater, they need the unexpected, not just a technologically savvy update of an old classic. Godzilla is good, but a studio and writer not playing it safe, could have truly done something interesting.
Story C
Acting C
Visuals A-
Originality/Innovation D+
Enjoyability Grade C
Home Theater/HD Factor B+
Overall Grade C+ (In final summation, I believe Godzilla did not live up to its full potential because people are so familiar with the story and truly wanted to see something new out of a Godzilla movie. Little Godzilla’s while innovative, may have also rubbed Godzilla fans the wrong way as well, as it may have made Godzilla seem to cutesy. Many die-hard fans may have felt that the film was too comedic in tone. Either way Godzilla, could have been much more.)
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