“Godzilla” is a little light on fully realized human characters, but what does that matter when you’ve got a 350-foot monster with an astonishing amount of fight and resolve to root for?
When a mine collapses in the Philippines, Dr. Ishiro Serizawa and Dr. Vivienne Graham (Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins) come to check out what’s left behind and are shocked to find the radioactive remains of something inexplicably large. Well north in Japan, they’re feeling the effects of whatever rattled that mine, but only in the form of small tremors so Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) can’t get his colleagues at the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant to sound the alarms until its way too late. Fifteen years later, Joe is still obsessed with figuring out what leveled the plant while his son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), does what he can to help him move on so he can finally leave the past behind and spend some time with his young grandson. However, Ford is forced to reconsider his father’s priorities when he comes face-to-face with the culprit Joe’s been chasing for years himself.
If you’ve seen “Monsters,” you know that Gareth Edwards knows how to make a monster movie, and on a minimal budget at that. Edwards undoubtedly had far more to work with with Warner Bros. backing his sophomore effort, but “Godzilla” still exhibits an exceptional attention to detail, suggesting Edwards rolled into this one with that same respect for stunning imagery, tangible performances and powerful story beats that he had when he was trying to do a lot, but with very little.
Click here to read more.