Godzilla, Guardian of the Universe

Above, the star. Photo: Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros.

Thanks to yesterday being Memorial Day, I finally got out to see Godzilla at the ArcLight Cinemas in Sherman Oaks.

It was a 10:35 PM showing and there were only about a half dozen of us in the auditorium. Good! No distractions!

I'll start this out with the cinematography and the sound. Both were excellent. No complaints in either department from me.

Many critics complained that Godzilla doesn't show up until about an hour into the movie (I guess they weren't counting the prologue of the movie where Godzilla's spikes were prominently displayed). I found that this was not a problem as the first hour was quite riveting and added to the build-up for Godzilla's first full-body appearance. The first hour went by very quickly. There was no lack of monster action as the time was spent on M.U.T.O. and its escape from the former nuclear power plant in Japan.

When Godzilla made his first big entrance, I used a word in my mind that I haven't used in ages: Bitchen! Godzilla was very impressive!

At least Godzilla looked like Godzilla and acted like Godzilla, right down to his atomic breath!

Above, my ticket to Godzilla. A great souvenir until it fades.

As for the overall movie, it played like a Heisei Gamera movie (many have already noted this). At the end of the movie, I was almost expecting to hear Kow Otani's Gamera march. Gamera could have easily been substituted for Godzilla in this movie.

Besides the Gamera feel of the movie, much of it reminded me of Cloverfield as well (some of the music score reminded me of the ending theme from Cloverfield). Some shots of the M.U.T.O.s looked a lot like the Cloverfield monster.

The special effects were impressive, but I still prefer the "old school" method of using detailed miniatures.

During the Las Vegas sequence, an old Elvis Presley song was heard. I guess it means there were two kings in the movie.

Godzilla fan John DeSentis said that he liked the movie, but didn't love it. That also pretty much sums up my feelings about the movie. It is light-years better than the Sony/TriStar 1998 monstrosity. About the only thing the Sony/TriStar Godzilla got right was the monster's roar. I was not impressed with Godzilla's roar in this movie. It was blah to me.

Although Akira Takarada's scene didn't make the final cut, at least he did get listed in the ending credits.

Godzilla was entertaining and I recommend it. My grade: B+.