The Weekly Standard: "Godzilla Sans Giggles"

Above, the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios in Setagaya. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The media buzz on Godzilla has been coming from all quarters.

The latest is from the right-tilted The Weekly Standard, the weekly magazine founded and edited by William Kristol. The article is from their June 2 edition.

They begin their article with:

Why does it feel like a modest triumph that the new version of Godzilla is actually not bad? This is really the best thing to say about Godzilla—if said in a surprised, huh, who’da thunk it? kind of way: Hey, not bad! It’s an achievement of a kind when a film about a rubber-suited character featured in some of the most infamously ridiculous pablum ever made (Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla) doesn’t make you giggle. Whatever its flaws, and they are many, this Godzilla never does.

One can tell by the article's title, "Godzilla sans Giggles" that the article would be favorable. In a later paragraph, writer (The Weekly Standard's movie critic) John Podhoretz wrote:

But by not showing us too much of the giant monsters, as last year’s dreadful Pacific Rim did, Gareth Edwards makes sure we remain unsettled by them. And watching Godzilla doesn’t give you a headache the way Michael Bay’s movies do.

Granted, John Podhoretz is not too thrilled by the plot (although he calls the first half-hour "terrific—ominous and compelling"), but overall, he feels Godzilla is "a thrilling change of pace."

To read the full article, go here.