GODZILLA 2014 (MOVIE REVIEW)

May 17, 2014 The Dork Knight Uncategorized 0

There is a reason why Godzilla is referred to as the “King of the Monsters!”  and that’s because it’s true. This reintroduction of the classic monster from the 1950’s Japanese films with its poor English dubbing pays respect to its past and reminds us why we love him. It’s been 16 years since Hollywoodattempted a Godzilla film with its 1998 reboot staring Matthew Broderick. That version felt more like a bad extension of Jurassic Park than something worthy of the name, Godzilla. With this new and updated take from Director Gareth Edwards, we’ve got something worth while. Warning, spoilers ahead…


One of the great things I appreciate most about this film is how Director Edwards tied this story-line back to its original 1954 source. So in many ways, this felt like a sequel of sorts without actually being one. Edwards provided just the right amount of exposition to give newer audiences an intro to the fire breathing beast without losing or frustrating the audience who grew up watching Godzilla. Here’s a fun fact, there has been more Godzilla films (32) than James Bond films (23).  

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Joe and Ford Brody
The film centers around the Brody family. Breaking Badstar Bryan Cranston plays engineer Joe Brody who fifteen years lost his wife to a nuclear accident when the Janjira Power Plant was destroyed by a series of earthquakes. Or so we thought that they were natural earthquakes. Joe spends the following years becoming a conspiracy theorist and a absent father to his son Ford (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a military weapons expert who now has his own family living in San Francisco.
When his father is imprisoned for trespassing, Ford travels back to Japan to retrieve him. This is where Joe’s suspicions of a government cover-up gains some credibility. Especially from Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe), a scientist working for the government studying the fallout at the Janjira Power Plant. Those earthquakes has more to do with radiation induced monsters than nature itself. How do you fight a couple of monsters hell bent on mating? Awaken the King of course.

It takes nearly an hour or so for Godzilla to appear. But when he does and judging from the applause from the audience, he was well worth the wait. This was the Godzilla we had longed to see as he takes on two monsters with San Franciscoserving as their battleground. The special effects as you would expect are impressive. Edwards does a wonderful job of using the smoke from the fires and collapsed buildings to mask the creatures movements and with it, adding an element of surprise in the process. 

Don’t make him angry!
From the familiar roar that rocked the theater walls to the fire that shot out of his mouth, this was old school Godzilla at its finest. Ending, with a monster battle royal with the King standing tall in the end. All Hail the King! All Hail Godzilla! Now the summer movie season has officially begun.
Godzilla *** (out of 4)
May the Dork be with you,
JPB

The Dork Knight

About The Dork Knight 521 Articles
James aka “The Dork Knight” is a blogger and writer based out of Upstate New York. For James, it all started with a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… when he dragged his mom to see The Empire Strikes Back 10 weeks in a row. He lives and breathes nerd culture. James is proof that a Star Wars fanatic can be a passionate Trekkie as well. So much so James dressed up as Captain Kirk to the premiere of Star Trek VI in 1991 and still has the uniform. When it comes to Comic Books, Sci-Fi or Fantasy whether in print or digital, in the theatre or on my TV screen, I’m all about it and I love it. So bring your Phaser (set to stun), Lightsaber, Sonic Screwdriver, a Wand, Mjolnir or the Ring to rule them all, because this site is for the dork in all of us.