Godzilla (2014) Movie Review

Godzilla is probably one of the best and well-made summer blockbuster movies released in recent memory. I only have one small gripe with the movie and that is the titular monster doesn’t get quite as much screen time as I’d have liked. This is a result of the film following a similar structure to the classic Spielberg  and 70s/80s blockbusters, with the fanatastical elements only being glimpsed at from the humans point of view for the majority of the run time until the end when you get the full reveal. This shows a mature and restrained film-making rarely seen in modern day blockbusters which should be triumphed! It is very much a movie in same vein as say Jaws, Jurassic Park or E.T.

I don’t want to write too much about the story as this would spoil it, but in summary the movie follows a family’s involvement during a realistic take on a natural disaster, it just so happens that the natural disaster is the appearance of a 300ft+ monster. The narrative primarily focuses on the human characters and therefore you generally only see Godzilla when a person makes contact and then it’s from their perspective, which helps sell a more grounded version of events.

From a technical aspect, the film is superb, the story is simple but structured well, the acting is great, the cinematography looks beautiful, the music is impactful and the special effect really are phenomenal. If there’s ever been a film you absolutely must see on the biggest screen you can find its this.

Just to pick up on my one gripe, I feel some audience members may not approve of the relatively low amount of screen time afforded to Godzilla. I understand you want to tease and build up to the reveal, with obscured glimpses and quick cuts, but when you’re an hour and half into the film and you’re still mainly getting shots that hide the majority of the beast it’s a little frustrating. This is really the only thing in my opinion that stops it from being a 10 out of 10.

Godzilla is the strongest of all the 2014 summer blockbusters so far and is highly recommended!

9/10

Also, there’s some very clever movie marketing for this movie and eagle eyed viewers will notice there are some key differences between some of the shots in the movies trailer to what is in the final film…