My Review of Godzilla (2014) · 7:53pm Aug 6th, 2023
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today! This afternoon, I will be reviewing "Godzilla" from 2014, the beginning of the MonsterVerse film series! Now, let me be honest with you guys: I was never a fan of Godzilla only because I never saw the appeal to it. Additionally, the only Godzilla movie I watched was the one from 1998, and I don't remember much from that movie. But when I heard about this series and its latest film "Godzilla vs Kong", I still wasn't interested until my curiosity got the best of me. So I decided to watch this movie for the first time a few months ago and then re-watched it a couple weeks ago.
To say the least, I honestly had a lot of fun watching this movie. "Godzilla" is far from perfect, but it has stunning visuals, excellent cinematography, amazing soundtrack, and an interesting storyline. This is about a man who is trying to get back to his family but is caught up in the midst of a deadly battle between the mighty Godzilla and the parasitic monsters called the MUTOS.
Right off the bat, I do admit that it has some annoying issues that a lot of people complained about. The most infamous one is Godzilla's lack of substantial screen time. For a movie named after him, he doesn't appear at all that much in a two-hour movie. Nevertheless, whenever he does show up on screen, he makes the most of it. He is terrifying, powerful, and awesome to watch at the same time. That's all I can say of him for now. Again, I'm not a huge Godzilla fan, but these movies are just so good! I dunno, I may have become a casual fan.
Moving on, the acting is quite flawless. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bryan Cranston really carried this film with their solid performances and dialogue; I was surprised to see Ken Watanabe and Elisabeth Olsen in this movie, to be frank. They likewise did a pretty good job acting out their respective roles. All the other characters however were forgettable and dull, so I have no further comment on them.
But the primary factor I loved the most about this movie was its use of its antagonists: the MUTOS. Those creatures, in my opinion, aren't really evil to me. They are monstrous beings who simply wish to reproduce and continue their legacy; yeah, I know, I sound crazy when I say this, but I cannot help but feel sorry for them. I do get they caused mass destruction, absorb radiation, and that they had to be put down by Zilla-Willa, but they are way more sympathetic than Ghidorah in my opinion. With that said, I love their design, their sound effects, and their subtle characterization. It's kinda jarring they have more screen time than Godzilla himself though.
The action is perfect, the soundtrack is really catchy to listen to, and the CGI looks pretty good even today. I just wish that Godzilla would have gotten more screen time to solidify his presence throughout the movie; plus, I didn't really care about the vast majority of the human characters with a few exceptions. If these issues were resolved with more grounded writing and a straightforward plot, this would've been a perfect movie.
Still, I enjoyed "Godzilla" (2014). Therefore, I will rate it a 9/10.
Peace!
Not a bad movie to start the MonsterVerse!