Godzilla (2014), PG-13, ★★★

Godzilla is back!

I have to honestly confess that I am not a huge fan of the Godzilla movies or TV shows. I felt that they were a bit overwrought and cheesy, but most of all, they were not scary. I do understand that the monster is iconic and many people are and will still be familiar of its name. The audience wants to be awe-struck by the monster's size and tenacity to destroy buildings and rival monsters and also by its ferocious roar. At the very least, this movie is a big improvement over the awful and stupid 1998 Hollywood version.

In the Philippines in 1999, a Japanese researcher and scientist, Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and his British assistant, Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins), land onto the mining site to be informed that the miners found something in the cave. They find a skeletonized carcass of the creature and fills the cave as far as it can go.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) is a scientist and engineer that works in a nuclear power plant and is heavily concerned about the seismic activity that is proven to be shown as data on the graphs. He and his wife, Sandy (Juliette Binoche), are headed off to the plant and she reminds him that their son, Ford, had made a birthday banner for Joe and he replies that he will make up for it.   While Joe is at the plant, his superiors think that the seismic activity is aftershocks after an earthquake. Suddenly, there is a major tremor in the plant and the reactor has been breached. It is unfortunate, because Sandy is down at the reactor zone and the toxic radioactive mist approaches and kills her and her co-workers.

15 years later, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is now an adult and a lieutenant in the Navy. He returns home to San Francisco to his wife, Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and his son after being away 14 months. They have some moments together until Elle gets a phone call that Joe is arrested for trespassing and is being held at the consulate. Joe is a bit of a conspiracy theorist and a nervous wreck after the accident. Joe tells his son that he is adamant to retrieve his research from their previous home in Japan in the "quarantine zone" to know what exactly happened that day.

Joe and Ford go back to the "quarantine zone" and go back to the house to pick up the research, but they are both picked up and taken to an abandoned power plant. Serizawa and Graham pick up the same data as the data that Joe picked up in 1999. In the main room, the readings confirm that they are electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) that turn off the power with alarming frequency. It cause a multi-legged creature called a MUTO (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) to break out and cause a riot and destroy most of the plant and severely injure other people. What do they do now?

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Now, I know, what y'all are saying? "You have not said anything about Godzilla." It is because he initially appears in the second half of the movie to stop the MUTOs. Serizawa explains that the nuclear tests were not simply tests but attempts to kill the creature and he is convinced that he is returning to stop the MUTOs from destroying the world and also because the female MUTO has a cocoon full of eggs underneath her stomach. Not good!

Director Gareth Edwards applies the Jaws formula to build-up the anticipation of seeing the ginormous monster for the first time to stop the harm and it is well worth the wait. The visual effects and the disaster elements are spectacular to look at and it is crafted beautifully because we know what the monsters are doing that causes havoc for Japan, Honolulu and San Francisco. I'm a bit surprised that they did not come to New York because that's usually Hollywood's playground for disaster movies. But, it is refreshing for The Big Apple to take a break.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the weakest element of the film as he plays the tough soldier who cares about his family as a dull empty character that simply just stares at the monsters and does not evoke any type of emotion. He even plays one-note when he is giving the dialogue. Olsen is a good actress, but she is underused. The supporting actors, even Cranston and David Straithairn, are actually quite good but I wished that they have given more screen time and presence.

There are also flaws that made me ask questions like why they did not kill the second MUTO when it was in the Yucco Mountains and was there even a chance that a boy will reunite with a family like 10 seconds quickly in the camp full of strangers. It is a one-in-a-million chance. I wanted to see a little more, about 10-15 minutes more of Godzilla, because he is just right for the movie. His size and tenacious roar got me awe-struck and a bit scared simultaneously and creates a fantastic third act and fighting sequence that will generate applause. This is the first Godzilla movie that finally made me appreciate the whole film and the monster. Yeah, it needed memorable and better-drawn characters and it could have been better, but this is the Godzilla movie I was hoping for and I got it.

***