Godzilla movie review

I love Godzilla. I've watched the old movies, and all the new ones, even the abysmal Godzilla 1985 (featuring Perry Mason--Raymond Burr). Anyway, Godzilla is a great monster/hero. I've never really been able to categorize him, since he does wipe out whole cities yet manages to save the world from even worse things... like giant moths, or a fire breathing turtle. Yup, it's corny, and totally awesome anyway.

The new movie is the highly anticipated return of this amazing creation... and doesn't exactly feature Godzilla at all. For most of the movie the creature is moving from one place to another, completely ignoring all human interaction. For a movie titled after such a legendary creature, it's disappointing that Godzilla isn't in it much until the end. The majority of the story is centered around a family affected by the various tragedies. Sadly, whatever the humans do against the monsters does practically nothing, aside from annoying Godzilla a tad.

It's hard to say why this movie didn't satisfy me. There's giant monsters, lots of explosions, and a workable plot, yet it doesn't work together. I don't like being hard on stories, because I know how much time goes into creating them, especially well-loved stories like Godzilla. Hopefully when I get it on DVD it will be more enjoyable, since at that point I won't be hanging onto such high hopes and will let it stand on its own legs. That's probably the biggest issue with legendary characters... excessive expectations. I doubt anyone could live up to the expectations this movie had.

Godzilla, I still love 'ya!

- M