If there is one trend that will be forever linked to the 2010's decade of blockbusters, it is the sense of nihilism. The world has been in a perpetual downward spiral and it continues to generate revenue at an alarming rate. It instills the viewer with fear and invigorates a sense of helplessness. With the Mayan Apocalypse that was 2012 years behind, there is no excuse for this to still be the case. However, in order to best define the modern day nihilism, we needed to go back to a 60 year old property that dealt with nuclear warfare of World War II. We needed to reboot the timeless Godzilla.
What makes this radiated monster so endearing compared to his American counterparts, who continue to wane? It is ideally the massive size and unrelenting hell that comes with Godzilla. He embodies nature's ability to take mankind down and show us who's really in charge. Over the many decades, his legacy has been questionable, but he has come to take on an environmental subtext in director Gareth Edwards' update, which sees him fighting other monsters while putting millions of humans at risk. No amount of ammo will stop him. He is the unstoppable force.
The film's characters exist solely as place setting. Following the Brody family, the story shows the events of Joe's (Bryan Cranston) time in a Japanese nuclear facility that leads to some climate problems. 15 years later, Joe and his son Ford (Aaron Johnson) return to find that Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) has made it his mission to keep the conspiracies hidden from the public. Upon the launch of the Mutant Unidentified Terrestrial Object (MUTO) from the chemical waste, things escalate into a war in the Pacific Ocean and the nearby landmasses. From that point on, humanity is secondary. Godzilla just wants to be left alone.
The film's strongest element is that it doesn't ask much of its characters. In fact, they serve often as pawns to be trampled or drowned from the disasters brought on by the massive monster fights. Nobody is able to stop them and whatever attack is made only makes matters worse. It is a Rube Goldberg Machine of chaos that is effectively shot from a human viewpoint. It suggests that there's nothing that can be done. We think that control is in our hands, but nature will succeed with help from the equalizer, even if he is a ginormous, loud force that crushes most of the California coastline.
Very little can be said about the actors standing out. At most, Ford and his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) are the closest that the film comes to protagonists. Even then, they are kind of drab and useless. The world is a danger zone for most of the film as humanity questions its blunders and watches the carnage through cracks in the collapsing building. We rarely see MUTO or Godzilla head-on, creating a sense of Jaws-themed horror. The lurking presences may have minimal screen time, but they make those moments count with sheer terror. With the ending also not being a pleasing finale, it makes Godzilla one of the most audacious blockbusters of the year so far because it manages to have terror as well as brilliant subtext. It feels important.
Most of all, it introduces a hopefully unstoppable force for the future of monster movies. Director Gareth Edwards proved his ability to go high scale on a low budget with the estimated $500,000 budgeted Monsters which turned Central America into an impressive mutated war zone. Godzilla may sound like a stretch for a follow-up, but considering that both deal with global infections and have gas mask iconography, this feels like the perfect follow-up. Edwards does not disappoint by using the monster visuals sparingly and choosing to wade in the tense moments in between where nothing happens. Along with a bombastic, if not memorable, score by Alexandre Desplat, this film hits all of the beats correctly and understands the Jaws school of how economic reveals can benefit the overall tone.
Another element that makes Edwards so embarrassingly fitting for this property is his ability to use special effects. Many of the scenes mix realism and C.G.I. in creative ways that turns the desolation into something of beauty. Many familiar Californian cities are destroyed and with giant fake monsters crumbling them at every turn, it helps that everything has a sense of urgency. The visuals look authentic and bring to life the endemic nature of the story. Most of all, the shots are gorgeous and used to their full effect each time. This is a blockbuster that cares about intricate details, and that makes the scale all the more rewarding.
Maybe Godzilla works because the hero isn't a caped crusader or even someone that we can understand. Maybe it is that it is just as nihilistic (if not more) than the dreadful Man of Steel, yet it has more heart in an incomprehensible monster. It challenges narrative's pretentious nature by literally stomping all over it and forcing reconsideration of what an important story beat is. The film may be from the human's perspective, but it serves as a voyeuristic one. With countless memorable shots and environmental messages that are more insinuated than forced, this film has all of the action and excitement necessary to make it an enjoyable summer adventure. Oh yeah, and the actors are pretty good in it, too.
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