Blu-ray + DVD

Godzilla Blu-ray Review

Beautiful chaos.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman, September 10, 2014

When it comes to sheer volume of films and cultural infusion, precious few characters can claim a legacy as long, as storied, as cherished as the creature for which thefranchise is named. The numerous James Bond pictures certainly come to mind as another entrant for the short list of lengthy screen resumés, but suffice it to say Japan's favoriteruns rampant in entertainment circles; just plug "Godzilla" into the Blu-ray.com movie search bar above and be amazed at the mass. With that in mind, couldmovie really bring anything new to the table? Can any new entry stand part from the crowded field, at least beyond the spotlight it enjoys with its release, withstanding the test of time and climbing the heap ofmovie experiences to become something of a classic in its genre? Hollywood's 2014 take on the franchise has a few things going for it to nudge it in that direction. First, of course, are budget and year of production. A huge movie made for modern audiences with not a rubbery outfit or obvious miniature in sight, the film could potentially redefine the franchise well beyond the Americanized take on the monster as seen in Director Roland Emmerich's entertaining but largely unfaithful 1998 film of the same name . Next, it could embody the franchise's essence with a more accurate re-imagining of the classic Godzilla structure, only with, again, a more energized, modernized façade. Finally, with the marketing muscle of a major studio behind it, the film could re-introduce large swaths of audiences to one of the world's most beloved franchises that, for better or worse, may not be much more than a blip on Western radars due to "barriers" such as age and language. Yet it's that need to remain true to a core style that seems most important in any big Western take on one of the East's most cherished cinematic treasures. Does, then, succeed through the noise and chaos?represents a not-so-classic case of "in with the old, in with the new." Director Gareth Edwards' ( Monsters ) film lovingly hearkens back to the core essence of the classic franchise films but does so on a bigger scale and with a more immersive style than ever before. The story dates back to the creature's rightful origins in the dawn of the nuclear age but largely brushes aside Japanese canon in favor of constructing a new, linear story from then to now. This is arguably the most hardcorefilm in existence, not because of the massive destruction but because of the blend of graceful cinema and technological advancement that provides a truly franchise-defining sense of chaos and scale never before experienced in afilm. It's all of the classic sensibilities made exceptional by progress, resulting in a film that blends the classic Summer blockbuster style with a knowledgeable, passionate approach that commands the screen for every minute of its two-hour runtime.The movie, then, is really everything the audience expects and, perhaps, a lot that it doesn't expect. If one's exposure tocomes from the 1998 American film and maybe bits and pieces of the Japanese films on cable TV, viewers might be in for a shock considering the intimacy with which the film is made and the steadiness and scale and awe-inspiring visuals and serious tone that greet them, particularly throughout the mesmerizing second half of total chaos across the Pacific and the Western United States, all converging on the helpless San Francisco/Oakland bay area. This film leaves behind the fun and boisterous and moderately comedic Emmerich take (there are no overt jabs at film critics or obvious comic relief characters or any real moments of levity, for that matter) for a decidedly serious approach that's not just a matter of tone and pace but also of mood, photography, and visual effects. Even as the film wallows in a somewhat mediocre story that predictably centers on a family separated by disaster, it builds up a palpable intensity through the first half that absolutely explodes in the second, even if the action is often seen from "perspective" shots, such as through a school bus window, by way of a closing door, via the eyes of a parachutist, or back in the distance as monsters almost silently fight it out while other actions involving human characters play out in the foreground. The film's photography is its most startlingly wonderful asset. It pulls the audience in so deep -- even if the action is sometimes so far -- that the sense of intimate peril is never escaped until the credits run.Indeed, the scope and scale of destruction is massive, but not implausibly massive. The film never shows chaos and destruction for the sake of throwing more action on the screen. Instead, it's all a natural progression from one moment to the next. The environment succumbs to the monsters' power very tangibly, very believably, bringing a whole new sense of chaos to the screen that even the best of the recent Disaster films have never quite before realized, not in 2012 , not in Cloverfield , not in anything. The film does stumble over itself a few times with a somewhat overlong open that's crucial to the story but slows down considering the sense of inevitability that builds around it. The graceful action and destruction that does come makes the wait well worth it, even as the film further drowns around the edges with a dull lead character and predictable family separation events meant to add more drama to madness that stands well enough on its own. Still, despite a few hiccups, this is a tremendous film, one that's even better made than it is purely entertaining, and suffice it to say, it's a blast.