MOVIE REVIEW: GODZILLA (2014)

 “GODZILLA” (2014) MOVIE REVIEW

Not all reboots are fantastic, this one, however is “la manifique”.

It’s a total bim, bam and boom for the gigantic reptilian clashes. Two thumbs up!

This Reviewer is not a follower of the GODZILLA series, from days of yore to current present.

Taken objectively, this solid piece of entertainment deserves kudos for its post-production wonderment.

There will be two school of thoughts:

those who are hooked and the die-hards who ain’t.

GODZILLA is definitely bigger and better (but of course, with the millions of dollars spent) than the 1998 remake of the post-atomic monster which first emerged in 1954.

 Director Gareth Edwards delivers the film with finesse, pow-wow action and palpitating suspense all the way, starting from a gradual build-up. then ascending to a full shrill, ably supported by a credible ensemble cast.

 Bryan Cranston plays n American scientist who’s relentless on uncovering the truth behind a nuclear accident that occurred fifteen years ago in Japan, where he was performing his duty. He is haunted by the memory of his wife who was killed there.

Fifteen years later, his grown-up son Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is working as a bomb-disposal expert in the U.S. military.

Ford has just returned home to his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olson) and their son Sam (Carson Bolde) when he is told that his father has been arrested.

Long estranged from his father, he nevertheless flew to Japan to bail him out of jail and agrees to join him on a nostalgic trip to their old home in the quarantined zone.

By sheer coincidence or not, the father and son coincidentally end up in the very plant where Joe used to work.

There, scientists Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) are in the process of uncovering a strange, massive cocoon-shaped structure that appears to feed only on radiation.

The situation turns bizarre when a terrifying winged creature is unleashed.

It turns out that the MUTO (massive unidentified terrestrial organism) has awoken a monster leviathan that has lain dormant for centuries.

Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins play the arduous researchers.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is Cranston’s strapping son, who’s trying to forget the disaster that rocked his childhood world when he was just a kiddo.

 Elizabeth Olsen plays the loving wife who waits.

 David Strathairn completes the lead cast as the military commander who is above all the operations.

“GODZILLA” is a thoroughly enjoyable movie which will strap you on edge from start to finish.

Watch it in the realm of the 3D IMAX and you can revel in the glorification of the beast’s textured scales and gills.

Hear the thunderous digital roars, certainly not for the faint hearts.

Notwithstanding the cavernous sets and awesome CGI effects that created the alien monsters. There’s GODZILLA, there’s also a pair of praying mantis-like horrors (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) with hook hands tearing bridge cables apart.

It’s a definite winner!

RATING: 4 out of 5

Local Distributor: WARNER BROS PICTURES