Note: Originally posted on The Optional Boss in April, 2015

Nearly a year removed, it seemed appropriate to go back and re-watch Gareth Edwards’ Western take on the King of the Monsters. At this point, we’ve probably heard all about how little Godzilla actually shows up in the film, or how the humans were bland and boring. With Edwards set to direct the Star Wars spin-off film Star Wars: Rogue One, maybe it merited a deeper look.

It wouldn’t be totally inaccurate to say that the human characters do feel a bit underwritten. Easily the biggest disappointment of the film was the way Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) was utilized. He basically fills in the blanks for the other characters – as well as the audience – about what’s going on. There’s something inherently boring about following a mysterious plot line when a couple of the characters have at least some idea of what’s happening. This was always going to be a problem though. The unraveling of the mystery in the original 1954 Gojira was more gripping because audiences at the time had no idea what was coming, really. Sixty years and twenty-nine movies later, we all knew what Dr. Serizawa was afraid of. It just loses a little bit of its punch.

None of the characters are particularly complex. Dr. Serizawa is steadfast in his belief that Godzilla is some sort of mythical beast come to aid the world to restore “natural order.” He is never conflicted, but also doesn’t really have to do much of anything but lay down exposition. Admiral Stenz (David Strathairn) is, however, in a tough spot. Though he makes his decisions with authority, he doesn’t ever seem particularly thrilled about it. The film touches a tiny bit upon the position he’s put in – having to deploy a nuclear device near a populated city – and he’s surprisingly human for a military man in this kind of movie (usually, they’re presented as simple jarheads looking to blow stuff up), but they don’t ultimately show much of that weight outside a few lines of dialogue.

Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is in a similar situation. He’s your typical hero, but you can see that he’s conflicted at times about it. All he’s trying to do is get home to his wife and son, but he also can’t just sit idly by. Essentially, he serves as a human parallel to Godzilla himself. This is never more clear than in the final act in San Francisco. They both volunteer to help (Ford on the possible suicide mission; Godzilla to fight the MUTOs), and they give it their all in doing so. There’s even a great (albeit slightly silly) moment where Godzilla is on the ground, beaten and exhausted from his fight. Ford, limping his way to the nuclear bomb, sees him. It’s almost like they give each other power when they stare at each other. Both heroes understand what’s at stake and realize they have to dig deep for one more big push.

While the movie is essentially a road movie of sorts (it basically just follows Ford as he tries to make his way from Japan to San Francisco, unwittingly running into the MUTOs over and over again), his journey is very similar to Godzilla’s. In Hawaii, we see how great a guy Ford is when a tourist’s child accidentally gets stuck on the tram. Ford tries to communicate that he’ll take care of the kid, get off at the next stop with him, and bring him back. Nothing too big of a deal. But it’s the first set of “heroics” we actually see from him. When the first MUTO shows up on the island, Godzilla shows up to do battle for the first time. This too is the first time we see the “heroics” from Godzilla. It isn’t a big fight, and it’s mostly a tease, but it’s still small potatoes compared to what’s to come. Between Hawaii and San Francisco though, we get both Ford and Godzilla on the move. Both are trying to get to San Francisco. Even at the very end with both acting like heroes and digging deep, they both collapse immediately upon victory, possibly about to die from their efforts.

Though underwritten, the humans function almost more to highlight the stresses and conflict of responsibility. Everyone seems conflicted about something. Ford wants to get home, but can’t just leave the bomb for someone else to deal with. Stenz understands that he needs to try the nuclear bomb, but also realizes that it might mean killing civilians. Elle is torn between getting her son out to safety while also remaining at the hospital to both help other people and to wait for her husband. There are reasons for each of these characters to feel conflicted about the very thing they’re doing. Yet it’s usually for the sake of others.  It’s a classic case of the selfless vs. the selfish.

People often complain about a lack of Godzilla action, and sure, there isn’t ultimately that much. However, this doesn’t mean the film is slow moving. Something Edwards likes to do is constantly push the film down a geographical pathway. In Monsters, he has his characters perpetually moving from South America through Central America on their way to the United States. In Godzilla, he does the same thing: pushing Ford through a narrative island hopping campaign as he makes his way from Japan to San Francisco. It’s a pretty smart way to do it, as it keeps the film moving. It never feels particularly bogged down. Even more, there’s plenty of action to go around. The MUTOs are responsible for much of the destruction in the film, and they show up about twenty minutes in.

One thing Edwards is especially great at is framing destruction. The aftermath of an attack is just as important here as the attack itself. Unlike most summer blockbusters in which cities are under attack from alien invaders, we don’t just witness the buildings collapsing. We see the dust settle and the FEMA camps and the missing persons tents. This inherently gives the monster action more weight given we are not just meant to assume that people somehow got out of there just in time. More importantly, we get frequently grand shots of cities in ruin. Building are torn in half. The terrain is badly damaged.  These epic shots often will provide a sense of scale as well, as there is usually a person in the foreground – taking up a tiny amount of screen – overlooking the destruction.

And of course, he provides quite a few awesome Godzilla moments. The build up to his atomic breath is one of the coolest, most exciting parts of the entire film. The way he defeats the second MUTO is one of the all-time badass Godzilla moments in franchise history. Even his entrance was pretty awesome. Though it’s easy to understand why some people got frustrated by all the teases, Edwards does a pretty good job with them, and with building to something awesome. Not only is the final fight great; each of those moments gets sufficient build up. Seeing the tail slowly light up blue for a few seconds really creates an air of excitement. Just as awesome though is the sequence wherein the tide pulls out as Godzilla prepares for landfall.

From a Godzilla-perspective, it might not be the best Godzilla movie out there, but it’s definitely in the top tier. It very much resembles Yoshimitsu Banno’s Godzilla vs. Hedorah. The humans push the story forward on screen, but ultimately don’t do much. Just like the military in the 1971 film, the people here are constantly failing in their plans. They can come up with them! They just can’t execute them well. As Dr. Serizawa states plainly, “The arrogance of man is thinking that nature is within our control and not the other way around.”

All throughout the movie, the people keep coming up with schemes and plans to control these monsters. Time and time again they are thwarted. Though they are really intelligent and come up with relatively good plans, it ignores the unpredictable nature of the beasts. In the end, even Ford can’t accomplish what he sets out to do. He is unable to disable the nuclear bomb, just like Dr. Toro Yano’s device fails to work properly when Hedorah enters the trap set. And again, Godzilla steps in – almost irritated to have to save the day.

People like to say that Godzilla is a “good Godzilla movie, but a bad human movie.” That’s often the joke about the Godzilla franchise in general (which is pretty unfair to the original works in most cases). Yet at the end of the day, that should not be a knock on Gareth Edwards. The whole point of the film was to make an entertaining Godzilla movie that felt like a Godzilla movie. And that’s exactly what we got. Edwards has a keen sense of framing, and visually he plays around with several different techniques to provide epic-feeling moments. He’s shown restraint and a knack for building to scenes. It stands to reason that Edwards is capable of making Rogue One a good Star Wars movie. Though his body of work is still very small, I do have faith in him.

Reductive Rating: Pretty solid!