Godzilla (3 stars out of 4)

Every summer there is a new movie featuring the mass destruction of a major city. We see whole cities get destroyed without even the slightest mention of human casualties or really process the ramifications of knocking down huge skyscrapers. When another Godzilla remake was proposed, it seemed like it would just join the stream of disaster pictures. Gareth Edwards, a director who had only directed 2008's well-received but modest sci-fi film Monsters, was attached. Edwards isn't Michael Bay, Guillermo del Tero or Roland Emmerich (the director of 1998's version of Godzilla). All of these directors have created good blockbuster films built around the destruction of cities. Edwards, unlike those directors, isn't all that concerned with the destruction of cities or screen-filling explosions. Sound and editing isn't used to give audiences the illusion they are experiencing the token "non-stop joyride". That isn't to say there isn't destruction in Edwards's Godzilla. There are definitely explosions and there are moments where the audience will cheer. Edwards's Godzilla seemingly does the unthinkable. It finds the happy medium between big adrenaline-pumping action and almost zen-like restraint. While it might not please everyone who goes into Godzilla hoping to see this year's Pacific Rim or Transformers, it will please those who like their monster movies to have a slow-burn.

Navy lieutenant Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has ended his term and traveled back to San Francisco to be with his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and son Sam (Carson Bolde). Not too long after he starts to feel comfortable in civilian life, he receives a phone call from Japan. His father Joe (Bryan Cranston) has been arrested for trespassing in a contaminated zone. 15 years ago, Joe lost his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) in a radiation leak at the complex where they worked together. The leak was caused by a pulse that Joe had been documenting well before the accident. He had tried to tell people that there was something unusual about the pattern of the frequencies. Now, 15 years later, Joe is still tracking the patterns which seem to only be getting stronger. Everything is eerily similar to how it was during the last major disruption. Neither the authorities nor Ford will listen to Joe. They believe his ramblings are nothing more than the paranoid words of a man who still hasn't gotten over the untimely death of his wife. When in Japan, Ford agrees to make one last trip with Joe to the abandoned quarantine area where they had lived 15 years ago. What they find is a large military installation that had been built around the area where the original complex where Joe had worked. The pulses were not just tremors or earthquakes. The military is hiding something ancient and dangerous.

The most amazing aspect of 2014's Godzilla is just how little "the Big G" is in the picture. This isn't to say he isn't in it enough or doesn't have an absolutely awesome impact when he is fully on-screen. Those expecting instant gratification are going to be very annoyed by this film. Edwards takes his sweet time building up the mystery of the creature and plays the audience like an instrument. This isn't a hammering guitar solo. This is a long journey to a crescendo. Godzilla doesn't appear for at least the first half of the film. That time is spent developing characters (not terribly well but far better than what we get in most blockbusters) and hinting at what we might see in the rest of the film. When Godzilla fully appears and starts wrecking havoc, it is a thing of wonders. It is the kind of spectacle that will make the pupils of children dilate and will no doubt inspire some adults to cheer. They may not stomp around acting like Godzilla the way they might have acted like Jaegers from last year's Pacific Rim but they will definitely sit wide-eyed with their mouth open whenever the big lizard attacks.

One of the most interesting choices Edwards makes is to not always show us the destruction. There are several instances where the monster will descend on a town only for the scene to cut away to a different location. Sometimes the destruction is only seen briefly on newscasts on television screens in other settings. This might anger those who are expecting there to be destruction. Audiences have been preconditioned to expect the total annihilation of cities. We see buildings fall and don't feel anything. The destruction is just another fleeting stunt. Edwards decision to cut away builds wonderful suspense. When we finally do see the monster attacks, it is incredibly impressive. They don't need to keep one-upping what we say earlier. It doesn't get repetitive or "been there, destroyed that". It makes that final act that much more fist-pumpingly awesome.

Unfortunately, the pacing isn't always used to build tension. There are stretches of Godzilla that are slightly redundant. You can only take so much military tactical planning without getting a little bored. When you know there are giant monsters out there, you don't necessarily care about missile deployment and evacuation plans. While Godzilla isn't terribly long at 123 minutes, it could have used a decent 15 minute tightening. There is no reason it couldn't be a lean and mean beast (unlike the titular creature). The tightening might also make those who are conditioned to the "faster, louder, and more explosive" blockbuster genre not notice that there isn't nearly as many monster attacks as they had signed up for. The pacing doesn't damage the film irrevocably but it does harm it a little.

The cast is more serviceable than you would expect for a big monster movie. Cranston isn't working on Breaking Bad level here but he instills Joe with far more humanity than your typical "crazy guy who nobody believes but who turns out to not be so crazy after all". Taylor-Johnson is a little cold as a protagonist. Ford doesn't necessarily "save the day" but he isn't a casual bystander either. Sometimes he feels like Brad Pitt's character from last year's World War Z. He is just constantly at the right place at the right time despite the fact that he is just a normal lieutenant with an above average knowledge of military weaponry. Taylor-Johnson seems to have this permanent steely-gaze which becomes a little soulless after a while. In one scene where saves a kid who has becomes lost from his family, we don't necessarily believe it is something his character would innately do. It comes off more like a plot device or a weak attempt at humanizing a character who isn't very welcoming. While you don't necessarily need to have your heroes be wise-cracking geniuses spouting Whedonesque lines of fancy, it would be good to have a little more connection to your main (human) character.

While the human element of Godzilla might fail a bit, those short-comings are made up for by the sheer magnitude of the monster attacks.Still, a little bit of tightening and more humanizing of the protagonist would have gone a long way. That complaint aside, nobody goes into these movies looking for strong human characters. We want to see monsters tear down buildings. It might be a bit of a wait for the audience but that tension is definitely worth the wait culminating in one of the best climaxes we will likely see all year.