A Boy and His Monster

Godzilla (2014) 123 mins.

"Echolocation?"

I started the 2015 Watch-a-thon with a movie from Category 1: 70s Monster Flashback. I guess I should have made a kaiju film Category Eleven. But Godzilla is more than just a monster movie, and it's more than just a giant monster movie.

It's a disaster flick, as any good giant monster movie should be. It tries to be a bit of a horror movie, too, by playing some of the scenes really dark. It's a good movie, as a disaster/survival/monster movie, and a nice reboot to the series and the character, and that's what 70s Monster Flashback is all about.

The story of course is told through the eyes of a child, or a man who suffered a tragedy as a child. This film hits all the tropes, and plays them right, from the scientist (who has also lost loved ones due to tragedy) who realizes that there are some things even beyond our power to control, to Godzilla as the "good" monster, to a young couple (family, even) separated amidst a massive catastrophic disaster. I watched it twice.

It has "bad" monsters for Godzilla to vanquish, lots of military hardware thrown around like a kid's toys, even a recurring visual motif of walking into rooms that are torn open to the sky by something that just escaped.

The plot is a bit headlong, and a lot of stuff sure manages to happen to this one guy, but at least his dear old Dad wasn't crazy after all.

Definitely learned lessons from Cloverfield, but why not update the classic giant monster, anyway?

As a Godzilla movie, it was a fine reboot. I give it 3 out of 5 stars: Not Bad.

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