Godzilla (2014) - The best US Godzilla

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Kaiju Movie of the Year
+ Sexiest Screen Couple of the Year (Elizabeth Olsen & Aaron Taylor-Johnson)

Awesome, beautiful poster for Gareth Edwards' Godzilla

Godzilla is back!
After an American hiatus since the 1998 movie by Roland Emmerich, Godzilla, which wasn't terrible, but definitely wasn't great either, and the Japanese Toho's (owners of the franchise) Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), which I haven't seen, the giant, ancient creature is back, - and this time in the best Godzilla movie that I as a Godzilla fan have ever seen, (and yes, I have seen several of the classic Japanese entries.)
Godzilla begins in 1998, where a worried American nuclear scientist in Japan sees his worst fears realized, as an apparent earthquake causes his nuclear plant to come crashing down and kill his wife. Fifteen years later, the same man is still obsessed with the event and what is really going on. He gets arrested in Japan, and his son, - a Navy lieutenant with his own family now, - goes to get him home. But father's ideas turn out to be not so far-fetched at all ...

Beautiful Elizabeth Olsen is a very welcome feature in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla

First of all, Godzilla bolsters a first class cast, led by one of the most handsome screen couples seen in a long time, Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)), who, however, doesn't have much to work with here, and hunky Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass (2010)). - Even in a mediocre monster movie, these two would have made an important difference.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a strong and handsome bomb defuse expert in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla

They get great back-up from Bryan Cranston (Drive (2011)) in the strong role as the desperate father and Juliette Binoche (Three Colours: Blue (1993)) as the mother, though she is only in the movie very shortly.
Ken Watanabe is a scientist that brings a lot of the welcome 'philosophical' material of the original movies into Godzilla, about Godzilla's motivation, goal, and how we should behave towards him. His acting is mostly variations on this look, which does become a bit comical:

Ken Watanabe as flabbergasted scientist in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla

- But it's part of the fun of the movie. Other minor steps that you as an audience had better jump over instead of pause to speculate at include: David Strathairn's Navy admiral, who seems to accept it right away, when his job becomes to chase MUTO's (giant mutated monsters) or rather lure them his way - with nuclear warheads! Another such 'step' is when the first monster breaks out of a huge mine with loads of people around and flees to the ocean, and the official strategy is then to keep that a secret, which I feel would be difficult if not impossible in our age. But this strategy doesn't remain in place for very long, as the MUTO isn't satisfied just scuba-diving oceans and laying low.
These objections are very minor and didn't hurt the overall experience, which was one of wild exhilaration! Read on to know exactly why. Godzilla allows its audience, what Emmerich's Godzilla did not; to root for Godzilla, (which will be most audiences biggest joy at a Godzilla movie, and especially what fans of the franchise are looking for.) We form a kind of alliance with Godzilla in the new movie, and He helps us to defeat the nasty MUTO's before the end of the movie, which I won't spoil, but I'll just say that it's PERFECT.  
Gareth Edwards' Godzilla leaves us uplifted, exhilarated and filled with boyish excitement and faith in the giant creature. - Which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, very appropriately with the release of this new film, which is my personal favorite in the series now. Edwards has impressed a lot of the right people with his low-budget monster adventure Monsters (2010). After the solid story is laid down, the monsters get the right amount of screen-time for themselves, and the MUTO's are very well-made, scary multi-legged mutant-freaks; their sounds are frightening, - they are very fascinating:

Concept image of one of the MUTO's' attack in Gareth Edwards' Godzilla

Godzilla has grown, - he's more than double the size he was in 1954, which makes sense, because our cities have grown. He's HUGE in the new movie, and the coolest thing is that he gets to cast his blue flames (radiation?) out at his enemies. I loved that the people in the universe of the movie also get to see him as their savior and look at him with tremendous respect and fascination, (as we do). Godzilla really becomes God-like in Gareth Edwards' movie, which is just incredible.
Also it was nice to see a huge Hollywood picture actually end, as so many these days seem to think they have an off-putting obligation to promote the next entry at the end of the film. It is also a plus for Godzilla that it doesn't go overboard with Taylor-Johnson's heroic character; he never saves everything and becomes unreal; the movie is never that much his.
Locations include Japan - with references to the Fujiyama-catstrophe, - beautiful Hawaii, Las Vegas, - a fun few minutes of extreme destruction there, - and San Francisco, where the main fights go down. My favorite scene was on the Golden Gate Bridge involving a school bus full of kids desperately trying to get off the bridge, as the military try to attack a monster there. - Really exciting! Another favorite scene was the one where the special troops parachute down San Francisco, emitting red smoke, as Godzilla and the MUTO's prance around the city, - really beautifully achieved!
Online critique that Alexandre Desplat's (The King's Speech (2010)) score is below par for him, - because it isn't as 'sophisticated' as he usually is, - is ridiculous. Desplat's Godzilla-score is bombastic, as it should be, and intelligent, - as so many other decisions about the movie is, - and works perfectly with it. I especially liked the music at Godzilla's triumph at the end, which was just perfect.
Go enjoy this rare monster movie, bring your kids if you have any, and they're big enough to see it (age 6/8 depending on the child), enjoy the roars, because it may very well be years before a movie about giant monsters as good as this is released again. (But I am really hoping for Jurassic World (2015)!)
I didn't see it in 3D and enjoyed is just as much without it, but if you're a 3D fan, go for it.

Related posts:

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch the trailer here

Budget: 160 mil. $
Box office: 489.4 mil. $
= Big hit

What do you think of Gareth Edwards' Godzilla?
Do you agree it is the best Godzilla movie to date?