Godzilla (film series)

Godzilla (1998) / Godzilla Trilogy (2014-2021) / Godzilla Minus One (2023)

GODZILLA (PG)

D: Ronald Emmerich

Columbia Tristar/Centropolis/Fried (Dean Devlin)

USA 🇺🇸 1998

139 mins

Adventure/Science Fiction

W: Roland Emmerich & Dean Devlin

DP: Ueli Steiger

Ed: Peter Amundson & David J. Siegel

Mus: David Arnold

Matthew Broderick (Dr. Niko Tatopolous), Jean Reno (Philippe Roche), Hank Azaria (Victor Palotti), Maria Pitillo (Audrey Timmonds), Kevin Dunn (Col. Anthony Hicks), Michael Lerner (Mayor Ebert)

"Size does matter" according to the movie's tagline, so director Roland Emmerich brings as much havoc as possible to New York City when the gargantuan lizard Godzilla journeys to American shores from the Pacific (surely Los Angeles would be a more likely landing spot).

Full of all the usual cliches, hackneyed dialogue and stereotypic characters, Godzilla becomes a Jurassic Park clone when little baby Godzillas invade Madison Square Garden.

None of the performances make you pray for a human victory, while Maria Pitillo seems to think she's acting in a TV sitcom.

Size may not matter, but a decent story does.

4/10

GODZILLA (12)

D: Gareth Edwards

Warner Bros/Legendary (Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Mary Parent & Brian Rogers)

USA/Japan 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 2014

123 mins

Action/Science Fiction

W: Max Borenstein [based on characters created by Toho]

DP: Seamus McGarvey

Ed: Bob Ducsay

Mus: Alexandre Desplat

Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Ford Brody), Ken Watanabe (Dr. Ishiro Serizawa), Elizabeth Olsen (Elle Brody), Juliette Binoche (Sandra Brody), Sally Hawkins (Dr. Vivienne Graham), Bryan Cranston (Joe Brody)

This 2014 remake of the Japanese monster classic returns to it's roots (kind of) in showing Godzilla's Oriental origins following pacific nuclear testing in the 1950's and has the opening scenes set in Japan. This won't do for the interest of American audiences and so the action moves swiftly along to the west coast of America where giant prehistoric bugs are tearing San Francisco a new one. Godzilla finally pops up around halfway through the movie and saves America because their military forces are clearly inept at doing so.

Despite some impressive special effects, this film is a gargantuan mess, throwing a load of scenes together without any cohesion in the story and amassing a wealth of talented actors only to throw most of them away after a couple of scenes without developing any characters or making them integral to the plot.

The 1998 version was pretty poor, but at least it was fun!

4/10

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (12)

D: Michael Dougherty

Warner Bros/Toho/Legendary (Mary Parent, Alex Garcia, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni & Brian Rogers)

USA 🇺🇸 2019

132 mins

Action/Science Fiction

W: Michael Dougherty & Zach Shields [based on characters created by Toho]

DP: Lawrence Sher

Ed: Roger Barton, Richard Pearson & Bob Ducsay

Mus: Bear McCreary

Kyle Chandler (Dr. Mark Russell), Vera Farmiga (Dr. Emma Russell), Millie B. Brown (Madison Russell), Ken Watanabe (Dr. Ishiro Serizawa), Bradley Whitford (Dr. Rick Stanton), Sally Hawkins (Dr. Vivienne Graham), Charles Dance (Alan Jonah)

As the world recovers from the events in the 2014 movie, a mercenary group attack a crypto-zoological government agency, which leads to the subsequent release of a host of giant monsters, including Godzilla, and they fight each other for the title of King of the Monsters.

First off, I really wasn't a fan of the 2014 movie, but this was absolutely terrible. Bogged with scene after scene of exposition which drag the movie down to a suicidal pace, and though some of the visual effects are impressive, the action movies are too sporadic and really don't do enough to regenerate interest before the human characters drag it down once again into talking heads rubbish.

This may find some appreciation with those who enjoyed the 2014 movie, but I would name this amongst the worst films of 2019.

A further sequel is planned, with Godzilla taking on King Kong.

4/10

GODZILLA VS KONG (12)

D: Adam Wingard

Warner Bros/Legendary (Thomas Tull, Joe Jashni, Brian Rogers, Mary Parent, Alex Garcia & Eric McLeod)

US 🇺🇸 2021

113 mins

Action/Science Fiction

W: Eric Pearson & Max Borenstein [based on characters created by Toho, Merian C. Cooper & Ernest Schoedsack]

DP: Ben Seresin

Ed: Josh Schaeffer

Mus: Tom Holkenberg

Alexander Skarsgård (Dr. Nathan Lind), Millie Bobby Brown (Madison Russell), Rebecca Hall (Dr. Ilene Andrews), Brian Tyree Henry (Bernie Hayes), Shun Oguri (Ren Serizawa)

Godzilla and Kong go head-to-head on land & sea, and even the centre of the Earth in this high octane continuation of the “king of the monsters” series.

The plot sees Godzilla turn against humans and a group of scientists using King Kong to obtain a power source for a machine which will give them protection.

The trio of human interest stories here just feel like padding to a wafer thin plot, with characterisation at its minimal and dialogue only there to serve as exposition and very little else, when all you really want to see is a giant lizard and ape beat each other up.

The fight scenes are excellently done, with superb visual effects and sound design, but outside of these scenes, it’s manages to be an incredibly dull movie. Nevertheless, it’s an improvement on the previous Godzilla movies.

5/10

GODZILLA MINUS ONE (ゴジラマイナスワン) (12)

D: Takashi Yamazaki

Toho / Robot Communications (Minami Ichikawa, Shūji Abe, Kenji Yamada, Kazuaki Kishada, Gō Abe & Keiichirō Moriya)

Japan 🇯🇵 2023

125 mins

Science Fiction/Action/Adventure

W: Takashi Yamazaki

DP: Kozo Shibasaki

Ed: Ryuji Miyajima

Mus: Naoki Satō

Ryunosuke Kamiki (Koichi Shikishima), Minami Hamabe (Noriko Oishi), Yuki Yamada (Shiro Mizushima), Munetaka Aoki (Sosaku Tachibana), Hidetaka Yoshioka (Kenji Noda)

Following an underwhelming trilogy of US-produced Godzilla films and an infamously weak 1998 film directed by Roland Emmerich, the Japanese film industry steer the series back on track with this 2023 film, which focuses just as much on the human drama at its heart as it does the featured creature.

Set shortly after the Second World War, a disgraced kamikaze pilot returns to his home town, where he is brandished a coward. Plagued with PTSD and survivor’s guilt, he attempts to build his life back with the support of a woman left homeless following the destruction of the war, as well an orphaned child whom they both raise as their own.

A few years later, he finds work on a minesweeper, tasked with clearing the ocean of naval mines from the war, which is when they discover the titular monster, a giant lizard that has mutated following nuclear testing in the Bikini Atoll.

He joins a group who try to stop the monster before it causes further damage to cities as it goes on a rampage of destruction, enlisting the help of an army engineer who he has history with.

The narrative does an excellent job balancing action and drama, whilst the visuals are impeccable, especially when you consider the production budget was the equivalent of approximately $15m.

I personally found the ending quite contrived, as though it was tacked on to appease a Hollywood audience, which is a shame, as everything leading up to it has the makings of a world cinema classic.

7/10