Gareth Edwards' “GODZILLA”

Movie review by Dennis D. McDonald

I can’t help comparing 2014’s Godzilla with last year’s Pacific Rim. I enjoyed both films but they differ in some important ways.

Pacific Rim was just a lot more fun. It took me back to my childhood. The human characters were interesting. Despite the cliché ridden back stories I really liked them.

Godzilla is much more “serious” and “realistic.” Death and destruction are more immediate and visceral and less “cartoony.” You really sense that you are witnessing something awful happening that humans just can’t deal with.

Technically the special effects in both films are exemplary with a nod, I think, going to Godzilla for better portraying the sheer scale of the monsters compared with us puny humans.

Still, I don’t see myself re-watching Godzilla as I have Pacific Rim. The characters in Godzilla or just not as interesting as Pacific Rim’s and  the fun just isn’t there. I just don’t enjoy watching cities and skyscrapers getting wiped out, probably since I watched the twin towers in New York fall on 9/11.

Pacific Rim certainly has its share of mayhem but there was a toylike sensibility there given the giant robot factor. Godzilla’s death and destruction are more realistically portrayed. I just don’t see submitting myself to that more than once.

Review copyright (c) 2014 by Dennis D. McDonald