One of the things that bothered me about early fanboy criticism of the American GODZILLA film was how everyone was worried that the new beast wouldn't be strictly canonical. I couldn't understand this, considering what *is* canonical within the official Toho monster series. In various movies Godzilla has flown, talked, magnetized his body and slid on his tail like a baseball runner. And the Big G's appearance had changed quite a bit from film to film. So, I thought, he's redesigned--so what?
For me, part of the problem with this Godzilla film was that the producers weren't really interested in making a Godzilla film. They were worried about the potential for camp and cheese, and had to be cajoled into the project. And it shows.
Aside from the familiar roar, there's very little about this new creature that suggests Godzilla any more than it does any number of other cinematic dinosaurs--Gorgo, Gappa, Yongary or the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. He's basically an oversized JURASSIC PARK T-Rex with spines. Not only has his appearance radically changed, but so has his personality and behavior. It's like making a Superman film in which the Man of Steel has a new costume, teleports instead of flying, comes from the Earth's core rather than the planet Krypton and has a girlfriend named Trixie. My wife (who is not a Godzilla fan) felt that this new version lacked the charm of the Japanese character, and said "he's just a big lizard."
In a way, this Godzilla is a bit pathetic. He's only come to town to lay his eggs, and couldn't care less about those pesky humans. In return, he's hunted hither and yon, his children are slaughtered, and he's gutted by a handful of missiles. Unlike his Japanese cousin, he doesn't even get to escape to the sea and return another day. Poor guy.
Obviously, one doesn't come to this sort of movie expecting much in the way of plot or characterization, but these seem thin even by summer "popcorn" movie standards. INDEPENDENCE DAY (the other sci-fi blockbuster by this production team of Devlin and Emmerich) had a similar running time, but didn't seem to drag the way this one does between attacks. That film's characters weren't quite three-dimensional, but they were generally fun to watch.
Instead, GODZILLA offers the perpetually young Matthew Broderick as a scientist who isn't quirky enough to be engaging, or charming enough to be a romantic figure. Furthermore, he's saddled with a reporter wanna-be girlfriend (Maria Pitillo) who seems to be busing in from a completely different film--perhaps a romantic comedy in which she'd be the one who loses her fiancee to Julia Roberts. And then there's the wacky French Secret Service agent...huh? This is a Godzilla film?
Aside from the scenes of mass destruction, the story centers around Broderick's relationship with his ex-girlfriend, who is concerned that she doesn't have what it takes to be a big-shot TV reporter. Who cares? INDEPENDENCE DAY had its share of romantic sub-plots, but didn't get bogged down in whether Will Smith would become a space shuttle pilot. Bring on the lizard!
There's a twist thrown in about Godzilla being pregnant, and the Powers That Be (including a mayor who is an unflattering caricature of film critic Roger Ebert) being too pigheaded to heed Broderick's warning to look for the nest. A lot of JURASSIC PARK-style "raptor hunt" action ensues, which is exciting enough, but again seems to belong to a different film.
Of course, it's not all bad. If you ignore the fact that this is supposed to be Godzilla, and treat it as a generic monster-on-the-loose movie, it's pretty spectacular. Whereas Japanese special effects technology hasn't improved much since the 60's (check out the new VHS releases of the 90's versions of GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH and GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA to see what I mean), this GODZILLA takes full advantage of advances in CGI to create a convincing portrayal of mass destruction, including some dizzying chase scenes through the streets of Manhattan.
It's generally entertaining enough, and I felt that I got six bucks' worth of movie. But I never got chills up my spine, and I was never really concerned for the safety of the main characters. As for Godzilla himself, I wanted to say, "I've met Godzilla, and believe me, you're no Godzilla."
David Thiel / Champaign, Illinois E-mail: d-thiel@uiuc.edu WWW: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/3227
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