GODZILLA (TriStar - 1998) Starring Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria Screenplay by Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich Produced by Dean Devlin Directed by Roland Emmerich Running time: 138 minutes
**1/2 (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: B-
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
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After months of speculation, the secret is finally out. The team behind GODZILLA have gone to extreme lengths to keep the revamped look of the new monster under wraps for the past ten months, even obligating cast and crew to sign strict confidential agreements. The teasers and trailers have deliberately revealed precious little, as well -- a scaly foot here, an enormous eye there. Well, to much media frenzy, the eagerly-awaited film has finally been unveiled, and the truth can be revealed. It's big. It's green. It's reptilian. I mean, come on, this is Godzilla -- what *else* is it supposed to look like?
The appearance of the mighty behemoth is the least of the concerns for the filmmaking team of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who previously brought forth the 1996 smash hit INDEPENDENCE DAY. Working from a story they conceived along with Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, GODZILLA has an utterly hackneyed, inane screenplay -- but with a film like this, perhaps that's as it should be; anything with a shred of legitimacy would probably only serve to underline just how ridiculous the premise of a giant lizard stampeding through a metropolitan center truly is.
The original 1954 Japanese film, GOJIRA (released domestically as GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS) was at its heart a cautionary tale about the dangers of nuclear escalation. This new production doesn't carry such lofty messages -- and perhaps wisely so; poorly handled, and it'd be SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE all over again -- but it remains faithful to its predecessor in respect to the beast's origin as an unforeseen side effect of nuclear testing. Incorporating actual footage of the Abel, Baker, and Castle Bravo test blasts of the early 1950s in an inspired, moody opening, Godzilla's inception here is from an reptile egg irradiated by fallout from French nuclear testing in the South Pacific.
It doesn't take long for the big guy to get into action. Sinking a Japanese fishing ship with the greatest of ease, only glimpses of the amphibious monster are revealed during the attack, and it's not until it reaches its final destination that the reinvented beast is completely revealed.
In the meantime, we're introduced to Howdy Doody hero Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick), a biologist from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission who studies effects of radiation leakage. Whisked away from his Chernobyl earthworm studies (I am not joking) by the military in order to examine the irradiated wreckage of the Japanese vessel, he repeatedly encounters mysterious Frenchman Philippe Roache, who, accompanied by a small entourage of fellow countrymen (all of which are amusingly named Jean-something), may or may not be a mere insurance company representative. (My bet would be: not.) Mr. Broderick imbues his character with such flagrant ingenuousness that a scene where a pull-back reveals him obliviously standing in the depths of a gargantuan footprint, intended to strike awe into the hearts of the audience, only serves to make his character appear like a floundering idiot.
Our other two protagonists are found in New York City, "the city that never sleeps" according to Sinatra and the text crawl which introduces the bustling metropolis -- given the ominous aesthetic Mr. Emmerich aims for, it might have been better described as the city where it never stops raining. In an insipid thread, Audrey Timmonds (Maria Pitillo) is spinning her wheels as assistant to egotistical hotshot TV news anchor Charles Caimain (Harry Shearer). Stifled in her attempts at career advancement to full-fledged on-air correspondent, she spends much of her time bemoaning her woes to a sympathetic Victor "Animal" Palotti (Hank Azaria), a rough-'n-tumble, ready-for-anything TV cameraman. Luckily for the frustrated Audrey, she just so happens to be the former flame of Nik, which automatically means by the end of this film, she'll have fulfilled her career aspirations in triumphant fashion, and outwrangled her oppressive, villainous superior to boot.
Although the film's four protagonists are human, the real star of the show is Godzilla, and when it finally makes its bow in the waterlogged Big Apple, it's quite a sight to behold. The shots of the monster are suitably impressive, if not quite awe-inspiring; it's not a CGI effect that hasn't been seen before in the JURASSIC PARK pictures -- it's only bigger. In fact, the creature's sheer magnitude is somewhat problematic in that it's vaguely offputting -- it's *too* big. Size *does* matter, but when the beast towers over the city to the degree that it does here, it becomes increasingly distant and uninvolving, and Godzilla loses some of its indescribable charisma -- an important factor here, since the filmmakers are clearly aiming for the audience to sympathize with the giant reptile, at least to some degree. Gone is the cheerfully malevolent Godzilla of old, toppling buildings left and right as it stomped its way through anything in its path -- our new-age Godzilla is much more tidy, accidentally leaving in its wake a path of destruction as it thoughtfully navigates up and down city streets and boulevards. And this fearful Godzilla actually flees from its minuscule human attackers! Where have you gone, Godzilla Senior?
Predictably, I found myself rooting for the marauding Godzilla rather than our heroes -- not because the filmmakers were successful in winning audience empathy for the beast ("It's only an animal," whines sensitive, ecologically-minded Dr. Tatopoulos), but by default, since all of the human characters are so inept that it's impossible to cheer for them. The military, in particular, is woefully pathetic; they're suffering from stormtrooper-itis, unable to hit a target 200 feet high. I felt like running up with a can of red paint and marking a giant bullseye on Godzilla's back in the hopes that it might help.
Dr. Tatopoulos hypothesizes that Godzilla has traveled to New York in order to lay its eggs; the military dismisses this as preposterous and refuses to heed his warning, so by default you know that he's right. Consequently, while the armed forces lick their wounds and prepare for a rematch with the big green guy, Tatopoulos and Roache's team, trailed by newshungry Audrey and Animal, inflitrate the evacuated city in search of Godzilla's nest, eventually finding hundreds slimy eggs within the devastated confines of Madison Square Garden. (What, no Yankee Stadium?) While fumbling Audrey and Animal finally reveal their presence, Roache's squadron set out to destroy the nest with explosive devices, while Ripley torches the eggs with her flamethrower. Whoops, wrong movie. And when an irate Godzilla itself stumbles onto the scene, we're set for an action-packed finale where our four protagonists confronts the giant lizard. "Mommy's very angry," whispers one character as the reptile bellows in rage. Whoops, wrong movie.
While the film is often inconsistent with respect to Godzilla's abilities (how can the beast outrace attack choppers in one chase scene, yet is unable to keep up with an old clunky automobile in another? I guess its fish diet binging hampered its mobility), some of the action sequences are entertaining. The cat-and-mouse game with the infant 'zillas in Madison Square Garden is old hat after similar sequences in the Spielberg JURASSIC PARK pictures, but they're sufficiently well-executed by Mr. Emmerich to be exciting. For Gothamites, there's much to cheer about as various familiar city landmarks are depicted in various states of disarray in the wake of Godzilla's destructive path; in a scene which ends with the exclamatory instruction to destroy MSG, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that New York prints of the film have applause cues here.
The monster scenes are adequate, but any time people are onscreen instead of the creature, there's an overwhelming compulsion to give the film the MST3K treatment. The character development is anemic, and the gags and one-liners are outright pathetic (even the Siskel & Ebert spoof is milked a bit too far; I wonder if Ebert minded, though, since the Gene character was his subordinate). None of the human characters are remotely engaging, and the dialogue is utterly banal. In fact, the human side of the story, with its various inane subplots, is so blissfully hackneyed that it begins to take on a life of its own. It's so ridiculously weak that I could barely contain myself from chortling anytime anyone said anything. GODZILLA is a film best approached if you're prepare to laugh; otherwise, you'll just end up groaning a lot.
Of course, one might have hoped for a bit more than just a good bad movie from a project budgeted at $120 million. With regards to the genre, Mr. Broderick commented, "You have to care about the people being chased by aliens or monsters for the movie to work. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of explosions and special effects." Exactly.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "Unlike you, I'm tolerant of weirdness." - Jennifer Jason Leigh, CROOKED HEARTS
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