It is everything I expected and less.
Anyone who saw and enjoyed director Gareth Edwards' first feature, Monsters, will recognise the modus operandi here. (I should admit here that I saw but did not enjoy). Post-apocalyptic styling, cleverly framed beasties and cursory human drama combine by way of POV camerawork that sits artfully far from the accepted monster movie aesthetic. It is a spectacular piece of movie making, without a doubt. But the shortcomings of Edwards' approach, which were more than obvious in his first film, are writ extremely large here.
Shifting the film's bombastic action to the rear of the frame makes for a startlingly immersive experience and every moment of the gargantuan battle that plays out across the globe is fantastically and beautifully realised, down to the most minuscule detail. It is exquisitely composed on the visual side, and inventive. But it is all background. Out of focus. Caught in glances. Edwards' goes to great lengths to reiterate that. He feeds off that conceit both visually and thematically; we are just an overlay to nature's cataclysmic drama. It works. It works extremely well. It works just like the startlingly beautiful final scene in Monsters worked.
But, I'm sorry, I want more.
For all the effort that has gone into the intricately detailed, epically scaled destruction, I want a similar amount of effort channeled into the human drama in the foreground. Give me fatalism. Give me melodrama. Hell, give me high camp. Just don't serve up uninspired, plywood characters, illogical plot progressions and sodden, unexpurgated exposition. And don't force me
to watch the talent of such a superb cast being roundly wasted.
The intelligence of Godzilla's visuals and the production design is in no way reflected in its screenplay. Writer Max Borenstein labours points, under writes characters and oversteps credulity. Many will berate the performances here, Aaron Taylor-Johnson's protagonist, Ford Brody, in particular, but it is on the page that the damage was done. There is very little colour in Borenstein's dialogue. Those that attempt to squeeze some out, as Bryan Cranston does as Ford's deranged engineer father, end up doing themselves a disservice. Then, at least he was given the chance to make a mark, which is more than I can say for Sally Hawkins, Elizabeth Olsen and Juliette Binoche.
Wade through the horrendously convenient plotting - somehow Ford ends up in the middle of everything here (he's an army bomb expert, you know) - and its easy to see what Godzilla was aiming for. Late in the piece, in another of the screenplay's cringingly obvious pronouncements, Ken Watanabe, moans ominously, "The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control... and not the other way around." That'd be Edwards' elevator pitch right there.
It is a shame he couldn't stick more firmly to his game plan. We could have done with less of the poorly executed drama and more ecosystem nihilism. Fewer family-torn-apart-with-individual-members-somehow-showing-up-in-the-middle-of-every-action-sequence moments and more jaw-droopingly beautiful marines-dropping-from-the-sky-with-smoke-flares-to-Alexandre-Desplat's-ear-pounding-score set pieces.
And a touch more humour.
So, to qualify, Godzilla has a game-changing blockbuster lurking in the background of an uncharismatic, uninspiring, rather dull action film. Look past the foreground faults and there is some monolithic beauty to behold. Many have. Unfortunately, for me, the faults are too distracting.
I recommend, but not before plastering it heavily with warning stickers.
★★☆
Trailer:
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