Godzilla (M)
Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston
THERE’s no other word for it: the new-look Godzilla is fat.
Just don’t tell him I said so because he’s got a temper.
Godzilla raged through the nation’s box offices on the weekend, devouring a ton of cash… and, judging by his frame, several jumbo-sized tubs of popcorn and some barrels of Coke.
The new Godzilla is much better than the previous re-make which featured Matthew Broderick and the gay guy from Melrose Place (ask your parents, kids).
The subtleties of Godzilla had previously been lost on me.
I had not realised, for example, that he was on humanity’s side, fighting other monsters in our defence.
Sure, a few cities got wasted along the way, but the people were entertained.
In this reboot, everyman Bryan Cranston plays the American nuclear engineer confronted by the MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) who – spoiler alert – kill his wife and wreck half of Japan.
Two of the MUTOs make a beeline for their own city of love, San Francisco, in an attempt to spawn. This could get messy.
Cue all the boy toys – ships, trains, nukes, and all the usual destruction.
Meanwhile, Godzilla lumbers his lard-arse around like a cross between fat Elvis and a paunchy, punch-drunk prizefighter, knocking ’em out with his prodigious gut.
There can be little doubt that Godzilla delivers exactly as promised.
The jury is still out on whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing for our society.
– Jason Beck
