For months, the hype and expectations for the recreation of one of the world’s most famous giant monsters, Godzilla, has been building. For those who don’t know, Godzilla is a monster that originated in Japan. In the original movies he was created from the nuclear testing and toxic waste that mankind has put into the environment.  He fights a series of creatures in many films, that span the 1950’s through today. He has destroyed Tokyo many times, as well as New York. He has even fought for mankind against unbeatable odds against alien threats to the Earth. The unbeatable Godzilla even has his own tag line, “King of the Monsters”.

The film opened in America on May 16, 2014, and quickly soured to the top of the box office sales charts. This is Gareth Edwards’ vision of the iconic monster.  It is obvious that this movie presented the largest version of Godzilla to date. It revolves around the perspective of Ford Brody, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is an EOD technician in the United States Navy. This movie captures the catastrophic events that surround the impending battle between Godzilla and a pair of other monsters.  It also takes a glimpse into the struggle of surviving for everyone who was affected by the epic and “terrifying force of nature”.

Godzilla remains true to its roots of representing man’s impact on the environment. However, in this updated version of the franchise, these monsters are forces of nature, not created by man, and also cannot be destroyed or even affected by man. It is very humbling. It is because of this impotence, to have any effect on these giant beasts, that it is decided to have these beasts destroy each other to create a balance.

I personally loved this take on Godzilla.  The overall feel of this movie was fantastic!  Sure, every movie has its flaws, but this was one very enjoyable movie.  Some actors are better than others, but what really made this movie a success, was the dark and mysterious was the performance by actor Bryan Cranston, who plays Ford’s father Joe Brody.  Those who watched “Breaking Bad” know him as Walter White.  His extraordinary acting completed what director Gareth Edwards wanted this movie to accomplish, which was to position the viewer in the epic story. To scare and terrify the audience in a way that has not been accomplished since the first Godzilla film of 1954. This movie was worth waiting for, and it is what I expected since the first trailer.

By Aaron Feliz