Film review: Godzilla

The best moments in the Godzilla film are those featuring the seemingly mad scientist Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) as he talks of conspiracies and cover-ups.

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in a scene from Godzilla. Courtesy Warner Bros
Powered by automated translation

Director: Gareth Edward

Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston

Two stars

With the 2010 hit Monsters, Gareth Edwards showed that you could make a visually arresting sci-fi thriller on your home computer. He's been rewarded with the chance to play with some expensive toys and make a franchise out of Godzilla, the monster created in post-Hiroshima Japan by Ishirô Honda.

Hollywood attempts at a Godzilla movie have always fallen short – just look at Roland Emmerich's 1998 effort. Edwards fares better, particularly in the opening scenes taking place in 1999 at the scene of a Japanese nuclear plant disaster, but ultimately the demands that Hollywood blockbusters need fights to be better and longer send this into a tailspin. The best moments are those featuring the seemingly mad scientist Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) as he talks of conspiracies and cover-ups.

When the action jumps forward to present day, his son Ford Brody has grown up into brawny Aaron Taylor-Johnson, a soldier struggling to adapt to his civilian home and wife (Elizabeth Olsen).

But before he can put his slippers under the bed, Ford is off around the world – Tokyo, Honolulu and San Francisco – chasing impressive-looking monsters that don’t care for character arcs and plot development.