RAAAH!
The 2014 remake of Godzilla opened in theaters Friday, May 16, demolishing expectations all around the world. Despite the disappointing previous Godzilla films, the different type of superhero conquered the worldwide box office. According to Rotten Tomatoes, last weekend the PG-13 film grossed an estimated 93.2 million in North America; just behind the $95 million of Captain America: The Winter Soldier which was this year’s biggest debut.
New director Gareth Edwards creates an awe-inspiring yet terrifying movie. The audience receives a humbling experience through: the decimation of cities, enormity of the rampaging monsters, and helplessness of the human race when faced with an existential threat. Besides the bone-chilling fight scenes, there is a human element of drama which keeps the audience engaged throughout the movie.
The main conflict in Godzilla is the bug-like MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism).
Since the MUTO’s main food source is radiation, they travel the world reaping havoc searching for it. These creatures prove troublesome to modern-day technology with a powerful ability that renders it useless. The force of nature, Godzilla, arises to restore balance and hunts the MUTOs.
Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures truly delivered an action-packed spectacle, but this was not the only reason for Godzilla’s success. For one, the star actor of Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston’s role in the film undoubtedly attracted viewers and helped appease some apprehensions. Tim Roland (10) theorizes, “So Heisenberg didn’t die after all, he went to Japan to look for Godzilla.” Also, Godzilla’s advertisement before its release was intriguing to say the least. Jeremy Giampaoli (12) commented, “The movie trailers’ special effects and action scenes were amazing, but I’m not sure if the plot is going to be great or any better than the previous movies.” With popular actors and attention-grabbing commercials; Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures came up with a foolproof formula for success.
Despite a generally positive reaction, some people did not enjoy the movie. Thomas Kawase (9) criticized, “The movie itself was very slow, and I received an excessive amount of pointless information.”
Regardless, the unique film has stomped the ratings in the movie industry thus far, and we will probably be seeing a sequel.
