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Japanese-fantasy-film scholar Francisco Garcia says of the original Japanese monster movies, "Godzilla and the Japanese films thereafter represented more than the monster itself...the ensemble of characters represent the entirety of the atomic and post-atomic experience in Japan." Americans may pass off Godzilla as simply a cheesy monster in a stupid dino suit, or they may only know of the horrible Raymond Burr version (in which the actor is cut into the Japanese film). But there was much more to the original films. A product of the World War II nuclear bomb explosions, director Inoshiro Honda's Godzilla was a monster who didn't want to hurt humans, he was simply looking for electronic power sources. Though he did crush a number of small villages and eventually Tokyo, he couldn't help it, he was 400 feet tall. In the first film Godzilla is still the enemy, and he is eventually annihilated by one of the most terrifying creations known to film--an oxygen-based destroyer that sucks oxygen out of water and strips the flesh off of its victims. There's no such doomsday creation in the newest Hollywood Godzilla. There isn't even a very interesting monster. Early reports claimed the modern monster would benefit from computerized special effects and look more "realistic," but the reality is a murky lizard with zero personality. The film's star is equally unimpressive. Matthew Broderick plays Niko Tatopolous, a nuclear physicist who studies mutated earthworms and stumbles into a U.S. military investigation of a mysterious creature. Back in New York, Niko's former girlfriend, Audrey (Maria Pitillo), is struggling to make it as a TV reporter. After Godzilla hits Manhattan, Audrey goes back to her ex to steal his secret videotape of the monster. Niko is sacked from the investigation, and his theory that Godzilla is nesting in Manhattan in order to have babies is ignored. Depressed that Audrey deceived him, and convinced that the Godzilla eggs will hatch and the babies will destroy the world, Niko attempts to leave New York. He doesn't get far. A mysterious Frenchman (The Professional's Jean Reno) puts him in charge of the French investigation, which consists of good-looking Frenchmen in oily leather jackets spitting out American coffee ("I thought this was French roast!"). Desperate to get the story, Audrey and her cameraman, Animal (Hank Azaria), are on Niko's tail. No one will see this film for the relationship between Broderick and Pitillo, and no one expects a realistic plot or dialogue, but Godzilla is just too awful on all counts. The jokes are idiotic, the special effects are boring and the performances are embarrassing (except for Godzilla-like actor Michael Lerner as the mayor of New York City). The only moment when the movie is any fun comes near the end, when the monster's babies hatch and take over Madison Square Garden. The rest of the film strangely moves both too slowly and too quickly. The picture attempts a Jaws-like buildup of expository disaster sequences--and even includes a scene where a trio of crusty old fishermen catches something larger than usual--but Godzilla lacks the mounting tension that made Jaws so frightening. After just 30 minutes, we've already seen Godzilla, and he is already in New York, wreaking havoc. And there are still more than 90 minutes left. Rather than an impressive example of the benefits of technology, or a palatable vision of a sad monster created by our own aberrations, Godzilla is like being inside a video game and not being able to control the action, or turn it off. Matthew Broderick expresses dread, perhaps thinking of the two Godzilla sequels he has signed up for. |
