Gojira has been a cinematic phenomenon since its introduction in 1954. This monumental monster has graced the big screen dozens of times and has wreaked havoc on the world almost as often. With what is technically considered the first American Godzilla film, TriStar Pictures released Godzilla in 1998.
In this version of Godzilla the famed reptilian monster has made his way to the United States, specifically New York City. In typical kaiju fashion, he terrorizes the city that millions call home. In order to save the crumbling city a series of misfits, Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick), Phillipe Roaché (Jean Reno), Audrey Timmons (Maria Pitillo), and Victor ‘Animal’ Palotti (Hank Azaria), must come together and curb the crisis.
The essence of Godzilla is, well, Godzilla himself, at least it should be. This rendition of the classic story is so incredibly busy that the bones of the story, Godzilla, takes a backseat to almost everything else. There’s no reason to invest in a sappy love story that transcends the entirety of the film as it does nothing but water down the compelling story of a massive reptile destroying the city. The ridiculousness that is the love story between Niko and Audrey is boring, redundant of nearly every chick flick that has come before it, and ultimately tiresome. I despise the fact that this romance was included in the film, and director Roland Emmerich should be ashamed for believing this would, in any way, make the film better.
There are a series of aspects of Godzilla that do far more bad than good, including the dialogue, the attempted comedy, and the poor animation. The dialogue is juvenile and leaves a lot to be desired. Cheesy one-liners and the over-simplicity of the discourse make viewers with a brain tired and unexcited. The reality is that it would have been a challenge to make the writing any worse, and everything suffers as a result. Again, the dialogue is frightful, but what makes it even worse is the actors’ inability to convey anything appropriately. Part of the issue with the writing is that, in the most intense situations, comedy and romance are used as an attempt to alleviate any potential stress the viewers may be feeling. The reality is that while New York City is under attack by a cold-blooded terrorist, those closest to ground zero would be focused on fixing this precarious situation, and not about making a cup of tea or joking about scientific semantics. Every moment of significance is diluted by some atrociously underdeveloped and unsophisticated aspect of the script.
As if the story hadn’t been ruined enough by the romance and asinine comedy, the animation present throughout Godzilla manages to make a film about a giant, destructive dinosaur even more unbelievable. With a film of this nature, animation and computer generated images are essential. This aspect is not only a disappointment, but a complete failure. Nothing, including the simplest of special effects, looks realistic.
Godzilla feels like a complete dud; it’s only saving grace is nostalgia. This film came out when I was just seven years old, and it’s one of the first films I can remember sitting through from beginning to end in theaters. It is that alone that resonates with me and makes the film worthwhile. The writing, animation, dialogue, acting, and so on and so forth are horrific and fail to entertain anyone at all. Throughout the course of the film a number of characters poke fun at the idea that America tends to ruin things; in the case of Godzilla that couldn’t be more true.
Directed by Roland Emmerich.
Written by Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, Ted Elliott, & Terry Rossio.
Starring Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, Michael Lerner, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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