The same formula is applied to 1998's Godzilla, courtesy of director Roland Emmerich and writer/producer Dean Devlin. This time around, they spin a fantastic yarn in which nuclear testing in the Pacific mutates a common lizard into a new species. It finds its way to New York, where it stomps its way through the city and becomes hunted by the military. In the middle of it all, a nerdy scientist (Matthew Broderick--I don't think anybody asked for Ferris Bueller to be an action hero), his GF (Maria Pitillo--I thought she was cute, shame this film may have ruined her career), a camera guy (Hank Azaria), and the Frenchiest Frenchman who ever Frenched (Jean Reno) all join forces to stop the monster with nothing more than their amazing power to run around and say funny things...and sometimes their wits.
If you're a fifteen-year-old living in the 90s like I was once, this movie would have hit all the right notes. As a Emmerich/Devlin disaster flick, it does what it wants to just fine. The CGI has not aged well at times, given how soft and unrefined a lot of it looks, but when married with the countless explosions, practical stunts, and model work, it becomes bombastic. Biggest highlights are in the first half, when Godzilla makes landfall and steps on everything. Then, he takes on the military in quite a few big setpieces.
Under scrutiny, the whole thing falls flat when you realize that the story gluing all this together just doesn't stick. All of the characters are as one-dimensional as they come. The lead's sole note is that he's a nerd with a Greek name nobody can pronounce. Broderick plays him like a very very nice version of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. As the film goes on, it sidelines the Godzilla threat in favor of romantic tension between him and the GF, who decisively uses their connection to get ahead in the reporting business, but at certain costs. All of this will induce more yawns and groans than thrills, not because it's boring necessarily but because it's so sappy and doesn't even need to be in the movie. All of the film's excesses--the sap and the bombast--are amplified by David Arnold's score. As much as I love the man's Bond music, it's just a little too 90s in this.
Most of the writing is horrible. Even Devlin, who rushed the script within five weeks, will admit to its shortcomings. Every line feels like a cliche of some kind, with zero depth or personality given to the characters. What makes it palatable on any level is the lighthearted tone--I can appreciate what the levity aims for, and the humorous lines come so frequently that it turns the film into something of a goof-fest. Unfortunately, this strips away the gravitas of the military, who essentially become trolled by Godzilla (and after a rather respectful portrayal in ID4, this just feels stupid). Godzilla himself becomes a ninja for some weird reason, able to hide in the city and sneak-attack helicopters and cars from the most unlikeliest of places.
That may be the film's greatest weakness--its failure to treat Godzilla as a character. The film explicitly labels him as an animal, nothing more and nothing less. Godzilla's sole motivation is to reproduce (um yeah, turns out he can lay eggs all by himself, so...yeah) and find fish. That is all. He becomes vulnerable to gunfire and missiles. He has no atomic breath per se, he simply roars and things explode. Contrast this to the traditional Japanese vision, in which Godzilla is an invincible atomic-powered beast that can either be our greatest enemy or most powerful ally. Emmerich's vision aims for neither--he's simply a problem that the characters deal with, and they do. It becomes a kind of fake Godzilla--one that's so Americanized that it's devoid of symbolism and awe. As the creators of Godzilla: Final Wars noted, they "took the God out of Godzilla."
This script really ticks me off the more I think about it (and let's not even talk about Jean Reno, whose sole role in this film is to be on a never-ending quest for the perfect coffee, because that's how French he is by golly. Such a waste of talent--I kinda wish he would have been in a Bond movie or something, how awesome would it be to see him next to Pierce Brosnan instead of this junk?). But as a spectacle film, it looks halfway decent, and the goofy tone makes it an apt companion next to other 90s disaster flicks like ID4, Twister, and Armageddon. If you can ignore previous Godzilla lore and accept that he could just be a giant, ugly iguana-thing, then the film becomes a fair popcorn flick. Upon growing up a little, I've come to see how shallow and silly this all is. I suppose most monster movies are anyway, but at least the original Gojira persisted for 20+ sequels. Tristar couldn't even get one together for theirs.
Sixteen years later, Gareth Edwards would prove that Hollywood can make a decent Godzilla picture, so watch that one instead.
2.5/5
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