Director Gareth Edwards had a very tall order delivering on a property whose last foray into Hollywood was the horrendous half rom-com-with-a-lizard of 1998. In the end, this year's attempt at making a proper Godzilla film was a bit of a mixed bag; it had a handful of scenes that end up being more laughable the more you think about them, but there was an incredibly enjoyable showdown between man and beast(s) to balance things out. However, the most legitimate criticism of this film is how flat and mediocre the human characters are. While they arent completely stupid or annoying, they are forgettable and offer nothing new or interesting. The performances from the main cast aren't bad, but the script doesnt give them anything to do. Elizabeth Olsen as Elle Brody, a nurse and the wife of the main protagonist, is the best/worst example of this. Throughout the film she does next to nothing but look pretty when life is good and look worried when monsters start attacking. For the subsequent sequel, whether the cast is old or new, let's hope more attention is given to developing these non-monster characters.
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
