Godzilla is a fairly difficult property to "update" to current movie-going tastes: where is one supposed to draw the line between seriousness and tongue-in-cheek? Is it better to shoot for one tone, or a bunch of different ones? Is it, in fact, completely futile to attempt to make a sincere Godzilla movie in modern times, considering the inherently goofy nature of the material? These are the questions that the filmmakers associated with the latest Godzilla must have asked themselves. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they came up with any answers. Which is to say: Godzilla tries desperately to be serious, but also flirts with the idea that, hey, this is Godzilla, so we can't be too serious, right? whenever things threaten to get too straight-faced. The problem with this is that the movie never knows how to react to itself. Is it self-aware? Are we supposed to find the situation funny? None of the characters are laughing or joking about the fact that a giant lizard is attacking San Francisco, so are we supposed to, despite the fact that we're tempted? All the inconsistency makes for a jarring filmic experience.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
