The script for Godzilla is credited to one person, Max Borenstein, but we know that it was worked on by at least three other people, including Frank Darabont of The Shawshank Redemption fame. We bring this up because the movie feels exactly like it's the product of a committee in the same way that World War Z did; the plot doesn't gel like it's been derived from the mind of one person, but as though several human beings have thrown their two cents into the pile and everybody's ideas have been both compromised and taken into consideration all at once. So despite the fact that we have a plot about a giant lizard, we spend two acts establishing a backstory for no real good reason - it adds nothing much to the film, and yet the characters keep talking in circles about it. Then there's the ham-fisted political angles which the movie comments on and fails to expand upon (we learn that Watanabe's character's father probably died in Hiroshima, but it's never discussed further - so what?), and the bold, bombastic statements about humans not understanding nature, all wrapped in a messy, convoluted plot.
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.
