Godzilla

 

My knowledge of Godzilla is limited.  I have not seen the originals nor do I intend to.  It is a franchise that exists outside my radar however when the trailer arrived I took notice and I confess that I was excited.

PLOT: After finding a massive radiation eating egg Mankind decides to feed it radiation.  Mankind is inexplicably surprised when the massive radiation eating egg hatches into Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism (MUTO to you and me) that is hungry for, erm, radiation.  Godzilla rises from the deep just to beat the shit out of a horny Male MUTO.  Female MUTO is being chased by Male MUTO who is being chased by Godzilla who is being chased by the US Navy. END PLOT

The entire plot of Godzilla can be visualised quite accurately with the help of a Scooby Doo montage although Scooby Doo does contain fewer crumbling bridges and falling skyscrapers.  The script can be broken down into two distinct sections – a 30min show case for Bryan “I must have all the cameos” Cranston followed by 90mins of pure chaos.  I could have looked past the invisible plot if it wasn't for the fact that the film was so darn boring.

The MUTO and Godzilla are big monsters and they made short work of Las Vegas and San Francisco and thereafter each other.  The action was loud and noisy but also completely soulless.  King Kong was given a soul through his expressive eyes, even Michael Bay managed to give the Autobots some heart but the creatures in Godzilla were nothing more than CGI shells.  I will concede that as they were big budget CGI shells they did look impressive.

The characters are bland and have absolutely no development.  This only became a problem as I was bored by what felt like hours of watching the US Navy/Arny tiptoeing behind the monsters armed with nothing other than flashlights and machine guns.  Bryan Cranston is always dependable but unfortunately he had a much smaller role than I expected.  I couldn’t warm to Aaron Taylor-Johnston as it appeared that he was concentrating more on suppressing an urge to laugh rather than his performance and Elizabeth Olsen made no impression whatsoever.  This does not bode well for the next instalment of The Avengers.  The rest of the cast were all null and void and got lost in the shambles.

It is a testament to how underwritten the characters were that the only genuinely touching moment in the entire film was when the Male MUTO gave the Female MUTO a radioactive present in lieu of pre-mating flowers and chocolates. 

Given that Godzilla has already made truckloads of money I will put my hands up and suggest that perhaps Godzilla wasn’t for me.  I say this but I can’t get the phrase “empty vessels make the most noise” out of my head.  Godzilla gets 3/10.  It has to be the most overrated film since Scott Pilgrim.

Drive

My attempts to have a Ryan Gosling Cinema Day unfortunately failed due to logistics and cinema listings conspiring against me but it did mean a sneaky Monday night trip after work to see Drive as Crazy Stupid Love was the easier Friday night option.

PLOT:  Ryan Gosling plays The Driver/The Kid a quiet, nameless stunt driver who quietly falls for his neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan).  After Irene’s husband Standard gets out of prison The Kid quietly agrees to be his driver in an armed robbery of a pawn shop.  The robbery goes nosily wrong and The Kid quietly and violently finds himself trying to drive his way out of a bigger gangland conspiracy.  There is silence.  There is driving.  There is some more silence.  There is heartbreak. Clint Eastwood The Kid drives off into the sunset.  There is no happy ending.  END PLOT

The plot follows the beats of westerns of old with The Kid riding into town in his Impala and defeating the bad guys before exiting via a dreamy sunset.

Ryan Gosling is in almost every scene of the film yet has very few lines and when his character does speak it’s in short monosyllabic sentences.  The Driver’s relationship with Irene grows through looks and silences and Gosling’s performance coupled with Carey Mulligan’s ability to look emotionally vulnerable on cue makes their relationship very intriguing to watch.

The supporting cast is made up of a who’s who of current tv shows with Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman and Christina Hendricks all popping up in what can only be described as extended cameos.

The driving action and the violence is gritty and completely devoid of Hollywood sheen and suited the tone of the film.

I was forewarned by a more knowledgeable member of The Nerdy Trio (it feels like ages since we have gotten a shout out!) that I may not like the soundtrack as it would have an electronic sound.  This is the type of score that I usually despise and I think I am in the minority with my absolute hatred of the Daft Punk Tron score but I loved the music in Drive.

The opening credits had an old school 80’s feel to them and the electronic music worked bizarrely well with the film.

I went to see Drive with the expectation of seeing a fast car based action flick and this is exactly what I did not get. Drive is very slow paced with the action and the performances of Gosling and Mulligan being very understated.

Drive gets a 9/10. I think it is a film that people will either love or hate – I don’t think there is much room for a middle ground with this one. 

In terms of a short lived Ryan Gosling run – the better film was kept until last.