Yes, this is a somewhat different Godzilla than was featured in more than twenty Japanese movies from Toho Studios.  Yet much is the same in terms of the Big Guy’s character (especially in the later films) and even the idea of introducing some other menace to society for the Big Guy to fight in a mighty climax.  Purists may gripe — and admittedly there were both thrills and even beauty in the way that some guy in a big rubber suit stomped through models of cities and industrial complexes, usually in slow motion — but this new re-imagining from director Gareth Edwards is pretty darn impressive on its own merits.

Storywise, this isn’t dissimilar to the earlier American version, the 1998 comic adventure with Matthew Broderick, but the tone is much, much darker.  A monster causes havoc near Japan and across the sea while emigrating to the greener pastures of America to hatch its young.  Both films tie monster mania to atomic testing of the 1950s — which, of course, hearkens back to its filmic origins — but then update the mayhem caused by dinosaurs crashing into and through our modern era with the best effects that computer graphics can supply.  It’s pretty neat, although I cannot help but lament the lost technique of good old stunt work, especially in slow motion.

Edwards’ film is character based, focusing on one particular star-crossed American family in Japan, and following the surviving son (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) as he uses all of his skills to stay alive and fight the things that rampage through Honolulu, Las Vegas and San Francisco.  One Japanese scientist (Ken Watanabe) comes to believe that Godzilla represent Nature’s balance, but no one wants to accept that nonsense. Meanwhile, the military man in charge (David Straithairn) throws everything he can at the invaders short of nuclear bombs, and those are on the way.  The film’s attitude is that military might is not only inappropriate in this scenario but dangerous to all except for its prehistoric targets.

There probably isn’t enough action to satisfy hardcore action fans, and the Big Guy isn’t in the movie all that much; certainly not as often as the pair of giant insects that herald his appearance.  But what is onscreen is pretty convincing and incredibly cool. Edwards and his team have delivered some of the best glimpses of catastrophe in recent memory.  That the movie has some heart and soul beyond the mayhem is also a plus.  Although the sequence of the bus on the Bay Bridge is simply ridiculous.  But what would a monster movie be without some overkill?  ☆ ☆ ☆.  20 May 2014.