# Godzilla (1998)

### reviewed by
Aaron Sanders

    Godzilla Vs Roland Emmerich
    By Aaron Sanders

I got paid today, so I shelled out six bucks to see a sneak preview of Roland Emmerich's GODZILLA. Of course the special effects were great, but this is 1998--aren't we all very used to spectacular special effects? By themselves, special effects just don't cut it anymore, and they sure aren't enough to save this movie.

The main problem is that the movie was given the wrong name. It should have been called THE LOST WORLD GOES TO NEW YORK. It really shows no stylistic or dramatic influence from the original GODZILLA series, but plenty--embarassingly much--from the two JURASSIC PARK films.

Sure, there were a lot of dumb things about the old Japanese Godzilla films which are better left unemulated; but there are also some reasons why the Godzilla phenomenon has survived for almost 40 years...and absolutely none of them are apparent in this new version.

First of all, the original Godzilla was a MONSTER. While he was overweight and oafy, he at least had a frightening alien/mutant look about him. But, alas, not only is this new creature unrecognizable as Godzilla, he's also pitifully unoriginal: he looks uncannily like the Tyrannosaurus Rex in THE LOST WORLD. Rather than looking alien or mutated or frightening, the new Godzilla is just another computer-animated dinosaur, right down to the familiar scale patterns on his skin. Boooorringg!

The original Godzilla also had a real thing for destruction, which made him scary. The new Godzilla does comparatively little damage as he bounds through the streets of New York, stomping on cars, his tail gouging out the sides of buildings. Any Godzilla fan knows the Big Guy should be THROWING the buildings, or starting a domino-effect with the skyscrapers, or at least causing an inferno at an oil refinery. In the new movie, more damage is caused by the military seeking to destroy Godzilla than by Godzilla himself. As Matthew Broderick's character points out, this new creature is not really a mutant enemy of mankind, but just a big animal on the loose.

Oh, and wasn't the original Godzilla able to spit radioactive plasma or something? There are a few scenes in this version which could be interpreted as Godzilla spitting fire, but if you're not expecting this, they could easily be mistaken for coincidental explosions. Nobody ever says anything about this ability in the script.

Besides, it seems like you only see Godzilla himself for a total of about 15 minutes in the movie's first 2 hours. What takes up the other 1:45? Insipid soap-opera sub-plots among the cardboard human characters, that's what. They were so bad, I was actually BORED. I can only imagine how the indispensible pre-teen moviegoer will react.

This movie also sabotages its own plot in a way similar to ALIEN RESURRECTION: Within a few minutes after Godzilla is first sighted in New York City, Manhattan is completely evacuated. Now, where is the pathos or suspense in watching Godzilla ravage an EMPTY city? Of course, they would evacuate Manhattan in the event of a giant lizard, but it would take a LOOOOONG time--easily long enough for Godzilla to wreak untold havoc on the population. As it is, he spends most of his time burrowing through the subways and concealing himself in hollowed-out buildings, playing hide-and-seek with the inept military.

Maybe there were some good things about GODZILLA. If it entertained you, fair enough. But for me, in comparison to what it should have been, GODZILLA was an immense disappointment.

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