# Godzilla (1998)

### reviewed by
Chris T. Dias

    GODZILLA

STARRING: Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Hank Azaria, Maria Pitillo, Michael Lerner, Harry Shearer WRITTEN BY: Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich DIRECTED BY: Roland Emmerich

    **OVERVIEW**

     ...No Firebreath...

There are two things I realized that are different with this Godzilla...let's get it out right now. No Firebreath is one thing. This could prove very useful to those pesky helicopters. The other is his legs, not erect like a man's but more like a chicken's. Because of that, he walks sloped over, unlike the man-in-the-rubber-suit of the original films.

So...let us begin with Godzilla. After a very clever introduction, a Japanese fisher gets sliced in half. Then reports from the Philippines point that a creature took a troll across an island and dove back into the water. The military soon calls upon the government's top nuclear research agent to investigate the strange residue left behind the creature's imprints. This is where Nick Tatopoulos (which no one-can pronounce), no doubt named after the man who designed the new creature, Patrick Tatopoulos, enters. He believes this creature has mutated from a previous reptilian species by fallout from a French nuclear testing site nearby. This mutation soon destroys a trio of fishing boats. The path points towards a destination: The city that never sleeps...

Okay, Manhattan for those not paying attention to the trailers.

The creature jumps the pier and rides into the island, causing mayhem and grief for all, including its Mayor, Ebert. Okay...first of all, he looks like the guy (played by Lerner). He has that goofy "thumbs up" slogan, PLUS his aid is named Gene...the whole joke is as subtle as a 2x4 in the face...let's move on.

In an amazingly short time, all of Manhattan is evacuated. Even the death count here seems very minor and virtually no one is seen on screen getting killed but we are assuming some get stomped. Course, the media jumps on it...A cameraman, nicknamed "Animal" (Azaria in a scene stealing performance) gets a shot and fear spreads quickly. By nightfall, all of Manhattan is more or less clear. Now, I don't care but if they could do that, call up those Deep Impact people, you would probably save a lot more in that movie.

Night--and the place is deserted--a fantastic battleground for a ten story tall monster...without firebreath. Another figure trying to cash in the popularity is Audrey Timmonds (Pitillo). She happens to be an ex girlfriend of Nick. She meets up with him in the military quarantine and steals his information for a story break, which is then promptly stolen by Audrey's mean boss, Charles Caimen (Shearer...that's two from the Simpsons...Azaria being the other one). She is bummed, and very depressed since Nick lost his job with the military because of the leaked story. Out on his luck, he moves to leave town, but is kidnapped by the enigmatic Phillippe Roche (Reno as great as ever). Roche is a man who claims to be from the insurance company when he first appears but is eventually revealed to be from the French Secret Service, trying to clean up the mess his country began.

He believes Nick's latest finding, a finding that the US military doesn't endorse: That this creature (named Godzilla for the totally inept) was born, and currently is, pregnant. Perfect, above all things, this creature is a tribble as well. They decide to venture forth into the deserted Manhattan to locate the Lizard's nest. Course, as Nick and Phillipe sneak back into town, A pesky reporter and her freaky reporter follow them in...

Did I mention there was a big lizard In this movie...Oh yes, and the army sends everything they got against this thing...That includes seemingly a hundred attack choppers, jets, submarines, tanks and lots of expendable soldiers with machine guns. All they have to believe in is what Arnold said once in a movie, "If it bleeds, we can kill it."

    **REVIEW**

Its just too bad they couldn't get access to the Z-1000 Attack Hovercraft from Godzilla 1985. Could have taken care of this creature early.

I loved the opening of this film. It was craftily made with cleaver old fashion photography of French nuclear testing under the observing eye of some Iguanas. It then moves into introducing its characters, some of the best the Devlin / Emmerich have made. The film doesn't focus on four or five groups, just one. Unfortunately, they can't seem to put that much skill into writing that one plot. When the film discusses the creature, the town, or the major plot points to resolve problems, the film works well. However when the film lowers itself to discussing the personal problems of its characters, the films stalls. I mean who cares. The writing is so immature when dealing with the romance of two characters as a ten story tall creature destroys New York.

I felt that Timmonds and Tatopolous to be very boring. Just get back to the action. I wasn't interested in Sam Neil's relationship with Laura Dern in Jurassic Park. Who cares? The other characters are great. I love Reno's character and Azaria steals his scenes. They make sense and if the film concentrated on them reacting rather than dealing with their personal lives, the film would work a lot better.... But when the action starts, it totally powers the simple script.

The first appearance of the creature is simple. I must admit, I miss the erect rubber suit creature. This new one looks too much like an oversized raptor...and thus spawns the only real problem with e action. The film has some great scenes as choppers race down the fast moving Godzilla through the streets at night. And there are some submarine sequences that really caught my eye. And the climax is to die for, but near the end of the film, as the group searches for the rest, there are some sequences that seem taken right out of Jurassic Park. I have seen these before and didn't really care to see them again. We only care about the big destruction, and I am happy to say the film delivers, kudos to the advertising campaign that kept so many scenes out of the commercials. It left so much more to see. I really enjoyed this thrill ride of a film.

Is it better than ID4? I have to say yes. It is not as funny (because of the lack of Will Smith) but the action is much more exciting with more screams and yelps from the audience. I found myself following along the fun and clapping at the destruction of the town. Godzilla was an exciting film and worth seeing twice, just as long as you don't mind the petty love story...and no firebreath...jeez...

    TOP POINTS

     +AMAZING SPECIAL EFFECTS
     +FANTASTIC ACTION SCENES

    PLUSES
     +ACTING

    MINUSES
     -POOR LOVE SUBPLOT
     -JURRASIC PARK SECTION TOO FAMILIAR

    RATING:  * * * * stars out of 5

DEMOGRAPHIC: Godzilla has very little onscreen violence but there is wall to wall destruction. People get crushed but you don't seem them after. There is not hefty violence beyond that. Honestly, Godzilla has probably the lowest body count of all the creature flicks of the same name. In those films, the town is not luckily deserted when the mayhem begins...I still think that is very peculiar...

-- --- Chris T. Dias --- "The man who runs with scissors."

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