"That's a lotta fish..."      

GODZILLA (PG-13) 

Reviewed May 24, 1998 - Check out the Godzilla web site.

Giant lizard invades Manhattan...goodness!  After weeks of pre-release hype, Godzilla the movie is finally here, and New York will never be the same!  Directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day), and starring Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, and Hank Azaria, Godzilla is exactly the kind of special effects spectacle you'd expect.  Cars, boats, buildings and highways get smushed and squooshed as the big lizard stomps through the Big Apple.  Stomp stomp stomp, scream scream scream, squish squish squish...hehehe!!!!

Okay, so I'm simplifying the plot a little, but I'm not simplifying it by much.  Godzilla is a crunch 'em, munch 'em kind of film, and it doesn't pretend to be anything else.  Forget about complex character development, intelligent dialog, or understated subtlety--this movie is all about destruction and mayhem, and in this respect it works.  With several nicely choreographed action sequences, and a campy, quirky sense of humor, Godzilla offers the kind of mindless entertainment that can be a lot of fun if you're in that kind of mood.  Unfortunately, if you're not in that kind of mood, Godzilla can also easily seem both boring and (dare I say) stupid.  Honestly, I don't know how it's possible for the entire U.S. Military to lose track of a giant lizard in New York, but if you can buy into this kind of plot development, then Godzilla is one for you to see!  Oh, and before I forget, the acting performances in Godzilla fall somewhere between adequate and weak, but then "acting" really isn't the point of this type of film, is it?  Running and screaming, that's all that counts...and that's Godzilla in a nutshell...

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

Eoakwell@BTInternet.com gives this movie  stars. (12/12/00)

lpena321@webtv.com gives this movie  stars: "I tought the movie had beautiful special efects, very realistic. The acting could of been more convincing. This looks more like a remake of "The Beast from 20,000 fathoms"" (7/25/00)

rfksecond2@cs.com gives this movie  star: "I can't stand the new look Godzilla!!!! He looks like a T-Rex on steroids. And the baby Godzillas look "exactly" like the raptors from Jurassic Park, and act the same way too. Not one freakin' main character died! There really weren't too many people getting eaten compared to older Godzilla movies. And most of the building damage was done accidentally by helicopters. Some of the action scenes (especially the one with the car and the bridge) were totally unbelievable. I was upset after watching the film. Not because it was so bad, but because after having all her kids killed, Godzilla never gets back at the people and ends up dying as well." (6/17/00)

David Rogers gives this movie  stars: "Godzilla is the greatest American film of all time. Like most people I had a hard time accepting his new look (I still don't actually) but unlike most people I came to love him. The Japanese one, that's just Gojira, but the american is american and that makes him Godzilla!" (4/27/00)

ade80251@port.ac.uk gives this movie  stars: "please , please - do not call this a godzilla movie. Does it look like godzilla-no! no character , no sense of humour , just good effects , which i'm sure the directors could have adapted these effects to the only original godzilla.America - leave zilla alone , you simply don't understand him , stick to the creature that zilla wasted - Kingkong." (2/22/00)

orc22@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "This was an OK movie for mindless fun, put it lacked in manny places. The baby Godzilla's reminded me SOOOOO much of the rapters in Jurassic Park." (1/7/00)

jessfroggy@prodigy.net gives this movie  stars: "it was ok the little ones where more scary then the big ones it was really farfetched and not exciting" (8/18/99)

cooldude@postnet.com gives this movie  stars: " This had to be the BEST Movie I have EVER seen in my entire life. I had high expectations like I wanted it to be just as good as Jurrasic Park. When I went I got the whole Dam thing plus a lot more." (7/1/99)

hmccorvey@tyler.net gives this movie  star: "Is there a rating for "no stars?" I'm a Godzilla fan from way back! I went to see the rebirth of a classic monster and I got a media-hyped, film that was only created to make money off name recognition. This was Jurrasic Park, not Godzilla. It had nothing to do with the original monster (except the mutation theory). The original Godzilla didn't eat people! This was the very very very worst re-make of a classic idea that i've ever seen. The writers and producers should be arrested for defamation of character!" (2/4/99)

Hondasaki gives this movie  stars. (2/2/99)

Remo Pellegrino gives this movie  star: "Zzzzzz.... What a weak, dumb, silly, little SH**-movie. I can't believe I paid 250bef (=8.33$) for that crap. Folks if you are going to rent that movie, why don't you rent good movies like Scream or Scream2 or IKWYDLS. Besides I waste one star in that movie!" (1/5/99)

godzilla_gal@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "great!!!!!" (12/27/98)

brother_fizbite@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "I'm a sucker for a "ZILLA MOVIE. Good special effects, ok plot and good music...the acting well it could have been better but who cares it's Godzilla! I hope they make another one only this time show more of the monster! I thought the Movie was Great! I give it 5 out of 5! Sorry all you others that didn't like it, it's Godzilla for crying out loud! At least they brought it back out we could have lost him forever...that can't happen! Now let's just sit back and watch Godzilla kick more BUTT!!! " (12/27/98)

visolis@webtv.net gives this movie  stars: "they should not mess with the original godzilla image, because the newest monster looks weird, but the movie was ok." (12/12/98)

tahi@juno.com gives this movie  stars: "If this movie was titled something else instead of "Godzilla," then then I would have rated it higher. Couldn't get used to Godzilla's new look. If the movie was titled, say, "Attack on the Big Apple by a Giant Whatchamacallit," then I would rate it a 4 or 4 1/2." (12/12/98)

Blake gives this movie  stars: "it is cool and cool music" (11/14/98)

Eric.Peschen@inter.nl.net gives this movie  stars: "Godzilla opend at cinema,s Oktober 1 in Holland, i saw the movie and i think its crap. The baby Godzilla,s look like the raptors from Jurrasic Parc, and Matthew Broderick act like sh**." (10/9/98)

Ryan gives this movie  stars: "The movie kicks ass. And that's the bottem line cause I said so!" (10/4/98)

diggydogg3@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "This was a good movie but it is a total remake of Jurrasic park I mean the computer graphics a 00and0 and the baby godzillas look exactly like rapters other than that it was a good movie." (9/7/98)

Aurielle gives this movie  stars: "very good movie reminds me of JP. Zilla was a not that bad monster especially for computer animation. If you wanna tell me what you think about it email me at dongola@sk.sympattico.ca" (8/12/98)

Dave gives this movie  star: "The movie was lacking a sense of danger. Barney his more scary then that CGI sh** load. What make's me so mad is that their had great concept and screw it up from A to Z except of course for the previews." (7/21/98)

Michael gives this movie  star: "It was a sucky movie hardly any action, very boring, a waste of time, the stupides movie ever, no point to it, it is even stupdier than Austin Powers and I thought that the most pointless movie ever until I saw Godzilla, and I would have not even rated it 1 star but that was the lowest I could go, I would give it a two thumbs down if I was the person rating it." (6/29/98)

Minh Nguyen Trieu says: "it was a relly good movie but i thought it could of been better." (6/26/98)

sgm123@mindspring.com gives this movie  stars: "As far as action, special effects, and flat out monster mayhem go, this is an excellent movie. However, people expecting deep character development and a stellar script should check out The Truman Show or maybe even that X-Files movie I haven't seen. Overall, not as good as Independence Day, but a worthy project for Emmerich and Devlin nonetheless. Possible Oscar Nominations: Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing." (6/23/98)

David gives this movie  stars: "Godzilla was only made for one thing : Profits and more profits. The 'cardboard-like' Godzilla was not realistic, unlike that of 'Jurassic Park'. Godzilla had a lame story, and the characters and actors were a shocker and a half ! Jean Reno put in the only descent performance, and the only good scene was in the Madison Square Garden. So overall, it was a lame plot, lame characters, and lame Special Effects....... LAME !!!!!" (6/20/98)

cus55@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "It is just like all the other blockbuster hits: a reasonable clast, two-dimensional characters, special-effects galore, and an American city getting wasted. The problem with "Godzilla" is that it is not as good as the other blockbusters. It takes itself *far* too seriously, the special effects have no variety other than the same shots of the dinosaur's foot or computerised body (Jurassic Park had so much variety of effects) and the cliches were recycled and nothing was new. The film appeared to have ended after 90 minutes, but then it went on for another 45 with no change in the story whatsoever! I suppose that a good point for this film is the casting of Jean Reno, who is good in such roles as "The Professional". Yet I was surprised that he accepted such a mainstream film to tackle." (6/10/98)

nickblaskowski@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Godzilla was all right.But just a little bit like other movies using computer graphics,they focus so much on how it looks that they forget to add a storyline!" (6/1/98)