Godzilla (1998)

Starring - Matthew Broderick; Jean Reno; Maria Pitillo; Hank Azaria & Kevin Dunn Director - Roland Emmerich MPAA - Rated PG-13 for sci-fi monster action/violence. The advertisements said that size does matter. I guess that's a bit of an irony considering the size of this film's budget. Even with all of the money that was obviously spent on this movie, Godzilla will probably go down as one of the biggest disappointments of all time. Don't get me wrong, the special effects are impressive -- what there are of them. But this movie spends way too much time on the characters discussing strategies for stopping the overgrown iguana and not enough time actually fighting the big lizard. This movie could have been called Matthew Broderick as opposed to Godzilla -- Broderick gets way too much screen time in relation to the big guy. When Godzilla is on screen, it is always dark and raining, so the special effects never really come across as being that spectacular. For those that don't really care about special effects shots, Godzilla has a decent story line. It's just that Godzilla was marketed as a big budget special effects picture, so when you notice the decided lack of spectacular effects, it can be a bit of a disappointment. Add to that the fact that Matthew Broderick, who is a great actor, just isn't the first person you think of as the lead in an action film. Nuclear testing in the South Pacific has genetically altered the native lizards in the area and created what may be a new species, and a very large species at that. Godzilla has lived under the sea in the area for years but is now running out of food, so he is venturing out of hiding to find a new food supply. His search eventually leads him to New York City (coincidentally, the place where he can do the most damage). Broderick is a scientist working for the US government who is brought in when Godzilla is first discovered. He is supposed to try to figure out exactly what they are dealing with. He then assists the powers that be in their battle to save New York City from the big lizard. The search for Godzilla in New York is then the focus of most of the movie. They never seem to know quite where he is at any given time -- a point that undoubtedly saved the producers millions since they didn't need to spend any money on special effects shots. As I said, Broderick is a good actor, just not somebody who would be my choice to headline a summer blockbuster movie. That having been said, he does a pretty good job. As does Jean Reno, who plays a mysterious man who seems to keep showing up at the scene of Godzilla's destructive actions. The good acting on the part of the leads really doesn't make up for the so-so writing and the disappointingly scarce special effects. Godzilla's creative team of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were also responsible for Independence Day, another film that was short on story but big on effects. I guess they figured this time that they would go short on both story and effects. The end result is that they don't have nearly the film in Godzilla that they had in Independence Day. Godzilla is not a truly bad movie, but it never even comes close to living up to its enormous hype. 6/10 Reviewed December 4, 1998 by Joe Chamberlain