Godzilla (2014)

Nature can be both awesome in its complexity and beauty and terrifying in its power and scale. The diseased raccoon sifting through your garbage can at midnight may appear like a gentle, majestic citizen of the forest, but fail to treat it with respect and reverence and you will know the wrath of nature. That’s enough about how I got my new rabies shots, though, let’s talk about Godzilla, the diseased raccoon of the monster movie world. Godzilla is a staple of the very medium of filmmaking, a franchise many decades old boasting dozens of movie installments in addition to comics, TV shows, toys, pretty much anything that can be commodified and sold in your local Wal-mart. Godzilla is usually a Japanese product, but in 2014 American director Gareth Edwards took up the call to bring him back to western audiences after Roland Emmerich tried to do the same to . . . let’s say uneven results. Most people are fairly lukewarm on this iteration of the King of the Monsters, but we here at Magellans at the Movies Inc. happen to think Godzilla 2014 is something special, a fresh, unique take on the titular titan focusing more on tension, awe, and scale than relentless edge of your seat thrills, chills, and the color orange. Today, then, let’s talk about this curious little film, why we think it deserves more praise than it gets, and a few other movies you might like as well. 3, 2, 1, launch!