This Godzilla movie is an excellent take on the monster I grew up watching.

However, I’m sure that those who want all action will be disappointed (go watch Transformers if that’s all you want). This monster movie essentially focuses on the human side of things, and if I recall correctly, that’s how it’s always been with the old Godzilla movies (mostly, at least).

And then when the monster fights, it’s definitely worth it. It makes sense to leave that for the end, because seriously, monsters don’t really stop fighting until there’s a winner, right?

The actors did a great job in keeping us connected to the story.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson has shown himself to give great performances, no matter what the genre of the movie is, and I’m looking forward to his take as Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron.  The same can be said of Elizabeth Olsen, who will also be in Avengers: Age of Ultron as the Scarlet Witch (yes, they play brother and sister in that one).

Bryan Cranston‘s performance was heartfelt as he struggles to maintain some level of sanity when no one else believes his theories about what happened in the past.   I would have to be honest and say that some of the other minor characters didn’t seem to connect as well to their characters.  Ken Watanabe‘s and David Strathairn‘s roles seemed a bit too mediocre for their credentials, but they made it work well enough.

Regarding Godzilla himself, he really shined in the battle scenes and displayed his full power at the right time, and it made the audience cheer for him.  I approve!

Director Gareth Edwards did a respectable job in honoring our beloved kaiju, and I wouldn’t mind having him create more Godzilla movies like this.

Overall, I would give this a solid B+.