Godzilla (2014)

08:12 Abdul Malik Fajri

Godzilla is a 2014 American science fiction monster film directed by Gareth Edwards. A reboot of the Godzilla film franchise, the film retells the origins of Godzilla in contemporary times as a "terrifying force of nature". It stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston. The screenplay is credited to Max Borenstein but includes contributions from David Callaham, David S. Goyer, Drew Pearce, and Frank Darabont.

The film is a co-production between Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.[3] Warner Bros. will also distribute the film worldwide, except in Japan where it will be distributed by Toho.[5] It is the second Godzilla film to be fully filmed by an American studio, the first being the 1998 film of the same name.[a] The film production began in 2004 and was originally intended to produce an IMAX short film to be directed by Godzilla vs. Hedorah director Yoshimitsu Banno, entitled Godzilla 3D: To The Max. After several years in development, the production was transferred to Legendary for development as a feature film. Producers Kenji Okuhira, Brian Rogers and director Banno were retained by Legendary. Shortly before filming began, several producers were dismissed from the production and a court case is ongoing between themselves and Legendary. The movie was filmed in the United States and Canada in 2013.

The film was released worldwide in 2D and 3D on May 15, 2014; in North America on May 16; with releases in China on June 13 and scheduled for Japan on July 25, 2014.[6] Critical reception for the film has been positive, with some praising the film for its slow pace and dramatic build-up, while others criticized the length of time before the titular character's appearance, as well as its on-screen duration; however, the direction, visual effects, music, characterization, and creature designs were positively received.

Plot

In 1954, a United States Castle Bravo test hydrogen bomb is used to destroy a giant creature surfacing from the ocean. In 1999, Project Monarch scientists Ishiro Serizawa and Vivienne Graham investigate a colossal skeleton in a collapsed Philippines mine. Two egg-shaped spores are discovered, one broken open and leaving a trail to the sea. In Japan, the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant experiences unusual seismic activity. Joe Brody, the American-born plant supervisor, sends his wife, Sandra, and a team of technicians into the reactor to check the sensors. When the team is inside, the reactor is breached, releasing radioactive steam. Sandra and her team are unable to escape and the plant collapses into ruin.

Fifteen years later, Joe's son Ford is a United States Navy explosive ordnance disposal officer, living in San Francisco with his wife and son. When Joe is arrested for trespassing in the Janjira quarantine zone, Ford returns to Japan. Convinced of a cover-up of the true cause of the disaster, Joe convinces Ford to accompany him to their old home inside the zone to retrieve vital seismic data he recorded. They find the zone is not contaminated, contradicting the official report. After recovering the data, soldiers take them to a Monarch facility within the plant's ruins. A colossal winged creature emerges from a massive chrysalis and flees. Joe is injured in the mayhem and dies.

A US Navy task force led by Admiral William Stentz on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga starts a search for the creature, dubbed as "MUTO" (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism) and Serizawa, Graham and Ford go on-board to assist. To Ford, the scientists divulge the 1954 appearance of Godzilla, an ancient alpha predator, how it was awoken by a deep sea expedition and how early nuclear "tests" were attempts to kill it. They explain that Project Monarch was formed to study Godzilla in secret and describe the findings in the Philippines and the MUTO that caused the Janjira plant's destruction. Ford reveals that Joe had monitored echolocation signals that indicated the MUTO was communicating with something.

A U.S. Army Special Forces team finds the MUTO feeding off the wreckage of a Russian nuclear submarine it deposited in a forest near Honolulu. Ford waits at Honolulu airport for a flight back to San Francisco, when a battle breaks out between the military and the MUTO. Godzilla arrives, causing a tsunami that devastates Waikiki. After briefly fighting Godzilla, the MUTO flies away. Meanwhile, at the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, the second pod found has hatched into a larger, wingless female MUTO which destroys Las Vegas. The scientists conclude that the two MUTOs were communicating and will meet to breed.

The task force follows Godzilla, projecting that the monsters will meet in San Francisco Bay and Stenz approves a plan to use a nuclear explosion to kill all three monsters, over the scientists' objections. Ford returns with the military to California and joins a team delivering warheads to San Francisco by train. After the female MUTO destroys the train, the one remaining warhead is airlifted to San Francisco and is armed. It's taken by the male MUTO and the female MUTO constructs a nest around it in the downtown area.

The military fails to stop Godzilla when it arrives at the Golden Gate Bridge and pulls back to allow the monsters to fight. During the ensuing battle between the monsters, Ford and a team of soldiers enter the city by HALO jump on a mission to disarm the warhead. Unable to disarm it, they take onto a boat for disposal at sea. Ford incinerates the nest, causing the female to leave the battle and Godzilla kills the male MUTO with its tail. The female MUTO wipes out the team at the boat, but Godzilla uses atomic breath to kill her before she can kill Ford. Godzilla then collapses out of exhaustion, and Ford pilots the boat out to sea, rescued just before the warhead explodes.

The next day, Ford is reunited with his family and Godzilla, thought to be dead, suddenly awakens. Godzilla, whom the media label "King of the Monsters, Savior of our City?", lets out a final roar and returns to the sea.

Cast

• Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ford Brody
• Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa
• Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody
• Elizabeth Olsen as Elle Brody
• Carson Bolde as Sam Brody
• Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham, a scientist with Project Monarch.
• Juliette Binoche as Sandra Brody
• David Strathairn as Rear Admiral William Stenz, USN.
• Richard T. Jones as Captain Russell Hampton, USN

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_(2014_film)