Godzilla: A Review

Japanese 1954 was most certainly a time of recovery. Not even a decade out of World War II, this country was still not even close to realizing the effects that the atomic bomb would have on their people for generations to come. Despite this, the film Gojira still manages to incorporate a lot of issues surrounding radiation, and disturbing the natural order of things. 

Maybe a large amount of Americans wouldn’t understand many of the blatant digs the Japanese deliver, such as a mother telling her children they’ll soon be with their father, but to others, the message was all too clear: a big bad monster is tormenting defenseless Japanese people who had done nothing wrong. 

Now, these acts of replicating some of the damage the Americans did on Japan was arguably the best thing about this film, directed by Ishiro Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. It was a good idea, but the technology simply wasn’t there at the time to truly make it great. 

Nor, for that matter, was the acting. Momoko Kochi, played Emiko Yamane, a girl stuck in the middle of a love triangle at the same time that Godzilla decides to wreck the city. Not even halfway through the film, you start to hope that the monster crushes her as well. Sure, the technology might not have been available, but there is no excuse for bad acting. Her words didn’t match her face, and it was simply a mess. The acting from the others (Akira Takarada, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura) is better, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.  

Godzilla is arguably one of the best known movie monsters in the world, made famous through this film and the score of others that eventually followed. Although the monster was more than fake, the awfulness of it somehow made the experience better. One could not help letting out a slight chuckle as it ripped things apart, and sprayed various objects with a breath that made solid things bend. 

In summary, though this is definitely a movie worth seeing, just to get an idea of the Japanese attitude post World War II, this is certainly not a film worth seeing more than once. If you can even stay entertained for that long.