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Review: Roland Emmerich’s ‘Godzilla’ is Absolutely Abysmal

The ‘Independence Day’ director fails miserably to bring the monster movie to life

Reece Beckett
Counter Arts

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Still from Godzilla, via TOHO/Tristar Pictures/Independent Pictures/Fried Films/Centropolis Entertainment

Before discussing the absolute trainwreck that is Roland Emmerich’s 1998 version of Godzilla, it’s important to understand the cinematic context of the late 1990s. This was a time when the American blockbuster was ruled by Steven Spielberg, who was reaching his prime (in terms of audience size). He struck gold time and time again throughout the 1990s, and his influence upon the blockbuster started to become very visible.

Godzilla, bizarrely enough, wears that influence on its sleeve. One doesn’t need to see much of Roland Emmerich’s work to understand that the director has little formal style of his own, and that beyond an interest in the most extreme spectacle he seems to be on autopilot as an artist. It would be difficult to tell an Emmerich film apart from the work of somebody else, let’s say. He is not very stylish or distinctive. Instead, in the case of Godzilla, Emmerich rides on Spielberg’s coattails.

The problem with that, though, is that he is directing a Godzilla movie. I know, it shouldn’t require a reminder. But the tone here is completely off. Completely. In fact, this is one of a small handful of films (which, unsurprisingly, are all major…

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