Page 24 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • May 28, 2014 ‘Godzilla’ has elements from old films, but is fresh by Dennis Seuling The first Godzilla movie was made in 1954 in Japan and, with the addition of Raymond Burr, released in the United States in 1956. “Godzilla” was a success, though he was by no means the first cinematic dinosaur to prey on the modern world. Dinosaurs running amok date back to the silent picture “The Lost World” (1925) and more famously “King Kong” (1933). Just one year before Godzilla dev- astated Tokyo, “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” took a heavy toll on Manhattan and Coney Island. The original Godzilla was released from its prehistoric burial ground by nuclear tests and became a metaphor for the potential, catastrophic consequences of man tampering with the balance of nature. In this new version, a prologue introduces viewers to Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”), a nuclear engineer who witnesses the death of his wife as a sudden, powerful earthquake destroys a nuclear power plant. The sequence is well staged and brings to mind the recent Fuku- shima disaster. Years later, Joe’s son (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) finds him- self in the midst of more unexplained rumblings, this time in San Francisco. Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) is a scientist whose primary job is to look somber as things go from bad to worse and Godzilla is again unleashed on the populace. Director Gareth Edwards (“Monsters”) keeps viewers A huge, dormant creature reawakens and devastates San Francisco in ‘Godzilla.’ in suspense by revealing the title character only in brief glimpses at first as humans scurry hither and yon trying their best to ready themselves for what will become a tragedy of enormous proportions. The design of the creature is an improvement over the numerous previous Godzillas, which employed a man in a dinosaur suit. With computer artistry, the scaly creature now lumbers convincingly through San Francisco, squashing buildings, vehicles, people, and doing a number on the Golden Gate Bridge. Every so often, he lets out a roar just to announce his dominance. Much of the story relies on formula plots for ‘50s mon- ster movies. The military figures prominently in tracking and readying defenses against the creature, characters are shallow and generic, and humans scramble to escape the marauding, reawakened dinosaur. Godzilla even battles a couple of insect-like creatures reminiscent of H.R. Giger’s nightmare monster from “Alien.” Far too many “lucky coincidences” occur in which key characters are saved from annihilation, rescued from precarious situations, or miraculously avoid the lethal tread of the gigantic lizard. There has always been an underlying message in the Godzilla movies. The message is emphasized more sharply here and resonates significantly because of increased con- cern about climate change, but the film puts entertainment first and avoids being preachy. Of course, with such a huge star, literally, in Godzilla, the filmmakers have left the door open to sequels. Never kill the Golden Cow, especially if he is as tall as a skyscraper and generates mountains of box office dollars. With all its shortcomings, “Godzilla” is the ultimate popcorn movie, a perfect divertissement for the summer months. Rated PG-13 for fairly tame violence, “Godzilla” pays homage to the original while greatly improving the mon- ster’s appearance. Rather than completely reinventing the creature, the filmmakers have taken elements from the old films and distilled them into something that feels newly created rather than recycled with a bigger budget and improved effects.