Godzilla: A Review (and an unrelated rant)

I went to see Godzilla thinking I knew exactly what was going to happen, but actually having read nothing about it, and don't worry, as always, no spoilers. I spent the first half an hour or so thinking it was a pretty slow build up to a fairly obvious conclusion, but I was wrong, and thank the Gods for that.

The important thing to remember is that this is a film by Gareth Edwards, the director of Monsters, and feels a lot more like that than the Roland Emmerich film we're probably all best off forgetting. In fact, other than the title, pretty much the only thing these films have in common is that they both contain a gigantic lizard.

Edwards' Godzilla is a thoughtful film, focusing on the human element of the story, which made it really accessible. It also comes up with quite a good back story explaining the whole thing. But that doesn't mean there aren't some kick-ass bits of action, lots of buildings being trampled and plenty of explosions. All good things.

If you like big monsters, plenty of noise and explosions, accompanied by a well thought out story, and an amazing soundscape, then this is the film for you. Also, its got the fabulous Bryan Cranston in, which gives any production extra points, and the gorgeous Aaron Taylor-Johnson getting to play a proper grown-up for a change.

Now, that completely unrelated rant I mentioned in the title. I was listening to The Public Philosopher on Radio 4 this morning. This week Michael Sandel was talking to people at LSE about why and whether we should vote. Now, I'm not going to go into all the issues raised, please follow the link if you want to listen, but I just wanted to share how enraged I get at the casual way people decide not to vote. In the UK, unless you are a wealthy, landed man and a member of the Church of England, then someone fought to get you the vote. Go and use it. If you don't vote, then please realise you have no right to complain about anything, from the NHS to the state of the pavements and the price of fish. And if you really feel like all the candidates are a complete waste of space, then write that clearly on your ballot paper. Sure, it won't count as a vote, but all the candidates have to be shown all the spoiled ballot papers, so at least they'll know how you feel.

Rant over, Beautiful Reader. Now, go and see Godzilla. It's awesome.