This is just the kind of GODZILLA movie I want; it looks great, the monster action is awesome, the mythology is clever, and it doesn't shy away from the metaphorical aspects of the character. But Gareth Edwards' execution, which is actually kind of similar to his overrated indie MONSTERS, spends way too much time on the human characters without actually developing any of them into three-dimensional people. The most interesting guy in the movie gets written out after the first 20 minutes and the rest of the time we're stuck following Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who has more names than facial expressions.

He plays a Navy bomb disposal expert with unbelievably bad luck, who randomly wanders his way into one kaiju battle after another. How bad? In the span of maybe 24 hours, this one guy has run-ins with giant monsters on trains in two different time-zones. Wherever he goes, Godzilla follows. (Maybe it's all his fault?) His escapades are designed to give the viewer a rooting interest in scenes involving big monsters and massive special effects. But Taylor-Johnson puts forth so little emotion, even when ostensibly fighting for the lives of his wife and child, he's a hard guy to care about. It's like watching a piece of chalk with legs. With zero lines of dialogue and a third of the screentime, Godzilla himself is an infinitely more compelling character.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olsen, who's a fabulous actress, spends most of the movie off-screen, hiding in a subway shelter. Why couldn't *she* be the hero of GODZILLA? Why waste so many scenes on the military characters like David Strathairn if they're going to have so little impact on the final act? Why even include Sally Hawkins at all? Why wait so long to get to the kaiju big battles? The ingredients are right here, but the proportions are way off.

UPDATE: For more, listen to me review the film with David Chen and Devindra Hardawar on The /Filmcast - www.slashfilm.com/filmcast-ep-272-godzilla-guest-matt-singer-dissolve/