The Movie Snob chimes in.
Godzilla (C+). I can’t really disagree with Mom Under Cover’s assessment of this reboot of the classic giant-monster movie. It’s loud, it’s kind of long (2 hours, 3 minutes), and it is wall-to-wall CGI destruction. Even so, I kind of liked it, if only because it is a huge improvement on the disastrous 1998 version starring Matthew Broderick (Election). The plot is simple — two giant monsters threaten to destroy mankind, and although the military will heroically do what it can, only Godzilla can save us from them. (It’s never explained why Godzilla won’t then destroy mankind himself, but I got the sense it is because he is such a totally awesome alpha predator that destroying mankind is beneath his dignity.) The cast is high caliber, even though almost nobody gets to do any real acting. Let’s see, there’s Bryan Cranston (Argo), Juliette Binoche (The Horseman on the Roof), Ken Watanabe (Inception), Elizabeth Olsen (Liberal Arts), David Strathairn (Lincoln), and even cute little Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine, Happy-Go-Lucky). The star, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Anna Karenina), was unknown to me, but I thought he did a decent job as the Navy lieutenant who always seems to be on the scene when all heck breaks loose. For a more interesting experience, see if you can find Monsters, a 2010 release that director Gareth Edwards made on a shoestring budget, using very basic computers to create the special effects.
The Movie Court 