GODZILLA: 2014 Godzilla (American)

Godzilla in the Media

Godzilla is a 2014 American science fiction monster film featuring the Japanese film monster of the same name in a reboot of the Godzilla film franchise. The film retells the origins of Godzilla in contemporary times as a "terrifying force of nature", depicted in a style faithful to the Toho series of Godzilla films. The film is directed by Gareth Edwards, written by Max Borenstein and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, and Bryan Cranston. The film is a co-production between Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, with participation by Toho. Warner Bros. will also distribute the film worldwide, except in Japan where it will be distributed by Toho. It is the second Godzilla film to be fully filmed by an American studio, the first being the 1998 film of the same name. This film received wide release worldwide on May 15, 2014, in the United States on May 16, 2014, and is scheduled for release in China on June 13 and Japan on July 25, 2014 in 2D and 3D.

PLOT:
In 1999, scientists Ichiro Serizawa and Vivienne Graham (Ken Watanabe and Sally Hawkins) are called to a quarry in the Philippines where an enormous skeleton and two egg-shaped pods have been discovered. Shortly after realising one of the pods has hatched, the Janjira Nuclear Plant near Tokyo, Japan suffers an explosion and radiation leak. Plant supervisor Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) attempts to save his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) and her team, but they fail to escape the containment area in time and Joe is forced to close the containment doors on her and her team. Their son Ford observes the total collapse of the plant from his school. The event, attributed to an earthquake, results in the evacuation and quarantine of the Janjira area.XXXIn the present day, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is an explosive ordinance disposal officer in the United States Navy, living in San Francisco. When Joe is arrested for trespassing in the quarantined area, Ford travels to Japan to assist him and is convinced by Joe, who believes the event to be a cover-up, to come with him to Janjira, for Sandra's sake. There they discover a lack of radiation and are soon taken in custody to a secret complex built within the plant ruins, where a massive chrysalis is being studied. The chrysalis hatches and unleashes a gigantic winged creature, which flies off after obliterating the facility containing it. Joe is wounded in the chaos and dies, while Ford joins as US Navy team to track the monster, which is using the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga as centre of operations for the mission.XXXAboard the Saratoga, Ford is informed by Serizawa and his team that the creature he saw at Janjira was a MUTO, or Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism, an ancient creature from a much earlier time period which feeds off radiation and radioactive material. It in turn is being hunted by a much larger animal that was awoken during a deep sea expedition in 1954, and whose existence has been covered up, following numerous attempts to kill it with nuclear weapons. Ford reveals that his father had tracked a form of echolocation from the Janjira area, which leads the team to believe the MUTO was communicating with something else. A US Navy search team in Hawaii finds the wreck of a Russian nuclear submarine that has reported an attack and finds the MUTO, feeding on its reactor. The military attacks the MUTO and a battle ensues at Honolulu International Airport. The larger creature, named “Godzilla” by the United States Navy staff, suddenly arrives and fights the MUTO before pursuing it as it leaves the island. The second MUTO pod, which was disposed of at the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, hatches and demolishes Las Vegas as it heads towards the west coast. It is theorized that the second MUTO is a female and that the two are converging on the city of San Francisco to breed.XXXA plan is approved by Rear Admiral Stenz (David Strathairn) to lure them into the ocean with an armed nuclear warhead and kill them in the ensuing blast, much to Serizawa's disapproval. Before the plan can be put into action the MUTOs steal the warhead and construct a nest around it in the middle of the San Francisco downtown, threatening the lives of thousands. When the Navy attempts to prevent Godzilla from entering the city, Serizawa advises them that Godzilla may be the only thing capable of stopping the MUTOs, as all weapons have proven to be useless against the creatures. The Navy allows Godzilla to pass and a fierce battle takes place, causing widespread destruction.XXXWhile the MUTOs are distracted with Godzilla, Ford and a team of soldiers enter the nest and try to disarm the warhead. It is discovered to be badly damaged and cannot be disarmed, and is instead taken to a boat to be driven out as far to sea as possible before it detonates. The nest is destroyed by Ford and Godzilla kills the two MUTOs before collapsing, apparently dead. Ford is able to get the boat out to sea before the warhead explodes, saving San Francisco from total destruction. In the aftermath, Ford is reunited with his wife (Elizabeth Olsen) and son. Godzilla, meanwhile, awakes and returns to the Pacific Ocean. News outlets tout Godzilla as a savior for defeating the MUTOs.

CAST:
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