In the original Godzilla and all the myriad of sequels, guys in rubber monster suits wreaked havoc on miniature cities. But we kids used our imagination and saw a terrifying giant beast destroying civilization with its smashing tail and super-bad breath (uh, fire or something like that). This 2014 3D movie elegantly captures the monsters that we envisioned in our heads, bringing an authenticity to the genre that’s been lacking ever since the original premiered 60 or so years ago. Great monster fun, with giant creatures that really convince and a high-class production that ups the quality several notches above what’s typical of this genre. Godzilla is not just a monster but a creature with a soul, and the 2014 film captures that as well. However, the movie takes somewhat of a dip in the second half, when it begins to suffer from the Air of Invincibility Syndrome—a hero who is always the right guy at the right place at the right time. One symptom that a movies suffers from this syndrome is when you’re hoping that the hero dies, not for any other reason except to restore some degree of plausibility. But it doesn’t matter too much in this case; the monsters are always more interesting than the humans in a monster movie anyway.

Extras:

• This movie has a great opening-credit sequence presenting secret government “footage” of Godzilla during the 1950s, along with credits that have been “whited out” for confidential information.
• It’s kid-friendly without being infantile. So watch it with your kids.
• Definitely try to see in 3D if you can; you can tell that many of the camera shots were composed with 3D in mind.
• The plot? It’s always the same in a monster movie: monster rampages, humans deal.