Another good work by Roland Emmerich, but the film has some problems. The cast has strengths and weaknesses. Jean Reno is fine as are the other supporting actors, but the protagonists are not quite on the scene. Broderick is often naive and does not give credibility to the viewer, hindering the involvement with his character. Pitillo is terrible making the same face and expressions in practically all his scenes. Her character relationship with Broderick's is mentioned but at no time did we hope for the two of them to be together due to the lack of chemistry between the characters. The story explains how the originally Japanese monster ends up in New York. However, in action, the film gets a little lost by not defining itself in a single genre. In my opinion the film should be treated as a great suspense / terror, with the intention of showing in fact the horror caused by the lizard in the city, through the perspective of ordinary citizens, authorities and specialists. The big problem, perhaps, was to have given little emphasis to the monster that ends up appearing in less scenes than it should and when it appears, no expectations are created in the viewer. The action scenes and effects of the film are great, especially at night, but perhaps they have been used too much, and everything that is too much harms the end result of anything, especially on the big screen. Regarding visual effects, makeup and the action scenes themselves, we can't say anything since they become even more grandiose in the hands of the competent blockbuster director Roland Emmerich, although in most of them it's all a bit surreal, especially the escape of protagonists of Madison Square Garden when they are surrounded by dozens of monster pups. It is an authentic popcorn film by Emmerich, where the viewer knows what he will find: fantastic effects, even more fantastic action scenes, with a typical script for this type of film. It certainly amuses and always deserves to be seen. But your biggest problem may be just having more fun than scaring. The action scenes without exaggeration with a greater atmosphere of suspense would be perfect, more or less in the Alien style of Ridley Scott. But be sure to watch this great movie success at least once!
Film seen on February 22, 2021.
