For a franchise with such high name recognition among casual moviegoers and a budget topping $160 million, one has to wonder what went wrong with the most recent adaptation of Godzilla.

While there were moments of intrigue, including the explosion-ridden battle scenes that the series is known for, the film lacked any substance. That should have been fine because the film was meant to be a mindless action-packed movie, but even the battles could not compensate for the lack of direction.

The film begins following Joe Brody, a nuclear power plant engineer played by Bryan Cranston. The Japanese power plant that Brody works on begins to experience unusual seismic activity, and Brody has to send a team, that included his wife, to check on internal sensors. An unexpected explosion ultimately kills the team.

The audience is then launched fifteen years into the future and the focus shifts to Brody’s son, a military technician played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who gets caught up in the action as the details unravel.

The most disappointing aspect of the movie was that the audience only catches glimpses of the titular character, Godzilla, for most of the movie. While the monster’s scenes were the best in the entire movie, they were too little, too late.

The trailers also made it seem as though Cranston would have a larger role than he did in the film, however the time he was on screen was more enjoyable to view than the bland acting of his crew.

That said, the visuals and special effects were impressive, albeit expected in a blockbuster action movie. There were still brief moments of enjoyment, especially when introduced to Godzilla in his entirety for the first time, which elicited a sense of awe from the audience. The use of San Francisco as the backdrop for the second half of the film gives a Marin viewer an interestingly familiar perspective.

While there is something to be said about the mindless enjoyment of the genre, the movie missed the mark.