"It's not the end of the world" is a phrase that takes on new meaning when it kind of is. Or at the very least, when a giant monster starts tearing things up, as is the case for Gareth Edwards' Godzilla, a new take on a classic monster story. The latest TV spot for the film spends most of its time focusing on the human element, as we see some of the characters whose lives have been -- or are about to be -- greatly affected by what's to come.
The spot begins with Bryan Cranston talking about losing his wife. We got to see a bit of that situation in the extended look, which revealed some sort of incident taking place in a lab. Something goes wrong and Cranston's character has to seal off a part of the facility before his wife has time to get out. His grief is evident in the new spot as he talks about not even having a picture of her. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olsen's character is saying goodbye to her husband, who's only supposed to be gone for a few days.
Cut to a montage of chaotic scenes, which -- in addition to including a giant wave crashing and a demolished looking city -- includes someone running while clutching their child, and a woman hugging her son. Warner Bros.' efforts to split the focus between the monster and the humanity in the recent promos is effective, and I'm hopeful the film will strike a similar balance. The description, which promises a powerful story of human courage and reconciliation in the faces of titanic forces of nature, suggests it will.
There's also the ominous words spoken, "Nature has an order, a power to restore balance." Think Godzilla might be that power?
Here's the mentioned extended look video, which fills us in a bit more on Bryan Cranston's character...
Godzilla stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathair and Bryan Cranston. The film arrives in theaters May 16. Advance tickets go on sale on April 21.
