Well, this was always going to happen. Since the release of the dreadfully awful Godzilla in 1998, fans of the epic monster have waited patiently for the big lizard-dinosaur to come back. Now, we have it. But while it¡¯s an improvement on the Matthew Broderick version, this is an opportunity blown.

Gareth Edwards¡¯ film, which stars Breaking Bad¡¯s Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ken Watanabe, starts off as heart-pumping and emotional thrill-ride, before it descends into a typical blockbuster blowout.

The film kicks off with cracking pace, as we move about from chilling theories about nuclear tests, sea monsters, government conspiracies and a brutal and heartfelt family tragedy.

The first hour is brilliant, as Edwards masters his Spielbergian skills to create an uneasy tension that something dangerous and dreadful will soon be torturing through our screens.

The film is helped by the marvelous performance of Cranston, who stands out from a rather dull cast, as Joe Brody, a scientist hell-bent on finding out why his wife died in a nuclear plant explosion 15 years earlier.

Enlisting the help of his son, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the duo stumble upon Watanabe¡¯s Dr. Serizawa and his band of scientists/government officials as they look to contain a beast deep within this nuclear waste.

But wait, you see the beast isn¡¯t Godzilla. No, it¡¯s¡­ MUTO.

That¡¯s right; Godzilla has a rival now. A giant mosquito that¡¯s looking to feed off radiation and is being chased by wait-for-it, Godzilla.

It¡¯s here that the film falls flat. There¡¯s no explanation to what¡¯s Godzilla, where he¡¯s come from and what¡¯s he been doing all this time. And from here, you know where its going: MUTO v Godzilla in a battle of the ages; in the city of San Francisco, which coincidentally is where Ford¡¯s wife and son are living.

So it¡¯s a race against time, but at this point, it¡¯s wasted. Edwards kicks off the film with huge aplomb and gets you emotional invested in the characters. Then the harbinger of ¡°blockbuster-explosiveness¡± kicks in and the film loses its touch and that first hour that got you so geared up, gets you down.