Remember the 1998 remake of Godzilla? Yep, it was horrific. And so it's with a sigh of relief that we can report Gareth Edwards new remake of the classic monster story has been received very, very well by critics. A powerful new story with stunning visual effects, Godzilla stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Bryan CranstonBryan Cranston [L] and Aaron Taylor Johnson [R] in 'Godzilla'

"A summer blockbuster that's not just thrilling, but that orchestrates its thrills with such rare diligence, you want to yelp with glee," said Robbie Collin of the Telegraph.

"Has its fair share of plot holes and questionable twists, but just as the reptilian beast keeps battling ahead, the movie attempts to wrestle outrageous material into something worthy of serious consideration" said Eric Kohn of Indiewire. 

"Manages to deliver all the big crowd-pleasing moments we want from our blockbuster devastation epics and leave us wanting more, in the best possible way," said William Bibbiani of CraveOnline.

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"...while I don't think the film is completely successful, there is so much that's interesting and exciting about it that it feels like a brand new day for Toho's greatest icon," said Drew McWeeney of HitFix.com

"There's a lot to enjoy in this latest attempt to bring everyone's favorite giant lizard back to the screen," said Edward Douglas of Coming Soon.net.

It all makes for a rather fantastic 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In recent conversation with Movies.ie, director Edward said of rebooting the classic story, "One of the reasons that Godzilla has lasted so long is that it offers an infinite canvas, it's not like other franchises or characters where you have to tell the same story over and over. With Godzilla you can do anything you want, which was a little paralyzing to start with because what are you going to do?"

Godzilla hits theaters in the U.S. on May 16, 2014.

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Watch the Godzilla trailer: