Godzilla: Good, But Sadly Disappointing (Spoilers, Duh)

your expectations ruined it for you

I've already threw my two cent on a couple of other post, but let me give one more opinion of why there was so little Godzilla.

BUDGET!!

I think the studios were nervous about spending too much money on Godzilla after the horrific Godzilla 98.  Therefore they hired a new (cheap?) director, no major movie star and they cut Godzilla's screen time in order to save on the CGI cost, which is where most of the budget would have been.

Godzilla should have been allowed about $225 million in order to do it right.  There should have been more destruction, more mayhem, more panic, more man-against-monster battles, more fear, more terror, more hopelessness and DEFINATELY more Godzilla.

Gareth Edwards was over his head and the script was horrible.  The musical score sucked, too.  I was very disappointed.

@ Frozen

I suppose you didn't even read it, then?  I already said I would have overlooked A LOT of BS if it actually delivered a real Godzilla movie (Godzilla distroying stuff and/or fighting creatures for at least the last 30 mins of the movie.)  Instead, we got a human/MUTO movie, with some Godzilla thrown in there.  So no, my expectations were in check.  The movie didn't deliver like I thought it would.  And the constant teases were a big middle finger to the audience, in my opinion.

@ Ratedrex

160 million not enough?  Let's not lie to ourselves here, there was a CRAP LOAD of CG in the movie.  If there was more Godzilla, that CG money would have just gone to that.  No, the reason there is so little Godzilla in the movie is because they CHOSE to have not that much Godzilla in there.  Take the first Transformers, for example.  That cost $10 million less than Godzilla (probably about the same when adjusted for inflation), yet there was probably 8x-10x the amount of Transformers in the movie than there is Godzilla in this movie.  No, this was a choice, not a budget issue.

Let me start off by saying that I loved the movie, just so you know where I'm coming from. Now, that being said, I respectfully disagree with the complaints that there is not enough Godzilla. You have to understand what they where doing with him. They made every shot with him count. No one got tired or sick of him, they wanted to see more. That is a GOOD thing. This movie took the opposite route of Transformers and Man of Steel, where you get TOO MUCH exposure, and by the end you are begging for the credits to roll so you can leave. There is no mystery, no sense of awe, no weight or tension. Just explosions. I mean, how many times do you want see Godzilla punch a MUTO. There was the perfect amount of action. I was satisfied, but not bored by it.

@THISMEINTELL:

No $160 million not NEARLY enough TO DO IT RIGHT!

They spent $190 million on Pacific Rim, $200 million on Iron Man, $215 million on The Lone Ranger, $220 million on The Avengers, $240 om The Man of Steel.  Hell, they spent $130 million on Godzilla 98, considering inflation, that would be about $190 million in today's dollars.

Nope.  They shortchanged Godzilla.  You can see it on the screen, not necessary in quality, but in quantity.  If they do a sequel, which won't be anytime soon, they will have to open the purse and give Godzilla the financial backing that it deserves ( as well as a better script and director).  Otherwise we are going to have yet another Godzilla flick that dissappoints.

@ThisMeInteil

Precisely. Of the issues, minor or major, the movie's budget was the least of the concerns; that's evident compared with other movies. The second guessing of studio fears and assumptions of budget cuts is like trying to point out cracks amongst debris. Just because there's personal disappointment doesn't mean it was indicative of a studio going half in with a project. I think there's plenty of evidence to the contrary.

What came out on the screen was what Edwards wanted, not what what was "restricting" Godzilla-- if anything was.

I agree with the first comment, your expectations ruined it for you. First time watching this film I had a unique projection of this film, when I didn't get it I was disappointed and would've given it a 6/10. After rewatching it, however, just as a film it bumped up to a 9/10; terrific film.

@ InstinctiveGigan

You guys need to knock off the, "You're expectations ruined the film."  I probably wouldn't care if the plot was crap.  Plenty of the Toho films' plots were either crap or just plain goofy.  Again, read what I wrote.  AS LONG AS THE ACTING WAS HALF WAY DECENT AND IT GAVE US ENOUGH GODZILLA, I WOULD HAVE PRETTY MUCH FORGIVEN ANYTHING.  Unfortunately, the movie mostly teased the Godzilla action, and what was there was not enough.  You guys are just using the expectations excuse to try to defeat the argument, while not even refuting it.  

@ PetedJog

I think you're wrong.  It's fine to want more, if that more is another movie.  It's not good when the audience wants more within the actual film.  After seeing the trailers and ads featuring Godzilla, it's perfectly normal for people to expect Godzilla as one of the main characters, even if they choose to to have a long build up to him for the first half of the film.  But, he's not.  In fact, it's what they did with the Transformers movies, that people rightfully complained about.  The Transformers pretty much played second fiddle to the humans.  Godzilla does this to the Nth degree.  Making him 3rd fiddle to the humans and then the MUTOS.

@thismeintail: :/, I don't know if I'm "wrong," and neither are you. It's a matter of opinion. What I can say for certain is that I loved the movie and was satisfied. about transformers on the other hand, my complaint about those movies is that there is so much action that I can't wait for it to end. I get bored of it 20 minutes in. I can only watch robots punch/shoot each other for so long before I start zoning out and stop caring. It's a about personal taste, I guess. 

@ PetedJog

I mainly meant that I think you are wrong in your statement that it left people wanting more in a good way.  I think after all is said and done, most people will be left wanting more from the actual movie, not that they were satisfied with the movie and want another one.

I've asked this question on the forums a while ago, if Jurassic Park was called "Tyrannosaurus" as its title instead, would you had loved it less? When the marketing from it hyped you for the T-Rex the whole time? (Fun fact: T-Rex only had four short scenes)

The answer is no, no one would had loved it less, and I bet if Godzilla was called "Pacific Monsters" people would had thought of the movie very differently. Which then implies that there was never anything wrong with the film.

Because yes, it is about expectations. And too easy you can criticize a film just because of it.

I just saw it today and enjoyed it, for the most part. However, I had high expectations and was slightly disappointed as well. My issues:

* ALL the trailers made this look like it was going to be kind of a dark, slightly disturbing movie. I didn't get that at all. No one, besides Cranston's character, really seemed to have an emotional storyline, even Serizawa.

* So many of the interviews talked about how realistic they wanted to make this, to capture how people would really react if this actually happened. Every - single - person in this movie acted as if these monsters suddenly being in existance was no big deal. No one was questioning it, or really freaking out. All the army personel were like "ok, lets go shoot these monsters, haha!" calm and collected. It was all very matter-of-fact.

*They really don't make the MUTOs seem all that evil. I was kinda rooting for them, just trying to survive and all. Hell... THEIR love story was a ton better than Aaron Taylor-Johnson's. And I may have missed this but... when did everyone decide that Godzilla was good and the others were not good? They just sort of assumed he'd attack the other monsters and then just leave humanity alone which, surprisingly, is exactly what happened. I mean... all we did in the past was try to kill Godzilla but now he's totally cool with people. No grudges here.

*I, too, feel like a lot of what was in the trailers, was not there. The initial "Death, Destroyer of Worlds" trailer scenes.... I don't think any of those were in the movie. That, in my opinion, was one of the best trailers too.

Now, with all that being said, I thought it was a great addition to the Godzilla franchise.

GODZILLER

1. On your first complaint, I also expected it to be a dark disturbing story, and I didn't got that. With that said however, we actually got something better, a much more interesting interpretation of Godzilla, and that he still represents the true forces of nature. That we are so insignificant for even his attention, exactly as mother Earth is. She would not care if we exist or disappear, we are a blip in her existance, Godzilla represents that, and I love it.

2. Well, maybe because the existance of the monsters for these characters were always known? You know? Monarch was founded because people already knew giant kaiju existed. And they tried nuking it as well.

3. The story was always meant to be realistic, and in the real world, there's no true good and evil, especially in the animal kingdom. The concept of good and evil is purely alien to them. They do whatever they must or want.

No one decided that Godzilla was good. The Admiral didn't gave up because he just felt like being nice, two of the nuclear weapons that were intended to destroy the creatures became lost by the MUTOs, so he simply went with Serizawa's philosophy and "let them fight".

4. Godzilla is still the Destroyer of Worlds. And he will be if we ever come under his attention. Luckly, his apathy saved us. There's the dark tone I've got from this movie. Pray Godzilla doesn't start caring about the human race or we are so f***d.

The Weaver:

1) I think the human race had ultimately made more of an impact on nature than those two MUTOs did over the span of their 3-day non-incubated existance. In fact, it seemed to be our nuclear energy that pretty much gave them life. I think, if he truley represented mother nature, he'd proooooooooooobably come after us.

2) I'm not talking about the few people who knew of the monsters. I'm talking about the ground forces, the general public. Actually, even the high ranking officers were like, "ok... monsters... well, here's what we should do"... totally calm and expresionless. No disbelief whatsoever.

3) Good point, I'm now recalling them talking about a modern nuke being able to take out Godzilla. I guess they did kinda want him dead too.

I keep saying this in every thread. Go watch it a second time. Put aside all the old films (other than the original 54 film) and watch this as it's own movie. You will appreciate the movie a lot more and it gives a new perspective on Godzilla, something different which is good because old ideas from Japan were getting old...fast. 

For those whining about ATJ's story through the movie, everyone clearly stated that we were to follow a soldier during this crisis. That's exactly what it is. 

The sequel I guarantee will have a lot more Godzilla scenes. As much as some fans are whining about it, Legendary does hear the cries of some fans.

You think this is bad? How long has it been since you seen Godzilla 98?

@ The Weaver

Again, using the expectations excuse, since you really don't have an argument. 

And Jurassic Park wasn't called Tyrannosaurus, it was called Jurassic Park.  You know, a park full of dinosaurs, which the movie delivered on.  To actually compare the two, it's more like if Jurassic Park advertised the Trex and the other dinosaurs, which it did, but mostly what you see in the trailer is basically all you get.  Whenever a dinosaur was about to do something, then it cuts to another scene without them.  If that were the case, then yes, people would have been disappointed.  You don't advertise something and then not deliver.  

In that way, I guess it is expectations.  However, those are only formed by the director and movie companies saying in interviews and through trailers, "Yes, expect that, we have it."  Of course, I don't think it's crazy for people to expect Godzilla in their Godzilla movie.  Toho delivered that.  Heck, even the '98 featured more "Zilla" than this movie featured Godzilla.  If you're talking about expectations as in I wanted a perfect movie, then no, I definitely wasn't expecting that.

GODZILLER

1. For now, he doesn't know. ;)

2. Serizawa was quite in disbelief when Godzilla swam under the aircraft carrier. As for the Admiral, he didn't really see any of the monsters, so it's just understandable to me. As for others, I attribute it to the fact that the cameras just don't hang around these people, we can only hear them scream and such (like crowds in the city), or comment about them with incredulity. "I guess we're monster hunters now." Is an example.

THISMEINTEL

I gave you the argument, I've only simplified what I'm trying to say.

And yeah, thanks, as if I didn't know Jurassic Park wasn't called Tyrannosaurus, I was giving an analogy. And that analogy is, what if Jurassic Park advertised the T-Rex the same way they advertised Godzilla? Would you be disappointed by JP?

Forget what anyone told you anything about the movie, pretend you went to see it completely blind, and tell us how would you feel through that perspective. Otherwise, yes, you've been affected by expectations, and hey, a great huge amount of people have, including me. But it's very important to look at the movie with a memory clean viewpoint and if you still feel the same way then I have no qualms on your opinion to the movie.

@ Sparkzilla14

I don't really need to watch it a 2nd time to know I would like what I liked and hate what I hated about this film no matter what.  And really the 1954 movie did it better.  They had a long buildup until you saw Godzilla, as well.  But, when it was Godzilla's time to detroy, it let him.  No cutting to a scene half way across the globe, so you couldn't see it.  They showed the destruction, the people it was affecting, and the aftermath.  This movie seemed focus on showing us everything else, only to return for the aftermath.  Like I said, that worked fine for the first fight, as a little poke at the audience's expectations (and you still got to see a little of the fight on the TV), but the 2nd and 3rd time was too much.  Especially with an end fight that lasts maybe 5-10 mins.  All build up and little delivery.

Well, this will probably be the last post for me on this site for a while (I don't like being around so much negativity), so I'll just say that I quite enjoyed the movie and there were just a few things I didn't like.

First of all, I would have enjoyed the movie more if they had made it a three way brawl between Godzilla, the MUTOs and the humans. Godzilla should have had a classic city destruction scene and military destruction scene. He should have been there just to destroy the MUTOs, and not cared if the humans got in his way. Ducking under the aircraft carrier and not just destroying the Golden Gate bridge with everyone on it was uncharacteristic of him. I never got the feeling of the humans' fear for Godzilla, just for the MUTOs.

Second of all, they should have shifted the focus to Godzilla and MUTOs at the end. I personally loved all the buildup and teases at the beginning (although showing us at least a little of the airport fight wouldn't have hurt), but at the end is when it got kind of tiring. They should have made that final showdown a complete monster bash with a just few cuts to whatever the humans were doing. That would have quenched our thirst for Godzilla action a lot more. However, everything they did show with Godzilla was amazing, so I'm not that mad.

Also, the story and music could have had a darker feeling (like we got from the trailers), but I don't mind much about that either.

But overall, none of these flaws stopped me from enjoying the movie. Sure, it had a chance to be so much cooler, but it was great enough for me, so I'm not going to complain. And with that I'll say goodbye to this site for a while. Peace off and God bless!

That "I guess we're monster hunters now" line is a perfect example. Just kinda ho-hum this is the way it is now. No one being like "holy sh*t!! what the hell is going on? is this really happening?! IS THIS REAL LIFE?!

I'm going to go back to another Legendary film... The Dark Knight. Things were getting nuts. People couldn't believe all this horror was being caused by one person. Cops were questioning the choices of their superior officers, no one knew what the hell to do...that was real terror, those were more realistic reactions. I was just kinda hoping for some of that in this movie. It wasn't there. Oh well. I'll get over it.

This was a "Godzilla vs..." film at best. The film focused more on the muto. It was almost like Godzilla was an after thought. Don't get me wrong, I loved him in the film and the fight scenes were awesome, but you barely saw any of him. There were no hype or build up in the script for Godzilla's appearance at all. Everyone cared more about the muto and whatever they were up to. 
Also, the score was WAY too over the top. Christ, someone just needed to answer a phone call and we suddenly got horns blaring and cymbol crashes. We don't need a national anthem playing every time we briefly see godzilla's tail.

@GODZILLA3580

YES!!! I agree. I'm a big fan of the Heisei series where Godzilla is kinda the anti-hero. It's always humanity vs. Godzilla but sometimes he's the lesser of two evils and we need him/he's on our side when having to deal with another monster.

@ The Weaver

And my point is the movie was about the park, not the Trex.  If it was supposed to be about the Trex, the script would have been changed to include him more.  And no, I wouldn't hate it if it was called Trex, but I would be disappointed.  Of course, like I just said, they would have changed the script.  But, that argument is just a straw man, anyway.

I agree with the OP. The fight scenes pissed me off. How do you start the fight and then cut it to black.  The aftermath is all the audience sees. I dont understand it. Otherwise it was okay.

It did not have to be a monster all out brawl through out the entire movie.  However, to tease the fans like that is lame in my opinion.  Oh well maybe the sequel will be better.

For all of you people who liked or loved Godzilla... great.  For all the you who didn't like or love it... well, maybe next time.  But don't try to tell each other how they should feel and why they should feel it.

I didn't like Godzilla, not because of expectations (I never go into a movie expecting anything), but because it wasn't a well made movie.  There was so sense of realism AT ALL!  Like someone here already said, everyone seemed to accept the monsters as if they were everyday occurances. 

The reason why there is negativity on this board is because the movie was disappointing to a good percentage of us.  I bet even some of you who are defending it, know in your heart that it could have been much better.

And for anyone who thinks that the studios didn't fear rebooting Godzilla, then you don't know much about the movie industry.  Hell, studios fear everything, especially movies coming in with a questionable financial history.  $160 is chump change for a movie of this type.  I said that a month ago on this board.  I also predicted a week ago that the movie would do $90 million in the first weekend despite all of the red flags that were popping up.

I plan on seeing it again, next week, now that I know that all the good parts will only last a short time before they cut away to something cheaper to film and less interesting.

@ Godziller

Thinking about it, you are 100% right.  The characters didn't really act like it was a big deal that huge monsters just showed up.  The most realistic portrayal was when people on the street level were running for their lives.  The troops, however, didn't really seem worried that montsers were killing hundreds/thousands of people.  Which could be, or eventually be, their family, too.

RATEDREX...I removed that horse carcass...gone now.

Well you see, that's another problem people have opinions. In my opinion the acting in this film was solid and the human story was really good, and the only thing I really have to say I agree on with anyone in the "not enough Godzilla" debate is there should've been a fight after the buildup of his first appearance but other than that he actually gets more screentime than a lot of Godzilla films.

And just saying, but if you title your topic "Godzilla: Good, But Sadly Disappointing" you're expecting people to try and correct your or find out why you were disappointed to correct that error. And, in my opinion, you expected different going into this film; I pretty much suffered in the same way my first time seeing the film. 

@SOMETHINGREAL

Least favorite part (1):  Godzilla shows up at the airport...no one sees him, hears him, or feels the thunder of his footsteps.  How did he get there with no warning?  Where were all the planes and helicopters and military personal along his route to the airport.  The entire Hawaii scene, including the tsunami, was poorly written, staged and filmed.

(2) There is no explanation of Godzilla, other than he exists.  When he shows up there is no "What the F--K is that?" moment.  Everyone treats Godzilla as if he is their next door neighbor.  There seems to be no fear of him at all.  I don't know about you, but if a 350 foot beast shows up in front of me I'm going to poop my pants, run like hell and then pray.

Favorite scenes.  Godzilla killing the MUTO with an atomic blast down his throat.

(2) The panic in the eyes of Cranston when he goes to save his wife.  The scene should have played out a little longer, but it still was the most emotionally effective scene in the movie

@CARL MAJORS:

I'm not sure what you mean "horse carcass".  Did I miss something?

nah, I was poking fun at you AND all the people who've made you have to say why you didn't like the film that much so many times...

RATEDREX: you bring up another good point that I did think of during the movie, but had forgotten. . . Thankfully, the govt and military didn't do the "hide the truth" thing for too long, but...

ok, G and MUTO show up at Honolulu AP, and start fighting on CNN...so...what the hell was everyone doing between then and when they got to San Fran? Are you kidding?  It took 3.5 days for the carrier to get from Hawaii to San Fran...Godzilla AND the MUTO show up and NOW you're evacuating?  That struck me as...well, head shaking.

@ InstinctiveGigan

What Godzilla movies have you seen where Godzilla has less screen time than this movie?  Cause I must have missed those.  Sure, Godzilla usually does come in later, which I don't mind, but once he gets there, you feel that he is the main focus of the movie.  Or a very big part of the film.  He is never relegated to being 2nd, or even 3rd fiddle.  He never has his big moments/fights treated like they aren't important.  That is what this movie gets wrong.  It really seems this script was floating around for awhile, but with only the MUTOs, til they decided to turn it into a Godzilla film.  Not saying that that's what happened, it just seems that way.

And again, this whole expectation lines is ridiculous.  One shouldn't have to lower their expectations to the point where they will except anything, just so they can enjoy whatever Hollywood craps out.  That's not specifically for this film, as I do think it still has quite a few positives.  But, when I'm going to a Godzilla movie, I should expect and get Godzilla.  Not 20 mins of him as basically a background character.  There's nothing wrong with expecting that, at the very least.  Anything less, and it might as well be a completely different movie.

oh yeah--forgot too--USS Saratoga was retired from active service TWENTY YEARS AGO...can't believe I forgot to mention that...and a rather infamous ship in the Navy world to boot--have no idea why they chose that one...

@something real:

Thanks for the compliment.  I'm a passionate movie buff.  I did movie reviews in college, I worked in the movie industry for 20 years (right out of college) and I have been a Godzilla fan for over 50 of my 57 years.  I still have Godzilla shit in my basement.  I love the big fella.  I want to see him do well in the industry.  I was motified in 1998.  I was excited about Godzilla 2014, only to be disappointed, yet again.  One day someone is going to make a kick-ass Godzilla movie.  Maybe the next one will be the one worth waitng for (at least for me).