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

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thismeinteil

MemberMothra LarvaeMay-18-2014 2:55 PM

Sorry for the length, in advance. Just really passionate about me some Godzilla. :-D

Let me start this review by saying that I have been a big Godzilla fan ever since I was a kid and watched my first Godzilla movie. It's been so long, I really don't even remember which movie it was. If I had to guess, I would say it was probably Mothra Vs Godzilla, followed shortly by Son of Godzilla. It wasn't till I was older that I realized that I had grown up on all the old Showa films and had completely missed out on the Hessei era, though I have been playing catch up recently with all the Godzilla films. Now, that my Godzilla background is addressed, let's move on to the 2014 film...

I watched Godzilla opening day and decided to let it all sink in for a day or so before I wrote this review. And as the title says, I found this movie to be sadly disappointing. I won't discredit the positive points of the film because of my disappointment, but it does take away from my complete enjoyment of the film. And it's not because I put my expectations very high. In fact, I was willing overlook most negatives of this film, as long as the acting was halfway decent and, most importantly, it delivered on what it promised, Godzilla action. Unfortunately, while the acting was more than halfway decent (great in some instances), the Godzilla action was barely there. This has to be least I have EVER seen Godzilla in any GODZILLA movie I have ever watched. Which is a real shame, considering this was America's chance to prove they could pull off a real Godzilla movie, as well as bring in new fans to the franchise. But, I think it failed. Not completely, mind you, but it definitely fell short. Let me break it down into what I liked and what I didn't.

Postives:

Acting – All of the acting ranged from good to superb. As many have said before, Cranston puts in a great performance. And don't let other reviewers tell you that Aaron Taylor-Johson was “wooden.” I found his acting to be pretty good, especially in scenes with Cranston. There were maybe 1 or 2 lines that did come off a little flat in their delivery, and I wish he had been given a few more scenes to convey that he was truly grieving the loss of his father (one who he had openly mocked most of his life for being a crackpot), but overall, he was good. It's true that Elizabeth Olson was given very little to do, but she did fine with what she had. And while Ken Watanabe was mostly reduced to giving exposition, he did a great job of it.

Story – I really liked the story. Especially, how they tied it to the 1954 original, as well as having little easter eggs hidden here and there that reference other monsters in the previous movies. The movie really makes you feel while following the Brodys' story. I have heard some complain about them dropping character develop after the MUTOs show up, but I don't mind that. There doesn't really need to be constant character arcs and changes in a Godzilla/monster/disaster movie. Like I said before, though, I do feel Aaron's character should have had a few scenes where he actually deals with his father's death, instead of it being dropped a minute or so later.

Godzilla's Portrayal – Godzilla actually looks like Godzilla, with a few updates to his image. I'm not too big on his feet, but that's really the worse thing about the design, and it's not really a big deal. Godzilla is actually strong enough to resist gunfire and missiles thrown at him, as well as an atomic bomb. I love that he is huge in the movie, and not actually downsized, like in the '98 Godzilla (compared to the Toho version, at the time.) And best of all, ATOMIC BREATH!! And he uses it twice, in all its glory. I also love how he charges it up, starting with his tail spikes, then it moves up his back, finally blasting out of his mouth when it reaches his head.

CGI – The CG was incredible. Much better than what I thought it would be, looking at some scenes in the trailer. And a lot more believable than many movies out, now. The problem most movies make is that they want you to see their character that they spent hours making, instead of worrying about blending them into the background as seamlessly as possible, making them stand out. Sure, the audience won't be able to see every pixel that made them up, but at least they won't look embarrassingly fake. This movie doesn't commit that sin.

But, let's move onto the sins they do commit...

Negatives:

Godzilla's Portrayal: Yep, this is in negative, too. While they get quite a few things right about Godzilla, they get a few things wrong, too. While I said he is strong in this one, even surviving a atomic blast, at the same time he is weak. While the missiles fired at Godzilla don't actually penetrate his skin, the force does blast him back quite a bit. If you remember the old Godzilla, it would taken a specialized missile/bomb to have that affect. Here it's normal cruise missiles, ones that would blow up against old Godzilla, which he would then treat like a fly just bit him. Also, while Godzilla is more than capable when fighting one MUTO, put two against him and he gets his ass stomped. Sure, monsters have teamed up and gotten one over Godzilla in the past, but he has always been able to recover and then take them down. Here, it takes the female getting distracted so that Godzilla can take them on one at a time, for him to win. He also faints twice while fighting them, the last time taking a whole night to recover. Why a creature would be able to survive an atomic bomb, yet faint from fighting two monsters for a few minutes, is beyond me.

Godzilla? Oh yea, he's our title monster. I think – Speaking of minutes, let's talk about the very few that Godzilla is in this movie. I think if you tallied up how long Godzilla is onscreen, it MAY add up to 20 mins. If you add up the battle time, it MAY equal 10-15 mins. In other words, Godzilla is barely in Godzilla. Now, I have heard some criticize that Godzilla only shows up at about the hour mark. Personally, I don't mind a slow buildup. In fact, for the first movie in a new franchise, I prefer it. But, and that's a huge BUT, YOU HAVE TO DELIVER ON THE BUILD UP. Unfortunately, this is where the movie ultimately fails.

     Time and time again (3 times, to be exact) the movie builds up the beginnings of great battles. Both monsters appear. Godzilla looks pissed and flares his nostrils. The MUTO roars. Then Godzilla lets out his iconic roar (love the movies take on it, by the way), only to cut to see what the humans are up to. Now, the first time it does this, I didn't mind so much. It just seems like a little poke at the audience, and we also see Ford Brody's son watching them on TV, stating “Look mommy, dinosaurs.” But the second and third time, it was more like a F#ck You! I literally said “Bullsh!t!” You could feel the disappointment in the audience and a guy a few seats down from me kept looking at his phone every time they did this. Garreth Edwards made a HUGE mistake here. Of course, it wouldn't have been so bad if the last battle was a huge free for all, one that lasted 25 mins. Instead, the final battle may last about 5-10 mins and is constantly cut with more human footage. It's sad when you can say with certainty that the '98 Godzilla did a better job of making Godzilla it's star.

 

In conclusion, the movie was still a good movie, but a disappointing Godzilla movie. As my wife put it, the movie seemed to be focused 80% on humans, 15% on the MUTOs, and a measely 5% on Godzilla, the movie's supposed star. It almost screams to me that this movie was originally supposed to be a monster movie, starring the MUTOs, only to have Godzilla shoehorned into the script shortly before filming. Really it just saddens me, being a big Godzilla fan, seeing that if Garreth had only teased the audience once, instead of 3 times, this movie would have been perfect. Or near it. As is, I would give it a 7.5. I also wouldn't be surprised that this movie has a great opening weekend, but drops sharply in the coming weeks, mainly for not delivering what it promises.

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godzilla3580
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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!

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Godziller
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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.

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Andy Mai Mai
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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.

 

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Godziller
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@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.

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thismeinteil
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@ 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.

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OG Godzilla
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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.

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ratedrex
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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.

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Something Real
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RATEDREX - Hello there. If you could narrow down your least favorite parts of the film to two selections, what would they be? Additionally if you you had to do the same for your favorite parts, what would those be? :)
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thismeinteil
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@ 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.

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

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InstinctiveGigan
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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. 

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ratedrex
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@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

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ratedrex
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@CARL MAJORS:

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

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Something Real
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RATEDREX - Those are very solid points you've presented. I agree, the scene in which Joe is rushing to his wife was increidbly well done - but could have been a bit longer. Thank you very much for satisfying my curiosity. If it caused you further aggrevation to think on the film once more, you have my sincerest apologies. My intentions were simply to gain a focused sample of your likes and dislikes. You've exhibited that you are certainly very intelligent, ergo you likely would give objective information - I was not let down. Once again, thank you very much. :)
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Carl Majors
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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...

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Carl Majors
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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.

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thismeinteil
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@ 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.

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Carl Majors
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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...

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Something Real
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CARL MAJORS - Indeed, I, too, had notticed the USS Saratoga and wondered how on the face of the green planet it had been reinstated into active duty! Of course, perhaps its inclusion was metaphorical... :)
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ratedrex
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@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).

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