Godzilla (Post-release)

[crabra comander]

Yes, Cranston did a fine job. Watanabe did good as well, but he totally went from slight Japanese accent to full on Japanese accent when he said "Gojirrraaa!" :lol

And I would say it wasn't even a slow build up to the reveal. MUTO's appeared quite early on, followed by Godzilla just standing and facing one and kicking butt. I loved how the scale of things was shown. Scene with the kid watching TV was excellent! "Look mommy, dinosaurs".

Just about every move Godzilla made was epic! When he roared it was epic. When his tail lit up and he puffed up his chest to fire his radiation beam, it was epic. MUTO's also had there EMP blasts, which created some great use of suspense.

I found the tail swipe to be quite comical. The MUTO was going pretty fast. Godzilla moves well for his size!:lol
I think there were some quiet moments, that were perhaps too quiet. Godzilla seemed to be tip-toeing. All things considered, the director really did Godzilla justice, IMO.:thumbsup

 

[crabra comander]

I'm OK with it. Godzilla was literally there to only kill the MUTOS. And even though you know he's walking away from the carnage through a swath of first responders, and you know a bunch of people should be screaming, it was kind of beautiful watching him saunter off and leave us be.

Beyond amazing, loved the movie regardless, great monster fights, but I will mention

Spoiler

i'm kinda surprised they went so strongly with the Godzilla is a hero angle with this one. Considering the trailers leading up to this were presenting the film as being ominous. And it's not just a matter of Godzilla conveniently killing the Muto's. By the end of the film, there are people literally looking up to Godzilla as a hero, sharing emotions with him and they even call him a savior on the news.

 

[lovelyandy]

I really enjoyed it. I didn't love it though, which is what I wanted.

This is the first time i've seen Bryan Cranston in anything and though 'ohhh, he's acting' which was disappointing.

Great second movie from Edwards, he's one of the only directors that hasn't disappointed me in some way so i'm pretty pleased to have walked out of Godzilla with a smile on my face. (Nolan - TDKR. Sndyer - Man of Steel. JJ Abrams - Star Trek 2. Edgar Wright - The Worlds End)

Ken Watanabe looked like he'd smelled a fart through the whole movie, and the military were kinda totally underwhelming, the admiral was just a nice guy doing his job, that's it.

I got nods of some of my fav movies when watching it. Jurassic Park with the wiping the glass. Aliens, when they're underground at the start was very lv-426 y. Terminator 2 but i think that was more from the music cues during the final battle, reminiscent of the T1000 smashing T800s face with that girder.

Didn't care for any of the human characters but Kick-Ass did a decent job carrying the movie even if I couldn't care less if he lived died or met up with his family.

The FX and the sound were amazing. Go and see it at the IMAX!

 

[Knightjar]

Really enjoyed it. Felt like a Godzilla movie. I particularly liked the look of the MUTO in flight; his stiffly flapping wings gave the scenes a real classic feel. I agree that we could have seen more battle and the cutaways from action were frustrating. But the fight was well worth it once it got going.

Spoiler

I didn't buy the ending for a second. There's no way that boat got far enough away in 12 minutes for the city not to be vapourised. And when Godzilla stood up and left town, he'd have flattened half the survivors, triggering screams not cheers

 

[ghostryder]

The Impossible Anatomy of Godzilla - Sci-Fi Fact vs. Fiction - Popular Mechanics

 

[knightdriver2001]

Just got back from this. Wasn't disappointed at all.

Over all, the best Godzilla film ever made, Slow in spots as most movies can be.

The final part of the film, epic! Lets see Japan top that! I'm going again for sure.

 

[crabra comander]

There was something else I definitely enjoyed. The fighting spirit of the soldiers. Obviously, some people may say, "What's the point?" when facing giant monsters impervious to bullets and rockets. I felt they did a fine job of distracting the MUTO's at the end.

It's always good to remember that liberties must be taken in order to give the G-man some redeeming qualities. Otherwise the whole film would be people screaming and streets filled with bodies. And that would not be a fun film at all.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

...It's always good to remember that liberties must be taken in order to give the G-man some redeeming qualities. Otherwise the whole film would be people screaming and streets filled with bodies. And that would not be a fun film at all.

I dunno about that being a bad thing. That certainly is entirely what the first original movie was about but I guess it all depends on which interpretation of Godzuki you like most: the hero, the villain, the force of nature. The latter I prefer myself and from what I'm getting from these reviews I'm reading; that's not the Godzilla I'm gonna get.

 

[Jeyl]

Oh, please Joss Whedon. Please tell me that you can do better with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. Their performances in this movie are so boring and so lifeless that I thought George Lucas stepped in to give them direction.

Overall though, the film was meh. One of my biggest gripes I had toward the film was how the big G himself was depicted. He gets little to no setup outside of simply existing and his appearance just happens.

Other downers were those moments of forced drama like the kid in the airport tram. This family plays this minor inconvenience as though it's supposed to be an extremely heartbreaking moment which I found almost laughable. Kids who panic about being separated from their parents aren't going to be instantly calmed down when a random stranger tells them that the train will go back. I've seen kids get separated from their parents and it's a very emotional moment full of confusion and sadness.

Now that I mention it, every child in this movie seemed lifeless and detached. All they do is watch stuff with little to no reactions at all, and they don't even do it well. As Plinkett once said, Nobody likes little kids. Especially those who can't act.

The film was also way too dark. Not in a mood like sense, but in the sense that there are a crap ton of dark scenes in the movie. I kept thinking to myself how fortunate we were for not seeing this movie in 3D because the dark scenes would have made the showcase fighting scenes totally unwatchable.

The only good part of this whole movie was the big G himself, and that's sad when you consider how underdeveloped he was. His design worked a lot better than I thought, his fights scenes are some of the best I've seen, and his roar was menacing while still retaining that classic Godzilla like sound. The best part, and the part I wasn't expecting this Americanized version of Godzilla to go with was his Atomic Breath. Holy crap, my eyes just shot right at the screen the moment I saw his bach begin to glow and his chest showing that he was about to exhale something big. Using it as the final move was one of the few times I felt a true sense of rush and excitement at what I was seeing. That. and seeing him walk back to the ocean.

....Ha. Godzilla, King of the Monsters. He'll smash our cities and destroy our military, but he'll still come out a better hero than the Man of Steel.

 

[JiminSTLouis]

I enjoyed the movie very much. And my biggest surprise was that my wife loved it! The design of the MUTOs was great, especially the flying one. I loved the look of Godzilla and wished we would have seen more of him. I think they were going for a Jaws or Alien kind of suspense by showing only glimpses throughout and then have a big reveal. The final battle scenes were amazing. I agree with the somewhat flat performances by the two main characters, and the lack of terror by the masses in general. A lot of staring and running. I thought it somewhat unbelievable that Cranston's character was investigating the contamination zone for 15 years and never noticed all the activity at the old power plant site. And didn't a plane or google earth satellite ever fly over to see this large glowing cocoon right there in the open?

Except for a few minor gripes, this is my favorite movie of the summer season so far.

Ps.
Godzilla's atomic breath was AWESOME!

 

[BobasBounty]

I just returned from watching this movie in IMAX 3D. I figured Godzilla deserves the biggest screen possible. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I know everyone complains about the acting in this (except maybe Brian's), but if one is going to watch a Godzilla film expecting Oscar winning performances they are missing the point. Well that is my opinion anyway. I liked it so much I am going to go see it again. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[.:MirrorminD:.]

Just got back from it, and loved it. I also loved the Monthra, Rodan, and Ghidorah references near the beginning of the movie.

 

[cayman shen]

After the superlative "Monsters," I was really hoping for some more genuine human moments in this film. In 28 Days Later, the most interesting part is the end where the humans are the danger. In War of the Worlds, it's Tim Robbins's molester. In The Descent, it's the interaction between the wife and the mistress. I needed more real emotion to be fully engaged in this one. It was THIS close to a great movie. But death, monsters, and destruction alone isn't interesting. And contrived crap like dogs running from death and lost children is too obviously orchestrated to get an emotional response to actually get one.

Having said that, I came to see monsters fight, and BOY did it deliver. The whole second half was riveting. And there were some extremely beautiful images. It's absolutely a visually stunning film. But I felt the same about War of the Worlds, which had some arresting moments (that river of bodies, the train), but never added up to more than the sum of its parts.

Also, the whole "Gojira will balance out this MUTO's awakening" thing was just too much of a throwaway explanation. But I can let it slide, because hey, it's a giant monster movie. Again, I paid for destruction.

I really wish this was rated R. I think seeing on newscasts the bodies tumbling from the buildings, legs falling out of the MOTU's mouth, etc would have turned this into something with a little more gut wrenching cinema verite impact. I know that's not the movie they made, so I can't really criticize it on those grounds, but that's the movie I wanted to see. Godzilla meets The Mist haha.

Better than a meh, but not something I need to see over and over. I still rather prefer Cloverfield.

Having said that, I almost cheered when G let loose with the atomic breath. Awesome.

 

[The Mad Professor]

Okay, I just came back from seeing the movie, and I have mixed feelings.

Pros:
- It was a nicely crafted film.
- Bryan Cranston was awesome (as usual). He did fantastically as a man who is right on the razor's edge between brilliance and madness.
- The monster fights were brilliant.

Cons:
- Aaron Taylor Johnson's wooden performance. Maybe it's me, but he showed more acting ability in the mid-credits scene of Cap 2 than he did in the entirety of this movie.
- Too much time on human characters, not enough on the monsters.
- Bryan Cranston should be constitutionally banned from having any hairstyle other than "bald."
- We should have gotten to see the post credits scene as well as the Asian markets.

 

[Bryancd]

You guys have been giving the most conflicting reviews! One says too much humans, not enough monsters. The next says the exact opposite!

 

[joeranger]

I am glad I saw it. It was a wonderful heartfelt film about relationships, duty, separation and reunion. The realm of emotions about family loyalty and confronting fear and obligation. My favorite part was when Gojira makes a cameo appearance towards the end of the film. It was a bit of a distraction but you have to have a little destruction to add to the seriousness of the film.
I only wish they had explored the back story of the little boy who gets separated on the train. It also ended too abruptly. I would have liked to see the family getting back to a normal home life. School, baseball, orthodontic appts...
There was a wonderful romantic film referenced earlier, Cloverfield, about a boy trying to find his true love in the big city and a mysterious monster keeps interfering.
Monster movies should not have too much "monster" to ruin the human stories....I am hoping the next Godzilla can be a romantic comedy with Katherine Heigl and one of the guys from One Direction. (doesn't matter which one)

Of course, the only thing really missing from the film, was someone actually saying, "Sir, our weapons have no effect on the creature"

OK, in all seriousness, I liked it but on the way home my boys and I bought Pacific Rim to remind us what a real monster movie is supposed to be like.

 

[cayman shen]

You guys have been giving the most conflicting reviews! One says too much humans, not enough monsters. The next says the exact opposite!

It's that kind of movie. In a way, I agree with both those statements. I think the movie itself isn't sure what it wants to be.

One trope that was notably absent was any evil human. No scheming government agent looking to harness the MOTU's power, or a scientist claiming a desire to kill it while secretly wanting to study it, or a mad admiral attempting to trigger the nuke after the decision has been made not to use it. In a way, that's good, because those things have been overdone. But I keep thinking of 28 Days Later and how important HUMAN bad guys where. All of humanity was one dimensional in Godzilla. Everyone was blandly courageous. Even the initial cover-up was staffed by super affable folks who welcomed the trespassers with less trouble than a teenager gets over shoplifting Doritos. So...good that they avoided the bad guy "Burke in Aliens" cliche, or bad? I really can't decide. All I know is the humans were pretty bland.

 

[crabra comander]

LOL...Pacific Rim was a fun film.

Godzilla was a serious film. I think everyone's expecting these stupid comic book action scenes so much now that watching a film with people acting pretty normal is boring to them. I think the director was giving us a serviceable Godzilla film, with no legit bad guys. B

etter Godzilla vs. the MUTO's, than Godzilla destroying the city. And the movie would have been really boring with just G-man. Perhaps with a sequel they will have a nefarious government plotting to weaponize a monster. Actually, let me copyright the idea of North Korea having a monster hidden in their Glorious country. And their Glorious Leader releases a monster from the capital. Glorious Leader rides on a ancient Unicorn and almost defeats G-man. Copyright 2014


Someone said they didn't like the kids acting in the film. OK, maybe every kid is supposed to start crying when their parents leave. But you don't know how every kid is going to act.

 

[rodneyfaile]

It was just ok. I don't feel the need to ever see it again.

SPOILERS!

As soon as Bryan Cranston died, my interest died too. I swear, after that, an hour went by consisting of different military people, equipment, and locations, and all they were saying is "where is it now, what are we going to do, ok, so where is it now, so what are we going to do now?" But we didnt get to see anyone DO anything. This didn't build suspense, it bored me.

Why did she have to wait for him to come get her to evacuate? Does she not know the way out of town?

The first time Godzilla uses the radioactive breath is pretty awesome. Other than that, the monster action was kinda tame. Is it just me, or did Godzilla have a weird smirk facial expression going on?

The best parts were the buildup as Cranston was figuring out what was going on, and seeing the effects as Godzilla was moving underwater. Once Gozilla was out in the open, the feel went from Jaws to Jaws 3-D. I was hoping for more of a Pacific Rim vibe.

I'll take the over-the-top fun of Pacific Rim to this Godzilla. I'm starting to wonder if a modern Godzilla movie can be done. This movie wasn't BAD, but it just wasn't good either, and I like most movies.

 

[joeranger]

LOL...Pacific Rim was a fun film. Godzilla was a serious film.

Yep. They tried to make a serious film about Godzilla. Like a gourmet hotdog.