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[Monocle]

So, I just saw this.

Not bad overall. I didn't care about the random dudebro protagonist or his journey back to his wife and kid. Such a boring trope, such boring actors. Bryan Cranston unquestionably would have been a better lead. His presence elevated the movie. Godzilla himself was great. Really well done. The monster fights were good but a little brief for my taste. Somehow the scale felt too small, which is ridiculous because the creatures themselves were enormous. Maybe I had a problem with the environments they fought in? I don't know but something definitely felt off.

I found Godzilla enjoyable but I like Pacific Rim more. Its personality, plot structure, and visual aesthetic are much more engaging to me. (The lead bro is hotter too.)

 

[Dead]

Oooh, excited to hear there will be an extended cut

I really like the movie, the more I think about it.

 

[Blader]

Spoiler

“Godzilla, Savior of the City?”

This bugged the hell out of me and made me laugh out loud.

honestly, I think I would have liked the movie a hell of a lot more if they hadn't included. That *really* annoyed me and was literally the exact opposite of what I wanted from this movie, and from what Edwards, et al. had been promoting too.

 

[Opto]

Godzilla is

Spoiler

the savior of the city because he brought down property values so normal people can live in San Francisco

 

[Chaotic-Strike]

honestly, I think I would have liked the movie a hell of a lot more if they hadn't included. That *really* annoyed me and was literally the exact opposite of what I wanted from this movie, and from what Edwards, et al. had been promoting too.

I didn't enjoy it either maybe it will be changed on the extended cut on the Blu-Ray.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Just got back from it. My review in mostly gif form.


It was little of a slow burn. They kept teasing Godzilla throughout. Everytime I saw him I was like...

...as his first full on screen introduction was a thing of beauty, but they kept cutting away...

...as it was all a build up to the last amazing 30 minutes when the big man finally got on full display against the Mutos and I was couldn't take it anymore with all them money shots of the Big G...

....and it is simply fantastic.

 

[demosthenes]

Review: Godzilla in the Background

Spoiler

Take the example of Godzilla showing up to battle the MUTO in San Francisco. Elizabeth Olsen sees the flying MUTO perched up on one side of her. Then Godzilla arrives in a swirl of smoke and dust on the other side of her. They charge forth into a climactic clash for all the ages just as she descends into the shelter and… then we cut away. No more, Gareth Edwards says. Well that right there is something that no true Godzilla movie would do. There is a fundamental lack of understanding about what a Godzilla movie should deliver and appreciating his splendor and awesome power. Edwards seems to revel in shoving him into the background instead. Plenty of shots where Godzilla and the MUTOS are simply background set dressing, while the camera follows Johnson’s squad in the foreground. In fact, the whole movie might as well be retitled “Godzilla in the Background.”

5/10

I actually enjoyed this. I don't want to see Godizlla fighting for 2 hours, or even an hour. I thought they were well done.

 

[gosox333]

I think this is the first thing I've seen with Elizabeth Olsen in it.

She purdy.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

I think this is the first thing I've seen with Elizabeth Olsen in it.

She purdy.

Martha Marcy May Marlene. Get on it.

 

[Dead]

She looks like a more attractive, and blonde maggie gyllenhall in this movie

 

[Omzz]

just came out the theater, really enjoyed this. just gonna sound off on a couple of things

Spoiler

bryan cranston . when he shut the door on his wife i teared up

reconfirmed that elizabeth olsen is still best olsen. so pretty

liked the special effects on this one. thought it would not live up to my expectations

nutshot

 

[East Lake]

Relevant to this discussion: The Dissolve: Godzilla: The first post-human blockbuster

Ehhhhhh. I can buy the part where Edwards has to reconcile the blockbuster movie blueprint with the realities of a Godzilla type monster event but I don't think I could say he dealt with the problem well. But who knows what kind of pressure he was under to conform to genre stereotypes. He did well with Cranston but not with the rest of it. I don't think insignificance when the family has both a nuclear engineer in it and someone who can rig a nuke to be resistant to EMP. Jack Burton is a regular joe sixpack who is almost totally inept in his circumstances and also not a total bore. The movies have wildly different tones but even if a person was to accept the post-human idea, which I think is a stretch then the next question is do these characters act properly in the face of apocalypse. I don't even think they do that.

 

[Sephzilla]

So after watching Godzilla (2014) I went and watched Godzilla vs King Ghidorah and Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla 2 to kind of keep my Godzilla high going. After getting some more classic Japanese Godzilla into my system, I actually have to say that I think Edward's style in the new movie was more effective than I gave it credit for. The monster battles in the two Toho movies I listed above actually get dull near the end of the movie simply because I've already been over indulged as an audience member.

I still think for the sequel there needs to be a little more Godzilla and at least a second on-screen monster battle. But I actually appreciate the new movie a little more than I thought I did.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Another parallel story would be following a company of soldiers on the

Spoiler

suicide mission of nuclear bomb disposal

, which was a good plot point and the HALO jump that precedes this act was simply the best scene of the movie .

This would have been a great storyline for the movie. A group of soldiers that slowly realize that they are going on a mission that they will almost certainly die in, and have to confront the horror of unfathomabley large monsters.

Start the movie with them being super gung-ho and all you see of the monsters is tv clips and sometimes in the distance. But then they follow the monsters trail of destruction and see how they have utterly laid waste to cities, and towns and everything in between. The bodies of the dead seem insignificant compared to the massive scale of the destruction around them. And the closer the soldiers get to the monsters, the more futile their mission seems.

I think this would have made the tone more solemn, and horrific (closer to the trailers). This story would also have a lot more opportunites for character building and emotional resonance (as the soldiers only know their mission so there is little room for exposition dumps) because they would essentially have to come to terms with their likely death at the hands of what--for all they know--could be gods.It would allow for better build up to the monsters, and have more mystery surrounding them, as they start small and far away, and only get larger and more frightening as the film goes on and the soldiers progress (maybe they have some nuke or mcguffin they need to detonate near the monsters or something)

I feel like this storyline would be more in Edwards wheelhouse, as it combines the road movie/travelogue, with a creeping sense of dread and mystery like Monsters did.

 

[Mengy]

Angry Joe did a review of Godzilla:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8wRyimbzW8

Pretty much mirrors my feelings about the movie as well: It was good, but not great.

 

[Chaotic-Strike]

The best thing this movie did was prove an American Godzilla could succeed and make a nice profit. Many companies were afraid to touch it after the last American Remake and called it "box office poison".

 

[RustyNails]

This would have been a great storyline for the movie. A group of soldiers that slowly realize that they are going on a mission that they will almost certainly die in, and have to confront the horror of unfathomabley large monsters.

Start the movie with them being super gung-ho and all you see of the monsters is tv clips and sometimes in the distance. But then they follow the monsters trail of destruction and see how they have utterly laid waste to cities, and towns and everything in between. The bodies of the dead seem insignificant compared to the massive scale of the destruction around them. And the closer the soldiers get to the monsters, the more futile their mission seems.

I think this would have made the tone more solemn, and horrific (closer to the trailers). This story would also have a lot more opportunites for character building and emotional resonance (as the soldiers only know their mission so there is little room for exposition dumps) because they would essentially have to come to terms with their likely death at the hands of what--for all they know--could be gods.It would allow for better build up to the monsters, and have more mystery surrounding them, as they start small and far away, and only get larger and more frightening as the film goes on and the soldiers progress (maybe they have some nuke or mcguffin they need to detonate near the monsters or something)

I feel like this storyline would be more in Edwards wheelhouse, as it combines the road movie/travelogue, with a creeping sense of dread and mystery like Monsters did.

I feel that was the original story, but they pussied out in the end.

 

[Toa TAK]

Relevant to this discussion: The Dissolve: Godzilla: The first post-human blockbuster

I still can't get behind it, I don't see why there can't be some compelling human story behind the movie. It's hard to do, sure, but there's no way it's impossible.

 

[Darksol]

I liked it a lot. Good popcorn flick.

 

[Antiochus]

It appears we have 2014's Man of Steel on our hands. An eagerly anticipated film that initially drew gasps of joy from overeager first reviewers, to ever escalating hype, to quick deflation and massive recalibrations of more realistic judgments coming out, then a backlash brewing. A movie made a director with clear visionary talent and potential, but squandered on so many ill conceived details and misplaced priorities. A film where if even just a few parts were extended and polished, would have yielded dramatic improvements. Similar to the underplaying of Kevin Costner in Man of Steel, the mind still reels at the possibility of having Bryan Cranston channeling the magnetic rational draw of a "good" Walter White dedicated to confronting and managing the monster madness of the world. Alas, that was not to be.

The only question is, will this Godzilla film continue to be the most critically divisive blockbuster of this year a year from now, just like Man of Steel?

 

[WordAssassin]

I really really liked it but as others said, I fucking hated that news caption at the end. That was so goddamn stupid.

Can't wait to see what they do and where they go with the sequel. I pray they get the license to at least one other classic Toho monster, especially if they do that "monster island" idea I read about in an interview with the creative team.

Also the more people I hear complain about "too much human" stuff makes me wonder how many Godzilla movies they've seen. Some of them are boring as fuck for really, really long gaps of time with no monsters. Not all of them, obviously, but it's not like this movie is doing something unheard of with the franchise.

 

[The Illiterati]

I thought the movie was quite good, and I personally hated Pacific Rim. Anyways, I just have a question:

Am I the only one that got whiffs of "man in a rubber suit" when Godzilla was fighting and punching? I don't mean that as a criticism, I actually thought it was quite well done. I kind of felt he was slightly clumsy like the older films as well. Am I crazy in this opinion?

 

[Delta Assault]

I thought the movie was quite good, and I personally hated Pacific Rim. Anyways, I just have a question:

Am I the only one that got whiffs of "man in a rubber suit" when Godzilla was fighting and punching? I don't mean that as a criticism, I actually thought it was quite well done. I kind of felt he was slightly clumsy like the older films as well. Am I crazy in this opinion?

Well... they are animals. They aren't trained to fight like boxers or MMA fighters. So yeah, they seemed clumsy, in the way that all wild animals would be clumsy while fighting.

Except for the ending,

Spoiler

where Godzilla pried open the MUTO's mouth and breathed down its throat. That felt like a Mortal Kombat Brutality move

.

 

[Shouta]

I really really liked it but as others said, I fucking hated that news caption at the end. That was so goddamn stupid.

I thought it was fun, personally. They don't know which is why it has a question mark at the end.From their perspective, it makes sense too.

I thought the movie was quite good, and I personally hated Pacific Rim. Anyways, I just have a question:

Am I the only one that got whiffs of "man in a rubber suit" when Godzilla was fighting and punching? I don't mean that as a criticism, I actually thought it was quite well done. I kind of felt he was slightly clumsy like the older films as well. Am I crazy in this opinion?

Nah, i think they perfectly mimic'd the man in the suit feel with some slight lumbering movement too but they made it animalistic enough to differentiate.

 

[The Illiterati]

I thought it was fun, personally. They don't know which is why it has a question mark at the end.From their perspective, it makes sense too.



Nah, i think they perfectly mimic'd the man in the suit feel with some slight lumbering movement too but they made it animalistic enough to differentiate.

I'm glad to hear others thought this too. I would've never thought I CGI house/director would choose to do this. I thought it was perfect, it gave him real character. Made him instantly endearing to me, personally.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

I thought it was fun, personally. They don't know which is why it has a question mark at the end.From their perspective, it makes sense too.

Me too. Seeing the first line before it though made me smile so hard. Hail to the king, baby.

EDIT: hah, it sort of did almost felt like man in a suit at times.

 

[meta4]

Review: Godzilla in the Background

5/10

You got everything spot on. Infact I would say your score is very generous. I thought Pacific Rim was mediocre but after seeing this movie I think it was a much better movie in hindsight.
I cant fathom how anyone thinks this movie is better than Pacific Rim or especially Cloverfield.

I can't remember the last time I saw a movie with trailers as misleading as this one. I really, REALLY wish the movie had the same weight and tone as the trailers.

It was such an evil bait and switch.

Yup. I have decided never to get hyped with trailers again. Man of Steel did the same shit.

 

[Jack Scofield]

I can't remember the last time I saw a movie with trailers as misleading as this one. I really, REALLY wish the movie had the same weight and tone as the trailers.

It was such an evil bait and switch.

 

[lawful]

I thought the movie was quite good, and I personally hated Pacific Rim. Anyways, I just have a question:

Am I the only one that got whiffs of "man in a rubber suit" when Godzilla was fighting and punching? I don't mean that as a criticism, I actually thought it was quite well done. I kind of felt he was slightly clumsy like the older films as well. Am I crazy in this opinion?

There was motion caption performance done by Andy Serkis (Gollum)

 

[watershed]

I thought the movie was quite good, and I personally hated Pacific Rim. Anyways, I just have a question:

Am I the only one that got whiffs of "man in a rubber suit" when Godzilla was fighting and punching? I don't mean that as a criticism, I actually thought it was quite well done. I kind of felt he was slightly clumsy like the older films as well. Am I crazy in this opinion?

There definitely was some clumsiness but I think it was more about the weight and size of Godzilla trying to fight these creatures that are faster than him in a somewhat restricting environment, The way he falls is like what you expect a big heavy creature to fall like. I suppose some of that clumsiness that mirrored the older films.

 

[Ragnorok64]

I can't wait for this one to get the Honest Movie Trailers treatment.

 

[kaching]

I thought the news caption at the end was a reasonably clever way of throwing in a bit of fanservice while also taking a tongue-in-cheek swipe at the state of our 24hr news services. I have no trouble believing that CNN would post a news caption like that if this ever really happened. Planes are already getting swallowed by black holes, according to them.

I have legit gripes. It's ok for you to like the movie, it's ok for me to not like it all that much. We don't see eye to eye, that's fine. I'm not trying to change your mind so much as explain my feelings about the film. Just happens to really get on your nerves for whatever reason.

A legit gripe shouldn't need to exaggerate the issue so much or rely on facetiousness to make the case. I have no problem if the movie simply didn't work for you but if you're going to try to trump up your dislike of the movie into a more objective criticism overall, don't be surprised if your "legit" gripes get pushback because they don't hang together as logically as you claim they do.

I don't think the movie is perfect or exactly what I wanted and I have my own set of issues with it, but I don't think any of those issues warrant going overboard and trying to tear the movie down for somehow offending my expectations or whatever.

 

[b&jy77VjiKn$#F]

Ken Wannabe can't speak English for shit. I couldn't make out what he said most of the time.

Other than that, I like the movie. Would watch again in theater.

 

[Mike Double U]

I wanted to see more between Joe Brody and Dr. Ishiro. Bryan Cranston stole the first part of the movie. He made everyone else dull in comparison.

Another thing was that they cut away from two or three battle scenes! What was up with that?! I'm all for teasing Godzilla and everything. It was a long wait. I was expecting it to payoff. But then they show him and then cut away from the fight! That killed the build up for me personally.

Solid movie. I recommend it still. It could have been much better in my opinion.

 

[Jaeger]

If people haven't seen it, check out AVGN/James Rolfe's Godzilla-thon mini-reviews. It's awesome. Filmed in 2008.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAAD30B9523D89FAA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_ufBleUNos&list=PLAAD30B9523D89FAA&index=23 (1998) film review

 

[RBelong2Us]

You got everything spot on. Infact I would say your score is very generous. I thought Pacific Rim was mediocre but after seeing this movie I think it was a much better movie in hindsight.
I cant fathom how anyone thinks this movie is better than Pacific Rim or especially Cloverfield.

Lol...... Wow

 

[AdventureRacing]

Lol...... Wow

He's spot on, cloverfield was a lot better. It achieved the tension this movie went for much more effectively.

 

[Maximus.]

I thought the movie was great, though more screen time for Godzilla would have been even better.

Spoiler

Cranston dying really sucked because I thought he was such an interesting and useful character. The scene with his wife dying was heartbreaking as well. The main characters were decent, but I didnt expect anything super crazy and I was not disappointed. I was disappointed with the lack of Godzilla overall and the constant teasing of him fighting. The special effects were good, but something just felt a bit off to me, maybe I just expected too much for this particular movie? Overall really enjoyed the film

 

[Jaeger]

Lol...... Wow

I can't believe people are still saying that shit after so many pages. Cloverfield is mediocre, at best. Plagued by shitty casting and writing, and horrible cinematography. The humans are some of the least interesting ever seen in a monster film.

I can't remember anyone from that, or why they even had a damn camera the whole time instead of I don't know, using both hands to try and survive? If you don't vomit from all the shaky cam shit, the monster is barely there and they end up just running around dodging rubble from human attempts to stop it, while saying 'Oh my god!" the entire time.

Fucking classic film, right there.

 

[RBelong2Us]

He's spot on, cloverfield was a lot better. It achieved the tension this movie went for much more effectively.

Once the movie became about some guy going into the heart of the city to find a girl mixed with a terrible storyline, there was no tension. It became a chore to watch. The movie is incredibly hollow and meaningless. Cool concept, sorry ass execution.

 

[AdventureRacing]

Once the movie became about some guy going into the heart of the city to find a girl mixed with a terrible storyline, there was no tension. It became a chore to watch. The movie is incredibly hollow and meaningless. Cool concept, sorry ass execution.

Clearly i and the person you quoted disagree. I like both movies but cloverfield did a much better job achieving what it set out to imo.

 

[Jaeger]

Clearly i and the person you quoted disagree. I like both movies but cloverfield did a much better job achieving what it set out to imo.

Please explain. I posted as to why that is utterly untrue. I'd like to hear why you feel that way.

 

[Monocle]

Lol...... Wow

Well...Cloverfield was probably more effective than Godzilla at conveying the dread and terror of a giant monster invasion. The mounting sense of despair as new and ever more horrible things happened came across very well IMO.

 

[ElephantShell]

Just saw this and enjoyed it quite a bit. No, it wasn't perfect but as a set up for a series I thought it was a success. Hopefully Godzilla 2 will have more Godzilla vs. other monster ass-kickery.

 

[Trike]

I liked the film even though it had a lot of problems. The depiction of Godzilla and (small spoiler)

Spoiler

the MUTOs

were awesome and the final fight was badass. Pretty much all of the film up until (major character spoilers)

Spoiler

Bryan Cranston dies

was awesome. After that almost every character that was not a bus driver made the worse possible decisions in the most cases. Ken Watanabe had one facial expression for the majority of the movie. Aaron Taylor Johnson's character had actions and almost a personality. I know he said some words too. I didn't think Elizabeth Olsen did a good job for the most part, but she didn't have much room either. The last kiss she and ATJ had was pretty believable though. I can't wait to see them together again with that same spark in their next movie, The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

End of movie spoilers:

Spoiler

While I don't like the little of Godzilla we actually see, and the small amount of monster battles, I totally understand why the director did it. I don't like it, but I understand. The final fight was awesome and they really nailed how Godzilla fought. Only complaint about that is that they made the Atomic Breath look weak when it is introduced. They pretty much redeemed it in the end though.

I don't mind focusing on the human characters, but I didn't find much of what they did to be interesting or even make sense. I hope the sequel finds a better way to balance monsters and the human element. I really didn't like the six year old who constantly talked because his grandpa didn't care. Or the woman a few rows in front of me who wouldn't put her phone away for the vast majority of the movie.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Spent way too much time on the humans I feel.

Otherwise fun movie.

 

[meta4]

Please explain. I posted as to why that is utterly untrue. I'd like to hear why you feel that way.

Because it does a far better job of portraying what a monster attacking a city feels like. There was a feeling of actual chaos. This godzilla reboot does none of that. It focusses solely on the characters who are pathetic. When it focusses on the monsters, there is no chaos as most of the time it cuts of. Godzilla in this movie seemed incapable of destroying anything let alone the MUTO's. Must be a very peace loving version of Godzilla because he was nowhere close to being terrifying. The spiders in cloverfield subway alone evoked more terror than this lumbering boredom.

 

[d0nnie]

Saw it yesterday, and the gf and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a great mix of action and drama. The only gripe was that

Spoiler

Bryan Cranston died so early into the movie.

Aside from that, it's one of my favorite movies this year.

 

[AdventureRacing]

Please explain. I posted as to why that is utterly untrue. I'd like to hear why you feel that way.

I don't think you really explained anything anymore than i did.

I can't believe people are still saying that shit after so many pages. Cloverfield is mediocre, at best. Plagued by shitty casting and writing, and horrible cinematography. The humans are some of the least interesting ever seen in a monster film.

I don't think the casting or writing was any worse than what we got in godzilla (godzilla had better actors but didn't take advantage of it so there was no real benefit). It's not like you have really expanded on why you feel that way so it's basically both of us just giving our opinions. Just telling me i'm wrong won't sway me nor do i expect it to sway you.

I was more interested in the humans in cloverfield. I at least felt like they had some motive and there was some emotion involved in what happened to them. In fact the film was really about their journey moreso than the monster in that film.

I guess godzilla was more visually interesting but that wasn't enough for me.

I can't remember anyone from that, or why they even had a damn camera the whole time instead of I don't know, using both hands to try and survive? If you don't vomit from all the shaky cam shit, the monster is barely there and they end up just running around dodging rubble from human attempts to stop it, while saying 'Oh my god!" the entire time.

Well i can. I dare say i'll remember those characters more than the ones in godzilla. Outside of cranstons character (whose name i can't remember) who else was really memorable in this outside of Watanabe for his horrible performance?

The monster was barely there but it's not like godzilla dominated the screen either. Sure they did just end up running off but that was the point. It was a movie about what it would be like for people if a monster really was in the city like that. Personally i thought it achieve that well and i felt genuine tension. Godzilla went for something similar but not once did i even feel an ounce of tension nor did i really care about the humans at all.

The only reason i won't go as far as to say that godzilla is basically trash is because of how good the stuff with godzilla and the

Spoiler

mutos

were done.

On a side note i'd add that i find it really annoying when people question your opinion like that as if i need to justify. I enjoyed cloverfield more than godzilla, not everyone is able to articulate exactly why. Does that make their opinion wrong? Can you perfectly articulate why you like the characters, acting and cinematography in this movie? Can you articulate exactly why you prefer one score over the other? Sometimes it's as simple as saying you enjoyed one more, you don't have to be able to articulate exactly why to be able to say that.

 

[Wafflecakes]

Saw it today. It was good, but not great.

To use more unnecessary Pacific Rim comparisons I think the actors in Godzilla were universally better. I think PR wins in every other department though.