Godzilla (2014)

[ChD]

Sure they can because they're all talented film-makers right? Oh wait. They aren't.

 

It doesn't take a talented film maker to realize what a good suspense scene must look like. Setting up is one. Execution is another.

[RobinHood26]

Drama and action are two entirely different things. You can't tell me that the Pettycoat lane scene in JP was "great action".

 

Thats my favorite part of Jurassic Park but no its not action. The plant getting destroyed is 100% an action scene though. There is just high stakes and drama in it. Which is why I cared about it and cared about how it was resolved. 

Edited May 17, 2014 by Jay Hollywood

[Mulder]

Thats my favorite part of Jurassic Park but no its not action. The plant getting destroyed is 100% an action scene though. There is just high stakes and drama in it. Which is why I cared about it and cared about how it was resolved. 

It's drama though so by your way of defining "action" it'd be action. 

[Mulder]

It doesn't take a talented film maker to realize what a good suspense scene must look like. Setting up is one. Execution is another.

Yes it does. If you honestly think that anyone on this forum could make one then well, yeah. 

[RobinHood26]

It's drama though so by your way of defining "action" it'd be action. 

 

Ummm how is a nuclear plant collapsing while Cranston is sprinting full speed through a reactor with flashing lights racing to save his wifes life as she sprints to save herself being chased by toxic gas not action?

[Mulder]

Ummm how is a nuclear plant collapsing while Cranston is sprinting full speed through a reactor with flashing lights racing to save his wifes life as she sprints to save herself being chased by toxic gas not action?

When you put it that way then yes it could be considered action but even then the monster fights were the best action scenes in the film IMHO.

[Thrylos 7]

Just came back from a 3d screening and HOLY FUCKIN SHIT IT WAS AMAZING . They nailed everything , everything, creepy atmosphere before the monsters appear and absolute mayhem when they appeared. I didn't even care about humans , it was monster-gasm .

[Ozymandias]

Very disappointing movie.  Just utterly boring, more tomorrow.

 

D

 

The last 15 minutes of this movie is pretty good, but the human element of this movie is very bad.  Its not necessarily the fact that Godzilla is completely absent for 80% of the movie that I have a problem with, its that there is absolutely nothing in the movie to compensate for it.... its just a bunch of boring characters talking, talking, and talking with stupid tropes, cliches, and tons of expository dialogue.   I'm not some mouth breather that just wanted to see Roland Emmerich destruction porn with a ton of Michael Bay action for 2 hours, but if you're gonna take such a conservative route with a Godzilla movie, you gotta have good drama, tension, and at least one compelling character to make up for it which this movie has none of.

 

Gareth Edward's re-imagining of Godzilla was loaded with potential.  I  was really excited for this because not only was it like the only interesting looking summer movie this year besides Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Jupiter Ascending(this one could very well be shit though), it has had some of the finest trailers I've seen in years... especially the very gritty and atmospheric teaser with mass destruction and bodies everywhere when we here Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhavagad Gita "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" all scored by the chilling Black Monolith theme from 2001(one of my favorite movies ever) climaxing with the great iconic roar from the king of monsters himself.  Fucking SOLD!

 

About 20 minutes I got the feeling I was watching a bad movie, and that ended up being true for most of the movie unfortunately.  The plot is basically just giant monsters appear and start wrecking shit up.  Its pretty much exactly what you expect, but wrapped around this is the human element/drama(which is 80% of the movie), and this is where the movie completely fails.  Working from a boring script, this movie spends most of its time bouncing back and fourth between incredibly dull B-movie tropes and stereotypes.  The worst offender here is ATJ, who sinks the film... he is easily the most bland and boring protagonist I've seen in a movie in a long time.  Bryan Cranston was okay as the scientist-nobody-believies-is-right-until-its-too-late, too bad he dies 30 minutes into the movie because he was the only half decent character.  Ken Watanabe looks completely checked out in this movie as he delivers his boring dialogue from his completely 1 note character.  And Olsen is barely in the movie at all.

 

After over an hour of sheer boredem, Godzilla shows up for a sec to fight one of the MUTOs.  At first, its a huge fucking relief, but then we cut away from this long overdue monster fight before it even starts to a kid watching it on a blurry and hard to see TV, WTF!? Brilliant movie so far Gareth Edwards!

 

Even when Godzilla finally shows up properly in the last 15-20 minutes of the movie, its slightly underwhelming after all the hype.  While that part is mostly good, there is no way its worth sitting through all the painfully boring crap that came before to get to this worthwhile bit.  In this 2 hour movie, there is probably only about 15-20 minutes of worthwhile cinema here.  This movie is a sloppy, boring, dull, and mostly Godzillaless waste of time.  Shame.

 

If there is a sequel, hopefully there is more Godzilla or at least a good human element.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Ozymandias

[Thrylos 7]

Funny the monsters seemed to me that they appeared for way more than 15-20 minutes .also not showing Godzilla constantly was brilliant because it made his top moments extremely memorable. The photography was top notch, the action scenes unbelievable and the human characters as bland as they needed to be in this film . Thank god for simple minded soldiers and not the "clever" characters we have had to endure in almost every American monster movie . Also THANK GOD Olsen didn't have more screen time , she had way too much with her acting "talent" .

[Claire of Themyscira]

I wish my Queen had been Mrs. Brody. Olsen was fine though.

[JohnnyGossamer]

I really hope there is a sequel. Edwards' composed some fantastic frames in Godzilla. He needs a talented/experienced writer to assist him in fashioning a story and to breathe more life into the human drama. I actually think Watanabe can/should be effectively fleshed out and the sequel should revolve around he, Hawkins, Godzilla and whichever other monsters pop up. 

 

With an OW above/near $100M, Godzilla's DOM BO floor's likely $225M. With another $275M+ OS, that should be more than enough to get a mega budgeted sequel.

[Omario]

Gosh i enjoyed this movie. It helps when you watch it on a giant screen

 

My criticisms are that it was pretty slow in places and had too much emphasis on human characters. They didnt delve into Godzilla too much and focused more on the two Mutos. I would have liked to see Godzilla under the ocean awaken after hearing the mutos talking to eachother. Him appearing out of nowhere was kind of confusing. They also teased the fight scenes in Hawaii and when the big doors shut in Elizabeth olsens face. I was like come on man, show me something. Been here for 2 hours already!

 

Me and my friend couldnt stop laughing at Watanabe. God his accent is barely understandable. 

 

'We named him Gozhilla...' bahahahahahaha

 

Than when the final battle arrived. Holy smoke that was fucking epic! Hail the king of monsters! 

 

A-

Edited May 17, 2014 by Omario

[RobinHood26]

I hope Edwards doesn't bother himself with a sequel and moves on to something else. 

[Mulder]

I hope Edwards doesn't bother himself with a sequel and moves on to something else. 

He said he'll come back if there's a sequel. I'd be glad to have him back. 

[ChD]

He said he'll come back if there's a sequel. I'd be glad to have him back. 

 

I hope that before starting the script for the second movie, he goes to the screenwriters and BITCH SLAPS them so hard they'll write the best script in the history of monster movies.

[Mulder]

I hope that before starting the script for the second movie, he goes to the screenwriters and BITCH SLAPS them so hard they'll write the best script in the history of monster movies.

So he'd be slapping Frank Darabont?

[Claire of Themyscira]

I hope that before starting the script for the second movie, he goes to the screenwriters and BITCH SLAPS them so hard they'll write the best script in the history of monster movies.

Especially for not creating a role for my Queen.

[redfirebird2008]

Honestly, again, I do actually prefer the way they did it in this film. Yes, Godzilla gets much less screentime than the MUTO's do, but that just makes the scenes where he does appear all the more powerful and memorable. There's not a single moment when he's onscreen that you're not in awe of him and he isn't overexposed enough to lose that terrifying effect.

 

While he may not have been the focus for a lot of the movie, there's no doubt he was the biggest and most impressive thing about it which, in my opinion, is much more satisfying.

 

They could have easily spread out that screentime through the entire film instead of 98% of it being at the very end. It's not like he had a ton of screentime in the 1954 film, but he was always the driving force of the story in that one.

[ChD]

So he'd be slapping Frank Darabont?

 

From what I understood Darabont didn't do that much. The main screenwriters that is. I think it was Goyer with the story and Boringstein with the screenplay.

[Mulder]

From what I understood Darabont didn't do that much. The main screenwriters that is. I think it was Goyer with the story and Boringstein with the screenplay.

Everything with Goyer got thrown out. He doesn't even have a writing credit.