Godzilla (2014)

[4815162342]

Desplat wrote a solid main theme for the movie, but his music kinda gets buried in the second half with lots of generic action beats.

[baumer]

I've got a strong feeling 2 years from now Baumer'll watch it on TV and love it. ((TDKR all over again.))

 

I get the joke buddy, but that happened once.  And the joke is getting kind of beaten to death.  

[AdamKendall]

B

 

It's not great, but damn if my  jaw didn't drop a couple times in this film.  (I've never seen a Godzilla film ... seriously) He was just so bad ass at times.  I couldn't believe that Cranston died so early.  Johnson was adequate ... but nothing special.  Elizabeth Olsen really just stood around and looked pretty for much of the film.

 

... holy shit though, now THAT is a city that's fucking destroyed.

[baumer]

The reason why Jaws works so well is because even though you don't see the monster, you know he's there and then when you finally do, in that iconic "bigger boat" moment, from that moment on, you are in a little bit of shock at the shear size of the shark.  But to make a monster movie work, you need strong actors, a strong story and people you care about.  Godzilla had none of that.  I can't believe they killed off Binoche and Cranston so early.  Cranston was at least interesting with his conspiracy theories and his wining and wailing.  When he died the film went downhill.  It became boring.  

 

Aaron Taylor Johnson was horrible.  He was really good in the Kick Ass films so I blame this on the director and the script writer.  They just gave him nothing to work with.  And Ken Watannabe just stared off into space the whole time, he looked confused or constipated the whole time.  Every shot his mouth is wide open, like he's discovering a new breed of dinosaur.  

 

The destruction is nothing new.  We've seen it all before in films like Transformers and Avengers.  You can do anything now on computer so it wasn't impressive.  And the base jumping scene needed some Michael Bay stuff.  There was just so much the film could have done better.

 

The plot of the film is pretty flimsy and all that's left is three monsters.  The battles between them were really tame.  There were some good things that happened, like when Godzilla breathes fire or whatever into one of it's mouths.  That was cool.  But when you have a film called Godzilla, I expect it to have a lot more of Godzilla in it.  This film was about characters I didn't care about, it had military psycho-babble, a father/son relationship that went nowhere and to make matters worse they killed off their best character 30 minutes into the film.

 

I'm so disappointed in the film and I'm even more disappointed that I didn't like it.

 

2/10

Edited May 16, 2014 by baumer

[The Panda]

Not sure if I am going A+, A, or A- yet, I need to sleep on it, but it is most definitely an A.

[Mulder]

Can we let Baumer's opinion be? Come on guys.

[Goffe]

I'm so tired of this type of movie: good execution; terrible script and most bland actors you can find. Like I said in the other thread, Gareth Edwards directing was the only good thing, the man really knows how to create tension and he's great in the build up, along with Desplat score.I don't feel in the mood to talk more about this mediocre movie. 45/100

Edited May 16, 2014 by Goffe

[CloneWars]

I'm siding with Baumer for once. This film is shit. I give it a C+. It is only slightly better than TASM2 which I gave a C-. Man, this is a shitty year for movies. Anyway, that's beside the point.

 

Cranston dies. And, he is the only competent actor of the film. I mean, wtf, why kill off a great actor so quickly.

There is no real character development. We know the main character's dad died, he has a wife who just sits around being worried the whole time and he has a son.

Pretty much all the characters are flat.

The action is okay. We see some destruction. I'm reminded of Roland Emerich films, but not as well executed.

Godzilla was cool but the fights were rather lacking. The only cool thing was the atomic breathe at the end when he kills the female.

 

I guess my real beef is that every film these days is destruction porn, so if you are going to go down that route at least do it right.

C+

[FTF]

For those like Baumer and movieman89 that hated it and are complaining there is no Godzilla at all (which is not true, it's just that there's a lengthy build up) and it's all about the humans, etc. I assume you're not fans of original 1954 Godzilla or haven't seen many of the original ones? I only ask this because early/original Godzilla film was the same way...it always focused on the humans and their struggles, etc. and Godzilla is in it about the same as this.I unfortunately think the many people that will really dislike it is because they had unrealistic expectations that this was going to be a balls out action movie like Avengers or something when that was never going to be the case.I do agree the pacing may not be the typical "super fast action summer blockbuster Michael Bay explosions the whole time!!!" but it's not supposed to be. And yeah the script isn't perfect or the acting the best, but I enjoyed it a lot and felt the human focus and build up were done pretty well and the pay off and money shots were well worth it.Especially the atomic breath and final battle and victory lap, etc. It won't be for everyone but those who will be most disappointment are those that had wild dreams of Godzilla battle royale wrestle mania in their head and forgot or don't know the original 1954 Godzilla. This was the reboot to hopefully resurrect the franchise and hopefully it does well enough to get the King of Monsters battle fest Godzilla movie so many will want.I give it a solid B, maybe B+. Will def see it again on local imax though as visuals and sound were amazing.Oh and I saw the new interstellar trailer beforehand and can't wait! Hail Nolan! lol and it will be glorious in imax.

Edited May 16, 2014 by FTF

[CloneWars]

The reason why Jaws works so well is because even though you don't see the monster, you know he's there and then when you finally do, in that iconic "bigger boat" moment, from that moment on, you are in a little bit of shock at the shear size of the shark.  But to make a monster movie work, you need strong actors, a strong story and people you care about.  Godzilla had none of that.  I can't believe they killed off Binoche and Cranston so early.  Cranston was at least interesting with his conspiracy theories and his wining and wailing.  When he died the film went downhill.  It became boring.  

 

Aaron Taylor Johnson was horrible.  He was really good in the Kick Ass films so I blame this on the director and the script writer.  They just gave him nothing to work with.  And Ken Watannabe just stared off into space the whole time, he looked confused or constipated the whole time.  Every shot his mouth is wide open, like he's discovering a new breed of dinosaur.  

 

The destruction is nothing new.  We've seen it all before in films like Transformers and Avengers.  You can do anything now on computer so it wasn't impressive.  And the base jumping scene needed some Michael Bay stuff.  There was just so much the film could have done better.

 

The plot of the film is pretty flimsy and all that's left is three monsters.  The battles between them were really tame.  There were some good things that happened, like when Godzilla breathes fire or whatever into one of it's mouths.  That was cool.  But when you have a film called Godzilla, I expect it to have a lot more of Godzilla in it.  This film was about characters I didn't care about, it had military psycho-babble, a father/son relationship that went nowhere and to make matters worse they killed off their best character 30 minutes into the film.

 

I'm so disappointed in the film and I'm even more disappointed that I didn't like it.

 

2/10

Shockingly, I agree with just about everything you say and usually you find your tastes in movies off.

[CloneWars]

For those like Baumer and movieman89 that hated it and are complaining there is no Godzilla at all (which is not true, it's just that there's a lengthy build up) and it's all about the humans, etc. I assume you're not fans of original 1954 Godzilla or haven't seen many of the original ones? I only ask this because early/original Godzilla film was the same way...it always focused on the humans and they're struggles, etc. and Godzilla is it in it about the same as this.I unfortunately think many people will really dislike because they had unrealistic expectations that this was going to be a balls out action movie like Avengers or something when that was never going to be the case.I do agree the pacing may not be the typical "super fast action summer blockbuster Michael Bay explosions the whole time!!!" but it's not supposed to be. And yeah the script isn't perfect or the acting the best, but I enjoyed it a lot and felt the human focus and build up were done pretty well and the pay off and money shots were well worth it.Especially the atomic breath and final battle and victory lap, etc. It won't be for everyone but those who will be most disappointment are those that had wild dreams of Godzilla battle royal wrestle mania dreams in their head and forgot or don't know the original 1954 Godzilla. This was the reboot to hopefully resurrect the franchise and hopefully it does well enough to get the King of Monsters battle fest Godzilla movie so many will want.

The problem wasn't the human focus. I wanted a human focus. The problem was the human focus was beyond horribly executed. We don't care for any of the characters. And, the one we do dies 30 mins into the film. I wish I did care more for the humans, but nope. And, I think Godzilla was in it plenty. The buildup is okay, but the script sucks.

[CloneWars]

The main flaw I found with the film is that it is conflicted about who its protagonist is. The opening act makes you think it's going to be a Cranston/Watanabe Science Bros. Team-Up, but then that gets dropped in favor of ATJ's very long and complex trip back to San Francisco with him just happening to show up at almost every major military plot point. ATJ isn't bad, he's just kinda bland. The second half of the movie demotes Watanabe to occasional exposition man and giving half-cocked stares of pensive wonder and fear.

 

It's a very entertaining movie with a kickass final act, but it needed some better juggling of its characters.

 

 

Imagine if Elizabeth Olsen and ATJ had their characters reversed. That alone would cause a noticeable bump in quality.

You're pretty much right.

[John Marston]

For those like Baumer and movieman89 that hated it and are complaining there is no Godzilla at all (which is not true, it's just that there's a lengthy build up) and it's all about the humans, etc. I assume you're not fans of original 1954 Godzilla or haven't seen many of the original ones? I only ask this because early/original Godzilla film was the same way...it always focused on the humans and they're struggles, etc. and Godzilla is it in it about the same as this.I unfortunately think the many people will really dislike it is because they had unrealistic expectations that this was going to be a balls out action movie like Avengers or something when that was never going to be the case.I do agree the pacing may not be the typical "super fast action summer blockbuster Michael Bay explosions the whole time!!!" but it's not supposed to be. And yeah the script isn't perfect or the acting the best, but I enjoyed it a lot and felt the human focus and build up were done pretty well and the pay off and money shots were well worth it.Especially the atomic breath and final battle and victory lap, etc. It won't be for everyone but those who will be most disappointment are those that had wild dreams of Godzilla battle royal wrestle mania dreams in their head and forgot or don't know the original 1954 Godzilla. This was the reboot to hopefully resurrect the franchise and hopefully it does well enough to get the King of Monsters battle fest Godzilla movie so many will want.I give it a solid B, maybe B+. Will def see it again on local imax though as visuals and sound were amazing.Oh and I saw the new interstellar trailer beforehand and can't wait! Hail Nolan! lol and it will be glorious in imax.

 

 

remember people are not complaining because of human focus, it is just that apparently the human characters are not that compelling. Unlike movies like Jaws or Jurassic Park

[FTF]

The problem wasn't the human focus. I wanted a human focus. The problem was the human focus was beyond horribly executed. We don't care for any of the characters. And, the one we do dies 30 mins into the film. I wish I did care more for the humans, but nope. And, I think Godzilla was in it plenty. The buildup is okay, but the script sucks.

Yes, Heisenberg getting killed off in first 1/3 of the movie sucked and it would have been better if he was the main character. But the script, dialogue and acting in this were fine for a Godzilla/monster movie. Again they weren't amazing, but no worse than something like Transformers, POTC or F&F for example.It will suffer from overhype from a lot of people. I even overhyped myself though still liked it enough. Edited May 16, 2014 by FTF

[FTF]

remember people are not complaining because of human focus, it is just that apparently the human characters are not that compelling. Unlike movies like Jaws or Jurassic Park

Jaws and JP are classics, it was never going to live up to or be as good as those.

[CloneWars]

Yes, Heisenberg getting killed off in first 1/3 of the movie sucked and it would have been better if he was the main character. But the script, dialogue and acting in this were fine for a Godzilla/monster movie. Again they weren't amazing, but no worse than something like Transformers, POTC or F&F for example.It will suffer from overhype from a lot of people. I even overhyped myself though still liked it enough.

Except TF, POTC and F&F have far more interesting human characters, especially POTC which has Depp even if the last few of those movies kind of sucked.

[BoxOfficeZ]

Saw it in IMAX, second showing. Spent more time taking in different parts of the movie. The 3D was not that special to be honest.There were plenty of references to Jurassic Park in the film. Also the real life disasters were kinda obvious like 9/11, Fukushima itself had some unsubtle references, Hurricane Katrina, Tsunamis and probably others I missed.Edwards direction shows us humans as ants. We can't do much about the monsters or nature. We have no control as human beings.

[Kevin Bacon]

What I can say with complete conviction is that whenever Godzilla's on screen, it's incredible. Gareth Edwards really knocked this out of the park, because even if the action, on paper, is mostly giant monsters throwing each other through buildings, which isn't anything new, the monsters (Godzilla in particular) had a certain "it" factor, a presence on screen, and visually the destruction they inflict on the environment and each-other is jaw-dropping. The "teases" performed mid-way through the movie, with Godzilla's arrival in Hawaii and then the beginning of the fight near the final act, only helped it feel like a bigger deal and build more anticipation, even if the moment that they cut away just as things are getting started is brutally disappointing. The best example of this is Godzilla's roar: there is an indescribable "holy shit" feeling attached to it, it's so loud, so commanding. "King of the Monsters" is abso-fucking-lutely correct.

 

Then, the human stuff that makes up the majority of the movie. I didn't dislike any of it, even if the contrived manner in which ATJ's character (in)conveniently found himself in every location of the world where the monsters were most definitely did stand out. Granted, after Hawaii he's pretty much following them around, but there's really no way to explain Hawaii and then the fight leading directly to his hometown of San Francisco. Cranston is an otherworldly actor and he did his job as well as you'd expect him to. It's unfortunate that his character (who is also the best one in the movie) died as early as he did, but that's less a case of them killing Heisenberg too early and more a case of all the characters they intended to carry the movie not living up to him. The performances, around, the board, were fine. They weren't bad, and I didn't get a "wooden" vibe from ATJ as was warned. The characters weren't horribly interesting, but they felt real and served their purpose. They exist to keep the movie moving forward and give us perspective in the story while the anticipation of Godzilla's arrival looms, and they do that very well.

 

My concern is how that'll affect repeat viewings. With the elements of tension and anticipation gone following already have seen the movie, will the unspectacular characters be enough to sustain interest? I've only seen it once so I can't answer that, but there's a solid chance that they don't. "Good-hearted Navy lieutenant who'll give anything to save the day" and "scientist who is trying to help the military" are pretty two-dimensional characters, even if they're well executed and seem genuine.

 

But, as for the movie as a whole. After the initial exposition in the first act and the first monster is revealed, the pace picks up and never really stops. Despite a lack of screen-time for Godzilla, there's plenty of action and plot movement to keep things rolling throughout and at no point was I not entertained. Plenty of potentially cliched sub-plots were introduced that menacingly threatened to drag on through the whole movie and were instead briskly wrapped up and moved on from (ugh, he's going to have to watch this kid the rest of the movie? Oh, never mind, there's his parents!). The movie only got better as the monsters moved closer to one another, with the action continuously escalating including the memorable railroad sequence. Unfortunately, the impact of this insane situation on humans wasn't touched on much, outside of Elizabeth Olsen's terrific face of sheer terror and shock whenever a gigantic monster enters her eyesight--and several great moments where you catch civilians seeing fucking Godzilla destroying a city on the news and collectively shitting their pants, which was an unexpectedly brilliant way to really make the movie feel like it was happening in the real world instead of some movie land where giant monsters weren't that big of a deal, so long as they aren't in front of you. But then there was the stupid Navy guy dropping lines like "I guess we're monster hunters, now?" like he's playing a video game, literally hours after it was revealed that giant unkillable monsters are destroying cities.

 

The final act is officially kicked off with the terrific space-jumping sequence from the teasers, and from that point on, it's fucking on. Godzilla and the Mutos are beating the shit out of each other while our heroic Navy guys are trying to recover the jacked (armed) nuke out of the monster nest. Both are fantastically executed, and there's enough interaction between the two sequences that there's no disconnect when shifting focus from one to the other. Godzilla, as a concept, is introduced pretty much from the beginning as more of a tweener/anti-hero akin to the original Godzilla as opposed to a destructive heel character like the marketing suggests. I wasn't sure how I felt about this early on, but by the end, I was completely sold and ready for sequels. As Godzilla crumpled to the ground right after saving San Francisco, the preceding fight taking its toll, I felt genuine sympathy for the 400-foot tall fire-breathing dinosaur. And when he rises to his feet, "Godzilla: King of the monsters" is shown on the giant screens, and survivors rise to their feet and actually cheer for him, the movie earns an emotional response from its audience, and fuck me, I was happier than I've been after a happy ending in a movie in a very long time. Godzilla is my new favorite superhero, and I'm dying for a sequel so I can see him again.

 

8/10

Edited May 16, 2014 by Seth Rollins

[CloneWars]

The main flaw I found with the film is that it is conflicted about who its protagonist is. The opening act makes you think it's going to be a Cranston/Watanabe Science Bros. Team-Up, but then that gets dropped in favor of ATJ's very long and complex trip back to San Francisco with him just happening to show up at almost every major military plot point. ATJ isn't bad, he's just kinda bland. The second half of the movie demotes Watanabe to occasional exposition man and giving half-cocked stares of pensive wonder and fear.

 

It's a very entertaining movie with a kickass final act, but it needed some better juggling of its characters

 

 

Imagine if Elizabeth Olsen and ATJ had their characters rever

[CloneWars]

The main flaw I found with the film is that it is conflicted about who its protagonist is. The opening act makes you think it's going to be a Cranston/Watanabe Science Bros. Team-Up, but then that gets dropped in favor of ATJ's very long and complex trip back to San Francisco with him just happening to show up at almost every major military plot point. ATJ isn't bad, he's just kinda bland. The second half of the movie demotes Watanabe to occasional exposition man and giving half-cocked stares of pensive wonder and fear.

 

It's a very entertaining movie with a kickass final act, but it needed some better juggling of its characters

 

 

Imagine if Elizabeth Olsen and ATJ had their characters rever

 

The main flaw I found with the film is that it is conflicted about who its protagonist is. The opening act makes you think it's going to be a Cranston/Watanabe Science Bros. Team-Up, but then that gets dropped in favor of ATJ's very long and complex trip back to San Francisco with him just happening to show up at almost every major military plot point. ATJ isn't bad, he's just kinda bland. The second half of the movie demotes Watanabe to occasional exposition man and giving half-cocked stares of pensive wonder and fear.

 

It's a very entertaining movie with a kickass final act, but it needed some better juggling of its characters

 

 

Imagine if Elizabeth Olsen and ATJ had their characters reversed. That alone would cause a noticeable bump in quality.

I am going to add to what you are saying here.

 

Here is the films biggest problem. When it opens Cranston is beyond doubt the lead. He gets emotional. You can tell he loves his family. There's the scene where his wife dies. We become attached him

 

Then, ATJ is introduced. I just figured he was going to tag along. He comes to get daddy who know seems to be going crazy. He follows Cranston into a forbidden zone. They get captured and guess who is being interrogated, that's right Cranston. He gets emotional and shit and has those hard disks, where's his son, in some car doing NOTHING. Watanbe looks at Cranston and thinks man this guy is important and the audience is like yup, that's the lead of the story.

 

Then, shit happens, some stuff falls on Cranston, but he's not dead just yet. He is in bad condition and in a movie when a lead is badly injured they pull through, but then the biggest WTF happens and they are like your daddy is dead.

 

Now, at this point, I thought maybe they were faking his death. I mean, we do get the body bag, but why not just kill him when the shit fell on him. I mean, come on. So, at this point, the audience has no idea who the lead is. At this point, I'm thinking Watanbe. I mean, we've seen him in Nolan films. He seems smart in this movie and has a clue as to what is going on and we see him earlier with that archaeological find.

 

But, nope, we are to follow 2-dimensional ATJ who up to this point has done zero for this film. All he did was try to find daddy just to follow daddy on an adventure.

 

So, he is about to go back home and then shit happens. He finds some army dudes. He joins up with them and still does shit. He somehow survives and everyone else dies. They get him and then he jumps from a plane and at one point he sets fire to some eggs and well that's pretty much it. He also calls his wife and shows some emotion, but not much. It's sad really.

 

The film doesn't know how to juggle its characters. It's like the director/writer decided to kill off Cranston because he is more interesting than Godzilla and they want Godzilla to sort of be the main character even though we don't get Godzilla towards the end to fight off the other monsters and we are told that he might actually be a hero...I mean, wtf...

 

yah...

Edited May 16, 2014 by CloneWars