Godzilla (2014)

[Mulder]

I'd change three things because these three were the problems I had with the film-

1. Have Cranston last longer. Have him die in at least Honolulu instead of in the helicopter. ((Not enough Cranston))

2. Give more focus to the Brody family. Flesh 'em out more. Show more injured people as well. ((A tad bit more human drama))

3. Get rid of the clapping scene and calling Godzilla a "savior". Just have him wake up and walk back into the ocean. Maybe have Serizawa smile. ((The cheesy ending))

[Kevin Bacon]

I'd change three things because these three were the problems I had with the film-

1. Have Cranston last longer. Have him die in at least Honolulu instead of in the helicopter. ((Not enough Cranston))

2. Give more focus to the Brody family. Flesh 'em out more. Show more injured people as well. ((A tad bit more human drama))

3. Get rid of the clapping scene and calling Godzilla a "savior". Just have him wake up and walk back into the ocean. Maybe have Serizawa smile. ((The cheesy ending))

I'd agree with the first two (I honestly had to think for a second about who the "Brody family" even was, and I saw the movie a few hours ago), but nothing cheesy about that ending. Or if it was, I didn't care because it was just too damn cheerful.

[Kevin Bacon]

Great and Godzilla dont belong in the same sentence.

Sure they do.

 

"Godzilla has great special effects."

"Bryan Cranston delivers a great performance in Godzilla."

"Godzilla is a great big waste of time."

"I took a great shit today, and it was more pleasant than watching Godzilla."

"Godzilla did a great thing in saving the city, but the movie was shitty."

"Snickers' Godzilla-themed commercials are great."

"There are many movies I would call great; Godzilla, however, is not one of them."

"I had a great time eating at Steak and Shake before I headed to the theater to see Godzilla, which sucked ass."

"I wasted a great deal of money seeing that horrid Godzilla movie."

"'Great' and 'Godzilla' do not belong in the same sentence."

"Godzilla is a great movie."

"While I vehemently disagree, many people seem to think that Godzilla is great."

"If Alexander the Great were still alive, he'd have hated Godzilla."

Edited May 16, 2014 by Seth Rollins

[bapi]

Yeah, it's not a good movie. Godzilla looks nice and seems like Edwards has some decent ideas but the script is so f***ing bad!

 

4/10

[Deep Wang]

Finally watched it. I liked it, but it's got some problems. I agree that the movie kinda dies with Cranston. ATJ isn't terrible, but man he is always in the right place at the right time, isn't he? Then you have Olsen going from one completely random place to another. All without explanation or context, all putting her in some kind of peril. Which I didn't care about at all because they had one scene together. Then you reunite him with his son offscreen?!?! What the fuck was that? Well, I guess they only had one scene together too and we didn't really care either. But still, that's dumb. Looks great, sounds great. Technical marvel and all that. But so was Pacific Rim, and at the end of the day, that is a much more enjoyable film for me overall.

[Hatebox]

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

 

I wasn't aware of that - what changed your mind about TDKR?

[Jessie]

I wasn't aware of that - what changed your mind about TDKR?

 

Probably expectations. I wasn't a fan of TDKR when I first watched it, Now I think its a pretty great film.

[bapi]

Pacific Rim / Prometheus / World War Z > Godzilla

[A Marvel Fanboy]

So it's a bad movie. The hype train, hehe.

[bapi]

After Transcendence / Amazing Spider-Man 2 / Godzilla... I have to apologize to Zack Snyder. His Man of Steel is actually a good movie.

[BoxOfficeZ]

Then you have Olsen going from one completely random place to another. 

 

 

You have good points, but just a minor problem with this claim here. Its definitely with context, she's a nurse and is sent to help evac people. Unless you want them adding another 10 minute scene of her going around the city, that I wouldn't mind tbh but doesn't add anything to the movie. Supposedly they did cut a few scenes related with the evac. 

 

Also on a side note since bapi decided to start comparisons, Prometheus characters are so dumb they make this cast seem like intelligent people. People in this movie at least follow whatever they're doing. 

Edited May 16, 2014 by BoxOfficeZ

[Claire of Themyscira]

So it's a bad movie. The hype train, hehe.

?

 

[Jessie]

I fucking knew it

[Jake Gittes]

I'll echo most of the sentiments here. It's a well-directed disaster movie with excellent cinematography, which is basically what the trailers promised at the very least, but the script totally feels like a first draft that was written in a couple of hours, and a bunch of great actors get tragically wasted. Cranston should have been the lead, Olsen should have been the second lead (playing - just to throw out an example - Cranston's estranged daughter who works as a nurse), ATJ shouldn't have been in the movie at all, Watanabe and Hawkins should have taken his space to get more fleshed out. Strathairn I could give or take. Frankly, military point of view might be the most boring one from which to explore this whole scenario.

 

I first saw the 1954 Godzilla two days ago, and while it's an imperfect film, I think it might be the best one that could ever be done on the subject. That's because the story is openly rooted in the horrifying event that had happened less than a decade prior, and the knowledge that the Japanese literally experienced a fiery apocalypse lends the film gravity that's impossible to take away. The best that you can do with Godzilla is to depict him as a terrifying force of destruction that doesn't belong to any side, something that just shows up without warning and can only be defeated with a very high personal cost, if at all. Edwards' film could have approached the original if it had drawn a clear parallel between the events of the film and 9/11, but instead we get fun, but entirely pointless monster-on-monster action (all 15 minutes of it) with Godzilla ultimately hailed as a "savior" and an abundance of visual references to all the huge disasters in recent memory, and references is all that they are. So in the end we've got ourselves another silly summer blockbuster - sure, it's better than many thanks to its direction and cinematography, and it blows the 1998 piece of trash and most of Michael Bay's filmography out of the water. But it still could have been so much more. 

[BoxOfficeZ]

Oh for crying out loud, who gives a flying fuck about the goddamn human focus??

BKB, some people have different opinions. Don't let that ruin the enjoyment of the film. If you liked it that's great, but don't rag on others about it.

[baumer]

To make a monster film work, you have to have compelling human characters.  If you don't, it won't work.  The amount of screen time for Godzilla might have been forgiven if the story was better and I cared for one of the characters.  The only two I cared about both died in the first 30 minutes.  

[baumer]

 

 

So Baumer, you locked the GODZILLA thread??? Any legitimate reason WHY??? I mean, this is how all of you are going to start the summer season with the 1st blockbuster is by LOCKING IT??? Really???? Will this happen also with the X-MEN Thread if everyone disagrees with one another??? Come on folks.. Grow up..

 

You think I would lock a thread because people disagree with each other?  

[FTF]

You think I would lock a thread because people disagree with each other?

He's cracked again and is back to insane mode...get that ban hammer ready lol

[Goffe]

To make a monster film work, you have to have compelling human characters.  If you don't, it won't work. 

[75Live]

Ok, I will try to give an even review which may not be easy with how much I liked it.

 

First of all, I saw this in IMAX 3D, while the 3D was fine, but like all 3D it is useless really.  However, the movie does scream for being watched in IMAX.  That may be why it really worked for me already.  The scale was astounding and really made me understand the sheer size of everything that was going on.

 

The movie definitely has plenty of money shots which some, albeit few, people were whining about when it came to the trailers not showing them.  the crowd ate up every one of them.

 

The story is simple to follow so I don't get any criticisms with it being "too complex" to get.  I am not saying the story works for everyone, but it is in no way confusing.

 

The movie continues the basic moral of all the Godzilla films with the man destroying nature and it coming back to haunt mankind.  Just luckily this time, Godzilla was on mankind's side which is not always the case in previous movies.

 

The monster fights were well done.  They were clear and easy to see, good brawls and they all delivered.  This obviously brings up the atomic breath part which my crowd went absolutely apeshit for.  Especially when Godzilla ripped open the mouth of the one MUTO and shot it down the throat.  Completely awesome. 

 

Ok, I will get to what people seem to not like the most which I understand but I feel is a bit overdone.  I was shocked to see Cranston and Binoche were killed off so quickly, but they both really worked. 

 

I guess that brings me to ATJ.  Yes, he wasn't an over the top, acting machine that we wanted, and was kind of a one-note character at times, but I don't think he had much to work with there.  I also think his character had moments and his inspiration was clear.  His mom died when he was young.  He thought he dad was nuts, but when he finds out his dad was right and can get some emotional closure, the dad is killed.  So now he just wants to get back to his family especially since he knows 3 huge monsters are going right to them..  Is that simple and been done before?  Of course.  I don't see that as the negative some people do, but I am not going to say it is strength of the movie either.  It's passable to get the movie going forward.

 

The only semi-useless character was Olson.  She really was just there to be the wife and mother to get back to, and to be the one we  follow to see if the creatures kill her or not.  More supposed emotional drama for the ATJ's character.

 

Ok I think I covered most bases here, but the point for me is...it was just extremely fun to watch which is the main thing I care about.  I geeked out on some parts, cheered at some, laughed at the humor, and was engrossed the whole time.  I don't expect everyone to feel like I do and maybe on subsequent viewings the flaws will become more egregious to me.  However, for my first viewing, it was everything I needed.

 

Yes I caught the Mothra Easter egg on the aquarium too.

 

A-