Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

This is on the nose. I actually appreciated the slow build-up to the reveal and the big fight.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Saw it and thought it was great. Loved the 2nd fire breath, the crowd I was with went nuts.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Less isn't always more. Look at Aliens.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Quick question, I plan to go see this today

Is this worth seeing in IMAX 3D? There are 2 theaters showing it that way near where I live. It's about an $8-9 price difference from that and 2D, so it would really need to be worth it.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Yeah it is, I just got back from an IMAX 3D screening and thought it was really good.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Actually.... This is all true.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

The 3D added nothing, but you want to see this on the biggest screen, with the loudest sound, possible.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

I saw this today and was totally underwhelmed. There were way, way too many moments that just had me shaking my head.

Thoughts:

-I really disliked Kick Ass in the lead role. Every time I saw him on screen, I thought, "He's like the poor man's Jake Gyllenhaal. I wish they had got him to play this part." And I hate Jake Gyllenhaal.

Bryan Cranston was pretty terrible, too.

-The MUTOs were cool. I also liked them the first time I saw them in Cloverfield. No, they aren't identical designs, but close enough to not really feel all that original either.

-Between Kaiju, Transformers, Supermen, Jaegers, and whatever the hell else destroying building after building the last couple summers, I can't help but feel like the whole "leveling an entire city" is losing its spectacle.

-Godzilla breath was fucking BOSS!

My wife still wants to see this (I went without her) so we'll check out an IMAX showing this weekend maybe. Knowing what I'm getting into, I'll probably enjoy the movie more after the second viewing.

And Pacific Rim was much better than this.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

I dont know it feels like they were feeling out people interest with this movie. While I liked it a lot and love big G version for this film... I do feel like we could've had more of him.

Maybe it was a set up for a second movie where big G will be more on screen. Either way, I am in for a second movie and hopefully more G.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Ok, since no one is using the spoiler tag...

I loved it. I didn't mind the slow build because it was establishing the whole world, where MUTOs feed on radiation. I mean, in less capable hands, the MUTOs going OM NOM NOM on Russian submarines and nuclear warheads would have looked stupid.

Killing off Cranston's character = huge mistake. I agree with the poster who said just keep the father and son. Lizzy Olson was wasted. She just played the frightened wife waiting for her husband to come home. She played it well but the character was 1 dimensional.

Very cool shot: Godzilla swimming with a carrier group. It could have been silly but it worked for me.

Eh? Moment: Strathairn's character throwing the Godzilla name out of left field. Watanabe had called him Gojira, and that dark haired woman called zilla 'A god,' but the name used by the Admiral came out of nowhere.

Also, anyone else think it was odd that a crisis of this magnitude was basically handled by an Admiral on a carrier that had no chance of getting to American soil in time? Where the hell was the President?

The military weren't bad, but there was one moment of being utter bozos, around SF when they started unloading rockets like that.

Pisser shot of the movie: Olsen running into a bunker and we see zilla was a MUTO's whole head in his mouth while they are fighting, and the door slams shut. I was like, GDI, let me see more of a fight!

I was surprised at how vulnerable they made Zilla. He was getting his ass kicked by the two MUTOs and it was only when ATJ turned their spawn into caviar that they were distracted. Then he gets KOed when the building falls on him and collapses in a heap after finishing off MUTO 2.

What was cool was they gave some intelligence to his eyes. He seemed to recognize ATJ/Ford trying to help him. Also, he finally has functional arms, since the rubber suit version always gave him T Rex arms.

Having lived in SF and not liking it very much, I was mildly amused to watch SOMA and the Pier district get trashed.

That second use of the fire breath? Oh hell yes!

Bring on the sequel, Gareth!

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Are you sure Watanabe called him Gojira? Sure sounded like Godzilla to me.

I did notice that on one of the trajectory projections, they had him labeled as Gojira.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

He might have. He said it fast.

BTW, I noticed virtually none of the big trailer scenes and dialogue were in the movie. The whole speech before the HALO jump was missing, the banged up Statue of Liberty (clearly in Vegas), the phone call between Ford and the missus was totally different, Bryan's lengthy rant "It wasn't a typhoon or an earthquake..." was missing.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

He did. I noted to my friend it was odd how Watanabe kept referring to him as 'Gojira' and then moments later Strathairn is calling him 'Godzilla' out of nowhere. Clumsily handled, and I'd be willing to bet a deleted scene explained the change better.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

It was Gojira, which garnered loud enough chuckles from our audience.

Damn, I was hoping Ifukube-san's score would show up at least once :(. And yeah, he definitely said "Gojira." Later on, the military was calling him Godzilla with no explanation at all.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

obviously the word of mouth is helping significantly. last projection I saw pre-release had it at about $60 - $65 million, which they would've been very happy with. clearly it is over-performing and that has to make the studio even more giddy.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

man, what a letdown. Don't call your movie "Godzilla" when Godzilla is IN it for 15-20 minutes, tops.



"Pacific Rim" did the general idea much better, IMHO.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Just got back. Absolutely loved it. Maybe my expectations were lowered by some comments here but I thought the human story was pretty well done for this type of movie. At first I was pissed that the first two fights were cut off before they even started but looking back at it, I can understand why they did it. It would have been too repetitive to have Godzilla fight the same monster three times. They saved the best action for the end. My only complaint is that the whole military plan was completely stupid. Why would you bring the MUTO's food source right to them? And why would you take it by train when you airlift it after the train was destroyed?

I'll probably have more thoughts later but I am sort of glad that I read the prequel graphic novel beforehand. It answers a lot of things that they seemed to gloss over at the beginning. For example, the credits at the beginning show images that are explained a little bit in the book.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

Saw it this afternoon. While I didn't care for the slow build or (once again) the lack of utilization of Bryan Cranston, once the first Muto appeared the pace picked up and maintained. I have to give credit to Gareth Edwards, he knows how to do a giant creature feature. I just wish there had been more focus upon Big G , as it sometimes felt like he was a supporting character and not the star. But, he was the Godzilla we all know and love. I really wanted to mark the hell out when I saw the blue lights crackle along his spine. However, it was a matinee show and it would have looked weird aside from the Godzilla fan in his late 50s who sat a few rows in front of me (he even had on a shirt).

Overall, I liked it. While I had some reservations about Godzilla being the hero in the end,the kid in me loved that aspect. Having seen so many movies where he returns to the ocean after vanquishing a foe, it just felt right.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

I will agree, but I felt more vested in these characters than the ones in PR. Then again, one can argue that a kaiju movie shouldn't focus too much on the people.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

One thing I realized is that Aaron Kick Ass (I hate hyphenated last names) is actually BRITISH. He does a pretty good American accent. I could never tell. I watched an interview he did in the UK promoting Godzilla and he has a filthy British accent. Posh, he is not.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

I think it's poking fun at the fact that Americans call him "Godzilla" instead of "Gojira". Strathairn heard "Godzilla", not "Gojira". Obviously, some people here heard the same thing.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

That's what I thought about the name too. A nod to the series.

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

so, was the 3D good? Or just some post production bullshit to make more money?

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 

i didn't like the drama stories in the movie. cranston character was not needed.
they just should have had godzilla doing all the attacking like in the 1950 movie.