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-   -   Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/620005-godzilla-edwards-2014-%97-reviews-thread.html)

mostaccioli 05-16-14 10:18 PM

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

Originally Posted by Osiris3657 (Post 12109001)
so, was the 3D good? Or just some post production bullshit to make more money?

i saw it in imax and didn't notice anything that made me want to duck.

Solid Snake 05-16-14 10:20 PM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
See I wanted more G by a slightly larger margin but if they went all out with him the whole time I'm sure the presence and tone for the character would've been wildly different. I just would've liked to not be teased the first two fights.

Saw it again tonight. Godzilla blasting away got HUGE love from the night audience. You could tell some people didn't know about the breath and it was awesome to hear their reaction.

candyrocket786 05-16-14 10:46 PM

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

Originally Posted by The Antipodean (Post 12108969)
man, what a letdown. Don't call your movie "Godzilla" when Godzilla is IN it for 15-20 minutes, tops.

Spoiler:
I appreciate the "building tension" idea, but Edwards overdoes it and the first hour

Originally Posted by The Antipodean (Post 12108969)
man, what a letdown. Don't call your movie "Godzilla" when Godzilla is IN it for 15-20 minutes, tops.

Spoiler:
I appreciate the "building tension" idea, but Edwards overdoes it and the first hour or so of the movie feels like warmed-over Spielberg. There was a very fun final 30 minutes to the movie, but it doesn't make up for 90 minutes of boredom, tease and wooden faced roided-out Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

The two best actors in the movie are dead by the 30-minute mark. I don't care about this soldier or his wife and nothing Edwards does makes me care that much about them. He hits every disaster/monster movie cliche with the family in danger and I'm just bored by it.

You FINALLY reveal Godzilla in Hawaii in pretty stunning shot... then you cut away from the big monster brawl? BOO. In fact, Edwards can't wait to cut away from most of the monster brawls until the final act. Which just comes off as deflating rather than intense.

There was some great imagery and single shots, don't get me wrong, and the Godzilla here is a great creation .. but when your Godzilla movie features more "MUTO" action than it does Godzilla, you're doing it wrong. I'm really disappointed by how boring and how little fun this one was as I'd been looking forward to it.


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

That was my first thought after watching Godzilla. Pacific Rim gave us a variety of monsters and big fucking robots with about four or five different fights.

This film was Godzilla fighting the Cloverfield twins and he gets less screen time than them.


or so of the movie feels like warmed-over Spielberg. There was a very fun final 30 minutes to the movie, but it doesn't make up for 90 minutes of boredom, tease and wooden faced roided-out Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

The two best actors in the movie are dead by the 30-minute mark. I don't care about this soldier or his wife and nothing Edwards does makes me care that much about them. He hits every disaster/monster movie cliche with the family in danger and I'm just bored by it.

You FINALLY reveal Godzilla in Hawaii in pretty stunning shot... then you cut away from the big monster brawl? BOO. In fact, Edwards can't wait to cut away from most of the monster brawls until the final act. Which just comes off as deflating rather than intense.

There was some great imagery and single shots, don't get me wrong, and the Godzilla here is a great creation .. but when your Godzilla movie features more "MUTO" action than it does Godzilla, you're doing it wrong. I'm really disappointed by how boring and how little fun this one was as I'd been looking forward to it.


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

That was my first thought after watching Godzilla. Pacific Rim gave us a variety of monsters and big fucking robots with about four or five different fights.

This film was Godzilla fighting the Cloverfield twins and he gets less screen time than them.

DJariya 05-16-14 10:48 PM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
I'm not going to write some 10 paragraph review which nobody will read. This isn't the New York Times. I gave it 4 out of 5 and probably around a B. The creature design was fantastic & the special effects were awesome. Edwards and company got it right as opposed to Emmerich and company back in 1998.

I looked at this movie as more of a throwback to the old Toho Godzilla movies from the 50's and 60's. Especially when they focused alot on the Mutos for the first half of the movie. I agree with some of the earlier comments that the human characters were a weakness. I just didn't think Ford, Elle, Sam were developed well enough. I also wished they would have given Joe a little more credibility instead of portraying him as some lunatic.

rotfl best scene was when Joe screamed like a little girl during the opening meltdown.

I'm anxiously awaiting Godzilla vs Mothra. :D

I did see the movie in IMAX 3D, while the IMAX aspect was cool, the 3D wasn't that great. Nothing really stood out as wow.

boredsilly 05-16-14 10:51 PM

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

Originally Posted by DJariya (Post 12109033)
I did see the movie in IMAX 3D, while the IMAX aspect was cool, the 3D wasn't that great. Nothing really stood out as wow.

I'm really bummed that Imax is so paired with 3d now, because I wanted to see this in Imax (or faux Imax), but not in 3d.

boredsilly 05-16-14 10:55 PM

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

Originally Posted by riley_dude (Post 12108735)
I've heard this movie compared to Jaws and Alien in that they use the Monster sparingly. We don't need to see endless shots of him for him to be effective.

You're right, and I didn't want endless shots. I know that seeing Godzilla could have become tedious if he was on screen for a ton longer. I also appreciate that he was this force of nature that had some real presence. That said, I still feel that the scale was tipped a bit too far in the sparing usage of Godzilla for my tastes. I wasn't calling for another 30 minutes of him, but maybe another 10. It really felt like we spent more time with the other monsters than the King.

invisiblegt 05-16-14 11:06 PM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
I was immensely bored. The MUTOs looked terrible, and seemed to be more robotic in nature, as opposed to something a bit more fluid and naturalistic. The story was virtually non-existent. The acting was as wooden as I've seen in a while.

If you were to take away the final battle, which seems to be the only thing people are truly enjoying about the film, what's left?

Solid Snake 05-16-14 11:17 PM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
Everything that is technical?

Supermallet 05-16-14 11:40 PM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
The MUTOs are meant to be insectoid, and I can think of several insects with angular features like that.

Traxan 05-16-14 11:43 PM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
Guys, chill. I had quibbles, too, but you forgetting this is Gareth's second movie, and first big budget flick. He'll do a better job with the sequels.

maingon 05-17-14 12:17 AM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
So Saw this for the second time tonight. Saw it last night in 3D in a crappy theater with blah picture and crappy sound. Saw it tonight in 3D in a fantastic theater and wow This movie is beautiful.

Seeing this the second time tonight.. Maybe I was in a better mood for Godzilla, maybe I was so hyped and excited for the movie the first time but I LOVED it the second time. Loved every time a Monster was on screen, there was a good setup. They set up the scale of the creatures in every shot so well. The first half with Bryan cranston was almost perfect. Creepy and tense. Some scenes with the MUTOs (Scene on the railroad) were amazing. The whole Hawaii Sequences blew my mind. So well done. I do wish we saw that fight but wow the build up was awesome.


Loved the atomic breath, the ending, it was awesome. I do wish there was more Godzilla. but even with that. Fuck it was sweet. Way Better then Pacific Rim. I loved that movie but it was all action. No Build up, no suspense and I don't think a sense of scale of the creatures because everything felt so CG and stylized.

First viewing I'd say 9/10. Second time I'd say 10/10. Its not perfect but I enjoyed it so much. It was a packed theater that clapped at the end. It was awesome.

PhantomStranger 05-17-14 12:30 AM

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

Originally Posted by candyrocket786 (Post 12109031)
That was my first thought after watching Godzilla. Pacific Rim gave us a variety of monsters and big fucking robots with about four or five different fights.

This film was Godzilla fighting the Cloverfield twins and he gets less screen time than them.

I haven't seen this yet but I'm not really liking the sound of so little Godzilla in it. Whenever I'm watching a Godzilla movie, I get intensely bored when he's not in the action.

Pacific Rim had it exactly right, realizing big monster fanservice is the way to please audiences. Pacific Rim simply didn't have the big name IPs for audiences.

Why So Blu? 05-17-14 12:37 AM

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

Originally Posted by PhantomStranger (Post 12109116)
I haven't seen this yet but I'm not really liking the sound of so little Godzilla in it. Whenever I'm watching a Godzilla movie, I get intensely bored when he's not in the action.

Pacific Rim had it exactly right, realizing big monster fanservice is the way to please audiences. Pacific Rim simply didn't have the big name IPs for audiences.

Agreed!

Traxan 05-17-14 12:41 AM

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

Originally Posted by The Antipodean (Post 12108969)
You FINALLY reveal Godzilla in Hawaii in pretty stunning shot... then you cut away from the big monster brawl? BOO. In fact, Edwards can't wait to cut away from most of the monster brawls until the final act. Which just comes off as deflating rather than intense.

I unspoilerized this point to make mine. You're dead on. That was the single biggest letdown, even moreso than the shot of the zilla as the hospital bunker doors closed. I mean, to have zilla show up and confront the MUTO, then cut away to show Ford's kid sitting on the couch silently watching the fight on TV.... that was a hairball.

Deftones 05-17-14 01:54 AM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
I liked it a lot. Very well done. I didn't mind that we didn't get to see godzilla really until later. Loved the end fight scene. That was bomb.

Mike86 05-17-14 02:04 AM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
I liked it overall but I too thought Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Olsen were wasted since they didn't really do a whole lot. Killing off Cranston's character so early on was a major letdown to me as I figured with him being prominently featured in the ads that he was going to have a larger part. Aaron Taylor Johnson was okay as the lead I suppose but nothing too special really. Overall though I had a fun time with the film though even if Godzilla himself isn't present all that much. The fight between him and the Mutos at the end was pretty cool. To me the film didn't feel long really and I didn't mind the slow buildup even if I do wish Godzilla had more screen time. I would say I had more fun with this than I did with Pacific Rim which I wanted to like but I kind of felt was a drag and had a really hard time getting into.

Supermallet 05-17-14 02:18 AM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
Funny how many people are saying Pac Rim had it just right, because I seem to recall a lot of people ragging on it when it came out.

RocShemp 05-17-14 02:26 AM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
What's funny is that, aside from the opening brawl and the Australian news clip, it takes an hour before we get any more Jaeger and Kaiju battles in Pacific Rim. So this movie must be extremely disappointing in terms of Kaiju action to compare so negatively.

Jory 05-17-14 02:56 AM

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

Originally Posted by Supermallet (Post 12109160)
Funny how many people are saying Pac Rim had it just right, because I seem to recall a lot of people ragging on it when it came out.

I still think it's awful; I just haven't bothered speaking up because (A) I didn't want to seem like a troll simply posting a negative comment for the sake of it, and (B) I haven't seen Godzilla yet and thus can't compare the two movies.

All I'm going to say is that if Godzilla is worse than Pacific Rim, I'll mail Gareth Edwards a package filled with the contents of my cat's litter box.

asianxcore 05-17-14 03:40 AM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
Even though I agree with many of the criticisms mentioned in here, I loved the film. I can't wait to see it again.


Originally Posted by N2DVD (Post 12107970)
For those who asked
Spoiler:
there are two Mothra Easter eggs in the first few minutes of the film. The first is a poster on a classroom wall, with a large picture of a Mothra-colored moth at the top. The second is 15 years later, when Ford and his dad return to their home in search of data discs. There's an old terrarium with an obvious cocoon inside that the camera dwells on for a moment. Some might say that the close up of a horned chameleon in the Hawaiian jungle could be a reference to another Toho creation, as well
.

When I saw the poster on the classroom wall I got really excited. Sadly, the friends I went with missed it :(

hasslein 05-17-14 05:27 AM

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

Originally Posted by Traxan (Post 12109123)
I unspoilerized this point to make mine. You're dead on. That was the single biggest letdown, even moreso than the shot of the zilla as the hospital bunker doors closed. I mean, to have zilla show up and confront the MUTO, then cut away to show Ford's kid sitting on the couch silently watching the fight on TV.... that was a hairball.

With the paint by numbers script, these choices were the only thing that made the film special, or unique imho. I really like that the monsters were not "in your face" those two choices and the school bus interior were my favorite moments.

Josh-da-man 05-17-14 07:08 AM

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

Originally Posted by riley_dude (Post 12108735)
I've heard this movie compared to Jaws and Alien in that they use the Monster sparingly. We don't need to see endless shots of him for him to be effective.

Jaws was about a big shark swimming around under the water and Alien was about a monster hiding in the nooks and crannies of a labyrinthine spaceship.

Godzilla is a three-hundred foot tall monster who levels cities.

A bit of a difference there.

Neil M. 05-17-14 08:09 AM

Re: Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) — The Reviews Thread
 
The Jaws comparison is fair. You can tell that Edwards didn't want to linger on Godzilla shots until the very end. I'm also pretty sure that naming the family "Brody" was also intentional.

I hate to compare this to Pacific Rim because they are two different approaches to kaiju films. It's like trying to compare most of the sequels to the original Godzilla. I like what Edwards did here and prefer it. He invoked imagery of many different tragedies that have occurred in the past 15 years...9/11, Fukishima, Indonesian Tsunami, etc. The horror of the film comes from that imagery. We don't need to be heavily invested in these characters to feel sympathy or to even root for them to survive because we've seen these tragedies unfold in real life. It makes the horror seem real, just like I'm sure the original Godzilla did for Japanese audiences in 1954. There's also no forced comedy to try and lighten the mood.

Pacific Rim may have had more money shots but Godzilla's were more special to me. Looking back at it, I wanted Pacific Rim to be more like this film. Edwards did a great job and I'm looking forward to a sequel.

hanshotfirst1138 05-17-14 08:14 AM

Jaws also used the shark as little as possible out of necessity because it almost never worked. Don't get me wrong, the film is brilliantly effective, I'm just saying that it wasn't entirely an aesthetic choice (or rather, it became one).

Anyway, as regards the lack of G and "not enough monsters" complaints, I echo them, but they're not inherently the problem. The human drama itself was just not interesting enough and frequently kind of clichιd. Cranston was good, but had a glorified cameo where every line of dialogue he had ended in an exclamation point, and Elizabeth Olsen was wasted. And while I understand what Edwards was trying to do, cutting away from the monster fights not once but twice was a little irritating. The finale was fun though, although why exactly G just wanders back into the ocean I didn't quite get. So he's the protector of Earth? Um, why? I initially thought that using all of that darkness in the big battle would be annoying and not let us see anything, but it turned out to be pretty effective and atmospheric. Watanabe is a good actor, but most of the cheesy, ominous dialogue he gets is a little ripe. Loved that they called him Serizawa though, hell of a nice touch, as well as the 1954 bit. I'd post a full review, but it'd be boring and no one would read it anyway :p.

Neil M. 05-17-14 08:19 AM

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

Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138 (Post 12109246)

So he's the protector of Earth? Um, why?

He's not really the protector of earth. He's just doing what is natural to him...he hunts MUTOs and kills them.


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