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

Good for you.

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

I'll take the JP comparison. I'm not a fan of that franchise and think Godzilla did it better. At least PR kept it consistent in terms of robots fighting monsters. The MUTOS had more screen time than freakin' Godzilla. That's what sucks.

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

I 100% agree that PR had better fights than Godzilla. I just find it funny that people bash the human elements and then praise PR. The human stuff in PR was weak as well. But in terms of fights, PR has the edge for sure.

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

Count me as someone who finds both PR and Godzilla to be flawed. Problem is, PR didn't have any name recognition. Big G in his original form was apparently enough to sell people. Hell, while I don't have a problem with the title, they should have called it Giant Robots vs. Giant Monsters. Pacific Rim sounds like a surfer flick. I truly think had Godzilla come out first and then PR, it might have fared a bit better. Especially if they could tout the fact that its the same studio and production company, and possibly put a Big G cameo at the end. ;)

And yes, PR did have better fights. However, if we get a second installment of either, I hope someone tries to do a fight in daylight for once!

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

I thought the same thing. We almost got to see an actual fight in the day. Cloudy and whatnot but it was the day. We merely got moments of it.

Stryker versus that Kaiju looked awesome in PR. Fucker was moving fast.

It's like Legendary is scared that it will come off hokey or something.

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

I didn't have a problem with the human element in either flick.

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

Finally saw it today...strong start, really poor middle, and decent finish. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. The biggest problem is the lead character gets replaced with another lead who isn't nearly as interesting (or talented), and Godzilla is reduced to a glorified cameo in a movie that's freakin' named after him.

Seriously, how long to you think Godzilla (full body - not counting tail and spine shots) appears in this 125 minute movie? Maybe 10 minutes of screen time? I KNOW it's less than 15. I think the two monsters he fights get more screen time.

I liked the movie overall, but it had too many problems for me to love it - although I would like to see a sequel.

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

I saw it Thursday in RealD 3D and Friday in IMAX 3D. The effects looked better in RealD, but the sound was flat, as I spent a long time waiting to hear Godzilla roar and was left disappointed when it happened. My experience improved tenfold in IMAX, as the audio was kicking from start to finish. The theater gasped at each glimpse of G, and cheered when he roared the first time

The film wasn't perfect and I obviously would have liked just a bit more G screen time, but I can appreciate the relation to Jaws. I absolutely love Pacific Rim (the most enjoyable movie I've seen in years, as I watched the BD five times back-to-back when it released), but I never expected the same out of Godzilla and am fine that they didn't take that route.
It was obvious that many viewers were not familiar with Godzilla, due to Comments from the packed crowd after the movie seemed universal:

Here's hoping for a solid sequel that addresses that fault in the manner that Pacific Rim did.

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

I hope this movie can sustain into next weekend. I think the word of mouth will be strong enough to get people who can't get into X-Men to give it a shot. I hope it sticks around IMAX next weekend as I plan to see it in that format. I think that might help it, as this seems like something that a lot of G fans will want to see in IMAX even after seeing it in the regular format.

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

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

I just got out of FauxMAX matinee and I loved it. The human drama was cliche city, but it was well acted and better than 95% of Japanese G-film human drama.

It has enough G to make me want more of him down the line. I didnt like that they didnt go with G being a malevolent force or nature. They instead seemed to go with "friend of humanity"....ok....whatever.

I did enjoy seeing all the butterflies plastered on shit and the name "Monarch" seemed to follow this trend.

Yeah, I think they did a great job on this film. Its not perfect....but I was thoroughly entertained.

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

One of my friends questioned that last night (this is the only Godzilla movie he has ever seen), but with Serizawa's "alpha predator" theory I just rolled with it on the basis that he must consider humans to be absolutely insignificant, especially when he's trying to dominate MUTO's.

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

Yeah I went with it too. Ive seen so many versions of G, "friend of humanity" being one of them, I just rolled with it. But it was both weird and cool to see the Navy just riding along with G while he takes a leisurely swim across the Pacific. :lol: No worries, not a care in the world...just G and his toy ship escort.

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

Humans were insignificant. Except when they'd shoot him with big artillery. That got his attention.

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

I was disappointed, inasmuch as that it got a 5.5 out of 10 from me.

And no, I won't compare it to PR, as I haven't seen that movie in full yet.

My problem with Godzilla was not that the human elements were cheesy, cliched, or underwritten. You can't complain about the human elements, because there weren't any. Save for Cranston (and to a lesser extent Watanabe), every character was a paradigm of nondescript, empty suit, ho-hum blandness. I walked out of the movie and I couldn't remember a single character's name. The Kick-Ass actor (can't remember his name) was dead-behind-the-eyes horrible, as was the wife.

Whose brilliant idea was it to have Godzilla's huge reveal ruined by cutting to an obnoxious kid half-asleep on the couch watching the fight play out on the news (which we barely got snippets of), then cutting back to the action once the fight was completed and the monsters were gone? REALLY? So much for your momentum, guys.

The ending sequence played out as a bunch of faceless army dudes were trying to deal with a nuke about to blow... guest-starring a bunch of monsters fighting off in the background. Here's the thing: BY THIS POINT, NO ONE CARES WHAT THE HUMANS ARE DOING.

Especially the main character. He was functionally useless throughout the entire movie and essentially did NOTHING to further the plot or change the outcome of the movie.

Parts of the movie were fun to watch, the epic monster clash at the end was exciting and well staged, but it was too little, too late. What a hollow, empty spectacle. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I expected something meatier from Gareth Edwards.

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

I actually snorted in the theater Thursday night when that scene came up :lol:

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

I would love to see what actually happened in the area when G woke up and walked back to the ocean. Was he conscious of humans around his body? Did he step over them?

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

It definitely got his attention, and perhaps he would have reacted differently in another situation, but he was on a mission and in the end, he just didn't care about the humans.

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

"Hey, the bridge is clear guys!"... "Whoops! LOL u ded..."

This is the hero of the movie, folks.

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

Heros fuck up all the time. In fact, to me, it was similar to how his father sent his mother to her death....

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

The bridge looked clear. They didn't have a chance to tell the guys on the train that the situation had changed. Plus, IIRC, the MUTO went over the hill and attacked them before they came through on the bridge anyway.

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

I'm reading a lot of reviews in various places online and a lot of people have been doing that. As you mentioned, it's funny because I thought that PR was panned for having the same issues (thin plot and characters).

Hell, even DVDTalk's own Randy Miller III mentions the Human Element of PR was one of his gripes,

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/61813/pacific-rim/

Jeff Nelson mentions 'tacky dialogue' & 'bland characters' but goes on to state 'who cares'.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/61292...c-rim-imax-3d/

Are we asking more from this film because it's a Godzilla film?

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

No. It's because the tone and intent of PR was that of a cheesy rollercoaster ride of fun. The tone of this film's ad campaign is dour, doom and gloom. Clearly the filmmakers of Godzilla expect you to take it seriously whereas the makers of Pacific Rim just wanted you to go along for the ride. One is permitted to have bland characters that play second fiddle to the over-the-top action. The other is expected to make you genuinely care for the humans that eat up far too much screentime. So the complaints against Big G are warranted.

It's as if Brody, Quint, and Hooper had been bland and uninteresting. Imagine how dreadfully boring Jaws would have been if that were the case.

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

Know what I'd love to find out? What those Japanese parents were saying to their emo/goth kid in the jail waiting room. That got some giggles from my audience even if we didn't know what was said.

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

People complain too much. Godzilla was in the movie for the right amount of time. If anything, there wasn't enough

The IMAX logo had the Godzilla roar instead of the typical chimes. People clapped whenever Godzilla was on screen.