Godzilla (2014) Part Three (NON-SPOILER DISCUSSION)

[Hybrid Gojira]

[TheMaster]

Seriously dont worry or think about reviews(and many are good) just took the kids to see it(43 year old Goji fan for life, 4 yr and 8 yr old) AND WE LOVED IT!!! So did everyone in the theatre!

[KaijuKid]

Just got back a little bit ago...my wife and I loved it. I feel like this movie allows everybody to finally move past 1998 and takes Godzilla out of the realm of pop culture B-movie punchline material, and does it while staying true to what we've loved about him for years; he's unashamedly GODZILLA. I also realized that one of my cats is a MUTO.

[Gwangi]

[planetxleader]

Me, Kiryugoji, Inui Takumi, Inferior Rodan, and some of our friends just got back from this. Everybody loved it and it was a helluva party.

My score is a solid 8 out of 10, I think. It surpasses GMK a little bit I think, while the former had a much more thematic plot but didn't have enough time to flesh it out and ended up being a tad anticlimactic, THIS movie, while being pretty straightforward, has a hell of a climax, and yes, leaves you wanting more. And best of all, it feels like a Godzilla movie through and through. I don't think anybody will debate that at this point.

I'll respect some critics' statements that the cast doesn't really carry the first three quarters as well as they should, but I don't want to drop the guillotine yet. I loved the first third. Somewhere after that I felt a desire for Edwards to let the curtain drop a bit further, but he really held his ground. The first instance of teasing was brilliant and I loved it. The second time it occurred I got much more anxious. It'll be interesting to see how I take it a second time. Despite that, it still moves really fast and there are some great, and I mean great, suspenseful moments. And Godzilla gets one of his greatest entrances ever (and I'm not talking about the airport scene).

What I DON'T agree with are the claims that the human element drops off at the end with nothing to do. Quite the opposite. ATJ has as much struggle during the finale as Godzilla does himself, and it's pretty much played out in parallel. It's like they're two separate soldiers in the same battle. I really dug it. And if it couldn't be any more apparent, Edwards pretty much drives the point home in a really wonderful scene that, well, you'll know it when you see it.

I guess I can venture into the spoiler thread now. I have a busy day at work tomorrow, but I think I'm going to be battling the urge the keep checking back here.

[MouthForWar]

I liked it a lot but it isn't a top 5 Godzilla like everyone keeps saying. I wasn't as grabbed by it as I thought I would be. I think some I the fan reviews jacked me up way too much. I'll have to let it sink in and see it again. But I wasn't as touched or giddy as I was during Pacific Rim.

I feel similar to this as I did with Destroy All Monsters. Very strong first and third acts an a second act that is a but of a slog.

And don't get me wrong, the movie WAS very good. I would say that it fell JUST short of my expectations, which is partially my own fault. I still need to let it sink in more, and of course, see how it stands on repeat viewings, but as of now I give this one a 4/5 and I could see it getting to a 4.5 depending on whether or not I like it more on my next viewing (although that could go either way). Its that second act, really. That second act was just missing something. The third act IS spectacular though and makes up for a lot of the staling I felt in the middle portion. In fact, the last battle might be one of the best in the series.

I think the middle's focus towards the military stuff was too much of a distraction from our main characters. Ford is reduced to a character who is only there to react to things and Ken Watanabe goes from being interesting to just standing around like the most stock Heisei characters (and stays there until the end of the movie).

The MUTOs were great and an awesome addition to the Godzilla canon. I DO think it was a mistake to cut from that first battle, but at least it was funny the way it played out on the TV after... so that, I can forgive. I think it was a mistake to cut away so much from the Vegas attack though, as I really do think they cut away TOO MUCH from the monster action. I get what Edwards was going for with the Jaws influence, but I don't know that it works for a Godzilla movie, since everyone in the audience already knows what Godzilla is. The build up to the Hawaii scene was enough of a build up and a tease... I honestly think that cutting away so much after that scene hurts the movie. As I said, I get what they were going for, but I don't feel like this was the kind of movie to do that with.

I also think it was a mistake to kill Cranston off so early since his character has such a presence and we never get to see that damaged relationship with his family pay off. After he dies, he's just kind of forgotten about.

The third act makes up for a lot of the issues I had with the middle, but the movie just lacked a certain spark during that middle portion that just prevented me from feeling like a giddy child the same way Pacific Rim did last year.

A very good entry in the series, but as of now, I doubt it'd break my top 10 Godzilla flicks... and if it DOES end up breaking my top 10, it'll be towards the bottom. As of right now, I'd say its better than all of the Millenium series, so it does have that going for it.

[KingKaiju]

Go see it! Go see it in IMAX if you have the chance! IMAX itself is fine, if you can do it without 3D, I think that's perfect. 3D has it's moments, but overall I think it's overrated. Between regular 3D and 2D, I say go 2D.

[Cookie]

I'm hearing 6-7 million for Thursday shows. That's good. Would love for it to hit 80 this weekend bu I think it'll go between 70 and 80. Also hearing overall the crowds are loving it. We need good word of mouth!!!!

[angilas]

[Outkaster]

Too many negative reviews are out there all over the web about this movie, I saw it last night and enjoyed it for what it is. Our ADD crowd has no idea how a film is built up. The movie was a good jumping off point. There is no way you can have constant action the whole time. This movie had a late 1960’s early 1970’s feel. If people just watch it for what it is they’d be fine but now they are all butt hurt about it like it’s some personal attack or something.

[DannyBeane]

My one non-critique is don't waste money on the 3D. After 10-15 minutes you don't even notice it anymore.

[RapZiLLa54]

Did anybodyou else not get an IMax poster ?

[Cookie]

[Dr Kain]

Someone posted a review that the reviewer said to go see Pacific Rim instead as Godzilla is boring for he does not show up until the very end and it is pretty much a Bryan Cranston film.


Uh...

I don't think that guy even watched the movie.

[gojira_fan]

I enjoyed Godzilla more than I did with pacific rim. I thought that film had more cringe worthy acting and script issues.

[Dr Kain]

[kiryugoji04]

[Gyaos1965]

The WOM will depend just how much moviegoers found the climax to be worth the dull second act. It was really, really good, but was it enough?

And how annoyed the were with the cutaways from monster battles.

I agree the film is a good starting point for a series, but Edwards might not be the best guy going forward.

It's not that hard. If there's a monster battle going on, you show the audience the monster battle.

[Gyaos1965]

9.3 million last night, huh? That's a really good number.

Fascinated to see how WOM is.

[jellydonut25]

Alright guys....


this isn't to say there's been anything necessarily INAPPROPRIATE discussed here recently....


but 441 pages is rather enough. Especially now that we're all seeing the movie and much of the discussion of the actual FILM is being discussed here instead of the Talkback thread.

Wanna discuss the film? Use the Talkback thread.
Marketing without spoilers on the film? There's a marketing thread.
Score? There's a composer thread.
Other? Make a new thread.


I think this thread has served its purpose. See you all around the other threads on the forum!