by eabaker » Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:13 pm
The problem with "give Ford a flaw" is that, while it might make the movie more superficially engaging/entertaining, it wouldn't really mean anything; it would be empty hand waving.
I think the biggest mistake that the filmmakers made was putting Ford at the center of so much of the action at all. This should have been much more of an ensemble piece, with less screen time for Ford, and more screen time for his wife, their child, Serizawa, generic General (I'd the use of Strathairn is an even bigger waste of talent than Binoche, since she was at least given some acting to do in her brief appearance - he's a complete nothing character who's given a distracting, pretentious introductory shot simply because we're supposed to be impressed by the casting), and bland assistant lady. The movie should be about the impact of Godzilla and the MUTOs on a range of people - and, even more so, on people en masse - and the focus on Ford undercuts what otherwise seems to be the thematic intent of the script.
Tokyo, a smoldering memorial to the unknown, an unknown which at this very moment still prevails and could at any time lash out with its terrible destruction anywhere else in the world.