TALKBACK: Godzilla (2014) - (OBVIOUS SPOILER DISCUSSION)

[king_ghidorah]

Thing I keep going back to, even though I liked this movie, is how essentially this same movie was made in 1995 and it was done better then when it was called Gamera Guardian of the Universe.

Also, I'm going to start a support group for all Godzilla fans who don't think the new films was "THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!!!" Seriously guys, hyperbole much? I'm glad I saw this movie BEFORE fans could inflate my expectations.

[davezilla]

I must have been doing a great job of not paying any attention to the press coverage etc of the new film cause as the credits rolled (GREAT credit sequence) I saw a name that shocked me. Executive producer Yoshimitsu Banno!!! The director of Godzilla vs Hedorah had some part in making this movie! NICE!!!!

Makes you wonder if this is a success might Banno actually get his wanted Hedorah sequel off the ground. Anyway it was a nice surprise.

I think I still am in awe over the picture. I'm not saying its the greatest Godzilla picture ever. I'm in awe that an American Godzilla movie got the character right. This is the Godzilla of my childhood back, updated and kicking monster booty again!

[HannibalBarca]

I mentioned plot holes in my review last night, and I just wanted to throw the ones out there that I can remember and see what you guys think about them.

1) The MUTOs EMP power seems inconsistent. At the end of the film, it seems like all of San Francisco loses power, and the military decides to do insertion via HALO drop above the "dome" of its effect because presumably it would disable cars or Armored Personnel Carriers? But at the same time, pieces of equipment like their "nuke detector" and the GPS navigator on the boat at the end of the movie seem to work fine. In the case of the boat, I think (?) it stopped working when the MUTO stepped towards it, but I could be wrong. In any case, it seems to have been "the EMP disables electronics that aren't critical for the plot."

2) The train sequence. Visually stunning but logically lacking. Why send a slow-moving train loaded with nukes through the mountains, where you know a giant monster who loves nukes is on the rampage?

3) The oft-mentioned Gojira > Godzilla name shift is unexplained. This is the one that bugs me the most, honestly, because I can't even think of any way to try and rationalize it. The movie gives us none.

4) The bomb timer was set for an hour and a half, I think. In the time it would take to fuel up the transport aircraft for the jump, and get it to however high up it was (30,000 feet?) that bomb would have gone off three times over.

Like I said, none of these are COMPLETELY immersion breaking. Just little headscratchers that I was dwelling on during and after the movie.

[king_ghidorah]

I was wondering, why it would make sense for the MUTO to have an EMP weapon in the first place? Were there cyborgs in pre-history or something?

[HannibalBarca]

Also a valid question. The best explanation I could come up with would be that the MUTOs are radioactive, like atom bombs, which have an EMP component to them. But the EMP from a nuclear blast is a result of the explosion itself, not the radioactivity, so it doesn't really hold up.

[Irish Gfan]

I made a video0 of my initial reaction upon seeing the film!



Needless to say....I am super happy right now. I am already seeing it again tonight.

Thank you Gareth Edwards, and everyone else involved in the process of giving me the Godzilla movie I've always wanted to see. Thank you!

[king_ghidorah]

[MekaGojira3k]

[RapZiLLa54]

I just realized. Was the shot of the muto flying over the flag at godzilla not in the movie? I noticed the door closing shot was different as well.

[angilas]

[RapZiLLa54]

What's this about the gojira, godzilla name shift? Serizawa says gojira and the American military says Godzilla honoring both.

[DannyBeane]

[Dr Kain]

Am I the only one that does not understand how Cranston stole the show? He was only in the movie for like a half hour. He did very little compared to Watanabe's character.

[RapZiLLa54]

[jellydonut25]

[Gojilove]

What a ride. I honestly felt like a kid again watching this film. I found myself sort of distracted because I felt like I read too many reviews, like i was actively looking for what bothered people.
Its far from a perfect film, its not a top 5 Godzilla film for me - but I honestly loved it. It honestly felt like a movie that Godzilla deserved to have.

A few thoughts. I didn't feel the middle of the film dragged as much as most people have stated. And once the femmuto is discovered the pace never lets up.

I honestly enjoyed the teases more than I thought I would. The second one definitely had everyone in the theater yelling out for more - I kind of compared it to a roller coaster. It was like you can see the big drop, but they kept giving you these little dips and your just BEGGING for the big one, and then it hits and your laughing at how much fun it was. Again! Again!

I was completley fine with Ford Brody as a character, he wasn't awful, he wasn't an emotionless robot. He was just... Army Guy #1.
Did anybody else get this vibe from this film that it just felt like an old school science fiction film? Like the way the plot was handled, I personally actually loved that.


I cannot wait to see this movie in 2D. The 3D really pissed me off, I thought it took away from alot of cool cinematography. Its like they force fed perspective into the frames. The helicopters would be in focus and EVERYTHING else would be blurry. Really was distracting.

Great flick though.

[kiryugoji04]

[McGodzilla]

Really enjoyed the movie. Felt that the pacing was just fine and the various ways Godzilla was revealed throughout the film to be entertaining and innovative. If you haven't picked up the graphic novel "Godzilla Awakening" and the coffee table book "Godzilla: Art of Destruction" I highly recommend them both, particularly after viewing the film.

[Gyaos1965]

[MekaGojira3k]

While ATJ was underwhelming, I didn't think he was awful or anything.

[Gojilove]

[Hybrid Gojira]

Alright, I've had time to sleep and I think that helped flesh out my thoughts some.

I'll start with the negative stuff -

While I don't think AJT's performance is bad, the link between him and his Father (and even his wife) seems kind of weak. Killing off Cranston....I almost wished they could have done that later in the film because he carried such an emotional weight. His death was well-done, but the effect of losing his Father seemed sort of lost on AJT. I won't say he didn't care, but to an extent the event seemed...forgotten.

Strathairn handled his role well, but he sort of...disappears towards the end. You'd figure a guy who is essentially given the responsibility for a nuke going off in the city would have a more active role. Truthfully this is more of a nitpick on my part, but I do think he should have been more involved once the monsters showed up. After a rewatch, this might change for me.

There were a few SPFX shots I thought were lacking, specifically when the busted vehicle (tank?) emerges from the river and almost crushes a soldier and when Godzilla is leaving San Fran there is a shot of him walking away that looked off.

The middle of the movie dragged some. This could change with more viewings, but there was a definite lull between Act 1 and 3 that was noticeable.

The stuff I thought was "ok" -

The score - it worked for the movie just fine and I actually liked the Godzilla theme. Admittedly it was stuck in my head after the film was over.

The constant cutting away from events...I dunno. Maybe this will grow on me but it almost seemed as if it were too much. There are some clever tricks and some cool shots, but we see them on a screen (for example, MUTO destroying a tower). Some of that would have been awesome to see in their full glory versus seeing them on monitors. However, I know the intended effect was to build towards something - and for that purpose it worked because the last 3rd of the movie was fantastic.


The Good -

I can't say this enough - the MUTOS are awesome and incredibly rendered. The CGI was very well done and I was impressed from start to finish with them. I also loved the EMP effect. Some of the close up money shots of the MUTOs were unbelievably incredible...the male MUTO on the train in Hawaii and then later on when he is transporting the nuke...plus the end scenes when the female is going crazy because her babies have been blown to smithereens.

Godzilla! This design has really grown on me. I'm not sure where I'd rank it and there were moments I was kinda...'Meh" on it, but overall this is a worthy design. It reminds me of a Showa/Heisei mix, if only because of how massive he is combined with how small the secondary plates are.

The Beam! This was one of the "pay off" moments in the film. We see Godzilla's tail light up through a debris cloud...and then BOOM - he unleashes his beam. It was a fantastic moment.

The fights - Wow. I loved them. Godzilla was very animated and the fights were brutal....especially awesome was how Godzilla killed off the male MUTO and of course, the absolutely devastating attack used to defeat the female.

The SPFX were very solid overall. I griped about a few shots earlier in my post, but to be fair I thought the majority of them were great.

The story - This universe is built upon the idea that monsters have always existed and that Godzilla and MUTOs are simply there at the beginning. We also have an explanation for why they feed on radioactivity and learn that on some level, Godzilla and MUTOs are natural enemies. We even see that a Godzilla has been killed before by these creatures. This is the distinct GOTU feel everyone was talking about, and it really worked for me.

During the climax of the film, there was a good balance of switching between the monsters and humans that never felt abrupt or forced. Honestly, I'd say the human/monster interaction here was better done than most Toho films as I was never bored during that time. Each scene during Act 3 had purpose, was paced very well, and never felt distracting...and once mama MUTO decided she was going to attack the pesky humans...well, it was all handled superbly.

Did I mentioned how awesome it was to see Godzilla obliterate MUTO's insides with his beam? THAT was a spectacle and a perfect ending to their fight that I honestly was not expecting.

Things I would have liked to see more of -

I wanted more military battles...I wanted to see Godzilla wade his way through an epic attack. The NAVY battle was great, but I wanted more. I can't call this a criticism as much as a suggestion for the sequel.

Godzilla's screen time - while there is enough of it here, I really wanted more. The MUTOs stole the show in that regard. Again, this is a nitpick and a preference. We get JUST enough Godzilla, which was the point, but it doesn't mean I'm not gonna be greedy about it.

Overall -

I'm sitting at a solid 7/10 right now and trending upward. Last night I was honestly overwhelmed by the movie...I couldn't quite get off my fanboy excitement since, like all of you, I have been looking forward to this movie since the original announcement. It was hard to even process my thoughts, much less determine how much I enjoyed it. Being a die-hard fan can do that sometimes. I'm planning to see it again very soon.

One last note: everyone in my group and in my FB feed (who aren't what I would consider hardcore fans) were raving about how great this movie was. That's a really awesome sign for sequels.

[Gojilove]

[lhb412]

[Dorkzilla]

So...anyone else think that ATJ was actually really good?

Don't get me wrong, he wasn't on Cranston's level at all, but he was still able to hold his own, in my opinion.

There's this great moment near the beginning where Joe is trying to convince Ford to go with him and sneak into Janjira, and ATJ's facial acting is great. You can tell that he's trying to hold back his emotions from showing, and by the end Cranston's big monologue, ATJ's face is one of true resolve. He has made a decision.