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

[Psycho Soldier]

WELP, THAT WOULD DO IT

[lhb412]

I'd like to think it's a coincidence. He hasn't been doing really creepy things in my name, has he?

[Hybrid Gojira]

[Rodanex]

Just saw it, I really enjoyed it. I've been wanting to see a modern, American take on Godzilla my whole life, and someone finally got it right. Godzilla actually looks like Godzilla, and he actually feels like a character, not just a special effect. I really felt something for him when he collapses after the fight.

I definitely was not expecting the "hero" ending, but I'm okay with it. I'm glad they made a movie where he fights off two monsters, rather than just a movie about humanity trying to kill Godzilla. Since Godzilla is probably going to be looking for more radiation to feed on, he's still going to cause a few problems for the world, despite his ability to defend against the occasional rampaging monster. I think they can do kind of an anti-hero thing, where he's not necessarily defending the world out of any kind of conscious concern for humans.

Speaking of the other monsters, I really dug the Mutos. I thought having a female Muto (Muta?) was a clever way to have two additional monsters with slightly different designs. Godzilla looked great, I loved that they weren't afraid to use the fire-breath this time, though I do kinda wish they had kept his roar closer to the original. I also liked the new spin on his origins...the bit about H-bombs being dropped on Godzilla in 1954 in an attempt to kill him was a neat way to link it back to the original movie, while still offering a slightly different take on it. As some others have mentioned, it reminded me a bit of Gigantis, the Fire Monster.

I thought Godzilla was in the movie just the right amount of time. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of Bryan Cranston, though. lol Like some others have mentioned, Dr. Serizawa (love it) winds up not having much to do at the end...he just kinda stands around. I thought it might have been neat to see Serizawa and Joe Brody working together to track down the monsters before he died.

So all in all, it's not perfect but it's about as good a Godzilla movie one can expect to be made by an American studio. It's clearly made by people that respect and honor the source material, I can't wait to see what more they do with it.

PS: As I left the theater, I overheard some girl say to her friends "I want to see it again later this weekend!"

[Cookie]

Anyone feel like they were watching a alternate version of G2000? Great movie.. The Mutos were the highlight for me.
. Great editions to the family. Its doing great at the box office... So... Cheers to a successful reboot!

[lhb412]

[Diabolik]

All the redacted bits from the opening credits!

http://badassdigest.com/2014/05/16/bada ... s-credits/

Amazing I totally had no clue about all this.

[planetxleader]

Just got back from my second viewing. It definitely held up, though I still have a few issues. Overall I'd say I enjoyed it about equal or maybe even a tad more than my first viewing.

My issues: Ford and the second act. I think ATJ is fine, he's not great in this, but he's serviceable. It's his character, though. Joe Brody was of course the most captivating character, and it was really gratifying to have someone as good as Juliette Binoche in a Godzilla movie, even if it was only for fifteen minutes. She elevated the movie right off the bat. But after they die, the coolest characters are Serizawa and Stenz, and they're merely side characters. I like the idea of Ford pretty much having the "layover in Tokyo" from hell, with the struggle to get back to his family, but he in himself isn't really that engaging.

Also, the second act: I enjoyed it more on the second viewing, but I found its problem. Godzilla shows up, then we learn about the MUTO in Nevada, and things are really ramping up, getting tense. And then we tag along with Ford on the train. Now that whole sequence, when we get to it, is one of the best in the movie, but the lead-up to it, when we find we're gonna go on a little train ride with our man while pandemonium is going on elsewhere... well, it felt a slight frustrating. I heard somebody in the audience sigh as the train departed. I think that moment there is where the pacing skipped a step just a little bit.

But, of course, the scene that follows is fantastic, and the entire third act is balls, even if Ford is an underdeveloped hero (I still love that he and Godzilla are pretty much war buddies now). And, even though people in the crowd were restless, they applauded Godzilla after he finished off Femuto and applauded again as he disappeared under the waves.

Some other observations:

I freaking love the music cue as Godzilla appears over Chinatown. That weird, distressed piano chord. It was spooky. I can't find it on the soundtrack.

When the Mutos capture the nuke and Godzilla diverts his course and dives underwater, that moment when Strathairn watches the pens roll across the table inside the ship. I loved the attitude of that scene. Also gave me faint flashbacks to the Hanna Barbara crew and the Calico (hell, the whole setup of them following Godzilla around on their battle cruiser kinda called back to the Calico crew, if unintentionally).

Opening credits: I thought I spied an easter egg on the first viewing. Saw it again, and there's a shot of a public service video with a video overlay title that says "Project Monarch," and the font looks exactly like the AIP titles from the Showa Gamera movies. There's even ocean water in the background. It pretty much looks exactly like an AIP Gamera title card. Don't know if it's a coincidence...

Also, this...

[Psycho Soldier]

[lhb412]

I love how the grounded, realistic Godzilla movie ended with Godzilla prying open his opponent's mouth and firing his atomic breath down its throat.

[Psycho Soldier]

That kill was one of the best moments of the movie. I thought he was just going to break the MUTO's jaws a la King Kong, but clearly what we got was better. It reminded me simultaneously of G2K and of Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian.

[Diabolik]

[MouthForWar]

First off, I think Josh has posted the best review yet with his report on his second viewing... I think he nails the good and the bad in one swoop, or at least how I feel.

Anyway, I saw it for a second time today. My reaction:

Tom, you saw this in our message thread, but I want Matt to read this:

I hought the movie was much better the second time, going in knowing what to expect. Honestly, the first time I saw it on Friday, the whole experience was too overwhelming. I had a group of people with me who I felt were kind of "watching" me, (as much and/or more than the movie itself) to see how I'd react to certain things due to my mega-fandom, and that took me out of the experience a little... and just the whole ride up to this movie was so crazy that it was kind of surreal for me... in a way I left the movie kind of feeling like I didn't even see it... if that makes sense.

Its funny because it kinda ties back to a conversation Trev and I were having earlier today about the Avengers. How when we saw it, we really weren't too into the first act, but the more we watched it, the more we kind of just accepted that it had a clunky first act and let the rest of the movie win us over more. I remember when I first saw the Avengers and the first act just seemed so clunky and like it JUST TOOK FOREVER. Then the second time I saw it, all that went away, and Avengers is still a movie that I think I like more each time I watch it... and I've seen it like 6 times now.

This was a similar experience. I still have the same reservations as I did when I first saw it (and I can say the same about Avengers), but seeing it again, knowing what kind of movie it was, they just didn't "bug" me as much.

The second act still has its issues, but the movie as a whole FLEW by way better than it did on the first viewing. I didn't feel like the second act was dragging this time around, although I still wish there was more emotional connective tissue for the character of Ford to latch onto to make that second act more interesting... I think keeping Joe alive until the third act and maybe have him hang out with Serizawa and communicate with Ford during the second act would have been an easy fix to this.

I'm sure someone will accuse me of some bullshit, but I don't care. Its how I actually feel. This movie, for me, is this years Avengers. No, the movie isn't perfect, but its still awesome. No its not as "good" as Captain America 2, but the highs of this movie "got" me way more than the highs of Cap 2.

[jellydonut25]

[Gojira-2000]

One note about the MUTO's EMP weapon; they might have used it to disorientate some of their prey, making it easier to overcome them and lay their eggs on/inside of. Like how some birds today are disorientated by man made electromagnetic radiation:

[mr.negativity]

[Godzilla 2000]

^Is that guy trolling in that review or what? Like holy crap, get bent, dude. =/

[GFan]

[Gentleman]

[Gargantuan Gargantua]

I like how the MUTO's are walking nukes and give off EMP's just like a nuclear bomb would right before detonating. (I think, I may have my facts mixed up)

[Razieon]

[Kailem]

I'm pleasantly surprised to see that it had a bigger opening night than The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which I figured would make loads of money based simply on brand popularity alone. Clearly Godzilla's still got it.

One thing about the movie that I was a bit confused by though, and hopefully someone can clear this up, was this: when the male Muto attacks the train it showed him swallowing the nuke, but then in the next scene when the chopper arrived and rescued Brody they picked up the nuke and carried it to San Francisco, where the Muto then eventually stole it from the boat as soon as it was armed. Did I miss something here? If he swallowed the nuke on the train, why was it still in the wreckage when the chopper arrived later

[davezilla]

Kailem. When I saw the train near the beginning where he's asking for a ride, to me it looked like they were hauling more than one nuke. I thought one of the nukes fell from the bridge as it collapsed and the Muto didn't reach that one but got the 2nd one. Anyone else see that.

Off to see the 2nd viewing in 5 hours. Can't wait. I'm gonna try to see it at least 5 times in the theater just to support the franchise cause I really enjoy it. I have a feeling it will be even better second time.

MUST HAVE MUTO ACTION FIGURES!!!!

[Kailem]

Ok yep, you're right, I just went back and watched one of the trailers again and there are indeed two nukes on the train. I knew I had to have missed something because it seemed like I was the only person who was a bit confused by that. Thanks.

[HannibalBarca]