I saw Godzilla

[drt]

* = my minor complaint was Watanabe saying it was his father's watch, making the character about 70 years old, which seemed a stretch (it should have been his grandfather's).

Well, they never said his father died at Hiroshima, just that his watch stopped there at the moment of the blast. His father could have been a young man who survived, but with horrific radiation burns, and then passed the watch on to his son who was born many years later.

I suppose that might have been what they were going for, but I have the feeling they were hoping people wouldn't do the math (or perhaps that character was intended to be older than the actor who was eventually cast), as it seemed to be implied that he died there.

 

[Yanks]

OK, my 3rd son and I just saw the movie.

I don't know that you could have asked for anything more.

I was FRELLIN AWESOME!!!!

The monster fights were out of this world!! And the best part was you could see them!! Unlike Pacific Rim which I had a hard time making things out.

Godzilla was back to kicking ass like he's supposed to be. Mothra (or was it Rodan) was AWESOME as well!!

The EMP twist was insteresting.

About the only thing this movie was missing that was always in the old one was....

I LOVED this film!!

 

[davejames]

B

A good but frustrating movie. It's got the perfect ominous tone, some truly effective action sequences, and a final battle between Godzilla and the MUTOS which is everything you'd want it to be. But unfortunately far too much of the movie until then is spent watching the military try to come up with a response while all the cool stuff appears to be happening in the background on the monitors.

Just when it seemed likewe were about to watch something really really cool... the movie would cut away to the human characters or jump to the aftermath of the battle on TV instead. Which was beyond frustrating.

I'm all for "building suspense", but I'm not exactly sure how cutting from the start of the first epic battle between Godzilla and the MUTO at the airport... to a kid sleeping on a sofa does that. All it did was annoy the crap out of me. And the movie did that kind of thing far too often.

It would be one thing if we were only experiencing events through the perspective of one character all the way through (like Cruise's character in WOTW), but this movie never establishes that kind of thing. Instead we see events unfold from all kinds of perspectives, and even from a Gods-eye view. So why it so often never lets us see these incredible, world-changing events as they're happening just never makes any sense.

 

[Mr Light]

I think it helped a lot that I saw Edwards' first movie "Monsters" before seeing this. It kind of set my expectations for how much monster I was actually going to see.

 

[Yanks]

B

A good but frustrating movie. It's got the perfect ominous tone, some truly effective action sequences, and a final battle between Godzilla and the MUTOS which is everything you'd want it to be. But unfortunately far too much of the movie until then is spent watching the military try to come up with a response while all the cool stuff appears to be happening in the background on the monitors.

Just when it seemed likewe were about to watch something really really cool... the movie would cut away to the human characters or jump to the aftermath of the battle on TV instead. Which was beyond frustrating.

I'm all for "building suspense", but I'm not exactly sure how cutting from the start of the first epic battle between Godzilla and the MUTO at the airport... to a kid sleeping on a sofa does that. All it did was annoy the crap out of me. And the movie did that kind of thing far too often.

It would be one thing if we were only experiencing events through the perspective of one character all the way through (like Cruise's character in WOTW), but this movie never establishes that kind of thing. Instead we see events unfold from all kinds of perspectives, and even from a Gods-eye view. So why it so often never lets us see these incredible, world-changing events as they're happening just never makes any sense.

Ah davejames, I thought the way they built up the suspense was very unique and reminisent of the 50's version. I loved seeing portions of the fights on the news. Thought it all was pretty cool. I guess we could have had 2 thirds of the movie in a monster battle, but I think the wait made the last 3rd of the movie so good!

I think you can do both, and I thought this movie did it pretty well.

Break...

I just can't understand the complaints about the "plot"... if a Godzilla movie for gods sake...

 

[marillion]

First off, some thoughts...Some spoilerish moments, but not too bad...

I've always been a middle of the road Godzilla fan. I saw a couple of the old movies when they would show at one of the local theaters when I was a kid. The one that stands out in my mind was the adventure with Jet Jaguar..

I've watched them off and on when they play on cable, but it always seems to be the same ones with Space Godzilla and Mecha Godzilla..

The Broderick version was a horrible disappointment, taking away almost all of the things we love about Godzilla.. That he thinks, that he has a purpose... Yes, even when smashing through Tokyo, he was a character, not just a blunt intrument with animal instinct. This played out in later movies where he became the occassional "defender of humanity" against other monsters (with apologies to Gamera, the "friend of all children").

The inclusion of the MUTO(s) was an added surprise that I found I really liked. Godzilla is best when he has something else big to battle, not just puny humans (as in the aforementioned Broderick film).

Big G was handled properly I felt.. Yes, I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the early battles, but I found the human element and character development pretty good and meaningful to the plot. I felt bad for Ford, as he keeps being the lone survivor on his different "missions."... That's going to take some therapy to deal with, believe me..

The final battle was epic and (spoilerish) you really got the idea at the end that Godzilla had an Indiana Jones moment of "Christ, ENOUGH!! - BANG!!" I loved it and my son (a relative newbie to Godzilla did too)...

All in all, I was very satisfied with my moving going experience and I know I will be seeing this again.

My only quibble was with Cranston's character. I get that he was heartbroken and determined to uncover the conspiracy.. But he was just a bit over the top for me.. Or maybe it was just his hair that was distracting me.

Solid A...

 

[davejames]

Ah davejames, I thought the way they built up the suspense was very unique and reminisent of the 50's version. I loved seeing portions of the fights on the news. Thought it all was pretty cool. I guess we could have had 2 thirds of the movie in a monster battle, but I think the wait made the last 3rd of the movie so good!

I wasn't looking for nonstop monster battles in this movie. I just wanted it to follow through on the battles that it DID show-- or at least not cut away right before the cool part starts!

Hell, we didn't even need to see all of the airport battle. We could have just seen Godzilla and the MUTO start to fight and throw each other around before the perspective shifts to the chaos on the ground as people try to dodge the falling buildings and debris, before we then switch to kid watching the news footage.

That would have felt a lot more natural-- not the way the director did it, which just felt like him going "nope, sorry, not going to show you Godzilla fighting anyone yet."

 

[Yanks]

Ah davejames, I thought the way they built up the suspense was very unique and reminisent of the 50's version. I loved seeing portions of the fights on the news. Thought it all was pretty cool. I guess we could have had 2 thirds of the movie in a monster battle, but I think the wait made the last 3rd of the movie so good!

...which just felt like him going "nope, sorry, not going to show you Godzilla fighting anyone yet."

That's exactly the way I felt. Which I thought was done on purpose.

I actually chuckled a couple times... now if the 3rd act wouldn't have been so off the chart awesome, then it might have ticked me off a little bit.

 

[Cyke101]

* = my minor complaint was Watanabe saying it was his father's watch, making the character about 70 years old, which seemed a stretch (it should have been his grandfather's).

Well, they never said his father died at Hiroshima, just that his watch stopped there at the moment of the blast. His father could have been a young man who survived, but with horrific radiation burns, and then passed the watch on to his son who was born many years later.

I came across this neat little theory that his dad could be Daisuke Serizawa from the original movie. But since this is a reboot, it's entirely possible that since 1954's events played differently, that either Daisuke lived long enough to sire a son and/or was uninvolved with the original hunts for Godzilla as seen in the credits (among other possibilities). It was more important to the writers that the Serizawa name continue as a link to the original movie, but Watanabe's character's first name is Ishiro, so it's possible that this isn't a direct recasting of a previous role, but rather that of a descendant. For one thing, Watanabe's Serizawa plays a different role in the movie than the 1954 counterpart.

I'd like to think that Daisuke Serizawa as played by Akihiko Hirata exists in both versions in some fashion, in any regard. Not a split timeline like nuTrek or anything unnecessary like that, but just that he was around in the 50s.

 

[Noname Given]

NO. King Ghidorah and Mothra have been overdone. Angilas, please, perhaps with a side order of Rodan or Varan. Even better, a movie where Godzilla stands alone as an avenging force of destruction against mankind, like in Gojira or Godzilla 1985. He was pretty badass in GMK, too.

I'm going to see it again tonight at 10:30. Maybe a second viewing will help.

^^^
Not for this old Godzilla fan they haven't. I'd LOVE to see a Godzilla and King Ghidorah battle given the same level of visual effects treatment they gave this one. Hell, they could go back to the ORIGINAL Japanese origin of King Ghidorah being from Mars (he was the reason Mars was in the state is is today according to his first appearance .) -- Makes just as much sense as 'ancient monsters that survived from a time when the Earth was more radioactive and they survived by diving DEEP into the oceans and feeding off radiation coming from being closer to the Earth's core.

As for this film - I liked it way more then the godawful 1998 Mathew Broderick version. I too thought Godzilla could have done with more screen time; but the screentime he did have was executed spectacularly.

As for the plot, in the end this WAS a Godzilla film and even in a lot of the Japanese versions they spend a lot of time involving and interweaving humans into the storyline; and IMO they did a good job of that here (even with a few surprises here and there) that I thought were okay.

I like that the buildup in the story took years (not hours or days); and all the characters motivations were plausible. I didn't expect the father who believed something more was going on after the loss of his wife to actually die so early in the film, for example. I thought he'd be there in the end.

I also like the new take that the H Bomb tests didn't create Godzilla per se; more that 'deep exploration' of the oceans 'awakened' him, and once the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were both sure it wasn't 'the other side' -- all the various atomic bomb tests of the 1950ies and 1960ies (with progressively bigger yields) were attempts to kill him, that failed.

I liked all the 'Easter Eggs' too - like the atomic plant having 'Jira' in it's name and being referred to as 'the Jira plant' (Godzilla in the original 1954 Japanese version - sans Raymond Burr - was actually first named 'Gojira'.); and they had the tracking target on the various map displays designated as 'Gojira'.

I also liked some of the humor -- such as the name for the giant insect creature (that they soon learned could also fly) was:

Massively Unidentified Terrestrial Object aka MUTO; butwhen they see it can fly, the Admiral makes the comment:

"We call it Massively Unidentified Terrestrial Object or MUTO..." and as he's watching it sprout new wings and fly off..."that is obviously...no...longer...terrestrial..."

I can understand why some people may not like it; but for me, it worked overall as it was a Godzilla film in the mold of the Japanese Godzilla film template; and I thought they did a good job with both the motivations of all the creatures (they weren't all just mindless monsters on a rampage); as well as the human characters (although, yeah, the fact the son just happened to be a nuclear ordinance disposal officer in the U.S. Navy - and that's JUST what they needed at one point in the film, was rather convenient .)

In the end, yes, I thought it could have used a little more 'Godzilla time' on the screen; and I was disappointed that with all the other nods to the previous Godzilla films they had, they never once worked something of the original/iconic 'Godzilla' theme music into any of the new film's score.

 

[Trekker4747]

First off, some thoughts...Some spoilerish moments, but not too bad...

I've always been a middle of the road Godzilla fan. I saw a couple of the old movies when they would show at one of the local theaters when I was a kid. The one that stands out in my mind was the adventure with Jet Jaguar..

I've watched them off and on when they play on cable, but it always seems to be the same ones with Space Godzilla and Mecha Godzilla..

The Broderick version was a horrible disappointment, taking away almost all of the things we love about Godzilla.. That he thinks, that he has a purpose... Yes, even when smashing through Tokyo, he was a character, not just a blunt intrument with animal instinct. This played out in later movies where he became the occassional "defender of humanity" against other monsters (with apologies to Gamera, the "friend of all children").

The inclusion of the MUTO(s) was an added surprise that I found I really liked. Godzilla is best when he has something else big to battle, not just puny humans (as in the aforementioned Broderick film).

Big G was handled properly I felt.. Yes, I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the early battles, but I found the human element and character development pretty good and meaningful to the plot. I felt bad for Ford, as he keeps being the lone survivor on his different "missions."... That's going to take some therapy to deal with, believe me..

The final battle was epic and (spoilerish) you really got the idea at the end that Godzilla had an Indiana Jones moment of "Christ, ENOUGH!! - BANG!!" I loved it and my son (a relative newbie to Godzilla did too)...

All in all, I was very satisfied with my moving going experience and I know I will be seeing this again.

My only quibble was with Cranston's character. I get that he was heartbroken and determined to uncover the conspiracy.. But he was just a bit over the top for me.. Or maybe it was just his hair that was distracting me.

Solid A...

I felt a bit underwhelmed by the "human story" as I didn't find Son Kickass very interesting and it seems we really never got a chance to connect with him and his goals (other than "get home") hell it's not even entirely clear why he's so estranged from his father beyond his dad obsessing over the details surrounding the mother's death.

It's an odd choice to start your movie off with a personal story of a character on a journey that leads to him pretty much watching is wife die right before him and then jump forward in time 15 years and introduce us to another character we've technically not even really met yet and don't know anything about. The movie builds us a connection with Cranston's character but never gives us that kind of connection with Kickass's character so I'm not sure why we're supposed to want him to get home to see his wife and kid other than that's what we're supposed to want.

Cranston's character really should have lasted much longer in the movie (I could see losing him at some other point in the movie during another one of the battles or encounters where he maybe sacrifices himself to save his son once their relationship has mended more.)

The human story didn't work for me a whole lot in this movie once Cranston died (and I say this as someone who's never seen a single second of Breaking Bad) because I never really got that connection to Kickass's character. We're kinda just following him as he tries to get home. Yay.

It was a *bit* frustrating how the movie kept cock-teasing us with the battles. It seemed like every time one would start it'd cut away, or the doors would close, or we'd kinda get to see it on a TV. But maybe all of those teases is what made the full penetration of the final battle all the more great and what we got to see.

Just one question, the atomic breath obvious was very, very, effective in defeating the MUTOs, why didn't you do that in the first place, Godzilla?!

 

[davejames]

Actually I was kind of hoping the atomic breath would look a little more.... atomic-y, and more like a huge blast of energy. The bluish-white flame they used was cool, but not quite as impressive as I was hoping for.

 

[Yanks]

Actually I was kind of hoping the atomic breath would look a little more.... atomic-y, and more like a huge blast of energy. The bluish-white flame they used was cool, but not quite as impressive as I was hoping for.

Don't know about you, but I thought they just weren't going to do that at all...

... then you get the build-up starting at the tail and...

YES!!!!

 

[Yanks]

It was a *bit* frustrating how the movie kept cock-teasing us with the battles. It seemed like every time one would start it'd cut away, or the doors would close, or we'd kinda get to see it on a TV. But maybe all of those teases is what made the full penetration of the final battle all the more great and what we got to see.

Me too. I personally liked the "suspense" leading up to the epic huge battle at the end.

Just one question, the atomic breath obvious was very, very, effective in defeating the MUTOs, why didn't you do that in the first place, Godzilla?!

Well, you could see how much it drained him. Twice he had to rest after atomically thwarting the enemy.

 

[Trekker4747]

Actually I was kind of hoping the atomic breath would look a little more.... atomic-y, and more like a huge blast of energy. The bluish-white flame they used was cool, but not quite as impressive as I was hoping for.

I loved the look of the atomic breath and how it charged up his spine and just BLASTED out his mouth, it was just utterly awesome. I actually cheered and clapped when he used it the second time down the male MUTO's throat.

 

[sojourner]

So, anyone else bring up that this is a stealth sequel to Jaws yet? I mean the Brody family just seems to have the worst luck.

 

[Admiral2]

Saw it twice over the weekend. I am much pleased...

My only misgiving going in was knowing that G was going to fight other monsters. I always figured that since this was a story introducing Godzilla you didn't need other monsters. That reluctance disappeared five seconds into the first fight.

The highlights:

-Walter White lives!! And has hair! Just kidding! Bryan Cranston did a great job.

-Favorite scene is G versus the US Navy at the Golden Gate Bridge.

-And the definition of badass: GODZILLA FIRE BABY BIRD!!!

Solid A!

 

[Cyke101]

Just one question, the atomic breath obvious was very, very, effective in defeating the MUTOs, why didn't you do that in the first place, Godzilla?!

It seemed at least that the female MUTO's armor could withstand the atomic breath, reducing it to concussive force. It obviously pushed her back and knocked her for a loop, but she didn't stay down for long. Firing straight into her (mouth-to-mouth destruction) bypassed her armor, and fried enough of her insides to essentially allow Godzilla to decapitate her.

Which brings me to another point: I'm so glad that we have a clever Godzilla, unlike Zilla. Firing into instead of at the MUTO was smart. Luring the male MUTO into a trap by pretending not to notice the enemy was also damned good.

 

[Yanks]

So, anyone else bring up that this is a stealth sequel to Jaws yet? I mean the Brody family just seems to have the worst luck.

 

[davejames]

Yeah that whole sequence with Godzilla and the Navy ships, and the MUTO divebombing the destroyer, was pretty damn impressive.

Both of the train sequences were really nicely directed as well (the one with the commuter train barreling towards the MUTO and the train carrying the bomb).