Escape to the Movies: Godzilla - Breaking Kaiju

[Compatriot Block]

Watched it yesterday, and loved it despite having a few complaints. But I was absolutely satisfied and hope to see another one.

Maybe it's because I expected it to have a lot of humans in it, like all the other Godzilla movies. Sure I think Bryan Cranston was easily one of the best parts, but I still had a bunch of fun because I went in expecting exactly what I got.

Human hubris, nuclear metaphors and a giant lizard saving us from ourselves. Plus Ken Watanabe's delivery of the word Gojirra made me so happy.

EDIT: After seeing so many people complain about too much fighting in Pacific Rim causing it to get old, I'm surprised to see people saying that this one had too little. I thought it made the fights seem more important, I guess.

 

[InkySpines]

EDIT: After seeing so many people complain about too much fighting in Pacific Rim causing it to get old, I'm surprised to see people saying that this one had too little. I thought it made the fights seem more important, I guess.

Pacific Rim had the MINIMUM amount of optimal Kaiju action IMO.

If there is one silver lining in this for me, it's that ticket sales appear good so far. Hopefully the US military stuff doesn't turn off the global audience too much. It didn't for Transformers at least.

If we can get a King Ghidorah sequel I will consider it well worth my $11.50 for matinee and popcorn.

 

[Compatriot Block]

EDIT: After seeing so many people complain about too much fighting in Pacific Rim causing it to get old, I'm surprised to see people saying that this one had too little. I thought it made the fights seem more important, I guess.

Pacific Rim had the MINIMUM amount of optimal Kaiju action IMO.

If there is one silver lining in this for me, it's that ticket sales appear good so far. Hopefully the US military stuff doesn't turn off the global audience too much. It didn't for Transformers at least.

If we can get a King Ghidorah sequel I will consider it well worth my $11.50 for matinee and popcorn.

I actually agree with you for the type of movie Pacific Rim is. For whatever reason, though, I actually like that Godzilla has a bit less action.

Not that I'd complain if there was more. Just that I can appreciate trying to make the fights seem more important.

Pacific Rim is still the sickest shit, though. Loved that too.

Also, I didn't mind the military stuff as much as I thought I would. They seemed fairly competent (or at least tried to be) and they went straight to the expert scientist for help when their plans didn't work. Hell, the only real victory the got was getting the nuke out of the middle of San Francisco, since they couldn't even scratch the monsters. They managed to avoid making me see them as an obstacle, which isn't common for me in monster movies.

 

[PuckFuppet]

Preface: I didn't watch a _single_ trailer for this film and steered clear of every kind of spoiler. All I had to go on was this poster.

http://www.godzilla-movies.com/media/godzilla2014_poster2.jpg

I found the film to be within the expectations I had for it, it is worth noting that giant monster films aren't something that I actively seek out though I still maintain Pacific Rim was probably last years best film. Hands down. But what struck me more than anything is how annoying it would have been to have seen the trailers then the film, I mean surely the trailers would spoil the _entire_ plot which is easily the most frustrating thing about trailers these days. There is no mystery there, no sense of anticipation having been fed a snippet of what is to come, everything is usually right there in some form or another and if there is one thing people are want to do these days it is delve into a trailer like it needs to be absolutely dissected for every possible inkling of what the film might be.

Colour me shocked when I saw that the trailer essentially did the same job as the first 20-30 minutes of the film, in that it set up the key ideas and introduced some context. I don't see why the trailer being less a complete overview and more of a suggested lead in is a bad thing?

In fact surely the _problem_ with the film industry these days is that trailers make or kill films because of how the people who make them know the trailers will be thoroughly examined by the people who are usually most vocal about this sort of thing?

That the film industry is deliberately feeding nerds and other enthusiasts all they need to come to a reasonable conclusion about a film, regardless of what it spoils or doesn't, in the hope that all the frankly condescending titillation and "blink and miss it" info drops that'll keep people buzzing about the film. Fully aware that they're ruining the film for these people so they can drive up word of mouth for a quick buck because the people they're directing it at are already sold as an audience.

So that they don't need to make films for those people, they don't need to make films that'll please an aficionado like MovieBob _because they already have your money_.

EDIT: Of course, if that was to happen, If studios developed a more efficient hype train that let them cut down on advertising costs and still get mega-bucks thus allowing films to have some sense of "suspense" even for an enthusiast... you'd be out of a job Bob.

From that perspective, you're why you don't like the films about the things you like. You _are_ the darkness Bob.

 

[Varanfan9]

As a long standing Godzilla fan, Bob's criticism is largely unfounded. Practically every Godzilla movie focuses mainly on the human characters, and this one did it better than most. The human plot moved around quickly, and it also succeeded where Cloverfield failed. It showed a monster fight/rampage from a human level, but still had the monster in it, and made them feel titanic. This movie felt really food to watch, and it was spectacular to watch. To me, this movie felt like Avengers. The only part you came to see is the last 20 minutes, and to get the full effect of those last 20 minutes, you need all the build up to you. That's not to say the rest of the movie is bad. I fully enjoyed this movie, and would recommend it to any person, and especially to Godzilla fans.

 

[Tim Chuma]

At least it might convince Toho to make another Godzilla movie like they did after the 1998 film.

In the later Godzilla movies people could take the monsters toe-to-toe. Madman Entertainment in Australia released all bar five Godzilla movies in box sets.

Was huge cheers in the midnight screening when Godzilla destroyed the Sydney Opera House (Melbourne audience to a T).

While Final Wars was fun, Destroy All Monsters is still my favourite all in monster movie brawl. I could not stomach Son of Godzilla.

Pacific Rim/Godzilla crossover next?

I don't think there are too many superhero movies, just too many being made to the same cookie-cutter formula.

 

[Gerardo Vazquez]

So much negativity stemming off Bob these days I think I will be confusing him with Yahtzee at some point. Can anybody give me an example of a reboot he actually liked ? Any reboot. Ι am getting a feeling that he is so attached to his childhood memories that if someone so much as tries to alter them and create something new, he is 100% against it and on day one.

Edit: just came back from seeing it. Yeah, Bob likes to blow things out of proportion when it comes to childhood memories. The human story wasn't nearly as bad as he made it out to be. Also, Johnson and Olsen ? They did fine, they weren't given a lot to do in this movie. In fact, the entirety of their lines could be written down in a couple of pages I think. And THAT's what has Bob's wand in a knot about Age of Ultron ? With Whedon directing it ?

Overreacting much ?

While I'm not entirely against reboots, and I think some are good films in their own right, I'm also pretty peeved when people defend them by going "The ONLY reason you hate ~Insert name of Reboot~ is because you're so attached to the original, and can't recognize this for the good film it is.". While hating reboots for the sake of hating reboots is bad accusing people of only disliking them, because they're reboots, and not because they have glaring flaws isn't much better.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I felt that the emphasis on the military was a big failing of this film. The point of the military in a Godzilla film is to show how powerful Big G is when he absolutely wrecks them. And you know what? That's exactly what happens in this film. Every single action the military takes in Godzilla is an utter failure, right down the main character failing to disarm the bomb (the job he was flipping trained for!). Why it felt the need to focus on the military's bungling of a Kaiju attack is a question only Hollywood can answer.

My favorite scene in the film was actually when Godzilla smashed through the Golden Gate bridge. The focus was on the panicked bus driver, desperate to get away from giant stompy death. I don't have a problem with humans in Godzilla movies, but I would have liked this film a lot more if there were more scenes like this. How Godzilla affects individuals in different ways. Not just the military failure.

 

[daxterx2005]

ha, if you didn't flat out say that was kick-ass I wouldn't have even known.
He's come a long way from being the little dweeby guy.

 

[Gatx]

I just saw the movie tonight, and it's definitely got that Transformers-y thing going on of it focusing too much on the human element. It's like, there's a Godzilla movie playing out definitely, but THIS movie is like a weird side movie about what this one random dude is doing at the time. I think they could've had a much better, more monster-centric storyline if they had focused on Cranston's character rather than the son.

 

[schwegburt]

Just watched it too. It was DECENT, not great but not bad.

Bob's absolutely right about the Transformers thing. I wanted to see more of the monsters not Lieutenant Hurt Locker White Bread. Ford Mustang did a decent job and I did like his character a bit. But it's hard not to considering they made him a100% all American good guy. I can definitely see the pandering Bob complained about and I didn't like it.

And speaking of which. Ken Watanabe should have been the main actor in the movie. And you know for a fact that the only reason he didn't get it comes from Hollywood's fear of casting an Asian dude, a middle aged one at that, as the lead role in a blockbuster.

Bob highlighted Godzilla's faults well. I still liked the movie but they could have cut out chunks of it to make room for the monsters. Then slash up Sgt Dodge Durango's scenes in favor highlighting Ken Watanabe.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

It's kind of fascinating to me how divisive this movie is.

Both people and critics seem to be completely split. They either love it to death or despise it.

I for one, dug the hell out of it. My feelings toward it were exactly that of the snobbish critics you described. I thought the lack of Godzilla actually appearing made it seem all the more powerful and earthshaking when he finally did show up.
But then I also really like all the humans. I don't even know what you're talking about when you saw the main character was bland and poorly acted. I thought he was quite complex and that the actor did a really good job. He gave us the military perspective, his family, who I also really liked, gave the civilian perspective and the Asian scientist gave the overworld view.
I also thought it was a lot better in terms of the US military than you gave it credit for. They did a good job of making the soldiers actual people. They also showed the military as trigger-happy maniacs when they started shooting with the buses on the bridge, so it's a bit unfair to compare it to Transformers.

So I adored it, but it's really interesting to see the varying opinions on this.

EDIT: I did have one major problem and I've been trying to figure it out, but I can't, so maybe someone can help me: Why did the M.U.T.O. go [i/]away[/i] from Yucca Mountain? Why didn't they both instantly flock to it like internet denizens to nude anthropomorphic animals?

 

[IrisNetwork]

Bob, you're not the only one to compare this to Jaws AND Transformers.
I just saw Trilbee reviews and he did pretty much the same on YouTube. A bit more emphasis on the pacing.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

Sounds like they took everything about the classic Godzilla movies -the terrible human drama, the awesome monster battles- and multiplied them by the same ratios as the difference between the budgets- the budget is a hundred times as large, the terrible human drama is a hundred times as terrible and the aweseome monster battles are a hundred times as awesome. Only they got the ratios a bit off, so the terrible human drama ends up totally overshadowing the awesome monster battles to the point where they make the movie almost unwatchable.

Tragic really. I think I'll just skip this one and watch the climactic actions scenes when they leak onto YouTube later this year.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

You know what was a good example of suspense? The ORIGINAL Godzilla. Like within this film, you don't see the monster for the first half of the movie, but it's filled with interesting characters trying to unravel what the fuck is going on, building up slowly till they find out what is happening and how utterly screwed they all are.

 

[katsabas]

So much negativity stemming off Bob these days I think I will be confusing him with Yahtzee at some point. Can anybody give me an example of a reboot he actually liked ? Any reboot. Ι am getting a feeling that he is so attached to his childhood memories that if someone so much as tries to alter them and create something new, he is 100% against it and on day one.

Edit: just came back from seeing it. Yeah, Bob likes to blow things out of proportion when it comes to childhood memories. The human story wasn't nearly as bad as he made it out to be. Also, Johnson and Olsen ? They did fine, they weren't given a lot to do in this movie. In fact, the entirety of their lines could be written down in a couple of pages I think. And THAT's what has Bob's wand in a knot about Age of Ultron ? With Whedon directing it ?

Overreacting much ?

While I'm not entirely against reboots, and I think some are good films in their own right, I'm also pretty peeved when people defend them by going "The ONLY reason you hate ~Insert name of Reboot~ is because you're so attached to the original, and can't recognize this for the good film it is.". While hating reboots for the sake of hating reboots is bad accusing people of only disliking them, because they're reboots, and not because they have glaring flaws isn't much better.

I would not be thinking that if Bob actually shared reboots he liked but up to this point, that number is zero. So, there's nothing this far that will convince me otherwise.

 

[heroicbob]

I actually thought that once it got to the monster fight it did a good job of portraying the humans as the ants among gods that they were. That whole nuke plot though it just seemed like they needed the main character to have something to do.

 

[tdylan]

Why can't the military just ask that the studios donate a chunk of the profits to veterans instead? I'm becoming bored of the US military.

Because doing so wouldn't be a tool in convincing young, able bodied Americans with limited prospects that signing up for a tour of duty if the way to go. So instead you end up with this not so subtle "join the military and when the world goes to shit, you'll be HALO jumping into the middle of it in order to save the day." Giving money to the veterans that served does nothing to help me recruitment quotas. Now, convincing folks that they're the world's only hope against Godzilla, THAT's something you can leverage

 

[FriedRicer]

Just been to see Godzilla.

What bugged me wasn't the human story. There isn't enough of it in the film. All Elizabeth olsen had to do was look panicked a bit.

What bugged me was what I refer to as 'call of duty fetishism'

When the US military assists in a production of a film, loaning hardware etc, they usually insist on some sort of imput. More and more it seems to become some sort of insidious propaganda piece where regardless of the situation the US military must play some part in saving the day. It was previously most noticeable in Transformers but those movies sucked.

Here it was really bugging me as the whole point is that humans are fairly ineffective against Godzilla, yet the film had the US military ignore key facts about the mutos for no other reason than an excuse for the script to have the marines drop into the middle of the action and help save the day mid kaiju fight.

Literally the epic battle between Godzilla and the mutos is kicking off and the film CUTS AWAY to the trailers now infamous Halo drop sequence. The end battle becomes something in the background to add flavor to the military heroism.

Why can't the military just ask that the studios donate a chunk of the profits to veterans instead? I'm becoming bored of the US military.

Agreed, they just kept PUSHING the military. It totally ruined,in my opinion, what little good the movie had.

 

[Gerardo Vazquez]

So much negativity stemming off Bob these days I think I will be confusing him with Yahtzee at some point. Can anybody give me an example of a reboot he actually liked ? Any reboot. Ι am getting a feeling that he is so attached to his childhood memories that if someone so much as tries to alter them and create something new, he is 100% against it and on day one.

Edit: just came back from seeing it. Yeah, Bob likes to blow things out of proportion when it comes to childhood memories. The human story wasn't nearly as bad as he made it out to be. Also, Johnson and Olsen ? They did fine, they weren't given a lot to do in this movie. In fact, the entirety of their lines could be written down in a couple of pages I think. And THAT's what has Bob's wand in a knot about Age of Ultron ? With Whedon directing it ?

Overreacting much ?

While I'm not entirely against reboots, and I think some are good films in their own right, I'm also pretty peeved when people defend them by going "The ONLY reason you hate ~Insert name of Reboot~ is because you're so attached to the original, and can't recognize this for the good film it is.". While hating reboots for the sake of hating reboots is bad accusing people of only disliking them, because they're reboots, and not because they have glaring flaws isn't much better.

I would not be thinking that if Bob actually shared reboots he liked but up to this point, that number is zero. So, there's nothing this far that will convince me otherwise.

It could just be that all the reboots Bob has reviewed have noteworthy flaws that prevent Bob from enjoying than, rather than him simply not liking them because they're reboots, but I'm not Bob so I can't espouse his opinions and it hardly matters to me what you think of his opinion. Having just seen the film last night I can say I agree with some of Bob's points, Kickass and Scarlet Witch have too much screen time compared to Bryan Cranston and Ichiro Serizawa who are the films most interesting human characters. I agree that they're fine actors, and simply weren't given much to do but not giving them much to do is a fault of the writing and thus a strike against the film. I ultimately wasn't hung up on Godzilla's motivation like Bob was and the action ultimately bumped the a 6/10 movie to an 8/10 movie. Fun to watch the first time but would wait until I can rent it on DVD and skip straight to the fight scene rather than watch it again like Winter Soldier.