I believe honestly and fervently that not only do blockbusters NOT have to suck, we live in a period of our culture where enough of potential audiences are savvy and hungry for good stories that blockbusters not sucking can legitimately become the norm. Further, if we really are living in the "pre-brand" era, then creative license can breathe new life into old franchises, stories, and characters, rectifying plotholes or unpleasant viewpoints or infusing them with new meaning and depth beyond one-note action montages (not everyone liked the IronMan 3 Mandarin, but damn if that wasn't one of the ballsiest moves in modern cinema). It's just hard to tell what the backroom compromises are between art and business that the directors and writers can have just enough control to make something unique and meaningful while pleasing the out-of-touch corporate overlords.
I haven't seen Godzilla, but I get the feeling that the success of what can be seen in terms of influence as interesting dramatic pacing by critics like Bob is going to come off to the studios as "MAKE IT DARKER! PEOPLE WANT IT!" Not looking forward to it.