Godzilla (Gareth Edwards)

[EvilShoe]

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140331204937/godzilla/images/3/3f/Godzilla-snickers-2.jpg

[TGM]

This movie was freaking awesome. Loved every minute of it.

[eternity]

A colossal bore with some really piss poor plotting. At least the Godzilla fights were very well done; almost redeemed the movie. Almost.

[Scar]

Glorious. Absolutely glorious.

[Wryan]

Goddamn. Is this the most outright beautiful Big Monsters Cause Havoc movie ever? It just might be. Shit's gorgeous. It's also almost charming the way the monsters are sort of incidental to the story. The human stuff mostly works, in a plain sort of way. If Edwards gets another one, and I don't doubt that he will, I hope he uses this as a springboard to a little more monster mashing and a little less teasing. Taylor-Johnson was a bit stiff. Cranston kooks well.

[megladon8]

Freaking incredible.

Guillermo del Toro just got schooled.

This was unbelievable. The pace, the build of tension, the freaking scale. I absolutely adored how the three monsters all developed personality and characteristics of their own.

Just awesome. I really hope this one does well.

[Morris Schæffer]

It's a yay for me as well. Incredible I wouldn't say since there are things wrong. @Meg: Godzilla developed a personality? I think mostly because of what Watanabe said, but the monster itself merely stands tall and proudly, looks awe-inspiring, but that's about it. Perhaps there were details I missed. Still, I'm on your side, it's fun, spectacular and transcends mere pyrotechnics. There are some great shots

[bac0n]

Best daikaiju flick since GMK. Easily. More detailed review to follow, but I'm just beside myself right now and can hardly think straight, much less type. There were so many easter eggs for G-fans I was worried I was going to soil myself. The best was that Akira Takarada - one of the principals from the original Gojira - had a cameo. God bless you, Gareth.

I really hope this kills at the box office so that we get another one.

[Scar]

Best daikaiju flick since GMK. Easily. More detailed review to follow, but I'm just beside myself right now and can hardly think straight, much less type. There were so many easter eggs for G-fans I was worried I was going to soil myself. The best was that Akira Takarada - one of the principals from the original Gojira - had a cameo. God bless you, Gareth.

I really hope this kills at the box office so that we get another one.

Pity I couldn't make the 2:00 with you guys. Well, maybe not. We might have gotten thrown out.

[bac0n]

Pity I couldn't make the 2:00 with you guys. Well, maybe not. We might have gotten thrown out.

Probably. I was yelling toward the end. Particularly at the HOLY SHIT HELL YES moment. You know the one.

[Scar]

Probably. I was yelling toward the end. Particularly at the HOLY SHIT HELL YES moment. You know the one.

OPEN WIDE!

[Scar]

I was grinning ear to ear when it looked like he was going to do the classic jaw break, and then began laughing with joy when he took it up a notch.

[megladon8]

The moment you guys are talking about, and the tail swipe, were better giant monster fighting moments than anything in Pacific Rim IMO.

Fuck this movie was amazing.

Godzilla was a BAD-ASS. I wanted more right away.

Honestly, the only thing that could have made this movie better would have been a montage sequence of Godzilla training at the bottom of the ocean for the upcoming brawl, all to the tune of "Push it to the Limit".

[Scar]

Honestly, the only thing that could have made this movie better would have been a montage sequence of Godzilla training at the bottom of the ocean for the upcoming brawl, all to the tune of "Push it to the Limit".

Close:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fWvub_WBho&feature=kp

or, the obvious:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFvs2P8z1Xs

[megladon8]

Since this movie should rightfully spawn a series of 10+ movies (because it's that good, and because Godzilla, and because shut up), they should have a training montage in every installment using a different song each time.

And there can be an old, curmudgeonly kaiju who's trying to get G-Man back in the game. He's always smoking a stogie and talking about "the good old days".

[Dead & Messed Up]

Best daikaiju flick since GMK. Easily. More detailed review to follow, but I'm just beside myself right now and can hardly think straight, much less type. There were so many easter eggs for G-fans I was worried I was going to soil myself. The best was that Akira Takarada - one of the principals from the original Gojira - had a cameo. God bless you, Gareth.

I really hope this kills at the box office so that we get another one.

I heard his cameo got cut. Is he still in it? And Edwards is a boss for using him.

[megladon8]

I heard his cameo got cut. Is he still in it? And Edwards is a boss for using him.


Yeah it was in there. It was a little moment, made Stan Lee's cameos in the Marvel films look like starring roles. But that he was there at all was really cool.

It's not a spoiler-ific moment, but I'll put it in spoilers in case you'd rather find out for yourself...

He plays a guy working an immigration counter.

[bac0n]

Yeah it was in there. It was a little moment, made Stan Lee's cameos in the Marvel films look like starring roles. But that he was there at all was really cool.

It's not a spoiler-ific moment, but I'll put it in spoilers in case you'd rather find out for yourself...

He plays a guy working an immigration counter.

I saw him in the credits, and marked the hell out. Didn't recognize him in the movie. Also saw that Andy Serkis was a consultant on motion capture. So the guy did King Kong AND Godzilla. He can die now and say that he lived a life worth living.

[bac0n]

BTW- Megs- you'll be happy to know I wore this shirt to the film today - a shirt you alerted me to several years ago,

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VhmOXLql6Y8/SwNXzyCDo7I/AAAAAAAAG5s/4b-d_QV5b6E/s1600/bottom-godzillavsgamera.jpg

[megladon8]

AWESOME!! Jen wore a Godzilla size comparison shirt, and I wore a Godzilla vs Cthulhu shirt :)

[bac0n]

AWESOME!! Jen wore a Godzilla size comparison shirt, and I wore a Godzilla vs Cthulhu shirt :)

Dude, PM me your latest cell number. we haven't talked in ages, I'm pretty sure the number I have for you is not current, and I wanna reverse-commiserate about Godzilla.

[Dukefrukem]

So bad.

Fucking Christ. Bryan Fuckin Cranston dies in the first 20 minutes... like WTF?

Just all over the place with this story- I think they wrote it based on the imagery on screen- "Gee how do we get them all to converge on the Golden Gate Bridge"

This Aaron Taylor-Johnson guy- Did he have a pulse? This is who you cast in a gritty major franchise reboot?

[Dukefrukem]

Guillermo del Toro just got schooled.


Ha!

No.

[megladon8]

So bad.

Fucking Christ. Bryan Fuckin Cranston dies in the first 20 minutes... like WTF?

I don't see what this has to do with the quality of the movie?

[Dukefrukem]

I don't see what this has to do with the quality of the movie?

Thinking that an A list actor would have more of a presence on screen and is instead replaced by a walking pile of meat doesn't hinder the movie's quality?

[number8]

I get the Spielberg comparisons now. This is the kind of movie he stopped making in the 90s. Fantastic directing.

[number8]

Matt Zoller Seitz wasn't exaggerating when he said there were 30-40 shots that are stuck in his head. The set pieces in this were extremely well thought out.

[number8]

I feel like JJ Abrams' entire directing career is trying to achieve half of what Edwards effortlessly did here.

[number8]

Good stuff, is what I'm saying here.

[megladon8]

Thinking that an A list actor would have more of a presence on screen and is instead replaced by a walking pile of meat doesn't hinder the movie's quality?


Well, Cranston isn't exactly A-list first of all. He's a TV actor. He's getting movie roles now because of the popularity of "Breaking Bad", but he's hardly George Clooney.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson has actually had more big movie roles than Cranston has. And he's playing a major role in The Avengers 2.

[Dukefrukem]

Cranston. Is. A-list. This is, not debatable. I've never heard of Aaron Taylor-Johnson until today.

[number8]

That shot. And that shot. And this shot. I can't stop thinking about this movie.

[Dukefrukem]

Well let me know when your reviews up because I can't remember any shot I enjoyed other than the halo jump.

[bac0n]

So, That Godzilla Guy offered an interesting perspective on Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performance. He was saying that ATJ played the role of a Soldier in Triage Mode to a T - basically a guy who needs to suck everything deep deep deep inside in order to do the terrible things that need to be done. And on top of that, he's in Explosive Ordinance Disposal. A fella needs to be ice cold to pull off that shit.

Anyway, taking a look at it from that angle, I would offer that he didn't do half bad a job at all.

[Skitch]

Cranston. Is. A-list. This is, not debatable. I've never heard of Aaron Taylor-Johnson until today.
Considering there are people here that think Kubrick only made one good movie, I'd say everything is up for debate. I wouldn't necessarily say ATJ is A-list, but I'd say he's higher up the Hollywood stock exchange than Cranston.

[Dukefrukem]

So, That Godzilla Guy offered an interesting perspective on Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performance. He was saying that ATJ played the role of a Soldier in Triage Mode to a T - basically a guy who needs to suck everything deep deep deep inside in order to do the terrible things that need to be done. And on top of that, he's in Explosive Ordinance Disposal. A fella needs to be ice cold to pull off that shit.

Anyway, taking a look at it from that angle, I would offer that he didn't do half bad a job at all.

That's fine if that was the intent. I guess I was expecting a little more human emotion here- When Cranston's character dies about half an hour in, it's all over for the human aspect of the film. So there's an hour and a half of boilerplate Hollywood drama centered on one of the most stiff and bland actors in the world. That's not enough for me. I know it's a monster movie- and it delivers this slowly, it's just not enough.

When we were talking about continuity issues in the Snowpiercer thread... Why deliver a nuke on a train? Why not fly it helicopter (as it's shown after the crash)? 27 Minutes to detonation, and you're gonna get group of guys to HAND carry the nuke from the deepest hole I've ever seen, to the ocean harbor, and put it on a fucking fishing boat that would barely crack 10 knots, and you think you're gonna send it out far enough into the Pacific before it explodes to save millions of people? Like, WTF? That's your plan... when you know the WHOLE TIME you're sending guys in via halo jump to dismantle the bomb because of the EMP bubble, why the fuck would you think the boat would work? Wouldn't it end up shutting off (as it did)? That's of course besides the time there's no way 27 minutes would buy you anything.

And for some reason these monsters are incredibly good at sneaking around. They don't make a single sound and then all of a sudden... they're right behind you! Whoa, where did that guy come from?!

If you thought the military was bad in the 1998 Godzilla movie- shooting everything in NYC, wait to you see the 2014 Navy by the Golden Gate Bridge! 15 School buses, no problem we got that covered.

Oh, and that approach of Godzilla under the water, was done in the Emmerich movie. The building with the hole in it, done in the Emmerich movie. The Pacific Nuke stuff, done.

Edit 1:

And Ken Watanabe's character realizing that Cranston could help them was only slightly less hysterical than Matthew Broderick the earth worm expert helping stop Godzilla.

Edit 2:

What about the missing shots? Scenes just end and then we cut to somewhere else. The whole monorail scene in Hawaii where the rails get cut in half.. It would have been nice to see the end of that scene where ATJ saves that little kid. Yeh we see him grab his arm when he's sliding down to his death... but they are still dangling inside the monocar. Finish the scene Edwards.

[eternity]

Until Bryan Cranston headlines a movie that makes money, he's not A-list. Even the final season of Breaking Bad couldn't out-rate an NCIS rerun. I say this as a fan.

[megladon8]

Cranston. Is. A-list. This is, not debatable. I've never heard of Aaron Taylor-Johnson until today.

No he's not. I'm not sure you know what A list means. Those are the actors who can demand top dollar and are expectes to draw crowds with their presence.

Cranston isn't Brad Pitt, or Johnny Depp.

And of course you've heard of Johnson. He was Kick Ass.

[megladon8]

Until Bryan Cranston headlines a movie that makes money, he's not A-list. Even the final season of Breaking Bad couldn't out-rate an NCIS rerun. I say this as a fan.


Exactly.

He's a character actor with a fanbase for sure, but he's not put in a movie with the intent of being the crowd-creator.

I love the guy, but A-list he's not.

[Dukefrukem]

And of course you've heard of Johnson. He was Kick Ass.

Seeing Kick-Ass and knowing who someone is are two totally different things. I didn't make the connection until last night.

[dreamdead]

This was... ok. It's helped by quality actors in supporting roles willing to lend pathos to otherwise silliness. The biggest fault lies in something duke addresses, which is a habitual ending of scenes before the main idea is actually expressed or developed. The whole watch from Watanabe's father could be interesting and insightful, but these characters all speak in aphorisms rather than holding a position and arguing it. At some point the refusal to emphatically address the flaws of nuclear warfare lead to the submission that "let them fight" is all the more we want to see.

And yes, we do want to see them fight. But the original film also had the humans grappling with weighty moral issues. And this one hesitates--is Godzilla still born of nuclear warfare? If not, is he meant to a surrogate for Japan--hurt by American bomb tests, but willing to protect its global ally? Is Godzilla a Native American surrogate, scalping the Other?

What's it all mean? The film never commits in the way that the scientist in Honda's Godzilla totally commits, and that's the drain of this. That said, some of the orchestrated sequences--the train attack, the final white fireballs, etc.--are viscerally thrilling. It's just that it doesn't hold up a consistent position and argue it with nearly the depth.

[Ezee E]

Delete everything until the soldiers jump out of that plane (with a wonderful score to boot) and I wouldn't bat an eye. Once that moment starts, everything is solid. The transitions from Godzilla fighting to the soldiers on the ground are very well-done too.

It's that first 100 minutes of rather boring set up, subplots, and 1/2 actions scenes that make me kind of dislike the movie. It'd be like if Spielberg cut Jurassic Park before the T-Rex chases after the Jeep. It seems like there's a few scenes where there's 4-5 minutes more, but it's just gone.

Cranston's the only character that seems to be trying out of the group.

But yes, the shot that Scar has been raving about is well justified. That was awesome.

[megladon8]

Did anyone else love the punctuating "DUN DUN!" music when he pulls the finishing move on the female Muto?

[Kurosawa Fan]

Hated the human element. Hated ATJ. Hated the fact that the writing was so intent on subverting expectations every chance it had. Hated the plot holes. Loved everything involving Godzilla and the MUTOs so much I still liked the movie and want to see it again.

I'll expand on this either tonight after GoT or tomorrow morning.

It's worth mentioning that my kids were in love, which was just too awesome for words.

[Watashi]

Godzilla was all over this movie. Not getting the "Not enough Godzilla" complaint at all.

[Watashi]

Anyways, phenomenal directing. Beautiful set pieces.

The movie can't escape some Emmerichisms that have been popularized by mayhem disaster movies (little girl/dog surviving while everyone else dies horribly, wife keeps missing the phone, etc), but thankfully the film featured more monster brawling than I was lead to believe (the entire last half is all Godzilla/MUTO).

This is the anti-Bay tentpole blockbuster. A film that teases instead of shoving everything in your face and you feel exhausted.

Sequel idea: Godzilla vs. Sally Hawkins.

[number8]

This was... ok. It's helped by quality actors in supporting roles willing to lend pathos to otherwise silliness. The biggest fault lies in something duke addresses, which is a habitual ending of scenes before the main idea is actually expressed or developed. The whole watch from Watanabe's father could be interesting and insightful, but these characters all speak in aphorisms rather than holding a position and arguing it. At some point the refusal to emphatically address the flaws of nuclear warfare lead to the submission that "let them fight" is all the more we want to see.

And yes, we do want to see them fight. But the original film also had the humans grappling with weighty moral issues. And this one hesitates--is Godzilla still born of nuclear warfare? If not, is he meant to a surrogate for Japan--hurt by American bomb tests, but willing to protect its global ally? Is Godzilla a Native American surrogate, scalping the Other?

What's it all mean? The film never commits in the way that the scientist in Honda's Godzilla totally commits, and that's the drain of this. That said, some of the orchestrated sequences--the train attack, the final white fireballs, etc.--are viscerally thrilling. It's just that it doesn't hold up a consistent position and argue it with nearly the depth.

I thought it was consistent within itself, and surprisingly gels with the 1954 original's pacifist anti-weapon undertone. I thought they'd try to update it to a purely American allegory (I was kind of bracing myself for another outdated war on terror milieu) but it goes back to the arms race again, which I found appropriate. The big high-concept irony of the movie is that the MUTOs are attacking superpower countries--Japan and US--because we happen to have more nuclear programs, and the US military's attempt to use it backfired on them in the third act (as Dr. Serizawa's watch warned). The message can't be any more blunt there.

Serizawa also keeps talking about the kaijus in environmental terms (arrogance of man, yadda yadda), effectively painting the kaijus as stand-ins for the forces of nature. It's saying that what country we dictates can and cannot have nuclear programs is futile, because it doesn't mean shit if it nature can turn it back against us, like what happened to Fukushima.

[Kurosawa Fan]

My problems with the narrative, outside of ATJ being terrible:


The constant need to subvert expectations was the most frustrating part of the writing. Hey, here's Juliet Binoche! Ha, we killed her right away! Okay, no big deal. But then the same thing happens with Cranston, who at that point was the most interesting character. He's tossed aside for the utterly useless characters portrayed by Watanabe and Hawkins (whose uselessness are no fault of their own as they are a victim of poor writing). They added nothing to the experience. They're often passive figures making the same astonished/inquisitive/frustrated faces at the camera. We follow them everywhere while they offer nothing in the way of insight. The only character capable of relating important information (Cranston) is killed off. Then we get his block of wood son as a replacement, the bomb expert who, surprise again, never disarms a bomb! He's invincible to the point of laughability, and aside from rescuing a little boy from falling out of a monorail and being the only person with enough sense to destroy all of the eggs that the female MUTO laid, he serves no practical function. His relationship with his wife and son is never really satisfied, his relationship with his father is too quickly tossed aside, and so he just wanders in the monsters' path, a constant victim of their chaos. And speaking of disarming that bomb, we are informed earlier in the picture that this is a 100 kiloton bomb, not like the 20 kiloton that was dropped on Japan, and that it will be catastrophic to both monsters and California when detonated. Then it detonates to no ill-effect, another surprise, since everyone was thinking he'd roll over and gather enough strength to stop it from going off after Godzilla so epically clears the way for him. Nope, gotcha again! He's just too tired. The film would have been infinitely better if Cranston is the main character, working with Watanabe. His relationship with his son is fractured because of Binoche's death. This entire act is closure that better serves to bring them together. Ditch his extraneous wife and child completely. Instead, we get two completely half-baked stories from father and son that are dramatically inert, and two scientists who offer very little in the way of charisma or, well, science.

Godzilla and the fight that everyone knows is coming is also teased too often. We keep seeing it in the background of TV broadcasts, only to have it cut away quickly. That's a minor issue in the end, as the fight was incredible enough to forgive that decision. Then there's the fake-out death of Godzilla, that tired trope that continues to rear its ugly head, and his "rebirth" that sends exactly no one screaming and running, a silly absurdity with which to end the film. I mean, I know he bailed humanity out big time, but he's still a GIANT FUCKING MONSTER that could accidentally step on hundreds on his walk back to the sea.

So, yeah. That's going to sound like I hated it, when in reality, the scale of the monsters and their fights were so well-captured and choreographed that I still liked the film and didn't want the fight to end. I'm in for a sequel. I just hope more care is given to a much better story this time around.

[number8]

That actually fits in with what I was saying before. None of the human characters amounted to anything because the point of the movie is that we should be useless in the face of nature (the arrogance of man). It's more in the disaster movie mold where the impetus is to just survive, because trying to win is futile. The humans were thematically doomed from the get-go, and they're really more of point-of-view characters than actual protagonists.

I like Matt Zoller Seitz's review (http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/godzilla-2014) a lot, mainly because he ends it with the exact same George Carlin routine that popped into my head when I saw the movie.

[Kurosawa Fan]

That actually fits in with what I was saying before. None of the human characters amounted to anything because the point of the movie is that we should be useless in the face of nature (the arrogance of man). It's more in the disaster movie mold where the impetus is to just survive, because trying to win is futile. The humans were thematically doomed from the get-go, and they're really more of point-of-view characters than actual protagonists.

I like Matt Zoller Seitz's review (http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/godzilla-2014) a lot, mainly because he ends it with the exact same George Carlin routine that popped into my head when I saw the movie.

I would have an easier time getting on board with that and finding less fault in the film if those characters that were useless were at least interesting. Watanabe, Hawkins, Strathairn, ATJ, Olson, et. al., were so lifeless and dull, it magnified their uselessness to the point of distraction. And that doesn't explain away the weaknesses in the establishment of the characters' relationships to one another. It's telling that Binoche's death is the most affecting, considering her relationship to her husband and son is given the least amount of screen time. Cranston's death, and the danger constantly facing ATJ and his wife and son had very little impact on me.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Also, isn't the implication in Serizawa's quote about nature finding a balance, and then having Godzilla save humanity and recede into the sea, that the world won't shake us off like fleas as Carlin suggested? That nature will find a way to come to our rescue, only that rescue will be completely out of our hands?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Also, isn't the implication in Serizawa's quote about nature finding a balance, and then having Godzilla save humanity and recede into the sea, that the world won't shake us off like fleas as Carlin suggested? That nature will find a way to come to our rescue, only that rescue will be completely out of our hands?

There but for the grace of Godzilla go we.

[Kurosawa Fan]

There but for the grace of Godzilla go we.

Serizawa does call him a god in the film...

[number8]

Also, isn't the implication in Serizawa's quote about nature finding a balance, and then having Godzilla save humanity and recede into the sea, that the world won't shake us off like fleas as Carlin suggested? That nature will find a way to come to our rescue, only that rescue will be completely out of our hands?

But Godzilla's not there to save us. Serizawa was talking about it in a food chainy hunter-prey kinda way. So we have this arms race with nuclear weapons to become top dog, then up comes kaijus that goes after that, and then comes Godzilla to come after them.

If you remember the full Carlin routine, he was talking about how people shouldn't really worry about saving the Earth, because nature knows how to take a beating and adapt. What we're really worried about is the Earth not being habitable for us. The planet can take our plastic waste and learn how to foster life alongside it, but we as a species will be fucked. That's the part of the routine that popped into my head, and what really separates this movie philosophically from Pacific Rim for me. Godzilla and the MUTOs are just nature at work, and we're all so insignificant in the face of that happening. We don't matter to Godzilla. We're pebbles and trash on the ground.

[Kurosawa Fan]

But Godzilla's not there to save us. Serizawa was talking about it in a food chainy hunter-prey kinda way. So we have this arms race with nuclear weapons to become top dog, then up comes kaijus that goes after that, and then comes Godzilla to come after them.

If you remember the full Carlin routine, he was talking about how people shouldn't really worry about saving the Earth, because nature knows how to take a beating and adapt. What we're really worried about is the Earth not being habitable for us. The planet can take our plastic waste and learn how to foster life alongside it, but we as a species will be fucked. That's the part of the routine that popped into my head, and what really separates this movie philosophically from Pacific Rim for me. Godzilla and the MUTOs are just nature at work, and we're all so insignificant in the face of that happening. We don't matter to Godzilla. We're pebbles and trash on the ground.

Hmm. I agree with your point in regards to the irrelevance of a nuclear arms race, but I'm not sure I saw it the same way in regards to the fate of humanity. Godzilla may not care about humanity, but he also isn't a threat. The other two kaiju were a threat, attacking humanity constantly and purposefully. Godzilla came from the deep not with us in mind, I grant you that, but the result is that his actions saved us. I still feel like Serizawa's ultimate point about nature balancing itself was in regards to humans giving themselves over to nature and allowing nature to take its course. In that way, we would survive. Any attempt to control nature (via nuclear attack) would prove futile and lead to our own demise (since it would kill Godzilla as well). The metaphor being that humans need to accept that we have to find a way to live in accordance with nature rather than living however we want and attempting to control the consequences of our way of life.

Am I being clear? It's late in the work day on a Monday, so I'm not exactly sure I'm saying what I mean to say.

[megladon8]

Jen and I felt that Godzilla really didn't give two shits about humanity - he was there restoring balance to the world (nature).

The MUTO's (described several times as a "parasite") were a threat to the world as a whole, and to the balance of nature. He was saving the world in a literal sense, not us.

Which could lead to a sequel idea in which Godzilla comes to attack us, because we are threatening the balance of nature.

[number8]

Hmm. I agree with your point in regards to the irrelevance of a nuclear arms race, but I'm not sure I saw it the same way in regards to the fate of humanity. Godzilla may not care about humanity, but he also isn't a threat. The other two kaiju were a threat, attacking humanity constantly and purposefully. Godzilla came from the deep not with us in mind, I grant you that, but the result is that his actions saved us. I still feel like Serizawa's ultimate point about nature balancing itself was in regards to humans giving themselves over to nature and allowing nature to take its course. In that way, we would survive. Any attempt to control nature (via nuclear attack) would prove futile and lead to our own demise (since it would kill Godzilla as well). The metaphor being that humans need to accept that we have to find a way to live in accordance with nature rather than living however we want and attempting to control the consequences of our way of life.

Am I being clear? It's late in the work day on a Monday, so I'm not exactly sure I'm saying what I mean to say.

I get what you're saying, and I don't think our points are contradictory. It's just that, considering the act of walking up shore alone killed probably several thousand Hawaiaan tourists (to say nothing of the San Francisco brawl), I see Godzilla more of an inevitable wrath-of-nature and humanity is insignificant at his wake. Sure, he didn't directly target humanity, but I think it's pretty hard to quantify "threat" in natural disasters, and that's how I saw his appearance. Hurricanes aren't out to kill us, either, but certain elements of nature bring them out, and when they do, we get fucked. Those disasters, and the kaijus in the movie, are the ways in which, like Carlin said, the planet will keep on truckin to blance itself out, and we're not really in consideration when it does.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Okay, that makes sense. I guess the only difference in my view from yours and MZS is that I think the film is more optimistic in regards to humanity than that Carlin reference implied. Great points though. Gave me more to think about. I still wish the characters had been more interesting, and the family drama better realized, but I'm looking forward to watching it again with my kids.

[megladon8]

All this being said I do think Watanabe's character made some absolutely enormous leaps of logic in his monologues.

Even the idea that Godzilla was going to fight the MUTO's seemed like a stretch.

Imagine if Godzilla came up and was all like "hey buddies, long time no see!" and then the three of them started tearing shit up together.

Man would his face have been red.

[bac0n]

All this being said I do think Watanabe's character made some absolutely enormous leaps of logic in his monologues.

That's a tried and true Daikaiju convention. Some guy with Dr. in his title makes some huge leap of logic and/or sweeping prediction based on what is essentially a hunch. His word is taken without question. And it invariably proves true in the end. That being said, this movie had a lot of the genre conventions down pretty well.

1) Kickass move to finish off the bad-guy: CHECK

2) Some silly philosophical how-haw about Godzilla's role as a protector, or the insignificance of humanity in the grand scheme of things: CHECK

3) Military keeps unleashing barrage after barrage on the beasts, despite it being demonstrated very early that it doesn't do anything more than annoy them: CHECK.

4) The scientists are always right: CHECK.

5) Godzilla tail whip: CHECK

6) Iconic landmarks trashed: CHECK

But, regrettably, for all its adherence to genre tropes, it fails miserably in the most important one of them all:

7) Annoying high-pitched smart-alecky Japanese schoolboy with his shorts pulled all the way up his butt-crack: FAIL

[Henry Gale]

Hrrrmmm, lots to catch up on in this thread, and there are some elements I liked, but my general feeling is:

"Ennhh, not so good, Al."

http://i.imgur.com/aFsuz3B.jpg

[number8]

This photo.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/16ac6f6d125ef057d1c72df8eb2a5f 06/tumblr_n5tljkil7Z1rodp90o1_500 .jpg

[bac0n]

This photo.

.. is my new avatar. Thanks!

[Milky Joe]

My review of this movie:

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/d6/d6c4791293a08c4d171abcc6dc81b5 07afd68b4dd26221b6ffd49f16c609 2e1c.jpg

[megladon8]

It's okay, Milky...we can all be wrong sometimes :)

[Dead & Messed Up]

Look, as long as the one monster smashes the other monster but good, I'll be a happy duck.

[Stay Puft]

That's the part of the routine that popped into my head, and what really separates this movie philosophically from Pacific Rim for me. Godzilla and the MUTOs are just nature at work, and we're all so insignificant in the face of that happening. We don't matter to Godzilla. We're pebbles and trash on the ground.

Yeah, this is what I liked about the film. That philosophy informs every thread of fabric in this film's tapestry. I personally loved the shots of Godzilla swimming across the ocean, the US Navy's ships flanking and following. No different than the flock of birds flying around Godzilla's head at the end, when Godzilla departs the city. Battleships and birds alike, we don't fucking matter.

Otherwise, I do have to agree with a lot of the criticisms thrown at the film. But something nobody has mentioned yet is the Hawaii sequence, or specifically the first reveal of Godzilla. I thought it was poorly done, and anti-climactic. Clumsy shot selection (and just conceptually bizarre in general, considering you can't actually hide Godzilla anywhere in that environment) and the "Emmerichisms" Wats pointed out were a little weird, too. A disappointment, considering the rest of the action is generally impressive and well thought out.

[Milky Joe]

Hrrrmmm, lots to catch up on in this thread, and there are some elements I liked, but my general feeling is:

"Ennhh, not so good, Al."

So, what was your favorite scene H.G.? For me it's either when the Hunky-Yet-Sensitive Marine Hero saves a small Asian boy from a train derailment and then loses him in a crowd only to see him tearfully reunite with his parents, or when the Hunky-Yet-Sensitive Marine Hero shares a tender moment of recognition with the 100-story-tall lizard. Thank God for the Marines! I also liked the scene where his wife, who is a NURSE, you see, uhh... screams in fear while crowded in with a bunch of other people. Or that other time when she screams, only louder.

I also liked when David Straithairn appeared for about two scenes of unconvincing Military Leadership before disappearing completely. Seriously, the movie was a goddamn mess. It felt like it was rewritten 6 times by about 12 different writers working independently of one another.

[Henry Gale]

I dunno, there's so much swirling around my head, or at least the stuff that left any sort of impression, that I'm not even sure where to start.

I mean, right off the bat there's the movie not knowing what else to do with Cranston other than kill him off, even after Watanabe's character extends a hand to find a use for him, and most importantly for me, despite the fact that his final scene with Binoche is probably the first and last scene that I really found involving or emotionally resonating on any kind of level.

And look, there's Sally Hawkins being wasted by having next to no memorable lines, distinguishable motive, an arc of any form, or even given any discernible actions that result in anything relevant. But at least there's the "important" Taylor-Johnson & Olsen and their complete blank slate of a family dynamic. They barely have any established time on screen together to get a sense of any sort of everyday life, history between them, or any sort of bite-sized impression of their love to even begin to care about them (making the family drama even in something like World War Z look masterful). We get maybe two scenes with them together, which culminate in a brief "Oh I gotta go, honey, cya soon!", with about the same amount of emphasis and weight or emphasis injected into it.

Then, as much as it seems to be everyone's key complaint, there's the sloppiness that is the first time we see might see our Godzilla in action and understand the extent of his abilities and tact. The scene is set up completely in the presence of characters we know, an established setting, and a cumulative conflict we understand as a result of them clashing -- but instead we're ejected from it and thrown to Olsen's son half-interested by it on a TV news report (where the headline seems to be "Thousands Missing" instead of "FUCKING PREHISTORIC-LOOKING MONSTER FIGHTS GLOWING ALIEN-LIKE INSECT IN HAWAII" while she's in the other room having her (first of many) clunky phone conversations with Taylor-Johnson only vaguely about it. And it's all comes off feeling like the filmmakers couldn't find a way to make a major sequence of Godzilla going up against the MUTOs interesting before the set up for ending, or they just genuinely (wrongfully) thought we would be more way more interested in flashing forward to the aforementioned family and their attempts at conveying anything believable or distinctive between them.

But at least there's a bunch of other characters at that point (hey look, there's Hawkins is in the background!) being given nothing else from the script but info dumps or stilted verbalizations of everything clearly happening around them.

The most unintentionally funny and insanely empty moment, where I officially felt like I was putting in more effort watching it than the script did designing what was on screen, was when we see Taylor-Johnson's character, instead of attempting anything to directly connect with Olsen, instantly telling someone (military? hospital worker?) to have him meet her in that area, and just that "I was supposed to meet her at the hospital but... [ennhh] I missed it." :|

Maybe I've already forgotten the plot mechanics of why there was so much mayhem despite this seemingly taking place in a world with our technology. Perhaps I missed a line about a cell network going down, but I swear every phone call in this movie takes place on land lines just because it's easier to manufacture drama out of that implied obstacle.

This is a movie that tells, tells, glimpses, teases, tells some more, and then finally shows in a major way in its final act. Too bad by that point I just couldn't care anymore.

Godzilla ends up being the most relatable character in this movie, and even he can't be bothered to show up for most of it. He comes in and essentially resolves everything (except for the MUTO eggs) in the movie in two short battles, all of which could've been completely thwarted by the human's nuclear boat plan working only slightly less terribly than it did. Seriously, that thing couldn't have gone more than a few hundred metres from the shore.

The way Godzilla finds himself at the end: Slumped over, exhausted, and then eventually mustering the energy to get up and disappear into the ocean. That was pretty much me, except substitute the ocean for defeatedly making my own way back home".

I can relate to you guys talking about how cool it is that the civilians and our characters feel so small and inconsequential to the drama between these god-like monsters, it's just a shame the script seems to follow the same mentality and still locks us squarely into the wrong side of that conflict for 90% of it.

[Milky Joe]

+1 to everything you said. I cannot believe that they had Bryan f'n Cranston and Juliette f'n Binoche, based their whole ad campaign around having them, only to kill them off in the first twenty minutes, coincidentally the only part of the movie that had any kind of narrative momentum, cohesion, or emotional involvement. After Cranston dies the movie just goes off the rails and never comes back. It's a shame.

honestly that moment where the Broham meets eyes with Gojira felt like one of those TV spots you see for the Marines of a Lone Dude climbing a huge mountain and facing off with a sand monster or something. totally ridiculous.

[Henry Gale]

Absolutely. For some reason once that late part of the movie came about, a wave of drowsiness suddenly hit me all at once and I wasn't sure if that moment was actually happening. But you and the people I went with have since confirmed that it did indeed, for reasons beyond me.

I really wish I could see the movie everyone that's loved it did, or at least find myself able to see past everything that categorically did not work for me, since there's nothing I wanted more than to be wowed by this, but it's just that there's so much of that inert stuff in the way for me to even bother.

And as much as I can maybe see eye-to-eye on the action bits hitting the right notes, particularly with how the visuals and the setpieces come together towards the end, there just isn't enough of it in the two hours it takes to ultimately tell a very thin human story with a load of mythology and exposition to bridge it to a loud dash of a great, glossy, allegorical monster showcase.

[Dukefrukem]

+1 to everything you said. I cannot believe that they had Bryan f'n Cranston and Juliette f'n Binoche, based their whole ad campaign around having them, only to kill them off in the first twenty minutes, coincidentally the only part of the movie that had any kind of narrative momentum, cohesion, or emotional involvement. After Cranston dies the movie just goes off the rails and never comes back. It's a shame.

honestly that moment where the Broham meets eyes with Gojira felt like one of those TV spots you see for the Marines of a Lone Dude climbing a huge mountain and facing off with a sand monster or something. totally ridiculous.

For 20 minutes after Cranston dies, I honestly thought that was a plot twist of some sort. Like they were going to use Khan's blood to bring him back or something. I was convinced there was no way the filmmakers would kill him off like that. And then it hit me...

[Henry Gale]

It didn't really shock me all that much, since once I saw the poster and all official billing positioned him in the dooming "AND Bryan Cranston" placement, I remember saying, "Oh no, I guess he dies" to myself. Just in terms of the disparity how much he was a part of the marketing and the idea that he somehow didn't factor into the rest of the movie enough to warrant him being higher.

It's the Sam Jackson Deep Blue Sea situation, except considerably less amazing to see unfold.

[Henry Gale]

Also how much better could this story have been if it instead took the turn of Aaron Taylor-Johnson dying at the point his dad did, and Cranston's subsequent journey becomes how he's now lost both his wife and son to the toxicity that is the creature and cover-up. The rest of the movie then becomes him making his way back to the U.S. West Coast, doing what he can to help Watanabe & Co., but most importantly doing the best for his daughter-in-law and grandson, people he's been estranged from but now can make up for that by using his assistance to the government to also leverage ways of desperately saving his remaining family.

Add in a best friend Navy dude to the family to play out the rest of Johnson's final act missions and boom! Made-up version of this movie is instantly more compelling. (And with a much more compelling lead character and potential performance.)

Hell, even the Godzilla-eye-connect moment would have more weight if it was suddenly Cranston's character at the end. He gets to face the monster that took away so much from him, but manages to use it to move on. Like a blockbuster movie version of Life Aquatic's ending!

[Dukefrukem]

Also how much better could this story have been if it instead took the turn of Aaron Taylor-Johnson dying at the point his dad did, and Cranston's subsequent journey becomes how he's now lost both his wife and son to the toxicity that is the creature and cover-up. The rest of the movie then becomes him making his way back to the U.S. West Coast, doing what he can to help Watanabe & Co., but most importantly doing the best for his daughter-in-law and grandson, people he's been estranged from but now can make up for that by using his assistance to the government to also leverage ways of desperately saving his remaining family.

Add in a best friend Navy dude to the family to play out the rest of Johnson's final act missions and boom! Made-up version of this movie is instantly more compelling. (And with a much more compelling lead character and potential performance.)

Hell, even the Godzilla-eye-connect moment would have more weight if it was suddenly Cranston's character at the end. He gets to face the monster that took away so much from him, but manages to use it to move on. Like a blockbuster movie version of Life Aquatic's ending!

Best picture, best director, best actor. Matchies 2014.

[Ezee E]

Sounds way better.

[Pop Trash]

Reading this thread made me laugh because I think Cranston's impression of Sean Penn in Mystic River is one of the weaker elements of the film (plus his wig). I also liked the film's Psycho style ability to kill off a lot of the better actors and major characters. Who the hell watches Godzilla for "good" acting anyways?

[bac0n]

I agree with Pop Trash. Killing off the two most billable stars in the first act took some serious cajones, and lent me the impression that no one in the film was safe. Which is the way it should be.

[megladon8]

Reading this thread made me laugh because I think Cranston's impression of Sean Penn in Mystic River is one of the weaker elements of the film (plus his wig). I also liked the film's Psycho style ability to kill off a lot of the better actors and major characters. Who the hell watches Godzilla for "good" acting anyways?


He wasn't wearing a wig, that's his hair.

I know, I find he looks odd with hair, too, after Breaking Bad. But that was his hair.

[Milky Joe]

who the hell wants a movie to be "good"???

[Bosco B Thug]

Thought this was quite enjoyable, its odd (whimsical) subverting of expectations and all. Prime 90s entertainment: enthralling, engrossing, very silly, very inventive. Clearly this is bound for the Jurassic Park role in the lives of pre-teens of the 2010s - it certainly would be what I'd ask my parents to buy and watch all the time. Add in the 21st century liberal-humanist bent of it all - focusing on devoted and competent parents (nicely offing the older generation one), ultimately being about a husband-and-wife hero team who are made explicit visual analogs to Godzilla in the last 15 min - and Edwards's newfound stylistic Spielbergism, and the relationship is clear.

People are being way too hard on Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Is it wrong for a blockbuster hero to be young, not-brooding, and emote in a subtle way? All the performances were quite good, even Cranston's over-emoting evinced a certain everyman quality. Oh wait, Watanabe and Hawkins were pretty abused by Edwards and the screenplay, as the film's mystical-minded hysterics.

[Sycophant]

This photo.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/16ac6f6d125ef057d1c72df8eb2a5f 06/tumblr_n5tljkil7Z1rodp90o1_500 .jpg

I like this photo more than the movie. The photo gets four stars.

[Sycophant]

This movie could stand to be 1,000% more Pacific Rim.

[Dukefrukem]

This movie could stand to be 1,000% more Pacific Rim.

YES!

[number8]

Do you guys think there should be only one type of kaiju movie or something?

[megladon8]

I liked that I could actually tell what was going on in this one.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Apart from maybe the first fight, I had no trouble keeping up with the visuals in Pacific Rim.

[bac0n]

This movie could stand to be 1,000% more Pacific Rim.

Well, duh. EVERY movie could use 1000% more rocket punch.

[megladon8]

Apart from maybe the first fight, I had no trouble keeping up with the visuals in Pacific Rim.


I found large chunks of it almost incomprehensible.

And I just cannot get over how poor a decision it was to have the final fight take place at the bottom of the ocean. That was bad.

[Henry Gale]

I found large chunks of it almost incomprehensible.

And I just cannot get over how poor a decision it was to have the final fight take place at the bottom of the ocean. That was bad.

I can't even agree with a bit of this.


I liked that I could actually tell what was going on in this one.

Well yeah, it's pretty easy to discern what nothing(!!!!!) looks like when it's in front of you for two hours. (Half-hearted zing. More like a zung.)

[megladon8]

In a movie all about immense scale, staging the climax in an environment that renders the scale meaningless and unnoticeable was a really, really poor decision.

[bac0n]

I found large chunks of it almost incomprehensible.

And I just cannot get over how poor a decision it was to have the final fight take place at the bottom of the ocean. That was bad.

Whatever, hooker. Rocket Punch.

[Scar]

Rocket. Punch.

[bac0n]

Rocket. Punch.

This.

[Skitch]

And I just cannot get over how poor a decision it was to have the final fight take place at the bottom of the ocean. That was bad.
I have to agree with this. Destroyed any sense of scale, and after two viewings I still couldn't follow who was fighting who.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I see, you guys are confused. The robots are the good ones, the reptiles are the bad ones.

Also, arbitrary sword.

[bac0n]

Fuck all of you. Rocket Punch.

[Ezee E]

Rocket Raccoon?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Rock... et...












































































man?

[Scar]

I have to agree with this. Destroyed any sense of scale, and after two viewings I still couldn't follow who was fighting who.

I felt that the sense of scale was already well established, and was able to follow the fight. I'll fire that sequence up tonight again to analyze the fight.


Rocket Punch.
Ship Club

[Dukefrukem]

Were you sitting in the front row at the theater Meg? You make it seem like you were watching Transformers. It was quite clear the vast majority of people who saw the movie which Robot was fighting which monster.

I'll concede the under the ocean battle which was a little bit of let down, but the fight that took place not 5 minutes before that in the city was fantastic.

[EvilShoe]

Godzilla didn't have a sword.

[bac0n]

Godzilla didn't have a sword.

Yeah he did. It was attached to his butt. You may have also heard it referred to as "a tail".

[Henry Gale]

Yeah he did. It was attached to his butt. You may have also heard it referred to as "a tail".

I always thought they should've changed the loose-translation name of his "Butt-Sword" in the dialogue, but do I respect them for staying as true to the originals as possible.

It is a bit uncomfortable how they highlight it with giant arrows on the Godzilla toys though...

[Morris Schæffer]

Rock... et...












































































man?

You're the rocketman


http://youtu.be/Y12_cVX2exw

[Morris Schæffer]

In a movie all about immense scale, staging the climax in an environment that renders the scale meaningless and unnoticeable was a really, really poor decision.

I agree, even more so given that the final kaju was the biggest one.

[Sycophant]

I don't hate this movie. I don't like it either. There are some really neat, striking visual moments, both in composition and rhythm, but overall, this thing was a really boring slog. Honda's 1954 film is beautiful for its passionate didacticism in response to a global ethical crisis, backed up by a complementary human story, while this one has no discernible interest in human beings, though it's nonetheless happy to call on contemporary disaster imagery for cheap emotional.

Edwards is talented at working with effects and monsters. Someone would do well to have him direct action and monster scenes for future creature features, like Yuen Woo-ping does for action.

To be overly harsh, upon leaving the theater I told my friends that this was what a Spielberg movie would be like if Spielberg was an idiot. I don't believe that Edwards is actually an idiot, of course, but I do believe that his interest was nowhere near the human and social story he nevertheless pinned the entire structure on. While sitting in the theater, my opinion of War of the Worlds--which I haven't seen since theaters--grew.

I don't mean to say that every movie with giant monsters needs to be Pacific Rim (disclosure/reminder: Pacific Rim is one of my favorite things of the last few years), but given that these are the only two really recent Hollywood films in that genre, it's hard not to measure them against one another, and it's an easy reference point. And Godzilla just comes up lacking for me. It baffles me that every recommendation for Pacific Rim urged its audience to shut their brains off and have a dumb, fun time at the movies, while I'm seeing very little of that for this.

The score in this movie was boring and tired. But I'm pretty sure that may just be because I'm bored to death by the conventions most dramatic film scores today, and this is just typical of so much of it. Compared with Ramin Djawadi's distorted, aggressive guitar, swelling strings and falsetto choirs are just dry as hell.

Perhaps even more boring than the empty cyphers in the main cast was the blatant military fetishism on display. The military may not have accomplished much--and that may have basically been the movie's point, I guess?--but all the shots of brave professional dudes giving orders, soldier brolidarity, and the camera's fetishistically incessant gaze on military implements was tired and even kind of out of place.

Obviously, I'm in a major minority here, so I know most of this won't resonate with y'all.

[Dukefrukem]

Honda's 1954 film is beautiful for its passionate didacticism in response to a global ethical crisis, backed up by a complementary human story, while this one has no discernible interest in human beings, though it's nonetheless happy to call on contemporary disaster imagery for cheap emotional.

Yes.



While sitting in the theater, my opinion of War of the Worlds--which I haven't seen since theaters--grew.

YES!



Obviously, I'm in a major minority here, so I know most of this won't resonate with y'all.


Noooo.

[Rowland]

So I revisited Cloverfield, which I was lukewarmly positive towards back in '08, only to discover that not only do I like it a fair bit more now, but that I think it's better than this film. I've also had first-time viewings of the Japanese cuts of Gojira (very good) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (very fun), as well as the okay but overly disappointing Destroy All Monsters.

[Pop Trash]

So I revisited Cloverfield, which I was lukewarmly positive towards back in '08, only to discover that not only do I like it a fair bit more now, but that I think it's better than this film.

Oh I think Cloverfield is a pretty great movie. My alumni film studies professor wrote an essay about it if you are interested:

http://rhr.dukejournals.org/content/2011/111/167.full.pdf

[Dead & Messed Up]

Oh I think Cloverfield is a pretty great movie. My alumni film studies professor wrote an essay about it if you are interested:

http://rhr.dukejournals.org/content/2011/111/167.full.pdf

Good read. I don't agree with all of it, as I felt some sympathy for the characters and thought the film offered up a good chunk of dread to match its "excitement," but the most important idea in the essay - that there's pleasure to be found in real-world violent spectacle - is spot-on and a nicely uneasy sentiment.

[Scar]

Never Forget.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLuZPIc8nSk

[transmogrifier]

The ending of Pacific Rim is not good.

[Gittes]

It's always nice to catch a big blockbuster like this one in a sparsely occupied theatre, a couple of weeks after its release. I agree that the human drama is indeed mostly perfunctory and unremarkable, notwithstanding the front loaded pathos with Cranston and Binoche. Edwards delivers a few exhilarating, indelible moments, though.

War of the Worlds remains the best fantastical disaster film that I have seen. There isn't a lot in Godzilla that is commensurate with the achievements of Spielberg's film.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I dug this, mostly because of how Edwards and his cinematographer framed the action. The sense of scale is insanely well-presented. And the cock-teasing in the first half is fun. I giggled when that rail standoff cut to the boy watching a report on TV. Godzilla was a boss. Wish the humans had a bit more character to them, especially Hawkins and Olsen, whose favorite moments during production were probably putting their checks in the bank.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Also, the internet is full of wieners butting this against "Pacific Rim." The two films are coming at kaiju from very different angles, with different goals and approaches. Wah wah wah.

[Dukefrukem]

Also, the internet is full of wieners butting this against "Pacific Rim." The two films are coming at kaiju from very different angles, with different goals and approaches. Wah wah wah.

Yeh and one does it way better than the other.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeh and one does it way better than the other.

I don't think so. Pacific Rim has its successful evocation of guileless childish candy-colored rock-em-sock-em joy, and Godzilla managed to take my breath away so frequently with its emphasis on grandeur and the terrible awe of nature. Both films offer some dull spots, both steal characters from a big box of cliches and don't do much with them, outside of maybe one exception per film (Kikuchi and Cranston, respectively). Edwards better communicates scale, but del Toro builds a rich world around his premise.

My personal taste would have me prefer Pacific Rim - it succeeds a little more on its more modest terms (essentially the world's most expensive Saturday morning cartoon). But I'd be remiss to ignore this film's more ambitious moments of success, some of which made me cover my mouth in shock and delight.

I too expected the King Kong riff, and seeing him jam his electric fire breath straight down the Muto's throat was incredibly satisfying.

Sidebar: I loved how the Mutos had the same phosphorescent bulb appendages the monsters in Monsters had. I mean, not exactly the same, but they feel like they diverged from a common ancestor.

[megladon8]

Glad you dug it, DaMU. Jen and I don't think we'll have more fun at the theatre this year. We are really, really, really hoping that Guardians of the Galaxy proves us wrong, though :)

[Dead & Messed Up]

Glad you dug it, DaMU. Jen and I don't think we'll have more fun at the theatre this year. We are really, really, really hoping that Guardians of the Galaxy proves us wrong, though :)

Wouldn't that be great? :) I'm hoping for a win for Gunn, and it looks like a winner.

[Dukefrukem]

Bwhahaha


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnY4p_ASV9M

[MadMan]

This movie was badass. Loved it.

[MadMan]

I haven't seen Pacific Rim yet or War of the Worlds. I imagine I'll enjoy both films too. At times I'm guilty of unfairly comparing films to one another, too. We all kind of do that at times.

Oh and the bridge scene in Godzilla reminded me wonderfully of the T-Rex escaping in Jurassic Park. Fantastic. Btw I prefer this new film over the original, and I'll be so bold as to say that this new entry was made in the spirit of Honda's original.

And I really like Cloverfield but I think its limitations and some of the actions of its characters prevent it from being a great film.

[bac0n]

I would say that the latest Godzilla has a touch of the spirit of the original (the comments on man's insignificance in the eyes of nature, commentary on the arrogance of the nuclear age) but the gleeful destruction and wanton whoopassery is much more in the spirit of the mid-Showa era of Honda Godzilla films, in particular, Destroy all Monsters.

[Skitch]

This was awesome. Also, heres two exchanges I witnessed at the ticket counter:

1.
Grandma (with grandson) to ticket lady: "What time is it?"
Ticket lady: "Um...12:50."
Grandma: "Whats starting?"
My thought: "AAAAAHHHH WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??"

2.
Girl 1 to ticket lady: "One for The Fault In Our Stars, please." Then to Girl 2: "Have we seen this movie yet?"
Girl 2: "I don't know. Whats it called?" Then to ticket lady: "One, please."
*head explodes*

[Sycophant]

1.
Grandma (with grandson) to ticket lady: "What time is it?"
Ticket lady: "Um...12:50."
Grandma: "Whats starting?"
My thought: "AAAAAHHHH WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??"


Based on the last four months of working box office at an independent movie theater, about 5% of all moviegoers.

[Ezee E]

They live on the wild side.

[Winston*]

They live on the wild side.

I'd like to be more like that Grandma.

[amberlita]

This was awesome. Also, heres two exchanges I witnessed at the ticket counter:

1.
Grandma (with grandson) to ticket lady: "What time is it?"
Ticket lady: "Um...12:50."
Grandma: "Whats starting?"
My thought: "AAAAAHHHH WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??"

2.
Girl 1 to ticket lady: "One for The Fault In Our Stars, please." Then to Girl 2: "Have we seen this movie yet?"
Girl 2: "I don't know. Whats it called?" Then to ticket lady: "One, please."
*head explodes*

Perhaps I'm not understanding what is supposed to be so maddening about this, but I don't see there being anything wrong here. I've gone to the theater a few times almost completely blind to the movie I'm about to see and I recall those being pretty pleasant experiences. Walking in with little to no knowledge or expectation can be kind of thrilling and feel a bit more like a pure film-going experience than when I've already seen a teaser, two trailers, a TV spot, an interview on Colbert and browsed the Tomatometer.

Doesn't always matter what's showing. Sometimes people just wanna go to the fucking movies, ya know?

[Skitch]

If it were cinephiles, it wouldn't bother me one bit. My issue is its usually people carrying infants or laptops into what I'm seeing.

[Irish]

Well, I was wrong. This was extremely well done.

I agree with most of the criticisms (Duke, KF, Dreams, Milky Joe) etc but also -- and I realized the massive hypocrisy of me saying this -- I think some of you guys are overthinking it. It's fucking Godzilla. We buy the ticket to see the lizard go smash. Anything beyond that is gravy.

I'm not a fan of these kind of movies. The original film is incredible (and depressing) but beyond that, the character and the monster mayhem setup has zero interest for me.

But! The first half hour was terrific. The two (!) plot turns there had me excited, because it made me think that this'd be a blockbuster with actual balls. There's a half dozen shots in there that were really striking.

The monster design was amazing. The first shot of Godzilla stomping through town made my eyes widen. When they panned up and he makes his famous noise, I yelled "FUCK YEAH!" at my tv. Much later, in another scene, I didn't understand when Godzilla was lighting up like that. Then, I yelled "FUCK YEAH!" again. You know why.

I liked the way the movie continually teased out the action and suspense. Watashi was dead on when he said that this is the anti-Bay blockbuster or whatever. I loved that it didn't shove everything in our faces at once. The way they cut the scenes -- ending them before you think they would -- adds to that effect. (Although, glancing through thread, I can see why this bothered Duke and KF). At least the thing felt consistent all the way through. It had momentum. It felt like it was building toward something.

My only criticism is that the humans here are pretty much the same as they are in every big budget disaster film. Passive canon fodder. You can't really dramatize nature this way. It doesn't work. Because nature doesn't make choices and humans, reacting to it, can't really make choices either. Drama requires choice.

In this movie, everyone is made an observer (I almost burst out laughing when David Statham asks, "What do you expect us to do? Just stand around and watch." Uh, yeah dude. You're in a fucking Godzilla movie. Get with the program.) So the people are shallow and mostly exist to drop exposition. At least the movie seems to know this, and cut between different groups of characters so that it wouldn't become soul deadening.

One thing I actively resented: The way the movie put children and small animals in harms way to goose the suspense. That was pretty shitty and ham-handedly manipulative. I could forgive the kid on the train,but a bus full of school kids on the Golden Gate Bridge? In the middle of all that? C'mon. Do better.

One last: Some of the fights look great, others looked like shit. I have a lousy LCD. So many key scenes take place at night, in near total darkness, that all those blacks really don't display well at all.

[Dukefrukem]

Did you buy it on Amazon? :-D

[number8]

I have a lousy LCD. So many key scenes take place at night, in near total darkness, that all those blacks really don't display well at all.

That's too bad. They looked fantastic in theaters.

[Dukefrukem]

That's too bad. They looked fantastic in theaters.

Yeh if he's referring to the bridge scene I have to admit, the art direction in that scene was pretty fantastic.

[Dukefrukem]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOyVy7CTUJE

[Scar]

Ok, that was funny.

[Lazlo]

Wow just saw the blue laser barf into the MUTO's mouth in a commercial for the DVD. The most rewarding surprise beat in the entire movie just out there.

[Henry Gale]

Wow just saw the blue laser barf into the MUTO's mouth in a commercial for the DVD. The most rewarding surprise beat in the entire movie just out there.

Well, Guardians of the Galaxy' baby Groot dance started showing up in its commercials after the first or second weekend it was out. At a certain point, I feel like studio's marketing strategies with big movie become more about trying to re-hook those that already saw it.

I mean, seeing that bit in the ads did remind me it happened and just how cool it looked. It even made me consider re-watching it!

Imagine that!

[TGM]

Remember back when tv ads for Attack of the Clones about a week or so after release were basically just the Yoda fight in its entirety?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Remember back when tv ads for Attack of the Clones about a week or so after release were basically just the Yoda fight in its entirety?

I remember the DVD release commercial.

"Who da man? Yoda man!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6d1dR2170o)

[D_Davis]

This movie pissed me off on a continuous basis. Every single time something cool was about to happen with the monsters, it would cut to something far less cool.

Also, the big reveal of the G-man was done....on an on-screen television?

Pretty bad movie.

Also, what was with Watanabe's face? He looked utterly dumfounded the entire movie.

[D_Davis]

While sitting in the theater, my opinion of War of the Worlds--which I haven't seen since theaters--grew.


That's because it's a fantastic movie. It's thrilling, scary, tense, well directed and acted, looks great, sounds great, and is genuinely harrowing.

[Dead & Messed Up]

This movie pissed me off on a continuous basis. Every single time something cool was about to happen with the monsters, it would cut to something far less cool.

Also, the big reveal of the G-man was done....on an on-screen television?

The movie's one big long cocktease. And the reveal happens before the TV screen.

Huge buildup, explosion, camera tracks across ground level to Godzilla's foot, track up to reveal Godzilla, enormous, Cyclopean, who sucks in air and BELLOWS...

Cut to small TV screen.

I thought that was intentionally hilarious.

[MadMan]

Yeah I agree with the above post. Nice bit of humor there. Also I can't wait to watch this again.

[megladon8]

Yeah, the teasing was freaking awesome. Loved the pace of the movie - it's the best part.

[Grouchy]

This movie just fails in every way imaginable. It has about ten minutes of solid kaiju action, and the rest of the two hours is just depressingly bad to the point of becoming unintentionally funny. But mostly it's just a bore.

I see there are a lot of defenders here... Explain to me how killing off the only more or less interesting character is anything but the oldest hat trick in thrillers done wrong. The amount of time we spend watching bland people delivering the most obvious Hollywood lines in the world vs. the screentime of the monsters is enough to sink this movie. Edwards gathered a fantastic cast (well, minus the protagonist) and then he just wasted the lot of them.

But the most important negative for me is how devoid of any sense of fun this is. Comparing it to Pacific Rim is an obvious thing to do, but it's enough to reinforce how flawed this was.

[transmogrifier]

Probably my favorite summer tentpole in a while.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Rewatching.

This film is a borderline masterpiece of disaster-craft. Edwards is one of the few directors to not only speak Spielberg but to learn the right lessons from Spielberg, as far as the manipulation of the camera, withholding of spectacle, the sweet delicious buildup. He casually moves the camera to turn one shot into two or three carefully composed images. Old-time Hollywood face reveals too, as the camera follows behind Straitharn during his first scene before finally settling on his face as he turns around. There's a care to this film's image-making that is damn near impossible to find in the studio system.

The people are a real bummer after the first third, dull sources of expositional exchanges. I feel especially bad for Hawkins. She's a terrific actress, and every scene is another goddamn pensive look. Often with a hand to her face and one finger between her lips.