Godzilla (Gareth Edwards)

[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

[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/...1/167.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/...1/167.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.

[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.

[

Show Spoiler

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

[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*