Ok, I'm back.
So first things first I'm not a Godzilla fan, I've never seen any film outside of that 1998 atrocity, so I don't know how well this captures the spirit of the Godzilla films of the past. On first impressions this is a well made and entertaining movie that has just enough interesting characters going for it to make up for the lack of the title character throughout.
The film feels like a dressed up B-movie, and I don't mean that in a bad way. It has all the vibes of a direct to DVD type of sci-fi movie but is presented in an A-grade fashion. There's not much character development to be honest, Bryan Cranston's character has the best arc of the characters but sadly he doesn't get much screen time, the remaining characters are there to fill in obligatory roles, the hero, the girl, the scientist, the army general, etc. They aren't bad however, they are interesting enough to get you through to parts you're waiting for and are helped by some solid acting, but overall they are fairly one note people with little to do other than fill those roles.
The film's less is more approach works, even though Godzilla doesn't appear in the film for a hell of a long time the filmmakers make the most of his time on screen. Part of me feels like there should have been more of the character however I firmly believe the creative team got the balance 100% correct. Any more Godzilla fighting in cities I think would have created a very noise experience, destruction is cool, but it works better if it's not blasted in your face for 20-30 mins which is what some movies do. Here, it feels like there's just enough monster mayhem without ever overdoing it.
The one major complaint I'll make is how dark the movie looked, the third act is almost too dark to really appreciate what's going on, as such I really don't see how there could be any benefit to a 3D experience of the movie. The design of Godzilla is great, he looks awesome in the daylight though, the MUTOs aren't really a design I liked all that much but from a GC perspective they were good.
Overall I think most people will enjoy this movie, I can see why people might not like it if they're looking for lots of monster battles, but overall I wouldn't call it waste of money. It's certainly a film best watched in the cinema, it's possible the flaws of the movie might shine a bit more on DVD/Bluray, but for now it's an entertaining cinema experience.
8/10
