Godzilla (2014) - - - Part 12

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]478919[/split]

 

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]478215[/split]

 

[ShadowBoxer]

So, is the screen time for Godzilla really that low, or not? I mean, if the human characters are well done, I don't mind them getting a lot of time, but I would be disappointed if we don't see Big G at least a decent amount.

[BLACKOUT]We only get a few very fleeting glimpses mostly of his spines in the water until he makes his grand entrance in the Hawaii scene. After that he reappears in the big San Fran climax.[/BLACKOUT]

He has a total of about 15 or so mins. For a majority of the movie you just see quick glimpses of him and his spine/ spikes swimming in the water. Then you see a for a good amount in the ending.

 

[Visualiza]

So, is the screen time for Godzilla really that low, or not? I mean, if the human characters are well done, I don't mind them getting a lot of time, but I would be disappointed if we don't see Big G at least a decent amount.

You'll have to see and decide for yourself, in all honesty, because it seems like there's a fairly even split as to how satisfied people are with it.

For me, it's not the amount of time per se, it's just how he's handled when he does get on screen. His appearances are very anticlimactic and poorly edited (quick cuts don't let the moments resonate), and the buildup is more toward the antagonists than it is Godzilla. That's fine I suppose, but then again, we're still dealing with titanic creatures that can level cities, so I don't see why both of them weren't given an equivalent degree of attention in this regard. Some have said that this movie is more framed as a grudge match or western, but in other movies that highlight those sort of concepts, both contenders are given a fair degree of buildup and anticipation. Otherwise, how can one root for the hero/anti-hero if he/she is a blank slate?

 

[Super Kal]

probably going to go see this on monday when my wife has the day off...

 

[GremlinZilla89]

The best way I can describe it is to compare it to Jaws.

Most of Jaws is music, a fin here, a fin there, one quick shot here. It's not until the third act of Jaws that you get to really see the shark do his thing. Godzilla is just like that. A glimpse, a tease, a tail, a spine, one quick full reveal....and then the glorious third act kicks in and delivers one of the coolest friggin' action set pieces I've seen in years.

 

[Flint Marko]

^ Hadn't thought of the Jaws parallel, good thinking Gremlin.

 

[redfirebird2008]

The best way I can describe it is to compare it to Jaws.

Most of Jaws is music, a fin here, a fin there, one quick shot here. It's not until the third act of Jaws that you get to really see the shark do his thing. Godzilla is just like that. A glimpse, a tease, a tail, a spine, one quick full reveal....and then the glorious third act kicks in and delivers one of the coolest friggin' action set pieces I've seen in years.

Spoiler

Godzilla does not drive the plot of this film, the other two monsters do. The shark in Jaws drives the plot from the opening scene all the way to the end. Hell, Godzilla in this movie isn't even the villain. Massive difference from Jaws. The 1954 Godzilla film is a lot more comparable to Jaws in structure and effectiveness of the main character.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

Spoiler

Godzilla does not drive the plot of this film, the other two monsters do. The shark in Jaws drives the plot from the opening scene all the way to the end. Hell, Godzilla in this movie isn't even the villain. Massive difference from Jaws. The 1954 Godzilla film is a lot more comparable to Jaws in structure and effectiveness of the main character.

Godzilla doesn't drive the plot of many of his films.

I thought his presence was suitably eluded to and build up to.

Most Godzilla films are more about what he's fighting than him.

 

[roach]

The best way I can describe it is to compare it to Jaws.

Most of Jaws is music, a fin here, a fin there, one quick shot here. It's not until the third act of Jaws that you get to really see the shark do his thing. Godzilla is just like that. A glimpse, a tease, a tail, a spine, one quick full reveal....and then the glorious third act kicks in and delivers one of the coolest friggin' action set pieces I've seen in years.

and at the end he says "Open wide you sonova..."

 

[redfirebird2008]

Godzilla doesn't drive the plot of many of his films.

I thought his presence was suitably eluded to and build up to.

Most Godzilla films are more about what he's fighting than him.

And most of those films are pretty bad as a result. The original in 1954 was the best for a good reason. The marketing material strongly suggested something more along the lines of the 1954 film than what we got.

 

[Visualiza]

And most of those films are pretty bad as a result. The original in 1954 was the best for a good reason. The marketing material strongly suggested something more along the lines of the 1954 film than what we got.

Indeed. I'm immediately reminded of the Oppenheimer monologue from the initial teaser. Damn good teaser, too.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

So I saw my first showing last night in IMAX 3D and I have to say I absolutely loved the film, and while I did not find it to be perfect it was pretty damn close to me. I for one really enjoyed the slow burn and tension even if I do agree that Edwards held back a little too much restraint in certain scenes. It really did bring me back to films like Jaws and Jurassic Park, every moment where the Big G wasn't on screen I was even more excited for him to show up. I will be posting a full review through my Epic Film Guys page and will post it but until then my rundown.


I liked:

-The look of Godzilla turned out amazing, the way he moved his mannerisms and his brutal animalistic fighting style worked wonders for me the fight scenes were some of the best cgi I've seen in a long time.


-Bryan Cranston setup the film wonderfully with the true emotion it needed, I felt his death happened a little to suddenly and out of place but I felt that was a good way for Edwards to hand the film off to Godzilla at that point.


-The world felt real but not overly realistic, and also not overly cheesey and over the top also the military were far from the typical generic corny characters they usually are.


-THE MUTOS!! I cannot say enough how much I loved and enjoyed those creatures, the design was fantastic, and they were scary and menacing exactly as I had hoped they are a great addition to the Godzilla foe lineup. One of my favorite scenes is where the

Spoiler

first smaller Muto awakens at the power plant.

-The action scenes, every single one was shot so well and effectively I was impressed with every visual in the film, Edwards definitely has tons of talent to show over the next few years.


Dislikes:

-I did feel Edwards did hold back too much restraint in some scenes, he also is new at this game so probably had a tougher time getting the absolute best performances from his characters, in the end I still think he did a fine job.


-Aaron Taylor-Johnson while not a horrible lead didn't have much to do and was only there to push the story along (which in the end worked for me). A lot of his line delivery felt unnatural, but overall he was nowhere near as horrible as Hunnam in PR.


-Elizabeth Olsen was wasted, they should've casted someone of lesser talent for that role it didn't require her ability of talent.


-The MUTOS

Spoiler

mating storyline, completely unnecessary to the story and felt tacked on.

-Ken Watanabe while decent, looked like he was on drugs most of the film


I give the film a 9/10 and I can't wait to see it again this weekend! The King of Monsters is back to re-claim his throne!

 

[redfirebird2008]

Indeed. I'm immediately reminded of the Oppenheimer monologue from the initial teaser. Damn good teaser, too.

Yep, I feel duped by the marketing campaign. Pretty drastic difference between "Destroyer of All Worlds" and [BLACKOUT]"Hero of Our City." [/BLACKOUT]

 

[Tim_Riggins]

That's kind of your problem. Marketing 101. It's not like the teaser with Oppenheimer's monologue was just something done for Comic Con two years before...

 

[Visualiza]

Yep, I feel duped by the marketing campaign. Pretty drastic difference between "Destroyer of All Worlds" and [BLACKOUT]"Hero of Our City." [/BLACKOUT]

I'm with you. Thing is, I don't mind some marketing misdirection if what we end up with is satisfying and surprising in its own right. This movie, however, was very sterile for what it was. Not much excitement considering the premise. There are things I liked though, but again, mostly the visceral stuff.

The [BLACKOUT]first atomic breath was excellent. That fleeting moment got right exactly what this movie failed to - an intense buildup. I loved the way his spines illuminated one by one and how the whirring sound effect continued to build until Godzilla let it loose. Beautiful effects all around, as well. Speaking of which, the way he finished off the last MUTO was just awesome. Atomic breath decapitation? All that was running through my head was "Fatality"[/BLACKOUT]

 

[Super Kal]

the comic con teaser was just an announcement trailer... that tone was not originally meant to be in the movie, that was said even by the developers.

 

[Spider-Fan]

And most of those films are pretty bad as a result. The original in 1954 was the best for a good reason. The marketing material strongly suggested something more along the lines of the 1954 film than what we got.

Sure there are some stinkers in the Godzilla series (most of the ones in which Minilla is a featured character are pretty bad), but I actually like most Godzilla films. Whether it be because they're great (1954) or just entertaining for whatever reason.

Can't comment on the marketing of this film vs the quality. Not for the next 9 hours, at least.

 

[redfirebird2008]

the comic con teaser was just an announcement trailer... that tone was not originally meant to be in the movie, that was said even by the developers.

Except the rest of the marketing followed up with the same type of theme.

Spoiler

All of Cranston's dialogue in the marketing seems to imply that he's talking about Godzilla, but it turns out he wasn't.

 

[MahvelBaby!]

You know a flaw I originally thought was a flaw was that godzilla just appears, I didn't catch them saying the muto hatching would awaken him so I felt there was scene missing of the awakening him.

 

[Schlosser85]

I think this would have been better if we'd had a Godzilla-centric reboot intro before this one.

 

[redfirebird2008]

That's kind of your problem. Marketing 101. It's not like the teaser with Oppenheimer's monologue was just something done for Comic Con two years before...

So explain the rest of the marketing.

Spoiler

Cranston's dialogue is used constantly with shots of Godzilla, even though in the film he is talking about a different creature altogether and he has zero interaction with Godzilla.

It was misleading and it's not my problem at all.

 

[Schlosser85]

So explain the rest of the marketing.

Spoiler

Cranston's dialogue is used constantly with shots of Godzilla, even though in the film he is talking about a different creature altogether and he has zero interaction with Godzilla.

It was misleading and it's not my problem at all.

The trailers also clearly suggest its Godzilla destroying everything when pretty much everything but the tidal wave is the MUTOs.

 

[redfirebird2008]

The trailers also clearly suggest its Godzilla destroying everything when pretty much everything but the tidal wave is the MUTOs.

EXACTLY. Well said.

 

[GremlinZilla89]

And most of those films are pretty bad as a result. The original in 1954 was the best for a good reason. The marketing material strongly suggested something more along the lines of the 1954 film than what we got.

Mmmmm no.

Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidrah the Three-Head Monster, Invasion of the Astro Monster, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, and Final Wars are all mostly well liked by the fandom and all of their plots are more focused on the other monster/outlandish plot than Godzilla himself.