Godzilla (2014) - - - - Part 13

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]479381[/split]

 

[Thread Manager]

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

 

[redhawk23]

In a way I see it as an extension of the nuclear metaphor. Godzilla kills a lot of people, but he ultimately saves more lives in the process.

To be fair to Godzilla however, he is not even trying to kill people. It's just collateral damage, and he even goes out his way to minimize it.

The problem is that's baggage we're bringing to the film. The film itself more or less does jackall to really connect Godzilla with any kind of nuclear metaphor. Godzilla isn't the consequence of anything.

Gotta love that new thread smell.

I'll start this new thread by saying that this was pretty well okay movie, with very good elements. It leaves a lot of room for any potential sequel to build and improve.

 

[Loki882]

I saw the movie yesterday. It was quite good. My biggest complaint:

Spoiler

NOT ENOUGH BRYAN CRANSTON. Seriously, he acted his ass off and they killed him off WAY too early.

As for the Big G himself, I'm conflicted:

Spoiler

Them "pulling a Jaws" with him was interesting. I didn't mind it myself, but I can totally understand why some other people wanted to see more of him and were disappointed in his lack of screentime.

Also Mr. Edwards, the fight scenes were great, but for the sequel stop cutting back to the human character reacting in the middle of it. It hurts the scene and messes up the flow. As Ken Watanabe said "let them fight, and show it all."

 

[spider-neil]

Arach Knight's deconstruction of the science of Godzilla whilst fascinating isn't the reason I didn't like the movie, it was the characters. There wasn't a character I could latch onto and root for when the action kicked in, a Marty McFly, a Sarah Conner, a Riply. I think memorable characters are often caricatures with exaggerated characteristics but at least this way you remember them and root for them during action scenes which didn't happen for me at any time during Godzilla but did happen for me during Pacific Rim, a similar movie.

The fake pseudoscience didn't bother me at all.

 

[kickass]

I don't think many people are seeing the very critique the movie is presenting. The human characters are uninteresting. Intentiinally so. Not one of us are important or significant in the eye of a storm. Godzilla himself couldn't give a **** about us. This director is perfectly capable of bringing out performances in people. But that wasn't the intent at all.

In any other movie of this magnitude and drama, our beloved human's would have saved the day. Jaws. Alien. Transformers. Independence Day. Pacific Rim. You name it. All the heroes we root for give us a reason to root for them. In this film, however, Godzilla saves the day. We are merely just boring ants who's purpose in the movie is for audiences to follow their perspective, not necessarily root for them. The fact that some moviegoers are angry or disappointed that the human element was so "bland" aligns with what this film is presenting us with. People want humans to have all the power, all the complexities to rule over everything. Even in movies. Godzilla is just like, "Phhhhfff. Ya'll so unimportant".

I also find it quite strange that people are bashing this film for the very same reasons the other Godzilla films are so beloved. Slow pacing, one note characters, grandiose music, even the editing is quite abrupt at times which is in the same style of any of the classic B-movies. This film follows the structure and troupes of most of the sequels. Embrace it!

This was a modern day B-movie and they were smart not to market it as one because this will make more than Pacific Rim (which was a B-movie in and of itself but was presented as one from the get-go).

 

[AnneFan]

The great majority of the film's runtime rests in the human characters, not Godzilla. And I indeed found most of them uninteresting. Thus I found the majority of the film that way as well. Godzilla saves the day at the end, and I love him for it, but it was only a brief couple of moments in the grand scheme of things. The rest is dominated by the human characters which as said, I didn't really like, as well as the constant cut-aways.

 

[kickass]

We're not supposed to like the human characters. If we did, we'd be rooting for them, which isn't the intent of the film. This movie is doing what other blockbuster movies of this genre don't. Quite simply, that's why it is the way it is.

 

[DeadPresident]

We're not supposed to like the human characters. If we did, we'd be rooting for them, which isn't the intent of the film. This movie is doing what other blockbuster movies of this genre don't. Quite simply, that's why it is the way it is.

A lot of people are missing this point, probably due to the lack of movies that actually try and focus on minimising human emphasis. They did a bad job of connecting the audience with the human characters, if that was their goal. If their goal was to highlight how pedestrian and unnoticeable the humans could be I think they achieved it.

A lot of elements are out of place with conventional big movies which might be why it's jarring.

 

[spider-neil]

If the intent was show how insignificant the humans are then there should have been more focus on Godzilla.

 

[DeadPresident]

Na, those aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[dark_b]

what i dont understand and what shocked me was that we get the flashbacks in the opening of the movie. opening credits

i thought that in the middle of the movie Ken Watanabe would look on the screen in the office and start telling the story of gojira. and then they would show the flashbacks and build up the mythology. it would be a great way to tease godzilla by not show him and at the same time spend around 20 minutes before the final battle.
it makes so much sense that i am shocked.

 

[Silvermoth]

The problem is that's baggage we're bringing to the film. The film itself more or less does jackall to really connect Godzilla with any kind of nuclear metaphor. Godzilla isn't the consequence of anything.
.

Do you think so? I would have thought by showing the mutos gobbling up that nuclear waste they were showing it.

I think they could have done more with the Hiroshima line which sort of plopped out of nowhere like that "it's true, I definitely have breast cancer" line in 'the room' which, like Hiroshima, never gets mentioned again so I suppose I see your point

 

[PacificBoy]

Is Godzilla a natural creation? Haven't seen the movie yet but know more or less what transpired.

 

[Spade]

There's a difference between "we're not supposed to like these characters" and "there was nothing memorable about these characters." The latter is the complaint people are coming out of this movie with. Lots of movies have unlikeable characters. It's not a valid excuse for blanking on the names of half the cast five minutes after popping out the doors.

Is Godzilla a natural creation? Haven't seen the movie yet but know more or less what transpired.

Spoiler

Yes, from a time when Earth was far more radioactive.

 

[Tim_Riggins]

what i dont understand and what shocked me was that we get the flashbacks in the opening of the movie. opening credits

i thought that in the middle of the movie Ken Watanabe would look on the screen in the office and start telling the story of gojira. and then they would show the flashbacks and build up the mythology. it would be a great way to tease godzilla by not show him and at the same time spend around 20 minutes before the final battle.
it makes so much sense that i am shocked.

They did it Incredible Hulk style, that way, you don't get the "HOLY EXPOSITION" part that drags the movie down, there's already quite a bit of necessary exposition, but here, they get it out of the way in the opening credits, it's simple & elegant.

 

[dark_b]

but the problem is the humans are so boring that eyes were bleeding.

 

[SuperFerret]

Oh, and I couldn't mention this in the last thread because I'm old now and need actual sleep, but Godzilla's always been a sort of superhero.

 

[redhawk23]

We're not supposed to like the human characters. If we did, we'd be rooting for them, which isn't the intent of the film. This movie is doing what other blockbuster movies of this genre don't. Quite simply, that's why it is the way it is.

Nope. Unfortunately this movie does absolutely nothing with the whole "This is what humans deserve angle." You are absolutely supposed to care whether or not Johnson manages to get back to his family and whether or not they get the nuke away from the city.

 

[redhawk23]

Oh, and I couldn't mention this in the last thread because I'm old now and need actual sleep, but Godzilla's always been a sort of superhero.

The original film and most of the Heisei films differ. At best a lot of the time, Godzilla defeats another monster and then keeps destroying things himself.

 

[Killgrave]

Yeah, this Godzilla reminded me of the ones from the cartoon shows.

 

[elgaz]

Saw the film couple of nights ago and I really enjoyed it.

It's not perfect, for all the reasons which most viewers have already noted - not enough Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson was a bit bland considering he had a lead role, and we needed more Godzilla.

Nonetheless, it was miles better than Emmerich's version. Effects were great, and the general synopsis had at least some thought put into it rather than just throwing random monsters together so they could fight. Solid 7/10 for me, and a big 'Like'.

 

[StarLord]

I really enjoyed the movie, but I still find things like this funny.

 

[spider-neil]

I think we can all agree this movie was better than the 90's Godzilla. The 90's version is comfortably one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

 

[Kane52630]

I dunno man I've seen people who would argue against that, they said this new one was on the level of the 98 Godzilla. lol