Well that's the thing really...we won't be able to make a solid conclusion until the movie arrives.
I know. That's what I said at the very end of my post. It's highly possible that my current view will be changed completely upon seeing the movie. But since we haven't seen it yet, I'm expressing my thoughts based on what we have seen/do know, like everyone else.
I wouldn't say the size they chose for the Lizard is a 'cop out' by any means. You can say what you will but I'd be willing to bet that a 9 ft Lizard coming after you and you'd be peeing yourself with fear. It certainly doesn't look comical to me, especially since that little snipet of film showing them crashing into the water is so short.
Sure, and I'd be pissing my self with fear if a 5 foot man lizard came after me, too. (no, I'm not saying I want a 5ft lizard, lol). It's not something that I feel in any strong enough sense to adequately express at the moment; I guess I feel it is just a very stereotypical mentality that "bigger means better", and it seems like they are trying to overcompensate by hulking him out since (IMO) the lizard design is so weak. I'm not a fan of the "turning everyone into lizards" plot as it is, and I kinda feel like Webb knows that isn't the greatest motivation, but it's apart of the comics, and therefore he's trying it. Like I said in an earlier post, instead of making the CHARACTER and their MOTIVATION as threatening as possible, they're opting to make him an overly huge monstrosity, visually. I think a stronger design, with a less ridiculous scale and a fantastic could/would go a lot further without jumping into the giant monster bandwagon. Again, it isn't a big deal to me - it certainly won't kill my enjoyment of the film; its just an opinion I have on the design.
And how do you know how long they spent conceptualizing the deisgn for the Lizard?? Were you there during those meetings??
Well, first off, I'm omnipotent.

Second off, I know (first hand) how concept design work flows. Do I really know how long they worked on it? Of course not. But you make concept after concept after concept, then you make more concepts. You keep designing until it works. I don't think this design is as good as it could be, ergo, they should have kept designing (ie: spending more time on it). Even if we had to keep a humanoid face, I still think it could have been done better. It's not a BAD design...I just don't think its GREAT.
In any case, I am very interested in seeing the other designs they experimented with.