The world’s most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence. So in other words, Godzilla’s the good guy?
That’s what the plot suggests. Based on previews I honestly wasn’t very excited for this. After decades of success the only way to bolster interest in the franchise would be to put a fresh spin on the age-old tale. But for me the story didn’t feel all that fresh. Right away I found myself predicting the fates of characters and the direction of the story. Yeah, there are a ton of respectable actors here, but their characters were too one-dimensional and as a result I never really connected to them. I don’t blame the actors for this. I enjoy Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who I constantly referred to at Kick-Ass throughout the film), Ken Watanabe, and Elizabeth Olsen in other films so they are all certainly capable. The blame falls on the shoulders of the writers, director and/or editors.
I was there for one reason only–Godzilla. Too bad it takes practically an HOUR to see him in action. Though I wasn’t timing it, I read that the true “star” only gets 7 minutes of screen-time out of 123 minutes and that feels about right. You would think 2 hours would be on the short end for a film of this calibre, but I actually thought it felt overly long. They could have shaved about 20 minutes off and I would have been just fine with that. It would have helped the pace significantly.
Once we finally get to see Godzilla in all his glory it lives up to expectations. He is pretty much the ONLY character I found myself rooting for. No, he’s not the cuddly furry friendly type. He inadvertently saves our sorry human butts thanks to his instinctual need to keep the balance. But whatever gets the job done!
The cinematography was well done, but the 3D was completely pointless. It was even more glaring for me after recently seeing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 where, though the film itself wasn’t that amazing, the 3D was fantastic and made me feel like I was soaring through the city of New York.
This year is completely crowded with blockbusters and surprise success R-rated comedies (The Other Woman and Neighbors come to mind), so I wasn’t expecting this to be a true stand out. Its success this weekend definitely exceeded expectations in the box office, but in terms of the movie’s quality, for me it fell a bit short. There were some good things, but it was mostly on the back end for me. Since a sequel has been green lit I am hoping they will take critical feedback into account. Next time, less people and MORE ‘ZILLA!!
Thanks for saving me from a yawning bore!
It can definitely wait for tv.
I saw it Friday on an Imax 3D screen. I totally agree…. the 3D was pointless.. From the previews, I thought it was going to be Godzilla against the world… but it was really Godzilla against the moth creatures. Godzilla was well-done and the scenes with him had me gasping. I’m glad I saw it – I’m a Godzilla fan -but don’t care to see it again.
Same here. Once was enough.
Pity, I thought this was going to be a good movie. I’ll wait til it comes on Netflix.
Well though I didn’t care for it many others seem to like it quite a bit. It seems to get mixed reactions so if you really want to see it, you should.