#MovieRecap - Godzilla 2014

So it is now midnight, over here, and I just came from watching the new American Godzilla film. And you might ask - so, what does an old school long-time fan of GOJIRA think about it!?

It was... okay.

Now, onto some more precise spoilers....

One thing for sure, Monsters director Gareth Edwards is a great new director and one of the best from his new generation. He sure can make a stunning-looking captivating picture and is a great fit for the horror/monster genre.

Now. My problems are...

For a movie called "GODZILLA", the big G doesn't really appear much in it. Heck, even compared to the original first non-"Versus episode". Yes, humans get more screentime and the film spends a lot of time building its narrative/story elements. BUT at the end of the day, I even felt this was more of a "MUTOs"(TM) motion picture! Heck those two monsters even on their own had more screentime, development and backstory than Godzilla!

Also, strangely, as a fan of the classic Kaiju, this felt more like an adaptation of those old Dark Horse Comics Godzilla adaptations than anything. Right down from the fact it deliberately avoided classic Kaiju for these so-called, errr, "original creatures". And how it followed the people following Godzilla themselves, more. They even got that classic Dark Horse-style military ships following Godzilla swimming around. And it presented the big G has this "equalized", nature's way to find balance when there are monsters roaming the Earth.

Also is it only me or is the fact the movie couldn't decide if it wants to be a straight adaptation of the original 1954 Godzilla film or the later Versus episodes annoy anyone else?... Anyone? Bueller? Bueller...?

Also(bis), like modern "gritty" superhero movies, it almost seemed ashamed of Kaijus!? I mean, hiding them so long/so much? Why?! We already went to the theater, we paid for it! Give us the monsters! Cutting short/off screen/on newscast every single Godzilla fight was so frus-tra-ting!! (I almost yelled MONSTERS, FIGHT!!! at that last 3-way combat at the end!! finally! about damn' time)

Also(3), I finally found out why I'm not a big fan of all these realistic take on imaginary concepts/characters/creatures... Then, you have to consider physics and why not. Due to their sheer scale, there was so much smoke at times, you could barely see anything...

ANYWAYS! Don't let my nitpicks detract you from how I really felt. If anything, it was a great film. But not a really good Godzilla film in my eyes! (it's like I frowned the entire film and rarely smiled, but that was probably due to the 3D glasses*...)

Final note! - One thing for sure, I can already see how Gareth Edwards will follow up this film, if the studio allow him to do one more. He already said plenty o' times he wanted to explore the whole "Monster Island" concept. He already set they might have been a ton of these gigantic prehistoric creatures, living off radiations back in the die and now buried deep down the planet. The final Atomic Bomb exploded despite it not serving any purpose story-wise, it could just have well been defused at the end. But the characters didn't. So now we know these creatures seek radiation, so I presume new creatures will wake up. Possibly two different ones this next time. And since the military was already heavily influenced in the plot and the (1954!!) character of Dr. Serizawa didn't come up with the Oxygen Destroyer this time, I suppose he's going to help the army upgrade their tanks next time. I can already picture the sequel!

Hopefully with the "origin" down, next time can build upon that and provide us with a more fun/more action-packed Godzilla.

As a sidenote, like Roland Emmerich's American!Godzilla, I really hope, I WISH, this kickstarts a new wave of Japanese Godzilla films again. Or at least, more Japanese Kaiju films. Less Hollywood-cliché. Hopefully (but that's just me, wishfully-thinking), a solo Anguirus film or any of those classic Godzilla foes that might never come back as long as Godzilla's in Hollywood's hands...

*I forgot how much I hated 3-D... Sure it looks all nice and shiny in a "weeeeee! let's go watch a 3D movie, bros! Yaaaaay!!"-kind of way, but I find it so obsctructing and distractring... got a thing in my eye at some point, I couldn't keep the glasses on at another... Plus I never seem to be "in the movie" with the 3D effect! Give me a 1930s or 1950s film in black and white anyday instead! Yeah, there was no non-3D screening film here... *sigh*